Opposites - part 3 - Last Book

Part 23

I took a deep breath while taking some clothes out of my bag and gently folding them on the dresser as my head tried to let go of all the memories from last year. It's only for a couple of days. Maybe if I repeated that a lot of times, it would be easier to pretend everything was fine. If I had to do this for the rest of my life, I would do it with the best smile on my face. I took a look in the mirror, pulling my hair to the side before walking out of the room, ready to do some more pretending.

"My Queen" I heard a man whispering bowing his head down as I looked at him letting a smile form on my lips.

I carefully walked into Shuri's lab, feeling all eyes as I slowly made my way to the center focusing on the center table which was covered in metal parts, as if someone was deconstructing something.

The smell of the room made my spine shiver as I realized I hadn't set a foot in that lab in more than 2 years. My eyes stopped at the main desk, the chair was empty, and she wasn't there. I took a deep breath, trying to control the twirling on my stomach before taking another step forward and moving my hand alongside the center table when something caught my attention.

Against my legs, was the most adorable Jack Russel, his nose skimming against the fabric of my trousers as I quickly bend over gently petting his head.

"Oh my god...Aren't you the cutest?" I whispered sitting down on the floor as he got up on my lab burying his nose in my neck.

His tail was moving non-stop while his little paws rested against my chest when I heard Shuri's voice from the other side of the lab.

"Jack!!!" She kept calling finally approaching us "Oh...there you are" she took a deep breath leaning against her desk.

"Where did he come from?" I asked moving my head a little trying to escape his licks.

"Atlanta" she mumbled as I noticed a smile forming on my lips.

"Who's dog is this?" I frowned my eyebrows.

"Well...Mine..." she shrugged her shoulders "I mean...ours.." her eyes moved onto the floor as I tilted my head a little confused.

"You always said you didn't want dogs around here" I mumbled as Jack finally calmed down gently curling up on my legs.

"I know..." she whispered "But...You've always talked about how cool it was to have one... So I decided to give it a try..."

"And how's that going?" I chuckled noticing her look.

"Not that cool" she sighed as I looked down at him, noticing the small brown spot on his head when I playback his name on my head.

"What name did you call him?" I frowned my eyebrows staring at her.

"Jack" she mumbled biting her lower lip.

I felt a twirl in my stomach as the connection hit me. Jack.

"That's the name of my dog..." I mumbled staring into her eyes while she nodded her head "The one my dad and I had back then...You even got to know him..."

"I mean..." she stuttered "I'm not good with dog names" she looked down at the floor as I tried to understand what was going on.

"There are plenty of other names Shuri..." I said "Tommy, Bobby...Why would you choose this one?"

"I liked your dog..." she raised her eyebrows "I know how sad you were when he died...And I thought you would like it..." she crossed her arms on her chest as I stayed still staring at her.

She remembered the dog. The first time she had come over to my house, after our first big fight, she had broken into my house, saying she wanted to meet my dad, and Jack had fallen asleep with his head on her lap.

"I do" I whispered petting him once again before looking around the room and realizing it was almost empty. Not with equipment, but with people.

"Good...Maybe you can help me with him..." she smiled taking a step closer.

"Where's everyone?" I asked ignoring her.

"What?" she frowned her eyebrow.

"Your staff... There are people missing...Where are they?" I asked again noticing there were only 3 guys in the whole lab.

"Oh" she whispered "They're busy doing other stuff" she looked down at the dog avoiding my eyes.

"Shuri...?" I called her tilting my head.

She kept quiet, her eyes finally looking into mine. She had a nervous look, I could see her chest moving a little faster as her teeth bit her inner cheek. Shuri had a lot of flaws, but one of the most amazing things about her was her ethics and professionalism, she would trust in everyone in her crew with her eyes closed. And even after thinking I had cheated on her with Omari, she didn't fired her. Omari was still allowed into the lab, just not when Shuri was in there. It was weird, but Shuri was able to digest it, even tho Omari's attitude wasn't the best. But something was off. I knew her too well, her looks, her eyes.

"You know" I mumbled feeling my chin tremble a little as she kept quiet only looking down at the floor.

Fuck.