“It’s a fucking dumpster fire,” I hissed. “Working withLeo?OnJoon’scase?! This is nightmare fuel at its finest. I can’t survive this; I literally cannot do it?—”
Minnie raised a hand, and she returned to the normal, firm-set face she used whenever she tried to disrupt my whirlwind of thoughts. “Alex, you can do anything you put your mind to. I can say that because it isn’t alie. Will it be uncomfortable? Yes. Is it the best idea? I’m not sure yet. What we do know, is that unfortunately, you don’t have a choice. The VIA has been giving me the runaround with your paperwork, and at this point, it looks like we’ll just have to move forward. Try to keep to your normal routine, outside of whatever orders you're given, and…well, try to get answers. Leo knows what happened; it could give you some closure if you both talk about it. Find a common ground with each other.”
I threw up my hands. “He’s impossible to talk to! All we do is fight?—”
“Who started it?” A smirk chipped onto her face.
“What?”
“Who starts the arguments?”
I paused; the question threw me off. Leo did; he always did—or that’s what I’d assumed, anyway. The more I thought about it, the more my shoulders began to sag.
“He used to start it,” I admitted finally.
“And now?” she pushed, her smile growing.
I rolled my eyes. “We’re both at fault, I guess. I don’t know what he’s like now; I just assumed…”
“That he was the same?” Minnie leaned her chin on her hand, as if she were listening to some hot gossip rather than my life imploding. “Give him a chance, Alex. People change. If he hasn’t, then you finish the mission, and you’re free from the VIA forever. If not… well, maybe you’ve found a new friend. Someone to bond with, who knew Joon and grieved the loss, too.”
I audibly gagged, and Minnie snickered.
“Just do your best to give him some breathing room. I’m sure he’s had his own struggles, too. Let him find his footing with you, but hold to your boundaries.”
It had beenone week since I’d heard from Leo or the VIA, and I started to hope that maybe, somehow, they’d forgotten about me. I went about my business as usual; working endless hours at the hospital to try to distract myself. Doctor B even set upmy own cot in an on-call room. The VIA would collect me when I was needed; they always did. At least they’d have to work a bit harder than showing up at my apartment. The bastards still hadn’t reimbursed me for Reed breaking down the door.
But in the brief times where I could lay down, when I managed to breathe, I thought about Joon. I kept questioning myself, and coming up without answers. Was it the right move quitting Hero work? Did it actually benefit me by refusing to learn the details? Was I a coward, or was I protecting myself?
Doctor B’s rambling served as a backdrop to my existential crisis. It was impossible to slip into despair beside a middle aged man wearing a polka dot bowtie and bright orange Crocs. His cheeks turned rosy as he grinned and spread his arms wide, as if we were admiring an art gallery, instead of a parking garage.
The old motor oil smell was almost welcomed after being surrounded by harsh antiseptic for twenty-two hours.Drowning my sorrows with work seemed like a good idea, until Doctor B demanded I ‘get out of this hospital and get a hobby, immediately’. I hadn’t taken him seriously until the maintenance guys carried my cot out of the on-call room.
Everyone has to meddle in my life.
“Oh,you’ll be excited to hear about the new funding we got,” he chirped. “Honestly, Alex, we could take you on full time if you were ever interested. I’d be making your schedule, of course — no more of this work till-you-die nonsense; it’s terrible for your heart. The pay would be good, better than it is now, and you’d have something consistent to work with. You’re a star, you know; nobody can do what you do. There’s something special about the work.”
Doctor B’s voice faded out as I spotted my bike and froze. Leo leaned against it with a cigarette settled in his mouth, hands shoved inside his pockets as he stared at a cement pillar. His light, half damp hair was slicked back from his face for once, asif he’d actually given a damn. There was a crease to his brow as his jaw flexed, and a black t-shirt stretched across his shoulders as he rolled them. I hated to admit it, but if I didn’t know him, he’d be hot.
Stupid, hot bastard, and your stupid hot body, sitting on my fucking bike like you own it,I started to seethe, and Minnie’s words floated back into my mind.Give him a chance.
Dark eyes flickered to mine, holding me still as Leo locked onto his target—me. I knew that intensity, the way his gaze would threaten to sear someone without even lifting a finger. My blood heated as his attention swept to Doctor B, and his eyes started to glow red. A vein appeared on his forehead as his lips pulled away from his teeth with a scowl.
My stomach plummeted.Oh, here we go.
“Oh, is that a friend?” Doctor B put a gentle hand on my shoulder, grinning from ear to ear. “I’ve always thought you were a loner; it’s good to have company. Maybe he can talk you out of the whole motorcycle situation. It makes me nervous, you know.”
I sighed, and Leo remained rigid, scanning my boss like prey. How was it possible to get along with someone who emanated hatred? If it weren’t for Joon, I’d think there wasn’t a soul in the world that he liked.
“Are you sure about this? Partnering with him…would he even have your back?” I asked.
Joon grinned. “Don’t get all nervous on me, Little Dreamer. He’s not as self centered as you’d think.”
My eyes rolled; as much as Joon warned me about Leo, he was always the first to defend him. It never made sense.
“What makes you say that?”
He huffed a laugh. “Because he asked me the same thing. Selfish people don’t normally check to make sure others are comfortable, do they?”
