Line between Love

Unlikely encounter.

“There is food in the heater” He said as she finished changing.

She opened the warmer—box of instant noodles, she lifted the warmer to the large logo on it which was her restaurant logo.

She read the batch number and address before turning to him.

“Isn't this supposed to be delivered?” She asked.

“Yeah, but the traffic is mad, and it will probably be soggy before I get there.” He replied.

“If you don't want it you can just drop it, I will take it home anyway” He added.

Her stomach rumbled—it then dawned on her that she had only had coffee all day long.

She ripped the box open as she was reminded of the sweet smell which she had missed for a while.

Her mind wandered to the last time she had street food, even though it was the primary goal of their chain restaurant—her idea was to make street food exquisite without losing the taste and richness.

The irony made her giggle as she took the chopsticks and began to eat.

“Hey leave some for me” He said from the front seat as he adjusted the rear mirror to look at her.

She adjusted her wet hair as she continued to eat, almost chocking as she took a slip from the mineral water.

“I didn't ask for your name?” She said, looking at him.

“Alexandre, but you can call me Alex” he replied.

“Well, Alexandre, thank you for helping me. If you don't mind, would you drop me off at the next turn” She asked?

“Are you sure? That is a restricted area” Aaron replied.

“Yeah sure” Rhoades replied as she covered the box, taking a towel to wipe her hair again.

The rest of the ride was rather quiet—Rhoades fought the drowsiness, but the cold made it even more difficult, and she found herself drifting into a cold sleep. She could feel Aaron tap on her shoulder softly and opened her eyes.

“We are here” He said as he helped her up.

Rhoades looked out the window to see that the rain had stopped pouring hard—and it was now a light shower, she turned to Alex.

He handed her an umbrella with a smile, “please may I get it back next time?”.

“Yeah sure, can I give you my number, so you text me to pick it up?” Rhoades asked as she took out her Galaxia 14 Pro Max to take his number.

His fingers drummed on the dashboard, “I don't have a phone” he replied.

“Oh, eh how about we meet her tomorrow then?” Rhoades suggested as her eyes moved to her feet—She remembered she was barefoot as one of her heels was missing. She picked up the single pair as she jumped down the trunk.

“Okay, sure I will drop by” Alex replied as he pulled closer to her. He was now really close as Rhoades pulled back and closed her eyes.

She sighed—“well just get on with it”

Rhoades heard the door click open, she immediately opened her eyes to see Alex back in his seat drumming on the dashboard.

“Oh my god I thought you were—you know what, never mind” she muttered and jumped out of the car. She had walked a couple of feet away and turned to see Alex waving at her before he drove off.

She sighed as she walked towards the security post.

“Good evening, may I see your identification please?” A man asked from the security post as Rhoades walked up to him—in baggy clothes, walking barefooted, walking towards him.

She pulled out an ID card, shoving it in his face. He immediately opened the gate, letting her in and ran to meet her at the front. He took the umbrella from her, holding it over her head as she walked down toward the large glass building.

“Do you have any service?” Rhoades asked, without stopping or turning toward him.

He pulled out a Galaxia 8 and shamefully passed it to her—Rhoades couldn't care less as long as it had service. She dialed a number, it rang a couple of times before the person on the other side of the phone picked up.

“Hello, who is this?” the voice asked.

“Bianca, is that you?” Rhoades asked.

“Rhoades?” Bianca asked.

“Where the f**k are you? The meeting starts in 10” She called out.

“Something came up, anyway, I am outside the complex. Come get me and grab me a fresh set of clothes while you are at it” Rhoades said, ending the call—passing the phone to the guard.

⸙⸙

“Well there goes dinner Alex” Alex said, grabbing the warmer and throwing it to the back of the truck—he was already regretting filling in for mike.

He didn't work here and had to fill in for a friend who was ill and couldn't show up to work.

“Being kind won't take you anywhere” He said to himself as he horned at the driver in front of him who wasn't moving even after the traffic light had turned green.

“Juliette will be mad at me” He said as he turned a corner.

⸙⸙

“You are f*****g late” Bianca said as she jogged behind Rhoades.

“Bianca, I already know that okay.”

Bianca sighed as she tried to keep up with Rhoades—She was rather on the shorter side with a pumped figure, her brown hair complemented her dark skin and blue eyes with freckles all over her face. She had loose hair which looked unkempt.

She was sporting a pair of black sleeves and trousers with black heels as she caught up to Rhoades who was now wearing a white sleeve and patterned vest with a black skirt just resting above her knees with soft black loafers.

Rhoades stopped in her tracks and turned to Bianca—she scrambled on a piece of paper before passing it to her.

“Find out everything about this person before tomorrow evening” She said, passing Bianca the note as she turned to the door, adjusting her skirt before walking inside.

Bianca stood at the door looking as Rhoades frame disappeared, she made a silent protest, throwing a fit before she adjusted her shirt, turning back as she walked to her office.

“Good day to you gentlemen, shall we start the meeting?” Rhoades said with a cold smile as she faced different men who adjusted in their seat looking at her with lust.

“I thought the old man was going to head the meeting” One of the men said as he rose to his feet—The others followed suit.

“Well, he isn't available, but I can as well as much fill in his shoes” Rhoades said, smiling.

“What do you know? You are still wet behind the ears” He said.

“Well Mr. Goldstein, I know for a fact that you export 5 million grams of banned spices every month, and I'm sure the government will like to know this information too” She said—drawing the man's attention as he turned to look at her.

“You don't have any proof” He said, stammering.

She clicked the remote in her hand as a video played on the screen.

Goldstein falls to his seat as he watched it.

“Well, I hope we can work together in the future?” Rhoades said as she walked towards him, dropping a document in front of him.

“What? 60-30, that is too much” he screamed.

“I am sure we can come to a compromise here” She said, moving the document in front of him.

“What about the 10%?” He asked.

“Oh, that, it goes to the people who have been affected by your business as aids and grants” She said with a smile.