Chapter 9: Victory's Within the Mile

“Ok so what if we were on a stranded island and I died? What would you do with my body?” Griffon asked as we were folding clothes in the department store. I laughed at how ridiculous his question was.

 

“Well I would tie it to a raft then send it out to sea with a note saying that there are people stuck on an island.”"I said folding my last men’s shirt. Griffon had paused his folding to look at me."“What?” I asked with a smile creeping up.

 

“What I don’t get a funeral? Possible cremation? C’mon Ria, what kind of friend are you?” Griffon asked in mock offense. I shrugged as I lifted my pile of shirts and placed them in their respective section on a nearby shelf."“Okay, now what if a shark eats my body before anyone can see your note?”

 

“First of all, you won’t be covered in blood so a shark wouldn’t come near you. Secondly, if that happened then I’d be wasting my time sitting along the shore sad, and alone.” I said now leaning on the shelf near Griffon watching him finish up his pile.

 

“You know just from hearing you say that, I hope I get eaten by a shark. Serves you right to feel sad and alone.” He said with his signature smirk. I glared at him and smacked his arm.

 

“You’re such an a*****e.” I hissed. Griffon just laughed. It was a few weeks after I had my conversation with Aaron. I had been dropping my stuff off at Shannon’s little by little as told, and I was going to move the rest of my stuff this weekend. I hadn’t quit the job here at the department store yet mainly because; I didn’t have the heart to. Griffon and I had become pretty good friends in the time I’d been working here and I just couldn’t bring myself to tell him that I’d probably not see him really or at all, because I was moving to downtown Manhattan.

                        Griffon had just put his pile away when he started to reach in his pocket. I raised an eyebrow in confusion. He held up a finger signaling me to give him a minute. I nodded and started to push an empty cart back to the storage room. I was actually thinking of ways to break the news to Griffon when he came up behind me and handed me his phone. I took it with an expression asking who it was.

 

“Deborah” He mouthed to me. I nodded and put the phone to my ear.

 

“Hello?” I asked.

 

“Ria, it’s Deb, listen Aaron just called on a payphone. He said that they found the irregularity in my bank account from your deposits. They’re gunna come tomorrow to check things out, he wants you to wait with Griffon until Shannon comes to pick you up from there. I’ll give her the last of your stuff now make sure you stay low okay? Shannon will fill you in on the rest.” Deborah rushed through the information then hung up. I was frozen and in shock. I was upset at myself for procrastinating this any further. I had gotten paid just last week. I should’ve listened to Aaron and quit as soon as possible. He’s going to be so pissed off at me. I thought to myself. I turned to Griffon who was standing next to me in concern. I gave him back his phone and let out a sigh.

 

“Ria is everything okay? Do you need me to take you home?’ He asked quietly and worriedly. I shook my head and motioned for him to follow me. I lead him to a back room that was usually empty. I closed the door behind me and turned to him.

 

“Okay, look before anything I’m really sorry that I didn’t say anything earlier.” I stated quickly knowing that Griffon would get upset. He shook his head trying to understand where I was going with this.

 

“Ria, just tell me what’s going on.” Griffon said genuinely worried. I nodded and went on to tell him everything. I told him about moving to Shannon’s, about what Aaron had said, and what Deborah had told me. I was paying more attention to Griffon’s facial expressions than anything. He started off worried but then his expression dropped to anger and hurt. When I had finished he turned away from me and pushed his hair back messing up his faux-hawk somewhat.

 

“Griffon?” I said quietly trying to get him to look at me. He shook his head and snapped his head over to me.

 

“When were you planning to tell me this?” He asked sternly.

 

“Soon, but I had a reason.” I said trying to take some of the blame off of me. I knew all of this was basically my fault but I didn’t want to leave with Griffon and I on bad terms.

 

“Really and what would that be?” Griffon said sarcastically.

 

“I didn’t have the heart to tell you.”"I stated truthfully"“I knew that leaving would put a weight on our friendship if not end it and I didn’t know how to tell you that. This isn’t my choice Griffon. I don’t want to live with Shannon, but I don’t really have much of a choice here.”

Griffon started to shake his head back and forth. He leaned on a wall for support and hid his face from me. I was confused now. How could that possibly have made him even more upset? 

 

“No…no…no…” Griffon repeated as he turned around, showing his back to me. I reached for his shoulder but he flinched away before I could barely touch him. He stood like that for a few minutes.

 

“Griffon, I don’t have much time left. Please say something before I have to go. I don’t want to leave in bad terms with you. Please say something…anything.” I said pleading Griffon to speak. I didn’t like how he was reacting and didn’t really understand it either. I mean I could understand the frustration of the matter but to escalate to not even able to look me in the face? That was just plain over dramatization.

 

“What the f**k am I supposed to say to that Ria?! Sure I understand, now go live with your boyfriend’s sister where I don’t even know if I’ll ever see you again!” "Griffon said sarcastically raising his voice after turning back to face me. I flinched back at his sudden hostility. Noticing my flinch, Griffon’s features relaxed a bit. "“Ria I-I’m sorry It’s just that I...Throughout this past month I’ve…I…” Griffon didn’t get to finish his sentence, he reached into his pocket and took out his buzzing phone. After looking at the caller ID, he handed it to me. Deborah’s name flashed on the screen.

 

“Hello?” I answered.

 

“Ria? It’s me Deborah, Shannon just left and is heading to the store so start waiting in the lobby. Are you still with Griffon?”

 

“Yeah I’m still with Griffon.”

 

“Okay good so just wait like I told you and she’ll be there soon…Oh and Ria?”

 

“Yeah Deb?”

 

“I’m going to miss you roommie.”She said chuckling. I smiled.

 

“I’ll miss you too Debbie.”

 

“Take care and I hope you’ll be able to visit soon.”

 

“I do too.”"I said looking up at Griffon. His eyes seemed distant. I said my goodbye to Deborah and gave the phone back to Griffon."“Shannon’s close, we should get to the store entrance.” I said opening the door and waiting for Griffon to follow.

 

“You don’t have to go.” He said low. I turned to him and raised an eyebrow. He went on to explain"“You can stay with me until this all blows over.”

I closed the door again and shook my head.

“Griffon I can’t do that.”

 

“Why not?” He asked quickly.

 

“Because I don’t think that’s a good idea for either of us. Aaron would take that the wrong way, plus what if they find me there too? You’ll be left without a home or place to stay.”

 

“Maybe I don’t care about what Aaron thinks, or any of those things.” He responded. I shook my head again.

 

“Are you even listening to yourself?” I asked somewhat annoyed. I knew he didn’t want me to go, and neither did I but his suggestions were too extreme.

 

“Well I’m trying to give you alternatives. You said yourself that you don’t want to go to Shannon’s…Unless that’s just a cover for you to not make me feel bad.” He accused. I scoffed in disbelief.

 

“Are you f*****g serious?” I asked raising my voice. Griffon stood at the back of the room with his arms crossed. I threw my hands up and I yelled at him.

“I just told you that I was leaving last minute and said the reason behind it was because I didn’t know how to tell you. If I really didn’t like being around you, don’t you think I would’ve left already? Or at least told you sooner?” I watched as Griffon’s face went emotionless. He then stood with a stern expression and didn’t answer. I heard a faint honk. Shannon was here. I opened the door again and held it for Griffon to at least say good-bye before I left. But instead he stood in the same place. I held the door open wider and gave him a hurt look.

“Fine…be that way…”I said. I closed the door and stalked out of the store and into Shannon’s car. As we drove away I tried to maintain some kind of small talk with her to forget the nagging sting I felt. It was then that I realized just how much I cared for Griffon and exactly how much he could affect me.

                        When we reached Shannon’s condo on Barclay Street, I was getting really nervous. Shannon had told me that Aaron was upstairs and fuming. I knew I would be in for it. After all it was my fault. Shannon ushered me out of the car and into the building. We walked in silence to the elevator.

 

“Do you think I’ll get out a live?” I asked trying to lighten the mood by making a joke. She smiled weakly at me.

 

“You should just let him get everything out first.” She advised. I nodded and made a mental note of it. I followed her out of the elevator and into the condo. The TV was on and pretty loud. We entered inside and I brought the last of my stuff into the room I’d be staying in for God knows how long. After placing my final belongings in their place, I questioned whether I should go to Aaron or have Aaron come to me. In the end, Aaron came to me and boy was he upset.

 

“We need to talk.” He said coming in and closing the door behind him. I nodded and sat on the bed. I motioned for him to go on."“What the f**k were you thinking Ria?! I told you to quit that job as soon as possible yet you didn’t! I spoke to Deborah and she said she understood everything, so why didn’t you listen Ria?! Now I have to go early tomorrow and survey the area for any sign of you. We might need to go to the store too and see if they can tell us where you went, or some kind of s**t! All of that Ria, all of that because you didn’t quit a job when it was smart for you to do it. I wanna know right now why you didn’t obey those orders!” Aaron yelled. I took it all watching his arms flare around and pace in the room. I did however recline back in offense when he mentioned obeying orders.

 

“First Aaron, I’m not a comrade or inferior that you can give orders to. I’m your girlfriend that you gave a suggestion to and decided not to listen.”"Aaron went to open his mouth when I stopped him."“Secondly, the reason I didn’t quit sooner was honestly because I didn’t know how to do it. I had been working with Griffon for a while and I got sentimental about leaving. I know that is a horrible excuse and that I shouldn’t have let that distract me but it did. He already yelled at me too so don’t worry that’s been taken care of.”

 

“Are you f*****g serious?!” Aaron boomed after letting my reason sink in. He ran a hand through his hair and pinched the bridge of his nose."“Ria…please tell me you’re joking.” He said now in a completely new state of anger. I shook my head. Aaron let out a frustrated sigh.

 

“Look I’m sorry ok? I should’ve quit ahead of time. I recognize that I’m at fault here now if you’re still mad at me I understand. Go cool off or whatever, I know you don’t want to go to work tomorrow all pissed off. Now if were done here, all I want is to go to sleep.” I stated truthfully. Aaron just stood at the doorway still evidently angry. Neither of us moved from where we were. I didn’t know what was on Aaron’s mind at the time, but all I was thinking about, was sleep. I had become very worn out since Aaron had come in to yell at me. I guessed that with all the stress of the situation, I was already worn out and just needed a good night’s sleep. Aaron must’ve seen how tired I was. He let out another sigh and relaxed himself.

 

“Alright, go get some rest, I’ll come by on Saturday to help move around the room to make you feel more at home.”

I shook my head.

 

“No don’t worry about it. I prefer the room the way it is.” I lied. At first I had asked Shannon if I could make the guest room more to my style since I wasn’t sure exactly how long I’d be staying. She gave me the ok and said that Aaron would help me out with everything, but now I just wasn’t in the mood. I honestly didn’t want to make this place home, nor did I want to feel at home. I felt that the only home I really had was back at Deborah’s. None of the houses I’d stayed before that ever really felt like home. To me a home was a place that you were surrounded by people that loved you and made you feel safe. Ironically enough, Shannon being my own boyfriend’s sister, and having more experience than Deborah in anything ninja related, didn’t make me feel safe here at all. I felt like I didn’t belong here. Of course, I would never tell Aaron that. I didn’t want to insult him or his sister’s hospitality but I could shake the feeling that being here was wrong.  

                        After Aaron had left that night, my life took a strange turn. Shannon had told me that with the new lead on my trail had lead Aaron’s team to pretty much camp out the upper eastside. I hadn’t seen much of Aaron at all because his team leader wanted to suck the information out of that area dry. Weeks had past and I gravely missed Deborah, Demi and even Griffon. My mind kept playing my last at the store over and over. I wondered what things would’ve been like if I had taken Griffon up on his offer. I wasn’t really sure why I was thinking about Griffon like that but all I knew was that I couldn’t stop it. Truth was that I missed his company, his humor, his stupid smirk. I felt like I was in my own prison center. I never left the condo at all. I sometimes sat and watched the new freedom tower being built. The same urge that got me into this mess started to creep back. I wanted…no needed to do something, not because I felt bad about freeloading or anything like that, but because I needed to get out.

 

“Hey Ria, I’m home!” Shannon called from the front door. I didn’t bother to turn around. I kept my focus on the tower and the little men working on it. Shannon went about some of her business. I didn’t really care though, that was the norm since I’d first moved here. Shannon was a very busy woman. She usually always on call and was hardly ever home. I stood here mostly by myself. Whenever she was off though, she’d chat with me here and there but then run off to take care of errands. After a while, I assumed that being a Hernandez meant to be busy."“Aren’t you cold?” Shannon asked at my doorway with a bowl of takeout. I shook my head and turned back to watch the tower. Shannon entered further in my room and sat on the edge of my bed behind me.

“I brought you some food, the kitchen looks like you haven’t eaten all day.” She said placing the bowl on a nightstand. I shrugged still looking at the tower.

 

“I wasn’t really hungry.” I answered. Shannon stood quiet for a little bit.

 

“You want to go out and do something today?” She asked. I perked up and turned to her.

 

“Depends on what it is.” I said. Shannon smiled.

 

“Well unfortunately not with me. I’m on call but I had originally made plans with a friend of mine to go to the gym. I don’t want to ruin her fun but maybe you can go. I don’t think you’ve physically trained in a while right?”

I nodded and started to think back. How long has it been? I thought to myself. Point was, a lot of time had passed and I was probably rusty in the physical activity. I remembered back to when I used to train and great it felt. I used to let out my aggression that way and my step-mother knew that.

 

“Sure I’d love to go. What time is she coming?” I asked. Shannon looked at the clock and then back at me.

 

“Well she’s supposed to come around seven or eight but if you want I can call her and see if she wants to go now.” Shannon said. My smile widened and I could almost feel my eyes sparkle in excitement.

“Sure that’d be awesome.” I replied with my never fading smile. Shannon laughed at my eagerness.

 

“Alright then I’ll go call her now, but make sure you eat first, you need the strength. You of all should know what ninja training is like.” She said with a knowing smile. I nodded letting out a chuckle. I watched Shannon leave the room, and once she was gone, I automatically jumped up to get clothes to wear. I thought back to when training was my world. I used to be a protector back in the day, before this whole mess happened, and I would train pretty much every day. I made sure that I was always on my game. Being a protector that was sort of a requirement, you had to be resourceful. You never knew what would come up.

            After I had gotten everything together, I sat back by the window to eat. Take out wouldn’t have been my choice of food but it was better than nothing. I was beyond excited really to care at the moment. I inhaled my food and began walking to the kitchen. I overheard Shannon’s conversation.

 

“Yeah I know Sky, but I can’t tonight…I know I did but I know someone who could go with you…C’mon Sky she’s great and energetic…Sky please you don’t get it…”"Shannon’s voice got low"“Look Skylar, she hasn’t left the house in weeks, I’m worried you know? If I could take her myself I would but I really need your help…It’s complicated Sky just please...Great! I owe you one.”  

I poked my head in the living room and held and innocent look. Shannon nodded knowing what I was asking. I squealed for the first time since high school. I ran to Shannon giving her a hug.

 

“Thank you Shannon! Thank you, thank you, thank you!” I said happy to finally get out of the house. Shannon just smiled as I went back to my room to get ready and fill a duffle bag with extra clothes.  

 

“Alright Ria, she’s going to be here in about half an hour. You stay by her at all times. She doesn’t know about what’s going on and I trust that you’ll keep it that way but try to stay incognito. Skylar isn’t the rowdy type at all so I know she won’t do anything to attract attention. Is that understood?”"Shannon said from my door. I nodded after her requests even if she couldn’t see me. Once I exited fully dressed, I walked to the living room to wait. Shannon continued with her last condition."“Oh and this stays between you and me. Aaron doesn’t have to know.”

I smiled nodding. Soon enough Skylar was downstairs and Shannon was escorting me down. A lady in the lobby’s face lit up once she spotted us. She came over and gave Shannon a hug.

 

“Hey Shannon.” She greeted. Shannon hugged her returning the greeting.

 

“Hey Sky how’ve you been?” Shannon asked.

 

“I’ve been good, so this is the girl you were telling me about?” Skylar asked. I nodded smiling."“Great, nice to meet you. I’m Skylar.”

 

“Rachel.” I lied. Shannon looked at me with an eyebrow raised. I shrugged. She did say that Skylar didn’t know what was going on. I didn’t want my only training time to get cut short just because of my situation. Skylar shook my hand.

 

“Ready to get going?” She asked me. I nodded and after saying our good-byes to Shannon, we were in Skylar’s car already on our way to the gym. We stood in silence for a while.

 

“So…you’re a friend of Shannon’s huh?” I asked trying to make small talk.

 

“Yeah, old family friend actually.” She replied still focusing on the road. I nodded.

 

“Hm I see…you guys lived next door or something?”

 

“No my mom and her mom were just really close friends.”

 

“Oh wow that’s cool. I wished I had something like that when I was growing up.” I stated truthfully. Skylar looked over to me then back at the road.

“Really? It got on my nerves sometimes. Shannon was great. Always has been, but her brother was so annoying when he was younger.” Skylar said smiling a little bit. I smiled too.

 

“Oh you knew Aaron when he was younger too huh?” I asked mischievously. Skylar raised an eyebrow at me.

 

“Yeah, I did.” She said not understanding my sudden change in mood. I laughed at how crazy I must’ve seemed.

 

“Sorry if I’m acting like a creep or whatever, I’m Aaron’s girlfriend.” I said. Skylar laughed a bit.

 

“It’s okay, but wow, you’re dating little Aaron. He used to be such a corn-ball back when we were kids. I don’t get to see much of him anymore.” Skylar said slightly disheartened by the thought. I grew a little uneasy about it but tried to push that away.

 

“Yeah…Aaron’s still pretty much still the same then if that’s how he was back then.” I laughed ignoring her last comment. She laughed too.

 

“Well then that’s Aaron for you.”"Skylar said as we pulled up in front of the gym."“We’re here.”

We pulled over and grabbed our gym bags from the back. Skylar took care of the membership portion and pointed out some of the major aspects of the gym before we entered the locker room to put our stuff away. The gym was awesome and seemed like a place I’d go to. It was just my type of place.

 

“So what are we going to do first?” I asked putting on a pair of exercise gloves that Shannon let me borrow. Skylar looked around as she picked her hair up in a high pony tail.

 

“Well what can you do?”

“I’ve done pretty much everything before, I just haven’t actually done any of it for a long time.” I replied.

 

“How long would that be?” Skylar asked.

 

“About three and half years?” I said ashamed. Skylar’s eyes widened.

 

“Wow so then do you want to go with intermediate stuff?” She asked. I shrugged. We didn’t move after that. Skylar was looking around and seemed like she was trying to figure something out. I was about to offer going with whatever she wanted and that I’d try to catch up but she had already started to walk away. I started to follow, until she motioned for me to stay put. I did as she said and waited. I saw her walk to the other side of the huge workout room and approach a desk. She asked the guy behind the counter a question to which he nodded. She smiled and then headed back towards me.

 

“What happened?” I asked. Shannon motioned for me to follow her now.

 

“Since you’ve been out of the game for so long, I thought I’d be generous and lend you my favorite training buddy to work with.” She said lading me to a staircase.

 

“Okay”"I said slowly."“And who are you going to be training with?” I asked.

 

“Oh don’t worry about me. I know other people to train with but you, you need someone good. I’m sure you’ll love him. He trains with all levels and stuff. Even though he’s part time, he’s fantastic at what he does.” Skylar gushed. I nodded as we entered another workout room but with more cardio equipment. I was so busy looking around I hadn’t noticed Skylar ahead of me. She tapped a guy on the shoulder. He was talking to some other guys. When he turned around I couldn’t believe my eyes.

 

“Aww f**k.” I said under my breath. I stood in place out of pure disbelief. Skylar was talking and then pointed over to the spot next to her.  Realizing that I wasn’t next to her, she looked back and saw me.

 

“Rachel come here.”"She said. I walked keeping my glare subtle but still fixated on the infamous smirk ahead of me."“Okay so Rachel this is Griffon, and Griffon this is Rachel.” Skylar introduced. Griffon’s smirk grew wider.

 

“Nice to meet you, Rachel.” He said holding out his hand.

 

“Same here.” I lied still glaring at him.

 

“So as I was saying before, Rachel hasn’t trained in a while. Do you think you can get her back into shape?” Skylar asked. Griffon nodded.

 

“Oh definitely.” Griffon said with his arms folded. I rolled my eyes.

 

“Great so I’ll leave her to you.” She said patting our backs before leaving. Griffon motions for me to follow him. I reluctantly follow dragging my feet. Why me? I thought to myself.

 

“Wow, are you really that upset to see me?” Griffon asks standing by a kickboxing bag. He sounded more serious and actually hurt. I let out a sigh.

 

“Well we didn’t really have the most friendly good-bye last time I saw you, you know.” I said stretching my limbs. Griffon rubbed the back of his neck.

 

“Yeah about that, I’m sorry. I kinda got over sentimental about you leaving.” He said. I bent down still stretching.

“I’m sorry too for not telling you sooner. I take full responsibility for that.”  I say still stretching.

 

“Great now are we going to train or do you wanna keep turning men on?” Griffon asked. I snapped my head up at him and then around the room. I straightened up and folded my arms.

 

“No one else is paying attention to me besides you.” I said. Griffon laughs.

 

“Then you must blind.”"He said getting behind the punching bag."“Ok now show me your stance.”

I did everything Griffon asked me to. Some stuff I was rusty in but I was able to get the hang of it all again. It was weird to say that I actually enjoyed my time with Griffon. Even though I was upset at him in the beginning, I still nonetheless felt content that I was able to spend this time with Griffon.

 

“Alright I think that should do it for today.” Griffon said. I nodded fixing my hair again. My neck felt like it was sweating bullets. Man I need a haircut… I thought to myself.

 

“Well Griffon you may suck as a sales associate, but you’re one hell of a trainer.”"I complimented. Griffon smiled genuinely. I smiled back taking off Shannon’s gloves. I looked around the room to find Skylar. I found her still training somewhat. I decided to sit down on a nearby bench and lean back against the cool wall. I closed my eyes and just relaxed. When I opened my eyes again I saw Griffon sitting next to me and staring"“What?” I asked with a smile.

 

“Nothing.” Griffon said shaking his head and looking forward. The was a comfortable silence shared. There was something about the moment though that felt different. I couldn’t describe it exactly but it just didn’t feel like the other times I’d been around Griffon. As I was trying to figure it out Griffon broke my train of thought.

“I’ve missed you a lot.” He said turning to look at me. I did the same.

 

“Me too.” I said truthfully.

“How are things at Shannon’s?” Griffon asked genuinely curious to know my wellbeing.

 

“It’s alright I guess. Truth be told I prefer Deborah’s any day. At least I feel more at home there.” I said opening up. I hadn’t told anyone aloud about how I felt.

 

“So in plain terms, it sucks.” Griffon said chuckling. I nodded smiling at his humor.

 

“Yeah pretty much. I mean I haven’t even left the condo since I got there.” I said letting out a miserable sigh. Griffon’s expression changed suddenly.

 

“You mean this is the first time you’ve been out anywhere?” He asked. I nodded.

 

“Yupp. Pretty sad huh?” I said with a forced smile. Griffon nodded.

 

“What about that boyfriend of yours? He hasn’t taken you out or something?” He asked. I shook my head.

 

“Nope. I haven’t actually seen much of him since the move. He’s always been working.” I said sadly. I really did miss Aaron too. Hell I missed everyone!

 

“So he works and you stay cooped up in an apartment doing nothing?” Griffon said summing up my life in the past few weeks.

 

“Yeah basically.”"I said. Griffon scoffed"“What?” I asked.   

 

“Ria you’re in a f*****g prison, not staying at someone else’s house. I mean for crying out loud, it’s like you’re not even a ninja anymore.”"He said folding his arms. I furrowed my brows in thought. Griffon was right. I was being protected as if I didn’t know how to defend myself, like I was something fragile. I was a protector for f**k’s sake. I’ve been trained to handle worse things out there."“With what you’ve described Ria, I’d say you’re his prisoner now.”