Chris took a deep breath as he walked into the coffee shop. The familiar and soothing smell hit him like a truck. He looked around as a lanky hand shot up to the sky and waved at him.

The woman was breathtaking. She was wearing a bright yellow romper with a red jacket. Her long black hair flowing behind her. Chris wondered if she was sitting on it.

          "I'm loving the bow tie." She pointed out as he sat down in front of her.

          "I can sense you have great taste, Clarissa." He replied scooting his chair forward. She chuckled; a soft, short one.

          "Please call me Clary. I'm just glad you could make it this time." She said. Her voice was soft and low.

          "I'm glad too." Christopher smiled back. "Can I get you a coffee?"

          "I got it. What would you like?" She asked getting up, removing her handbag hanging from the side of the chair.

          "A Latte. Medium." Chris smiled back. A woman with great taste in clothes and agrees to pay for food - Chris found the one. He watched as she walked to the counter and stood in line.

It had been a while since he had gone out on a date. He would have been lying if he said that his palms were dry and steady.

Chris jumped when his phone began to vibrate. He swiped the screen to answer the call.

          "This better be important." He muttered.

          "Would I disturb your date otherwise?"

          "What do you want?"

          "We have a job to do, so get your ass up and walk to the black car parked outside."

Chris sat forward as he looked out the glass doors for the black car. He found it to see Alexa waving at him from the driver's seat.

          "Do you really need me right now? Can't you take Jacob?"

          "Jacob is busy with his girlfriend."

Clary walked to the table with a worried look on her face.

You have to go? She mouthed.

Chris pressed his lips and nodded.

          "I'm coming." He told Alexa and cut the call.

          "I'm really sorry." He said getting up. "I really like you but I have to go right now. How about dinner? I'll take you to your favourite restaurant?"

Clary smiled a sad smile. "Chris I don't think we'll work. You seem pretty busy at the moment. Maybe we should just not see each other till you get settled in."

          "Maybe after that, we can see if we work or not." She got up from her chair and gave him a peck on the cheek. "Goodbye, Chris."

She picked up her coffee from the table and proceeded to walk out the coffee shop without so much as a glance back.

His phone rang again.

          "As cheesy and sad as that was, I really need you to straighten up and come to the car."

He cut the call. He picked up his coffee which had the name 'Clarissa' written on it. She took his coffee instead of hers.

He shrugged and took a sip as he pushed the glass door and walked on to the pavement.

          "God damn." He stopped and looked at his coffee. That was the best shit he had had. But since the order wasn't on the cup he couldn't figure out what it was.

          "Sure. Take your time." Alexa yelled from the car.

Chris walked to the car and leaned on the window sill beside the driver.

          "Alexa you have to try this." He said shoving the coffee in her face.

          "Maybe another time." She said pointing down. Chris glanced down.

          "Holy mother."

Alexa's thigh had a deep cut so much so that you could see a little of the bone. She had tied it up with a red cloth to prevent blood loss but the entire seat was covered.

          "Jacob couldn't help you with this?" Chris practically yelled.

          "Geez. Stop being a wuss and just drive me to the closest hospital." Alexa said pushing herself on to the passenger seat.

Chris sat down in the driver seat and then realised.

          "Why doesn't it smell like blood in here? More specifically why does it smell like fresh tomatoes?" He asked.

          "Cause I made a fresh tomato sauce." She used an index finger to pick up some of the "blood" on her thigh and pushed it to his mouth. "Want to try?"

          "So it's fake. What are you trying to do?" Chris said starting the car.

          "Just get me to the hospital. You'll see." She replied. "By the way, did you go see Marion today by any chance?"

          "Yeah. I did. No change. She's still under a coma." Chris muttered. "I really think you should pull the plug. The hospital doesn't have endless resources. They have other patients who have at least one per cent chance of surviving."

          "Yeah. I'll do it tomorrow." Alexa replied shrugging in indifference.

They drove in silence for about ten minutes before reaching the hospital.

          "Now come pick me up and ran into the hospital screaming like a crazy man," Alexa said. "When a nurse or a doctor comes to you, you say 'I need hotshot167' understood?"

          "'Hotshot167'?" Chris repeated.

          "Just do as I say," Alexa said.

Chris sighed as he got out of the car and ran to the passenger seat. Alexa was acting like she was about to pass out. He slipped one arm under her knees and another below her shoulder.

          "Help!" He yelled out as he walked up the ramp into the hospital.

Nurses rushed to his side with a stretcher. They helped place Alexa on it. She was rolling her eyes back and moving it side to side. This kid knew how to act.

          "I need hotshot167." He told the nurses. They all stopped and glanced at one another. And then one ran inside and came back with a doctor.

          "Do something." Chris wailed. "She's lost a lot of blood."

The doc nodded and said something to the nurse standing the closest to him.

          "Since this is a matter to be kept discreet, I'll be doing the surgery in a common room and not in an ICU." The doc told him.

The nurse nodded and began pushing the stretcher across the corridor to the last door. She pushed the door open with her back and pulled the stretcher inside. Chris followed her with the doctor behind him.

          "Alexa? Is she okay?" A familiar voice asked, making Chris stop in his tracks.

The woman was sitting on her bed in the side of the room with a book in her hand and a full breakfast meal on a bed table in front of her. That was what Alexa was talking about. That's why she agreed to pull the plug the next day.

          "Marion?"

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8-2-19
||A/N||- Hey. Hope you liked this one.
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