Where Today? (Chester)

Having Tak around was proving to be a challenge. He was starting to regret ever offering her his place. But he thought it showed good faith on his part of her not telling Cameron yet. Of course, the whole stint last week to get him to bring her to Lexus was dirty play, but he supposed had he been in the same position, he would have done the same.

The matter at hand now was that Tak was backing out on her promise of getting out of his hair. He'd done so well in ignoring her the past week but she was damn persistent.

And having her walking around the house threadbare was obviously not helping. Alex, bless his soul, was an amazing buffer to be sure. Although Chester was beginning to see where his allegiance laid. He didn't fault the butler, obviously, for falling prey to Tak's charms. Chester was just smart enough not to do the same.

So far, nothing she's asked for was money related so he had done his best not to listen to her. But he was getting harried by the fact that she did nothing else but pop up unannounced to do one thing or another.

Like it wasn't enough that his house now looked like a hippie fest threw up simultaneously with the sudden bout of flowers and pictures and some weird contraptions that he keeps stepping on.

Frankly, the redhead figured enough was enough.

It was because of one of the weird contraptions that he was storming down the stairs, fuming and almost predator like as he stalked towards the kitchen. "I swear to God, Tak. If you leave these all around the floor one more time, I will kick you out. Physically, mentally...I will make Alex make you vomit blood every time you step into this house." He threw the contraption on the ground and finally realised that Tak had asked him something.

"What are we going to do today? No. No there is no we. You. You are going to clean up your shit and put everything, everything in your room." He said through clenched teeth. He didn't know what it was about Tak that made him so constipated all the time. "And I...I am going to the beach. To relax. Get away from your...toxicity." He gestured wildly in her direction.

When Alex laughed, Chester turned to glare at him. "And you, traitor. You are going to make me the best damned grilled cheese sandwich with bacon strips."

Alex continued laughing, shaking his head in amusement before going over to the stove to get what Chester wanted. The redhead slumped on to the bar stool a few feet away from Tak and sighed exasperatedly.

Not surprised by her lack of care at his rage, Chester rolled his eyes when she responded with a quip. He recognised that grin and knew that she was doing it on purpose.

The look she shared with his butler made him growl quietly. What else was she trying to take from him?

Her excitement made him groan a little, careful not to let her hear it. He didn't want to give her more ammo and reassurance that she was definitely getting under his skin.

And then he got an idea.

"You know what yeah. Let's go to the beach. I could just drown you in the ocean if I get tired of you. Oh wait, I am tired of you. Come on. Wear that bikini. And don't bother with sunblock. You're gonna be dead anyway. A bit of sunstroke would do you good." He said in a cheerful tone.

When she scooted over, he looked up at Alex, hurrying him up with a look. Alex, who looked very amused at that point, didn't even pay any attention to Chester as he lazily flipped the bread in the skillet.

"Could you hurry up? I'm starving." Chester grumbled.

"I'm a biological manipulator, not a quick meal maker." Alex shot back. Chester glared at him and he shook his head in amusement. "It's almost ready, hold on." He waved a dismissive hand before transferring the bread to a plate and sliding it over to Chester who took a bite out of it and sighed. Alex made the best grilled cheese sandwiches. So good.

--

He got ready to go out and 'sweetly' called Tak down. "Get your bony ass down here, Ominotago."

Chester of course didn't say anything else after inviting Tak with him to the beach. Yes. He was definitely going to the beach and of course he was bringing her. He wasn't going to lie.

Even the prospect of seeing something that Tak would obviously look good in didn't make him smile. All he could think of was what he was going to do to her once they're on the beach. He would absolutely love that.

--

How anyone could be that cheerful was beyond Chester but then again, Cameron was that cheerful. Then again, it was Cameron. He didn't even look at Tak when she got to the door. He breezed past her and into the garage to take the mini out.

At least he waited until Tak got in and strapped herself before driving out.

As usual, the drive was a quiet one. That would probably never change, him never wanting to speak to her in the car because every time they got into the car was because she had threatened him or annoyed him enough that he considered bringing her out.

Once they arrived at the beach, he parked nearer to the sand. He didn't switch off the gas, hoping Tak would be so excited that she would just pelt out the car.

Once Tak was out and she ran towards the beach, Chester breathed out a sigh of relief, reached out towards the passenger's seat and pulled the door closed. With one swift reverse of the car, he pelted out of the carpark and out of the whole compound.

He wound down the window and blasted the radio.

Driving down the open road, he couldn't wait to go somewhere where he wouldn't be threatened, where he wouldn't have to deal with an annoying, albeit unearthly pretty, girl.

Damn it, the freedom felt good.

He, of course, completely forgot about the phone he had bought her last week.

After driving into town, Chester went to the first diner he saw and ordered a loaded bacon cheeseburger with a side of a tall glass of strawberry milkshake with extra whip and cherries and a basket of deep-fried waffle fries.

He spent a full hour just leaning into the patchy vinyl leather and enjoying his food, not a care in the world. The diner was practically empty so there weren't any stray thoughts he absolutely needed to block out. Most of the patrons were just thinking about how their day would have been much better had they started with Miss Mincy's famous shepherd's pie.

He took the next hour enjoying his shepherd's pie in his car with some pop rock song belting out of his radio.

For those two precious hours, he didn't even think about Tak and though some form of thought of Cameron stirred in him, they were mostly just very good memories of them as kids.

Once he had gotten his fill of indulgences, he got into his car with the intention of going home. He checked his phone and saw that there was a message from an unknown number.

Reading it, Chester fumed at the text before throwing his phone in the passenger seat and pelting through the road to the beach.

"What a bitch!" He hit his steering wheel in intervals with his cussing as he raced through the thankfully empty road. Something about the way she worded that text had him scared. And the distance between them made it all the more difficult for him to gauge the sincerity of her subtle threat.

And that last bit. "What a bitch!"

He saw the beach carpark a mile away and went full speed ahead. He tried to look for Tak and Cam the moment he got out of the car. He even broadened his mental shields to find Tak's thoughts and found it. The voices were of her and...Cameron. "Fuck." He hissed, repeating it as he went to where he was hearing the voice coming from.

Finding no Cameron, instead, Tak alone, Chester was suddenly overwhelmed with the sudden urge to have the ability to mess with people's minds. The only thing he could do was read them. And even then, it was only still the active thoughts. If he could just manipulate their minds, Tak would probably be a vegetable right now.

The thought amused him.

Then again, he couldn't blame her. For all her annoyances, she was doing exactly what he would have done had the tables been turned. "One of these days, I will find the person you care deeply for, and I will make you regret ever messing with me." He glared at her.

"And you know what? I'm not bending to your will. Not after that shitty stunt you pulled. You're being a downright bitch."

Oh if only he knew the benefits of mind manipulation.

He shook his head at the breezy approach Tak took in handling his anger. He supposed he should be very impressed by her control over her emotions. But he was a little too upset to look on the positive side of all this.

"Yeah, you're the one who stupidly wanted to tag along on a day I needed away from you. Shouldn't have invited you over to stay at my house." He grumbled. "Yeah. You know what...you should just call Cam for everything else." He walked off in the direction of his car. Her question got him chuckling derisively.

"Any time away from you is a good time." He didn't know exactly how much that part was true as his thoughts were invaded by thoughts of Cam. As always.

"Get in the car. We're going back and you're packing your shit and getting out of the house."