Until We Break (Formerly Wicked, Wild, Wonderful)

Original Edition: Chapter Thirty

RIVERSIDE HARDLY EVER KEPT ANY REAL WIND, BUT TODAY IT DID. Today it was so windy that Cairo double-checked the weather forecast to see if something was wrong. The sun was lost behind some wispy clouds too, as if a storm was making its presence known to all the residents of Riverside so that they could get out in time. Naomi Morgan was familiar with storms, she should have realized something was off. But, how could she when Saint was holding her waist on his bicycle out in the open, guiding her and instructing her how to pedal and how to stay balanced? Despite the weather, it was still one of the best days of her life. Such things were rare these days.

Chyna was sat atop a chair that she took from the front of the restaurant, hair products scattered in her lap as she tried to repair the damage done to her hair from last night. She finger-combed it thoroughly, watching the two of them laugh at each other. "Hey," she called out to them, "you guys do realize you're in a public space right? The customers might think this is a different kind of restaurant."

A few feet away, Saint flipped her off and she returned a grin. Naomi was too busy trying to remain balanced to pay either of them any mind. She tried taking her feet off the ground, but each time she tilted a little too much to each side. The thought of too much weight either way, plummeting her to the floor, kept her feet constantly slamming onto the ground to stop herself. She wanted to be balanced and upright, but it felt impossible. Both sides were pulling her down and it seemed as if her only choice was to decide which way she'd prefer to go out.

Saint grabbed the bicycle by its railings and held it for her. "Aren't you a dancer? You should be good at this sort of thing."

"Was," she corrected. "And I did ballet, not...drag racing."

Saint laughed. "Did you just compare riding a bicycle to drag racing?" Naomi huffed and her eyes fell to the vein in his neck. Really, she could look at him forever. Even if he was laughing at her. "You think too much, Naomi Morgan. Sometimes you just have to let go."

She was still watching his smile, sucked in, magnetized, alive. Too much to realize Saint was standing and she was drifting further and further away from him. Her arms stiffened. Naomi held tight and looked forward. "Now, pedal!" Saint shouted.

So she tried, she really did. One, two, and she was moving, three, four, but gravity would not have it, four, five she knew she was going down. She stuck her feet out into the dirt, abruptly stopping so her chest could heave out exhales.

Saint jogged over. "Why'd you stop? You were doing so well."

"Well," she huffed, "I was about to fall."

"If you're going to learn to ride a bicycle you're going to fall, Naomi. It's nature."

Naomi swung the pedal with her idle foot and squinted from the truth in his eye. "But why is pain natural?"

Saint's head tilted to the left and he folded his arms. Smiling he said to her, "That's just life."

Naomi couldn't accept that. It was an excuse, not a reason. Pain should not be mandatory if life is to be truly beautiful. Getting off the death trap she shook her head. "Well, that's unfair."

On Fridays, The Guise tried not to do anything too risky, they had told Naomi. Everyone and their mother goes out on a Friday and, at all times of the day. Even Tio's was more active than usual, people coming here for their lunch break to pick up food, dine in or have their own version of a happy hour. It was the worst day for The Guise to try anything.

So, today they all spent it relaxing. Cairo was inside, plotting their next conquest while Sully was at the bar, probably eating or annoying Xiomara. Lia was still sleeping as far as they knew, and Saint, Naomi and Chyna were all out here in the back lot behind Tio's, soaking whatever light they could get from the sun.