Looking over at the piano, I noticed this one was much grander than the one I practised with. Not that the practice one was of poor quality. Oh no. Even that piano had been made for Kings. The only thing that separated these two, was that the training one had been played so often by trainees that it had grown a bit weathered.
I was nervous about performing in front of such an enormous crowd, but I knew I could do it. There was no way I was going to pass up this opportunity of a lifetime. If I could impress people here today, then I knew I’d be able to continue down this path Kain had picked for me. It wasn't my original goal but I trusted him.
For now, the ballroom was mostly empty, as people were being entertained elsewhere, but they would start pouring in eventually, and then it would be my turn. Well, not just me, but a few others would play something before and after me, but that doesn’t stop me from feeling
I was so glad that Kain had taught me how to dance for these high-class events, otherwise, I would be a complete wallflower tonight and that would not be very good for me and Skyler at all. The amount of gossip that would spread with that in mind made me shudder to think about it. No entertainer worth their grain in salt would sit or stand to the side when at an event like this. Especially when with a date!After a couple of waltzes, it was almost time for me to take my place as an entertainer for a couple of tunes. I smiled at Skyler and patted her hand as I left her side to take over the stage for my turn. I left the melody Kain had created until last. That way, it would be the best send off and would garner the most attention. That was my plan, anyhow.It didn’t take long for the last group of musicians to play their last melody and give their thanks and fair wells. They then introduced me to the stage, letting the
As I swapped with the next person who would play a few melodies, I held my gaze on Kain and Skyler. He hadn’t rebuffed her clinging, which made me feel uneasy. However, I knew I couldn’t start an argument or fight here, of all places. Perhaps Kain was of the same mindset? That was all I could think of. That he had not resisted Skyler might have also been part of his reasoning. I couldn’t tell what he was thinking from his expressions.“You wrote those lyrics in such a short time?” He asked me with a raise of his eyebrows. “I am impressed. Doing so has given you more spotlight, so well done,” he continued, his lips unable to hide the smile.“I couldn’t help but want to write something for it, seeing as you trusted me with something so special,” I replied. Despite my feelings of jealousy bubbling up, I was happy that Kain had praised me so highly. I tried not to pay much attention to how S
“Everything okay, Liam?” Skyler’s question doesn’t come as much of a surprise to me when I get back to her. My flushed face is obvious to everyone here at the party. Although none of them is wise enough to know the reason behind it, I’m sure there are going to be a lot of guesses. I wonder how many are going to assume Kain and I fought over Skyler? They would only be a little right. It was because of Skyler, but we didn’t fight, and it wasn’t because Kain had stolen her from me.Ah, the tangled webs we weave.I offered her a small smile and a nod of her head. “I’m fine, yes,” I replied, hoping she didn’t notice how dishevelled my hair looked from the hot make-out session Kain and I had just returned from. I had tried to tidy it up again before leaving. Even though it was just kissing, it was just as passionate as the other times. I had to remind Kain where we were, as I was sure he
It was stressful trying to locate Kain while still paying attention to Skyler in a way that I did not make her aware of my actions. She had told me again to not worry about it and that Kain could handle himself just fine, but I wasn’t about to let him walk into trouble unprepared. I knew my boyfriend more than anyone else. He never visited his father unless the man had summoned him, and he rarely talked about him too. The two did not get along all that well, from what I understood. Double-checking my phone, I could tell that Kain hadn’t seen my message yet. He rarely looked at his phone during events like this, but I had wanted to at least exhaust all my options before throwing in the towel. If I couldn’t find him personally, then maybe he’d see the message. That was my hope, anyway, but so far, luck was not on my side. At this point, I had not been paying attention to Skyler, and I had lost her in the crowd somewhere. Shoot. I hoped she wouldn
“Father, please. Don’t you think this is a little unusual in this day and age? No one arranges a marriage for their children anymore,” Kain’s voice lacked any warmth within it. However, he was a master at concealing his emotions to where no one knew they upset him if they had. I knew he was not happy about being forced into anything such as marriage. Not to mention my own reservations! Kain’s father peered at his son critically before saying, “and yet you do nothing but experiment with every woman you come across, never once settling down. It is a bad image for the company for you to be messing around in such a childish way. Besides, this union will be good for both of our companies.” I swallowed hard. I wanted to protest, but I couldn’t say anything. Fear of losing Kain washed over me. Even if I fought to keep Kain, the two of us could risk our jobs. While I would give up anything, even my chances of being a star for Kain, I wasn’t sure he wou
Tonight wasn’t even halfway done and already I was exhausted. Learning Kain was being blackmailed into an arranged marriage, and then finding out I was supposed to be taking over his spot as the company’s most popular entertainer? It was all too much! I floundered my way back to Skyler as soon as I had found her again. It had annoyed her when I had ‘dumped’ her, but as soon as she found out the (singular) reasoning behind it; me being introduced to the Sponsor as Kain’s protegee; she quickly forgave me. I did not mention the blackmail. That was not something anyone else could ever learn. “Ah! I knew there had to be some reason! But to never once tell you!? I’m so surprised! I would have thought he would have said something sooner!” Skyler said as she took my hands into her own and was shaking them up and down to congratulate me. “All the personal lessons, all the events you got dragged to, it all makes sense now!” I offered a nervous la
Flopping down on the couch, I spread my arms and legs out in exhaustion. I wasn’t sure I had any more energy to deal with anything else tonight. Drake had brought us back from our night out and had chatted the entire way home, unknowing about what had happened. Not that I had expected him to have known. He had spent the night with a date and did not spend any of his time with us. Kain was pretty silent the entire way home, and all I could do was silently offer him comfort while Skyler was still with us. The moment we had dropped her off, I held Kain tightly until he had stopped grinding his teeth in frustration. I decided I wouldn’t leave his side tonight, no matter what. “You look stressed.” Kain’s gentle voice hit my ears like a bell. I lift my head from the couch and offer him a small smile. “Want a massage?” He then offered. I couldn’t help but laugh a little and shook my head slowly. Silly man.
“Damnit, damnit, damnit!” Kain’s voice startled me awake. It was still early, but for some ungodly reason, Kain had woken up early and was now cursing downstairs. Rolling over, I look at the alarm clock. It has barely gone past seven in the morning! I groan and slowly slide myself out of the bed. I grab my boxers to at least attempt to hold some sort of modesty, but I’m not that bothered by it as much as I used to be. It’s rare Kain has visitors besides Drake, and I doubt he would be here this early. As I make my way down the stairs, I see a half-naked Kain pacing over by the couch with his laptop open to his email page. I can’t read it from here, but I don’t need to see or read it to know that he has the information needed to start our investigation. As I reach Kain’s side, I offer his arm a gentle touch. He glances back at me, surprised to see me awake this early when there’s no need to be. “Sorry, did I wake you?” He asks sof
Greetings to all my wonderful readers!As you've likely noticed, I have actual artwork of my characters for the cover of my book now. This was a commissioned piece from a very dear artist friend by the name of Rydi on DeviantART also known as lucia-garcia on ArtCorgi.We've known each other for a long time now, and I was super happy when she agreed to make a book cover for me, so if you like her style, feel free to check her out.Thanks for reading my story and feel free to check out my others also here.Have a wonderful day!
A year has passed since everything happened and although a lot has changed, things have also stayed the same. I’ve become well known for my musical skills now, but Kain has caved in and allowed me to perform in a few acting roles. He has no more excuses to keep me to himself, outside of him mentoring me, as I have already proven I am one of the best Lotus Pond Entertainment has. However, I still have a long way to go before I am as popular as Kain used to be, so my promotion to the Face of the Company is still a long way off. Today, however, is the day Kain finally tells the entire world publicly about his plans for the company and me in particular. I have never felt so nervous and anxious as I do right now at this extravagant press conference. Out of all of my training, all of my public appearances, nothing has been so hyped up as this moment. It feels like everyone in the world is watching us right now, and they probably are!
Rose’s home is a place I never expected to find myself in, yet here I am with Kain, Drake, Rhiana, and even Wulf. I never thought I’d be happy to see him, but he has become a good friend, probably closer to me than Skyler, because he at least knows everything now, and I can trust him to keep it a secret. One day, I want to fill Skyler in too, but until Kain is ready to come out to the rest of the world, that isn’t an option. Wulf, much like Kain, prefers men but has openly flirted with women, to the point of being seen as a womanizer. The two have much in common but are very different people. I wish I could help Wulf find peace with himself over whoever hurt him, but all I can do is to be his friend and hope that’s enough. “You’re staring at me, Liam,” Wulf teases playfully, as he spots me looking in his direction. I blush faintly and look away. I don’t need him flirting with me while Kain is here! “S-sorry,” I mumble, looking at my lap
My whole body hurts from last night. There isn’t a part of me that doesn’t hurt. Even with Kain being overly gentle and preparing me beforehand, I still hurt. However, I wouldn’t change last night for anything. It was as perfect as things could have been. He wasn’t in one of his odd moods where he wanted to do strange things, instead, he was all gentle and loving towards me. Despite the aches I am in, I agreed to meet up with Wulf. After all, me not going back to his last night seemed to have worried him, even though he had received my text to tell him I would be safe. Besides, I probably should let him know that I’ve made up with the person who I like. Thankfully, Wulf agreed to meet me somewhere nearby and Kain has gone to work so that I do not have to worry about him getting jealous or clingy in front of Wulf. We should keep our make-up private until we’ve seen Malak Rose again. Once we’ve gotten him to back off, then
As soon as we get back to Kain’s apartment, his familiar scent fills my nose. I make sure Wulf knows I won’t be back tonight, as making him worry wouldn’t be fair at all. We may have started on the wrong foot, but he has become a friend during this entire ordeal. I’ve missed this place more than I thought I might, but I don’t get the chance to think much about our time apart as I find my back is pushed against the wall as soon as we lock the door behind us. Kain’s lips slam against mine, kissing me desperately. I can’t help but moan into his lips and wrap my arms around his neck. I’ve missed this so much that it hurts. I feel Kain’s hands lower down to my legs and hoist me up, causing my legs to wrap around his hips automatically. He breaks the kiss for a moment to mumble, “never leave me again, Liam. I can’t live without you at my side. These last few days have been awful.” I wiggle my nose at him in mock annoyan
Joy overflowed through my whole body, as everything I had wondered about Rhiana was confirmed by the two sitting across from me. She was indeed someone who preferred other women, and in fact, was planning on marrying her girlfriend of several years. “I started working here, just to get away from the hustle and bustle of a rich life, and to avoid my father. He often tries to drag me into his social parties to meet people,” Rhiana complained with a roll of her eyes. “This isn’t a glamorous life, but there are many people who love to spend cash on things they can’t touch, so I’m happy to get this sense of freedom.” “Your father is as old as mine. He should have retired a long time ago,” Kain says, shaking his head. He then takes another sip of his drink and then adds, “but why drag me involved in all this? Does he have money troubles?” “No, nothing like that. It might be my fault for avoiding this co
“Do you really hate me so much now?” The question Kain proposed to me had my heart pounding and aching so much that I felt dizzy and sick. Of course, I didn’t hate Kain! The problem wasn’t because I hated him, quite the opposite in fact! It was because I loved him so deeply, so hard, that it hurts to even see his face or hear his voice. “Sir, that isn’t helping at all. You’re just making him feel even more afraid,” Drake chided softly. “You don’t hate the boss, do you, Liam?” He then asked, his voice much softer. I shook my head slowly but refused to come out of my scrunched up position on the padded bench of the booth. It was a rather awkward position, but I couldn’t bring myself to look at anything around me. A sigh escaped Kain’s lips. It sounded like it relieved him to know I didn’t hate him. “Then you will not quit, right?” His question made me angry, but before I could shoot him a glare, he continued to say,
The flicker of the streetlight above my head is grinding my gears. I almost want to yell at the top of my voice for someone to come and fix the broken thing, but I don’t. I’ve already made a fool of myself once today, no reason to make such a thing known to the public too! I don’t know why Drake wanted to meet me here, of all places, but I can tell that this isn’t one of his usual hangouts. At least, none that he has ever taken me to before. The area is quite a distance away from where we work, to where I think we might even be closer to the Outskirts than anywhere near the city centre. The buildings are not quite falling apart, but they’ve certainly seen better days. That includes the annoying streetlight. Still, despite the almost rundown appearance, many people seem to come to this place. The sign gave little away about the type of hangout it was. All I could tell was that they named it, ‘The Moist Pussy’. I thought it was an odd nam
It has been almost a whole week now since I last saw Kain in person. It almost feels like he is avoiding me deliberately, much like I was doing to him. However, regardless if I am avoiding him or not, I can’t help but get even angrier at him for evading me for this long! Call me a hypocrite, but I don’t care at this point. He is such a jerk-face! I vow to myself, as soon as I see him, I am going to give him a piece of my mind! Maybe I’ll even go to his office and scold him! That’s an idea! However… the moment I get to his floor, I hesitate. I’m the one who ran out on him, crying no less. Now that I can see his office door, my anxiety has me unable to take another step forwards. What if he has already moved on and stopped caring about me? What if he has already met with this woman and she is all over him and I disturb them in the middle of something!? I can’t do this! I shake my head and turn around, darting back t