No one had ever done that for her.
Suddenly, she flinched at the sudden pain pressuring her leg. She squirmed.
Simon looked up to see her enduring the pain as he tried to manually take the bullet away from her leg - where she was shot. While in United States he had done several operations but this was the first he had a case with bullet wounds.
"This will be over in a second," he assured her, and held her shaking leg as he slowly guided the bullet out. "Are you sure you don't want to go to the hospital?"
"No, I'll be fine. I can't be there like this or else they would become suspicious," she answered.
When he thought about it, he agreed with her. Even he would be suspicious if a stunning - looking woman were to come to him with a bullet in her leg- he would ask her all sort of her questions which he knew she won't be able to answer.
When the bullet was pulled out, Simon carefully wrapped her right leg with bandage. When he was done, he looked at her and smiled.
"You're good, but you won't be able to walk properly for a few days."
She nodded in response, but he could tell that she was thinking about something else inside her head.
"Don't you dare do that again, you hear me?" He commanded. "What happened to those guys? Did they escape when-"
"They're dead." She responded in a cold tone, and he felt himself shudder. "They were after your life."
He stopped smiling, and merely watched her.
Beautiful this chipmunk was- her long lush of scarlet hair falling softly on her waist, her porcelain skin that shone through the night when he first saw her, her brown eyes that slowly melted his heart, and her soft expression when she was thinking about something.
Then he remembered about the battle she had with those mysterious hoodlums in his bedroom an hour ago, and the fact that all three had died in minutes.
This chipmunk, what is she?
He held her wrist, and she looked at him with surprise.
"What do you do?" He asked.
She stopped thinking about the possibilities of the other assassins taking advantage of her injury to attack and thought about Simon's question. What does she do? - She does everything, really. She had poisoned people, blackmailed them, and of course terminated them. But what can she tell him? When Barclay sent Tyler to tell her to protect Simon, she realized that Simon was someone important, even to the underground world. Besides, she felt strongly about his safety too, as he appeared to feel strongly about her safety as well - and what was the point of lying? The first time they met, he had seen her kill her last target.
After a short pause, she answered. "I kill people for a living."
"I see." He simply said. "So what were you doing in my room?"
This took her aback - she wasn't sure whether to feel happy or sad that he accepted her just like that and was able to ask another question so easily.
"I was sent to protect you."
"By who?"
"That's classified information."
"So how long have you been protecting me?"
"I started today."
"Ah." He nodded. A short pause later, Simon stood up.
"I refuse."
He turned around to see her completely unaffected by his decision, when she suddenly spoke.
"So do I, really-" She paused, and then she looked at him.
"-but I have to do it anyway."
This made him go completely insane inside. "Do you really want to die!?" He yelled at her as she sat in his bed.
"These guys are after me, so let them! If you get caught in the middle, who knows what could happen!" He continued.
He looked to see if she had finally realized of her situation, but she just started laughing. Seconds later, she was beside him, a knife in hand and ready to lounge for his throat.
"I'm not weak," she whispered in his ear - the same way she whispered when they first met. He was clearly astonished at her speed, but he noticed something.
She was slower than before.
He quickly grabbed her wrist and twisted it so she would let go of the knife, then grabbed both her arms and placed it behind her. Aris tried to force her hands off his grip but his sturdy hold on her was too strong. All of a sudden, Simon noticed a sudden flicker of light coming outside his window, and Aris took this chance to pull herself out from his grip.
"You... You're pretty strong." Aris said in surprised astonishment. Simon chuckled. "I workout."
"Well, I guess that would be it. You can handle yourself, so I'll just go-" She tried to escape from his window when a hand had pulled her down.
"No way in hell are you jumping off the window with that fresh wound on your leg." He commanded. "Sleep here tonight." Simon ordered, pointing to his bed. "After all, those bad people might come visit me tonight."
Aris couldn't believe this guy. "If they did, you'd be beating them up in no time. You don't need me." Simon took his shirt off, leaving Aris feeling uncomfortable on the side.
"I don't know who told you to watch over me, but now you have to start doing your job. I feel like I've stepped on a landmine since I've arrived here at Denver, so I'll need some help." He said simply as he remembered the time a rogue tried to attack him on the parking lot yesterday.
"So what do you want me to do?" She asked, her voice low.
"Stay." He said simply.
Moments later he took the bath towel sitting idly on the chair and entered the bathroom, leaving a bright red Aris behind.
He had always been able to handle them - those people after him. They were big with weapons, but not so much on intelligence; they were like brainless monkeys with guns. They lack strategy, and strategy was something he had been learning since he came to USA. However, putting Aris in the picture he felt that things were becoming even more serious. The rogue that attacked him yesterday had a tattoo on his right arm.
- a gray panther with a yellow streak on its tail.
He remembered seeing someone with the same ink design before, but he couldn't remember. He wanted to get some information from the rogue but obviously he had no intention of talking as he had already planned to shoot Simon, but couldn't because Aris had shot the rogue first.
"Something big is about to happen," he thought to himself. He could feel it. Besides, he knew that meeting Aris wasn't coincidental either. He could tell that she has no idea what was going on, but he was worried; for himself.
Hell he was even worried for her.
He rubbed his forehead. "This is extremely stupid," he said quietly, and sighed. After a quick shower he stepped out and saw that Aris had already placed herself in his bed, and created a barrier with his pillows so there wouldn't be room for a second person. He smiled as he noticed Aris still holding the knife in her hand amidst being asleep.
"She never lowers her guard, huh."
Not bothering to put a shirt on, Simon moved towards Aris and took the knife from her hand, carefully so she wouldn't wake up. He placed it on top of the table beside her. Simon was about to leave when he heard her voice.
"I... mhmm... nuhhrmal... I wannaabeenuhhrmal..."
He listened as she started mumbling something about wanting to be a normal chipmunk. "It seems this chipmunk sleep talks too." He quietly chuckled, and subconsciously he caught himself removing the strand of her red hair covering her face.
As he watched her, he couldn't help himself but feel amazement.
She's breathtaking.
He felt tempted to touch her porcelain fur as it quietly glowed beneath the dark night, but stopped himself and quickly got up.
Simon couldn't believe himself. Among the many women he led to his bed, Aris was the only woman he hadn't slept with. He would be lying to himself if he said he doesn't want to, but he was scared; he was afraid-
Afraid that she would hate him.
He turned around to look at her one more time when he noticed the bandage on her leg loosening up. He quickly fixed it.
When he was done, he plopped himself on the couch and turned off the lights.
"Good night Aris."
It was dark - the vast sky from above, the surroundings grim and shady. Simon was walking, slowly, as if his feet were melting in what felt like bottomless ground. There was no one in sight. Just him. Sadness felt the air as he heavily took each step.
"Where am I?" He thought to himself. As he looked around, everything was black. Darkness was all he could see.
Then there was blood.
Simon looked down to see that the white polo shirt he was wearing had red stain all over it. His eyes widened, and he was shaking. Then he put his hands up to see that they were completely covered in blood; and much worse -
He was holding a bloody knife. The same knife that Aris had.
He dropped it.
Then all of a sudden, within a blink of an eye the whole scenery changed. He was back in high school - Senior Year. It was a sunny day, birds fluttering freely in the cool breeze of Denver.
"I'm having a dream." Simon realized. He watched as the lethargic students walked into Westn Eastman High, some too excited to meet friends while the others cared less about anyone else. He realized he was invisible to them as he had been tapping them in the shoulders and they merely ignored them. Funny, Simon thought, because even though it was a dream it felt as if he was just reliving another day of his high school year.
Then he saw himself.
Surrounded by a small group of football players, Eighteen-year-old Simon was in the middle of laughing hard from a joke said seconds ago.
"Was I that awkward-looking before?" He laughed at himself. Eighteen-year-old Simon was energetic, popular, and very well-known not only for his family's wealth but his own accomplishments as well. But he was humble; he never bullied people as he never seemed to see the point of it.
Then Simon noticed that as "Simon" looked at his phone, glimmer had quickly appeared in his eyes. Simon watched his younger self as he quickly said his goodbyes to his friends and ran to the opposite direction. Abrupt pain crushed his heart as he knew exactly where his younger self was running to - To his hope, to his love, to his life.
Jeanette.
"RINNG!"
The booming sound of his cell phone brought him back to reality. Without opening his eyes Simon reached to his phone and threw it straight up to the wall.
"Bloody heck ." He thought to himself as his body was aching all over. He opened his eyes and saw that he was inches away from falling over the couch.
"Why the heck was I sleeping here?" He asked himself, then he looked around to see that his bedroom was trashed all over; broken ceiling, broken chandelier, ripped curtains. Then he remembered.
Aris.
He quickly walked over his bed to see that it was cleanly made up. She left.
Simon noticed a note stuck in the pillow and pulled it out.
'Thanks.
- A'
"That girl." He sighed. He was still worried, but amazed at the same time. The mysterious girl named Aris turned out to be a deadly assassin struggling to live a double life. He had a feeling Zena knew nothing about this side of Aris, but he also had no intention of telling her either. If Aris was going to protect him, then he should do the same and protect her too.
After all, he was starting to like her.
Theodore walked along the pathway on the breezy morning of Denver as he wanted to explore the city he hadn't been to for almost a year. He was completely preoccupied with the illegal trafficking going on in Dubai that he wasn't able to get a single day off for a year, and here he was now for another assignment-
'Special Case 123776: Case Crimson. Order: Hunt Crimson Down and Kill on Spot.'
"Once I'm done with her, I'll be relaxing in Hawaii." Theodore thought to himself, and a grin relaxed on his face. While Theodore was walking he noticed a chipmunk struggling to collect the flyers lying messily on the cold ground. He quickly jogged to where the flyers were and started collecting them. The woman was facing the other side so she hadn't noticed him as he walked forward.
"Here they are," he said, and the woman quickly turned around.
"T-thanks." She replied, her voice shy and shaking. He handed it to her, and she gave him a small smile.
"She's pretty." He thought to himself as he watched her.
"Would you like to take one?" She offered him a flyer. "D j Vu Cafe is having a reopening tomorrow night and we would like as much people to come as possible."
"Sure." He replied. "As long as you'll be there."
The chipmunk stared at him with her big, brown eyes.
"I have to be there, I work there." She replied slyly. As she tried to walk, Derek noticed a carefully placed bandage wrapped around her leg.
"What happened?" He pointed to her leg, and this startled the chipmunk that she lost her balance. She almost fell down when Derek immediately extended his hands to pull her up and pressed her body against his.
"That was close." He said, and noticed the girl feeling uneasy about their lack of personal space.
"Too close," he heard her whisper, and he immediately let her go.
"Thanks for that." She said, picking the flyers up. She turned around to go.
"I'll be there."
Theodore watched as the chipmunk turned around, surprised at his response. She showed him a small smile and left.
'See you tomorrow, beautiful!' He said loudly, and walked away whistling a jaunty tune.
As Aris entered the cafe, she excused herself and entered the washroom where she made sure was empty. She opened her phone.
"What's up, Tyler?"
"Have you made contact with him?"
"Yes."
"Good. Theodore. 9 Years Old. Central Intelligence. Be careful around that chipmunk."
"I know that! Did you call me to tell me to terminate him?"
"Not yet. We need information from him."
Aris was silent for a second. It was odd that she wasn't ordered to proceed with the termination this time, when Tyler had been eyeing on this Kingston guy since they found out about him.
"Well, what do you want me to do?"
"That's up to you." Tyler replied, and hanged up.
'What the heck do you guys really want me to do?' Aris thought vehemently. Not only was she in charge of protecting Simon, she now needed to watch over her back for a creeping detective thirsting for her head. It's like protecting a target when she was a target herself.
"If you really want me dead, you could do it yourself," she said out loud,
"That is... if you can." She quietly laughed as she exited the washroom.
"What are we going to do now?" The chipmunk in blue leather pants squirmed in infuriation. The chipmunk beside him touched her hair, and slid her fingers to smoothen it out.
"You need to relax, Dunkin." She said in a voice so squeaky, flies tried to avoid her.
"How the heck can you relax like that, Jenny? That bastard of a billionaire has Crimson behind him!" He yelled out, smashing the beer bottle he was holding to pieces.
"Why are you so scared of Crimson, huh? Just because she smacked your face on the wall doesn't mean you have to hate her like that." The blondie named Jenny chuckled, and she received a dirty look for her partner.
"I've got info that they're both around town today. We'll split up. You go after the billionaire and I go after that stupid redhead. I want this job done now." The middle-aged chipmunk named Dunkin ordered, and fled the bar.
Jenny ordered another glass of whisky, and chugged it down in a split of a second.
"Munkhole. You're not the only one who wants that redhead dead."