Chapter 5 - Shane

BAM!

I slam my glass down, as I glare across the table at Chris.  My blood boils at the smirk that he proudly sports on his face. 

I immediately fight the urge to jump across the table and not only wipe that smirk off his face, but to punch him repeatedly until he realizes that this isn’t a game. 

Of all the crazy things that he has done, this is the craziest.  Unfortunately, I’m right there next to him when it all happened.  If I didn’t think quick and pull him away, he would have done something really stupid.  However, right now, I kind of wish that I would have left him there alone with his other goons and let the royal security take care of him. 

While I grit my teeth, I lean forward and hiss, “What the hell was that all about yesterday?  You aren’t the kind of person to do something like this.”

My blood boils as Chris’s smirk grows even bigger.  He leans back in his chair and takes a drink of his beer. 

With each passing second of silence, my blood boils more.  The worst part of all this is somehow Chris has managed to pull me into it too.  However, I don’t want anything to do with something that involves the royal family. 

Shoot.  I try to distance myself from my own noble family as much as possible.  All the politics, backstabbing, and stupid manners drive me up the wall.  Plus, I can’t handle being around those snooty people.

Bam.

I slam my glass down again, but not as hard as before.  I raise an eye eyebrow and continue to glare across the table at Chris.  “Tell me, now!”

He glances at me and his playful smirk slowly disappears. 

Tap.  Tap. 

I let my frustrations out as I slowly tap my glass on the table and wait.  However, Chris is testing me. 

I should have known something is up when he is asking me to join him at an event that the king is going to be at.  Chris never goes to any of those kinds of events.  He is like me and doesn’t want anything to do with the noble class.  The only difference is that he isn’t part of the noble class. 

I’m sure that he will blow a gasket if he ever finds out that I’m actually a noble. 

Chris ignores me and takes another drink of his beer.  He sighs as he leans forward and puts his arms on the edge of the table. 

Tap.  Tap. 

I continue tapping my glass on the table as my anxiety grows with each passing second.  If he doesn’t hurry up and talk, I’m going to lose my patience, and I will jump across this table at him.  I don’t care how many people are in the bar.  I will beat some sense into him. 

Chris quickly glances around before he looks at me and softly answers.  “A little birdy told me that the k-man has changed his route and schedule.  So, I had to see if the birdy was right.”

What the heck?  A little birdy. 

I grind my teeth and growl, “Did this same little birdy tell you to have your goons try to attack k-man?”

His playful smirk slowly slides back across his face.  “Well, the birdy didn’t tell me to do that exactly.  However, the birdy did say to get k-man out of the way.  So, I use my brain and came up with that idea.”

What the hell?  I have an idiot as a friend. 

Tap..Tap..Tap.

I tighten my grip around the glass as I tap my glass a little faster.  What am I going to do with an idiot like him?  But now I’m also, somehow, unwittingly a part of his stupid scheme.  Even though I’m not a fan of the royals, I don’t want to be put in jail for trying to kill someone.  I’m not a murder or a traitor to Cormill or the royal family.

Plus, I don’t have to worry about the royal guards if my family finds out.  My family will be worse than anything the royal security could do to me.  Ugh….

 Bam.

I slam my glass down again.  I narrow my eyes and hiss, “Your brain is not working right now.  I think your little birdy has corrupted your mind.”

I pause for moment and take a deep breath as Chris shrugs his shoulders and takes another drink of his beer. 

Can I beat him to pulp?  He needs something that will get his mind to start working properly again. 

I let go of my glass and put my hands on the table.  As I push myself up, my chair screeches across the floor.  I lean over the table and growl, “The next time that you want to do something stupid like that, don’t you dare call me.  I don’t want to be associated with anything like that.  You will be lucky if you don’t wind up in jail.  I don’t know if your little birdy can save you from that.”

I don’t wait for his response before I grab my glass and gulp down the rest of it.  As Chris goes to open his mouth, I turn around and storm out of the bar. 

Once outside, I march down the sidewalk towards my motorcycle.  Along the way, I vent my anger on rocks and debris in front of me.  I don’t care what it is.  I kick it has hard as I can. 

How can Chris get me involved in something like this?  Shit.  Me just pulling him from the incident today makes me an accomplice.  Damn it. 

When I finally reach my bike, I throw my foot over it, but I pause for a second and take a deep breath.  What am I going to do now?  Do I let my friend go down this path of no return?  Right now, he may be able to fix this without too many problems, but if he does one more thing, he will be rotting in jail the rest of his life. 

I glance back at the bar and sigh. 

What am I thinking?  Chris has crossed the point of no return with his current stupidity. 

Can I walk away?  Oh, who am I kidding?  I’m going to try and get Chris to stop this whole crazy nonsense.  I just hope that it doesn’t come back to bite me in the butt. 

I shake my head trying to clear my mind, before I turn my focus back to my bike and put my helmet on.  With one last glance towards the bar, I start my bike and head out of the parking lot.  I have plenty of things that I need to think about.  One of them being how can I stop my friend from doing any more stupid things. 

***

I toss my bag on the floor next to my desk and plop down in my chair. 

That is not exactly how I had planned to spend my lunch hour. 

With my mind still swirling and trying to figure out a way to keep myself clear of any of Chris’s future plans, I also try to figure out how to help him to get out of this mess too. 

As I put my fingers on the keyboard, a stern voice breaks through the steady hustle and bustle of the office.  “Shane!  Do you have my story done yet for today’s edition?”

Ugh…  The story…

I sigh and swivel my chair around to face my boss, Blane, as he marches towards me with a scowl on his face. 

This isn’t the first time that I don’t have my story done, but it is the first time that I don’t even have any part of the story written yet. 

With each thundering step, Blane’s face contorts a little more as I stay silent.  My mind races to try and find the proper way to tell him, but with the deadly aura that he is exuding, I don’t think that there is anything that I can say that will make him happy. 

Blane stops right in front of me and huffs, “Story?  Done?”

I hesitantly shake my head and raise my eyebrows.  “N.No.”

Blane’s hands instantly ball into fists at his side while his face turns a slightly darker shade of red. 

Oh, I think I have really pissed him off this time.

I timidly raise my finger and open my mouth, but before any words spill out, Blane stomps his foot and demands, “One hour!  Give me the story in one hour!”

Once again, I’m not able to say anything or even protest, as Blane swiftly turns around and marches back through the cubicles towards his office. 

I collapse back into my chair and breathe a sigh of relief.  At least, he didn’t out right fire me, but if I don’t get that story done within the hour, I’m sure that he will fire me then. 

I take a deep breath and turn my chair back around towards my computer.  I guess I better get the story done. 

I set my fingers on the keyboard and begin typing:  Exactly who attacked the King.