Setting
The longer we went at it, the more conscious I became of the redness in my cheeks. It was something that happened no matter how much I was supposed to be used to doing things at that point.
He well remembered that Chase didn't mind him entering without knocking, but it was rather...impolite. So he rapped the door with his knuckles once, twice, three times in quick succession.
Somehow, I was relieved that the visitor had come. I didn't exactly know why, but it was this sort of feeling.
"Come in the door's unlocked," he backed off Alex while she scrambled to get some distance between them. Despite his announcement of free entry, he still pushed off the couch to make the door. His expression switched to one lazy to the point of apathetic as he walked. He had a couple friends that knocked, but he was honestly expecting talk of the more...serious variety and that really set him off. However he wasn't the type to rudely offend a visitor by being grumpy, boredom was still something on the table.
He made the door quickly before opening it and blinking dumbly in surprise at the sight of his friend Paul in a suit like always.
"Paul, you brilliant sonova- get on in here and show a brother some love." The recognition of a friend set Chase at ease, and naturally Chase decided he could get touchy. He stepped back for Paul to freely enter his place, but still held his arms out for a hug for when the guy entered.
"Is there somewhere a bit more private that we could talk?"
All I could do was give Paul a friendly smile, as he seemed to be in a bit of a rush. It would probably inconvenience the guy if I tried to go introduce myself.
It'd been a while since I'd seen Chase with a friend over. This one seemed different, but not really in a bad way. He looked quite on edge, which was probably only due to some emergemcy he was dealing with at the moment. He didn't seem to be one to go around wasting time, though. At least that was my first impression of him.
"Paul it's either my room or the one across from it you're talking bout keeping this between the two of us," Chase gave a quick response to his friend and continued even faster.
"However while we're putting things on the table...Paul meet my lovely girlfriend Alex, Alex meet Paul. By-the-way-Paul-I-kinda-got-her-pregnant," Chase said the second sentence with such haste it came out sounding like a single word.
"So I guess we could cover this in my room?" Chase did his best to keep his face innocent after he blurted out his news in an effort to let Paul gauge the seriousness of his secret. Then again, Alex didn't exactly know exactly all of Chase's activities which caused him to purse his lips a bit.
"And yes of course, your room would be fine." Paul patiently waited for his friend to lead the way, after all it was his house.
I watched as Chase led Paul until they disappeared from my view, sinking into the sofa again afterwards. I was sleepy, and there was no one there to stop me from falling asleep at that moment, so I ended up succumbing to sleep. Less than five minutes later, I received a call from my mother.
"Come home. Now," she said.
"Mom? What happened?" I asked, quite disoriented by her irritated tone.
"I said now!" She then hung up.
At that point, I was nothing but a combination of confused and worried.
"Alright Paul my man, what is it that's got you wound up so tight?" Rather than sitting down, Chase instead leaned against the door. A feeling in his gut told him that odds were he wasn't going to enjoy the following discussion...not that his gut was any good measurement. Paul was just one of those guys, Chase liked him, but wasn't exactly entirely sure just how to act around him.
"Well what do we do? They are quite 'smalltime' as one would put it. A bit of a 'scare' ought to take care of it." Paul answered his own question. "Look, if you help me out...I'll pay for half of the abortion. How about that?" he smirked.
At home, I was questioned about where I was. Veronica's mom had denied the fact that I'd been at her house at all these past few days--I knew I was screwed. There was really no choice at that point but to tell her the truth, and the truth came with its consequences. I knew I'd have a couple of bruises in the next few days, and being kicked out wasn't anything I hadn't expected. I just needed to be alone at the moment. In a way, I was, since I was now sitting in front of my house wondering what to do. I didn't want to talk to Chase either, so I went ahead and asked one of my other friends if I could stay over for the night. I'd messed up too badly to be forgiven, but there was no going back.
"So from the top, I need the fools in question, the deal you pulled out on, and chances they're packing heat. If the answer's more than than I like, I've a favor that can be cashed in this time. As from MY end, a studio just accepted my band. Sometime in the next week or two I'll be headed down for the whole contract and initial recording nonsense."
Since Paul was one of Chase's friends, he didn't mind sharing a bit of his hand in what was essentially a business discussion at this point. From here, both of them can start around to getting what they really want.
Paul stole a glance out the window. "All I'm asking for is a little help, with the two of us, the execution of the plan itself will be quite safe and easy." He tossed a black bandanna along with a black unmarked baseball cap to Chase. "I'm assuming you have your own gloves, but that won't be a problem if you don't. You do have a bat or something though, right?" Paul laughed a little to himself. "Sorry, I never told you the plan did I? Well, it was just like I said, give 'em a scare. There's going to be lots of bluffing involved, but as I mentioned earlier, they'll eat it up. They're nothing close to experienced, no connections. It'll be easy."
He fixed Chase with his stare. "As for your end, remember I don't own the world. Just keep that in your head, and I'm sure everything will work out smooth." Chase was his friend, that was true, but Paul had been triggered into his business mode now.
[Oh my God, I am so sorry you guys. I was unexpectedly grounded from the computer, and I couldn't find a way to let you guys know. Please forgive me.]