Chapter 50

It was Saturday. Owen and Isabella were out on a date. The soft glow of the late afternoon sun casted a golden glow on the waters of the Fox River. The terraced promenade was filled with the chatter of passersby and the occasional laughter of couples enjoying the scenic views. Owen and Isabella were slightly more quiet. 

Owen slowed and jabbed a thumb at a nearby ice cream vendor. "Hm?"

"Sure."

Nothing more needed to be said. Owen went forth and bought the ice cream, returning with a chocolate scoop in a bowl for himself and mint chocolate chip in a waffle cone for Isabella.

Owen looked dashing in a casual, stylish outfit, wearing a crisp white shirt paired with dark denim jeans. A leather jacket hung casually over his shoulders and his black hair was tousled slightly by the gentle breeze. Beside him, Isabella wore a vintage graphic tee tucked into high-waisted blue jeans. Her short hair framed her face and her freckled cheeks flushed pink. She was devouring that ice cream fast. 

They began walking again and stopped to admire the view of Fox River. Seagulls soared overhead, their cries mingling with the distant hum of city life. Owen put his arms on the railing, having handed his bowl over to Isabella. Already, she was finished with her cone and wanted a little more. Owen didn't mind giving his share away. 

Lazily, Owen took out his phone. He went on their channel, checking the view count on the video published this morning. He expected there to be either a couple hundred views or a couple thousand. It was why he took Isabella out; it wasn't just her, but Owen himself would constantly start refreshing the page to see how many views they got. It was a hard habit to break out of without having someone else to drag you from it. 

Owen blinked once, twice, and thrice. "Isabella?"

"Mhm?"

"This video…has a hundred thousand views."

Instead of growing into shock, Isabella smiled. "I knew it."

He peered at her, gobsmacked, and ended up matching her sly smile. "You knew this was going to be a banger?"

"Yep." Isabella's smile remained as she said, "Sometimes, you just know when a video is going to do good. Like the timeline video? I don't know how but sometimes you just know."

In this case, the video was an analysis of a new trailer. Apparently, SNaF 7 was coming out next month and in preparation the creator, Mothy Wheezing, decided to tease the fans with a huge character reveal. Since Owen was officially away from editing, he had no idea who the character was or what their significance was. All he knew was that Isabella talked about it like there was no tomorrow. 

"A hundred thousand views in six hours?"

"I do my best," Isabella replied coolly.

"Ha. Well, in that case, today is my treat. What do you want to get?"

"...I want to watch a movie." 

Owen pushed himself off the railing and gave a dramatic bow. "Your wish is my command—"

"I knew it!" Strong footsteps stomped toward him. Three men arrived, all big and angry. "You're the construction worker fucker!"

Three men that looked like they wanted vengeance. Crap. 

"Who are these guys, Owen?" Isabella asked while eating her ice cream. Her concern was much more focused on her food than the three men.

"No idea." Owen squinted. Yep, he didn't recognize them. "Who are you?"

"Haa…! You little—the car, remember!? We were there with our chicks when you showed up!"

Oh, right. Vaguely, he remembered the emo girl with the piercing. They were pretty cool, yeah, he could understand why they were pissed. Male pride and all that. Isabella side-eyed Owen but otherwise didn't comment.

Owen leaned back on the railing with Isabella standing right by him. She dumped spoons of ice cream into her mouth, unconcerned. 

"So…what do you want?" Owen asked, equally as unbothered. 

"Payback!"

"Yeah, payback!"

"Because of you, we were kicked from the Royal Lions! The captain lost everything!"

Oh, was that why they weren't wearing the orange jackets? No wonder he didn't recognize them. He almost thought they came from Chicago.

"Uh-huh." Owen looked over at the river. "Are you sure?"

"You little—"

"Say it with your chest open and maybe I'll consider a proper fight," Owen said.

The captain, his hair curly and features narrowed in rage, got in his face and yelled. "We are going to beat the living shit of you!!!!"

Owen gently pushed him back. Talk about lack of personal space. "Officer! I'm being assaulted here!" 

Beside him, Isabella froze. The wannabe gangsters harder. The public officer jogged over, hands on his hips. He was ready to whip out his weapons on these big guys if they retaliated.

"I was watching," said the public officer. "What's going on here?"

"Officer, these dudes were vehemently threatening me."

"That's—no…" The captain trailed off, biting his bottom lip. The officer stared at him, expecting him to continue—to explain himself. 

"You said you were going to beat him up. That's verbal confirmation there. A threat to assault."

"N-no…"

Lesson number one in doing gang work: don't go in the middle of a public area and start threatening people. Both public and private security don't like it.

"Officer," Owen said, "I'm on a date with my girlfriend here and she…she is his sister."

"W-what!?"

"It's a familial dispute," Owen continued. "So please don't be too harsh. We'll just go our separate ways."

"Are you sure? Physical contact or not, the situation could have escalated."

"Let's just promise to leave each other alone." Owen smiled at the curly-haired captain. "Right, brother-in-law?"

He grit his teeth and slowly nodded. "Fine." He glanced at Isabella, then Owen. Yeah, he had no idea who she was. At the same time, he understood this was mercy on Owen's part. "Fine, whatever! Let's go, boys."

The gangsters left and the officer departed long after that. The whole time, Isabella had been holding her breath and one the cop was gone…

"Phew. Did you seriously have to call the cops?" Isabella muttered. She stepped close to him and looped her arm around his. 

"If you have confidence, you can get away with anything."

"With that much confidence, I think I'd get a heart attack."