Chapter 9: Market Days

The next day...

"Where are we going?" Cleo asked, different houses as passed them as they travelled on a high speed on the middle of the road, she was on the passenger seat while the guy was driving. 

She didn't know what to do, all she know was she was told to keep quiet, to stay on guard as if her life was in tenterhooks, but who's idiot's going to believe that? 

Not her after it dawned what happened yesterday and her insides churned like they were on a washing machine. It was great that he didn't try or purposely avoid any topic of it as if nothing really happened.  

"I told you, to the market," the guy replied, his one hand on the steering wheel and the other munched a pear he found from the fruit basket Cleo got on the front door of his apartment.

The only sound on the car was the radio, Cleo put her eyes back on the scenery and the guy drove silently.  

Cleo noticed he was a little rigid when he spoke his reply. Her eyes traveled to the side mirror nearest to her, no cars on the back or seven meters away -- no signs of anyone following.

Why was he so rigid then? As if someone will ambush them or jump scare them the second he let his guard down. 

Was he always like that? No. In his apartment, he let everybody in, two ladies already visited his apartment and one was living with him and he feels calm about it, except that he thought Cleo was the helper his mom hired. Now he's playing games on her yet he covered it as if he was testing her. 

Was he always that childish? Yes. She already killed him numerous times in her mind but she can't do it in an actual way unless she loved her first. And though she already failed her mission numerous time. She's not giving up, she still has a lot of tactics under her sleeves. 

She passed the requirements of death based on her prerequisite, for her, the moment she saw the person, knows its action and its past to its alibis and whatnots, she will always find a way to love them. 

She's been killing countless times after the killings of her family. After the organization took her, she understood the world she was forced to live in. That there are bad guys that were just pure bad that needed to go straight to hell and that includes her family. 

The devil knew that she killed her family, but the devil didn't know the reason why she killed them. 

The devil never knew the souls she was dragging every time she hold a gun. 

Who's sane person can kill her whole family? Who's sane enough to kill for love? She may look like a psychopath who ran away from a mental hospital but instead of taking her back. The devil took advantage of her. Knowing well that the devil was also fugitives. They all are fugitives who keep on escaping death. 

Cleo was never the conversation starter, she hates talking and quite of other things like, for example, the guy beside her.

She doesn't know when she'll love him but if she'll do, she will make sure that she will drag his soul wherever she goes. 

Today was a weird day for her, she got all her training perfect yet she resulted in thinking of a drastic measure just to disappoint him and got points in return. 

"How is my performance going?" She said, hoping that he will reply again like what he did earlier. 

"Oh yeah! I forgot the clipboard." He grunted and punched the steering wheel. 

Okay. Not the reply she was hoping to get, but okay. 

"Should we turn back?" She suggested. 

"Nah, that'll be a hassle," he threw a looked at her, "isn't that your job?" 

"When was that my job?" Cleo raised a brow at him. 

"At the same... After... Before... Ugh... Never mind, where here." He announced and pulled the car to an empty parking space.

Cleo quickly got off the car and automatically looked all over the huge parking lot. 

He got off and put his car keys in his pocket.

"Hey dude, nice chick!" Halfway into the entrance of the market, they passed a lanky guy with a fake distorted mustache in a tiger-print shirt and golden metal necklace complete with a cap and earrings. 

She instantly recognized him as the guy in the Drollery who looked like a robber who can rap. 

"She's not my chick, Eskrise," Ace replied, looking at Cleo who has a straight face. "You already met her. She's Cleo."

"Oh!" Eskrise gave out a face of recognition. "She's the girl you spitted blood!"

Ace gave out a nervous laugh and checked the changes on Cleo's face, her forehead creased. 

"Stop it, dude," He demanded and slightly kicked his feet. 

The dude with a fake distorted mustache twitched a bit. "Oh yeah, whatever. Havva nice day dude." He passed on them with his hands on pockets as if nothing happened. 

Cleo almost run over him but the guy was quick to hold her hand and stopped her. "What are you doing?" 

Cleo faced him with a distorted expression. "I'm not a chick!" She squealed and opted to run for Slidell but the guy was still holding her hand so Cleo resorted to shouting; "I'm not a chick, stupid! I'm a hen!!" 

"You're not mad," Ace stated, more like to himself than to her. 

Cleo snorted, "I told you I'm not." She looked at him through her peripheral vision. "It's just fake blood." 

And she also got a batch of embarrassment around him.

"But I slobbered it on your dress," he pointed out.

Cleo took a step forward before looking back on him. "And you're manager said sorry." 

And Cleo didn't, if there is one person that needs to say sorry when she lost her mind after seeing blood, it was her, but the gentleman she met acted as if nothing happened, as if she didn't stole a kiss from him.

Seeing the sincerity on Cleo's face. He faked a coughed and let go of her hand. "Let's go." 

They both went in the entranced of the market and the guy immediately got a cart.

"Are we going to buy many things?" She asked and he nodded. 

"Sure, what are we here for then?" 

Cleo mentally computed how much money she got in her wallet, but there's no need to do that because she got nothing in the first place, all of her money was in her secret stash in her luggage. 

She automatically tugged the guy's arm. "Let's go home." 

The guy with a shocked expression asked "why?" 

"You forgot the clipboard." 

"I thought I already said never mind that?" He pulled Cleo closer.

"No, we're not going back. Pushed the cart, I'll just mentally add a demerit point," He declared and walked past her. 

"Follow me." 

With the cart now on her, she got nothing to choose but to push it with an irritated face. Well, maybe she may just give money mentally to the cashier later.

"Don't you know that my favorite fruit is the watermelon?" He asked and touched all the watermelon he could touch while on the fruit section. "What about yours?"

"Apple," she replied rather forcefully just to repay what he did on the way here. 

"I like watermelon because it's like eating water and I always dream of having a suikawari," he said shrugging like he didn't just feel the dark aura of Cleo behind him. 

"You know. Watermelon Splitting from Japan. I want to do that but my family was against it. It'll be messy to clean up they said." 

He got two huge watermelons on the cart and some apples then went to get anything that his eye catches. 

Cleo followed him and she planned to silently watch him except for his questions here and there that needed to be answered with a single word because if she doesn't he'll look like a fool there talking to tomatoes. 

"So do you like peanut butter or mayo?" He asked when they stopped on an isle. 

"Mayonnaise," she replied and he answered, "me too." Like an annoying little boy who answered because he want to but doesn't ask to. 

"But I prefer peanut butter sometimes and Nutella all the time!" He added and got one of what he said. 

"I'll assume you like hens because they laid eggs?" He said when they got to a huge refrigerator full of eggs. 

"No. I just like them because of their feathers," she replied shrugging because of the thought that got added to her mind. She likes them because they're annoying as hell in the morning. 

They keep her mind on track because she will think of something gruesome first thing in the morning. 

"Ayt. Whatever. We'll buy some eggs." He opened the huge fridge and took a tray of eggs. 

After that, they went to the meat section and buy all the stuff his kitchen needed as he said and they already have the cart full just with the food section per se. 

Cleo pushed the cart on wherever he went and her face sunken into a deep annoyance every time he added more on the cart. When he turned for the chips section and not for the cashier she almost flipped the cart over. 

"Do you want Doritos?" 

"Ugh.." Cleo groaned when he stopped in front of the cart, bumping her, just to get his chips. 

"Won't you buy something?" He asked rather sincerely than what she thought. 

Cleo gave him an ice frozen stare. "Just go on." 

All she wanted was to go back home, in her apartment, or be in his luggage rather than to push a heavy cart and have a staring contest with all the people in the market. 

But why does this guy can't get any of the signs?