Aura Finley

Sasha being true to her words had transferred the said amount to my account once she had reached the safe place. I kept glancing at my phone at the figures in my account; it wasn't much. Even though I had a job, yet, saving while living in an expensive city like San Francisco is a difficult task. After paying all of my bills, and saving a portion of it to pay my debt, I was usually left with just a little. Even with it, I never forgot to save $10 every week to donate to a foundation that supported children traumatized by abuse, neglect, and violence. The amount may not seem like much, but as we know every penny counts if it's given for a good cause, I was satisfied with myself for being a part of it.

My debt. I sighed thinking about that.

I had to pay back the debt I took to complete study in college. It wouldn't have been a problem for me to pay back my thirty-five thousand dollars debt if I had taken it from a legal source.

My foolishness took me to a hungry shark, a scammer who landed money without doing any hefty and tiresome paperwork. His specialty was to keep the track of his debtors; he would kill to get his money back. I should have taken a loan from a legal source, a bank perhaps, but a few of my classmates glorified the idea of going to him since it'd be easy to get the loan at a low-interest rate. And me being naive and under peer pressure, went with them.

The main issue was that my original debt was thirty thousand dollars, including interest, but that wicked scammer added the extra interest of five thousand dollars for nothing. And I only had six months left to pay the entire amount. I couldn't even complain about him since I had no proof of taking a loan from him.

I had already paid fifteen thousand dollars by working my ass off, and by cutting my needs, still, I had a lot to pay.

Sometimes— no every time, I cursed myself for being foolish enough to get gripped in such a situation for a degree that didn't excite me. A college degree that provided me with a boring nine-to-five job which I didn't enjoy at all. Just what had I done to my life?

Now, I stood in front of the wicked scammer, Ben, who looked at me with his nasty gaze while showing his filthy yellow teeth. My gaze flicked from him to his guards standing behind him, glaring at me as if I had taken debt from them and not his boss.

"I thought I'd have to send my boys to bring you to me," Ben spoke and I swear I held the urge to punch his face when I sensed the hidden meaning behind his sentence. Geezer.

Clearly showing that son of a bitch how disgusting twerp he was, I handed him an envelope. "Two thousand dollars. I'll pay more next time."

He quickly snatched the envelope out of hand and tearing off it he took out the cash to count it. Once satisfied with having the amount I had said, he tossed my hard-earned money on his desk as if it was just a bunch of plain papers. Couldn't he have shown a bit of courtesy towards money?

He leaned forward on the desk by supporting himself on his forearms, his neck almost getting invisible as his shoulders raised slightly, his broad-forehead, round face protruding out. I held my laughter in my throat just not to crack up at this dirty, slimy, squishy frog.

"Just how many more next times do you want me to give you? State it clearly so that I don't have to keep my men after you. You know, you can be a bit handy."

No later when these words left his mouth, my eyes flicked to his men—only if these filthy, poor excuse for humans are allowed to be called men, standing at his back eyeing me as if I were on sale in a cheap market. What they didn't know was that I wasn't an easy prey to catch.

I switched my gaze back to the now smirking scammer. "You know I always pay on time. May it be a little, but I pay. You don't have to keep your men after me." I let out firmly, giving him an impression that I wasn't terrified of his awful ways.

Ben laughed and his men being his other voice, followed. "Oh, darling, I trust no one when it comes to my money—oh, wait— I actually do not trust anyone and you believe I'd leave you, who has a lot of my money on you, to roam freely? Who knows when you decide to flee? I can't allow that, sweetheart." He spoke in the sweetest voice possible, however, his croak only brought me to the nearly puking stage.

Now, I officially hate the endearment sweetheart and darling.

Even though I was bothered and slightly unnerved by him being after me all the time, I huffed audibly, not wanting him to see through my nervousness. I never gave him the upper hand; never will. "Listen, only $18K is due now and I still have six months left to pay. I will pay, rest assured. I am not a fraud, and I,  certainly am not the one who runs away with others' money. My self-respect doesn't allow me to do that." I mocked him. 

And his jaw ticked; eyes narrowed. I mocked him pretty well. Ha! I involuntarily flinched when I heard a loud bang of his palms on his desk. He stood up and menacingly padded to me. His dogs tailed after him even for five steps. Okay, now I was afraid. Six filthy men and one innocent, harmless, yet courageous girl. I could fight for myself, but, they were five burly men accompanied by one round slimy frog.

I could not think straight.

Ben, the frog, stood a hand distance from me, for which I was thankful, otherwise, I would have to take another shower. His mere smell was enough to sicken me to the core. Just what would he do with his money when he couldn't use it to keep himself clean?

"Listen, you girl..." He pointed his ring-clad index finger at me. "I've had enough of your lateness. Other students you came with have already paid off their debt." He then pointed his finger at my face. "This beautiful face of yours already got you six extra months, but not anymore."

"What?" I squeaked in bafflement.

"I clearly remember the day you came to me to ask for six more months; you told me you would pay as fast as you could. Now's the time. Two weeks. Two weeks are all you got. Now off you go." He casually waved his hand to dismiss me and walked back to his leather chair.

"What? You can't do that! How will I arrange eighteen thousand dollars in two weeks?" I demanded firmly, my eyebrows drowning into a frown.

He placed his fat ass back on his chair, making it squeak because of his weight. "I don't care. Beg, steal, sell yourself or earn. Do whatever you please. I just want my money."

"This is unfair." I banged my hands on the desk in frustration, glaring at him.

Unfazed by my outburst, he ignored me and turned to his men. "Throw her out."

They charged toward me but I raised my hand before they could touch me. "Don't you dare come near me!" They stopped. But when I comprehend that no amount of pleading would bring me time, I decided to leave.

"Fine." I snapped and without saying another word, I turned my back to them and marched out.

"Do not dare to flee; I have eyes on you." I heard him say. Bastard.

Once out and at the safe distance from his office, I groaned looking here and there in frustration. I wanted to scream. I wanted to shout, but all I could do was kick the tiny pebble under my foot, which bounced back to me after hitting the wall. I couldn't help but kick the pebble which again came back to mock me that what you throw comes back to you. I shouldn't have thrown myself into the abyss of scams. He was coming after me like a poacher.

I looked at the sky and saw my life laughing at me. I helped people escape, but I couldn't find my escape from that scammer. It was as though he had chained me to him. Regardless of whatever he said or did, I had landed myself in the problem and I had to pay, no matter what because I could never run away with others' money. It would haunt me for life if I did.

Now, the major question: how will I arrange that huge amount in two weeks? I couldn't even ask my parents because they had already done a lot and they had my brother to look for. And I wasn't a child anymore to run back to my parents when in trouble; I fight my own battles.

Dang, I needed stability in my life!

Hoping to find a solution soon I headed to have my brunch since I couldn't think on an empty stomach. I decided to have a Philly cheesesteak but to my luck, I had to wait for twenty torturous minutes in a queue to place my order. When I finally had my cheesesteak with French fries on the side, I roamed my eyes in the sitting area to look for space to sit and eat in peace. However, again to my luck, I couldn't find a single empty table, even the bar area was filled with people.

At every table, I could only see families enjoying their meals; there was hardly any single person who sat on their own. The place was jam-packed. Just why can't people eat breakfast in the comfort of their homes and leave these places for people like us who step out of the house to work?

Just when I was about to head out to find a vacant table outside, my gaze landed on a two-seater table where a guy was seated alone—his back to me. I could share the table with him. He wouldn't turn out to be a creep, right?

Hoping for zero chances of him being a creep, I strolled towards the table and stood beside an empty chair across from him. He had a cap on and his eyes were on his food that's why I couldn't see his face.

I cleared my throat and said, "Excuse me. Could I—"

My words and my breath got stuck in my throat when the guy looked up. As if he recognized me as well, the corner of his lips curled up.

"Well, hello there." He grinned while waving his hand at me.

"You!" I shrieked lowly. There was no way I was going to forget that face any soon. He was the same bowtie over the t-shirt guy from the wedding —who I assumed was a thief.

"My sixth sense tells me you are looking for a space to sit." He spoke, then gestured for me to grab the seat. "By all means, sit." The grin never left his face.

"I'd rather stand all day than sit with a thief," I grumbled as I averted my eyes to look if someone had vacated the space. Still full.

"Thief?" The amused voice forced me to look back at him, only to find amusement lingering in his eyes. "What made you think I am one?" He raised his eyebrows as he crossed his arms across his chest, leisurely leaning back in his chair.

I scoffed. "Trying to play innocent, are we?" I clutched the plate in my hand tighter and gave him a pointed look. "I saw you stealthily jumping the wall yesterday at the wedding moment after a commotion erupted there."

"Oh, that..." He relaxed by uncrossing his arms and chuckled. "Well, yes, I did steal something very precious from the wedding. But don't worry sweetheart, I wouldn't steal your heart."

My eyes narrowed and my jaw ticked. "Not that you can, but even if you did, you would not get the price." I let out haughtily.

"Worthless?" His face pooled in mirth.

"Priceless!" I growled. "And don't call me sweetheart."

He roared in laughter, catching the attention of people around us. "You are so damn cute. So, what do I call you...umm... cheesesteak?" He said between his laugh, eyeing my plate.

"It'd be better if you do not call me anything." I gritted out, frowning.

"Okay, okay." He raised his hands in the air. "Now, if you don't want to lose this seat to that boy over there, I'd advise you to place yourself on the chair." He bobbed his head looking behind me; I followed his gaze and when I saw a boy eyeing the seat, I quickly placed the plate on the table and sat on the chair.

"Now—" Before he could even start I held my hand to stop him from speaking.

"Let me eat in peace. I am starving," I said and dug in my food. I picked up the cheesy cheesesteak and took a huge bite out of it. My eyes shut in pleasure as I savored the cheesy delight. "This is soooo good." I couldn't help but praise out loud while munching on.

"Isn't it? They serve the best here." I heard him say in a muffled voice which made me look at him only to find him eating like a pig.

"Slow down, will you? Your food hasn't got legs to run away." I had no idea why I commented that. It wasn't my concern how he eats.

Just then he placed his cheesesteak on his plate and licked his lips while wiping his hands with the tissue.
"It isn't running anywhere, but my empty stomach wants it on an urgent basis that's why the rush." He gave me a tight-lipped beautiful smile—yes beautiful. No matter what his profession I presumed was, he did have some features of being a cover model.

"Now if you are done staring at my lips do I have your permission to continue eating?" His mocking caused me to fidget in my seat and dusted blush all over my face. 

I composed myself and reciprocated his tight-lipped smile. "I'm no one to stop you from doing anything."

With that, I lowered my eyes to my plate and began to stuff French fries in my mouth.

"By the way, your eyes look more beautiful in bold eyeliner, not that they look any less now."

"Excuse me?" I looked at him in shock while coughing to swallow the potato finger that got stuck in my throat at his comment. Had I heard him right?

"Yes, it's the truth." He grinned and then frowned when he saw my confused eyes. I saw his smile fading; he averted his eyes for a second and cleared his throat. "It was an innocent compliment. Don't take it otherwise."

"Are you flirting with me?" I asked, ignoring the dip my heartbeat took. Well, who doesn't like being complimented?

A slow smirk formed on his lips; he leaned forward by placing his forearms on the table. "Not really, but if I were...is it working?" His smirk deepened and his eyes sparkled with merriment.

"No. And never will." I let out rather rudely before getting back to my food. This guy didn't turn out to be a creep for sure, but he wasn't someone with whom one could sit peacefully. Because within another second, he opened his mouth again which caused me to groan internally.

"You know, since it's our second meeting, we might as well introduce ourselves."

"Then you'd say we should exchange numbers. Well, I'm not up for that. We haven't reached the stage of introduction. It's better we stayed strangers." I interrupted him before he could add any further. My response pushed him to lose his smile. Honestly, I didn't want to be rude, but I was already tense and I surely didn't want to be indulged with the guy I just met. I was in no mood to make friends—or anything.

Without a word, he simply shrugged his shoulders and resumed eating. Even though I felt bad for being rude to him, I opted to stay silent and resumed eating. When I was done eating, I received a call from an unknown number. Excusing myself, I headed out of the diner to attend the call since the inside was too noisy.

"Is this Aura Finley?" I was met with a question in a female voice as soon as I picked up the call.

"Uh, speaking?" I frowned a little.

"Ah, actually, I got your number from one of my friends. I heard that you help people escape?"

The question or rather the statement from another side of the phone call brought me to alert mode. Alert because I got frightened thinking if that was a prank call to get me arrested? What if Sasha's abusive boyfriend had got hold of the news that I helped her escape? My assumption might not be true, but I couldn't wash off the doubt since I had never received a phone call for help; I had always been contacted face to face ever before. 

"Hey, you there?" I jerked back to reality and gulped hard.

"Y—yes." I felt like I lost the ability to speak.

"Oh, alright. If there's no problem, could you meet me at The Heritage in two hours? I need your help."

The Lotus Heritage is; the most expensive hotel in the area. If it was supposed to be a trap, no one would ask to meet in a five-star hotel, or would they? But there was pleading in her voice, though, which meant she did need my help. I sighed. If she actually was in need of help and I denied it, I would not be able to forgive myself in case anything wrong happened to her.

Was I ready to take a risk? Well, this work had always been risky. I decided to take the risk hoping everything would go right.

"Alright, I'll be there," I muttered.

"Oh, thank you so much. Ask for Rian Mackay once you are there." She responded enthusiastically before hanging up the call.

Huffing, I craned my neck up, looking at the bright, clear, sunny sky, thinking about the decision I had just made. If everything went right, I would be having money to throw in Ben's face.

I went back inside the diner to collect my bag and found that guy still sitting there. Ignoring his stare, I picked up my sling bag and was about to leave when the sudden guilt of being rude to him surged inside me. Something told me it wasn't right to leave someone without apologizing for being rude when that someone had been quite a good company without being a creep.

"Umm, so, umm, I sincerely apologize for being rude to you. I— I just had a quite bad start to the day. And umm, thank you for having me sit at your table. I'd be leaving now." I found myself telling him.

It didn't take for his stare to turn into a jovial one with his lips stretching into a grin. He crossed his arms across his chest and waggishly wiggled his eyebrows.

"Wow, you being nice, that's... unbelievable, given that you have been snappy all along. Is the change of heart due to that phone call or is it a result of love at first sight with me?"

"Are you out of your mind?" I growled with narrowed eyes. And here I thought he was upset with how I behaved with him. "It's called decency. If that word's even in your dictionary." I added sarcastically. To my surprise, he laughed.

Ignoring his contagious laughter, with sass in my attitude, I turned and began walking in pride until I heard him shout which caused me to growl again.

"Would love to see you again, cheesesteak!"

I stopped and peered over my shoulder to give him a pointed look. "Would kick your ass if we ever met again, Mr. Bowtie over the t-shirt." I threw a tight-lipped threatening smile and headed out.

_________________________________________

Kian Turner

The real fury. I like that.

Though a pure coincidence we met again, it was fun to spend time with her, to tease her. How childish of her to consider me a thief. Well, I did steal a must-have from the wedding but considering me a thief just by watching me jump a wall was a low blow. Couldn't blame her, though, anyone in the right sense would think the same. And I too sensed her to be a child snatcher.

My only regret was that I couldn't get her name or her Instagram. She, without any effort, had me question my flirting abilities. Damn! She was a hard nut to crack.

Any other girl would dive into my charms effortlessly; taken girls would leave their boyfriends for me, which unsurprisingly leads to me dumping them. I mean, if they can eye another man despite being in a relationship, they can cheat on me as well.

That's why I hadn't found the right and the only one for me.

Nevertheless, my time in the town was over, and many other girls in the world were waiting for me to flirt with them. I was sure I'd forget this feisty in no time, though I'd miss her—a little... for a while.

Before my mother could get the whiff of my presence in my hometown, I had to disappear. I did not want to be the victim of her wrath for running away from home without telling her. I wasn't ready to face any of my family members. Maybe one day, but not today.

I had already decided where I was headed when a phone call interrupted my plan of leaving for another country.

I could be wrong, but I had that strange feeling that my life was going to take an unexpected turn.

_________________________________________

I sincerely apologize, but the updates will be weekly, preferably, on Sundays. I'll try to be more frequent with the updates in the coming days.