"I can't let you do that understand. It's too expensive don't you know. We can just wait on the car to be brought around later."
" I insist. I'm taking a cab out anyway even if you don't get the list. Have your list?"
"Alright," she conceded.
"Great. Just let me change."
The air outside was a bit cool but warmer than in Detroit. I ring the cab company for them to send over a cab and afterwards get dressed. I pull on a short, pleated skirt, navy blue leggings beneath and a burgundy top.
I shoved my feet into a pair of booties and grab my purse just as the cab pulled up.
"I've got this," I tell her when she tries to give me money to buy the groceries, "I'll see you later."
I kiss her on the cheek and get into the cab, asking the driver to drop me at Aldi's supermarket. When I ask if he could wait until I get the groceries, he advises me the meter would be running so I tell him he could go. I could call another cab when I'm ready.
Before going into the supermarket, I go over to a new clothes store I have never noticed before. I browse a bit deciding they do have some nice outfits but they were a little pricey.
As I no longer have a job and couldn't spend as much, I leave the store and stop at an ice cream shop next door. I have a caramel ice cream on a waffle cone while I stare through the glass enclosure at the people who go by.
Birmingham isn't like Detroit at all. It is smaller and not as many people going around. That's one of the things I like about Birmingham. Detroit tends to be crowded. There isn't much to do in Birmingham though which sucks for people who would want to settle here.
People around these parts do get crazy about college football though and several people around have something that displays Crimson Tide, the University of Alabama at Birmingham's football team.
After spending roughly fifteen minutes eating my waffle cone, and people-watching, I head on over to Aldi's. I insert a coin in the trolley to get it out of the stack and go inside the store. Though Maria gave me the list, I also buy some other items that I could use while I'm staying here.
The queue to cash is long and I have to wait a long time before I finally get to the cashier's desk. The supermarket is eco-friendly and only uses paperbacks that can be recycled. I pluck a couple from the pile and add them to the counter for the cashier to add to the list of groceries.
I pay with a hundred dollar bill which reminds me that I would need to watch my spending until I find a job.
I could always stay here in Alabama with Maria but that isn't fair plus we both have leases for that apartment so I couldn't saddle her with the responsibility alone. As soon as I get home I would start job hunting, I decide.
I push the trolley outside and retrieve my purse to call the cab company again. I'm such a dolt. I should have called them when I was standing in the line waiting for my turn to cash.
I startle when the phone is plucked from my hands.
"Hurry up!"
"Faster!"
A few dozen men in black suits rushed out of the exits, each one with an extremely serious face, as if they were going against a formidable enemy.
All the customers in the shop quickly made way for them, not knowing who could have caused such a commotion.
The leader of the men in suits frowned deeply, then suddenly turned and left as if he had suddenly thought of something.
Soon they reached inside the shop.
James Thomsons was standing in the shop, slowly blowing cigarette smoke out from his mouth.
"Boss hopes you can go back, she misses you very much," the leader respectfully addressed James as he stood about five steps behind him.
In front of other people, this leader was of high standing, and nobody dared to go against him.
But in front of this young man in front of him, he felt extremely lowly!
"she misses me?"
James turned slightly and there was a smirk on his face. "Does he miss my influence? Or my money?"
If someone else had said something like that, this leader would have despised him. How could the rich and powerful Thomson' family from the city of Tori to ever covet anybody else's power and money?
But the man in front of him was different.
He was the sole heir of the Thomson' family!
What made this leader even more shocked was that he was known as the War God of the East, with immense capabilities and jaw-dropping wealth!
James exhaled his last mouthful of smoke, " now has nothing to do with that man back." Emmy was much worried
She got up to leave.
"Don't send people after me anymore. Otherwise, I'll kill each one you send!"
Her terrifying murderous aura immediately wrapped itself around the leader.
James Thomson steps forward to Emmy.
"What the… "You! What are you doing here tell me?"
James is standing in front of me, my phone in his hand. He is smirking at me in that insufferable way of his.
"How foolish of you to think you could escape me so easily," he responds. "Foolish girl. Don't you know wherever you go, I'll find you?"
My heart skips a beat at his words and I couldn't deny the thrill that goes through my body. I am supposed to be pissed at him and I am but I'm also feeling triumphant that he has come after me.
I was right after all. Now to figure out what it means that James would travel all the way from Detroit to find an employee who doesn't want to be found.
Before I can finish my thought, a car drives up and two men step out from the front. What the hell! They look like bodyguards.
"Why are you here?" I ask him but he ignores my question. He opens the car door for me.
"Get in."
The men move towards the trolley and ignoring my protests, load my groceries into the back of the Jaguar.
"Don't let me repeat myself, Emmy," he says to me with a sharp voice. "You're already in big trouble with me. Don't make it worse. Get in or do you want me to kidnap you. Is that what floats your boat?"
I get it into the car, sliding over to the far corner to avoid him as he gets into the vehicle beside me. The two men who are with him, occupy the front seats.
I stare at James when he rattles off the address to Maria's house. How does he even know?
The drive to Maria's continues on in awkward. Why doesn't he say anything? What is he waiting on to blast me with how much he is going to sue me for abandoning my contract? Perhaps he has a summons for me to appear in court for assaulting his security guard.
I glance surreptitiously at him from the corner of my eye. He seems quite unperturbed, very sure of himself and it scares me because I can't read his mind. I don't have a clue what he is thinking or what he will do when we get to our destination.
"Why are—" I try to ask him what he is doing here but the look he gives me, has me swallowing my words. So this is how it's going to be. The ball is in his court and I'll have to go ahead with his leave.
Even though he isn't at the office, he is dressed in dark blue trousers and a dress shirt. I am not sure this man ever dresses down. I couldn't quite picture him wearing a simple pair of jeans and a T-shirt.
At least he doesn't have a tie on and had left his jacket. Unfortunately for me, the close-fitting shirt reminds me of how well-defined his chest is and plunge me into the memory of the morning I'd tried to hand in my resignation letter.
I am appalled that the memory is causing me to get wet. I am confused about why this man who I feel threatened by can have such a profound effect on me and my senses. The smell of him, that same woodsy, earthy smell floods my nostrils until I feel I am cloaked in his essence. It is quite disturbing.
When Maria's house looms in front of us, I am relieved we are here. Now the show can begin. He would either leave me alone or say what he has to say and leave me alone. Because one thing I am certain of.