Page 3 of Bratva, Baby
“Truth.” He confidently replies.
“Ithought we weren’t supposed to hide behind truth.”
“I still have a couple of more turns to choose dare. Why do you have an extra special dare planned for me?” My cheeks heat at his implication.
“Ok. Truth then. How old are you?” I ask, keeping it innocent and basic.
“Really? So simple? I am thirty-eight years old. How about you?”
“Uh-uh, no freebies, mister.” I joke.
“Ok, truth or dare, Miss Ava?” He asks.
“Dare,” I reply bravely. “Let’s get it out of the way first, and then it's smooth sailing from here with truth.”
“I dare you to go on a coffee date with me.”
“Bu- “
“Before you object, hear me out.” He says, placatingly. “It doesn’t have to be an official date. I truly just want to get to know you, even if it ends as friends. I find you to be interesting just from what I have seen around the office.”
Dammit, who can say no to that? Besides, it’s a dare; while I can say no, I should hold up my end of the game, so I look at him and say, “Fine, when and where?”
After a few more rounds of truth or dare, where I chose truth, the lights turned back on; the elevator shudders, and wewere descending once again. I could have been stuck in the elevator with worse people. Meredith comes to mind, and I thank the Universe that wasn’t the case; it would have been a bloodbath in the first ten minutes. Ok, that’s dark, but for sure it would have been a shouting match, and I just don’t have the energy for that.
As the elevator doors open, and I prepare to part ways with my new colleague, Andy reaches out and grabs my arm to stop me. “Ava, wait. It’s too late in the afternoon for you to ride the bus, so let me give you a ride home, so I know you’re safe.”
“And I should accept a ride from someone I just met today?” I quip back.
“Well, we do work together, so you know my background has been cleared.” He jokes. “But I am nothing if not reasonable, so I will make you an offer. I can give you a ride home, so I know you’re safe, or I will just ride the bus with you, so again, I know you made it home safe.”
“Are you aware how ridiculous you sound right now?” I ask the crazy coworker who has apparently taken it upon himself to be my protector. “I am twenty-seven years old, I have been living in New York for the past nine years and have been taking the bus, subway and train for just as long. I will be fine.” I say this right as thunder booms overhead. I really should start checking the weather app more often.
Though it hasn’t begun raining yet, I figure I might as well take him up on his offer for a ride home since it’s still a walk between the bus stop and my home. It isn’t much, and it is in a run-down part of town, but I can afford it, and it’s a roof over my head. Now, if you were to ask if it is safe, that is a different answer entirely.
“Ugh, lead the way,” I say, groaning. I just want to smack his smug smirk off his face.
Since we have now determined he will be my chauffeur home for the day, he leads me to the elevator that goes down to the parking garage; this one better not get stuck, too.
As if reading my mind, or at least my expression, he says, “Don’t worry, it’s a quick ride.”
When we exit the elevator two floors below us, we head for a black Escalade SUV, and I can’t help but wonder why he needs such a big vehicle in New York, but I brush the thought off; it’s none of my business what kind of vehicle this man drives. Climbing into the SUV, he instructs me to type my address into the GPS, and we go on our not-so-merry way. Annoyingly, there isn’t a cloud in sight after that thunder show a minute ago. Just great.
Chapter 2
Ava
Forty-five tension-filled minutes later, we are pulling into my neighborhood in his expensive SUV, and I am suddenly overwhelmed with anxiety about where I live. It isn’t in the greatest condition and compared to the vehicle this man drives, it probably won’t meet his standards, so I say, “You can just drop me off here.” But of course, the man ignores and continues to follow the GPS directly to my house. I should have thought ahead and given him a general location instead of my exact address. He could be a murderer or something.Stupid, Ava.
As soon as he parks in front of my house, I jump out of the SUV, yelling my thanks and saying that I’ll see him at work tomorrow, hoping he will take the hint and just leave, but there is no such luck. He gets out of the SUV and is right on my heels all the way up to the rickety front door that could probably be kicked in easily. Fuck my life. My God-of-a-coworker now knows I live in a shitty place.
“Thanks again for the ride,” I say as I open the door. “I should probably check the weather for tomorrow and just take my car.”Even if it is a beater, it's better than this embarrassment.
“If you have a car, why did you take the bus to work?” He asks. Which I have to give it to him, it’s a valid question.
“I don’t particularly like driving in New York traffic. Especially around the hours we go to and from work. The only reason the trip from work didn’t take so long this time was because we missed rush hour traffic because of that goddamn elevator.” I respond.
“Valid argument. I will bring you to and from work from now on, so you don’t have to drive through New York traffic. Would you be okay with that?” He states this as if he has any right to make this decision.
