Forgotten Memories
Chapter 12
Ray's mouth was now parched and excruciatingly sore, 30 minutes ago they'd paid for their refreshment drinks which hadn't been bought over to their table next to the window, while waiting Ray was now munching on a buttered croissant which he'd picked up from the counter. Alex couldn't shake off her feeling of awkwardness and quietness around Gene. She longed for and wished she could get the chance to discover the real reason behind why they both shared a deep and profound connection. Maybe the reason as to why he nicknamed her Bolly might actually be linked to this or maybe their first ever encounter might manage to shed some light on this.
Gene's eyes glimmered as he glanced across the table towards her. He hadn't failed to notice how intently Alex had been watching him. "What's the problem Alex?" He asked her forthrightly.
"It's nothing Gene" So she claimed.
"Doesn't look like nothing to me" Gene tried to make an exceptional effort with her. Packing away his tough as boots stance for the time being with the intention of helping her out with retracing a few important memories.
"Well if you really want to know what's bothering me. It's this apparent connection we have between ourselves that's niggling me. You know so much about me and yet I don't know too much about you. Oh believe me I want to discover everything about you " She wished knew the finest points about him and knew him like the palm of her hand. She needed to be courageous enough about her still confused situation.
"You will soon enough." Gene looked casually as he confirmed this. He thought he ought to tell her another significant story. "You know when I met you a long time ago, you were dressed up in a prozzy's costume, your legs were clad with see through tights. Soon as I stepped out of the car and saw you standing there, you looked like you'd been expecting Harrison Ford instead. Still you looked very seductive in your clothes. However Raymondo here, disagreed" Gene dropped Ray's name into the conversation much to his friend's surprised reaction.
"Oh Guv no need for name dropping." Ray suggested.
"Sorry I couldn't help it" Gene apologized as soon as possible, knowing how bothered Ray felt about this comment. Gene suddenly went into thinking mode while he watched her once again, he was considering about whether Alex might start asking questions about how Jim Keats had come to previously work alongside them .
"What's the matter?" It didn't take too long for her to get the message about his unexpected silence. It was rather strange to see him with flushed cheeks and for him to wrestle with whatever thoughts were now pegging him down.
"Guv...Gene?" Ray displayed a concerned look for his friend.
All around them, the customers one after another left the coffee shop. This unfolding development only added to Gene's now uneasy feedback. Ray got up from his chair and went to speak to the person in charge. "Oi! Hang on, it said on the opening times you're not due to close yet and where's our paid for drinks by the way. We've been waiting long enough."
"I'm sorry we can't just hand your money back." The person in charge negligently stated.
"What a rip off, Gene have you heard his excuse." Ray shouted over to him, hoping he might back him up in the brewing argument.
Gene wasn't paying no attention to the almost one sided conversation the former DI was having with the carefree manager. Instead he found himself paying some excessive attention to the manager's distinctive appearance. There was something uncharacteristic about this unfashionable dressed bloke, especially the way he half-smiled and the unsettling manner in which he glanced over to the table. It made him feel ever the more suspicious of him.
Confidently enough Gene got up from where he was seated and went to join Ray at the threshold of the restaurant. Hopeful on confronting this bloke once and for all. "I think my friend demanded an explanation, you snot faced weasel." This bloke didn't seem scared of him and almost attempted to laugh impolitely, in his face.
"You're not getting anything"
"I don't intend to get anything, all I want to know is how the bloody hell did you end up owning this coffee shop." He asked the younger man. Gene stood his ground in the only way he knew possible. He gathered this wasn't some ordinary guy who'd come to be placed in charge of a high street coffee shop. He knew who he was now contending with.
"Fess up you scumbag." Gene found the confidence he'd long been seeking.
"Gene" Alex thought he was being too harsh on the manager.
The manager looked away momentarily and stuffed a hand in his pocket, before bringing out a familiar pair of glasses. "Ahhh you got me, well done Gene. Well Bloody Done. Hello Ray..hello Alex long time no see."
"Jim Better the Bloody Devil You Know Keats" Gene angrily confirmed.
"Oh temper...temper Gene. You knew I would be following you around and you knew deep down in that skinny kid mind of yours. You know I'm all but ready to take what's mine at any provided opportunity." Jim grinned obsessively across the room at a frightened looking Alex.
"You bloody bastard." Ray looked as though he would take the first swinging punch at Jim.
Jim persistently walked around them, studying them before turning his attention on Ray. "After all this time, you're actually still acting like his moody prodigy and you keep defending him like he's an untouchable king of Heaven. Oh how you've disappointed me choosing the wrong path and finding yourself in such poor existence ."
"I'm glad I chose the right way. You fooled me into trusting you back in 83, but I'm glad I saw your true colours eventually." Ray strongly clarified. He was proud to be standing shoulder to shoulder with Gene.
Jim headed towards Alex. "I provided you with a lifeline Alex but I guess in the end love conquered all, I never stood a chance of getting you to come with me. I really was a true friend to you but it was such a shame we couldn't ultimately remain friends." Jim sighed deliberately, knowing she was still vulnerable and fragile, so he tried to gather some sympathy from him.
"You leave Alex out of this. This has always between me and you Jim." Gene warned him as he approached him.
"Gene get him a way from me" Alex cried out, Jim's words had set off a flood of emotional flashbacks.
Gene intervened on her behalf and quickly grabbed hold of Jim, his hands tugged on Jim's shirt collar as he turned around and then slammed him forcefully against the brick wall. Jim's head narrowly missed hitting the sharp corner of a framed wall picture. Alex got to her feet and soon stood behind a protective Ray. A few things for her had become crystal clear now, she knew Jim could never be trusted, she knew he was only out to damage Gene's strength of character by any means conceivable.
"Well isn't this nice, she's about to watch you beat me to a bloody pulp and about to realize what sort of man you really portray yourself as." Jim rubbed in a few more insults.
"I'm not going to punch you sodding lights out Jimbo, I'm going to send you back to where you belong and I don't care if I have to drag you" Gene tightened hold of his grip on Jim, psyching him out.
End of Chapter
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