Her knight in shining armor

“Is he inside?” she asked Jessica after she requested her to go out to see if the coast is clear. The coast meaning the demon named Daemon.

Jessica ruffled her hair and shook her head. “He’s not outside. I asked Mark. His friend already left the town.”

Ava breathed a sigh of relief. “Thank god! I thought I’ll be dealing with that demon again.” She closed her locker and combed her hair to put it in a bun. “Gosh, I cannot take to see him after he ruined my day yesterday. I thought he’s stalking me again every time I see tall men in black jackets.”

“Now dear, he’s gone so you can go back to your work peacefully.”

“I know, I know and may he never come back.”

She suited herself and started serving while humming. It feels so good moving, doing your thing without a man creepily staring at you from a distance. Lunch came which is considered the rush hour of the day. A group of men barged in and occupied the three tables, scattering the rest of the available seats on their way.

She breathed hard when she recognized the men who are members of the notorious gang in the town. Levi, the man with hair spiked on his head that looked like a rooster’s comb, is the leader of the group who holds a crush on her. Sighing, she arranged the chairs back before walking towards the men who were huddling around over some checks on the table to get their orders.

She cleared her throat. “Good afternoon, gentlemen. What’s your order for today?” she asked, her hand tightly clasping the pen.

All of them stared at her lustfully. One man even tried to reach down his hand to touch my butt but Levi’s quick glance stopped him.

“Everything on the menu, Ava. We got enough for a century with this money," he boastfully said while waving the paper in the air. “I could even afford to take you to a fine-dining restaurant later. Just tell me what time you’re available later. I’ll clear my schedules for you.”

She nodded ignoring the last thing he mentioned. Levi never failed to ‘declare’ his love for her; it's considered more like a joke by the whole burger house and pub including her. She’s used to it. From day one until now, Levi has just become one of the many admirers she acquired while working. Unlike that Daemon guy, he never out rightly threatened her in the face so she can still or is forced to tolerate him.

“Alright. Lunch is coming in under 25 minutes,” she noted and prepared to leave with a polite smile.

“Hey, hey.” One of his men stood up and grabbed her by the arm. “You heard Levi. Our boss wants to take you out on a date. Give us the exact time to pick you up later.”

Shocked by the display of sudden hostility, she turned her head to look for Mark to ask for help but he’s not in the vicinity and the waitresses are no match for these guys. It’s not worth the trouble they would be getting into so she decided to take the matter into her own hands like a civilized adult that she is.

“I’m sorry but I’m afraid that I have to decline your invitation, Levi. While I appreciate your gesture, I’ll be working overtime so there’s no way for me to go to dinner with you,” she explained while looking at Levi and not at the man who was still taking her hand as a hostage.

“Now, will you please let me go? I still need to serve your food.”

Levi shook his head. “Not until you give me a specific time, Ava. You see, you’re special to me. You’re the only woman I like that I treated like this. No other woman.”

Worried, she looked around the people who were looking their way. The commotion already caught their attention.

“Levi, please. Don’t do this.” And then she turned at the man beside her looking so smug puffing those smokes out of his cigarette. “Let me go, please. I’m begging you.”

But the man just taunted her even more. “Ah, no no, not unless you say yes to the boss.”

Panic rose from her head down to his gut. This is bad for the business. She can’t afford to ruin Mark’s hard work that will surely go to waste once these scumbags started collecting tributes from him once she refused to go out with Levi.

Caving in, she slowly nodded her head. “Okay, if that’s-”

But before she could finish her sentence, a deep dark voice interrupted her.

“The lady said let go. Leave her alone.”

From behind, Daemon effortlessly twisted the man’s wrist making him release her arm in a split second. Breathing in relief, she instinctively hides behind his broad frames to cover herself from the men who stood up menacingly looking down on them.

But Daemon is not fazed even when they show him their guns in their pockets.

“Man, you don’t have to act cool in front of the lady. She’s our boss’ girlfriend, right Ava?” a gang member asked and arrogantly flipped off his jacket where his gun was.

“Are you?” Daemon inquired in a voice that seemingly warned her to tell him honestly or else face consequences.

“No,” she answered in a small voice and gestured to Mark to come to them to help alleviate the situation.

“The lady said no. Learn how to accept rejections respectfully.” Daemon took her hand and held it tightly; she didn’t have time to protest. “If you were my men, I already asked you to shoot each other’s hands.”

“Just who do you think you are?! Man, you acting so rude will cost you your head tonight.”

“Tonight?” Daemon’s mouth twitched into a mocking smile. “Tonight?” He scoffed. “Levi! Teach your men how to be punctual just how I taught you.”

Ava’s eyes widened while the rest of the men opened their mouths in shock. Levi stood up and looked at his men who were ready to fire at Daemon.

“Stop it Jass. That’s Daemon Druft.”

Alarmed, the men immediately put their guns back into their holsters. “What?! The Daemon Druft? What is he doing here?”

“I thought he’s dead?”

Daemon picked up the checks and eyed them smirking when he saw the numbers. “Beggars,” he muttered before throwing the papers back at them and pulling her straight into Mark’s office.

Levi and his men didn’t have a choice but to walk out of the door to her amazement. Just who the fuck is this man? Is he that powerful to scare those men just with the mention of his name? And what do they mean when they say he’s supposed to be dead?

Staring at their hands together, a hazy memory crossed her head. She could not make out of the images but one thing is certain. This is not the first time he did this for her. The feel of his hands in hers felt more of a habit than just a coincidence like it is the most natural thing in this world.