Baby Boy ; larry

Eighteen

➳ Eighteen

Gemma rounded the corner and walked into the dark alley, crinkling her nose at the unpleasant smell of garbage and sewage water. Standing there waiting for her was her boss's assistant, his green eyes and recently-dyed red hair sticking out like a sore thumb. "Wow, boss couldn't have picked a nicer place to meet?" She scoffed, kicking some trash on the ground with her foot.

"Just give me the money, Gem." He huffed.

She held out the money but yanked it back as soon as he reached out for it. "You're not allowed to call me that, Ashton. No one is, except for my family."

"The family you walked away from to get into this business?" He grabbed the money from her hands, flipping through it. "Is this all of it?"

"Yeah, all $900," Gemma crossed her arms. "So you can tell him I said fuck off."

"Is there any way you can get him the supply you wasted, too?" Ashton asked, raising an eyebrow.

She rolled her eyes. "No. The money should be good enough, now he can go buy more and sell it to some poor kid hooked on drugs. What a great business we're all running."

Ashton just nodded. Deep down, he knew this isn't what he envisioned himself doing when he was older. But it paid for his bills, for now. "I'll get this to him for you. Oh and the boss said you have an appointment with that one guy, uhh – "

"Don't even say his name, please," Gemma sighed. "I know exactly who you're talking about. Thanks, Ashton." She turned and started to leave, already dreading this appointment and she hadn't even been there yet.

"Wait, Gemma, one more thing," Ashton called, following her out. "Boss also said that – well... he said that you have to tell your brother that it's all sorted out now or else..."

Gemma panicked, quickly turning back around to face Ashton. "What are you talking about?"

"Gemma, baby, I know you told your brother about all of this," A man growled, stepping out of the shadows. It was her boss, Cliff, in a white shirt and dirty jeans, with his dark hair slicked back.

Ashton stared at the ground, feeling a bit guilty. He never wanted any trouble. "I didn't tell my brother anything..." Gemma lied, trying to remain as still as possible to make it look like she was being truthful.

"You can't lie to me," Cliff clicked his tongue, slowly making his way to her. He caressed her cheek and she shuddered against his touch. "You need to go back to your brother and tell him that everything is fixed now and that you don't need his help anymore. Then you will never speak to him again. Just like old times, right Gem?"

Gemma bravely slapped his hand away. "What are you gonna do if I say no?"

"I'll have your brother and his little boyfriend taken care of," He smirked, leaning forward to whisper in her ear. "And as for you, I'll just make sure that the judge gets you all he wants."

She gulped. "Please, don't hurt Harry, you can do anything you want to me, just please don't hurt him. I'll tell him it's all fixed now, promise me you won't hurt him."

"I won't hurt him, princess," Cliff glanced at Ashton, motioning that it was time to go. They both made their way out the other end of the alley. "As long as you do what I say."

"Yes, Cliff." Gemma said quietly, watching as they left her all alone. She could still feel his musty breath on her, so she ran home as fast she could, just to shower and get his scent off of her.

*****

The next day, Gemma called Harry and asked to meet at Starbucks once more to update him on the situation. She was there before him, so she ordered a grande hazelnut iced coffee and sat in the corner facing away from the door, hood and sunglasses on as normal. She carefully examined all of the other guests inside, none of them looked familiar, and none of them were paying any special attention to her.

"Hey," Harry said, smiling as he sat across from her. "How did it go?"

"Hi, Harry," Gemma forced a small smile back. "It's all sorted out. I'm safe. I paid my boss the money and he was really thankful, he even asked to do a favor for me. I told him I didn't want to see the weird guy anymore and he said yes."

"Wow, that's awesome, Gem," Harry beamed. "Does this mean... I can see you more often? Maybe we could get lunch with mum or something?"

"I'm afraid not, H," She answered, frowning. "I still have a lot to take care of." She took a deep breath in and lifted her sunglasses to look her brother in the eyes. "Do you remember when dad would take us to that café above the pet shop on 54th Street? He'd always take us there on Wednesday nights, right around 7, when he'd get off of work. There would never be anyone there except for us. He'd get us blueberry muffins and hot chocolate."

"I – I don't know what you're talking about," Harry gazed at her, eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "I don't remember that."

Gemma stood up and put her sunglasses back on, kissing Harry on the forehead and rubbing his cheek gently. "You'll remember soon. I love you."

With that, she left, leaving a very muddled Harry to figure out what on earth she was talking about.

What do you guys think Gemma is talking about in these last few paragraphs..?

Please vote, comment, and share (: Thank you all for the support. 

Jordan x