Love ~ Hate Relationship - Episode 18

I signal Rick as she steps out of the car, he immediately flanks her. Marie is our getaway incase shit hits the fan.

It's not as if I expect shit to hit the fan, my town is so remote it would be impossible for anybody to track us here but it's just a precautionary measure.

She's decked out in a sleeve of mine, how she manages to pull it off with a belt and her shoes is beyond me.

"Stay beside me at all times" I say, whispering in her ear, trying to blend in with the other shoppers.

"Whatever" She says, looking at a display of shoes behind a window.

I don't know why she's been pissy and touchy but I'm sure it has something to do with the cold water issue of today.

I don't take my eyes off her as she peruses the stands and I think back to this morning, when she looked at me with so much recognition, did I imagine that? Or was it true. 

Over the last nine years I've tried to forget about her, try to forget that nonsense emotion I felt that time but it had been hard, not when there was that pain in my chest reminding me of her every single step of the way. 

Now's not the time to think about how betrayed I felt that she does not remember me, Now's definitely not the time. 

"What do you think of this one?" She asks and I'm surprised she's even asking my opinion, she's lifting a dress shirt to her chest and I raise a brow. 

"Where do you expect to wear that to?" 

"Uh.. The house? You might never know when you need to go formal" 

"Darling girl, you are basically quarantined for the next foreseeable future, you won't be going any where" I say and she frowns, dropping the shirt. 

"Well, what do I get then? These stores don't sell what I buy" She says with no little amount of pride. 

Rico grins at me, hearing that, he's besotted with her, it's obvious. 

"Something much more reasonable" I say, pointing at a t-shirt and Jean. 

"You don't mean you expect me to wear a Jean" She says, clearly appalled. 

"Well, yes princess" She glares at me before grabbing the clothes. 

"Fine!" She says

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. I grab more pairs, handing it off to her. 

"Uh, I think one should be enough" she says, looking confused. 

"Do you have plans of doing laundry every day?" I ask. Not that I have plans of making her to any form of work, it's just amusing to see her riled up and red in the face, just like how her face flames in anger no. "Hell no!" 

"Then get more of those jeans and a sweater" I say, pointing at a hoodie. 

She glances at the cloth and me, "You don't mean you are going to allow me carry all this by myself" She says. 

"I'm your bodyguard princess, not your chauffeur" I say, smirking. 

"So, you aren't going to help me?" She asks her face disbelieving. 

I signal a store attendant who's been hovering by and he comes forward. 

"Oh, they have store attendants in stores like this?" She asks with more disbelief. 

I roll my eyes. 

"Of course, there are store attendants" I say. 

"Fascinating" She says before pointing around at more clothes. 

When we get t to the lingerie department she asks me to wait outside. 

"You can be rest assured that I don't see you in any way beside the fact that you are a job" I say, lying through my teeth, her face falls, almost immediately it comes back up. 

"Well, that is not the reason why I don't want you to come in with me" She says, crossing her hand, the store attendant looks between us. 

"I... I don't want you looking through my stuff and.." she says, stuttering. 

"Again miss Knight, I don't care about your underwear choice" I say, gritting my teeth, God does it make me a pervert that I want to know what she's going to get? 

Yeah, I think it's best if Rico goes with her,that doesn't mean I'm going to let him though. 

"Well, whatever" she says, flouncing in, I follow behind. 

Looking away as she pick out things, I don't have to see the things, it will be best if I don't envision her in them. 

When she hands the stuff off to the attendant I turn back at her squeal. 

"It's a limited Victoria Secret edition!! I didn't know they had this in stores like this!" she squeals and I look at the ropy thingy that's making her shout. 

"Do you want it?" I ask and she nods enthusiastically, I nod at the returning attendant and he nods, grabbing it off the rack. 

She squeals, almost twirling around, seeing her so happy makes me grin, Rico laughs from his position. 

She pulls me towards the attendant's register and I signal at Rico to wait, he does, I pull her to a stop there. 

"Ring everything up" I say and the attendant does. 

"I will pay you when we get back to the city" She says, I wave it off, handing the attendant my card. 

"You go with the clothes to the car, we will get groceries" I tell Rico who nods.

Sybil walks in front of me towards the exit and into the grocery shop nearby. 

We get everything we need, she bumps into a running kid as we begin to exit the store, the child starts crying. 

She kneels to his level, placing her hand on his shoulder. 

"I'm sorry little one" she says, I glance at the mother who smiles at me

"Do you want an ice-cream? Anything to make you stop crying, I'm sorry for hurting you" She says, real hurt in her voice. 

The kid nods and she beams, holding his hand to the nearest vending machine.. 

Watching her interaction with the child makes me frown, she's a natural, I tilt my head, wondering if this emotion she's portraying is real. 

Is she faking it? Is she being real. 

She walks back to me, beaming like a kid, an ice cream in her hand too. 

"Do you really not remember?" I ask, she freezes a step before continuing. 

"Sybil, look at me and tell you don't remember" I say. 

"What are you talking about Mr Gray?" she asks, her eyes on mine. 

"Sybil" 

"You must mistake me for someone else" she says, walking away. 

I grab her arms and the ice-cream falls. 

Her eyes are on it.. 

"Tell me the truth" I say, her eyes hooks on mine. 

"What do you want to hear? That I remember? They I remember fucking you up and you sniveling like a child in the rain? Those days are gone, like a said earlier, I'm a job, a job you have to get over okay? So.. I do not remember anything" She says, condescendingly. 

"You do remember" I say, quietly, her words comes back to me. 

She means what she said, that's how she saw me, a sniveling child in the rain. 

If I didn't believe that she meant her words nine years ago, I do now.

"Let's go" I say,Nodding towards the car.

"Yes,let's" 

AN

Thank you for reading, sorry again about the delay. 

I think I'm getting back on track. 

Thank you for your support.