Kith and Kin ✔️

2. The Two Strangers

The bar was nearly empty. Just an average Tuesday evening with little to no customers. Soft music of 'Every rose has its thorn' was playing in the background. His wandering eyes caught sight of a girl sitting in the far left corner. With her hoop earrings and the blue flannel shirt, she could probably star in a rapper's music video.

"Rough day?" Sitting beside her, he asked. The girl had defined features and could be classed as good looking but with her ruined mascara and swollen eyes, she seemed pretty miserable. On the other hand, with his perfectly tailored suit and a branded watch, it was quite obvious that the man was rich. He also had anm pretty unusual eye colour, a perfectly shaven face and a smile on his lips.

"Rough life." The girl, clearly drunk, cackled and raised her hand. "I'm Clair, Clair Ryder."
"Jordan." He shook the girl's hand and continued, "What's good in here? You look like you know this place."
"Merlot, I like that. It will work fine for you." She again laughed.
"All right, I'll order one for you too." Jordan grinned at her.
"You're trying to hit on me? Do you even know what are you trying to do?" Clair dramatically raised her voice.
"I'm sorry but I find it incredibly rude to not buy a gorgeous girl a drink she prefers." He smirked at her. They both stared at each other and Clair unknowingly started to admire the man sitting next to her. She was going through a lot. She had moved in with her boyfriend a few months ago and was in a delusion that maybe her life will get better now but the reason she was ending up at bars every evening was her boyfriend.

"It's quite warm today. The weather is getting better." Jordan said while sipping his drink.
"Might be. I don't care." Clair gulped her red wine.
"May I ask why?" Jordan asked her in the politest way possible and ordered another drink for her.
"It won't interest you. And dude, please stop buying me drinks, I'm not that broke." She was still not paying any attention.
"You can share. It's better with strangers, believe me. And please, I'm a gentleman so stop." And with that being said, Clair stopped requesting to pay for the drinks and he bought her another two later that evening.

"I think you're right. I should tell you about my miserable life and my wrong decisions so you can pity on me." She seemed annoyed.
"Yeah you're right. I should pity you and you should pity me. After all, we both are in the same place." Jordan's word seemed to cast a spell on her. Maybe it was the alcohol or maybe it was just their spark. Clair didn't answer, she couldn't.
"I'm a businessman, I came here for a meeting. I'll be leaving this town tomorrow. You won't be able to find me again, Clair." Moving closer to her, Jordan said.
"Maybe we should talk somewhere else." Clair suggested and they both went to the hotel where Jordan was staying.

Clair told him all about her abusive parents; how she had left home when she was 16 and had to work at a diner to earn a living; that her boyfriend was cheating on her and she couldn't leave him. She was frustrated, angry, and irritated but Jordan listened to her intently. That night two strangers shared a bond that no 'I'll stay with you forever' ever did with any of them.

"What if I want to see you again?" Clair asked.
"You won't need to." He closed this topic and Clair didn't ask him for any 'contact for later' type of information.

Jordan did his part well too. Even though he didn't tell her much about himself, he helped her defeat her fears and move out from her boyfriend's place for a better life. In a night, Jordan changed the way she saw herself.
"Are you sure that you don't want to tell me anything about yourself?" Clair said softly moving closer to him.
"Oh, me? I'm a criminal, I've murdered quite a few people. I've stole many things and I use fake identities." He said with the most serious expression on his face.
"You're a jerk." Clair laughed.

They both fell in a comfortable silence and when she lifted her head, she saw him sleeping peacefully with his face almost buried in the pillow, a face so pure and content. She couldn't see why would he say all that stuff about himself and be ok with it. He was a mystery that fascinated her more than anything ever did. She knew that they wouldn't see each other ever again because that's how one-night stands work. She knew it was different but there was no 'see you again'.

The next morning she woke up in an empty bed. She called his name but it was of no use.
Jordan had already left, left her alone without a final goodbye.

                             ********

The first thing he noticed when he entered the class was a blue bag on his seat next to the window.
Trying to keep his anger in control he went towards the seat, picked up the bag and threw it behind him.
As soon as the bag touched the floor, a gasp was heard from a girl standing beside him. "Sir! What are you doing?" The girl asked. He didn't raise his head to acknowledge her but still he noticed the girl's thick British accent.
"Um... sir? I'm talking to you. Why the hell did you throw my bag? And that's MY seat. Go find another seat for yourself. You can't just sit anywhere you want. "

Still, there wasn't any response. The girl was starting to get irritated by his attitude. 
"Sir, are you deaf? Get off my seat!"
Michael simply took out his iPod and started listening to Imagine Dragons.
The girl was shocked by his arrogance but taking a deep breath, she picked up her bag and placed it on the seat behind him.
'Good riddance.' Michael thought when he saw the girl moving away. She had annoyed him so much that he was sure that if the girl had stayed a second longer he would've done something he regretted.

BAM!!! The whole class went silent.
Michael was on the floor clenching his jaw while the girl's laughter who was standing behind him could be heard even in the football ground too.
She managed to pull the chair so hard that Michael had crashed with the chair on his back.
"Oh sorry! I didn't know I was that strong." The girl exclaimed. With a wink, she picked up the fallen chair and quickly sat on it giving Michael a smug look.

Michael, who was still on the floor, gave the girl a murderous look. He was about to explode with anger he was feeling because of that girl. His anger issues were so serious that he was considering getting therapy now. It had been more than an year and he hadn't gotten any better.
As if the whole class sensed his anger, they started to move away from him. In the silence someone whispered, a bit too loudly, "Damn, the new girl is dead now."
With a small smile on his face, Michael realised how true those words were.
"Oh, I am so sorry that I threw your bag. I shouldn't have done that." In the softest and calmest voice, Michael uttered.
"No worries. It's good that — "
"I should've thrown you instead." He almost yelled at her. 
The girl's eyes widened. 

'He has some serious mental issues, I'm sure no one in the school likes him. Just because he is good looking doesn't mean that he can be this arrogant and rude.'
Lost in her thought, the girl didn't realise when Michael threw her on his shoulder and started walking towards the school ground. 
"What are you doing? Stop! Sir! Put me down, this instant."
She started to punch his back but Michael didn't care.
"I can sue you for this!" She shouted.
"Shut up!" Michael grunted.
"Put me down!" She shouted so loud that Michael was sure his ear drums were permanently damaged.

"MICHAEL RYDER!" An authoritative voice spoke from behind him. "Put the girl down, right now."
Michael turned around to find none other than Mrs. Richard standing behind him.
The only teacher Michael didn't dare to disobey was Mrs. Richard, his calculus teacher, but it was not because she was very strict or hard on punishments. No. The reason was entirely different. She was the only teacher who understood him. She was a mother to him, a mother Michael never had. 
So Michael dropped the girl causing her to dramatically wince in pain.
Michael smirked with his head bowed while the teacher just shook her head.
"You must be Elise Woods, the new girl." Addressing the girl, Mrs. Richard said. "Please don't mind Michael, he was probably just playing around to get on your nerves and Michael, that's unacceptable."
"Sorry." Michael said softly.

Elise was shocked. She never thought that a guy with an attitude like that would ever utter such a word.
"Just get inside the class and I don't want this to happen ever again." Mrs. Richard dismissed them with a wave of her hand.

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