Free A Little Bit of Trouble by A. E. Murphy

her, yet again I’m apparently unimpressive. She only rolls her eyes. Great.
     
        “What’s wrong with you?” I ask as she scans the menu. “I thought we were okay now?”
        “I’m fine,” Oh no, I know that fine . I’ve heard that version of fine many times. “Just hungry.” I pray this is the truth as we sit through a one sided conversation for the next thirty minutes until our food arrives, I speak, she grunts and hums in response. When the food does make it to our table we fall into a not so comfortable silence. I sigh loudly when my plate is clean, out of exasperation for a date that has gone from good to bad, to fucking shit. Without my consent.
         “Do you want desert?” I ask and clear my throat. She shakes her head. I wave over the waiter and throw some cash onto the little plate holding the check. “Want to get out of here? There’s a late movie playing in twenty minutes.”
         “I’m not feeling too good, would you mind taking me home?” she says without feeling.
         I shrug, “Fine.” Now I’m in a bad fucking mood.
     
         I drive back to her place at a less than safe speed, what a bitch. You just can’t be nice to some people.
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     

Chapter Six
    A Whole Lot of Drama
     
         We pull up outside her store, the first thing I noticed whilst driving down the street, there was somebody leaning against the door of her store. On closer inspection I notice it to be a man I don’t recognize, large and burly looking. Pretty intimidating to a lesser being than myself. Now that sounded cocky. Who cares?
     
         “You know him?” I ask.
         Loryn shakes her head, “No. I don’t think so.”
         “S tay here, lock the doors,” I add sternly. She opens her mouth to protest until I pull a Taser from the glove box. It’s something Marie left in here a couple of months back. Apparently she has three more so didn’t need this one back, thank god for small coincidences. I hand it to Loryn. “You know how to use this?” she nods and goes to climb out with fear in her eyes. “I said stay here and lock the doors!” Calm yourself Lucas. “Please.”
         She nods and watches helplessly as I climb out of the car, the weapon still clutched in her hands. I’m not scared but I’m not overly thrilled about this either, it’s been a long time since I got into a fight. I hope it doesn’t come to that. Who the fuck is this guy?
         “Can I help you?” I ask as the man straightens.
         He rubs his hands over his face and nods to the store, “Looking for Loryn.”
         “How can Loryn help you?” I keep my tone impassive and deep, letting him know I’m not some pussy whipped male that he can fuck with.
     
         “I’m looking for Dana, her cousin. We’re close friends, she’s gone missing.”
         “Yes, I’ve heard of Dana,” I say curtly. “She’s not welcome here. She knows that.”
         “Really? Because I got word that she was seen leaving this exact store this morning.” Please Loryn, please tell me you haven’t gotten yourself involved. “She owes Daniel ten grand. If you see her tell her to pay up.” He then pats the metal shutter, it rattles loudly in the dead of night. “Nice store.” Now that was a threat.
     
         I don’t bite, I let him walk away. He climbs into a red car down the street and drives away. Loryn then climbs out of my car, the Taser still in her hand.
     
         “Was Dana here today?” I reach into her pocket for her keys, still glancing around me nervously. I don’t like the feel of this at all. She squeals and tries to tug my hand away, I manage to grasp the keys after a tiny struggle. “I said was Dana here today?” I put the key in the lock and open the door. Gripping her elbow with a strong hand, I pull her in and swiftly lock