Elaine
"How far?"
"Eighty-Six miles"
"What?" the brewing yawn freezes at his nonchalant utterance.
Eighty-Six miles away from home?I am so dead today, please let Diana be in a good mood when I arrive home late.
I sat up straight and frantically scan around, it was already getting dark. The sun bidding it's farewell, leaving behind the last trail of orange streak.
"And you thought it was better to let me sleep even after we reached the destination an hour ago?" I asked touching the side of my lips for any possible drool intervention. Thank god I was clean.
"You needed it" he says while leaning his back cozily on the seat, folding his hands across his chest, and watching me intently. Similar to the attentive way I do when I watch any geographical documentary with Benedict Cumberbatch as it's commentator.
Comparisons apart, his gaze was making me uncomfortable so I did the next best thing. I sneezed.
"Bless you"
I tried glaring at him, but my eyes burned, I squinted as another sneeze made It's presence felt.
"Bless you, once again" his calm voice was contrast to the amusement glimmering in his blue orbs. The car was bathed in the most beautiful radiant glow of orange-yellow sunset, making the golden spec across his iris appear more cordial. Which he is anything but, I reminded myself bitterly.
"Here" I stared at the tissue that he grabbed from the glove compartment, now in his outstretched hands. I took it since a running nose is not a pleasant feeling to be or be seen with it.
I blow my nose and blow a little more not even caring that I had an audience. It's not like he hasn't done it anyways. I was fine when I slept, what happen in an hour or so for so much mucous to make itself home inside me?.
"Ugh, I hate cold" I mutter, as I saw him shift on side, I saw him shrug his black jacket, probably designer off his shoulders. He peeled it off himself and offered it to me.
"Here"
"No thanks, I am fine" I croaked and sneezed again. Fate? Are you in hysterics? Am I being of your entertainment service? Glad I could be of help.
He rolled his eyes and wrapped the jacket around me from behind, fidgeting on my seat I let him. Afraid that i'll make more fool out of myself than I already had.
"Where are we?" I asked my eyes looking through the window towards a large black gate with a big fancy E written in cursive silver. Two guards wearing blue uniforms on either side, and high walls hiding the view behind with fences stretching longer and larger than the average life of a turtle, which is a lot.
"You can stop pressing your nose to the windows, we are going in there anyways" immediately I pulled away, I watched the smirk on his face and imagined a large ape mascot slapping it off him. but it was all in my head.
He drove towards the small booth like structure and handed the person inside who also wore a uniform, a card. With a curt nod he swiped it in some machine and handed it back. When we rolled down to the entrance the gate slowly yet dramatically slides on either side disappearing behind the stone walls, I had no time to admire the technical allurement as Alex sped past it in to a long driveway.
In an ample vicinity I could see the silhouette of a large building with multiple guards surrounding it comes to view, it was completely dark now and the large fields across either side of the drive way blinked the night lights on. The building itself illuminated and stood as a proud monument of pride.
Advertisements of Reebok, puma and anything that has to do with sports were highlighted on large screens.
"Sports club?" I breathed.
"You figured it out" he smiled, but it failed to reach his eyes. The more we neared the further he appeared stressed and uneasy. Drumming his fingers softly on the wheels or fiddling with the top button of his white shirt.
But I was too much in awe to contemplate the reason behind it as I rolled the window down looking at the freshly mowed grass and craftily trimmed trees,smelling it and dare I say enjoying it. This place was like no other sports club that would happily welcome any hipster or jock to run around. As the red fonts above the marble building with large United States flag states, ELITE. This place was contrived for people with Imperium , people like Alex White.
When we finally arrived I got out of the car and dumped the tissue on the generous bin waiting at the side of the bushes. I slip my hands into the jacket completely wearing it and pulling them closer to my body, it was cold.
I watched from the side as Alex threw the keys to the young valet, probably a little older than us in all black attire who gave us both a friendly smile.
Alex was the least bit bothered about the cold and his nerved hardly twitched over the abuse of dropping temperature.
He walked to the lobby as I followed him, doing a semicircle now and then, taking in the chandeliers and roof paintings and even my reflection at the marbles. What is this place? a freaking replica of the library of congress?.
Though I've read about the aura of such fascinating buildings , nothing prepared me to be in one. I felt like a Nemo in the territory of whales and sharks, but the weird part was, till now I hadn't seen anyone here besides us and the people who worked here.
Guess the only shark here for the time being is the guy in front of me talking to a receptionist, who basically blackmailed me to drag me into a crazy luxurious dimension.
"Lets go" he said walking towards me and with a gesture of hands he started to get into an elevator, he stood tall with his hands in his pockets, jaws clenched and a strained nerve on his head.
"Are you okay?" I asked tentatively, he nodded not even sparing me a glance.
He muttered a low curse under his breath and when i was about to ask him what it was. he did the unthinkable.
A gasp suddenly left my lips as he took hold of my wrist without a warning and pulled me closer to him. His grasp On my waist tightens when I struggle to put some distance between us..
The elevator halts mid flight when his other hand presses the red button to pause its movements.
"What are you doing?" i said still attempting to get away.
"Trying to live when I die every time I look at you, to know that you are hurting because of me" he leans his forehead head against mine while I close my eyes biting away a bad word. Our breaths shallow and his movements lazy as he gently cups my cheeks demanding me to look at him.
I do, I open my eyes to see his. Unmasked and raw, so much pain yet so much power. And not mine. He was offlimits. He was the forbidden chaos that will destroy me than I already am if I let him get too close to me, again.
"you mean nothing to me" the placid caress of his thumb on my cheeks halts as a look of pure hurt passes through his features.
"You are lying" he spits angrily.
"I am not, not after what you did" I look away on side only for him to knot his fingers within my hairs and gently tugging it till my face angles to his, so that he could pierce his gaze through my soul.
"You know why I did that, it was the only way I could keep you safe" he growls as I flinch a little. I want to scream at him, yell at him till his ear drums rings with frequencies. He can't decide what's good for me.
I never believed his brutally hurtful words when he said he played with my feelings. What he did was way more than anyone could've done for a girl who he was suspicious about. And the way I knew him and his actions before, I know it was the same cycle on repeat.
He will leave me when he thinks he's not worthy enough.
Ignore me till he realizes the mistake.
But this once I don't think I have enough heart or strength to forgive him.
"Keep me safe? Then why am I here with you?" weak, I almost fall apart when his hold on me was the only part keeping me stable.
"Because I can't"
"You can't what?"
"I can't stay away from you. You are like an addiction. Worse than smoking worse than drugs. But ironically it's you who made me better and I - I almost ruined you. You could've died that day and yet here I am, selfish enough to hold you in my arms and want you all for myself" his words were bitter, as if he accused himself of all the ills.
"Then fight it" I said slowly wishing he hadn't heard it when his grasp on me loosened and he took a step back.
He knows what i meant, fight it. the urges, his anger, his feelings. for me.
"I am." He takes a deep breath running his hands over his brown hairs. He avoids me when we step off the elevator, acting as if the events didn't happen at all. And I was used to it.
A buff man in a grey t-shirt and cargo pants notices us and grins widely at the sight of Alex. Though he looked like he was in his mid-thirties the closer inspection of crowsfeet wrinkling his smile symbolized that he was way past his forties.
Athletic people.
"Ah my boy, what brought you here after your experimental rendezvous with some small town? And who is this lovely young lady?" he did a manly hug, where he puffed his chest proudly and crossed his shoulders in an interlock with Alex. He looked so small compared to him.
"I live in the town now, it's not experimental and she's Elaine" he motioned towards me with a nod, holding my stare in his cold one's he added "a friend".
"A friend? And a girl? You never brought your guy friends here. There must be something special about her" he teased him to which Alex narrowed his eyes at him in warning. As the sole audience to this exchange i thought of the strange relationship between them.
As if sensing my confusion the man came to my aid "this was so rude of you to not introduce me to her. I am Denver, and an ex trainer of Mr. young white here." His sudden lapse of made up professional tone made it hard for me to take him seriously but when none of them reacted I asked.
"What kind of trainer?" I gave Alex once over, and since I did not witness a bulk of muscles as if he breaths on steroids like Denver then the gym training was out of the question.
"You haven't told her?" wide eyed the comical old man asked him to which he shrugged in response.
Tell me what?.
"Better luck showing off then" Denver smirked at us and gave him a card similar to the one he had given to the man in the security booth. Denver left us alone, wasn't he suppose to look after us or people here since it must be a part of his job?.
Alex pressed a number on code pad of the black lockers in the room and the door buzzed open.
"Why is this club so empty? I mean I haven't seen anyone else come or leave other than us"
He looked over his shoulders at me while sorting out something inside the dark end of the chamber.
"That's because this place closes at five and it's way past seven now"
"What? Then how come we are here. Don't tell me you rented this whole place or something" I asked confused and curious at the same time.
"What? no. why would I do that?" he turned frowning and a set of goggles in his hands.
I relaxed when-
"Why would I rent this place when my family owns it" adjusting a black cap on his head he looked at me. With my mouth still open I nodded processing the whole information.
"Okay, you wanted me to see this place or-
"No, not this place but something that I do here when I need to clear my head"
"I thought you weren't into sports" I recalled back to the time he was more than agreeing to skip school soccer matches.
"The one where you have to work on the terms of your teammates, yes. But I do enjoy the solo stuff" he grabbed a backpack from the locker and while swinging it onto his arms he winced. His features contorting into a look of pain.
The injured shoulder.
I took a step towards him offering my help.
"No, it's fine" i shook my head defeated, as he swiped the card over a grey iron door and a systematic voice asked for a password.
He pulled the heavy steel bar and we stepped on a dark room as the door closed behind us with a soft ding.
Suddenly a single blinding ray of light fell upon us, followed by another just few centimeters front of us. This pattern lasted till uncountable brilliantly high end recessed light brightened the vast room. The floor was black as were the walls. The only thing that was of other color was the symbol of circled black rings on a white board with the redpoint at the center.
Any last doubts I had about this solo sport of Alex vanished when the woman's robotic voice echoed above us.
Welcome to the shooting range.
***
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