05

« Miss ? You can’t be here without shoes, » a saleswoman called.

I had had enough. I looked her in the eye and gave a frigid smile. « Well, if I had shoes, I wouldn’t be desperate enough to come here of all places. »

She wrinkled her nose, I guess she thought I was a hobo or something. I sighed and pulled out the wallet from my back pocket before she could kick me out and opened it in front of her.

« I suppose this should cover the expenses of any overpriced shoes you could possibly sell ? »

« Did you steal it ? » She asked.

« Does it really matter ? If I did I committed the crime, you just happened to have a good customer, » I reminded her.

She pursed her lips. She looked about my age, probably working here to earn extra cash for college, I could tip her generously. Arianna and the trust fund my parents left us more than covered our expenses, but I didn’t have access to them now and while I wanted to play good samaritan, that wouldn’t happen.

I didn’t know how how bad things were.

Once she fitted me with a scarlet pair that looked so ‘dope’ with the streak in my hair and the, I was more than happy to get out. Her fake enthusiasm and cheerfulness was choking.

I paid the exact amount and ran up the escalators to the food court. It was crowded as usual since it was nearing lunchtime. Seriously ? After the shit the universe has put me through, don’t I deserve a seat in the food court ?

« There’s a table there, but I guess we can share, » a rich voice said from next to me.

« Oh, hey, » I said turning around to the source.

Holy hell, this guy was hot, and from the way the girls turned around and giggled at him, it wasn’t just the hormones that were running around because of stress.

He was dressed almost completely in black. Black leather, and black jeans covered his tall frame that would have intimidated me on any other day. He definately had some foreign blood in him for sure, his skin was pale like most but his silken hair was dark as coal. His charcoal eyes also carried an almond tilt to them. Asian, he definitely had East Asian blood. His delicate, classically beautiful features and elegant frame hinted that much. The jacket didn’t suit him, it almost looked cheap on him.

There was something odd about this guy.

He said something.

« Excuse me ? » I asked.

He smiled, dimples showing. « I asked if you were okay with that ? »

I smiled back. No time for distractions, the guy is offering you a table. Take it.

« I’m too hungry to turn down that request, » I said.

« That’s great, » he said and moved towards the table he had spotted, I followed close behind.

« Whats your name ? » He asked.

« Penelope, » I lied.

Great job Kes, use the alias Hermione did in Deathly Hallows.

« You ? » I asked casually. I didn’t really care though. He was really stunning but I had enough on my mind.

« Kaito, » he said, « but you can call me Kai. Nice to meet you, Penelope. »

So either I was being unnecessarily paranoid or this gorgeous stranger might not be a good guy.

I’d like to think it was a coincidence, that I was over interpreting the circumstances like I tended to do (one of the curses of ADHD), but something didn’t fit.

Gorgeous stranger approaches a somewhat ragged looking girl in a food court who ran from mercenaries not ten minutes ago and implies that he knows she’s lying about her name. You can’t be too careful though.

« So, Kai, where are you from ? » I asked lightly.

« I’m half Japanese and half European, actually, » he said amicably.

« Do you speak Japanese ? » I asked with a smile.

« Hai, sodesu. »

« Wow ! » I said. Dangerous or not, this guy was definately fascinating. I couldn’t speak Hebrew to save my life. Wow. I was thinking about this guy’s linguistic abilities instead of planning.

Not that my plans worked. If they did, they were based on the expert principle of winging it.

He raised an ink black eyebrow. « Don’t you want to order something ? »

I smiled. « Of course, I’m going to get myself some pizza, you should probably sit here and make sure nobody takes our place. What do you want ? »

« Pizza is fine, » he smiled.

« Great ! » I nodded and walked off to the nearest pizza counter. He wasn’t getting up from the table anytime soon, that’s for sure, which meant I could take a moment and gathered what was left of my wits.

« What do you want ? » A curvy lady with a nose-ring asked at the counter.

« Two margarita slices and a bottle of water please, » I said curtly, handing over the cash. She piled the slices on a paper plate and handed them to me. Should I go back ? Kai, if that’s what his real name is, might be dangerous. But then again, was the risk worth a good lunch ? I needed the energy if I got out of this mess and managed to contact Ari.

No. This was a public place, if he did anything he would have to do it in front of at least a hundred witnesses. I was being unnecessarily paranoid. He could just be a nice guy who offered a seat.

I studied him carefully, he was typing away on a sleek black phone. Every action of his carried too much purpose, too much confidence. Maybe that’s what troubled me. But then again, people in general troubled me as Arianna loved to point out.

He looked up and caught me staring at him. He raised an eyebrow and I quickly looked away. He probably thought I was checking him out. I was, but not in the way he would expect.

I placed the pizza and water bottle on the table. « There was a queue, » I said quickly.

He looked over to the small line at the pizza counter. « I see. »

I decided not to say anything else and dig a deeper hole than I already had.

« Nice shoes, Penelope, » he said.

« Huh ? » I asked. Penelope ?

Crap ! Penelope was my alias !

« I just complimented you on your taste in shoes, » he said nonchalantly.

« Thank you, » I smiled. « I bought them today in a rush. »

« So what do you do ? » He asked.

« I’m a student, » I said honestly. « You ? »

« Just graduated, » he smiled.

« Nice, favourite subject ? » I asked.

« Human anatomy, » he grinned almost conspirationally. I sensed a double entendre in those words but decided not to dwell on it.