Always Something There to Remind Me (A Black Lightning Jen X Khalil Fanfic)

Chapter Thirty-Two- Perfect Timing

Chapter Thirty-Two- Perfect Timing

Jen’s POV

Wandering almost aimlessly to the refrigerated food aisle, Jen swung her basket by her side as she glanced at the cereal shelf. The names jumped out at her, but she wasn’t feeling any of the options. She wanted to make her own breakfast from scratch, and she knew exactly what would help lift her out of the funk she was in. Everyone who had ever had breakfast at the Pierce house raved over her Cajun omelets, and Jen found herself picking out the ingredients for a tasty omelet. Some organic eggs, scallions, mushrooms, Italian sausages…

She scanned her full basket with her lips pursed up in thought. Sure, she could label her food in the community kitchen fridge, but what she was really hoping for was to find a few people in the common room who wanted to share her breakfast with her. It wasn’t any fun eating alone, and God knows she needed to make friends with at least some people on her floor.

Since Quinn was gone, Jen felt lonelier than ever. Just last weekend, she had been excited about brunch with the girls and tracking down Khalil to talk to him. And now, everything she had been looking forward to was in shambles. The only way Jen knew she could regain shaky control of her life again was by losing herself in the preparation of the most important meal of the day. One step at a time, she could try to make her life as normal as possible. Being outside, surrounded by people going about their Sunday morning duties was peaceful and way better than being stuck in her room throwing herself a pity party for one.

As Jen paid for her purchases and started to bag them, she glanced out of the storefront window. Her eyes widened. Was that officer Ramsey in deep conversation with a tall, clean-cut man who looked unsettlingly familiar? Like an angry cat, Jen felt her hackles rise. He had withheld evidence that could have helped find Angie, and he was a piece of shit. Could he possibly be in cahoots with Maya?

It was this thought more than anything that prompted Jen to scoop up her bag of groceries in one hand and stroll casually out of the store in Ramsey’s general direction. Fiddling with her AirPods and schooling her face into a neutral, just minding my own business expression, Jen avidly watched Ramsey and his companion talk. She was close enough to catch a few words floating on the air, but mostly had to rely on her lip reading skills- something that she was great at, thanks to Anissa.

“Follow me. My car is parked around the corner,” the familiar looking man said, his jaw tight. Ramsey nodded and fell into step beside him, his back straight. Jen’s eyes narrowed in suspicion as she surreptitiously ambled behind them, trying to act like she was lost in her own world even as all her senses were fired up. They stopped by the car, a sleek black Lincoln limousine, and the chauffeur hopped out to open the back door for his boss. Jen’s heart sank. Shit. Were they going to continue the conversation in the car? She hung back a few feet, pretending to be engrossed in the menu that was in the window of the café on the corner.

Reaching into the dark recesses of the limo, Ramsey’s friend pulled out a briefcase, and with a jolt of shock, Jen saw that the red hexagon symbol stamped on the side was the same as the one on the flash Hakim had given her. A cold tendril of fear wrapped around her heart. This was snowballing into some sort of conspiracy. Not for the first time, Jen felt like she was in over her head, but she bit her lip, deciding to focus on the duo now and sort out her thoughts later.

“You know what to do,” the man was telling Ramsey tersely, thrusting the briefcase into his hands. “Keep it safe until the symposium on campus.”

This stirred a memory in Jen, and oddly enough, an image of a guy wearing a Metallica t-shirt flashed across her vision. Before she could translate that into something meaningful, Ramsey spoke.