Fight for me (Completed)

Chapter 7

Author's Note:

Dedicated to @maspionku and @Brind2y2 mention a user

Thank you for your love and support.

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I walk out of Ethan's office and collect the credit card for my expenses from Elizabeth. I am exhausted so I decide I should eat first. I find James parked in front of the office building and he tells me he was asked to drop me back home. I ask him if he can take me to any cheap diner nearby. When I used to work here, I have been to many restaurants in the area and they were expensive.

Fortunately, James drives to a little diner called "Down by the alley" which as the name says is tucked in an alley. Though the alley has potted plants, artistical painted walls and nothing like the alley I was in the night before, the very thought of walking through an alley raises my hackles.

As I kept staring at the alley nervously, James walked around the car and opens the door for me. I really hate when someone got my door. Chivalry or not, I feel its a simple enough task that one can do it themselves. Ethan had cajole me to let the chauffeur get the door in red carpet events and when media was present. I tell myself that I need to be more attentive, James has already got my door twice. I step out and thank him and don't make effort to move. I decide I would rather stay hungry for few more hours than walk in through an alley.

"I am not that hungry. I have work in the area. Thank you for the ride", I say without looking at him and trying to sound confident and failing miserably.

"Ms. Green, I haven't had breakfast and the place has delicious pancakes. Can you please accompany me? I hate to eat alone", James says softly. I don't know if he really is hungry or doing it for me. But I feel a little better. He is the only person who has been kind to me all day. So, I agree and walk by his side to the diner. Every step I take weighs me down yet I keep going fighting my fears. When we finally make it inside, I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding and it feels like I climbed Mount Everest. I take a couple of more deep breaths and look around.

"Down by the alley" is a cute and casual place. The decor is modern. James tells me the place used to be part of a restaurant but it was shut down when the restaurant owners where not able to make a profit with the increasing costs. Now the front of the place is converted to office space and the back part was rented out by a couple who own this place now.

I order an apple pie pancake with vanilla maple syrup with coffee and James orders a cinnamon roll pancake. Once the order is placed, the awkward silence fills us. I was never the person who can start a conversation unless I knew them well. James seems to feel the same and starts telling me about him. James's father owned a cctv installation company in Jacksonville. He had helped his father since he was 12 years old and when he was 18, he decided to join the Navy and was a Navy seal for 10 years. When his parents died in a car accident, he left the Navy to take care of his baby sister then 14. His sister is a child prodigy who graduated high school at 16 and got accepted into Stanford. He didn't want to leave his sister alone and stay in the other side of the country, so he moved here 8 years ago. He worked his way up and now he is the head of securities at Harris Software Pvt Ltd.

While James told me about himself, I cleaned off my plates of pancakes and downed my coffee in no time. I didn't realize how hungry I was until I took the first bite of the yummy pancakes I have tasted in a long time. It made my eyes water. God, I missed eating full stomach. Even when I was in the orphanage there was enough food for everyone and we never went hungry. But the last few years had been so excruciating that I only got enough food to keep myself going.

James didn't agree on splitting the bill though I insisted many times. When I felt I was offending him, I backed off and let him pay. When we get back in the car I ask him to drop me off at a cheap motel I found while he was in the restroom. The motel is about half hour south of Bay area. The pictures on the websites are nothing like the original motel in front of us. Its a rundown place and probably used for a lot of illegal activities. Even though its doesn't look safe, I decide to stay here since it is the only place I can afford and I am not ready to go back to my apartment. The thought of going back there churns my stomach and makes me want to throw up. As I thank James and walk to the reception, James stops me.