Surprise

Rin

"Good morning," I say as I enter Jay's office. 

"Morning Rin. Since you want to visit Parker before we head to the county jail, we should get going as soon as Anon returns." Jay says. 

He seems to be less energetic today. Maybe yesterday took a lot out of him. It took a lot out of me, too. I can handle physically demanding jobs, but I can't handle anything requiring much talking. Jay continues to work, almost ignoring me. He definitely isn't himself today. After studying Anon's files on Parker and me all night, I didn't get much sleep. I was lucky. Anon is meticulous and keeps files for anyone close to Jay. The best part is that he adds a little "assessment" in each file. I don't blame him for being suspicious of me. It's to be expected, especially after that talk he gave me. Parker's assessment is top-tier, however. I wonder what Parker did to make such a lasting impression on Anon. 

"Alright, let's go," Anon says as he barges into Jay's office. 

Jay instantly gets up and walks towards the exit. He is in a serious mood. I'm getting quite anxious. 

"I still don't get why we all have to go see Parker. Rin is the only one who wants to see him," Anon says, pouting as he drives. 

"Hush, I want to see him too. I have some things I want to ask him, too." Jay says with a menacing grin. 

Ugh, I don't like the sound of that. What does he have planned? 

"Gah! I should quit." Anon says with a scowl. 

"Seriously? What exactly happened between you two while we were gone?" I ask. 

Anon is silent. Geez, it's that bad. I don't know Parker very well, but I don't think he would do anything to harm him. 

"Deal with it for today. You don't have to talk to him yourself." Jay snaps. 

The tension is real.

"RIN!!!" Parker yells as we enter the gym. 

He sprints towards me with his arms out. 

"UGH! No, don't touch me; you're all sweaty!" I dodge Parker as my life depends on it. 

"Shit, how did you do that? That was so fast. I almost fell on my face." Parker says as he turns back towards me. 

"OOOH, hello, Anon! I see you couldn't get enough of me last time. You just had to tag along with Rin. Don't worry, babe, if you want to spend time with me, all you have to do is ask." Parker says as he puts his arm around Anon's waist, pulling him close. 

Anon is visibly disgusted. Anon shoves his hand in Parker's face, pushing him away. 

"DO NOT TOUCH ME! Disgusting," Anon says as he walks away. 

Parker pouts. "Dude doesn't know how to take a joke." 

"Yeah, that must be the problem," I say sarcastically. 

Parker turns to Jay and bows. 

"Hello, Your Highness. Pleasure as always." Parker's tone changes. 

I feel a bit of animosity between them. 

"Yes, pleasure. We are a bit short of time, and we have some things we would like to ask you if you don't mind." Jay says with a straight face. 

Not even a fake smile today. 

"Sure, anything for Rin. Come hold the bag for me." Parker motions me over to the punching bag.

"You know Greg Lowe, right?" I ask as I put my body weight against the punching bag. 

Parker does a pretty impressive round kick to show off.

"Yep. Guys a dick. Rin would come back from his shift with him and be all pissy. I picked up Rin from a few staff dinners, and Greg would be all over everyone. He didn't seem to have a preference. I even remember him saying, "A hole is a hole." A grade A piece of shit. I heard he even got into fights with customers from time to time. I'm surprised Jess never fired him." Parker steps back and starts doing consecutive jabs. 

I almost lost my footing. Damn, he is strong. 

"How long did Rin and Greg work together?" Jay asks while he looks at me. 

Why is he watching me? Parker is more entertaining right now.

"Greg was working there before Rin was hired. If I remember correctly, Greg is one of Jess' brother's friends." Parker changes his stance and starts kneeing the bag. 

"Did Rin ever mention anything that might lead to them fighting?" Jay asks. 

I find myself distracted by the men who keep staring at the prince. They might be star-struck, but I can't be complacent. I am always working. 

"Na, sadly, Rin had started keeping things from me a few months back. He showed up with a nasty black eye one day. I asked him about it, and he shut me out. I tried to get things back to how they were, but he kept getting distant." Parker looks hurt. 

I wonder what was going on with Rin. It must have been bad for him to pull away from Parker. Parker grabs a towel and wipes the sweat from his face. 

"Do you know of anyone we might be able to ask more about what I was up to these last couple of months?" I say, letting go of the bag. 

I take a step back and begin punching. It has been a while since I had a good workout. I used to work out every day. Jay walks over to the bag and holds it. I smile at him as I start hitting it harder. 

"Hmm, maybe Josie. He and Rin were going out drinking now and then." Parker looks annoyed. 

I don't think he likes us using the equipment. I stop punching, walk over to the bench, and sit. 

"Is Josie here?" I ask.

Parker looks around. "I don't think so. He is supposed to be, though. We were going to do a practice match today. He is out of my weight class, but the challenge helps me improve." 

Hmm, a practice match? I want to try my hand at a cage fight. I have only ever done training in a more "real world" setting. 

"Hey, Anon! How much time do we have till we have to leave?" I shouted over to Anon, who was working on his laptop. 

"An hour or so. That should give us plenty of time to get there. Why?" Anon says, closing his laptop and walking over to us. 

"Parker, how about we have a little match ourselves?" I say with confidence. 

Parker and Jay are shocked. 

"What??? No way! You'll get hurt. I won't. I refuse." Parker says, shaking his head. 

"Haha, so you're scared you might be out of a job if your cousin kicks your ass, huh?" Parker glares at me. 

Oooh, that did it. I was hoping he was a typical jock. 

"I'm sorry, Prince Jay. It looks like I'm going to have to take your bodyguard out," Parker says, cracking his knuckles. "Alright, Rin, bring it on!" 

"Oh, I will," I say with a smile. 

I will show everyone Prince Jay's bodyguard isn't to be messed with.