Are You Locked Up in a World That's Been Planned Out for You?

It was day three in Miami, and I was already really bored. The first night Dad, Uncle Raymond, Aunty Yelina, Ray junior and myself all went out for dinner. Ray junior was nearly two now, and he had grown so much since I had last seen him.

Yesterday dad and I went out for lunch, and we stopped by at the Miami Dade police head quarters to pay a visit to Uncle Raymond at work. I was given a small tour, even though I had been here quite a few times. It was a lot different to the 27th precinct though, it was a lot more modern and spacious.

Dad ended up staying a bit longer than I did; a very nice uniformed officer named Officer Frank Tripp drove me back to Uncle Raymond and Aunty Yelina’s house.

Whilst I had things to do in the day, afterwards I was really bored. There were only so many conversations I could have with Uncle Raymond and Aunty Yelina, and Ray junior went to bed fairly early of an evening so I could only play with him up until a certain amount of time.

I had a television in the guest room I was given that had a lot more channels than the basic cable we had at home. But it wasn’t enough, I got so bored of a night I ended up reading or doing work.

I also felt disconnected from all my friends, and was wondering what they were doing for spring break. A lot of the private school kids had gone away too, Millie was going through Miami in the second week after a boat cruise her parents had paid for her and one of our other friends Amanda, so we had plans to meet up then. But until then, I wasn’t even able to call anyone, as it would be a long distance call. I had no idea what everyone was up to, and I wasn’t able to talk to Jessica until I got back. I didn’t know anyone here, so I had no one to speak to or hang out with.

I also missed Mike a lot, but let’s not go there.

This day seemed a little more promising though. Aunty Yelina only worked with MDPD part time, due to wanting to raise Ray junior properly, so her caseload was really light. She only had one case pending court right now, so she offered to take me shopping today whilst dad bonded with Ray junior.

We had decided to go to CocoWalk, a prestigious mall that held high-end label shops. Aunty Yelina had bought me a few clothes I tried on, as she knew I rarely got new clothes, as dad couldn’t afford them. I protested, but she insisted. She also let me get some new makeup, which I definitely appreciated.

We were now in a café, having a stop for a much-deserved coffee. I told Aunty Yelina to grab a table, and I was in line waiting to talk to the barista. I was originally zoned out, but when I noticed the female in front of me was taking a while, I then started paying attention.

“Excuse me, but every time I come here, the coffee is never strong enough and it tastes so weak! This time was no exception, look at this!” The woman screeched at the guy behind the counter, who looked exactly my age.

“Then why would you keep coming here then if you don’t like the coffee? Leave the guy alone, this is not yielding any results.” I stated, jumping into the argument.

She turned around, and looked me up and down. She looked about ten years older than me, and judging by the rock on her finger she was a housewife who probably spent all day drinking coffee on her husband’s wage. She was quite good looking unfortunately; she had a nice toned body, although she had much too much fake tan on. This was obviously a sore spot for her as I came to realise from her next attack.

“Look at you, you pale thing! This doesn’t concern you, so I’d suggest you keep your pasty nose out of this!” She argued.

“I’m not from around here, there’s never any sun in Manhattan. But I must inform you; if you have to resort to personal attacks your argument must be pretty weak. If you don’t like the coffee, whatever personal opinion. But just cut your losses and never return.” I said to her, in a calm voice.

What she did next shocked everybody. She let out a loud shriek of rage, and poured her coffee all over me. Lucky for me, the barista did not make it hot enough or she had held onto it for a while, as I was not scolded. Unlucky for her, my aunty who is a registered police officer and detective had witnessed the entire thing.

“Excuse me Miss, but what you just committed counts as assault. I do not take too kindly to people assaulting my niece, so I’m going to have to escort you to the security guard’s offices where the police will be called.” Aunty Yelina said, storming up to the woman and she grabbed her arms and dragged her off, before the woman could even shriek anything at her.

The entire café went silent, and all eyes were on me. The barista behind the counter came running over, as did someone who I assumed was the manager on duty, based on the ‘manager’ badge he wore.

“Are you okay? Thanks for defending me, if I knew she was going to pour coffee all over you I would have intervened earlier.” The barista my age gushed.

“Oh, that’s okay. I’m glad I got this nasty woman to leave you guys alone. I’d do it again even knowing the results.” I smiled at him.

“Hi there Miss. My name is David; I’m the manager on duty. I want to apologise for this customer’s behaviour. We’ve had problems with her for a while; she complains every day over trivial matters. We’re more than willing to compensate you with a few coffees, and we have a bathroom and spare t-shirts for you to wear. Once again I am deeply sorry.” The manager gushed at me.

“Yeah, now we might have grounds to ban her for life.” The barista my age beamed, and the manager sent him a dirty look for unprofessionalism.

The guy gulped, and quickly ushered me to the backroom.

“I’m sorry, we’ve only got plain black shirts with our logo on them. Not the most fashionable item we’ve got, but I’m sure it’ll do until you get home. It’s better than going home dripping in coffee.” The guy said, and I took a proper look at him.

He was quite good looking, and he had a lovely smile. He had straight white teeth, short black hair, and lovely tanned skin. His brown eyes were warm and you could easily get lost in them. He wasn’t short, still a little taller than me, but he was no way near as tall as Mike was.

Mike. My stomach flipped a little as I realised how attracted I was to this stranger, and felt I was doing something wrong even though I hadn’t even flirted with him. I’m sure he still found a lot of females attractive too….

That thought made me feel even more uneasy, and I only sent the boy a small smile as I went into the employee bathroom.

I used some paper towel after taking my top off, leaving my skirt on. I removed all the coffee from my torso, and then washed my face. I sighed, trying to decide whether to wet my hair and wring out the coffee, or to just leave it. I in the end decided to wet my hair, not wanting the sticky feeling or the smell, and scrunched my wet hair to add a sexy wave to it. I then reapplied my make-up with the make-up in my bag, and put on the new shirt before exiting.

The boy was still out the back, and he sent me a nice smile as he saw me exit the bathroom.

“Not many people could pull that shirt off, but you do it nicely.” The boy complimented, and I sent out a large giggle before I could help it.

“Oh, by the way. I’m Eric, Eric Delko. Sorry I didn’t introduce myself sooner, everything happened so quickly I’m still trying to catch up.” The boy smiled, offering his hand.

I smiled widely and took it; his smile was so gorgeous, so contagious.

“I’m Emma Caine. Nice to meet you.” I replied.

“Oh! I know you’re not from around here, but are you related to that detective with the last name Caine? I think he does homicides, but has done some other cool stuff like drug busts.” Eric asked me.

“Raymond Caine? Yeah, he’s my uncle. It’s pretty amusing, my dad is a homicide detective in New York, my aunty is also a detective too.” I responded.

The guy I’m seeing is also a detective, who I feel hell guilty about due to the way I’m semi-flirting with you and how attractive I find you…

“Wow, that’s awesome. I’m a high school senior at the moment, and I’m entering the science field. But I still find law enforcement fascinating, and follow it all in the newspapers. Raymond Caine is definitely a name that appears a lot.” Eric stated.

“Yeah, I’m a high school senior too.” I stated.

Before Eric could respond, I heard Aunt Yelina call my name.

“Um, I guess I gotta go. It was nice meeting you…” I said to Eric, trailing off. I honestly didn’t want to leave his presence, but I was treading dangerous waters here. Mike and I may not be official, but I didn’t want to jeopardise anything due to the likes of an attractive stranger.

I guess fate was that this holiday would be a test.

“Hey, I’m not sure what your plans are and even if you’re free at all, but I’d love to show you around town. You seem like a pretty cool chick.” Eric said to me.

“Um, I’m free a lot, the whole time pretty much. But back home, I’m kind of seeing someone…” I admitted, finding this conversation awkward. Eric’s smile then faltered, but reappeared a few seconds later.

“Hey, I’m just asking if you want to hang, I’m not asking you out on a date. You’re from Manhattan, I’m from Miami. There’s no point dating, but I’d love your company for a few days.” Eric said to me.

I thought about it for a moment. I was still treading dangerous waters, but hey he said it wasn’t a date. I was sick of sitting at home every night, I was bored. I’d love to make a Miami friend to hang out with every time I was here.

I now didn’t feel as uneasy, and I matched Eric’s smile.

“That would be lovely.” I said.

Eric grabbed a pen and paper from his apron and scribbled his number onto it, and passed it to me. I smiled, and said goodbye as I went back to the main area of the café to greet my aunty.