AJ walked out of his room around noon. He hadn't slept much after leaving Cherri. Most of the night he had laid in bed, staring out in the darkness, thinking about the blue eyed redhead. He hardly knew her, yet it felt like she had already taken all of his heart. He walked out in the kitchen where his friend Shinsuke sat eating lunch.
"You look like shit," Shinsuke said.
"I feel like it too," AJ said.
He poured a cup of coffee and sat down at the table.
"Is it that girl from the park? You went to see her again last night, didn't you?" Shinsuke asked.
"Did you hack into the street cameras again?" AJ chuckled.
"Maybe. No one uses those cameras anymore since the Irish took over. I rewrote the code so only we got access," Shinsuke grinned. "She's really pretty."
"Pretty? She's fucking beautiful," AJ said.
"You like her," Shinsuke pointed out the obvious.
"Yeah, I do," AJ sighed. "But nothing's gonna come of it."
"Why not?" Shinsuke asked.
AJ opened his mouth, about to give the same reasons he had given her last night, but suddenly everything sounded so stupid inside his head. Shinsuke was right. Why not? There was no rule against bringing women into their group. Someone had to be the first one and it could might as well be Cherri. He just didn't want that life for her. She had a life unlike the people that had come together to form this group.
"They're tearing down the entire building," Shinsuke said.
"Huh?" AJ left his thoughts. "You looked into her?"
"Of course," again Shinsuke grinned. "They all got evicted. They're tearing down the building Monday."
"That's two days away," AJ said.
"I know," Shinsuke said.
"She hasn't packed anything. She should have moved by now," AJ said.
"She has no one. Her parents died in a plane crash when she was 11. Her brother was one of the very first victims of the Irish. She had a hamster at one point. I found pictures on her facebook of it. But that was 5 years ago and hamsters only live to be around 2," Shinsuke said.
AJ shook his head and laughed. Shinsuke always found the weirdest things when he looked into people. Things that didn't matter in the long run but that showed them a bit more about their personality.
"A hamster?" AJ asked.
"A long haired one. It was named Poro," Shinsuke said. "But you're missing the point here, AJ. She's got no one and nowhere to go."
"And I told her to pack her shit and leave," AJ sighed. "Great, I'm a fucking idiot."
AJ stood up and moved towards the door.
"I'm gonna run out," he said.
"Does she like pasta? Because I'm cooking pasta tonight," Shinsuke yelled after him.
AJ drove to her street. At night he never took the car since he had to move around silently. The town was a bit more safe in daylight. He parked and exited the car. He jumped in surprise when that familiar bark came right from behind him. He turned around and saw a beautiful husky with blue eyes. He laughed at the irony of seeing blue eyes everywhere these days.
"Hi, buddy. Are you lost?" He asked.
He went down on one knee. The dog moved right up to him and started licking his face. He laughed while he ran his fingers through the dog's fur to find the collar.
"No collar, huh? Someone didn't want you anymore?" He asked. "Guess you're my dog now. If you're not down with that, you can run away right now."
He stood up but the dog stayed by his side. He opened the door to his back seat and the dog jumped in immediately.
"I guess I own a dog now," he chuckled. "Stay here, buddy. I'm gonna go pick up my girl too."
He closed the door to the back seat. The dog laid down without a care. He moved from the car and into the apartment complex. He walked up to the third floor, once again finding her front door unlocked. He walked in and was surprised to find bags packed in the hall. She came walking out of the bedroom, looking just as surprised as him.
"What are you doing here?" She asked.
"I came for you," he said.
"I'm not in the mood for sex right now. As you can see, I'm kinda busy. Someone told me to get the hell out of this town and I'm taking his advice," she said.
"Well, he was an idiot for telling you that," he said.
He walked over to her, wrapped his arms around her, pulled her in and kissed her softly.
"I'm an idiot," he said.
"You can say that again," she said.
"I'm an idiot," he chuckled. "Where are you planning on going?"
"I have no idea. I have two days to figure out something. I figured that maybe packing my shit would give me some sort of idea but I still got nothing. I don't even have a car to transport my things in. I packed the most important things in the black bag so I guess I'll just be taking that and trying my luck with walking or hitchhiking," she said.
"No!" He said firmly.
"No?" She questioned.
He kissed her again, more aggressive this time. He broke the kiss and looked into her eyes.
"Your eyes alone suck me in and make me fall in love," he said.
"Is that a good thing?" She asked.
"I hope so," he answered. "I got a car waiting downstairs. If you're down for giving this a try, let's load your shit in that. Come with me. I'll personally teach you how to use a gun."
"I'm down," she broke out in a wide smile. "Will I be cooking too?"
"No, I think Shinsuke will be very upset if anyone tries to take his spot in the kitchen. Cooking relaxes him. He's making pasta tonight, by the way," he said.
"I love pasta," she said.
He picked up her bags and nodded his head towards the door. She opened it for him and they walked down the stairs together. They walked over to the car and she looked in at the dog in the back seat that was wagging its tail at the sight of them.
"You got a dog?" She asked.
"Apparently I do," he answered. "Just got it today."
They got into the car. She turned around in the passenger seat to pat the dog. In return she got her hand licked.
"What's his name?" She asked.
"It's a he?" He looked at the dog. "Oh, hadn't noticed. Sorry, buddy, I was too busy looking for your collar."
"So no name?" She asked.
"How about Roman?" He shrugged.
"It's perfect," she said.