John Worth arrives at his home, leaving the chauffeur to handle all the mountain of bags that are buried in the trunk. As he walks up the patio steps, he glances back to see the middle aged man reeling under the bags and just turns away to enter the house, completely looking over him.Daisy is waiting in the living room already. She might have been there all night, waiting.John struggles not to sigha and roll his eyes but he draws closer to her and kisses her on the cheeks. "Good afternoon honey. Why are you here?""Where else would I be?" She retorts, searching his face."Well, you know that is not what I meant. Why are you up this early?""Where were you all night? I had so many things to tell you but you just disappeared and did not pick all of your calls all night. Do you think that is fair? Can't I just go out too and disappear for the whole night? Bye because I am catering for your daughter, you think you can just waltz in and out of here and come back whenever you like? I tota
Alexa drives from Platonic to the Worth family house. She had been there about two to three times before, although not long visits.The first was when Charles had taken her there to announce that he loves her and will be marrying her in secret, second had been on their honeymoon.She had spent her honeymoon with a married man who had another woman waiting for him at home that night, in the man's family house.In hindsight, Alexa is regretting her decisions already but she's not going to admit it just yet. Their home is a bit far from her former location but since it sounded a bit urgent on the phone, she decided to drive there immediately.On arrival, the gates are opened for her and she drives in. She makes her way to the door and knocks.A maid opens the door for her and the girl greets her politely before walking off to the side she's come to know as the way to the large kitchen.Alexa walks to the living room herself where she sees Daisy in the middle of the room, swamped by boxes
Over dinner that night, Bethany lays in front of the duo two plates, both filled with Chinese fried rice on one side and a tomato sauce on the other. She drops the first two and goes to pick up the other two, putting them in front of herself.Arthur inhales and closes his eyes. "These smell so good. I'm pretty sure I can't measure up to you."Bethany chuckles. "Don't worry your head about that, you can't. So don't bother trying. I'll just manage to live by the one you cook."Arthur laughs. "So you can be a little self absorbed too? Hats off."She chuckles. "Please eat."After a while of eating and silence, Arthur breaks the silence. "So... How was work today?"Bethany looks up and chuckles. "It was fun?""Fun? Is work supposed to be fun? I'm pretty sure my employees are not calling their work fun outside."Bethany laughs. "You're quite the boss. I can tell you're the type they won't invite to weddings or dinners because they are scared you'll reduce their pay."Arthur laughs, setting
The officer rudely pushes Charles into the large station and then into a chair in front of him.He removes his jacket and drapes it behind his chair before sitting down. He turns on the computer in front of him and looks at Charles who is momentarily distracted by the hubbub of activities going on."Hey Mr, look here." The officer calls him, slamming a book on the table to grab his attention. "What's your name?""Charles. Charles Worth.""What's the name of the man you had been beating?""Anthony Moore."The officer types it down. "So, what were you doing at Platonic?""We have a small hangout. We were on the same football team in college so it was like a small get together.""So, what happened? Why did you beat him unconscious?"Charles grits his teeth, massaging his wrists from the ache, noting the dried blood on his fists. "Well?""He made a comment about my wife... Hell, ex wife."The officer glances up at him and then looks back down, typing away on the computer what Charles is
After the hour long plane ride, the plane lands on top of a tall and really high up building.Arthur holds Bethany firmly by the waist almost as though he's worried that the enormous fan blades, coupled with the heavy wind up there will sweep her away and over the edge.And until they descend into the building, he does not leave her alone.One is worried about the other, while the other is... Well, having fun."Come on." He takes her hand, and leads her to the elevator. There, he presses the ground floor button and the elevator slowly begins the ride down."So, this is my company.""What's the name?""I'll show you outside. You might have even heard of it. Your husband is a really rich man though." He winks at her and she laughs, her mind befuddled.She really knew nothing about him. He had a big company, all that he had said when they had first sat down to talk to one another. That's when he had told her that he's Daisy's younger brother and there are a few years between them and all
"So... This is the lobby." Arthur says, spreading his arms out both ways and standing in front of her, but walking backwards. "Even I see that." Bethany comments, her mind still a bit muddled but she's struggling to push the invading thoughts to the back of her mind. "Ah, I see. This is not where the fun is? Come on, I'll take you up to my office." He takes her hand and walks her to another side of the lobby's large reception area. "Where are we going? That's the elevator right there?" Arthur smiles. "Come on, it's such a big place, do you think I take the same elevator as my employees?" He brags just as they round the corner to see the lone elevator there. Bethany smirks. "Such a proud boss, I'm pretty sure your employees don't see your face around." Arthur shrugs. "You can't blame me for that when I've got a private plane, considering I have to commute about two hours everyday, I do my work and head out. It's simple, they don't have to see me to do their work, right?" "Obnoxio
Millicent Atkinson sits on the bed, dazed.Her queen sized bed with the four poster walls and on the side corner of the room, the cage stands, the bird looking curiously at her, Tina also stands by the door, unsure of what to do.She had heard the whole conversation and is completely ignorant of what she should do. Should she leave her? Stay? Bring her a glass of water? Just leave and go to her own room for the night?Being such a big woman's manager has started to have a toll on her. Compared to the medium plus size she'd been, she's now model size... "Do you want a glass of water?" Tina mutters.Millicent looks up, right at her. "No, thank you... Ah, let me know when he sends the pictures. I am so curious about who she is.""But... You're fine right? You know you have a model shoot tomorrow so you need to sleep tonight to avoid puffy eyes tomorrow?""Do I look like I am not fine?" She retorts, a small hint of anger coming into her voice."Sorry. Goodnight."Millicent lays down on th
Bethany watches as he relaxes into the chair, the unease in his eyes the previous minutes completely gone and disappeared. "So... You were married to Millicent Atkinson." Bethany mutters, knowing that she'd rather get it all out of the way now instead of letting it gnaw at her heart like the leech that it is.He looks up at her, his eyes meeting hers. Unsure of how she's really feeling since she looks really good at masking emotions. "Yes, I was. I didn't want it to ever come up... I'm sorry." He whispers, playing with his fingers.Nothing the nervous tick, she chuckles, somewhat relieved, but for what reason? She does not even know."Why did you two divorce?""Millicent was a manipulative woman. Took me years to find out. But I did. And when I did, it took a lot of courage and heart work to get out of it." A look of obvious hurt passes his face."I'm sorry to hear that. I will never manipulate you into doing or thinking anything."Unlike the Arthur of the previous minute, he chuckle
Time slows.Bethany’s fingers brush the handle of the driver’s side door just as the second beep-beep fades into the air. A bird chirps from the lamp post above the lot. The wheels of a nearby shopping cart squeal as someone exits the pharmacy across the road. Arthur opens his mouth to say something…And the world erupts.BOOM.It’s not just a noise., it’s a force. A living, monstrous thing that tears through air, glass, and metal like paper. The car explodes in a big explosion of fire and shrapnel, its roof splitting, hurling into the sky. The windshield vaporizes in a white hot flash and for the person standing right next to the explosion...Bethany is thrown violently backward. Not a stumble. Not a fall. She is launched into the air like a ragdoll and what goes up, always comes down.Her body hits the ground very hard. The sound is sickening, skin on pavement, ribs crunching, skull cracking and the audible sound of all of it.Then stillness.Alarms scream in every direction. The
The man walks in front of the station like he’s trying not to walk into a landmine, slow, tentative steps. He stops at the top of the stairs, takes one deep sigh, rubs his weak looking eyes and takes the few more steps into the building.He does not take big strides and no waving hands. Just quiet, precise steps through the front doors of the Precinct, wearing a weather beaten hoodie and jeans that have seen better years. His eyes are the kind that don’t blink enough, too haunted to remember how.Or at least that is what it looks like to whoever cares to give him a glance.At the front desk, Officer Laney gives him the once over. She’s halfway through sipping her third iced latte when she asks, “Can I help you sir?”The man doesn’t answer at first, first choosing to check if she is a police officer since she is in civilian clothes, then seeing her badge in her hands, he sighs audibly before responding, saying…“I need to talk to someone. Someone in charge of a particular case here.”L
Rumors begin less than three days later.Apparently, grabbing a cup of coffee with a beautiful female Major is grounds for rumors, and even people whom you don’t know who begin to study your every move. The rumors, with truths in them however, rage on the barracks.They spread like heat on dry bush. Fast, wild and pretty much unstoppable. A Major seen sneaking smiles at a Lieutenant during drills, the same Lieutenant caught slipping out of the officer's quarters too early in the morning.Chara doesn’t as much as flinch when she hears then, she’s pretty much used to the weight of judgment.Chara doesn’t pretend to care, not at all.She keeps her chin high, her stride sharp like the boss lady that she is, like no one dares say it to her face, because they really do not dare say it to her face.But Mason hears it.He hears them and unlike Chara with her own steely indifference, he is not indifferent to it.And it gets harder to ignore, mostly because it is not all about him but her.Mason
It is a new day on the barracks, the morning frills are done and so are evening ones, it’s just past the time for everyone to have dinner but someone is not headed to the cafeteria for food.The knock on the door announces his arrival to his caller.Major Chara’s office is dimly lit but bright enough fir the time of the day, considering she is in the male fields, she knows just how to be careful enough to not have too much light on, not too much to help the stalkers peek through the window at her perfectly figured body. She’s currently halfway through dressing, uniform pants already snug around her waist, boots laced to perfection, but her shirt still hanging on the back of a chair.“Come in,” Chara calls, her voice calm.She doesn’t bother rushing. She knows exactly who it is and why she has sent for him.The door opens, and then nothing.No footsteps. No greeting.Just silence from who it is that stands at the door.Private First Lieutenant Mason Campbell.She turns slightly, still
The courtroom is brightly lit, smells like polished wood and paper and different, different smells of perfumes and cologne.It's still early in the morning, the sun barely slanting through the tall and somewhat dusty windows, but the room is already full, a lot of people seem to be quite interested in the case and other than that, there are also students who have come to just witness one and some other purposeful individuals, albeit, the courtroom is filled. The silence is thick, every cough or chair scrape feeling louder than it should because every sound that is not inevitable is not allowed in the court, it should always be bone silent and they all try to keep to the rule, although the silence can feel a bit suffocating but they can’t help it.At the defense table, John Worth stands stiffly, his head cast downwards staring at his feet or at the floor, either, wearing the same annoyingly orange jumper he has worn to every hearing in the past week.His hands rest by his sides, fisted
Detective Reynolds has never hated walking down this damned hallway more than he actually does now, with what he knows his mission it, he does not look forward to the next few minutes since he’ll be walking down the same hall again.The keys jingle in his hand, cold metal biting into his palm as he squeezes it more than he should, causing himself pain. He passes the front desk, the vending machines, the bulletin board with the crooked missing persons flyer... all of it feeling a little more annoying than usual.For the first time in a very long time, he regrets his job and for once wishes that he was in a position of power to refute the corrupt order that he is about to go ahead and act out. He had spoken to Daisy Worth just some minutes ago before he decided to accept his fate and do as ordered unless he wanted to risk his job, and even if he does risk his job for the sake of his integrity, the five bastards will still get released anyway so there is basically no point dragging out t
The morning sun filters through the trees in the large, green park that overlooks the pretty lake ahead.It’s warm. Peaceful. A soft breeze rolls across the lake, lifting the petals from scattered white roses and tugging at the corner of the prettily covered altar. Everything looks like it was summoned out of thin air, a lakeside setup, simple chairs, a path of white laid across green grass, and yet it all feels perfectly right.They didn’t plan it. Not really. They did not have the time to do so anyway, because every minute now counts.Every. Single. Minute.But love doesn’t always need a plan. Sometimes, it just needs now and that’s how everything was planned overnight, some people who still haven’t slept yet are in the congregation.By the water’s edge, rows of white wooden chairs are arranged in quiet perfection. A floral arch leans over a makeshift altar, the blooms fresh, delicate, almost too pretty to touch. There are photographers present, it is a memorable one, everyone wants
The holding cell stinks terribly of sweat and urnine and not so well taken care of body discharges.Smells disgusting in there.And it is not just the stink of sweat or urine, like the average downtown drunk tank, no. This one also reeks of guilty men dressed up in expensive cologne. Designer jeans and loafers scuffed on concrete, the exact dressings that they had all been arrested in though they do stink now from not having baths for days.Five men, once golden boys in nightclubs and boardrooms, now sit on cracked terrazzo floors under extremely dim bulb lights.Trevor sits with his legs crossed, perfectly calm for someone in such a situation.The others? Not so much, they are relying on him and for someone they are leaning on, he seems a little too calm for their liking.“Trevor, man,” hisses Logan, slick back that is not so slick now, pacing the cell like a caged animal. “You said your dad would never let this happen, you said you’ll never spill our names now look at all of us, sitt
The day began with yells, cackles of laughter within a small family and small children, all laughing toothily around the large house. Scattered around were pink balloons and a particular glittery plastic tiara that didn’t quite fit on Bethany’s tiny head.She was three years old at the time, full of toothy grins and sticky fingers and loved pancakes with a lot of syrup, and today, today was her birthday.“Mommy,” she said, swinging her legs beneath the kitchen table that was considerably ten times her total weight, “I want McDonald’s burger for my birthday.”Martha, standing by the counter with a juice box in one hand and her purse in the other, gave her daughter a bemused look. “Are you sure? We can make you anything you want. Pancakes? Spaghetti? A cake shaped like a pony? Where did you even hear about that?”Bethany shook her small curls. “You got Mason one, I want my own too today. McDonald’s and the park. I wanna ride the horsies! They are cuteeee.”Beside her, Seven year old Mas