Hanging Out

The man struggled to free his arm but it was a futile gesture. Her grip was iron-like and it looked like she wasn't even trying. She smiled. "You will run with me."

"Why?"

"Just a way to get to know you."

"Are you always like this? Dominant?"

Lily chuckled and gave him a blank look. "People say I'm a little…bossy."

"No kidding!"

"Let's go, I'm late already."

He resisted again. "Wait, I haven't agreed yet!"

"Do you have a choice?"

"I can scream."

"Can you?" she smiled. "Is it really more convincing if I shouted and told everyone you were harassing me?"

He sighed. She was right. She looked so young, in fact too young to be able to hold him in place. He nodded. "Fine, let's run but can I at least know your name?"

"Lily Brad." She said with a slight nod.

The man observed her and noted that she was pretty too. She had this loveable aura around her. He smiled. "I'm Austin."

"Good, let's run." She let go of his hand.

"You aren't afraid that I'll run away again?"

Lily clenched her fist with a smile. "I believe that a fist is all that's needed to tame a man."

Austin nodded. Somehow that actually made sense in a twisted way. He didn't know her yet he also didn't want to refuse the chance to hang out with her.

They jogged along the street side by side. Lily didn't spare him a glance and Austin felt a bit awkward. Was he supposed to say something? He glanced at her and smirked.

"Quit staring at me." Lily interrupted his thoughts. She didn't have problems following his line of sight even while running. She noticed that Austin almost stumbled after she said that. A small smile crept up on her face.

"I was thinking…"

"Do you find me pretty and attractive?" she asked bashfully.

Austin froze again, almost choking on his saliva. "Are you always this bold?"

"I don't see a reason why not."

"Well…I'd say you're really pretty and young."

"How so?" Lily glanced at him.

He kept running as he said, "You seem to be 19…"

Lily scoffed and wiped the sweat off her forehead. "I'm 29, don't look so surprised."

Austin was a bit taken aback. She really did look 19. She was so young and had a flawless skin as well. She smelled like…lilies.

They continued to jog along the side of the road. It took another one hour before Austin stopped behind her and bent over with a red face. He coughed dryly and held his chest. His breathing was heavy and his body trembled.

"I can't go on…" he said. Lily stopped and observed him for a while before walking up to him. She scanned his face and made sure that he was fine.

"You made me worry that you were asthmatic or had heart issues!" she said in exasperation.

Austin gave her a heated look but didn't lash out. She was, after all, the one who forced him to run with her in the first place. If anyone should be at fault then it should be her. He coughed a bit more and said, "I passed my limit just to impress you. I can't go on anymore."

"That's very poor," she said looking at her wrist watch. "I can go on for three more hours without breaking a sweat."

"I see it." Austin nodded. She was still breathing normally and she didn't show any signs of fatigue. 'How is she doing it? I can go on for an hour plus but never this long…' he thought.

Lily, on the other hand, was smiling from ear to ear. This was the one thing she was really good at. Her endurance was pretty high and above that of average humans. Even Richard was not on par with her in this aspect.

She shook her head. 'Why am I always using Richard as a measuring line for my progress? I guess it's because I've lived with him all my life…'

"Do we go back?"

Austin glanced at her, his breathing still irregular. "Only if we won't be jogging back."

Lily nodded silently and waited for him to calm down before they started walking back. They talked at length and he listened attentively to what she said. She couldn't help but glance at him from time to time though she made sure it was subtle.

She just couldn't keep her eyes off and it was a good thing that Austin wasn't paying attention or maybe he was but was only pretending not to see it. She nodded at her conclusion and went along silently.

They soon arrived at Richard's house and she stopped there. "This is as far as I can escort you."

"Thanks but I don't need an escort." Austin said with gritted teeth. He noticed that Lily kept making assumption and forcing it on him.

Lily chuckled. "You're so easy to tease. You could've easily refused to go jogging with me if you wanted back then. I wouldn't have forced you."

Austin paused for a bit before nodding. "I know. I came because I wanted to."

"That's good then." She walked away from him.

Austin looked at her retreating back and unconsciously called to her. "uhm…I want to ask if we could hang out sometime?"

Lily paused, her eyes scanning every inch of his body. She exhaled slightly but her eyes were a bit unfocused. "I guess so. We will see."

"Thanks…I mean see you then."

She didn't bother to say anything else but went in immediately. Something was wrong with her. She never 'hangs out' with anyone so why did she accept his offer so easily?

She sat on the sofa and closed her eyes for a bit. 'Maybe Richard was right, I do have a bug. I'm acting out of character around Austin.'

That was enough to give her cold feet. She grabbed her laptop and switched it on. She typed for a while then focused on the screen. She was engrossed with the things she was reading. She looked more serious as she scrolled down towards the bottom.