They drove the Duc down the street and pulled up in front of a two-story hardware store.
We could have walked that. It was, what, two blocks?
This is only a stopover. My parents own this store, so I have to stop in. Yvonne will tell them I was here, and if I dont at least say hi, I'll be in deep shit with them. Besides, they should meet their future daughter-in-law.
Kia was taking off her helmet and laying it on the back of the bike when she heard this. She froze, staring at him. Who the f*ck ever said anything about marriage, she was only seventeen years old.
He laughed, "If you could see your face. Relax, babe, I'm just saying that we will get married someday in the future. Probably pretty far in the future, judging from your reaction, now," he nudged her firmly toward the store entrance. "to meet Mom and Dad. And please don't let them influence your opinion of me. They can't help but be the way they are."
She stepped through the doorway, out of the stifling afternoon heat and into a refreshingly air-conditioned interior. The entire store occupied the bottom floor, there was a back room for employees that presumably led to storage and a stairway to the upper floors, where the owner's living quarters would be.
A pleasant feminine voice called out from the back as the door closed. "I'll be out in a second." There was the sound of something heavy being moved and then the door at the back opened to reveal a tall angular woman wearing a floral print smock over jeans and a scoop neck t-shirt. "Is there anything I can help you..." She broke off when she saw Justin standing behind Kia. "Lemmo!!" She said and she strode gracefully across the room to give him a light hug and a kiss on the cheek.
Justin endured the hug with a forced smile that looked more like a grimace. "Hello, Mom."
What's up with this nickname thing?
Please forget you ever heard it. I HATE that nickname.
Don't worry, I have my own nickname for you, Figgy.
He laughed quietly, causing his mother to look at him inquiringly. "Mom, this is Kaida, my future wife. Kia, this is Rachelle Lemark, my mother."
Rachelle turned to Kia and studied her intently for a moment, taking in her outfit, or uniform, which matched Justin's. Only hers was cleaner, because she had just changed into it, whereas his was incredibly dusty from the long ride. She held out a neatly manicured hand, "You can call me Rachelle. I see you work with my son. How do you like working with animals?"
"Umm...," She threw a glance at Justin. Just go with it, babe. I can't tell her what I really do, she thinks that I work for a Zoo tracking down animals and transferring them. She looked back at his mother and smiled. "I don't actually work with the animals. Justin does the manual labor. I just handle the transactions and make sure everything goes smoothly."
Rachelle lifted an eyebrow and turned back to her son, "she's your superior?"
"No," he said curtly, before Kia could say anything. "I'm her superior, she takes orders from me." Just don't talk.
Can't you just let me pretend to give you orders?
He didn't even bother to answer her. Rachelle turned to her again and smiled. "Well, dear, I'm sorry that you have to deal with him as your boss. He can be a real hard-ass."
Kia tried to hide her laugh behind a cough, but didnt quite succeed. She was starting to like this woman. She might not want her for a mom, but she would be a good friend. "Yes, ma'am, he is. I never agreed to marry him by the way. He didn't even propose. He just mentioned that I was going to marry him in a conversation we had earlier. Trust me when I say that I'm a long way from marriage."
