16
It was twilight when Ebony made her way through the mall entrance. She headed for the stairs leading up to the cafe where she could hear voices.
"Ebony!" Salene cried out as Ebony ascended the last few steps and walked over to them, "Where have you been? We've been so worried!"
Ebony raised an eyebrow at her, knowing that she and Salene wasn't the best of friends and that Ebony wouldn't be the top of Salene's worry-list.
"And Cloe," Salene said confirming Ebony's thoughts, "She's missing too."
"Don't worry, she's alright - she's doing a little job for me," Ebony said, waving her hand dismissively at her.
"What kind of job?" Amber, who just then came into the cafe carrying baby Bray, demanded.
Ebony turned to look at her, "That's classified information."
"Ebony I swear to god-" Amber began threathening, but Ebony cut her off.
"Look - just trust me on this one."
"Trust you?" Amber snorted, "Why should we?"
Ebony screwed up her eyes at her, "Because you don't have a choice." She'd been locked up for two whole weekes and wasn't in the mood for Amber's nagging. She just wanted to wash up a bit and then go to bed.
"Ebony, if anything has happened to Cloe..."
"I said she's fine!" Ebony snapped and glared at Amber.
"There's another thing," Amber said and her face fell slightly.
"What?" Ebony hissed.
"You didn't see Lex or Jack in there, did you?"
"Don't tell me they're missing too?"
"They haven't been back since they left to go and look for the others. That's days now."
Ebony sighed deeply. The Mallrats had been reduced to almost nothing these past few weeks - all thanks to Ram and his tribe. She was really starting to get angry.
"I'll go back and see if I can find out where they are," she said and Amber nodded.
"Is Slade here?" Ebony then asked.
"No, he went out a little while ago - I think he went to the bar to find out what happened to Cloe."
Ebony didn't bother replying, but just turned on her heel and sprang down the stairs.
Back at the hotel she did a quick wash up before heading down town. There was only one bar in the city so she headed that way and arrived within a few minutes. She walked into the bar and glanched around. Slade was nowhere to be seen, but now that she was there, she really could use a drink. It had been a long and strainful couple of weekes.
She went to the bar and sat down. Immediately there was a drink in front of her - free of charge. Being city leader had some advantages and getting stuff for free was definitely one of them. Ebony picked up the glass, sipped and felt the cool liquid tickle her tongue. She closed her eyes and exhaled out through her nose, just enjoying the taste and feeling her body starting to relax.
Then there was a sudden noise right next to her.
"They let you out and you hit the bottle first thing."
Ebony opened her eyes and looked over at them. It was Slade. He was sitting on the chair next to her, grinning. He looked really handsome, Ebnoy thought suddenly and blamed the alcohol.
"I was looking for you actually," she replied and then gestured to the bartender to bring Slade a drink.
"Is that right?" Slade said, smiling wryly, "And the first place you thought of looking was here - in a bar? Well that's offending."
"Is it?" Ebony said casually, "I found you here, didn't I?"
"Actually, it was me who found you here." Dimples appeared as he grinned down at her.
"I guess we found each other then," Ebony said and smiled back. She enjoyed their little playful banters.
Slade took a huge slurp of his drink, "I'm glad to see you out and in one piece, though."
"I could say the same to you," Ebony said, "That was quite a scene you made back there," she said referring to his attempted rescue and all the floored men he'd left behind.
"Yeah," Slade said, scratching his neck self-consciously, "I hope it didn't cause you too much trouble?"
"Nothing I couldn't handle. They just prolonged my stay."
"Well I'm sorry," Slade said, sounding sincere, "I wasn't aware of your plans. I thought you needed rescuing."
Ebony raised an eyebrow, "Obvoiusly you don't know me very well."
Slade flashed her a crooked smile, "Sadly no. But I'd certainly like to."
Ebony could feel her cheeks burn. Furious, she tried to hide it by turning away to take a huge sip of her drink. She wasn't used to blushing. Not many things - especially not guys - could make her blush. She hated blushing; it made her look weak and impressionable - two things she most definitely was not.
"But I promise not to ever try and rescue you again," Slade said, holding up his hands.
"Good," Ebony said,"Anyway, my plan worked - I'm in. I can now come and go as I please."
"Impressive," Slade said, "How did you manage that?"
"I talked to their leader. He's called Ram. And he knows I'm cityleader, so apparently he wants us to work together."
"Mmm figures."
"But it's good, it allows me to gather information - and work on Jay. He seems like someone I could win over."
"Poor guy," Slade laughed, and then saw her angry glare.
"I just mean he has no chance!" he said quickly and tried not to laugh at her angry expression.
"I guess we're done here," Ebony said coldly, emptying the last of her drink and then jumping down from the bar chair. She rushed into the crowd of danching people and out the door before Slade could respond.
