Nikolai

"I'm coming with you," I said again. I fully believed that Ryssa could take care of herself. I wasn't lying about that. But, I still don't like the idea of her going to that part of town by herself.

"If you say that you know I can handle myself, then why are you insisting on coming?"

I knew that if I said I was worried about her safety, she was going to refuse to let me come with her. I admired her resolve. I decided to play it safe.

"I promised that I would come over here and help you." I gestured to her hand. "It's my fault that you got burned. It's the least I can do to assist you. I can at least carry the boxes for you."

I waited while she seemed to debate the issue in her head. When she looked back up at me, I bit back my smile.

"Fine. But only because you burned me. Not because I need you to protect me."

I walked over to where the brownies were that she had boxed up and surprised myself by giving her a little smile. "Actually, I didn't burn you." She gave me a look and I continued, "The oven did. But, I get what you mean."

She had already scheduled an Uber to come and pick her up. Clearly, she definitely did this multiple times before. We walked outside of her shop and I waited next to her as she locked up. The Uber pulled up moments later and we climbed inside the car.

As we rode in silence to her destination, I thought about the incident from earlier today. When she handed me the phone, I had no idea who was on the line. Apparently, some ghosts from my past have come back to haunt me.

The man on the other end of the line was Rick Gatti. He was one of the leaders in a gang back in Detroit. A gang that, unfortunately, I was apart of too once upon a time.

I left Detroit and came to New York to start over. I've been able to stay under the radar for a while until yesterday. I was finally able to get out of the gang without causing any trouble. Part of the deal when I left, was them leaving me alone.

As I looked out of the window, the conversation from earlier went through my head:

"This is Nikolai," I said into the receiver.

"We have a job for you."

Dread instantly shot through me when I heard that familiar voice from my past.

"How did you get this number?" I asked him. When I left Detroit, I went through a lot of trouble to stay off their grid.

"That doesn't matter. You still owe us," Rick said in a menacing tone.

"No, I told you before, I'm done with that shit."

"You heard me, Niko."

I finally was making a decent living and starting a new life for myself. I was done listening to this. "I don't care," I snapped. "Don't call here again, I mean it."

"We're here," Ryssa said, bringing my thoughts back to the present.

I got out of the Uber and looked around at the surroundings. Yep. This looked very similar to where I grew up in Detroit. I honestly couldn't believe Ryssa came here multiple times by herself.

I walked around the car and stood next to her. When I saw her make a grab for the brownies, I stopped her. "I'll get it. I don't want you to hurt your hand."

"A little late for that," she muttered to my surprise.

I grabbed the brownies and raised a brow at her. "Someone's a little testy."

"I'm sorry," she said with a sigh. "It's been a weird few days."

Very much so. These past few days have been the weirdest of my life. "No apologies needed. So, where to?"

I saw the large area where the homeless seemed to sleep and spend their time. I was pretty sure that's where we were going, but this was her outing and I wanted to make sure she knew that.

"Over there," she said as she pointed to the area I was looking.

I followed her to that area and waited patiently when she stopped in front of an older man who was in a wheelchair.

"Hey, Art. How's that leg treating you?" She asked as she knelt down in front of him.

He had a sad smile on his face as he tapped the leg in question. "It's getting better everyday." The man looked up at me. "Who's that fella with you?"

She glanced over at me with a smile that made me shift back and forth uncomfortably on my feet. "That's Nikolai. He's a friend of mine."

She got to her feet and walked over to me. She opened the top box and grabbed a few of the wrapped brownies out of it.

"Here you go," she said as he handed them to him. And I'll be back when I'm done with your usual."

"Thank you, sweetie. Anything from you is always appreciated."

"Let's go," Ryssa said and I followed after her.

This continued for a good half-hour. I followed behind Ryssa quietly as she spoke to and gave brownies to the many homeless that were here downtown. It really was a sight to see.

All of the times I've seen people interact with the homeless, they tend to ignore them or not even speak to them; even if they gave them money or food.

Ryssa knew most of their names. She asked how they were doing and she asked questions that led me to believe that she knew some of what was going on in their lives. And when she walked up to someone she didn't know, she took a few minutes and introduced herself and asked about them in return.

Once we emptied the boxes, she turned to me and pointed to a vendor right down the street.

"Okay, now we need to go down to that vendor," she said as she headed that way.

I followed behind her, throwing away the empty brownie boxes in a nearby dumpster along the way.

"What are we doing now?" I asked. The instincts from my old life had me scanning the streets repeatedly. I was just praying there wasn't any trouble tonight.

"I always get Art a hot chocolate when I come here. Do you want one?"

"No, thanks," I answered as I slid my hands in my pockets. "Not a fan of hot chocolate."

She looked at me like I was insane before she ordered two hot chocolates and paid the vendor. We started walking back toward the man in the wheelchair when asked, "Who doesn't like hot chocolate?"

"Me, apparently," I answered.

"Everyone likes hot chocolate," she countered matter-of-factly.

"Guess I'm one of a kind then," I quipped.

We made it back to where art was waiting and she handed him his hot chocolate. She talked to him for a few minute and I waited a few feet away.

I was surprised by our previous conversation. I didn't talk much because, well that's just how I was. But for some reason I enjoyed talking to Ryssa. I also seemed to like witty banter. I couldn't even remember the last time I spent this much time with a woman, let alone enjoyed it.

She gave aren't a hug goodbye before she walked back over to me. "Ready?" She asked.

"Yeah, I'll call an Uber. What's your address?"

I still felt bad that I scared her and she burned her hand. The least I could do was pay for the Uber back to her place.

She seemed to think about whether or not to provide me with the information before she finally gave me the address. About five minutes later, the Uber pulled up.

Once the driver pulled off into traffic, I turned to Ryssa when I said, "This is pretty amazing."

"What is?" She asked as she turned to look at me.

"This. You coming down here and bringing food to them."

She seemed uncomfortable by my words. She looked away, breaking eye contact with me. "It's no big deal. It's just something I like to do."

"It is a big deal, Ryssa. A lot of people don't even look at them or talk to them. I have to admit, I can't think of more than a handful of times that I've given anything to the homeless. So, yes, what you're doing is pretty amazing."

"Thank you," she said quietly. "It was something I used to do with my dad. I just wanted to keep it going."

"He would be proud," I said sincerely. I didn't know her father, but I'm sure any father would be proud of a daughter like her.

"I'm not so sure. After all, in about a week, the bakery they loved will be officially out of business."

"Yes. But you know you did your best. I know I haven't known you that long, but I can tell that closing the bakery was a last resort. I'm sure it wasn't a decision you came to lightly," I said, and hoped she believed that, too.

She was quiet for a few moments as if trying to think of what to say. Just when she was about to speak, we pulled up in front of her apartment. Of course, perfect timing.

She opened her door and turned towards me, "Thank you for helping me. I appreciate it."

"You're welcome. Make sure to take care of that hand."

She offered me a small smile before she shut the door and walked up the steps to her apartment.

The Uber driver immediately started going towards the second destination I put in. Home, finally. Glancing around the vehicle, I noticed that she left her hot chocolate in the cup holder.

I thought about what she said when we were standing at the vendors car and she ordered the hot chocolate. She seemed so surprised when I said I didn't like the taste of it.

Now that I thought about it, it had been over a decade since I've even had any hot chocolate. I popped the lid off of her cup and took a sip as curiosity got the best of me.

The taste of the hot chocolate surprised me and I really liked it. I could tell Ryssa had added peppermint flavoring to it and it was delicious.

As the Uber driver took a right turn, I took another sip of the intoxicating beverage. There was one thought in my mind that both surprised and terrified me.

If I had kissed her before she went inside, would she have tasted like peppermint and chocolate?