One week later,

Jereff, who seemed to be aged in the mid of thirties, was engrossed in his desktop, with a frown in his face. He was a well built person, and had a subtle beard over a dusky skin and he kept his hairs tied up in a man bun. There was a tail of a tattoo, peeping off his neck, from the collar of his white shirt. His concentration broke at the sudden bang at the door, as he saw Rex storm inside the room and went straight towards, the mini fridge and pulled it open. Jereff kept his calm, as he leaned towards the chair, and kept staring at the over frustrated Rex. Rex scanned through the fridge, banged it close and turned his heel towards Jereff.  

" Is there any SEALED CAN left in your shit?" Rex demanded in a scathing tone. 

Jereff pointed towards the shelf, "I have some with me."

Rex reached for the drawer and pulled out a can. Checking the chillness, he sighed, "Forget it."

"This is the last I have."

"This isn't chilled"

Jereff studied through his annoyed expressions and questioned, "What made you go all crazy?"

Rex plunged down his shoulders, "Nothing, you should be worrying about."

Jereff frowned thoughtfully keeping his eyes fixed on him.

Rex understood, he bought nothing. "The same old." he admitted waving his hands in the air,  "Recently, I spotted them more often."

Jereff mused caressing his beard, "Who?"

"Is their anyone else, more of a scum then they are?"

Jereff shook his head to himself, "Be patient. Try to come up with a full proof plan."

Rex flounced towards him and rested his hands over his hips, Unfortunately, I was given a choice, either patience or life. My weapon was of no f*cking use. Even if I want to blow off their skulls, I can't. I don't want to drag unwanted attention to my club, neither do I want to scare off my customers.

 "Sometimes, you need to."

"PRAY, WHY?"

"Desperate times ask for desperate measures." he shrugged.

Rex titled his head a little, "Do you invite a decision from a hot f*cking head?"

Jereff sighed, "I have never seen you this frustrated."

Rex let out an unhumorous chuckle. "Huh! Not when life strikes hard."

Jereff stood up in his place and leaned over the table,  "Is their motive, just as shallow as it seems?" he mused, "Or is there a deeper explanation to everything?"

Rex aggressively waved his hand in the air, " The hell if I knew." turning his heel towards the glass window facing the city down below. Placing his fist, on the glass, "He fears to face me. He knows that he is a piece of cake."

"Never underestimate your enemies."

He let out a sharp exhale, " I won't let them do it again. I won't. Whatever it costs."

After a brief silence, Rex pulled himself away from the window and set to leave. Jereff kept watching his actions, "Where you going?"

"Anywhere" Rex turned towards Jereff.

Jereff peered at him, "Who is she?"

The look in Rex's face turned soft at the utter of his words. Jereff always knew him, more than he knew about himself. He has been his backbone even at the toughest hour.

He spoke in a lower voice, moving his head in denial: I can't drag her into this."

"For how long?"

Rex kept silently staring at him, failing to find a response to his question. Jereff sauntered over to the door and stood beside Rex, "Know how to balance, or cut off your contacts with her. That's on you"

"Had it been that easy."

Jereff smirked at his remark and walked up towards the window. Rex assumed his actions. He did that to hide the pain in his eyes from Rex.

"Keep your closer, closest to your warmth, However hard it is." Jereff started, " Or else none can warm it up, when the beds turn cold."

A gush of guilt ran through Rex at the utter of his words.

"Jeff..."

"I won't stop you from getting closer to someone. But, I don't want you to end up lonely within the crowd. Whenever you bid her goodbye. Make sure it doesn't turn into the last. Our life is not as easy as any other men in this planet." turning towards Rex, "You won't even know when, the most precious thing, in your life, is snatched away from you."

Rex looked up at Jereff, took a deep breath and left the room and Jereff kept watching. As he went out of sight, Jereff went up to his table and sat back at the chair. He kept his eyes on the screen, took a deep breath, and pulled out a picture frame from one of his drawers. He held the frame carefully with both hands and used one of his hands to clean the picture. It held a beautiful lady, in black hairs, smiling brightly in a white dress. She kept looking at Jereff, in a black tuxedo and the similar man bun. The love they shared was clear in the way they they looked at each other. It was the last picture of his wedding, he had with himself. He kept staring at every details, as a rush of screams ran through his mind. A memory of the past.

That day;

Madeline abruptly stopped in her place while leaving the mall after a long shift, as she found Rex standing on the either side of the street. He was leaning against the red car, his hands inside the pocket of his black jeans, as his white T shirt and the blue checked over shirt, stretched over his body. He kept his eyes at a nowhere, as his eyebrows narrowed. He had a hint of gloom, spread over his face. Madeline crossed the street, walked up to him and stood behind him.

Rex sensed her presence, "Free to move?"

"What's up?"

"Nothing."

He turned his heel towards her and smiled, "I want to take you somewhere."

Madeline kept silently gaping at him. Rex playfully frowned at her, "I can already sense a denial."

"Um...I mean, where are we going?"

Rex chuckled, " You don't trust me, right?"

Madeline plunged down her shoulders, "I do."

Rex crossed his hands against his chest and the smile over his face, vanished, "There's a story, I want you to hear.  If you are willing to listen."

Madeline admitted with an note of uncertainty, " I'd love to hear."

Rex smiled at her acceptance. Taking in a gulp, he leaned towards her. Just as he went towards her lips, she stepped back, and kept staring at him. He stepped back immediately, trying to simplify her unexpected response. 

Madeline let out a shaky exhale, "We are getting late...um..I'm getting in the car."

"I am sorry!" Rex exclaimed in a concerned tone, "I did not intend to make you feel uncomfortable.

Madeline averted her gaze and tucked a strand of her hair, behind her ear. She looked up at him with a forced smile and shook her head in denial.

Madeline bowed her head down and hopped inside the car. Rex kept looking at her, confused before he shifted his gaze towards the road and walked towards the driver's seat. Rex started the ignition, without exchanging any further word. She sensed his reaction and looked at him.

Even though she wanted to, she still feared to put her trust into someone just yet. There was still a repulse within her. A protection from getting close to someone; from falling in love yet again. This might be the factor which defined her as cold but keeping a fair distance always remained her best choice.

But realizing, that she ended up hurting the person, who has been nothing but warm to her, killed her. Seeing the zealous person sitting beside her, cold and distant, was taking away her calm. Even the slightest silence was threatening to pull her into a turmoil of fear, guilt and heartbreak, leaving her questioning her loyalty to her own sanity and her little ounce of gratefulness. The more she wanted to feed in her brain with a different story. Her heart knew, she was falling for him, yet again and she was falling hard.