His Responsibility

11

    Jaxon said I owed him for covering my table with Nico a week ago. I hadn't heard much from Nico since then, he still came in for lunch every other day but that was it. He was keeping his distance from me, which I was grateful for, as amazing as the kiss with him was I didn't want to fog my head with thoughts of him if nothing was going to come of it, I'd rather just forget it happen..  My payment to Jaxon, I had to go on a date with his friend, who apparently has been asking about me. He had seen me at the pub a few times and I was to his liking as Jaxon put it. 

    His name is Zander and he was supposed to meet me at the pub in ten minutes, I had gotten there early to tell Jaxon if he turned out to be a freak or and ugly old man I was going to skin him alive. 

"Speak of the Devil" Jaxon said as he nodded towards a guy that just came in. 

    He was tall, not as tall as Nico, and had a nice build. He had blond hair and hazel eyes, he was cleanly shaven and he had on a dark red dress shirt with a pair of fitted jeans. He had a confident step and he came straight to the bar, he gave Jaxon a guy hug and turned to me, 

"You must be Cordelia, you're even more stunning than I remember" He aid as he took my hand, landing a gentle kiss on the back of it.

"You must be Zander. I've heard so much about you" I lie

"Really? Does Jaxon talk about me?"

"No" Jaxon says with a smile on his lips "She's lying" 

Wow. Here I thought he was setting us up on a date, not trying to sabotage me before it even started. 

I roll my eyes at both of them. 

"Should we go?" Zander asks as he extends his hand to me, I take it and he leads us out of the pub.

We get in his car, "So where are we going?" I ask as casually as I can.

"I booked us a table at the Bayside" He responded

The Bayside was one of the nicest restaurants in the city. I felt a bit nervous with what I chose to wear now, my simple sundress felt lacking for such a fancy spot. 

"Wow, fancy" I murmured

    About fifteen minutes later we arrived at the restaurant, we were sat at a small intimate table near the center of the room. It seemed very romantic, with candles lit and a rose in a small vase in the center, a bottle of wine was chilling in an ice bucket beside the table. He pulled out my chair for me. 

    Once we both settled down at the table, we were quite for a few minutes, before I broke it.

"So why did you want to go out with me Zander?" I shyly asked

"I thought you were beautiful and I wanted to see if your beauty was on the inside as well as the out" He says with a smile.

That was a very unexpected answer. I give him a small look.

"So what do you want to know then?" I ask taking a sip of the water that had been set out.

"How old are you?" 

"I'll be 20 in August" 

"Oh so young" 

"And what about yourself?"

"I'm 26. How did you get your name Cordelia, not something you hear everyday"

"I'm not sure, I never asked about it. My dad named me, my mother died in childbirth so It's always been me and my dad" I am whispering at the end,

"Oh, sorry to hear that. Are you in school?" 

"Ah yes I'm starting my second year of school in the spring time"

"What are you taking?"

"I'm studying English and Teaching, I plan on being an English Teacher"

He simply nodded

"What do you do for work?" I asked, He hasn't really given any information on himself. 

Just then the waiter came around. I ordered the cheapest thing I could find, Chicken mushroom pasta. 

    Dinner went smoothly from there on out. We didn't speak much as we ate. I still hadn't gotten him to tell me much about himself. 

Dinner ended and I reached to get my purse to pay for my meal, Zander touched my hand, 

"My treat" He said, I smiled and thanked him. 

"Want to go for a walk?" He asked which I nodded. The Bayside was attached to a lake, with a walking trail connecting it. We started on the walk, making small chit chat with each other.

"I'd like to see you again Cordelia" He said

"I'd like that Zander" I smiled at him, he reached over and extended his hand for me to take, I did and he entwined our fingers together. It felt nice for some human contact. 

    He gave me a soft kiss and I returned it. It was getting late, he took me home and we said our goodbyes, he promised to call me soon. I went up to my condo and fell asleep peacefully for the first time in a long while, I slept well. 

I woke to my phone ringing, it was 8AM, Conner was calling me

"Hey Cory, did I wake you?"

"Yeah but it's okay. What's up?"

"Nothing much was just wondering if you had any plans for the day?"

"Um, nope. I don't work today so I'm free"

"Cool. I was thinking about going to the movies, wanted to know if you wanted to join me?" 

Movies, popcorn and hot dogs, sounded like a great time to me.

"Sure, only if your buying!" I joked

"But of course, dear cousin. I'll pick you up in half an hour" 

I got up having a quick shower, and got ready. 

    Conner was true to his word, thirty minutes later a knock came at the door, I answered it and he was standing there with a big stupid grin on his face. 

    We got to the movie theater twenty minutes later, the movie had already started so we decided to wait till the next viewing of it, we went over to the arcade and played some games while we killed time. I decided to go freshen up before the movie, excusing myself from Conner, I went to the ladies room. After splashing some after on my face I grabbed some paper towel, blotting my face, I looked up and seen a man standing behind me, reaching out to grab me. I turned towards him quickly

"Stay back!" I yelled

    He made anther pass to try and grab me, I swiftly kicked him in the knee, he winched in pain, then lunged at me, this time successfully grabbing me. I screamed out, throwing my head back making contact with his nose. I think I may have broken it. His grip on me loosened but was still tight. I used my elbow to hit him in the neck, stomping on his foot at the same time. Lastly was his groin. He finally let me go, I ran as fast as I could out of the washroom, running into Conner was was coming my way. 

"What's wrong Cory?"

"There was a guy in the bathroom, he tried to attack me!"

"Wait here" He said as he hurried into the washroom, but it was empty now. The pervert got away.

"Did he say anything to you?"

I shook my head, "I don't think he had a chance, I used SING on his ass"

"What?"

"SING, solar-flex, instep, nose, groin... I saw it in a movie once" I shrug 

He just stared at me wide eyed. 

We never even got to watch the movie, Conner insisted on taking me home after the incident.