Nicholas led me inside the diner. I didn’t know what I was expecting. The usual maybe. Stool chairs and a counter where they fry the burgers and the fries, checkboard design flooring, stainless steel tables and leather seats by the window, people still dressed in the clothes they wore the night before, much like myself. However, when I stepped inside the diner, I was pleasantly surprised.The smell of homemade muffins filled my nostrils. I was reminded of my mother’s kitchen when I was a child. An upbeat music was blasting through the speakers. The floor was rather made of shiny, dark brown wood. The wooden tables and wooden chairs were occupied by patrons within the range of forty-five to sixty. Lively abstract paintings adorned the walls and the ceiling had red, brown and white lamps.The man frying the burgers by the counter looked to be about sixty years old, and so were the cashier, waiters and waitresses. There were also little people working as waiters and waitresses.I was im
Margaret came to our table. “How do you find the food, dear?”I smiled widely at her. “I haven’t eaten food this good in a long time.” That was not a lie. The food I ate had all the goodness of a homemade breakfast. I can cook but since I live with my father, I limit my whereabouts to just my room and the gate. I only venture to the other parts of the house, such as the kitchen, when he’s out of the country. “I like your place. I wonder why I never went here before.”“Well, we barely get visitors from the main city. Most of our customers are just passing through. And we try our best to provide them with the feeling of home and the goodness of homemade food.” She noticed my shirt. “I see you found our bathroom.”I nodded. “It’s brilliant! What you did in there was absolutely amazing.”“Well, it was all Nick’s idea.”I blinked back in surprise. “What do you mean?”“He was the one who gave us the idea to turn this diner into something it is now. We’ve been running this joint for generati
I knew it was the carrot-top kid again, who called me a pussy.I was aware that I was not in the right side of town and this was not my territory. But I felt my blood run up my head and I didn’t hesitate to turn around and walk back to the group of juveniles who had clearly underestimated me.“If I beat your ass, you’ll do my every bidding for a week, you understand?” I said crossly, darting my glance to the boy with red hair and pale, freckled face.He was shocked for a moment but then he smiled at me widely. “Sure. But be warned. Nicholas plays on my team and he’s pretty good. You, on the other hand… not sure your pretty fingers can even hold the ball for five seconds,” he shot back. He turned to the rest of the group, giving me no chance to smack his face.Good! I play better when I’m pissed off.Nicholas stood beside me. When I looked at him, he was shaking his head. “Now, you’re in big trouble,” he said.“Why is that?”“Because you’re playing against me and I don’t like to lose.”
Of course! Nicholas Atkins is hot meat for most girls.This girl looked pretty and sexy—in a respectable kind of way. Unlike Saucy, who had a big neon sign on her forehead that spelled a four-letter word, starting with an ‘s’ and ending with a ‘t.’“She’s hot,” I whispered under my breath.Nicholas glanced over at the girl again, who was still looking at him.“I guess,” he said.“Not your type?”He stared at me for a long moment. I didn’t know what he was thinking but somehow, when he studied my face, he looked thoughtful. Then he sighed and looked away from me. “I must be out of my mind.”I raised a brow at him, not quite sure what he meant by that, but he looked genuinely uninterested in the hot chick across the court.Music blasted from the elevated space in the corner of the court. I noticed they had made a stage out of it. There was a drum kit, some guitars and other musical instruments.“They teach these kids how to play music here sometimes. There’s also a hip-hop dance club th
I overslept the next day. I realized that the alarm in my phone didn’t sound off because I didn’t even have my phone with me. I tried looking for it in every corner of my room but it wasn’t there. Finally, I decided to check my car.To my surprise, the object of my disturbing dreams last night was standing by his car in front of my gate.My heart pounded in my chest.What the fuck? I have never felt this nervous in my life before.What the hell is wrong with me today?“Good morning,” Nicholas greeted chirpily.“What the heck are you doing here?” I asked, trying my best to look annoyed.He shrugged and handed me a familiar purple object. It was my phone.“You dropped it in my jeep,” he explained.I snatched the phone from him.“Whatever,” I murmured.I quickly got in my car and sped to school without a word.I could not remember what my dream was about. All I knew was that Nicholas Atkins had the starring role in it. Maybe it was a horror flick with a “Texas Chainsaw” theme where I sp
Terry went for Jen in an instant. I wasn’t able to block what was coming for Jen. Terry’s arms seemed to have extended a meter longer because I just blinked and when I looked again, her hands were all over Jen’s hair. I was hopeless to stop her.“What did I do to you?! Why? He was everything to me!”Although she was screaming in anger, I could tell that she was crying.Jen wailed, trying her damn best to get Terry’s lethal grip out of her hair.“Girls, girls!” I tried to pull Terry away. “Stop it!”Jen’s mother came out when she heard the commotion. When she saw that her daughter was being attacked, she didn’t hesitate to pull Terry’s hair. Now, mother and daughter launched their assault on Terry.Terry was on the ground, shielding her face from the two women. If before I was trying to protect Jen, I now found myself in front of Terry, protecting her from being murdered by Jen and her mother.“Stop!” I told both of them. I felt a sharp pain in my back. It was doubtless from the sole
JD struggled to his feet. Nicholas shoved me behind his back, as if to protect me. He towered over me by a foot at least; I could barely see JD standing in front of him.“Fuck, I have auditions tomorrow!” JD cursed.“Wanna make it a mug shot then? Come on, let’s make you look good!” Nicholas provoked him.JD looked at Nicholas as though he was out of his mind. “What?! No! Are you fucking crazy?!”“I’m a little eccentric, yeah,” Nicholas said coolly. “Come on, I’ll give you two shiners. You’re auditioning for Kung-fu Panda the Musical, right?”JD looked at his hands to see the blood that came down from the bridge of his nose. “Fucking lunatics!” he cursed under his breath and then he motioned for his friends to get in the car. “Let’s go get this fixed!”They left without another word to us.Nicholas turned to me. I could see the concerned look on his face.“You okay?” he asked in a gentle tone.I raised a brow at him. I wasn’t sure what I would have done had JD and his friends retaliat
I didn’t go out of the house the following days. I didn’t take any calls. Jen tried to call me once or twice. I didn’t bother to pick up. I still didn’t know what to do about her. I didn’t want to listen to her explanations until I was decided about how I wanted to move forward.I was testing my limit, too. Could I survive the next weeks, months or years being by myself and not have Jen shape my future for me? Would I be happier if I untie my fate from hers?Every day, after school, I go straight home. My father was in Europe for an extended trip so I was more or less free to go around the house in my boxer shorts, a pair of t-shirt or even in a Barney costume and nobody would tell me off. The maids already knew I was a little weird, but I think they still prefer me over my father, his mistresses and eccentric guests any day.In the evenings, I cook, which was something I was very good at. My mother was a genius in the kitchen and she taught me to experiment with ingredients.
Six months later, I graduated from the culinary school and became Austin’s sous-chef. I was getting excellent training from him, and the great thing about that was I didn’t feel like I was working at all. Every day was an adventure for me. Every moment was like play time. I was inventing my own fusions and Austin had considered including them in his official menu. Nick comes to New York at least three times a month. Whenever he had the chance to get away from work, he would come to me. And every time I spent with him was pure bliss, pure treasure. I have never been happier in my life. My happiness didn’t come without a price. I thought now that everything was going quite well in my life, I should let go of all the pain and anger I may still be harboring. There would no happiness without forgiveness, without healing. And to start with that, I forgave my father. The day after my graduation, I flew back to Salt Lake City to visit his grave. Nick went with me. I stared at the words on
I didn’t know how long I slept or how I got home. But when I opened my eyes, it was already morning. I realized I wasn’t lying down on the ground by the beach where I last remembered I was. Instead, a down feather duvet kept me warm as I lay comfortably on a firm mattress. The pillows, duvet, and bed covers were all white, matching the eggshell paint on the walls.At first, I thought I was in a hospital, but then I realized the bed I was in was far too comfortable and a lot wider than a hospital bed. Something about the room I was in was very familiar, as if I’ve been here plenty of times before.The next thing I realized was that I was completely naked under the sheets. I felt tired, as though I went through a rigid exercise regimen the night before. Apart from that, I was feeling a little sore there, too, in my most private part. Shit!Suddenly, I felt movement behind me. An arm draped over my waist and I felt warm kisses on my neck.I panicked!I was with a guy! I was naked! We ha
Ken“Ma’am, are you okay? Ma’am, can you hear me?”“Should we call the police?”I slowly opened my eyes and found the girl in Margaret’s diner and another guy looking at me with worried expressions on their faces. I looked around. I realized I was seated in the driver’s seat of my car, with the seat inclined. The girl was sitting on the passenger seat, holding up a small bottle of mint balm and the guy was kneeling by my car door.“What happened?” I asked, sitting up.“You fainted,” the guy said to me. “You’re lucky I was passing by when you dropped your phone and passed out. I caught you before you could hit your head. I called for help. Are you okay?”I nodded. “Th—thanks.”“Do you want to go to the hospital?” the girl asked.I shook my head. “I’ll be… I’ll be okay.”“Well, I found these on the ground,” the guy said. He handed me the pieces of my phone. “I think you’re gonna need to buy a new one.”He was right. The phone was broken that I doubt any service center could still put it
Nick.I wasn’t able to react immediately. I took a couple of hits before I came to my senses and docked and thwarted all her assaults. It took a while to convince her that maybe she was just late. I offered to get her a pregnancy kit just so she could be sure.I waited days for her to tell me that the tests came back negative, as I was sure they would be. I was positive I never touched her. How could I? I spent most of the night staring at her, watching her sleep. I was in love with her. When I do make love to her, I want her to want it, too. I wanted her to remember me. I wanted to be different from the others she had been with.I called her several times, but she was completely ignoring me. I was beginning to get worried. I realized, too, that since I backed out on my deal with her father, he would no doubt employ somebody else to charm her, woo her. Try to succeed where I failed. Well, I haven’t failed yet. In fact, I was only just starting. There were some things that I wanted to
Nick.I went inside the Rhythemes. This was new. The last time I was in town, this joint wasn’t here, not that it would make much of a difference to me anyway. I was not the type to frequent bars or go to one out of boredom. I didn’t fancy sitting at the bar, watching sex-hungry predators pick up their latest clueless prey.I would rather go to a card house. At least there, I could exercise my brains and make money out of it. No, I’m not a gambling addict. I just happened to be gifted at it. Am I counting cards? Well, where was the fun if you use mathematical equations and probabilities? But desperate times call for desperate measures.When I came back to the States, I had no family left to go to. My father was gone, leaving me with the only property he could afford. The house he left behind was too shabby and major repairs had to be done. I didn’t have enough money to build my dream house. But I couldn’t leave my father’s legacy looking like a shithole. I did what I had to do. In a y
“So, how are you doing?” I asked Brett when he visited me in New York. We were up having beer on the rooftop.“I’m fine,” he said, but his tone was not so convincing. I raised a brow at him. “By that, I mean I’m surviving information overload, trial by fire, meeting up with more people in a month than I ever did in my entire life, and trying to become the great Robert Clarke in approximately two hundred and fifty-five days. I’m losing my bachelor years too fast, but yeah, I’m all right.”I reached out and squeezed his hand. “I’m sorry. It could have been me, you know.”He nodded. “Yeah. You could have been in my shoes. But the thing is, I never dreamed of becoming a chef. I’ve always wanted to be a businessman. I can’t force this fate on you, too. It’s just things are happening too fast, too soon.”“Don’t worry, Brett. You’ll do great. Soon, you’ll be in Forbes magazine as one of the youngest, most successful CEOs in the country. It’s written in your stars. You were brilliant in schoo
Kitten,It had been six months, ten days, three hours and thirty-three minutes. I’m still waiting. Told you I would. Although I hope you never get tired of reading my letters. I will never get tired of writing them—until my last breath, remember?Brett wouldn’t tell me where you are but assured me you were okay. Right now, there is nothing more I wanted to do but to come to you. Nope, I won’t even hug you if you don’t want me to. I just want to make sure you’re okay, make you feel that everything is going to be all right. You’re not alone. You will never be.I love you, kitten.Tears were rolling down my cheeks when I read Nick’s latest letter. Brett comes to New York to check up on me once a month. He brought a bunch of letters and trinkets from Nick since he didn’t know about my new address.Nick was true to his word. He would not stop writing to me. He already said he was sorry. He gave me all the explanations in the world. He’d given me time to process and find it in my heart to
After that, everything was a blur. I felt as if I was floating like a zombie the past few days. I didn’t get much sleep, and it was as if I had matured ten years in a span of ten days. I suddenly needed to handle adult stuff that I wasn’t ready for: meeting with the police, talking to lawyers, and handling a funeral.Things happened quickly. And since an investigation was ongoing, and my father’s company was publicly listed, news of his death would hurt the company and, according to my uncle, my inheritance. He chose to have everything hushed. The funeral was opened only to blood relatives and there was no coverage on the media about it. We were also instructed not to talk to anybody without consulting with our lawyers first.The worst part of it all, I couldn’t talk to anyone about how I was feeling. No matter how bad my relationship with my father was, no matter what a madman I thought he was, he was still my father. And it was never easy losing a parent. Up until now, a part of me
I wish I could say that I was back in Nick’s house and in his life after twenty-four hours. I wish I could say we were back in each other’s arms within a week and that he proposed to me a month after. I wish I didn’t leave, and my life would have been a complete bliss. Nick would have taken care of me and we would have lived a simple but happy life. That would have been how I wanted my story with Nick to end.But life wasn’t always that simple, and it certainly was never easy. And just when you thought you got it all figured out, life throws you out of balance again.Two months. Twenty-eight days. Fourteen hours. Twenty-five minutes.That was how long it had been since I left Nick’s house. That was how long since I last saw him, since I last had a conversation with him.He calls. Every day. Sometimes more than once a day. He also sends me text messages at least three times a day: to say good morning, to remind me about lunch, and then to say good night.He writes, too. The longhand l