"There!" Chad yelled for what was the third time, a third time too late, and he could sense Jo bristle beside him. She was losing her cool. Anger and annoyance were radiating off her like the scorching heat of the sun. Chad was afraid he'd get a tan.

She slammed the brakes, unlocked the doors, and pointed out. "Get out," and growled, low and guttural.

Chad obediently obliged, reaching for the door handle. It was their third merry-go-round in the parking lot and each time a spot opened, Chad had pointed it out too late and someone else had muscled in.

Three times!

Jo could take one loss, two losses, but lose a spot three times—it was unacceptable. By Jo's standard, Chad had failed at being a wingman.

Despite honks from the car entering the lot behind them, Jo sat perfectly poised till Chad stepped out. He could see the vein at her temple pop as he shut the door behind him. Jo was about to blow. She was eyeing the rearview mirror, and Chad knew exactly who had strummed that last chord. He bolted for the sidewalk as fast as he could when another horn rang.

"Hey, asshole! Move it!" The poor, poor driver yelled.

Chad saw it from the corner of his eyes. Jo's handbrake light came on. A moment later, red and angry, Jo popped out from the car, laser-shooting slits of her eyes trained on the poor bastard who was half hanging out of his window ready to throw abuse at Chad's sister. The woman who dealt with animals at the zoo—lions, tigers, and bears—regularly despite being a tiny human, did life better than any other adult he knew.

"Oh my," Chad gasped. The poor bastard—a.k.a driver—was about to get the full red-alert Jo version of his sister.

As a small crowd gathered to see what was happening in the parking lot, Chad hid behind them. As far as he was concerned, he had no sister. He was just another spectator.

Jo was about to teach the impatient, I-just-entered-the-parking-lot-and-how-dare-there-be-anyone-else-ahead-of-me-entitled-moron, a lesson in manners.

"Excuse me?" He heard Jo's snappy, icy tone. He could barely see her slight frame as she stood there, hand on hip. "What the fuck did you say to me, boy?"

Chad couldn't see the guy in the car but heard his door open and a figure nearly twice as big as Jo step out of the car.

"Uh-oh!" Chad sucked in a breath and watched his sister, who came barely up to the guy's pecs, stare the man down. He was pretty sure it was Jo who should be intimidated.

"I said move it," the guy stated, though he lacked conviction, thought Chad.

"Oh yeah? And you see plenty of spots you can park in ahead of me, do you?" Jo's voice rose steadily, calmly. "I've been here fifteen minutes trying to find a spot, and every punk thinks he can just waltz in here and take the next spot, does his? God forbid he has to wait a tiny-winy minute!"

Chad cringed as Jo advanced on the guy. "What the hell is she doing?"

"She's doing what everyone ought to with punks who think they can get to the front of the line whenever they turn up, stuff whoever is ahead of them!" A gentleman standing beside Chad spoke. His eyes burned with excitement.

The bloke Jo faced off with suddenly turned to the tiny crowd watching them.

"You tell him!" The gentleman beside Chad yelled to Jo. "Wait your turn, mate!"

Jo nodded a thank you to the man and turned to the guy. Another step closer to the man than Chad thought was advisable.

"Yeah, what he said. Wait your turn, kid. I don't care how big you are, get back in your car and fucking wait your turn!"

The man stepped back, to everyone's surprise. He glared at Jo. Chad cowered further into the huddle.

And the man stood there a moment. Just staring at Jo.

'Probably thinking up ways to hurt her,' Terry's voice broke into his mind. And Chad nodded. It was likely.

"Fuck," he muttered, eyeing his phone. Since yesterday, Chad had missed too many of Terry's phone calls to count. So many, in fact, that she'd stopped calling. It was a bad sign. It was a sign that said Terry was beyond angry. Probably a bit like tiny Jo, but more manageable. He'd just have to ply her with an all-expenses paid brunch, lunch, or dinner of her choice. A few choice words of apology—carefully chosen, of course, and then a fickle promise they both knew was fickle, that Chad would never, ever ignore her calls like that again.

By the time Chad resurfaced from his thoughts, Jo had already gotten back in her car and pulled into the spot the gentleman had stood beside Chad a moment ago had vacated. Especially for Jo.

A moment after that, Jo was glaring at the giant as he drove past her on his own merry-go-round, no doubt. She crossed the lot and approached Chad. A simmering layer of annoyance still rattled inside her, possibly.

She grabbed Chad's arm—a vice grip—and pulled him along towards the entrance to the small shopping center.

"This, Manish Surve, better know where your girlfriend is, or I swear I'm about to scream at somebody!"

Chad just hoped and wished, and might have even prayed a little as Jo continued pulling him, that the person would not be him. But something somewhere inside him was telling him otherwise.

"Fuck, I need to pee!"

"You pee when we're done!" Jo barked, marching towards the gorgeous European design cafe with determination.

Now, I really have to pee! Chad winced at the possibility of having to hold it in for a while.

I will not pee my pants again. I will NOT pee my pants again... who am I kidding? I'll probably pee my pants again.

"I should not have had that tea," he mumbled, entering the cafe right behind Jo.

"What?" Jo barked.

"Nothing."

Jo glowered at him till a staff approached them.

"Table for two?"

"No. We are here to see Manish Surve. I called earlier." Jo's voice and demeanor belied the demon she had been a moment earlier.

This was Chad's one chance to escape. He had an audience. Jo would never keep him hostage with an audience. He butted in, "And we'll take that table, by the way. Which way to the bathroom?"

The staff obliged him with directions.

"I'll be right back." He smiled at Jo sweetly. "Order whatever you want. It's on me."

He could feel her glaring at the back of his head when he stepped away. Glaring and possibly saying, 'Of course, you'll pay.'

He wasn't entirely sure Jo would mean money, either. He'd pay. Somehow, he'd pay... for more than whatever Jo would order then. Of this, he was certain.

He rushed to the bathroom on the double before his angry, mama-bear missing cubby-bear wing woman left him on his quest alone and returned home. There was still the matter of finding June.

"Yumi," he muttered to himself as he burst in through the door.