"Monsters aren't born, they're created."
"Chloe, you're not needed today. Head on back," Ace ordered, his voice stern as he stood tall by the cash register, arms folded against his chest. Chloe shot him a glare before shuffling behind the counter.
"Hey, if anyone's not needed around here, it's you," she retorted under her breath, her gaze fixed on the floor.
Avoiding Ace's eyes was a tactic she'd mastered. She couldn't risk letting slip what she knew about his father. That was a Pandora's box she wasn't ready to open, not with the storm brewing in Ace's temper.
To her surprise, Ace trailed her as she made her way through the kitchen, heading towards the coat rack in the back. That was unusual.
"What's your deal? Quit tailing me," Chloe snapped, her tone sharp as she kept her back to him.
Ace remained silent, a stubborn set to his jaw. Typical. He never did give straight answers, did he?
She was quite upset with all the drama with Neil this morning and she did not want any of it with him right now, so she slipped off her rain-coat and hung it up on the coat rack along with her bag, and just about jumped a foot in the air when she turned around and came face to face with Ace.
"What do you want?" She repeated in a high-pitched voice.
Instead of answering, he pushed her and cornered her against the wall, "You know, I expected better of you, Chloe Sinclair," he said, his lips turned down in an inquisitive expression.
"What the hell are you talking about?" Chloe demanded.
"You're really gonna go there? You are really going to act all nervous and afraid around me like you're worried I'm going to suddenly murder you like my maniac grandfather because I look like him?"
Okay, so there was probably no excuse for what she did next, you would have thought that she would slap him upside the head for a preposterous remark- when it was absolutely ridiculous- but apparently her subconscious thought it would be a good idea to do something completely opposite to that.
So, for a very odd reason, she reached out and wrapped her arms around him, and hugged him as tightly as possible.
Expecting that he would throw her to the ground or start yelling, but he didn't. He froze against her, his arms hanging limply at his sides.
"You are an A- grade asshole, Arris Jonathan." She mumbled into his chest. "I would never do that to you, you don't deserve it."
Where the hell was this coming from?
Maybe from her heart, or maybe she needed a hug.
It was hard to say if he laughed or grunted at the same time at her words, but he asked:
"What are you doing?" His voice sounded strained.
"Hugging you, Arris Jonathan." Chloe answered, feeling completely awkward as she then asked, "The least you could do is hug me back already."
That time she was fairly certain he snorted out a derisive laugh. But much to her surprise, he actually wrapped his arms around her, albeit a bit hesitant, but he was still returning the hug.
It lasted for ten seconds maybe, when-
"Come on," he muttered after a few moments. "Don't you have any work?"
Well, wasn't this an off day for her today?
Letting him go, she said, "It's an off day for me, Arris Jonathan."
Rolling his black eyes, giving her a look, he asked, "You are enjoying it, don't you?"
Acting like she didn't know what he was talking about, raising her eyebrows, she asked, "What am I enjoying? Standing here with you or hugging-"
Giving her an unimpressed look, "Stop calling me that."
"What? I haven't called you anything."
Here, she played completely oblivious to the comments he was throwing at her and it pissed him off.
"If you repeat that name one more time, I'm going to throw you under Michael King's car and you'll be gone without any proof, do you understand?"
Attention everyone, the old Ace was back as she raised her hands in surrender, saying, "Sorry, sorry. Gosh! Dude, you don't have to be so elaborative about your threats."
Things were clearly already back to normal, which she supposed was not too bad, right?
Oh, who was she kidding? She wanted at least something to get from Ace, maybe a reaction, and she got a hell of a lot of that from him.
"Oh, and by the way? Mrs. Jonathan ordered me to tell you that you'll be doing the grocery shopping."
She stopped dead in her tracks, whirled around, and asked, "What? Why? I hate grocery shopping!"
Ace walked toward her, "She knows." Handing her the list, he left the room.
"But, why?! Hello!" And all her yelling went in vain.
.
.
After fifteen minutes, she found herself standing outside the grocery store, ready to shop for Gina's dinner. She pulled out the crumpled grocery list from her pocket and strolled into the store. Spotting the rows of carts, she picked one and rolled it along as she glanced at the list.
Her brows furrowed as she scanned the items. The first thing she needed was a dozen apples for a pie. Luckily, a bunch of them were already bagged up at a nearby fruit stand. She picked one up, giving them a thorough check before tossing them into her cart.
Next on the list were rhubarb, cranberry sauce, blueberries, strawberries, and blackberries. She made her way around, picking up each item as she went.
Then, a thought struck her. She needed something for herself too. With a determined nod, she steered her cart towards the beverage aisle, specifically for Tazo Brambleberry tea. Her grandfather's recipe demanded it.
It took her a bit of searching, but finally, she spotted the tea section. A small victory danced in her chest as she grabbed the box.
"Good choice."
The unexpected voice made her jump, almost causing her to drop the tea. She spun around to find a familiar face—someone she'd just met earlier that day—standing there, clad in a leather jacket and worn-out boots.