Introducing James McCrae

Charlie

"Hello, Robinson."

"Hello to you too, Mr.McCrae." I sang, placing a protective hand on Nicole's shoulder. She seemed to relax under my touch. Something I was grateful for.

He turned his gaze towards Nicole, a hostile smile on his face.

"Hello, darling. Long time no see."

Nicole stood there frozen, while I tried my very best to play it cool. You see, Mr. McCrae used to be Nicole's abusive ex-boyfriend. Their relationship was toxic, hence I helped her get out of it and live her own life. Both of us filed a complaint in the police station, dragged him to court, and sentenced him to jail.

But life could play cruel jokes on people.

Like it did with us, right here.

Right now.

"She's not your darling anymore, Mr.McCrae. So it would be better if you backed off before you ended up in the hospital, tonight."

He cracked a burst of maniacal laughter, clutching his heart. "You haven't changed a bit, Robinson. Still playing Nikky's bodyguard."

"It's Nicole, Mister. You don't have the right to call her that!" I yelled, losing my patience every second by talking to this blondie. If he wasn't as abusive as I saw him, he would've been a great guy to hang out with.

He had wealth, he had a nice face and he could've been nice if he wanted to.

"Let her decide that, why don't you?" He turned his gaze towards Nicole. "Am I right, darling?"

Nicole was still frozen, barely processing what was going on. Mr.McCrae was the last person the two of us wanted to see after that day at the court. I didn't know he was released and the first thing this a-hole did was to stalk his ex-girlfriend like a creeper.

Creeper!

After a couple of silent minutes, I could see her internal conflict fade away as she faced McCrae reflecting his smile.

"Why don't you back off politely, a-hole before I am forced to call 9-1-1? I'm sure they'll arrive once they know you've been harassing us."

His eyes widened in shock.

He clearly hadn't expected Nic to take my side.

Well, you are so damn wrong, buddy!

"Y-You won't do that, you're my girlfriend!" He screamed.

I smirked. "Ex-girlfriend, jackass. She's not yours anymore."

He growled, taking a few steps towards us. "You stay away from this, Robinson. The matter's between us!"

"She's staying McCrae! You should be the one getting lost!" Nicole yelled.

"B-But-"

Nicole raised her hand, stopping his speech. "No buts, no ifs, no nothing, and definitely no fake declaration of love! I'm tired of you. We're done. Hear it? We're D.O.N.E, done!"

She turned on her heel and walked away from the scene, while McCrae and I were having a staring match. As I mentioned before, I was taller than most girls my age, hence the guys didn't have to look down at me to stare.

"Get out of here, McCrae. This girl isn't afraid to send you to Hell." I whispered, trying to be as threatening as possible.

"You're not a girl, Robinson. Girls aren't like what you are. You're a guy stuck in a girl's body. Next thing I'll know, you'll be the one dating Nicole."

That ticked me off. Every single time I was called a guy, pissed me off. Oh, come on! Just because I shared the same interests as guys didn't mean that I wasn't a girl. I was still attracted to guys, thank you very much.

I knew I was a tomboy.

You don't need to remind me that.

I didn't fit with the girls my age because of this. I didn't need a constant reminder of it.

But I didn't care.

As long as there were people who loved me for being me, I didn't care what others thought. Especially when the other person was someone called McCrae.

"You should be glad then I'm a guy stuck in a girl's body who can send you to Hell anytime she wants." I closed the distance between us, never breaking the eye-contact. "You know if I was actually a guy, I'd love to be with Nicole and I would've treated her better than you could ever."

I stepped back, mock saluting him.

"Hope to God, we never cross paths again or the next time I'll make sure to personally give your family an invite to the funeral, Mr. Billionaire-Jackass-McCrae."

---

"How dare he stalks us like that, has he no shame?" Nicole shook her head, in disbelief walking towards her place.

I slung my arm on her shoulder, an evident smile on my face from the face-off McCrae and I had.

"Nah, he doesn't have it. Or else, why do you think we sent him to jail?"

She sighed. "I wish he wasn't like this. He was nice before we started dating and then after I moved in with him...."

I tightened my grip around her shoulder, "It's okay, you don't have to remember the bad memories. He's gone from our lives hoping to never return."

She smiled, after quite some time. "You know, he was right about you being my bodyguard." She looked up at me. "Always there to save me."

"I thought knights saved princesses." I pretended to think, looking at a faraway distance.

She shoved me off. "I hate you for it! I never had a proper boyfriend because they had to pass the 'looks-like-a-proper-suitor-to-Charlie-test.'"

I retorted. "McCrae was the only one going through that test and should I remind you how miserably he failed?"

She shook her head, raising hands in surrender. "I don't need a reminder."

"So I thought," uttered I and then walked beside Nicole on the footpath. It was close to midnight, and so there were fewer cars driving at this hour. We had the road all to ourselves, we could go crazy and dance like there's no tomorrow.

After a quiet walk back to her apartment, she spoke. "Got any plans tomorrow?"

I shrugged. "Not that I know of any. Why'd you ask?"

She smiled, a hint of mischief flashing through her eyes.

"You'll see."