Chapter Text
The rest of the night felt like it dragged on longer than usual.
Having the ring in my pocket made me feel like that one fairy tale about the princess and the pea. It felt heavy in my pocket, and its presence seemed to burn itself right into my thigh, and the desire to take it out constantly hung in the forefront of my mind. Whether it was to satiate the itch to look it over and admire it, or simply alleviate the tension building up where it sat—I’m not sure, but it was killing me.
When the end of Matt and I’s shift finally came and Nogla, our janitor, had wandered in to do his job, Grizzy had given us the okay to leave. It took some real effort not to jump onto the computer to clock myself out without making myself suspicious.
“You wanna grab some Taco Bell with me? I don’t feel like making anything at home,” Matt asks as I tap myself out of the system.
At first, I almost said yes on instinct. But then, I remembered the ring still sitting idle in my pocket and almost said no. Though, as eager as I was to finally get a look at it, the thought of eating something after the night I just had was too badly tempting to pass up. “Sure. I don’t think I’ll stick around for long, though. I’m pretty tired.”
“Oh, same. Don’t worry.”
Once the computer said I was off the clock, we both rounded the bar and headed for the backrooms, where all of our stuff was. As Matt went to swing on his jacket, I quickly untucked the ends of my shirt from my pants, pulling it down and sighing as it eased the restriction it had on me.
“I don’t understand how you can tolerate how this sh*t feels on you,” I grumbled, beginning to unbutton my vest. Despite Matt always arriving with his uniform on in a haphazard manner, he never had a problem with wearing formal attire like I did.
“Dude—it’s just like any other shirt?”
“No, the f*ck, it is not.”
“Whatever. Just hurry up, I want a burrito.”
“Then go? I’ll meet up with you there.”
“No.”
With my vest unbuttoned, and my tie loosened, I grabbed my own jacket and simply walked out with everything in hand, with Matt close behind. “So, what’s the plan? We both just meet up at Taco Bell and head inside together?” I asked once we were finally out the door. The cool air felt like a blessing compared to how hot and humid it got inside.
“Sure? I kinda felt like eatin' outside, though.”
“I don’t mind, but I’m not gonna spend the whole night chilling with you eating Taco Bell.”
“What? Why not?” Matt whined, his face twisting into his usual sad puppy-dog expression that has never once worked on me.
“Because I’m tired, and I have a dog at home that I kinda wanna sleep with right now.”
“That’s weird, man. You f*ck your dog?”
“I hate you.” Without sparing him another word, I walked off towards my car, only giving him a half-assed wave when he shouted about meeting up at Taco Bell. Once I was around the corner and out of sight, I started to pick up the pace, still all too aware of the ring in my damn pocket. I found myself sticking my hand in my pocket just to feel the cold metal against my fingers, reminding me that it was still there and still very much real .
Getting to my car couldn’t take me long enough. Even though the parking lot was pretty much deserted at this hour, save for the few of us employees only now getting off, it seemed like the trek to my G-wagon felt like a mile-long hike. The lack of anything did make finding my car easy, and I pretty much ran and hopped in as fast as I could, locking myself in and tossing my stuff on the passenger side before turning the car on to use the light.
Now I can look at the ring. Under proper lighting, it was a shiny silver band, and all around the outside were these red jewels dotting the circumference. Every single gem had its own design engraved into the ring, with various dashes, lines, and dots creating a new look. On the inside of the ring were tiny little dots behind each gem, probably how the maker was able to indicate where to place them.
I truthfully couldn’t remember Kryoz slipping his ring into the drink, but to be fair, he had turned away from me, and I was deliberately trying to ignore him by busying myself with cleaning dishes. I also didn’t pay any attention to what kind of rings he had on—I just know he had a lot, and that some had large, bulky stones while others had some sort of stamp.
However, now came the question.
Why did he give me this? And what the hell was I supposed to do with this thing?
No way was I going to start wearing it like it was some sappy wedding band or a promise ring. I don’t wear rings, not even during special occasions, and if Matt knew where this came from, he’d melt it out of existence. If Puffer noticed me wearing it, he might recognize it, and I’d never hear the end of it. And I don’t even want to know how Grizzy would react. Honestly, all of this has repainted my vision of Grizzy for me, and I’m almost worried about how Matt is handling it. Curiously, though, I did try the ring on a few of my fingers. I’m not sure which finger Kryoz had this on, but it fits most of mine, so he clearly has thicker fingers than I do.
‘Nope. Not thinking about that,’ I shut down that thought nearly as fast as it had come up. With not much else to do, I dropped the ring into the small pocket on my car door and flicked the light off before fully turning on my car. The clock read 3 AM. I was ready to take off, if only to avoid the inevitable wrath of a hungry Matt, but after tugging at my tie for what felt like the umpteenth time, I decided right then and there that he could wait a little longer while I changed my shirt.
I slid my tie off along with my vest in a matter of seconds, dropping them onto the seat beside me, and then I reached into the back and felt along the floor until my hand came in contact with what I was looking for. Bringing it over, it was a plain, soft orange hoodie with white drawstrings for the hood. For a moment, I contemplated if I should keep the button-up on or not, but I never cared for formal attire, and wearing it under a hoodie just didn’t sit right with me, so I quickly unbuttoned that and tossed it aside, too, before finally slipping into my hoodie.
“Alright, Matt. Let’s get you your damn burrito,” I muttered to myself, buckling up and pulling out of the driveway.
Looping around the lot, I noticed his C63 was already gone. There was no use in making him wait for me, so I pulled out onto the road and drove down the street to Taco Bell, thankfully hitting most of the green lights. The trip from work to the restaurant wasn’t very long, especially since not many people were on the road at this hour and, again, I got most of the green lights, so in no time at all, I was pulling into a different parking lot and parking next to Matt.
“You sure took your time!” Matt shouts the second I hop out of my car.
“Piss off, you probably floored every red light.”
“Did you change your f*cking clothes?”
“Don’t dodge the question.”
“Let’s just go.” The fact that he didn’t argue otherwise was almost concerning, but since it was Matt , I just let it be. The store was practically empty, with only one dude behind the counter who, surprisingly enough, didn’t look as tired as he should be at this hour. Matt ordered his burrito and drink immediately, paying and walking off to fill his cup before it was my turn. Only getting a hard-shell taco and drink, I filled my cup before we both silently stood to the side, waiting. “Do you think he’s the only guy here?” Matt suddenly asks, leaning in close to not have the guy overhear him.
I shrugged. “I dunno. I kinda hope he has a buddy in the kitchen, though.”
“I think it’s just him.”
“Might be. Not like it’s busy, though.”
Finally, we got our food. Instead of sitting inside the vacant lobby in awkward silence with the worker, we took our meals to one of the tables outside in the fresh air. Matt didn’t waste a second chowing down on his burrito, nearly inhaling the thing at an alarming rate.
“Dude, chill! No one’s taking it from you!”
The look he gives me would’ve been threatening if there weren’t lettuce and meat sticking to his beard. “I’ll savor the second one, I need this,” he fumbles out with his mouth full. It was gross and sloppy, and all over the place, and I had to look away before I gagged.
“Please tell me you at least grabbed napkins.”
“Don’t they come in the bag?”
“Jesus Christ, man.”
For a while, we sat and ate in silence. Matt did pace himself on his second burrito, ( I didn't even know he got a second one ), and he blankly scrolled through his phone while I gradually worked through my taco.
I couldn’t stop thinking about the ring. I couldn’t stop thinking about Kryoz . But what I especially couldn’t get out of my head was how Matt acted. As I’ve mentioned, he’s gotten protective and assertive before, but this was different. Something about the way he willingly got face-to-face with a literal mafia member and stood his ground was…
Well, it felt personal.
I couldn’t unsee it. How quickly he had been to eagerly get him out, how fast he had pulled me away the second Kryoz touched me, and how purely pissed he looked when he found out there was no way of getting rid of him.
“Okay, I can’t keep putting this off—what beef do you have with the mafia?”
“God f*cking dammit, I was hoping you would.” The way he dropped his phone onto the table and slammed his fist into it was comical. Not enough to deviate me from my thoughts, though.
“Spill, Matt.”
“No, don’t worry about it! It doesn’t involve you, anyway,” and he quickly takes a large bite out of his food, intent on not speaking a word. Like that’s ever worked.
“Matt.” He stubbornly doesn’t look at me. “I just had a member of the mafia flirt with me during work hours. And while you may have threatened him to his face and kicked him out, and while he may have left, I highly f*cking doubt that’s the end of it.” I could see the way the words slowly worked their way into his head. His chewing slows down, and his eyes begin to lose their focus. “This involves me, whether you like it or not. So at the very least—tell me what I should know.”
Finally, he looks at me. There almost appears to be a literal battle going on in Matt, tearing himself apart while he figures out what he should do or say. And then, there’s the defeat, if the way his body deflates and he drops his burrito like he lost his appetite was an indication.
“I’m not talking about this outside of a Taco Bell at three in the morning.”
“Then shall we discuss in the car?”
His face twisted into a miffed expression. “I’m too f*cking tired for this, man!”
“That’s why I’m asking now.”
Matt just sighs and wipes his face off with a napkin I had gotten him shortly before. “ I f*ckin’ —I won’t get into details right now, but…” he quickly surveys the area, making sure no one else is present to hear us, and even checks the building for cameras or the one guy, before leaning over the table towards me. I sat up and leaned over, too, until I could smell the stupid sour cream on his breath. “ You know the gang, right? ” he whispers.
“ Your Gøøns gang? ”
“ Yeah. We had a run-in with some of them, and Kryoz was one of them. ”
Oh.
Oh .
Dots were connecting. Long before we both moved out of Canada, he had befriended some guys online who all engaged in some legally questionable stuff. They had talked about wanting to start a gang, and when we finally flew down here, they pretty much started day one, and it’s been ongoing ever since.
Though, I couldn’t help but wonder. “ What happened? ”
“ We were stealing some sh*t, and they— ”
“ And you didn’t take me with? ”
“ Piss of. They side-lined us and almost got Soup killed! ”
Now the rage made sense. It was personal. Matt absolutely had beef with the mafia, as I had suspected, and it appeared that just the mere presence of one of them had set him off. “ Was Kryoz the one who almost killed him? ”
Matt shook my head, and I ignored the relief it brought me. “ No, but he certainly didn’t help .”
“ Do you think he recognized you at the bar? From the attack? ”
“ Honestly? I’d be very surprised if he didn’t. ”
Finally, I sat back down in my seat, feeling far too sensitive to gravity pulling me down. Maybe all this excitement from today was finally catching up to me because I suddenly felt exhausted.
“Jesus—yeah, I’m definitely going to be asking more in the future, but I might just call it a night.”
Matt still didn’t look happy, but he at least wasn’t as peeved as he had been, earlier. “Whatever. Just be careful, man.”
Packing up my stuff and eating the rest of my taco, I tossed everything into the trash and made my way back to my car, bidding Matt goodnight. By now, it was almost four in the morning, and that made fatigue weigh heavy on me. Shutting the door, I heard something rattle and looked to see what it was.
The ring. Right.
Seriously, though—why did Kryoz give me this thing?
I thought about it the entire car ride home. It slid around and clattered at every turn and break the whole time, and it drove me insane. What purpose did Kryoz have, leaving this in his drink for me? Not to mention how risky that might have been, because what if I hadn’t been the one to dump it? What if Matt had taken it instead and saw it? What if I never noticed it, and it got lost down the drain?
These questions all kept circling around this stupid ring. If his mission was to make sure I didn’t forget about him, then dammit, it was working. I really badly wanted to see him again, see what his hair looked like under proper lighting, and see if his eyes were the same the first time I got a good look at them. But I also wanted to simply toss him out of my mind and never think about him again. It was one thing when he was just some random hot stranger who wanted me in his bed, but after that whole fiasco with Matt, it wasn’t so simple, anymore. Something about knowing that he was a member of the mafia, and that he had for some reason specifically picked out me compared to anyone else—it made it too tempting to ignore.
The beginning of a headache was starting to pulse in my head when I, at last, pulled into my driveway. I could see Octavia poking her head through the curtains in my window, intently watching my car, and when I hopped out with my uniform in hand and the ring in my pocket, I could see and hear her barking from inside.
I already knew the battle waiting for me at the door. The moment I unlocked it and started to open it, her little nose was already trying to push through, attempting to bulldoze past my legs outside.
“No no, baby girl! You can’t be outside without a leash—back up, honey! Daddy needs to get through!” She kept pushing and jumping and whimpering, even hopping onto her hind legs and pressing her paws against me while I wrestled my way inside. Inevitably, I worked my way in and locked the door behind me, finally setting everything down and kneeling to pet her. “I know, Octavia. Daddy was out later than usual and he didn’t tell you. I’m so sorry, baby~” I cooed, scratching her ears and hugging her when she licked my face.
The stress from tonight bled out of my body. She was warm and soft in my arms, and the way she couldn’t sit still and constantly shuffled from foot to foot made my heart melt. Eventually, she just flopped onto my lap and slid down it until only her head was on my thighs.
“Aww, is baby girl tuckered out? Well I’m tired, too, so lemme refill your food bowl, and then we can get ready for bed,” I explained, patting her on the head a few times before, regretfully, standing up, causing her head to slip off my lap. I made haste, refilling her food and water bowls, because considering I was about to go to bed at four in the morning, I knew I wouldn’t be waking up until at least noon, and no way was I going to make Octavia starve because of me.
Once that was done, I went to grab the clothes I had abandoned and brought them to my room, chucking the uniform with the rest of my dirty clothes and hanging my jacket on a chair nearby. Octavia followed the whole time, watching as I proceeded to empty my pockets of my wallet and keys, quickly plugging in my phone, and then setting aside the ring, placing them all on my bedside drawer. She came up to smell the ring, meanwhile I changed into something to sleep in.
“Don’t eat it, baby,” I said, even though I knew she wouldn’t. She was really hyper-focused on it, though, probably because it came from someone she’d never met, so it smelled new. It was almost endearing, the way she craned her neck up enough so she could get her nose by it.
I left her be to go brush my teeth. I thought about taking a shower, but I was too tired to prolong my sleep any longer. I would have taken one if I had gone home right after work, but again—4 AM. I’m honestly considering leaving the teeth brushing to after I wake up as well. But I didn’t. I quickly did my business and went back to my room, where Octavia was still sniffing the ring .
“Jeez, you need a closer look?” I asked her, grabbing it and holding it up to her at more eye level. She ran her nose along the cold metal, inhaling like crazy and acting like she wanted to stuff it up her nose. And then, funny enough, she looked at me and sat down.
The reason why that was funny?
Because with the Gøøns’ aid and another gang group we were acquainted with, I was able to train her to be a drug dog.
And whenever she smells something and then sits, she senses narcotics.
“... why am I not surprised?”
I just set the ring back down and dug out her bone from her treat box, because she still deserved a reward for that. Then, I called it a night and went to bed.
꧂
3,349 Words
