Saving My Heroine

Chapter 12

10th May 2020

Anna stared at Masen in delight, her eyes twinkling as he consistently missed the hoops. She bit her lip, her shoulders shaking with the effort of trying to hold back her laughter. She turned away from him and let out a silent laughter only to meet his betrayed gaze when she turned back. Looking at him she couldn’t stop herself from bursting into laughter.

“You’re not very good at this are you?” She forced out and he pouted.

She stretched out her hand and he passed it to her, she handed him her bag, she eyed the hoop, shifted her stance lightly and took her shot. She wasn’t an athlete in fact she was quite bad at sports but she was quite good at this game. She let out a huge smile as the ball sailed through the basket, scoring her first point. She immediately shot Masen a teasing smile

“It's alright, not everyone is good at this.” She turned back and proceeded to net % more points before she missed. She smiled at the owner and took a simple but cute keychain as her prize and presented it to Masen.

“For you.” She offered -- her face bright with a sweet smile.

His eyes immediately warmed as he gently took the keychain from her hand.

“Thank you, Anna but the next win is from me.”

Anna nodded, not quite believing considering his losing streak since they got there but keeping her opinion to herself as they walked to another stall.

Masen asked Anna out immediately after his return, Anna hesitated still weighing the pros and cons. At first, she had rejected, trying to convince him to take a rest after his trip but he was insistent. She ended up turning to Celine who encouraged her to go. They both decided to go to a newly opened amusement park instead of dinner like they originally planned but so far Masen had been bad at all the games they had tried.

“Let’s do rides instead.” Anna offered as he missed the ring toss for the fourth time.

Masen clenched his teeth, picking up another ring with determination in his eyes. “One more.” He muttered and tossed the ring, Anna held her breath silently praying for one win so they could move on.

“Yes!” They both yelled and gave each other a high five in excitement.

“I suppose persistence does pay.” She praised with sparkling eyes as she admired the keychain he handed her.

“Now can we go for rides?” She leaned forward, her eyes soft and pleading. He let out a soft chuckle, satisfied with his win and nodded. She threw her hands, skipping to the closest ride. Masen trailed after her, delighted at her joy.

They spent the day on different rides, enjoying the unique feeling each one gave to them. They sat on benches during brief intervals, catching their breaths, chatting and admiring the other patrons around them. As the sky darkened and their outing came to a close, they both found themselves reluctant to part ways.

They strolled through the park, delightful conversations flowing through as they admired the scenery around them. They got to the entrance of the amusement park and stared at each other not yet ready for the night to end.

“How about dinner?” Masen asked, “That was the original plan,” he added cheekily.

Anna's lips curled into a smile, “That sounds great.” She agreed, her voice full of excitement from their shared day, “I’m quite hungry after all those rides.”

Masen chuckled, intertwining their hands as he pulled her towards his car.

They pulled up at a small dinner, hands clasped and smiling as they were sat on a table. They resumed their conversations as their meals were brought, from childhood stories to school and they settled on accounting. They both laughed when they realized that their conversation had slipped into work territory.

“I really enjoyed today, Masen.” Anna smiled leaning slightly into him as they both stood in front of her house.

“So did I.” He replied, his voice low and sincere.

“Well then, goodnight.” She said, rocking back on her heels but making no real move to leave.

He leaned down, lips brushing softly across her cheek in a feather light kiss. A gentle warmth flooded her body, causing her heart to race by the gesture.

“Goodnight, Anna.” His voice a breathy murmur in her ears. “I’ll text you when I get home.” He leaned back.

She nodded unconsciously and also leaned back, finally ready to leave. She opened her door, entering and she turned to see him still standing where she had left him. He smiled and entered his car as she shut her door. Leaning on his steering he thought, ‘I’m really hooked.’ Then he chuckled and drove off.

9th May 2020

Tim stared at Michael, watching the other man as he paced across his living room. His shoulders were tensed, jaws tightened, eyes cold yet full off intensity, his steps were harsh on the floor.

“Try not to wear my innocent rug.” He chirped lightly, causing Michael’s steps to falter.

He had originally planned to allow him stew until he was ready to talk but after ten minutes of nothing but silent rage he had to comment. The lightness of his voice threw Michael off and he turned to stare at Tim who gave him a blinding smile.

He fell into a chair, the tension and anger draining from his body, he leaned fully on the chair and let out a long sigh. Tim handed him a cold bottle of beer, which he immediately downed. Michael came to Tim’s house immediately after he got home. He originally wanted to visit Celine but she went home to visit her parents for the weekend so he changed destination to Tim’s.

“Feel better?” Tim asked.

“A bit.” Michael

“Want to tell me what happened now?”

“Coral.” Michael gritted, his eyes regaining their blazing fury.

“Oh.” Tim winced, “I mean Celine handled it well but it was bad, actually it’s the fact that it happened at work that made it so bad. The entire office is discussing it and the tales are – Well they’re not bad but who knows for how long?”

Michael swished his drink as he groaned, “I don’t even understand what Coral was trying to achieve. I thought we were friends.”

Tim burst into a hearty laughter before he could stop himself, almost falling over from the force of the laughter. Michael turned his cold eyes on him, raising an eyebrow.

“What exactly do you find so amusing?” He demanded.

Tim waved a hand, “I’m sorry but your words were so ridiculous I couldn’t help myself.”

Michael stared, a questioning look on his face.

“You’re really a contradiction Mike, how are you so perceptive and still so oblivious?” Tim chuckled.

“Get to the point.” He growled but Tim waved his hand, resettling back casually into his seat.

“Coral genuinely believed that you were still going to marry her. That you just wished to enjoy life a little but soon you’ll realize how amazing she was and fall in love with her or something along that line and the fact that you are unaware of this fact is just crazy to me.” He chuckled, amusement flowing through him as he watched the horror on Michael’s face as he spoke. “Did you really believe she was over you?”

“I thought she wasn’t into me!” Michael exclaimed, his voice filled with astonishment.

Tim held back his laughter, “Only you dude.” He choked out, “The rest of us knew. Why did you think none of the girls ever asked you out? Or that she never really dated for long?”

“I don’t know, it wasn’t really my business.” He shrugged.

“And that right there is your problem and innocent Celine paid the price. Honestly, I’m surprised it took her so long to react. I just didn’t expect her to go after Celine and not you.” Tim frowned, his brows furrowed in contemplation.

Michael snorted coldly, “Well I didn’t realize she was into me, so I guess we don’t really know people.” Tim let out a chuckle at that.