Second Chance Addison

Koty grumbled and muttered to himself as the saleswoman went to go look for the dress. Chance tried to hold back his laughter.

"Psh... stupid woman... have a daughter... I'll give her a daughter..." He turned to Chance and passed the blame to him. "This is all your fault!"

"Quit acting like a child. And how is it my fault?" He couldn't resist teasing Koty a bit, "Who wants to be coupled with you anyway?"

"Are you saying I'm not good enough for you?"

"Well you do have quite a temper. I don't think I could handle it." Chance put on a serious look and pretended to really weigh the possibility.

Koty turned an angry shade of crimson, from his ears all the way down to his toes. "You're lucky you're my boss. Otherwise I'd drop you right here." He forced through gritted teeth.

"Oh, so you mean I'm special?" Chance flashed him a bright smile.

Just then the sales lady returned with the dress. She gave them another knowing kind of look which made Koty scowl at her.

"Here it is, sir." She was frightened by Koty's glare and quickly handed the dress to Chance and scurried away.

Chance shook his head at Koty and then looked at the little dress. It was a pale yellow sundress and had little golden unicorns embroidered on the skirt. While it was plenty cute, it wasn't overly flashy or obnoxious.

When he saw it through the store window, he knew it was a perfect gift for Genevieve.

After checking to make sure she brought out the right size, he quickly checked out with a cashier and left the clothing store.

Koty continued to pout all the way back to the mall entrance.

As soon as they took their first steps out of the mall to go to the car, Koty felt something wasn't right. There were no people around and it had become eerily quiet.

From his years of fighting in the underground circuit and out on the streets, Koty had developed an acute sixth sense for dangers. Right now every nerve in his body was screaming 'ambush!'

Immediately his mind went into overdrive. He started weighing their options a light speed. Since none of their potential enemies had revealed themselves, they may not yet know that they had left the mall.

He hadn't noticed anyone following them until now which meant they had stayed quite a distance back, probably using the security cameras to track their movements.

That said, going back wasn't a great idea in case there was in fact someone bringing up the rear. He noticed there were no cameras pointed their way. This gave both them and their attackers some advantage.

The attackers would be able to cover up what they'd done easily. No witnesses and no camera footage gave them the freedom to do what ever they wanted without getting caught.

Since they were momentarily invisible to the people tracking them, Chance and Koty still had a few seconds to hide. But if they waited too long to move, someone was bound to show up from behind or ahead of them.

Looking around he saw a space in between two decorative columns where he could stuff Chance and then defend if necessary.

Without any explanation, he grabbed Chance by the collar and practically dragged him over to the columns. He shoved him into the space and turned to look back out at the entrance. Though their backs were literally pressed against the wall, he now stood between Chance and whatever threat was out there waiting.

"Call Lola, now." Koty ordered in a low voice as he watched for any bit of movement.

He slowly peeked around the column and saw a few suspicious men dressed in all black. One had a gun drawn and they appeared to be arguing about something.

Chance pulled out his phone and dialed Lola's number. It only rang once before Lola answered.

"Yes, Mr. Addison."

"Lola, I'm not sure but it seems we may have a situation of some kind." He in an overly calm and soft manner, not at all like he was in fear for his life.

"A situation, sir?"

"Potentially an attempt on my life..."

Koty huffed and grabbed the phone.

"We are holed up between two columns on the right side of the western entrance. I count four possible hostiles."

"I'll be there in thirty seconds."

Precisely twenty-seven seconds later Lola's Bentley jumped the curb and he whipped the vehicle around to get as close as he could to the columns.

The people in black were headed towards them and shouting. Now all four had their guns drawn and were preparing to fire.

Koty pulled Chance close behind him and escorted him to the car. He ripped the rear door open and pushed him inside.

As soon as the door closed behind them, Lola peeled out of the mall entrance, leaving behind tracks of burnt rubber on the concrete.