Miss Paulson

Chapter Five

Theo's POV

We entered the café and Emma greeted the woman that was behind the balcony, cleaning some cups. I greeted her as well, following my boss and sitting in a discreet table at the end of the cafeteria.

This place was cosy and very comfortable. It wasn't very lightened, the only light coming from the candles that were placed in each table. This gave me a sense of intimacy.

I've noticed that the walls were adorned by famous paintings and boards. One of the boards was a certificate on how that café had won The best coffee prize that year.

There were other people in other tables, having some coffee or tea, speaking vividly.

I smiled to Emma and took off my coat, rubbing my hands, not because they were cold, but because I was awkward.

A young man came to us with a small notebook on his hand and a pen. It was the waitress.

"I would like a black coffee, please" I said in a soft tone, looking at Emma, who asked for the same.

"Let's see how great this coffee is, my expectations are high, miss Paulson" I smirked, trying to hide the blush that insisted on not leaving me.

I really liked Emma, so I was flirting back with her. At this point, I stopped caring if she was my boss. She was evidently flirting with me and I wanted to enter her game, to see where this lead us too.

"I do not tend to disappoint, dear..." she gave me the hottest smirk as she bit her under lip, adding quickly "Regarding coffees, I mean".

"I am positive I will not be disappointed, miss Paulson." I hit back, keeping her gaze and feeling myself getting hotter.

Yet I had this question floating on my mind and I could not wait to know the answer. I wanted to ask her directly, but I wasn't sure I had the courage to do it so. Thus, I tried to ask it discreetly.

"So, Miss Paulson, what does your boyfriend work as?" Damn it, I wanted my question to be discreet, yet it was obvious that I wanted to know whether she was taken or not.

Emma arched her eyebrows and crossed her arms, looking over me as if I had said something that I should not. I gulped.

"Bold of you to assume I would flirt with a man when having a boyfriend. Even more bold of you to assume I might have a boyfriend and not a girlfriend. Why is it that you assume I am into men by default, may I know?".

I was intimidated, ashamed and nervous. To begin with, she admitted she was flirting with me. Secondly, she was right, I was assuming that if she was taken, it was by a man and not a woman.

"I-I... You're right, I am sorry. I didn't mean to offend you in any way. I was just curious...".

"Well, Theo, I do not have a boyfriend. I do not have a girlfriend either. You should understand that I feel attracted to people, regardless of their gender. I hope that's clear." Her expression said everything: she was deadass serious. "You did not comment my first statement, the fact that I am flirting with you".

I blushed. Emma really did have no problems in telling me exactly what she thought and that amazed me and excited me.

"Okay, miss Paulson. I am very sorry again. I do feel the same way as you, I am attracted to people, regardless of their gender". It is true. I am attracted to people, however society constructs the mind in such a way that you find yourself making unhappy comments like the one I did with miss Paulson. "I have noticed you are flirting with me...".

She nodded to what I said first and then looked at me with a funny expression. She was going to say something back when we were interrupted by the waitress with our coffees. We both took a sip of it and as I was about to say something, three men whose faces were covered with black beanies entered the cafeteria and screamed.

EVERYBODY GET DOWN. NOW.

One of them fired his gun into the air to emphasize what they had just commanded and Emma and I immediately got on the ground. I was paralysed in horror, my hands were trembling and my heart pounding against my chest. I could feel Emma shaking too, so I searched for her hand with mine and held it, intertwining my fingers with her.

One of the men ran to the balcony and told the women to grab a bag and put all the money she had inside of it.

QUICK OR I WILL BLOW YOUR HEAD OFF.

The woman started to put the money inside the bag, tears streaming down her cheeks as she begged the man not to hurt her or anyone else in the room.

And everything would have went peacefully if it wasn't for a man attempting to call the police. One of the robbers saw what he was trying to do and shot him on his chest.

That's when everyone panicked. There was a wave of screams and cries, which were contested with violence from the robbers. I wrapped my arms around Emma and kissed her head. I could only think of her safety, I did not want her to end up hurt in any way.

Nevertheless, Emma got away from me and approached the man who had been shot, placing her hands on his wound. She was trying to stop the hemorrhage, her hands getting covered with blood. The man who shot the other approached and screamed at her.

YOU STOP IT. I WANT TO SEE EVERYONE'S HANDS IN THE AIR.

"This man will die if we don't call an ambulance. Just take what you want and leave!" Emma answered desperately, searching for her phone herself, but she was stopped with a kick on her stomach from the man.

"Hey, stop it! Just take the money and fucking leave!" I screamed at him, attempting to get up, but the other robber was pointing his gun to me. I felt useless, completely worthless in this situation. And Emma was still recovering from the kick on her stomache.

Yet once again, she attempted to reach a phone. The man under her was pale and losing consciousness. She was losing him and was desperate, that almost costing her life. The man shot her in the shoulder twice and the three men ran away.

I was in absolute shock. I wanted to scream, do something, yet my legs would not move.

It was only a few seconds after that I could escape from this and run to where Emma was. She was unconscious and that made me panic. I typed the ambulance's phone number with my shaky hands, my voice trembling as I gave them the instructions about where te cafe was located.

A few minutes after, the ambulance appeared and Emma went to the hospital. I did not think twice and grabbed her car keys, driving her car to the hospital.

I arrived to the hospital and waited in the waiting room, seeing doctors coming in and giving other families some news on the patient that regarded them. One of these families was left in peaces when the doctor explained that their relative did not make it.

Emma would make it. He was sure she would, since she was brave, strong and, undoubtedly, a warrior.