Two: Honey...

I drummed my fingers against the desk in front of me, tapped my feet against the hard marble floor, being totally impatient. Moving my eyes from the paper on the desk, I sighed. 

"What's this about?" I asked Dad. 

He drank from his glass, twirling his swivel chair around. "It's simple. All you've gotta do is check the content properly. Easy."

I threw my head back, sighed in frustration. "Go straight to the point. For goodness sake, stop this confusion."

"What confusion?" He finally fixed his gaze at me. "I don't get you, son. I mean, I don't see any confusion in this. Aren't those mere words written on that paper?"

"Dad!" I slapped my palm against the table, pushed my seat backwards, stood up straight. The way I glared at him surprised me. I had never been this audacious. Was I this angry? "What's the meaning of this? Don't you understand what I mean? I said I'm sick of this!"

He glared. Glared with so much intensity. "You're speaking to your father this way? Are you nuts?"

"I need you to know what's going on. This paper gives me no details on what you want," I sputtered. 

"Take a seat," he instructed. 

My jaw clenched, my hands balled in a fist. I was overly wrathful. "I've sat enough. I've been calm enough. I've relaxed enough. And most especially, I've… played enough. This has to end."

"Pardon?" His eyebrows creased harder. He swallowed, an unfathomable anger in his eyes. What did this man want? "Roy, you won't ruin this for me now. Twenty five years. I've been chasing this for twenty-five years. Anyone who dares to spoil this, won't be spared."

I scoffed. Moving my arms to my chest, I twitched my neck sideways, scowled down at him. "Has this gotten this far? You're threatening your son now?"

He sighed. "Sit. We've gotta talk."

Not wanting to cause a commotion, I did as he had said, still frowning at him. 

"My boy…" he leaned his back against his seat, wearing a blank expression. "When dealing with things, you shouldn't let your emotions rule. Learn to be determined."

"This is a different case. That lady isn't like every other lady. I've used her enough. I just want to end this relationship, and let her move on," I explained.

He leaned forward, his fingers drumming against the table. "Move on?" He sniggered. "That shouldn't be a problem. She'll move on at the right time. And, I need you to give me a little more time. My guys are detecting some things, processing it at the same time. What I need from her is worth this game."

"So you still don't wanna state what you need?" I insisted. 

Again, he sniggered. "No, son. If I tell you now, I'm scared your emotions will stop you from doing what I want you to."

"If you want me to keep doing this, I'll give you a condition," I stated. He glared due to what I had said, but of course, that anger in his eyes wasn't going to have an effect on me. All I needed was to ensure Renee was safe. Dad was immense in this game, and at this point, trusting him was the last thought in my mind. 

"What do you mean?" He sounded like he was being threatened. 

I pulled my chair backwards, a stern look glinting on my face. "My condition is, in all this we're doing, Renee mustn't get hurt. You've tried to kidnap her before, so I don't know what else you can do. So now, you'll have to promise not to harm her in any way."

His jaw clasped. He looked furious. Seeing him like this, I began to wonder if he was actually planning to hurt Renee. And, if that was his plan, then he had to know I would opt-out of this.Just because I was fooling Renee didn't mean I wasn't truly attached to her. I couldn't bear to see her get harmed by dad. 

Dad shut his eyes, swallowed hard, his hands curled up in a fist. After being hesitant for a while, he uttered, "Alright. I'll accept your condition. I promise to not harm her, no matter what."

"The game continues," I declared. I stood up, dropped my hands into the pocket of my sweatpants. "I won't betray you, same as you. And, if any of us tries to ruin this deal, there'll be a commotion."

"Are you—"

"Goodnight, father." 

Not saying anything else, I turned around, stepped out of his study room, slammed the door behind me. I was angry at myself, but that wasn't going to stop me from continuing this shit. Afterall, I was Roy Everett. The guy with the dark past, the emotionless dude, and the crazy player. 

Renee was taming the true Roy, she was making me feel something for her, she was almost changing my life perspective. And, in order to prevent that, I had to ensure I wouldn't get distracted. I was ever going to be this man. This heartless man. 

As soon as I reached the kitchen, I jerked the fridge door open to get a bottle of chilled water. Turning around to take a glass, I spotted mom standing by the counter. How in the world did she get there?

She stared at me, unmoving. There was a weird emotion in her eyes, and seeing her looking this serious, my heart raced faster. 

"Roy, are you still doing this?" Her unexpected question came out straight. 

I inhaled. "Ma, it's for a while. Enough of this attitude."

"Roy." She narrowed her eyes at me, seriousness beaming in them. "What'll you gain? Is pleasing your father the only thing left in this world?"

I swallowed. "It's not—"

"Just keep quiet!" She snarled, and ambled to me. "Can't you see that old man's only ruining your life? You don't know what he wants, yet you're helping him. Trust me, Scott knows nothing but to be selfish. I'm pretty sure he'll harm that girl if he doesn't get what he wants."

"He won't. He's promised me—"

"Enough!" She cut me off. Not only did she do that, she hit me hard across the face. 

Extremely furious and hurt, I turned to her. I swallowed, trying as hard as possible to not react in any way. "Fine. You've said all you need to. I'll leave now. Bye."

Attempting to walk past her, she held my arm back, stood in front of me. Her eyes drowned in tears, which made my stomach knot. I wanted to make dad proud of me, but that didn't mean I wanted to see mom get hurt.

"You know what?" A tear left her eye, she whimpered, then swallowed. "It's all my fault. It's my fault for making a little boy watch his parents have a quarrel all the time. If I had probably been more interested in my children, my son wouldn't be this man he is."

I swallowed hard. I didn't want to remember those painful times. It was in the past. It was an old pain, so there was no point in letting it reflect back in my mind. 

She sniffed. "I'm sorry for not paying attention to you. I'm sorry for not training you well. I'm sorry for not showing the parental care you deserved. I'm sorry for it all."

"It's not—"

She left my arm, averted from our gaze. "I've apologized to you. But right now, I don't want to see you in here. Leave my house now. I'm so ashamed of myself, I'm so ashamed of you. Just go."

"Okay," I affirmed. I continued to conceal my pain, only swallowing every morsel that grew in my throat. 

Walking past her, I headed straight to the door, ready to leave this toxic vicinity. Being hurt was an understatement right now. I was confused, helpless, sick of myself. 

***

Mom's words couldn't stop driving through my head. The shower was cool, cool enough to relieve the stress I felt, but it wasn't working. I was still so disturbed.

This was the usefulness of Renee in my life. She always helped me to get rid of these killing thoughts. I didn't know how she did that, but I knew she was a comfort, a quick medicine. To be honest, sometimes, I wished this was real. I wished it wasn't a game. 

Taking a towel from its holder, I wrapped it around my waist, glimpsed at myself through the mirror in this big bathroom. It was good I had come here. At least, I wouldn't have to stay in that house that only brought bad memories to me. 

I played my fingers into my wet hair, walked to the door. Stepping out, drying my hair with another towel, I shut the door behind me. I threw my head back, and the moment I was about to walk to the wardrobe in here, I halted in my posture, dazed. 

What was she doing here? How did she even get here? 

Her hair was in wavy curls, falling above her shoulder. She was seated on the bed, her legs crossed over each other. All she had in was a robe, brassiere and panties. Her lips were curled in a smirk, her long fingernails bit under her clasped teeth. 

Sighting me, she slipped her robe off, tossed it to the bed, played her hands through the skin of her lap, literally being seductive. She sighed as if she was relieved, and stood up.

As she walked to me, all my eyes could catch was her boobs. I was scared she would make something happen between us tonight. I didn't want that at all. I was still devoted to one woman. 

Uniformed, her arms wrapped around my neck, her boobs hooked against my naked chest.

"Honey..." There was flirtatiousness in her voice. "I said this night would be for us." 

Helpless, almost being attracted to her, I just sniggered. This woman was definitely going to tempt me tonight. 

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