The Days(Notion Remix) 🎵
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Chrystal, NOTION
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Will I be bombarded with bullshit or can I make my money in peace today?
That is the question that plagues my mind everyday that I head into work.
Whenever I'm about to enter through those glass doors, all I can do is just hope that what awaits me on the other side is the latter rather than the former.
Except I'm not even inside the building when I've already determined that it is more likely to be the first option. In fact, I haven't even left the parking lot yet when I see the roid user with the crazed look in his eyes stalking across the lot with his jaw clenched, feet stomping like a toddler throwing a tantrum, and an ill-fitted muscle shirt.
Here we go.
I keep my head held high and my eyes anywhere but on the man who had argued- or more like screamed at me last week about the payment that I had refused to refund him.
It wasn't my fault that he forgot to cancel his membership.
And when I'd finally had enough of the clear display of him not having proper home training, I had security escort him out. The ill-mannered individual then proceeded to yell and attempt to keep his feet glued to the floor during the task of removing him from my building. Unfortunately for him, he had to be dragged out like the dog he was acting like.
However, for some reason, despite the great embarrassment he had caused himself and the display of disrespect towards me, he was in the adjoining parking lot of the gym this morning.
But the best way to deal with people like him- the ones who unleashed anger like explosive bombs, was to act ignorant to their existence. Don't give them the attention they so desperately crave.
However, as I continue moving across the parking lot, doing my best to avoid his adult temper-tantrum, his gaze locks in on me. The man clenches his fists and his face is drawn into a hideous scowl.
"You," he calls out low in a piss-poor attempt at being intimidating as he stalks over to me.
I keep walking.
"Excuse me! I'm talking to you."
"Excuse you." I place emphasis on the last word, still not slowing in my movement. "You were banned."
"This is a public parking lot. How are you going to ban me from it?" The man huffs out incredulously, high offense clear in his rebuttal.
"It's actually a private lot. Mine. So, get off of my property," I order out calmly and firmly, the sound echoing throughout the concrete confines of the lot.
But, the man with roid-rage does not leave my parking lot. And he keeps following me. Even though I don't falter in my steps at all nor do I pay him any mind.
"Hey!" He yells out again. "I will post you everywhere. The gym community will know just how toxic your business is."
I scoff, almost wanting to laugh at his terrible attempt at scaring me. I briefly considered turning around and showing him who should really be scared.
But I don't.
That is until I hear him come up from behind me. Fast, desperate, and completely unexpected.
Then, I feel a harsh yank on my arm from behind. I gasp in momentary shock, instinctively glancing behind me as he holds on.
It doesn't take long for me to snap out of it though. I roughly pull my arm away once anger replaces the surprise not long after. Then, I meet his gaze- wild, feral, and bizarre with my own - cold and flat, but still brimming with fury.
"Keep your fucking hands away from me."
"I barely even touched you," the man barks back, spit leaving his mouth.
I wince in disgust, taking a much needed step back. But he mirrors it, taking another stride closer.
And then?
He reaches out and grabs me again. This time harder with a grip that's nearly bruising.
"Remove your hand," I say in a calm voice that's completely unmatched to the heat in my veins.
He glances between my eyes, like he's searching for something in there. Perhaps fear? Perhaps intimidation? But he won't find any no matter how hard he looks.
Because that request I gave him?
It wasn't out of desperation or panic. It was a warning.
One that I'm not sure he's smart enough to understand. I narrow my eyes in at him, caught between a brief stare-off.
But then he yanks. The hardest pull he's done so far.
And that causes my breath to catch in my throat and my heart to freeze up. As if in anticipation of being pulled away somewhere again.
But he doesn't. He pauses, nails digging into my wrist before abruptly letting go.
"Hey, babe."
I freeze.
Babe?
And then I turn to see no other than my fiancee's brother standing behind me, that calm and relaxed grin on his face, wearing those sweats and that compression shirt I was so used to seeing him wear.
Startle washes over my face briefly as he looks at me with familiarity. But then, a twinge of disappointment as the gravity of the situation settles in fully.
I froze up. And Leo is here trying to save the day by playing the lover card.
Because I gave that man a second to hold on. Because I spent a second thinking.
I gulp, glancing back at the man who had been all red-faced anger not too long ago just standing there with a frozen look on his face, as if he's in shell-shock or something.
And then I look at Leo who proceeds to move in closer, until he's right next to me. An aroma of cedar, wood, and fern seeped off of him from his spot. For a moment, I think that's it, that he'll just stand there and do a silent stare-off with the man until he leaves, but I'm proven wrong when he wraps an arm around the side of me, hand resting over the side of my waist.
Chills crawl up my spine as he holds onto me in a side-hug. A hold that looks possessive to someone ignorant, but not feeling tight enough to be anything more than a visual statement.
I glance back at the other man, letting Leo hold onto me but not leaning into him. He visibly recoils, having been all faux bravado until another man stepped into the picture.
It was typical. A man who was all big and bad until someone who threatened his masculinity arrived.
Because apparently the concept of respect did penetrate his thick skull, but only when it came to another member of the male species.
I assume he'll sulk off or leave, but I'm proven wrong when he just stands there. Staring. Twitching.
"Everything good?" Leo keeps his tone even and without betraying a hint of menace.
Meanwhile, I was a mess on the inside- thoughts ablaze and fingers trembling from the force of trying not to punch the ex-gymgoer. Perhaps, it was good Leo was here.
Because if he wasn't?
Well, then I might have just plummeted that dickhead's face until it was an unrecognizable mush of meat and skin. It's safe to say that would have made things a bit complicated. And I didn't necessarily dislike complicated things, but I preferred to avoid it when possible.
"Yes, I was just having a conversation with her about my membership." The man speaks up again, voice more leveled out, yet still shaky.
Against my better judgement, I look over at Leo. That's when I see the quirk of a brow and the hint of sunlight hitting against his jaw, bringing definition to the structure of it.
Leo says something back, but it goes in one ear and out the other as my eyes remain glued to his face. Then, the man replies something back- short and snappy yet indecipherable, and betraying that brief hint of calm he had displayed.
The fervor of his voice is enough to snap me out of the Leo trance. I snap my eyes back to the man with the objectively less appealing face with my gaze narrowed and fury in my veins.
"You need to leave before you are escorted off of the premises again," I say, crossing my arms in front of me, which proceeds to dislodge me from the side hug.
I feel a strange absence at his touch no longer being there. Then, the man who I had directed my words at, starts blazing towards me again since he apparently has nothing better to do in his life.
"Is this really how you run a business!?" He shouts back, and I swear I can see the steam fuming from his ears.
"If you mean making customers take accountability for their own actions, then yes." I flash him a smile of mocking sweetness that was really dripping in venom.
The sight of it appears to set him off even more as he goes stalking towards me again, apparently his short stint of civility due to their being a man here now no longer applied. I stand still, meeting the man's angry face head-on, challenging him.
But, before he gets to charge- before I get to charge, I feel a whoosh of air as a warm arm wraps gently yet firmly around my arm, and my body is moved away and out of his path.
"What the-"
"Look man, you can always just file a complaint if it's really that serious. But, I suggest you just leave because right now all you're doing is escalating things." I glance over and it appears none other than Leo had moved me out of the way and inserted himself in front of the man.
In front of me. Protecting me.
Limbs still shaking and breath trembling from when that meathead had put his hands on me earlier, the urge to punch him still had not been put out. I was like a fuse ready to explode.
But Leo-
In all of his cheerfulness and deescalation, was trying to defuse the situation and to get the man to leave on his own accord. However, it's futile because he is not budging. His refusal to stand-down is a clear display of macho masculinity.
I roll my eyes, ready to end this, but then the man proceeds to swing a fist at Leo. It's embarrassing though because Leo dodges it. And then the next one.
I do a quick spot-check around the garage to check for any witnesses before stepping right behind the man. Then, I deliver a single brutal blow to the side of his neck.
He falls, thumping to the ground like a tree trunk.
"Hmm.. I guess you beat me to it." Leo has proud gleam in his eyes. "You sure do pack a punch."
"He didn't see me coming. It was nothing really."
"Don't sell yourself short." He beams. "Are you okay, though?"
My breath falters and I really study him for a moment.
The man who was a meddlesome constant in my life. The man who seemed to always stir up trouble.
And did it all with a smile on his face.
A man who had impulsively stepped in to defend me against another man. Not that I needed the help, but it was selfless. Honorable really.
And if you had asked me a mere month ago if I had ever thought Leo was selfless or honorable, I would have laughed in your face.
But now?
I was beginning to wonder if selflessness isn't always something clearly defined. Something that we can draw up with specific perimeters and make into a rule.
Perhaps his steady and full conversations with almost anyone he met, wasn't just for his own gain or to feed his ego. Maybe, he did it to spark joy in others. Maybe, he genuinely enjoyed making people's days.
And this?
Putting himself out there for something that wasn't even his problem?
I was beginning to think I might have read him wrong at first, driven by my own misconceptions and first impressions.
Looks can be deceiving.
Of all people I should know this.
"Cara... you okay?" He repeats the question again, eyes darting between mine.
"Nothing I haven't dealt with before."
"You're shaking." He observes, not in a pitying way that would irritate me, but a curious observation about something he thinks I could need assistance with.
I glance down at my hand.
Fuck, I am shaking.
But, I don't even feel the brief twinge of surprise and panic that had convoluted into one from mere minutes ago. However, my body doesn't seem to get the message as fast as my mind does.
So, I continue to shake. I continue to tremble.
Leo continues to eye me curiously.
"Do you want me to help you in?" He inquires.
"I'm-"
I glance over at the building.
I don't want to go in yet.
Leo seems to read my thoughts, throwing out a spontaneous request.
"Do you want me to drive you around a bit?"
"I-" Why can't I fucking speak.
What is it about him that catches me off guard?
"Nothing weird. Just fresh air. Maybe it will help with the shaking. Help you forget and make your body relax."
My first instinct is to say no. To rebuke him for even asking.
But I know it's out of my own first judgment that I've been holding on to for so long. The one where I had painted him as a villain and clung to that belief, and had used it as an excuse to enforce my own steel fortresses.
So, it might just be time to let go.
***
"The babe was unnecessary."
I can't see his smirk from my position on the bike, but I can hear the breath of laughter Leo lets out after my comment.
My arms are firmly wrapped around him, clinging tight to his muscled body. Riding on the back of Leo's bike was supposed to be a way to relax, to clear my mind, but that proves to be harder and harder by the second.
Especially, with the way the warmth of his body seeps in through the arms I have wrapped around him. Or the way he maneuvers this thing like a maniac, forcing me to cling even tighter with each stride of his vehicle.
I think Leo says something else, but I can't quite decipher it. Not with the noise of the wind and the engine. And especially not through the helmet he forced me to let him get for me before we got onto the roads.
"Safety first," He had said, but it was a laughable notion that he cared about such.
It was more likely that he didn't want to get his head bit off if he got his brother's fiance killed or gravely injured before the wedding that everybody was oh-so excited for.
"Where are we going anyways?" I ask, head on a swivel as we zoom though the city streets.
"I don't know. I didn't think that far ahead because I didn't expect you to actually agree."
I shift in my shit, inching even closer as the light we had come to a stop at shifts to green once again and he propels forward, winding through concrete and cars as if the streets are his playground.
And the longer we rode, the more I reveled in the wind whipping at my skin, and the heat of him below my fingertips. The more I embraced the danger.
The danger of the ride. The danger of the speed. But most importantly, the danger of him.
What would happen if someone caught wind of me riding on the backseat of a motorcycle with him of all people? What would happen if this.... looked wrong?
But hey, perfectly platonic he had said.
So they could run their mouths, create versions of reality to suit them, but that wouldn't be enough to change the reality of the situation.
I wasn't doing anything wrong and neither was Leo. We were simply enjoying a ride around the city.
Soon, the city blurs into something else. Dark blue waves in the distance lapping against shorelines. Silverish grains of sand spread across the ground wide.
Men, women, and children wandering about like they had no troubles in this world. And at that moment, I felt completely at ease.
Like I didn't almost get kidnapped not too long ago by an untraceable source. Like I didn't have a disgruntled employee manhandle me in the parking lot of my own gym and had to be rescued by a man.
Like skipping work to go ride around the back of Leo's motorcycle wasn't one of the most reckless and impulsive things I've done in a long time. Simply because he was there when I was trembling and shaking from flashbacks.
My eyes move away from those lapping waves- the ones that were the same shade as his eyes and I glance back at the slopes of his shoulder blades outlined by the perfect fit of his shirt.
I knew I shouldn't, but the more I looked at them the more I imagined running my fingertips over them. Up and down. Slowly.
And then perhaps with my li-
That snaps me out of it, and I return to the waves in order to force myself to look anywhere but him. However, I don't get the chance to do that for long. Without bothering to say anything, he suddenly starts slowing down and pulling next to a spot that does not look like somewhere he should be parking in.
"You can't park there."
"I just did." He shrugs his shoulders as he turns and meets my gaze, forcing me to look into his eyes.
"Do you want to get a ticket?" I argue back- my serious tone contrasting greatly with his uncaring one.
He simply shrugs again, unseating himself from his bike slowly, which dislodges my hands from around his back.
He stands on his two feet, raising a hand out to me. I eye it with a mixture of confusion and curiosity.
Another thing about Leo that I was starting to understand was that despite his abrash nature and reckless endangerment, he was.... A gentleman of sorts. I saw it in the way he always rushed in to assist whenever he thought it was needed.
The way he would trip over his own two feet to hold a door open, ask people to wait for everyone before eating, and even now with his hand held out to help me down from his bike.
My hand moves on its own at first, instinctively inching towards his hand like it has the right to do so. But I stop, hovering mid-air. And then I yank it away and back down to my side.
"I'm kind of disappointed that you didn't let me play the prince charming role," he sarcastically quips as I proceed to let myself off of the bike without his help.
"I didn't need it." I deadpan, eyes scanning off to the side, watching the dark waves looming in the distance.
"Never said you did." He drags the words out, forcing me to savor each word like it's gospel.
I glance back at him with an eyeroll as my lips slightly curl at the corners.
His eyes glance down at the gestures, like he's storing it away for his memory.
"What's the plan now?" I ask, tilting my head to the side, hairs falling out of the loose messy bun at the top of my head.
I tug at it, removing the scrunchie and letting my red waves all come tumbling out. Leo scans it intently, eyes darting around like he's tracing every strand of ginger locks and how each of them lands on my shoulders.
"We walk around, get some fresh air." He finally takes his eyes away from my hair before landing back on my eyes again, burning with an intensity that I can feel seeping into my veins.
"Come on."
And that I do. Leo begins to stride across the sidewalk and I pick up my own feet, moving alongside him in placidness. Then, we just walk like that for a while, two people who had ditched their plans for the day and somehow ended up in the company of each other, strolling along the beach in perfect calm.
His hand swings beside him as he moves and for a brief second I feel the accidental touch of our pinkies brushing against one another. I don't hesitate to pull my hand away, but that doesn't rid myself of the tingling sensation that the touch left behind.
"This is my favorite view of the beach from down here." Leo breaks the silence and pauses in place.
"There's just something about the way the water looks from this direction. How the sun reflects against it."
"Mhhm." I nod along quietly as I also stop to take in the view.
He wasn't wrong about the beauty of the view. The sun rains down on the ocean waves, creating a bright pathway in the middle of the water that looks like it had been made up of liquid gold.
"You must go here a lot then," I remark, continuing to take in the ocean.
"We used to do it a lot when we were younger." He smiles fondly. "Me and my mother."
Then he clears his throat briefly before continuing.
"Carlo had all those dinners and meetings, but me and my mother- we would just go to the beach all the time."
"You never went to those?" I inquire, looking at him closely, at his side view carved in the sun's rays.
"Nope," he says flatly, a simple indication of the questioning being over, but my mind still swirls in curiosity, sensing the loaded nature of the word.
"What about you, do you come here often?"
"Not really. I've never been a huge beach person. The sand, the dirty water...." I trail off. "Yeah, you get the point."
He smiles at that- mocking and humored. "It's all beneath you, isn't it? You're too good for the beach. You probably need your own pool with artificial sand and purified water."
I narrow my eyes at him before looking away with a scoff.
"I take that as a yes." Triumph rings through his voice.
"Mmhmm there's this place here with the best desserts," he adds off-handedly.
I don't reply to either statements, eyes still glued to the water before darting back to his face.
And from this up-close and from the way the sun hits all the angles and carvings of his face just right, one would be lying if they were to say there were any flaws. In fact, he was objectively attractive.
I tear my eyes away before I get caught staring too long. Before my mind starts wandering places that it has no places being in when it comes to this man.
Fiance's brother.
I keep reminding it to myself, even as he begins walking again and I'm following along like a loyal companion. Even as we wind into the area with shops and restaurants. And even as we're approaching some dessert shop.
"I guess you're not getting anything, huh?" He correctly assumes, as he glances next to him while we approach the window.
"You guessed correctly."
A smirk tugs at his lips with a brief head shake before he makes it all the way inside the shop. Various pastries, cakes, muffins, and even some cookies are all in some glass display box. Then to the right of it, sits a cashier who looks very un-sweet for a place with this many sweets in it.
Leo ignores all the items that say things such as lemon-crusted, blueberry-infused, peanut-butter-delight, and all the other interesting titles denoting the options in here. Instead, he opts for a singular chocolate chip cookie.
"Last chance," he calls out to me as the woman at front rings up the item he had chosen.
"Don't need it," I reply curtly.
"You know, one of these days.... I'm going to get you to indulge in dessert. Mark my words," he declares as he finally pays for the item.
"Never in your wildest dreams."
"Sure." He quirks a brow.
I don't reply, watching as he pulls out a chair at one of the small white tables in the middle of the shop.
"You going to sit?" He asks, brows furrowing. "Or, are you just going to look at me all day?"
"Don't flatter yourself." I make my way into the chair. "You were just conveniently in my field of vision."
"Oh yeah?" He snickers, staring at me so intensely that I want to pluck his eyeballs out.
"Leo, we discussed this already," I admonish as his gaze continues to linger.
"Discussed what?"
"About the staring. It's rude," I explain, arms crossing in front of me.
"I'm not staring, you're just in my field of vision." He throws my own words back to me.
"You know what, how about you just shut up and eat your stupid cookie already."
"What did the cookie ever do to you?" He says before lifting it to his mouth and taking his first bite, a look of pure contentment washing over his face as he sinks his teeth into it.
"Nothing. Just a personal choice."
"When did you start doing this?" He asks eventually, after a few bites into the cookie. "This whole... avoiding good food thing?"
"For your information, I eat a lot of good food. But, I reduced the amount of junk I eat about 9 years ago when I first started getting heavy into my fitness journey."
"So, you still have a cheat meal about once in a while, right?" He perks up, disbelief evident in his face.
"It's been about 6 months."
"I don't understand why anyone would torture themselves that way," he remarks, voice raising in a way that's starting to infringe on embarrassing.
"I'm not tortured. I'm disciplined. Let's stop talking about me, though."
"So... you want to talk about me then?" He perks up, a smirk tugging at his lips.
I let out a long, exhausted breath.
"Sure."
"What do you want to know?" He asks, something playful in his features.
"Ummmm...."
And then he just stares, eyes honing in on my own as I stammer. Truth is, there was a lot I could think to ask, but I couldn't settle on what. And about half of them related to the family business that it didn't take a genius to conclude shouldn't be talked about in public like this.
"This was the place you were talking about earlier, right?"
"Mhhm." He mumbles through his cookie.
"But all those options, and you chose a chocolate-chip cookie?"
"I thought you didn't care for sweets." He lowers his head to spare me a pointed look. "But I mean sometimes simple is good. I don't need to try all that fancy shit in there when I can have a good old chocolate-chip cookie that I know will come out right."
"Okay..."
He leans in across the table and I mirror the movement.
"What?" He says, barely above a whisper.
And then we're so close that our noses are almost touching, and his breath is skating over my own.
We stay there for a bit, both staring at each other- unblinking, unmoving as we remained leaned over the table.
"Umm..."
"I- about the other day." I finally cut through the silence. "Thank you. For... helping."
But then, a loud ring erupts through the air, breaking up the moment. Leo doesn't move away at first, eyes still locked on me in unbothered nature. However, he moves when I move, sinking back into his seat as I reach into my purse and glance at the caller ID.
Fuck.
"Cara, my men says you just ditched them?? Do you understand what is on the line, right now? What could have happened??" My father's voice barks out over the line-shrill, anxious, and without a breather.
He hadn't even bothered with a hello before lecturing me over the phone.
"Seriously, stop with the invincible act. It's getting real old."
I rub a hand at my temple. Then, I let out a loud sigh, but I'm not sure if it permeates through my dad's ramblings over the phone.
"I'm just-"
"Yes, I called security. They said you left with Leo! For fuck's safe Cara, you're supposed to have people following you at all time!"
Leo's eyes remain glued on me during this whole interaction, watching the phone call like it's a required piece of media.
"Fine. Sorry." I roll my eyes.
"And don't you hang-"
I hang up.
It silences my father's rants, and clears the air of his complaints, but sours the overall decent mood I had been in.
"Well, you're welcome." Leo doesn't waste a second once I've ended the phone call.
I nod once, twice. And then he's ending the silence once again.
"That call didn't sound too positive."
"That's a really smart inference. Let me call Einstein."
"Or-" Leo's response is cut off by a furrow of his brows- bothered and drawn in as he reaches into the pocket of his pants.
His phone.
He stares at the screen a moment longer than seems necessary, eyes lingering on the screen in true avoiding fashion as he types away hastily at the screen. But then eventually, he clicks on it and brings it up to his ear.
"Yes, I understand,"he says flatly, a frown marring his face.
"I was helping. Like I had just texted-"
He frowns as whoever is on the other end cuts off his next statement.
"I-Can I please just speak?"
"Okay..." He pauses for a moment, forehead crinkling. "I- they've been located?"
His face furrows in deep concentration as he absentmindedly nods along to whatever it is the other person on the line was saying.
"Alright. I'll be back as soon as possible."
And then he hangs up, turning into the Leo who isn't all sunshine and rainbows like I was used to, but more reserved and disappointed.
"Here, want the last bite?" He quirks a daring eyebrow at me, placing the rest of his cookie close to me.
I glance down at it, feeling hives break out on my skin at being so close to the treat that I definitely shouldn't be having.
"It's literally one bite. It won't kill you. But if it does, I give you permission to come back and haunt me for the rest of my life."
"Fine," I mutter before proceeding to grab what's barely more than a collection of a few crumbs out of his hand.
I chew the single bite slowly, like I'm trying to savor each crumb and morsel rather than get this over with. It's gooey and rich, reminding me of what I hadn't had in so long.
"Now that wasn't so bad, was it?" He smirks.
"It was... good. Thanks."
↜❦↝
This chapter was kind of simple, but I had sooo much fun writing this one. Ughhh it made me so giddy. Look at them getting along.
But on another note.... some shit is about to go down.
Also, not sure how far along my readers actually are, but if you are at this point, just wanted to thank you for reading this far. It means a lot :) Also, want to take the time to mention that next chapter might not be up for a bit as I am going to take some time to edit some parts of my outline.
Today's Q/A: What are some of your favorite Russian names?
Anyways, thank you readers! Please vote and don't be shy in the comment section :)