The door to Rosa's room creaked open. She appeared at the doorway. In her background a man in orange overalls was drilling screws into her cabinet."Hi," she said. "I thought I heard someone shouting."Elena watched her very keenly, and saw it: the tiny flash of anger that appeared on Rosa's face when she saw Elena and Liam together."Oh," Rosa said, failing at trying to smile. "You two seem busy." Then she added excitedly: "You wanna come see my room, Elena?""Er, Liam wanted us to go somewhere," she said.But to her horror, Liam replied: "It's nothing, actually. You can join your friend. I need to go wash up. I have a virtual conference by 8 pm. Would have loved you to be there, too.""Oh," was all Elena could say. "Are we slowly switching back to the old culture?" she thought. Just when I believed something was going...She felt colder when Liam's arms left her. He walked upstairs to his room, and Elena wondered what it'd take to run after him, smack his face, then drag him to the
Rosa stopped herself from going after Liam, so that if anything happened, Elena wouldn't see her as the culprit. She remained there on the bench, wishing that the lights of the mansion were dimmer, so that she could feel some privacy within her.Her heart was in turmoil. She couldn't stop it, couldn't let go. Liam. Highschool...*****Flash back"Hi," Rosa said, a pretty school girl with an amazing knack for all the psychological intelligence needed to keep any conversation going.He turned to her from the reverie of his thoughts. And instantly he saw in her a stranger with a pretty face and sexy straight legs."You appear lost," she said, shifting closer to stand with him behind the rails. "Are you thinking about taking over the whole world with the snap of your fingers?"Liam cackled up in laughter, as he hadn't seen that coming. He decided to give it back. "Yes. And I was just concluding my decisions on where y'all gonna stay," he said, "because I wouldn't want any humans around
Elena was woken up the next morning to the beep of a notification sound on her phone. She groped for her phone and found it tucked away under her pillow. Liam had been in bed with her for the night, but they hadn't still had sex.She didn't know why, but something always came up to obstruct every chance they got. This time it was Liam's father knocking right on her door!She sighed and blinked her eyes against the beams of sunlight that streamed through the blinds of her window.She laid sprawling on the bed, caressing the partly warm side of the bed where Liam had laid. It had been one hell of a night, but she was happy that even though they didn't end up having sex, she was relieved that the tension between them had been resolved. She had professed love to him, and he had, too. What else was needed for a good life, finally?Another message dropped and she picked up the device. It was a text from Rosa."Guess what today is!" the text read.Elena frowned in confusion. Today was a Thur
The evening was getting darker. But the spirit of the party was heating up. Liam didn't know how his event organizers did it, but dancing poles had been set up and three strippers were on the platform, doing their thing. The DJ had gotten high, because the song he dished now had shifted from mild to hardcore.Liam had empty bottles of wine and glasses seated before him on the table, also ashtrays filled with burnt up cigars, some half smoked.The colors of the lights — multicolored and swirling — danced around his eyes, the loudness of the jam, the strippers moving their bodies ever alluringly, the sight of his many friends getting drunk and high on stone: all of these brought a sudden nostalgic feeling to Liam. His clubbing life."Where had it gone?" was the question that popped into his mind. He tried to recall the last time he hit a club as he used to, but he couldn't. His life, of late, had been centered mainly on his work, and trying to keep his family together. Well, that wasn't
Liam did not move a muscle until Elena had completely parked her car. Even after that, he still did not move; he waited like a lurking leopard for them to come down from the car."Your husband doesn't look happy," Rosa whispered. Elena, whose heart had already begun to bang violently in her chest, said nothing. What in the world was she to say to Liam?She lingered in the car, pretending to be immersed with the activities of getting the Lambo into a perfect parking state. She expected Liam to shout her name, to summon her, but he didn't. He was looking like a statue, waiting for her. For them."We've got no choice," Rosa said. "He'll just talk.""Rosa, what is your problem?" Elena snapped. "You shouldn't even have the courage to say anything in regards to us.""I'm sorry, I'm sorry. Gosh."Elena was slurping up confidence from her anger, and the assurance that, if anyone was in trouble, it was going to be Rosa. It was Rosa who led her away from the party without informing Liam. Yes.
Liam knew he would only be deceiving himself if he claimed he didn't notice the tension in the car as he drove his wife's best friend down the road.The scent of her perfume filled the car, even drowning the air freshener oozing from the dashboard. Liam tried to keep his eyes on the road, but they would always wander back to her laps, which were conspicuously bared. From time to time, her fingers drummed on her laps, as though they were a keyless piano. She was humming a tune, which Liam found himself reclining to listen to.He fought it, fought really hard. Told himself he was just giving her a lift to a hotel, nothing more.But it was only easy to say these things to himself; the problem came from stopping himself from the raging hormones and wild thoughts.He found his lips moving. "How close are you to Elena?" he asked. Perhaps talking to her about Elena would help keep the guilt alive. "We've been friends for years," she said, absentmindedly. "She's cool.""Okay." The car now m
Stephan called Elena that morning, at around 7 am and offered that they go out on a dinner together."I can arrange for a flight to the US now," he said, confidently, "and by evening, we're seated at dinner.""C'mon, Steph," she said, trying to laugh, "that's not possible. I'm married now.""And?""My man does all those things." Liam hadn't taken her out since they got married. But he would, only if he wasn't preoccupied with going after her best friend."You know I heard that conversation that night?" Steph said. "And you can no longer lie to me that you're happy in that marriage."Elena's matrimonial defenses emerged. "It's a matter of time. The family's going through some hurdles now. He'll come around.""I don't think he'll completely come around. People don't lose their inborn character just like that. I studied psychology and I know the human temperament too well."There it went again, Elena thought with renewed fear, the suggestion that Liam would never throw away his old life.
Liam set the rum glass down on the counter with a slam."Another," he grunted to the barman.The barman gave him a studying look, probably wondering again what Liam with his flashy Jeep outside was doing in such a lowly bar. He poured him more rum.Liam was on his sixth shot and as he tried to lift the seventh glass to his mouth, the images in his vision collided violently with each other. The glass slipped from his hand to the ground, shattering with a loud sound. The people sitting and standing by stared at him. It wasn't often that a man who had the look of a billionaire would come to such a bar and break tumblers. They began to whisper amongst themselves. Someone took out their phone to record the scene.The barman muttered something under his breath and trudged over to clean the mess up. Liam just sat there, staring at his fingers. They were reddish at the tips.He was aware of the attention around. He knew the barman was saying something to him, but Liam couldn't get himself to
Liam listened to Ethan's lawyer speak. There was a dying flicker of hope in his voice. He had long lost the battle, and the jurors weren't listening to him anymore. But he tried his last weapon: appeal for leniency.And for the record, not long ago, Ethan had been sentenced to twenty-five years in prison, and a wave of terror and silence had coursed through the hundreds of people gathered there.In the offender's box Ethan stood, a shadow of his former self. It was a week since his arrest. And even though his mother, through his plea and Liam's mercy, had been set free on bail, Ethan couldn't get his doom over his head. Liam watched him closely, at his overgrown beards, his unkempt hair, the blood in his eyes. "Your honor," the counsel said, "I understand the seriousness of my client's crime, and I do not condone it. However, I would like to ask for leniency in sentencing. My client has no previous criminal record, and I believe that a sentence of 25 years is excessive. A reduced sen
After the incident with Plum, she became a ghost in the mansion. Elena looked everywhere for her, casually sent other maids to find her, but Plum was always where they had not been.When a maid said she heard her crying in a restroom situated in the basement, Elena ran to the basement. When she got there, the crying had stopped. There was a deep silence. "Break the door open!" Elena shouted with a sense of dread and urgency.The maid went for it, but the door wasn't locked. She opened it and Plum was not there anymore. But Elena had the gut feeling that she was still around there, somewhere."Look, Plum, I know you can hear me," Elena called out, "Whatever game you think you are playing, whatever stunt you want to pull by this shit, would not work. Not in my house. Okay?"She was met with even deeper silence. Her anger built up. "If you want to go crazy, my dear, you can send in your resignation letter, and I'll see you off to the gates myself! Then you can wield your insanity to its
"I don't know how to describe how happy I am," Liam said, "hearing you're pregnant."Elena frowned, as she remembered something. "No, boo, you certainly knew what you were doing. Why didn't you let us have sex all this while?"She saw Liam frown. "Oh, really? I didn't really think about it that way. I was only having fun." He turned to her. "You wanted a baby, too?""I guess as at then," she said, "I didn't. It's all changed now. Then, I only wanted to enjoy this" — she reached out to touch and caress his flaccid dick lying on his belly — "to the fullest. Wanted to suck out every juice you could ever produce.""Eww, I don't produce juice," Liam laughed. "You do.""Let's see who gives the juice first!"she declared, sitting up. Liam was grinning too, perhaps wondering how he got so lucky with a wife who was both an introvert and a sexual creative."What are you trying to do?" he asked, feigning suspicion."How would you like your blowjob? Fast and aggressive, or slow and deep.""This lo
When Liam told Elena to go upstairs, so he would handle his family, she was filled with dread. Not by what the family would to to her as revenge, but for what Liam would do to them. There was so much anger and bitterness in his voice. His eyes were dark and revengeful.And when she passed through their midst, her heart beat with doubled pace. In her room, she couldn't sit quietly. She peeked from the window, saw her husband raving, commanding so much power that even the birds in the sky didn't as much as flicker their wings.She didn't hear some of what was what said, but she picked out the key phrases. And she couldn't help but marvel at the extent her husband was ready to go in his revenge.Not once did she try to interfere, by either calling him on phone to interrupt him, or call his name from the balcony. But she held her reins. Their altercation skyrocketed to a climax, when the gates opened and police sirens filled the air. The police cars rolled into the compound, and everyone
"Liam, you cannot do this to your brother!" Ethan's mother shouted the moment Liam stepped out of the car. "You cannot claim to love him and do this wicked thing to him.""Is he even listening to you?" Mr Paul asked. "He doesn't even remember who you are, talk more of Ethan."Liam allowed his eyes skim through the men and women gathered in front of his mansion. It was just as Chris told. They weren't even sitting. Only his father, whose health was seriously on the decline, was on a chair just behind them, smoking a pipe.Mr Paul spoke again about Liam. "See how he mopes listlessly? I tell you, what he should work on firstly is recovering —""Every dime you all have looted from my company while I was away," Liam cut in, blending in so well that the effect of his statement was an astounded silence.They didn't respond for a while. Maybe they thought not responding would help prove how much of a clueless man Liam was. But Liam had this all prepared. "Hey, El," Liam said to his wife besi
Elena saw the flash from behind Luke. It happened so fast. First, a clean hole on the roof appeared, accentuated by a flash of light. Something metallic hit a pan, bounced off and went through Luke's stomach. Elena heard the bullet — or whatever it was — wheeze past her ear. Her hairs stood on edge.Before her, Luke still stood with his penis in his hand, but a new hole on his chest. He didn't fall immediately, but when there were movements from the roof, he did fall.Elena saw them descend like black angels from the rooftop, or anywhere they might have come from. They were clothed in black, regaled in darkness. Their eyes were flashes of stealth, precision and ruthlessness. In their hands were stout guns, poised to end in a instant the life of anyone who tried to play smart. The red dots of their targets were everywhere on Ethan and his men's clothes. Ethan had more dots."Freeze," a voice said again. "We shall not hesitate to kill whoever moves a muscle."Ethan yelped and tried to
"You see what's inside?" Ethan asked."Ethan, what is the meaning of this?" Liam asked through the phone."I asked, what is inside!""An agreement for transfer of ownership, Liam whispered."That's right. I want you to sign the paper and place it back into the case. I'll get the notification here if that has been done."There was a prolonged silence from Liam's side. Ethan idly shook his feet which were propped on a table. Then he looked to his right to see Elena, tied to a chair. She had long stopped crying now, and all that left her throat was a hollow moan.Ethan motioned to Luke and the four other men who were with him in that underground. "Take the gag off her mouth," he ordered.Liam heard this, and reacted immediately. "You gagged my wife?!" he shouted. "Ethan, you had the temerity to put a gag on Elena's mouth?"Ethan chuckled. "Oh. Look who's hurt and shaky. But that's not even all." He glanced over to see Elena immediately double up to throw up. Ethan smiled and turned back
Liam sat there, gasping, and moving his head back and forth. A lot was going on in his brain, in his mind and heart. He could feel each throb, bringing back with it a cascade of memories."Where's Elena?" he asked himself, remembering he had a wife, who he had been treating like trash. She was right, after all! Liam's hands began to shake against the wheel. The world seemed to slow down around him."Where are Charlie, Olive and James?"The name Charlie stuck to his mind. Charlie. The last image he remembered of him was when he was down on the alley, being pumped by bullets, shaking.He had done that to save him.Liam swallowed and glanced away. The tears that streamed from his eyes had become heavy. Flowing from the depth of his soul. His nose ran freely.Charlie had given himself for him.Liam's thoughts were violently interrupted by a blast on his windshield. He turned to see his chasers lined up shoulder to shoulder, their guns raised to their eyes. They began to fire bullets on L
Liam stared at the man standing before him, anger and frustration in Liam's face. Something was seeping into his brain. He was trying hard to remember who the man was. And he was so close to it!"Here are pictures of us," Charlie said, showing him a screen full of pictures. Liam recognized himself in the pictures. But the man next to him... Good heavens.They were standing under the shade of a random tree in the streets. Liam had no idea how Charlie had found him there. Liam was about concluding his arrangements for the soldiers to go arrest Ethan. "I'm trying," Liam finally admitted. "I do recognize myself, but it is like looking into a photoshopped picture. I can't explain how this is happening."Charlie's face was kind. "I understand. The doctor gave us a forewarning, so I really understand. You're already doing great. I just want to be by your side.""Why?" Liam asked."Because the men who had tried to killer you are back again."Liam's eyebrows crinkled. "What sre you talking ab