A Fist Fight-5

James and Tamika were sitting in a cafe in Valgoor. This café was known for its traditional breakfast puffs. According to Tamika, the cream puffs of this cafe are the best in all the Faction. And James agreed with her, those puffs were indeed delicious.

While having breakfast, James was thinking about his outburst in the carriage. He regretted that he talked to her that way. Also, he later regretted calling Marcella a bitch. When he gave Tamika a montage of advice about Marcella about how her mother only wants the best for her daughter, something clicked in his mind.

If he thinks from Marcella's perspective that it was natural for her as a mother to think about well being of her daughter. And why would anyone in their right mind want to give away their daughter to a man whose future is clouded in the dark veil of uncertainty?

Soon James started thinking that maybe Marcella is right to push him away for now. But that doesn't necessarily mean that she would remain right in the future. He loved Tamika, and if he wants to marry her in the future he needs to prove to Marcella that he can take care of her. And he would prove to her that he is not a bad choice for his daughter's marriage after all…

"*Psst*… James." Tamika said in a low voice.

"What?" James asked.

"Wanna do something cool?" Tamika asked him.

"What?" James asked.

"Let's run away from here?" Tamika said excitedly.

"What?" James asked her in disbelief.

"I mean, we should ditch the soldiers and run away from this cafe. What do you say?" Tamika said.

"Do you think that this would be a good idea? If your mother finds out about it then she would be furious. There will be huge consequences of running away." James said.

"Oh, don't be a pussy and grow some balls. As for my mother, she yells at me all the time either way. And I really don't want to give roam around with those buffons out there… So what do you say? Are you in or are you chicken?" Tamika asked. James just looked at her expressionlessly as though she was a maniac. Seeing his face, Tamika understood what was his answer…

"Waiter!" James yelled from his table. Soon waitress came over to his table.

"How may I help you sir?" the waitress said with a smile.

"First of all, let me just tell you, the cream puffs were amazing. I really loved them." James said

"Thank you, sir." The waitress said. Then James fished out one gold coin from his pocket and put it on the table.

"I think this would cover our bill and a lovely tip for you," James said.

"Yes sir." She said with a smile. Then he put a silver coin along with the gold coin and said…

"This little coin is right here is from me. You see I need a favor. Do you see two white-cloaked buffons standing outside the cafe?" James asked her. Then the waitress looked outside from the window and saw two soldiers standing outside the cafe.

"We want to get as far away from them as possible. If you can help us in this hard endeavor, this coin will belong to you as well." James said. Hearing this a smile appeared on Tamika's face. While on the other hand, the waitress hesitated a little bit. But then she smiled and took both the coins off the table.

"If you would please follow me, I would show you the way to the bathroom." The waitress said. Then both James and Tamika got up and started following the waitress.

The waitress then led them both to the kitchen of the cafe. Some of the workers protested that customers aren't allowed back there. But the waitress shut them all. Then from the kitchen, the waitress took them to the back door. She then opened the door for them and let them out of the restaurant.

Before going, James took out another silver coin and gave it to the waitress for her shoes. Tamika was wearing high heels and as now they were walking rather than taking the carriage, James feared that she may twist her ankle or something. So he insisted to her that she should change her shoes.

The waitress was very happy to comply with another request from James. She took the money gracefully and gave her shoes to Tamika. While on the other hand, Tamika was impressed by how easily they were able to sneak out of the cafe. So in return, she gifted her high heels to the waitress and both of them set off to the town of Valgoor.

***

This day is turning out to be a very thrilling day for Tamika. She had always thought that James was a kind of a shy and nerdy guy. He had no balls, and in a sense, he was very boring to hang out with. He was a good guy and was a close friend of hers. But that didn't change the fact, that he is a pussy.

When Tamika asked him to hang out with her, she didn't have a lot of plans. She only asked him to come with her as she wanted to go exploring in the forest area of Valgoor. And as James was an awakened one, she thought that maybe her mother would allow her to go with him. She was hoping that as he is an awakened one, her mother will allow her to go out with him alone. And she won't have an armada of soldiers following her closely from behind.

But she was wrong. Her mother still sent two soldiers with her. But it was then James took charge of their outing. They sneaked out under the nose of the soldiers. And that was surprising. Not in a million years, would have Tamika thought that James would do something like this.

After they sneaked out, Tamika for the first time in her life saw a different side of James's personality. He took charge of their exploration. He bought her a pair of shoes that would enable her to walk easily on the bumpy roads of the Valgoor.

Then he brought some change of clothes for himself and her so that they could blend in the crowd. They both changed their clothes in a secluded alleyway. They took turns and were on the lookout the whole time they were getting changed. After they were done, they started roaming freely in the city.

Tamika felt nice while roaming the city. For the first time in her life, she didn't have anyone hanging over his neck, watching her every move. She could do whatever she wants, eat whatever she liked, and try everything that she ever wanted.

James and Tamika walked in the streets of the Valgoor trying anything new that they could find. And Tamika was having a blast as in the exploring…

"James, we should hire a ride so that we could go to the destroyed village," Tamika said.

"Why are you so obsessed with that place? It is just a burned-down village with a nice view." James asked.

"I don't know. I just feel a strong connection to that place. Plus it is so quiet and calm that I just want to live there for the rest of my life." Tamika said.

"You are a weird girl. Still, let's do it. Let's visit this goddamn ghost village of yours." James said while smiling

"Alright! You know JAAAAAAAAAAAAAA....." Tamika was not able to complete her sentence as she felt a jerk on her neck and she fell down.

James then looked behind and saw that a thief was running away and he had stolen Tamika's necklace. The thief suddenly pulled the necklace from her neck and ran away with the necklace.

James didn't care about the necklace, he immediately knelt down and started checking up on Tamika.

COUGH COUGH

Tamika coughed a few times because the sudden jerk had compromished her windpipe. But she was not worried about that right now. The necklace that the thief stole from her was very important.

"Jmaes…. Nekleese… neklesse… go go." Tamika said.

Hearing her pleas, James then immediately started running towards the way the thief ran. As he was running, he started remembering his harsh words of Marcella. James started having thoughts that if he cannot retrieve that necklace for Tamika then how would he face Marcella.

So James started pumping mana throughout his body. This gave him a boost and his speed became two-fold. And soon he caught up to the thief. He saw that the thief took a right and entered a bustling place market. James has already seen that the thief was wearing a white color shirt and brown pants. So he would be easy to identify.

So James ran at full speed and entered the marketplace as well…