Chapter 17

When Paul wakes up, he notices the sun is high in the sky. He wants to check his phone but a weight on his arm and a slender arm around him prevents him from turning. Fortunately, he recalls the events last night. He blushes slightly. Why did he hug her? Sighing to himself, Paul thinks. Yes, he was worried about someone else's life that is dependent on him. Yes, Cyrus is a strong powerful scary man, but Paul isn't scared of him. He was scared for this small girl.

But why? Why does he care about her? He groans again. This complicates things because now she's a weakness of his, and he doesn't like having weaknesses. But she has proved that she's strong and can handle her own. She'd been handling him just fine and keeps coming back. She took care of Cyrus well last night. Paul chuckles softly at the thought.

Maybe he does consider her as a friend now. Maybe that's why he is concerned for her. Paul shivers at the thought. No. Paul Shinji doesn't have friends. He furrows his brows. Maybe it's because she makes him feel like he's not alone. Paul sighs. Whatever it is, he knows he needs to keep her safe now.

He manages to gently escape from her clutches and checks his phone. It's 10AM. Paul groans. He never wakes up this late. He brushes his teeth and packs his stuff in the suitcase he and Dawn had brought their stuff in. He then grabs his jacket. Since the complimentary breakfast is over now, he'll walk down the streets and get them something from the fast food place.

When he returns to the motel room, Dawn is already awake and changed her clothes. She is zipping up their suitcase and smiles at his as he sets the food bag on the counter. "Eat quickly. I want to get out of here." He says while munching on his biscuit sandwich.

"Same." She says and grabs the other biscuit from the bag. "Thanks, Paul." She says while eating. He grunts and sits on the bed.

After a day and a half on the train, they are finally back in Twinleaf Town. When they enter the cafe, Zoey rushes to the backdoor before Paul can go up the stairs. She grabs them and drags them into the dining area. The cafe is still closed, so they see Barry and Kenny there too. Dawn raises an eyebrow at her smiling staff.

"We hit over 5,000 followers!" Barry exclaims while showing her his phone.

Dawn now smiles widely too. "What! Thank you for your hard work, guys!"

She hugs them each, but then Zoey says, "No, Dawn. It was all you!"

"I can't take all the credit, guys." The bluenette blushes.

"No. Dee Dee. Look." Kenny seriously tells her and shows his laptop to her. He plays the video.

"This was the scene last night at Veilstone Casino where the CEO of Galactic Co., Cyrus Akagi was trying to kidnap a young woman. The woman has been identified as Dawn Berlitz by one of the spectators who recognizes her from her cafe in Twinleaf Town. Fortunately, the good samaritans last night managed to convince Cyrus to let her go. Hopefully, the poor girl is doing okay now." The voice is in the background as the video of Cyrus's men holding onto the Dawn plays, and then there's the security guard, and then Dawn is freed while Cyrus's limo drives off. The video blurs his license plate.

"Yeah! We've been getting lots of messages asking if you're okay! I guess people found your cafe after searching you up and then found our website and social media!" Zoey exclaims happily. Paul groans and runs a hand through his hair while Dawn awkwardly shifts her feet.

"Is everything okay?" Kenny asks them. Dawn shakes her head and her friends give her worried looks.

"Dawn…" Barry doesn't know what to say.

Dawn looks at Paul and he closes his eyes. "Cyrus is dangerous. Be careful." the purple haired man tells them.

"Is there something you're not telling us?" Zoey inquires.

The bluenette sighs. "I pissed off Cyrus, and now he knows where I work. We need to be careful too since Galactic Co. is trying to buy us out."

"What's he gonna do? Offer us millions of dollars to leave?" Kenny scoffs.

Paul glares at the boy. "He's dangerous!"

Kenny glares back. "Then why are you letting Dee Dee interact with him if he's so dangerous? I didn't see you in this video!"

"Guys, stop!" Dawn comes in between them as Paul clenches a fist. She then takes a deep breath. "Look, what's happened has happened. Let's just keep focusing on our cafe and just be careful of anyone involved with Galactic Co." She smiles at them and then turns to Paul. "And I think you owe me $50,000."

Paul finds himself instantly relaxing. He rolls his eyes and pulls out the paper bag from the casino night. He grabs a couple of stacks from it before tossing her the paper bag. "Here's $70,000."

The group opens their mouth at him, and Dawn exclaims, "You won that much?"

He shrugs. "Better start renovating."

Remember, he played at a $10,000 hand table. I've played at a $5 hand table and made $90 before, so it's possible to earn a lot of money. Also, I can't count cards. Let's just say Paul made a decent amount. How does he do taxes since he earned the money illegally, and how does it affect Dawn's business? Shhhhh. I don't wanna think that hard. Let's just say Saturn handled it all for him.