"So he really came, huh?" June looked at Laura . It was a nice spring day and they went for a walk together in a park in her neighborhood .
During the day, it was very normal, there were kids playing around, people walking dogs or sitting on benches, but at night it was still not so safe.
Laura walked around once or twice and saw very shady people, although it was nothing she hadn't seen or experienced before so she wasn't really fazed by it.
"Yep, just two days ago, he just knocked on my door and invited himself for the coffee I promised," Laura nodded. Ezra visited her the other day and to say that she was surprised was an understatement because she thought he wouldn't see him until they'd bump into each other again.
"And?"
"Well, we chatted for an hour or so, he is really cool. We talked mostly about me though, I have a feeling that he doesn't really wanna talk about himself."
"All of us have some past we don't wanna talk about, you can relate to that more than anyone," June gave Laura a pointed look.
"But it is weird, from what you've told me about him so far, he seems normal, pretty much perfect but if we both know something, it is that no one is perfect, perfection is shady."
"Maybe he is just an introvert, we know nothing about him to judge him, some people just don't like talking about themselves," she shrugged.
"Say what you want, but I think there is something weird about him." "You haven't even met him!"
"Still, this neighborhood is full of strange people and criminals."
"He is not a criminal, trust me," Laura snorted:
"He just comes from a very shady neighborhood so I guess he feels good here instead of some good part of the city. Not everyone around here is weird, I have met some nice people, shop and restaurant owners and similar, everyone here is just living their lives like everyone else."
"I guess you're right," June nodded, slightly embarrassed that she was so judgemental.
Laura didn't say it out loud because she didn't want June to worry, but she had a feeling that her friend was onto something.
He has met all kinds of people in the past years and he could feel their vibe.
She doesn't think that Ezra was a bad person, but there was definitely something about him that he just couldn't pinpoint.
Maybe they had very similar past, she was the last person to judge, she has done some very questionable and not so legal things to get by before she got on his feet.
They continued walking, talking mostly about June 's job. He worked as an assistant in a luxurious boutique, which was one of the reasons why she usually gifted Laura designer clothes.
She was naturally outgoing and charming so her job was perfect for her, she liked talking to people.
They sat on a bench at the edge of the park just next to a smaller road. They were just making plans for the next weekend, agreeing that they could go clubbing and have some fun when Laura 's attention was drawn to the roaring of engines.
Few motorcycles appeared in the distance, riding on the road around them that led up the hill, towards the Hellhole.
Laura didn't pay much attention to them, looking back at June , but from the corner of his eye she still watched about six men in leather riding past them.
His eyes widened and she gasped as she looked behind June 's head.
"I think...you might have been right about Ezra after all," Laura stood up, watching the bikers disappearing in the distance.
She could have sworn that the man leading the small bike gang was his neighbor.
"Maybe he really is a bad boy," June smirked, turning around to where Laura was looking.
"I am not even sure it was him, maybe I imagined it because we just talked about him," Laura mumbled, sitting back down.
The truth was that he had no idea what he saw, the motorcycles passed by too quickly, it was just a flash of face that she thought looked familiar.
Was her mind just playing tricks on him or was there really some hidden side of Ezra She had no idea about?
Laura went to the corner store to pick up some snacks and beer when she spotted Ezra .
"Oh, hi, long time no see," she grinned. It hasn't really been a long time, it has been about a week since Ezra stopped by for a coffee, but it felt much longer because she was getting such good vibes from the man.
"Hi, how are you?" Ezra smiled, holding cereal and milk.
"I knew there was some hidden side of you," Laura teased.
"What do you mean?" the elder asked, utterly confused. Was it about cereal and milk?
"I didn't know you had a motorcycle, I saw you the other day with some little gang driving around the neighborhood ."
"You must have confused me with someone else," Ezra replied, gaze slightly hardened all of sudden as if implying that he was riding a bike deeply offended him.
"Well, I guess, I don't really know what I saw to be honest," Laura said slowly, taken aback by his reaction.
She knew nothing about the guy though, maybe he had some bad experience with bikers from when he lived up on the hill so being associated with them was truly offensive to him, so Laura just decided to drop it and apologize.
"Are you gonna stop by again? Gotta admit that I get bored easily," she said instead.
"I am actually leaving for a while in a few days ," Ezra revealed: "But I might manage to stop by before that?"
"Yeah, that would be great," the brunette nodded. She didn't try to ask where he was going, if he wanted to tell her, he would have and Laura didn't want to pry.
Ezra was quite cool and he was the only person that she knew around here so she didn't want to chase him away by being nosy.
To her surprise, Ezra really did come two days later.