The Lion King In The Human World Part 3

Without The Kid.

JASIRI

My house feels empty. I knew things would be different without Asher here, but wow!

He's not drawing in the living room. He's not painting in the dining room. He's not singing a song in the bathtub. He's not kicking a ball around where he shouldn't. He's not taking a nap in the sunbeam from the window. He's not here, and it's strange.

"Kid free!" Janja cheered. He's been wanting some alone time with me. Asher took up more time than he did and he does get a little jealous. But it's a sweet and cute kind of jealous. "Finally, some time with my girl."

I rolled my eyes. Janja was more than happy to send Asher off with Kion on a flight to New York, I was a wreck. Asher's my only child and I've never been away from him for more than a few hours. Janja wants to spend time with me, which I get, but I'm still worried about my boy. Even though I trust Kion and Rani and I get updates. Sad news about Rani's grandmother, really poor timing for a trip up to visit.

Janja pulled me to him and forced me on my back. I froze. This was a lot like what happened when Kion and I conceived Asher. I was not about to have another baby. I reacted, and then instantly regretted it. I had reacted by punching Janja.

"Ow!" Janja yelled, "What was that for?"

"Sorry," I said, "But ask me before you even think of doing that next time. Do you really think I'm going to let you walk all over me like that?"

Janja blushed. "Not anymore," he told me, "But I figured, since you gave Kion some, I could get some too."

I scoffed. "Do you even know how consent works?" I asked, "First, just because Kion and I did that does not mean you can just do it. Second, you and your twisted evil little mind. Third." I slapped him for third.

Janja rubbed his cheek. "Dang Jas, you don't like it when I take the lead, do you?"

Actually, I wouldn't mind him taking the lead. I don't let very many people take the lead when I could. Basically, there's only three people I would consider letting them take the lead. Janja, Medoa, and Kion. That should tell you why I'm reluctant to let Janja take the lead.

I stood up and walked out of my apartment. Maybe letting Janja move in so soon wasn't a good idea. Maybe I shouldn't have let him move in at all.

Why am I so upset? I haven't been like this since my last mood swing when I was pregnant with Asher. Maybe it's just because Asher's gone? Yeah, that has to be it. I'm just missing my boy. That's it. Maybe I should ask Kion how he's doing.

I did not bring my phone.

Smart Jasiri, really smart.

So, here I am. Walking alone at night on a city street in California. It's dark, it's not that cold because it's California but it's colder than normal, and I'm the only person walking on the sidewalk while cars go by. Creepy. I probably look like I'm in a horror movie.

A black van pulled over to the side. That makes it look more like a horror movie, but this is real life. A few guys got out. Normal guys, in jeans and t-shirts and the like. If this was a horror movie, they would be dressed in all black with sunglasses.

Then a guy dressed in all black with sunglasses came out of the van. Slightly more creepy, but it's not like it's a trench coat like I was thinking. Black jeans, black hoodie, black sunglasses, at night, when I'm alone.

I've made up my mind. I'm going home, apologizing to Janja, and making hot chocolate. I started to turn, but someone caught my shoulder.

One of the guys who came out of the van had grabbed me. "Where are you going pretty lady?" he asked in a tone of voice my artist mind links to The Scream, "My friends and I are going to give you a ride home."

"Let go of her!" someone shouted. I looked at the voice. Why does Janja have a gun?

The guy let go of me and backed up, trying to get to the van slowly and carefully, the rest of his friends did the same. Janja stepped in between them and me. "Why do you have a gun?" I asked him in a low whisper.

"We were just trying to help her get home," the man in all black said, "You could be arrested for pulling a gun on an innocent group of lawful people."

Janja only chuckled. "Is that so?" he asked, "Then why have I seen your faces around the police department?" When has he been to the police department? "The name's Detective Janja Lander," Janja said, "And it's my girl you just tried to kidnap."

"Detective?" I asked, "Since when?"

"Later Jas," Janja told me. He turned to my almost kidnappers. "Now, are we going to do this the easy way or the hard way? I hope the hard way, that's fun for me."

"There's six of us," the guy in black said, "And only one of you."

"And yet," Janja said, "I'm the one with the gun, your license plate memorized, and backup at the push of a button. Hey, Jasiri, in my pocket there's a remote like thing. Could you push the blue button for me? Thanks in advance."

I could not believe this is happening.

A FEW HOURS LATER

"How could you not tell me you're a detective?" I screamed at Janja, "I thought you worked at a coffee shop!"

"I said I was sorry," Janja told me, "Look, can we just forget about it and move on with our lives We just got time to ourselves."

I slapped him. "You've been keeping secrets from me and you expect me just to move on and forget about it? I trusted you Janja!"

Janja silenced me with a kiss. I pulled back and gave him a solid punch to the nose. "Ow!" Janja moaned, "Nice left hook."

"Give me one reason why I shouldn't dump you right here and right now!" I yelled at him.

Janja took my hand. "Jasiri," he said, "My line of work is dangerous, even more so for me. A few months before we met, I was working on a case and found the whole thing I was investigating to be much bigger than I thought. What started as a simple robbery turned into a plot that's going to hurt a lot of innocent people if it succeeds."

I have no idea where he's going with this.

"Jasiri," Janja told me, "The reason I didn't tell you before was because I couldn't, not without risking losing you."

"So this big plot could kill me?" I asked, not really believing it.

"No," Janja said, "I'm kinda in witness protection at the moment. That's how I had the gun and why there was that remote in my pocket. If you don't believe me, that's okay. I wouldn't believe me either."

Actually, the extra men in dark suits who took Janja away just after the police showed up made sense when I think about Janja in witness protection. It also explained why Janja had such flexible hours at a coffee shop.

I sighed. "Janja," I said. Janja turned to me, worry and hope in his eyes. I smiled. "I believe you. Were you allowed to tell me this?" Janja shook his head. "My lips are sealed detective."

Janja smiled at me. "That was easier than I thought it would be," he said, "Now if only getting some could be that easy."

"Slow your roll," I told him, "The last time I did that, I had a kid. I'm not ready to risk another child yet."

Janja rolled his eyes. "You're not ready to move on from Kion," he said. I stared at him. "What, as a detective, I notice things. That's why I was so overprotective of you when Kion was here. You still have some feelings for him and you're jealous of Rani. By the way, she's jealous of you too. I mean, you gave Kion a son. If you really wanted to get back together with him, you'd have an ace. Maybe I shouldn't talk about this."

Was I still having feelings for Kion? Am I jealous of Rani? Boy, dating a detective is rough.

Also, my kind of guys aren't normal. I went from a crazy rich kid to a crazy witness program protected detective. Asher better be a success with these two as his role models.