Chapter 4

"Stranger Danger"

I decided it was time to finally text the mysterious European. Whether or not he decided to respond was entirely up to him. I selected the draft message I composed for him the other day, and I wanted more out of him.

Hey, it's the girl you keep running into at the grocery store. I am sorry. I really need to know more about you before I actually hang out with you. You seem pretty nice. You really do, but can you fill me in on you a little bit before I chill with you?

It seemed like a logical reason to want to know more about someone before doing any sort of anything with someone. He was pretty forward in really wanting to get to know me. Then again, maybe he doesn't know anyone here. He probably just got here in America and recognized a friendly face. I felt a little guilty when I saw that he recieved the text. His reply was currently being typed, and I could tell this was going to be a very long, multi-text bubble text. He was typing for about five minutes, and my phone dinged. I think he had to think about his reply before he he replied.

I'd rather just tell you in person. There is a lot to tell.

I was put on the spot. His counter offer was on the table. My phone dinged again.

How about coffee at my place?

Holy crap! I really don't know what to say. I'd hate to hurt his feelings. What if he actually has no friends? Well, except for the one he mentioned, but what if he really isn't a friend? He just tolerates him because he can't find friends here in America? I had to think about my reply without hurting his feelings and keep my saftey in mind. This is like playing with fire. I could get burned, or I could feel the warmth. If you know what I mean.

I sent a neutral reply, telling him we should meet up somewhere else like a coffee shop where atleast there are other people and most importantly cameras.

What I have to tell you about myself could get me in trouble if heard by the wrong ears.

Came his cryptic reply. Now I was worried. But I figured I got this far with him, why not see it through till the end. He seems like he trusts me with everything he is going to say.

Alright, we'll do it your way. What day and time? I will need to know where you live, too.

His reply came an hour later. I wondered why the long delay.

I live in an apartment near the park. Can you make it this Saturday at 10am? I don't have anything planned that day actually. I'll wait for you outside.

Damn it. The party this weekend. I'd hate to tell him I can't, so I quickly said I had plans later. I replied to him if we can move it to 9 instead of 10.

Sure. I'll see you then.

I'm not sure, but his reply had a little excitement and a little bit of anticipation. Maybe it's just me.

Btw, my name is Niko. Niko Bellic. :)

Finally! A name to the face! And is that a smiley face in his text? Okay. He really is excited to be using emojis. And it's kinda cute.

The rest of the week went by in a blur. There is a saying, 'After Monday and Tuesday, there is WTF, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday.' And what a WTF three days it was. Friday being the most anticipated day ever. That being because Saturday I finally get to hear what Niko Bellic is all about. I tried social media to try and stalk him and see what he posts, but there is nothing on him. Making sure I knew what to expect is knowing the difference between being in a ditch or finally getting the guy. I looked up his cousin's social media page, and saw that he is also from Eastern Europe. Serbia to be exact. And Roman does know a little Serbian. He came to America to chase his 'American Dream'. It seems as though he has. He runs a cab depot, he is married to a girl named Mallorie, and they share a baby daughter named Mila. Niko's trip to the store that day did add up. He was shopping for Mila, which is simply adorable. He must be a very proud uncle. And baby Mila is too cute for words. There is a precious family photo as Roman's wallpaper on his page of him, sitting very happily next to Mallorie, and Mila sitting in Roman's lap. Very picturesque. I do find a photo of Niko drinking some beer with some girl, but she isn't made a mention of. In this photo, Niko looks happy sitting next to this girl. Maybe an ex-girlfriend? Then I wonder how long was Niko actually living here in America? Months? Years? I dunno. I check the post date. It was posted eleven months ago at the local pub. I look at the time and see it is 9 pm. Time to face the music tomorrow. I charge my phone and make special note to make sure I bring my phone charger. I want my phone fully charged for the unpredictable day.

The sun rose up on a Saturday morning. I woke up at 7 am to give myself ample time to get ready and wear my favorite band t shirt and a comfortable pair of shorts. Today's high temperature is supposed to be 85 degrees. A little too hot for me, but I'll manage. I grab what I need and my keys. I type in Niko's address into the GPS and start my journey. Every minute I drive, I can feel my heart beating faster. But I plan on seeing this through. Otherwise, if I chicken out, I'll spend the rest of my days saying what if? The need to have my questions answered is fueling me to see this to the end. I pull up to the park where Niko mentioned and took a look at the apartment building. It was a ten story apartment. On the small side, but I'm sure his reasoning is because he is single (I think), and he doesn't need a massive apartment to house himself. The area is pretty ritzy. People wearing flashy clothes. Perhaps I am a bit underdressed? Oh well. I get glances from the hoity toity pedestrians. I just press on to his apartment. I don't see him outside. I looked at the address on the building, and it matched the address he gave me. I worried for a few minutes that I am in the wrong area. I sit down on the step outside and look at the time. 8:35? Perhaps I was a little too anxious to meet him properly. I guess I sped. Oops.

I start up my silly location based game and look around at what's nearby. Oh, I don't have that one yet. Let me head over there and get it.

"You still play that children's game?" I heard a male voice followed by a chuckle.

"And what If I do? It's not-"

I realize it's Niko. I turn red. Yup. I am way underdressed. He has on the most flattering tuxedo. The black jacket and red tie really brought out his eyes. And those pants did nothing to hide that buldge. I can't believe my eyes traveled that far south, but I was taking him all in by my eyes. I was practically undressing him with my eyes too.

"Good morning. You're early. I thought I was the over anxious one. Here you are twenty minutes early to meet a guy you don't know about." He said chuckling.

"And what time did you wake up to get all jazzed up like that? I feel so underdressed." I threw my hands up in the air

"Well, when you live in this area, the fashion rubs off on you. I woke up at 5 this morning."

"How are you so chipper? I wake up that early to go to work, and I am basically dragging my ass around until 11."

"I wake up about 5 every morning. And I really don't have a job like you. Habits never die, I guess."

He can't be this cheerful this early in the morning. There is no conceivable way. Wait, he doesn't have a job? How is this possible? He has an expensive sports car, he has an expensive tailored tuxedo, and he has an expensive apartment. Did he win the lottery and retire early?

"Where did you park? I bought you a parking pass closer to the building if you're interested."

The car horns blaring and pedestrians chattering amongst one another soon errupted. It was the 9 am traffic jam. People leaving for work, coming home from work, and the goings on in the city seemed to turn the volume up. Niko urged me inside where it was quiet, so he didn't have to talk over all the noise.

"I parked near the park, ironically."

He laughed at my lame excuse for a joke.

"Give me your keys. I'll move it in the garage next to my car. You can trust me."

"Against my better judgement..." I trailed off, giving him the keys. He disappeared outside to find my car. I waited in the lobby of the apartment building. It was about ten minutes later, Niko came back with my car keys. I was invisibly shocked he didn't steal it. But reasoning set in. Why would he want to steal my car when he drives that flashy sports car?

"I like your car. She handles like a dream."

I'm not sure why he liked it so much. His car was ten times the car mine will ever be. Maybe because he likes to be nice? Flatter much, Niko?

"You never told me your name. I've been dying to hear it. Such a beautiful face has to have a name to match it."

That's when I about fainted. I was in a deep daze. I don't remember walking up to the elevator, or even paying attention to his apartment number. He just gently sat me down on a rather large black couch, and I sat.

I heard churning and bubbling noises coming from what I assumed to be his kitchen. He came back monents later with two cups of coffee.

"I wasn't sure what you take in your coffee, so I brought little creamer and sugar packets."

I realized I was alone in his apartment. His apartment! Alone!

"Welcome back." He smiled.

"How?"

"You spaced out there when I asked you your name. I guess you never met a gentleman?".

"Not like you. Sure I met guys who'd hold open doors, or hold my whatever I don't feel like holding at that monent, but not like you."

"I am a dying breed. Almost extinct. It's pretty alarming that women are falling for douchebags who don't appreciate feminine beauty."

"So, that's what this is all about?"

"Not entirely."

"I think you have fallen for me. But how? You don't even know who the hell I am! And same for me to you."

"Leave it to fate to decide. So, tell me. What's your name?"

I sheepishly look away. He's got my head swimming. For a moment, I didn't even know my name.

"Sharon." I think.

"Ah, you got a little Irish in you?" He tried his best at his Irishmen accent. What he sounded like was nothing of the sort.

"No. I am acutally a lotta things."

"You're only one thing to me. Beauty personified."

I can't take it anymore. My head must have completely detatched from my shoulders and drifted off in to space or somewhere out of reach of reality. My next action stunned even me. I kissed him! I actually kissed him. And not a quickie either. He parted his lips against mine, and I sampled his flavor. It was intoxicating. He leaned back on the couch, and I crawled over him. He let me control the kiss, so I could get this off my chest. If I didn't watch it, there'd be a lot more coming off my chest.

I let him up for some air. I actually left him breathless. He let out a small moan after, and his eyebrows shot up in a delayed surprise.

"Glad that happened." He said.

"Me too. You actually may not know this, but you were on my mind the whole time since we literally ran into each other. Crazy, huh?"

"Yeah, but, uh...I too have a confession to make. I really did fall for you too that day. I don't know how, and I don't know why, but something about you..." He trailed off

I can't even remember the last time I heard a man confess his feelings so openly. He was practically an open book. The letters and pages spilled out of his eyes.

"I must warn you though. There is a dark side of me I don't think you want to know. I feel I should tell you for your safety."

I knew it! He is a mass murderer. Instead of turning to flee, I stupidly sat and waited for his next move.

"I have a black mark on my name that I am trying to omit from my life. There was a time back when I was young that I wanted nothing to become a great man. That all was a dream, and reality came and slapped me in the face. I was sent to war. Myself and fifteen boys from the village sent to war. Most of us barely in our teen years. I was the youngest of the squad. Come to find out our squad was sent on a mission only to be betrayed by one of our own. It was a setup for money. From that moment, I realized I was only meant to find the one who betrayed us. Only three of us survived the attack. I took odd jobs here and there working with some less than savory people. For ten years I searched, and my searching brought me here to America. When I found the first, he told me he wasn't the one. My search came up dry, and for months, my motive and drive was slipping away. Each day I waited took me farther away from seeking closure, but every night when I went to sleep, all I heard was the voices of the squad urging me on to find him. All I wanted to know was why he did it. I finally got a tip saying they foung the man I was looking for. When the time came, I found myself face to face with the man who sold out our squad. He did it for $1,000 American dollars. It was just to fund his drug addiction. I couldn't find the strength to pull the trigger on my gun to kill him. After all this time, after all the sleepless nights and long day hours, I found that he was slowly killing himself with his drug addiction. I found no satisfaction in killing him then and there. After all that wasted effort..."

As he told me this, I realized that he really was a broken man. He just needed comfort. I watched him spill his guts out. I realized too that he had nothing. He had a nice apartment with upscale furnishings, but he had no pictures of memories. It seemed like he wanted to make memories of his own. Trying to erase what past he had, and tried to start all over. I found myself scooting closer to him, taking his head to my chest, and tried to console him.

"I had no idea the turmoil inside your head, Niko. Why didn't you tell me this before?"

"How can I? When I first saw you, I wanted nothing to stand in my way to get to you. You were shopping for the weekend. I watched from afar. It may seem creepy to you, but as you were there with me in that same building, something called to me. It beckoned to me to approach you. I was going to talk to you that very minute you came around that corner, but instead we bumped into each other." He let out a small laugh.

"Let fate decide, eh?" I chuckled.

"I never would have known you at all if fate hadn't stepped in. I believe everything happens for a reason. Good and the bad."

"I can see where this is going." I said as I braced myself for what was to come.

"The reason why I didn't want to be in public for this meeting is because I am the one responsible for killing that guy a few weeks ago. I am a hired gun. That's how I am able to afford all of this. But I don't want this anymore. I actually never did. This was all bought with the blood of my victims. I want a normal life. I want to throw all of this away. I am done with this. I want to break out of this dungeon!"

It's really ironic how he can call this upscale bachelor pad a dungeon. I guess he really didn't want this life style. Still, I sat there listening to him. I found him interesting.

"You're the one to help me out of this place. I am not happy here. There is nothing but cold walls and emptiness. I want a place I can call home with someone I can love and she can love me for me. I don't want this fake life. I want the American Dream. My American Dream!"

He sounded on the verge of hysteria. And I can't blame him. He was right. This apartment he had was not giving him happiness. His walls were bare, his atmosphere was lonely, and his home was not a home. A man caged in his own apartment pleading with me to take him away.

"What is your American Dream, Niko?"

Just then, a phone call. Damn the inappropriate timing. The look on his face was hurt and remorse. He stood up and took the call in another room. I heard his muffled voice from his bedroom.

"I told you, I don't want to do this anymore. I am not killing anymore. I'm out...Fuck you... Don't you dare bring her into this!... She's out of the question!...No one fucks with my family!..."

It was a while later until he emerged from his bedroom. He had a miserable look on his face as he sat heavily on the couch next to me. I only looked at him waiting for his next move.

"Can you take me away from here?" He asked eyes pleading with mine.

"I can't. I don't know how. I never broke a law in my life, and you're asking me to take you away?"

He inched closer to me. I didn't stop him. I could feel his breath on my lips. The need to have him close to me was not being fulfilled by a long stretch. His desire matched mine, maybe it was more. His desire to finally be loved. I closed my eyes, giving him the idea that I trusted him. Some might argue a little too much for being who he is. But sometimes gambles are risky, and he was a risk worth taking.

He slanted his head, and physically told me with his body that he loved me. His kiss was so soft and patient. Like the world stopped just for us, and everything else never mattered. His taste was like nothing I've ever had. His lips were like velvet, and my mind was screaming more. However, he broke off the kiss and stared very deep into my eyes. He wanted to see a reaction or something from me that told him I loved him too. But I waited. I waited to get to know him more. I wanted to know what was up with him getting involved in criminal life in the first place. How did he sink so low as to take lives of people just because he was paid to do so? Did he have any remorse or show any sympathy towards his victim? How many people has he killed? More importantly, how many people wanted him dead? It seemed like he has drug me into his life now, as the conversation he had suggested. Was I the 'she' he was talking about? So many things I wanted to know from him, but they all vanished as he kissed me again. Sliding his tongue into my mouth, he conveyed me to join him in his mouth, where I can taste him more fully. He was so yielding as I twisted my tongue around his. They seemed to be dancing together in his mouth. I felt a rush of wetness, and he seemed to pick up on that when he lifted himself without breaking the kiss. He positioned himself above me, and in some unlust filled corner of my mind, there was the idea of him wanting to plunge into me. I broke apart his kiss, leaving him confused and the question of him doing something wrong was written over his face.

"It's not you, it's me. Niko, I am not ready for this. Far from it. When I am ready, I will tell you."

He sat on top of me, which to my suprise, he didn't crush me.

"I'm so sorry. I really am. I just can't help it."

His sincere apology nearly ripped right through me in its genuinity. I involved myself in his life now. There was no turning back.

"What was that phone call about?"

He stared blankly into me for a minute. Then stood up and started pacing in front of me. He placed his hands on his head as if his brain was trying to ooze out of his skull. I watched him do this as his way of regaining some composure. It seems like he's had a limited supply all his life.

"She told me to leave it, and I did. I left it. But it came back to me. I wanted to leave it." His rambling signaled to me a sense of desperation and wanting to have some sort of stability in his life. I watched him pace back and forth not knowing what he was talking about.

"Niko, stop." I pulled his jacket sleeve to grab his attention. Thankfully he did stop, but he continued to ramble on.

"Niko!" This time I pulled him down onto the couch. His mania was slowly getting to him, when just an hour ago he was calm and collected.

His phone rang again. He didn't answer this time after looking at the caller. His eyes found mine again, and they screamed out.

"What can I do to help you? Tell me how."

"Get me out of here. Take me away from this place. It is consuming me."

"Who keeps calling you?"

He took his phone out of his pocket. He prompted me to search through all his call records. It was mostly from the same person. He's had atleast fifty phone calls already.

"I told you I wake up at 5 am, but only because of these damn phone calls."

"Change your phone number." I suggested simply.

"I tried that. Someone out there knows my new number each time I change."

His phone rang again. This time he answered.

"Roman, what's up?"

His responce was unexpectedly cheerful despite just having poured out his heart.

"I'm not doing anything special right now. What time did you want to meet up?"

Wait a minute. Not doing anything special? What was the hour of pure disparity all about? He wasn't making any sense.

"Hey listen, cousin... I have someone with me. Do you care if I bring her out to eat with us?...Great...No, she's not a girlfriend... Yet...Okay, cousin. I'll see you and Mallorie soon."

He terminated his phone call. He glanced at me for a moment and actually smiled. Is he really this unstable to go from one mood to another?

"Are you hungry? My cousin and his wife want to go out for breakfast."

"I really didn't bring any money with me. I thought it was just going to be you and me. I thought you were going to tell me more about yourself."

"There is plenty of time for that. And I can pay for you. I have all this money, and nobody to spend it on. I want to pamper someone."

"I'm confused, Niko. Are you looking to get away from this, or not? A few moments ago, you sounded like you didn't like this rich lifestyle, and now you want to spend it on me."

"It's not like I am going to spend my life savings on you. We're just going out to eat. Are you in or not?" He held out his hand, inviting me along for his wild ride of a life.

I paused for a moment. I still kept thinking: What if he is the one? This question is what was pressing me on.

I slowly extend my hand with all the good reasons in the world to go with him, but there is one big reason to not.

"I will protect you."