5. You Don't Scare Me

"No it's totally fine, please come in,"

I stir from my slumber, only to awake with a pounding head ache and ferocious hunger.

"You have a very nice place, love," A deep voice says.

I sit up from my bed and look towards my door, where I see a shadow flicker beneath it. Oh no. Please don't tell me Rory invited them in. I'm barely fit to be around Rory, let alone two strangers who scare the shit out of me. Maybe if I just stay in my room and wait until they leave, I'll be fine...

"Bee, you awake?" My door bursts opening, exposing me to the early morning light. I hiss and close my eyes, scrunching my face like a vampire exposed to sun.

"What the hell!" I cry. "It's so early!"

The soft pad of footsteps approaching my bed, have me sitting up and rubbing my eyes. I still feel so exhausted, I could sleep for another ten hours and still want to stay in bed. Yesterday has sent me spiralling in a state of angst and stress, and I doubt it's going to dissipate anytime soon. "It's eleven o'clock." Rory laughs, pulling my duvet away and jumping onto the bed.

"Oh shit!" I yell, suddenly wide awake. "I have work in half an hour." Jumping out of bed, I scramble to the bathroom connected to my temporary bathroom and slam the door behind me, running to turn on the shower.

"Want me to make you some toast?" Rory yells through the door.

"Yes please!"

I swear I pass through the shower in record time, and get dressed into some blue washed jeans and a black shirt. Collecting my bag and putting on some perfume and deodorant, I run out of my door to the kitchen. It's then that I remember there are guests in the house. I awkwardly reach for the toast Rory had prepared and mumble a thanks before taking a seat at the kitchen island, opposite the two burly men.

"Hey," I say, trying to ignore the stares they're giving me. I take large bites of my toast and turn my attention down to the bench, not wanting to embarrass myself any further. It's as if these men live to judge people.

"Rough night or something?" I hear Alexei ask.

I shrug. "Something," I frown, suddenly feeling the weight of my phone in my bag.

"What happened?" Rory asks.

"Nothing big, just stressed... looking for a new place to stay." I come up with the first excuse I can find. Partly because I don't want her to worry about me, but also because I don't want the two strangers to know more about my life than necessary. Especially because it looks like they might have connections in places I don't want to think about.

"Please don't stress about that, you know that you are welcome to stay here for as long as you like." She gives me a soft smile and rubs my back. A warm sensation floods my chest. I don't know what I would do without this lovely soul.

Taking my last bite of toast, I stand from the chair and put my plate in the dishwasher. "Thanks Ro, it really does mean a lot."

"Anytime,"

I check my watch and notice I have ten minutes to get to work. I'm so screwed. It takes me at least fifteen minutes to walk there.

Seemingly noticing my distress, one of the men pipes up. The blonde one. "Need a lift?"

I look at him as I analyse whether or not I should just accept his offer. I might as well.

"If you could?"

"No worries, anything for a friend of Rory's."

"Best friend," She winks.

I smile and bid Rory and Alexei goodbye. It seems that they are spending the day together.

Once we are both in his expensive Porsche, he asks for the address and I explain to him. And the he starts the car and we are engulfed in an awkward silence. Maybe now is the perfect opportunity to get to know this man. Actually, while I think of it, I don't actually know his name. "What's your name?" I ask.

"Nikolai," He grunts.

"You and Alexei are from Russia?" He nods his head. "What are you guys doing here?"

"Business."

I guess Rory wasn't joking when she said he doesn't talk much. "Do you live in New York, or are you just here on a business trip?"

As we stop at a traffic light, he looks at me for a second, with a hard face. "Trip," He replies. I purse my lips and decide I'll try at getting to know him another time, he really doesn't seem in a talking mood at the moment.

When we reach the cafe, I wave goodbye and thank him for the ride only to get another grunt in return. So much for making friends.Luckily the ride paid off and I've arrived two minutes early. Just enough time to clock in and put my apron on. "You're walking a fine line," Ashton jokes as he sees me scrambling towards the back. "Have a last night?" I give him a face and wave him off.

"You know me, always out and partying."

He laughs as he goes on to serve a customer. Ashton and I have been working together at the cafe for two years now, both staring at the same time. I wouldn't exactly call him a friend - more of a nuisance - but I can't really tell the difference these days. He moved here on a scholarship to NYU from Beijing, so he didn't have many friends a the time, and neither did I, so we just kind of had to deal with each other. And I guess that somehow turned into friendship.

The day progresses at the rate of a snail, and my six hour shift suddenly feels like it has no end. I don't know why I agreed to take Andreas shift today. I mean, who wants to work on a Sunday, seriously?

"Seriously though, you look like you got hit by a truck." He says as he pours a cup of coffee.

"No, I'm fine. Just stressed out, and I'm pretty sure I have a paper due this week that I haven't started."

"Ah yes, I know the feeling,"

The bell to alert us of new customers rings, and I walk to the register to await their order, however my attention is still directed at Ashton. "Wanna grab drinks after closing? I heard there's a new bar around the corner."

"Yeah sure," He smiles, "I could use a drink."

I turn to the customer, my attention focused at that till, ready to input their order. "Hey, what can I get for you today?" I ask with my cheerful customer friend sly voice.

"Is he your boyfriend too?"

I feel my blood run cold at the familiar voice.

My eyes slowly rise to meet his, and a breach catches in my throat. His dark hair is swept back and styled to a t. He's wearing a navy suit that fits across his broad shoulders snugly and that sculpted granite face is staring at me with an expression I cannot quite decipher, but can get the gist of.

Leon  Camdon.

"No," I breathe, quickly shaking my head and my fluster away with it. I clear my throat. "No, um, what can I get for you?" I ask again, hoping he'll just place his order and then leave. I'm sure my face is beet red and I probably look like a scared little girl in front of the big bad wolf. Even the rest of the cafes inhabitants seem to notice the tension, or rather dominance and power radiating off of this man, and keep quiet in hopes not to disturb him.

"Large black coffee, no sugar." His voice is rough.

I nod my head. "Is that all?"

"Yes."

"And is that take away, or have here?" Please take away, please take away.

"Have here." Fuck me.

I give him a tight lipped smile. "That'll be three-fifty." He wordlessly insets his card and pays. "It'll be ready in a minute." I step away from he register and start preparing his drink.

I make it as fast as possible and then hand it off to Ashton to give to him. "Are you sure?" He asks. "That man looks like he wants to kill me."

We both look towards where he's seated, and instantly look away as we notice he's staring right at us. "Yeah, sorry. But I don't like feel like dying today."

I huff and pout at Ashton. "You suck."

He gives me a light nudge. "Go serve him before his vein pops."

I hold the cup with shaky hands and approach his table, placing it in front of him and getting ready to run away as soon as it's no longer in my hands. But before i have the chance,he grabs my wrist in a firm grip, pulling me back towards him. "Sit," he orders.

"I have to get back to work,"

He gives me a look, as if daring me to disobey him. A heat begins to pool between my thighs, and I curse my body for it's reaction to this entitled man.

"No," I say, trying to reach at whatever confidence I have left.

Luckily he doesn't seem to put up much of a fight,however he still doesn't let go of my wrist. He pulls me closer to him, until I'm bent down before him. A red flush fills my face at the position I'm in. To any customers it might just look like I'm bending down to hear him better - if only it were that simple.

"You are going to stop seeing my brother."

I look at him quizzically. "What?"

"You're going to cancel your dinner for tomorrow night with him." His words are laughable, but his expression is anything but.

"I'm not going to do that," I scoff.

"Yes you are." His face hardens.

"Why would I do that?"

"Because I am telling you to." He almost growls.

I snatch my hand out of his grip. I must look slightly feral, because his expression moulds to surprise before returning to cool disinterest. "You insult me, kiss me without my consent and expect me to do what you say? You're either extremely arrogant or you think I don't have a backbone. I will see your brother as many times as I want."

He suddenly stands from his seat, the chair pushing back with a loud screech. I taken an involuntary step backwards and he takes one forward in response. "I may not be able to stop you from seeing him, but if I catch you with him, you will regret it."

I narrow my eyes. "You don't scare me."

Only one person truly does.

He completely ignores me. "You wont go out and get drinks with that guy either. You're going to go straight home to your friends house, and the you're going to cancel plans with Holland and tell him you're sorry, but you can't see him anymore."

I take a deep breath and take a step closer to him, whispering into his ear, "fuck. You."

I turn around and head straight for the storage room, needing a second to process everything that just happened. I don't look back.

By the time I return to the register, Leon is gone and his coffee cup remains full on his table. Did he come here just to threaten me? Why is he so against me seeing his brother? And how the hell does he know that I'm staying with Rory?

"Still on for tonight?" I ask Ashton, hoping I'll at least be able to drink away me worries.

He tenses.

He doesn't even look at me. "Sorry, I just remembered I have plans."

###

Unedited

Ooooooo, Leon is getting a bit intense...

Random question of the day:

What is your favourite TV show? Mine is currently Heartbreak High, like it is sooooo good!

Love ya'll!

-FoggyCloudyWords

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