That Abercrombie Model

TWENTY TWO

Kystan's POV

Mr. Murray was at the entrance when I arrived. We are at The Croc, one of the best bowling alleys I know in London.

I get out of the taxi and approach Mr. Murray. He is on the phone but when he sees me he ends the conversation.

"Hello." I greet him awkwardly. We might be hanging out now, for lack of a better word, but the man is still scary.

"Let's get to business." He says and enters. I follow behind him. It is almost empty inside. The speakers are playing songs I don't really know, but they are upbeat which is all I really need. We get bowling shoes from the counter and pay for our stay.

"I'll go first." He says. He takes the lane to my right. I stand nearby as he swings and throws the ball. It's a strike!. He is really good. He looks at me with his eyebrow raised daring me to match that. I grab a ball and lunge. I also get a strike. I look behind at him and smile with pride.

"Not shameful." He muses as he gets himself a ball.

"It was good, admit it." I answer as he lunges, making another strike.

"That's what's good, young man." He says motioning to his win.

I also score a perfect strike. He just scoffs and we keep at it in silence. Both of us are winning and the tension rises as each of us sees that the other isn't likely to succumb.

"I hear that you and my daughter have been spending time together." He says after getting the second turkey in the game.

I am momentarily startled, is he referring to the time I stayed over? "You could say so." I answer. As an afterthought I add, "I stayed over a few days ago, but it was accidental. You don't mind right?" I ask.

He looks at me with surprise. "What?" His face contorts instantly. A scowl tattoos itself onto his face and his whole physique gets even more scary than he was before. The fact that he is a trained police officer makes it worse.

"Nothing happened." I clarify.

His fists raise heading straight for my face. I see his eyes that were friendly before change. I brace myself for whatever is coming next but instead he bursts into fits of laughter and he puts his arm on my shoulder. I am confused. He laughs until he starts coughing. I hold him on the forearms and lead him to the curved sofa nearby. He regains his breath.

"Your expression was priceless." He says with gaiety, "I was joking with you."

"Thank god." I am relieved, "For a moment I thought you were going to punch me." I answer.

His face becomes serious again, "I do not revel in violence." He says.

"Noted."

"You also don't have to tell me what you and my daughter do." He says. "But don't do anything funny, only then will I come for you with violent intentions." He adds.

"Okay." I answer as I get a ball. During all that I had not made my shot. I approach the lane and lunge.

A memory of that time in her bedroom flashes before my eyes. The way she got shy when I asked her to describe me.

I am distracted; when I actually throw the ball, I only manage a split. The 7-10 pins are still upright. I hear Mr. Murray laugh from behind me. "Let's see how you fix that." He says as he smirks at me.

What he doesn't know is that I have mastered this thing; I was only momentarily distracted. I grab a light weight ball and aim for the 7 pin at the side, I manage to hit it and luckily it bounces back and knocks down the 10 pin too. I do a small victory dance. Mr. Murray smiles at me in approval. He gets up and pats me on the shoulder.

"That was impressive." He says, "But I still beat you." He adds and smirks.

"No, doesn't that pick up earn me any credit?" I ask as we turn to leave the alley.

"You could have just got a strike, so no." He answers as he removes the shoes.

We finish up with the shoes and head outside. He receives a message and reads it then looks at me. "I would have a drink with you but Dina wants me at home." He says apologetically. "It was great defeating you." He says with a smile.

"It was." I answer as I shake my head in amusement.

He turns and leaves for his car as I also hail a cab.

I open my phone and see a message from Liza.

"Can we talk?" it reads.

It was sent a couple hours earlier. 'Can we talk?', that is really not what any guy wants to hear from a girl. It is a scary phrase nowhere south of terrifying.

I answer, "How about tomorrow?"

She doesn't respond; I go to bed before she answers.

I wake up with a sense of tranquility. I dress up and go out for a run. The air is chilly, but the heat will be high in a few hours. I run three times around the block before I go back to the house. As I am taking a shower, my phone rings. I fumble to finish, so that I can answer it, I end up picking up after the fifth ring.

"Hi Stan."

"Howdy Franklin." I answer as I do whenever he calls me such an old name.

He laughs. I can hear Molly, his wife, laughing in the background. "Am I on speaker?" I ask and he hums in approval. "Hi Molly."

"How are you Ky?" She answers. I hear shuffling on their end.

"I'm okay." I answer.

"She left the room." He answers matter-of-factly.

"So why did you call me?" I ask as I go to the mirror. My hair is falling down my eyes. I should get a haircut soon. I get a towel and start drying my hair.

"Rehan wants to see you." He says with a serious tone.

"What for?" It is odd that Rehan would ever ask Frank to call me.

"Do you need a reason to come see your brother?" He asks pointedly.

"Okay, I am coming." I had nothing else to do today anyway.

"There was a hiccup in his relationship with... what's her name again?" I stop drying my hair, to listen.

"Lori?"

"Yes. He might not be in the best of moods." He says. "You have been forearmed, see you soon." He says and hangs up.

He didn't even tell me what happened!

A trickle of water runs down my face and down my nose. I puff air at it to dispel it before it goes down into my mouth. After a few moments, I realiZe what I am doing, I laugh at how stupid it looks. I get the towel and wipe it off and proceed to finish getting dressed.

Rehan and I decide to go out to the pool in the backyard. I change into my trunks. When we reach outside, I jump into the pool but Rehan sits on a lounger and looks desolate. I do only one lap before his bad mood can't let me go on anymore. I get out of the pool and sit across from him. He hands me a towel and sits up too. "Talk." I tell him.

He raises an eyebrow at me but obliges anyway. "I heard that you went to court again." I nod. "Do you think you have a chance this time?" I can sense the fear he has this time. The last time, I had been tangled in many bad situations which all went wrong, the judge and the jury denied me guardianship.

"Don't worry. I am more focused this time." I answer with conviction.

"Okay." He gets up. "Don't beat yourself up if it doesn't go well, okay?" He says and jumps into the pool.

"Don't you believe I can win, you little rascal?" I ask as I run towards him. I jump into the pool and swim towards him.

"Of course I do." He answers and gets out of the pool hurriedly as he tries to evade me.

"Leave me alone." He runs behind a lounger.

"Don't you have somewhere to be?" He says as I catch up to him. He escapes into the house and I go after him.

                                               *************************************