Chapter 1 3
Nick Alto stood at the outside of the warehouse watching the ambulances tax into the lot, that had been bought by the trio.
"Guys, guys, guys. You are Extraordinary!" Nick commented delighted about seeing, that the plan of the duo did work out. Don parked the vehicle on the left side, while Xander moved to the right side to keep the parking spots behind them free. The transporter Ayesha was coming with came out of the corner as well and Nick gave her a thumb up making her smile, afterward Nick used his fingers to signal Ayesha to park the vehicle of hers differently.
"Block the sight, Ayesha. Tomorrow I'll talk with Ernesto and see if he can come for help," Announced Nick watching the woman move the car, then tried to park with the transporter's side against the back of the ambulances.
Don came to join Nick while removing the jacket, then Nick noticed the dark-colored uniform of the paramedic and nodded impressed.
"Was that Xander's idea as well?" Questioned Nick making Don nod.
"Two stood at the outside of the garage and Xander had dressed already to leave like a regular paramedic," Mentioned Don. "Well without the sirens, of course,"
"Great. Store it away for the future. Where's Xander?" Asked Nick watching the man come around the front of the ambulance, Don had taken over his shoulders the outfit he had worn as well. "Don told me you also remembered to bring the uniforms. Well thought," Complimented the Spaniard making Xander smile, then Don grabbed the clothing of the friend to take it with him.
"I'll go store them. We'll see each other somewhen," Don said walking past the door, then used his card to unlock the door, so he could enter.
"Are we gonna have another discussion of the plan sometime again?" Questioned Xander making Nick nod.
"I've been thinking to do it one day before the prom. The tunnel digging is going quite well. Eventually, we'll have a second one earlier to discuss certain topics," Nick answered. "Don't break your head about it, we're all here,"
"Sure," Responded Xander, then Nick clapped Xander gently on the back and observed Ayesha come back to the duo after she had parked the vehicle.
"The boy did well," Mentioned Nick as Ayesha came back to see the two.
"See? Your idea was brilliant," Stated Ayesha.
"Thanks. It was actually a fun thing to do. If I have to be honest," Confessed Xander making Ayesha grin.
"Great, that you're thinking that way," Commented Nick making his way to the entrance of the warehouse. "Tomorrow don't forget, it's your turn along with Claire's to dig the tunnel in the morning,"
"Sure boss," Said Ayesha while Xander gave the man a thumb up, which disappeared after unlocking the door with his card. Ayesha looked at Xander, which happened to move his head the same time as she meeting each other's glimpse awkwardly.
"You're going home?" Questioned Xander making the woman shrug her shoulders.
"I thought you needed someone to talk with you, because of…...what happened a while ago with your…..you know," Ayesha inquired making Xander remember he had agreed on talking with her after work. "Let's move and talk," Offered the woman and Xander followed her.
"It wasn't anything so terrible. Don had scared me when he spoke loud into the cellphone and I told him out of shock, that he almost gave me a heart attack. Afterward, he had joked and said I could use the defibrillator from the vehicle. I then pictured everyone, that was present on that night watching the paramedics trying to aid her with the device. The actual scene I remember from that night,"
"Ok yes, that's not good," Ayesha admitted. "I'm sure Don didn't mean to harm you. As far as I know, he doesn't know that about you, right?"
"No, he doesn't," Confessed the man. "I'm not sure if it's worth bringing it up here at the work,"
"Well, not everyone needs to know it, but at least to be aware and avoid to hurt you by mistake. At least during your sorrow phase," Suggested Ayesha. "I'm certain most of us are going to help you through. Some of us have passed through it. I did too when I was young, but that was different. I don't want to compare myself with you, just know what it means to be alone in the world,"
"Right," Added Xander. "About that with the past…..your past is quite interesting. You have passed through a lot and by thinking about it….not everyone would be able to pass through it easily,"
"It was a tough time, I have to admit. Worse was it when I had no idea, where I was upon losing my brother and never knowing, where he ended up. Like is he still alive and living somewhere happy or unhappy, or…..did he as well lose his life? This question had been bothering me ever since,"
"Yes, that's crazy to not be able to know," Commented Xander. "But…..you said Nick helped you get a job and visit a night school. Why did you get into the criminal side? Was it planned before?"
"According to him, he had spotted me once tricking the Landgraab family out to get their wallet and he had put an eye on me for several times to notice my work. One time he came across me at the central park and told me about it, then offered me to join his group. At that time his wife was present as well and she had suggested me to visit the night school, so I would have a degree, in case she or Nick would need to prove to their heads about the authenticity of it. I didn't mind going to school, the fact the night school was quite more interesting than I expected,"
"Your friend Emma was there as well I heard?"
"Yes, we were deskmates and at some point, when we both were the only women a few men tried to mess with her but stopped because I would defend her,"
"What did they do?" Questioned Xander curious about the story.
"Most of the time, they would let slip out of their mouths sexist comments, but with the time they have begun to respect her. Me they already did on the first day I had, when one of the men assumed I would need to listen to him to exchange seats,"
"He seems lucky he didn't get to know the Ayesha from the…..karate lessons in the warehouse," Mentioned Xander making Ayesha laugh.
"I was beginning on that time, per coincidence! But I tell you, there was one moment, I really wished I could have just clapped my hand on his face,"
"I'm pretty sure it would have been amazing," Admitted Xander making Ayesha smile.
The two crossed a zebra cross passing by the spa, then Xander stopped along with Ayesha, which looked at him wondering, why he stopped.
"I just remembered around 18:30, I and the roomies are going to eat at Hogans. Wouldn't you like to join us?" Questioned Xander watching Ayesha shrug her shoulders.
"I had promised last night to help Tori make Dim Sum for dinner. Madison was meant to be the one helping her, but then something came in between and Tori begged me for help,"
"Funny," Commented Xander seeing the dark-skinned woman nod. "How long have you been living there with the women? Just as the many years you've been working?"
"I've been working for six or seven years. Here I have been living for two years at least. Previously I was at a pension until Emma knew about a free spot here and sent me the invitation,"
"And before the pension, was that thing with your…..."
"Ex-boyfriend. Yes," Responded Ayesha making Xander nod. "You know people always say, listen to your heart….back when I thought about him being a cop and I a criminal, I've been pondering about, what else I could do besides leaving the gang or telling Aman my secret. I did think about, what could happen, if things would go wrong and as I told you, I asked Nick for advice. The day I told Aman about my secret, he was shocked as everyone was expecting, but…...then he actually seemed quite nice towards me. He did not scold me or anything, not mention, that it was bad. He just accepted it and I was…...kind of surprised and relieved as well. But what seemed to be too true, later turned into a nightmare. He rat me at the cops on the night we assaulted a museum and thanks to Nick, I got off them,"
"I feel like, when I got here to you all, I have noticed that most of us don't really seem to have a thing for relationships or had bad experiences with them. Don's different, but you, Claire, Robbie, you all had someone and just because of this, it's over,"
"Claire's was another motive, but you're going in the right direction. It's not easy to find loyalty somewhere when you're surrounded by bad experiences. Being inside the gang and knowing each other is the only positive thing. We're the only ones to understand each other, because we're in the same boat and understand similar issues on the outside. You do see Claire, she fears, that the girl she watched grow up would one day figure out her real side here. One side many of us fear to tell people, we're very fond of,"
"Yeah, at the moment telling this my dad would be the last thing on earth I would do. I could trust Tamara with it, but at the moment I won't say a word. Mostly with Blair around,"
"The cop?"
"Yes,"
"Okay, keep an eye on her and make sure you don't talk about anything related to the prom,"
"What if she talks to the others about the prom?"
"Then let her talk. You can save up anything from her if she said anything important for our group,"
"I'll message you if needed," The man pointed out. "Makes it easy for all of us then,"
"Being aware to avoid trouble, is what matters the most, but good thing we know this for now. Gives us a direction, she should avoid or be aware of,"
"Yes, or it's game over for us, right?" Questioned Xander stopping by the mailbox of the loft he inhabited. Ayesha nodded, then glimpsed at the building beside them.
"So, we will meet tomorrow Don at the tower for the digging, don't forget it,"
"I won't, don't worry," Promised Xander, then he opened his arms to share a hug with the woman. Suddenly Xander felt Ayesha give him a little peck on his cheek, making him wide his eyes surprised. She got off his arms, then lifted her hand to tell him goodbye.
"See you tomorrow," Ayesha said leaving, followed by Xander lifting his hand to mirror her. Upon her leaving, Xander smiled a little goofily due to not having expected a different outturn.
Xander sat in front of the table dreaming, while the roomies chatted one with another. Blair and Emma were chatting together, while Tamara observed Stiles showing the brunette a portfolio with pictures of people on it.
"Hey that's the woman my friend Hank had shown interest in the other day," Mentioned Tamara recognizing an Asian-descendant woman in the album. "I had no idea she was your work pal,"
"I had seen him at the work and I had the feeling I had seen him with you sometime. Just wanted to make sure, I'm seeing things right,"
"Hank once in a while, when he gets the chance to he visits concerts. He's a quite nice guy when you know him well. Blair must know him. He works at the police station here," Mentioned Tamara looking at the blonde girl, which looked at Emma showing her a small catalog for the blonde to see the available clothings on a store. "Blair, you know Hank too, right?"
"Hank Goddard?" Questioned the blonde earning a nod from the roommate. "Yes, he's a traffic cop. He's fine,"
"See?" Asked Tamara, then noticed Xander stare at his setting and wondered why he had been quiet so recently. "Whoa Xander, what's up with you?" Tamara spoke bringing Xander out of his thoughts to look at his friend. "Are you alright?"
"Yes, yes, I am," Commented Xander. "I've been thinking about….work you know," Made up the man making Tamara smirk at his short interruption in the middle of the sentence.
"You barely think about work in your free time," Mentioned Tamara serious. "It's something else, that is bothering you and it's not the work. I'm sure to 100%," Mentioned Tamara while Emma a little intimidated by Tamara's different tune with her friend. Xander stared at his friend, then looked away from her knowing she would look through him when he would try to build up lies towards her.
"Something weird happened before, when I walked back home," Mentioned Xander, watching Tamara move her head up paying attention to his friend. "I walked along with Ayesha back home as we both live next door. During the walk, we chatted a little about what had happened in the past with our parents or well, my mom and her parents. It was an unusual day talk, more of a confession of how we witnessed certain things,"
"Okay, and what happened?"
"I don't know. I had offered her to come with us, but she refused as she promised her roommate Tori to help cooking and when we shared a friendly hug, she just pecked me on the cheek. It was strange, nobody has ever done this before,"
Tamara chuckled understanding, where Xander might have been going with it.
"You're falling in love with her, aren't you?" Questioned Tamara amused seeing Xander shrug his shoulders, while Tamara grinned happy for her friend. "That's great, X,"
"All, because she kissed him on his cheek?" Questioned Blair making Tamara nod. "But don't all friends do that or well, a big part of them?"
"I have to admit, I don't do that. Xander and I just hug each other mostly," Noticed Tamara making Xander nod.
"I know girls do that with other girls or women with women or family with family. Between friends of different gender, I have never seen before,"
"You don't need to worry about, what it meant. One thing about that is you know, that she doesn't despise you or anything like her ex-boyfriend eventually," Stated Tamara making Emma furrow her eyebrows."
"You're not trying to set him up with Ayesha, aren't you?" Questioned the light-brunette girl.
"No, just seeing, what's up with him" Answered Tamara. "The only thing I can do is give him advice,"
"If both of you are thinking about getting closer to Ayesha, I would suggest you to slow down. I know this issue with her ex is a long while ago, but that doesn't mean, she will easily trust you," Emma warned making Xander nod and exchange looks with his childhood friend.
"Well, I do understand her issue very well. I happened to meet her ex by coincidence on a police control, just a few days ago," Mentioned Xander making Emma curious.
"How do you know, who her ex is?"
"It was during the work, that I was stopped and Ayesha was present," Commented Xander making Emma nod.
"Happened something during the control between the two?"
"She had commented that he was her ex and later when we were back at the warehouse, she told what was up. But she was quite surprised he was working now in Sunset Valley. It sure was a weird coincidence,"
"I suggest you not to try any hit attempts on her for now or for the next time. Give her a little time or get to know each other better. I don't know, what the ex was up to in their past relationship. She doesn't need more disgraces or failures when she's beginning to trust people again,"
"Yes, I understand that," Stated Xander, then Blair questioned the shorter woman something and Xander placed his hand under his chin to gaze at the table, afterward noticed Tamara place her hand on his arm and move with her chair closer to him.
"Take it slow, Xander. Get to know her better, share her interests, and participate in things she likes. Let her know you as well. Eventually, if you're lucky, she might take a liking on you," Tamara said patting the friend on the arm, which nodded.
"Is it a little strange, that Emma doesn't know the exact motives of why Ayesha left her boyfriend, but me she told the full thing?" Questioned Xander quietly watching Tamara think about it, then shrugged her shoulders.
"Perhaps Emma wouldn't understand it?" Whispered Tamara back.
"Well…..the team sort of has the issue, that they sometimes feel like nobody understands us besides each other,"
"You mean the break-up reason has something to do with their job?" Questioned Tamara making Xander nod.
"Yes, they….it's easier to understand if they would both have the same job. Like in the way of…..only cops understand cops, except we're something else,"
"I believe in certain areas it's sometimes easier to talk with the ones from work better because they understand you better. Perhaps, that's why she spoke to you in more detail," The brunette foretold.
"It does make sense in one way," Admitted Xander, then watched Cycl0n3 come along carrying a tableau with house-made hamburgers and placed them on the table.
"There you go, my friends. I totally forgot I was meant to bring them here," Mentioned the man making Xander cackle along with Tamara, afterward each of the adults grabbed a burger for themselves and began to eat.