In a modern age kitchen complete with an espresso machine and hot plate with its own microwave oven right beneath it, Daisy can't stop pacing around with only one thought in her mind. She sighs again and again, her mind flashing to the meeting with Bethany the previous day.“That damned woman did not even care to hear all I had to say. She had that useless faraway look in her eyes, telling me to hurry up since she has better and more important things to attend to. She has always been rude anyway.” Daisy mumbles to herself, touching her chin every now and then.Her son, Charles is her biggest worry!Certainly, no mother can ignore when her son is going through emotional backlash just because of a good for nothing lady like Bethany."Aaarghhhh!" Daisy groans, knowing that Charles hasn't been fine for days now. He has been miserable all around, causing more damage to his broken heart. Drinking in uncouth places, using foul language, everything he never was.Worst of all is the last time
Arthur stops laughing and keeps a straight face, he stares deeply into Daisy's eyes with extreme seriousness. His gaze is dark and Daisy wonders why his reaction suddenly changed."Why should I care about him? I thought we said we are no longer family. Our last conversation was when you asked me to choose between you and my wife, and I hope you remember what my answer was." Arthur utters, his voice low and his eyes showing disdain towards Daisy. “And just in the case where you forgot what my answer was, it’s still the same till now. I choose my wife any day, any time and in any damn circumstance.” Daisy's body shakes unconsciously. She had said a lot of things during their last argument, and she didn't expect Arthur to take note of each word."You don't have to take everything seriously; you know that I don't know how to control myself whenever I'm angry. Mind you, everything I said it's just under the influence of anger. You did not even give me the opportunity to apologize then. I
In a large meeting room, John ss having an official meeting with the director of finance of his company, Mr. Gabriel, and some other relevant staff of the same the department."I don't think we can last longer with the rate of the company loss. We will soon be facing bankruptcy. We ought to cut our losses now and close before we turn red, or we can choose to find some work to do that could be our lifesaver, bring us back in the green immediately." One of the staff, who happens to be a female, blurts out during the presentation. The company hasn't been doing well lately, and it has got the staff worried as they keep anticipating better results, but they have got nothing. Even now, those in the finances know fully well that at the rate they are going, there, soon, won’t be enough to pay the hardworking staff.Mr Gabriel also chips in. "We have been waiting for the contract with the Campbell hospital since it is our only hope right now but it seems like nothing..."John cuts him off bef
Daisy returns home after her embarrassing pre-lunch with Arthur earlier, her mood completely smashed against a rock, her thoughts still tangled in the events that had followed her final intense conversation with Arthur. The restaurant's customers glancing in their way every time Arthur laughed, their curious laughter echoing back in her ears as she thinks of it, and worst of all, Arthur's mocking tone haunts her as she steps through the front door of her own house."Argh!” She groans the same way she had done in the morning. “He has been acting like an evil spirit ever since that bitch occupied his mind and time!" Daisy seethes as she enters the living room, which seems oddly too quiet, and that gets her a bit confused.When she finds the silence unusual, she becomes curious. Quinn!” She yells, her voice sharp, slicing through the firm silence. By this time, Quinn is just getting back from school and sits in front of the television to watch the daily run of a kdrama that is currently
It's getting pretty late at night, and Quin hasn't returned home yet, which has got Daisy pacing around the living room."Where is this girl for goodness sake?" Daisy asks no one in particular as she keeps dialing Quinn's number but it is out of reach.The clock on the wall ticks steadily, each second echoing in the quiet house and only making Daisy more frantic as it reminds her that time keeps moving. She is more than worried. Her frustration increases after every failed call Quinn several times.“Come on, Quinn. Where are you?” She mutters under her breath, feeling a knot of worry tighten in her stomach. She just is not feeling comfortable. Something about a mother’s guts.Just then, the door makes a sound as it creaks open, and Daisy moves her head swiftly in that direction, almost giving herself a whiplash. "Quinn? Is that you?" She inquires as she walks to the hallway to verify who the person is.However, she is slightly disappointed and a bit hopeful when John walks in.“Daisy
The fluorescent shines softly above the conference room, casting its white bright lights over the table where the finance team are seated, headed by their director, Kevin, and equally, every important member and official that is always present at the bi monthly business meeting of the Worth Corporation. Bethany adjusts her glasses with a warm gaze, the tension in the air, though, is intense. Across the table, Kevin Fitzpatrick sits with his arms crossed, an expression of disdain etched on his face, disdain and a look of triumph. “Thank you all for being here today, especially each and every one of who gave presentations on the amount spent and amounts that come in and all of those…” Bethany begins, her voice steady despite the knot of excitement in her stomach. “As you know, we’ve been evaluating our current auditing services, and I believe it’s time to make some changes. So far, one thing I noticed in the well presented slides shown earlier is that ever since Unique became our audit
‘You know what, Jade?”“What ma’am?”"I have made my decision and there is no going back on my words. With my authority in this company, fire Kevin and his fellow dubious colleagues. They must serve as an example to others who might have the same intention. This company isn't for embezzlement or t show who is boss between another, fire them all.""Huh?" Jade is taken aback and for the first time, Jade shows an expression that is not been submissive. In her defense, this is the first time Bethany is making such a decision and it seems like she means it. "Are you sure ma'am?“ She asks, wanting to be sure she heard it all right.“Yes. I needed to know who stood with Kevin and who didn’t. the meeting today was just to rile them up and let them show their true colors. Happy it worked. You saw them all as they walked out, openly showing that they obey no one. This is about more than just power play now, it’s about loyalty and integrity and those people have neither. I’ll not tolerate insubo
She stands in front of the building, her hands behind her back in a stiff stance, looking at her new workplace.Having returned back to the city over a week ago, she had been asked to take the week off and today is her official first day at work.Open Eyed Security Company, OESC.A company known for its good bodyguards and men who know their boundaries, fit to be dispatched to anyone anywhere and at any time. Chara walks in through the double doors.“Miss Worth, Mr. Henderson has asked you to see him as soon as you resume for work.”Chara nods and takes the elevator to his office.Her direct boss in the company, Henerson sits behind his chair, his eyes drawn to something he keeps staring at and occasionally tapping on his computer. His secretary gives her the go ahead to proceed into the office to see him since he has been expecting her anyway.Chara knocks twice before opening the door.He raises his eyes to see her and the creased eyebrows straighten. “Madam Worth, lovely to meet yo
The fourth day in the hospital after the blast seemed just as bleak as the first three days that had come and gone, waiting for Bethany to wake up and open her eyes to absolutely no avail.Arthur hasn’t left her side.Not once, making sure to make sure that she is attended to every single time and cleaning her unconscious body every morning and night.The nurses have stopped trying to convince him to take a break and go home or something. At this point, he’s more permanent than the IV drip standing by her bedside. Martha comes and goes, bringing fresh clothes, home cooked meals that Arthur barely touches, whispered encouragements he barely hears but nods smilingly at anyway, the old woman already has too much on her neck so Arthur always manages to persuade her to go back home as well each time.He sits beside her now, as he has for four days, one hand curled over Bethany’s motionless fingers, holding them as though he is using his body’s warmth to remind her of the way back to him, b
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