The Apache Relay's Katie Queen of Tennessee was my jam. This stanza was my particular favourite.

"...If only she would notice me.
What can I do to make her see?
I would swim the ocean wide
From New Orleans to Galilee..."

♬

I always had this song on the playlist whenever I was on my errand. However, having this on replay during my trip to Damian's apartment was not the greatest idea.

You see, my brain could be extremely expressive. Apart from powering up my body, the hemispheres of my think tank tend to present their thoughts (often contradicting) when I valued them the least. In the case of being simulated by a love song, it could be problematic. By the time I realized this, however, the song had already made contact with my brain twice.

If only Damian would notice you, Ally. The left side of my brain nudged me.

Its right equivalent made an attempt to stop it. Your input is not helping her.

It backfired. Oh, when has yours ever been considered?

Stop it! I drew their attention. Take your arguments elsewhere.

Where? They both questioned.

Anywhere but my mind. I crossed my arms.

Then there's technically nowhere we can go.

I sighed. Just shush, okay?

It was a miracle that I had not been admitted into a mental asylum for interacting with my brain like that. Perhaps I should become the female equivalent of Deadpool.

Nah.

Now that I had silenced my mind, I noticed faint noises down an alleyway from the junction I was at. Since kindergarten, I had been instilled with vigilance towards shady street corners. But curiosity got the best of me. I got off my truck and followed the path. As I made careful steps over the water puddles on the ground, the noises became more distinct. Fear took over me when I heard cries of agony.

I was approaching a crime scene.

Before I could make my way back, I had already made it into a small opening. Over there against the graffiti wall laid a clearly wounded man, with three guys hunched over him. At the far end of the wall was a savaged bag of groceries. It seemed as though an explosion had been set off from within the bag, spilling its contents everywhere.

I willed myself to escape, but when I was turning away, my feet kicked a metal rod on the ground. My careless maneuver generated a squeaky echo, loud enough for the guys to catch it. Knowing that they would come for me, I did the next best thing. I grabbed the rod and charged at them.

Lamentably, one of them snatched the weapon out of my loose grasp. Before I could comprehend anything, he had already swept me off the feet with a swung of the stick. With no grace at all, I landed on my butt with a loud thud. I grunted as throbbing pain spread along my spinal cord. Hope almost ran out when the shadow of the three thugs loomed over me. That was until my attacker, who was standing in the middle, pronounced my name.

"Alice?" He lowered his weapon. "What the bloody hell are you doing here?"

I could recognize that voice anywhere.

"You stole my question, Brett." I squinted my eyes at him.

Brett didn't get to answer me though. The metal rod was plucked out of his hand by his previous victim. I rolled over to prevent myself from getting another hit. From the corner of my eye, Brett was pathetically throwing punches at his enemy. However, within three swings, he was knocked out cold along with his friends. I wished the man left standing would leave me in peace once the fight was over. Unfortunately, he didn't. I flinched when he dropped the metal rod on the ground beside me.

"Please leave me alone." I kept my eyes shut. Sweat was forming beads on my forehead. "I have nothing to do with Brett."

"Neither do I." A soothing voice comforted me, followed by a gentle tap on my shoulder. "Don't worry, Ally. You're safe now."

When I squeezed open my eyes, I was greeted by Damian's warm smile.

▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁

"Hold still. This is going to sting a little." I dabbed alcohol around Damian's cuts. "I'm so sorry for dragging you into this."

"It's fine." He winced. "Ow!"

"It'll be over soon." I cringed at his agonized expression.

"I never thought Brett would hold grudges like this."

"I think he's just mad for wasting $200 on a gift he never got to deliver." I laughed. "But he got his lesson."

"I guess so." Damian nodded. "Thank goodness you didn't bring the flowers to the alley. Otherwise, they'd be ruined like my groceries."

"What are your plans with Elaine tonight with your empty fridge?" I laid bandages over the gashes on his forearm.

Damian rubbed his temple. "We could order a pizza."

"That's not romantic." I lifted my head and gestured at our surroundings. "Look at the mess in your apartment."

He chuckled. "What about taking her an Italian restaurant?"

"That's better." I clasped my hands together. "Alright, I have covered all of your wounds."

"Do I look dashing enough for a date?" He did a Flynn Rider smoulder, to which I giggled.

"No, not yet. You still have bruises on your face." I turned to my bag. "Actually, I have some healing cream with me."

He perked up. "You do?"

"Yup." I presented a cylindrical container. "It's my grandmother's recipe."

"That's cool." He moved forward so I could apply the ointment. "Whoa, it's literally cooling my skin."

"Yeah, that's because of the mint." I dabbed his skin gently. "But the major ingredients are aloe and marigold, which can ease your burns and inflammation."

"Does your family do anything without involving herbs?"

"Not that I can think of right now." I shrugged. "Even my parents met in a garden."

His gaze fell upon me. "You can't get rid of this fate either, can you?"

"It's okay." I met his stare. "I like flowers."

"And I like..." He stuttered and blinked. "I like flowers, too."

I raised an eyebrow. "But you have allergies."

"Screw them," Damian muttered, and pulled a strand of hair behind my ear. His eyes searched mine intensely, causing my blood to rush upwards.

Startled by his sudden approach, I tried to distance myself from him. But before I could move away, Damian caught my hand in his.

"Ally," He ran his thumb gingerly across my knuckles. "There's something I need to tell you."

"Uh-huh?" I tried to steady my uneven breath.

"It's about Elaine." He gulped. "Actually, she's..."

Right at the moment of truth, the doorbell rang. I pulled my hand out of Damian's clutch and straightened myself.

"Well, I think she's here." I pursed my lips and gathered my belongings.

He started again. "But - "

"It's okay. You can tell me later." I held up my hand.

When I pulled open the front door, I was welcomed by the sight of a tall brunette. Compared to my shabby outfit, she had much better taste in fashion than me. At least, she wasn't the one with plaid shirt and trousers. With sunglasses hanging in front of her chest, she was donning a tribal patterned maxi dress. I was almost intimidated by her air of confidence.

"Oh, hello!" She glanced at me from head to toe. "Who might you be?"

"Hi, I'm Alice." I scurried out to let her in. "I'm really sorry - "

"Don't apologize... We meet at last!" She hugged me before I could escape. "I'm Elaine. Damian probably has mentioned who I am. He has told me so much about you that I feel like we're friends already!"

"I can't wait to know more about you." I managed to give her a weak smile. "But I really need to run. The shop needs me..."

Elaine pouted. "That's a pity. I really wish you could stay for dinner."

"Maybe next time." I retreated outside. "Bye!"

"See you soon!"

I left the building as soon as I could. However, it only made things worse.

I started missing Damian Andres.