Clash

“Why what Niall?” I was really confused right now because I hadn’t done anything to him. He was the one who kept coming on to me.

“Why do you want to stake out with me?” He asked sounding really confused and that’s when it hit me. I have been telling him no for the last couple of days and this was not a smart move. “I’m sorry Niall, I just didn’t think.” I shrugged and as I took a sip from my wine, Niall made his move and stopped inches away from me. I held the wine glass in front of me so that he couldn’t come any closer.

“Maybe it’s time to admit that you feel safe with me and that’s why you choose me to be with you during a stake out.” He wasn’t wrong because I did feel safe with him around but I wasn’t sure if this was the right moment to tell him that. I shrugged “I just had this schedule and you were the first one that was up and as I can’t stake-out on my own, this was just the best solution.”

His blue eyes were piecing into me and I really wanted to take a step back but I know that if I did, he would know that he had me right were he wanted me and I couldn’t afford this. “Now would you please get out of my personal space Niall and go home, get some sleep.” I dismissed him without blinking my eyes and let me tell you this, it's not an easy thing to do. He was stunned by the way I dismissed him because he took a few seconds to snap out it before he turned and walked out of the door. He slammed the door hard and I was surprised it was still in its hunches.

I sighed deeply because this had been one long day. I needed some food but this meant I had to go and do some shopping. This called in for a little disguise just to be certain and I know what I had to do. I went up to my room and grabbed grey skinny jeans and a black sweater. I pulled out some high-heeled boots, whom I would never wear because they weren’t that comfortable but I had to thank my mom for making me wear heels.

If she hadn’t I would probably stand out even more. I shook my head at the thought of falling on my face in front of everyone that would be abhorrent and so embarrassing. I put on a layer of make-up and put on velvet red lipstick. Now I had to do my hair, I decided to curl my hair, which made it look shorter, thanks to the make-up the freckles had also disappeared.

I looked one more time in the mirror and was surprised that I really didn’t look like myself and I actually really liked it this way. I had to put in my lenses because my glasses would stand out to much. As I made my way downstairs I grabbed my coat and a scarf before walking out of the door. I walked to the shopping centre and was happy to find a grocery store.

The moment I walked in, I regretted it immediately because I wasn’t the only one who was doing some shopping, as Bradley walked right passed me with two friends I held my breath. I couldn’t just stop in the middle of the path so without giving them another glance I quickly retrieved the cart and made my way inside. I could feel them staring at me as I swiftly walked through the store and when I was nearly at the register I felt a hand on my shoulder.

I took a deep breath before turning towards the person who had tapped me on my shoulder. I turned and was looking straight into Bradley’s eyes. “Can I help you?” I asked in a British accent because he would recognise my American accident within a heartbeat. “I haven’t seen you in here before, are you new to town?” he asked friendly. He was definitely checking me out and it made my stomach flip.

“Yes I am.” I smiled and turned my head to look a the register. “You know you remind me of someone.” That pulled my attention back to him as I felt the panic rise in me. “You do?” he nodded and as he got a bit closer, I took a step backwards.

“What are you doing?” I’m just trying to figure out why you remind me of that person but that is just not possible because the last time I have seen her, she was getting in a plane back home.” He mumbled and I was glad that my make-up was covering the heat that was rushing to my cheeks because he would kill me on the spot if he saw that.

“Well this was nice and all but I really need to get going.” I said and as he was still deeply in thought I made my way towards the register. “No wait, I’m sorry.” I didn’t stop but slowed down a bit. “It’s okay, I just really want to go home and start dinner because I am really hungry.” I explained whilst motioning the cart full of food. He followed my hand and smiled. I really was hoping he would let me go and as he walked closer to me, I felt the panic rise.

“Of course I’m sorry to keep you but before I let you go, can I have your name?” That floored me because I didn’t expect him to ask me a name. “Poppy.” It was the first name that came to me “My name is Poppy and what’s yours?” I asked coyly and that’s when his smile hit his eyes and to be honest Bradley is really handsome as his smile does change him a lot.

“I’m Bradley. Nice to meet you Poppy.” I smiled at him and took his stretched out hand. “Nice to meet you as well.” I let go of his hand as his touch felt like real poison but I kept smiling. I couldn’t let him see I felt uncomfortable. That’s when he leaned in and actually kissed my cheek. It was like hell had frozen over, my skin felt like it was burned and that is when I knew what he was doing, he was placing his mark on me.

I quickly took a step back before he could leave any traces of that damn kiss and smiled at him. “Well this was fun but I really need to get going.” I turned around and pushed my cart towards the register and I know I had confused the hell out of him and as I placed my hand on my cheek I was relieved when I didn’t feel anything weird but to be sure I was going to check it in the mirror.

I almost ran back home and slammed the door behind me and immediately locked the door. I pulled of my coat and just threw it on the ground in the closet and I immediately kicked off these damn shoes. I was still trembling and as I made my way into the kitchen I didn’t stop because if I stopped I would lose it in a bad way. To stand opposite from your enemy without the chance to kill him right there and then to top it to act nice and flirty with him just so he wouldn’t suspect you, is just the worse thing I had ever done.

I was making myself a nice pasta salad with salmon until someone ringed my doorbell. It stopped me dead in my tracks there was no way Bradley had found me right and what if he did, I pulled out my gun and took the safety of it and made my way towards the door. I didn’t have a peephole, which was really annoying but as he rang the bell again I was out of options. I had to open the door. I took a deep breath and held the gun behind my back. I unlocked the door and opened the door and relief immediately went through my entire body when I looked into the blue eyes of Niall. I pulled him in and locked the door again and Niall was looking at me like I was beyond saving until he saw the gun in my hand.

“Whoa, who were you going to shoot?” I quickly put the safety back on and put the gun back at the back of my jeans. I took a deep breath “Bradley.” I said and walked back into the kitchen.

“What do you mean?” He asked worried “Why were you ready to shoot Bradley? He doesn’t even know you are back in the UK.” I was mixing the salad with trembling hands and as soon as Niall saw that he stopped me by putting his hand over mine. I pulled my hands away from him and walked over to the cabinet that held my plates. “Anna, talk to me please?” he sounded worried and there was no way I could keep it to myself for much longer.

“I ran into Bradley when I was doing my groceries.” I told him whilst putting the salad on my plate. He was way too quiet and I hastily looked up to see if he was still here and he was just staring at me with a murderous expression. “You didn’t care to tell us this, why?” He asked through clenched teeth and I huffed at that. “Really Niall? I have been home for no longer then fifteen minutes and nothing happened so let’s not make a big deal out of this.” I was calmly eating my dinner when Niall walked over and plopped down at one of the chairs.

“What happened?” He was trying a new approach and this worked a lot better. “Why didn’t he recognise you?” he asked and as I swallowed my dinner he just sat there waiting patiently for me to answer.

“I disguised myself so if this would happen he wouldn’t recognise me and it was a good thing I did because the moment I set foot in the grocery store he walked passed me and didn’t seem to notice me and as I made my way towards the register he stopped me by tapping me on the shoulder.” I took a deep breath before continuing “He asked if I was new so I told him I was and then he went over that he thought I looked like this girl but that wasn’t possible because she had gone to L.A. He asked my name so I told him my name was Poppy and he told me his name as well.” I wanted to stop there so I quickly took another bite.

“What are you leaving out Anna and why in heavens name Poppy?” He wasn’t going to stop interrogating me and I knew this. “He uhm, well he kissed me on the cheek.”

Notes

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