“Is it really necessary?” My voice remains gloomy as I ask, taking a look at the mirror. “Absolutely.” Owen excitedly replies, standing behind me. I look back at him, narrowing my eyes suspiciously. He is acting weird. Usually he is the one who despises Cruiz the most. Something must have happened between them when they were college buddies. Owen even despised the floor Cruiz walked on. So, it's absolutely weird that he is the most excited one about me going on a dinner date with the very person he seems to scorn to death.“What's with you?” My voice was laced with curiosity, “Why are you so excited?Instead of replying to me, he offers me a toothy grin. Without uttering a word, he fixes my hair. “Now you look good.” He compliments, “Huh! I would love to see that fuckers's face when he sees you. You look absolutely stunning, baby doll.” He continues, causing me to blush a little. Punching his chest, I take a seat beside Bella on the couch who hasn't said anything till now. She is
It would be a total understatement to say we shared a very thick awkward silence in the car, looking at everything but at anyone else. Why is it taking too long to reach the forsaken dinner party?“Kids, you know.” The driver gives a huge chuckle, looking behind briefly. “Little Georgie is still the same.” Spencer adds, shaking his head in amusement. “She takes it from you, bud.” The middle aged man says. “And they say you are the father.” Spencer shrugs his shoulders, feigning innocence. Did he take a whole 180 degree turn? Yes, he did. His awkwardness is long forgotten. He is engrossed in the conversation with his driver, making me feel like the third wheel. Give it to him to make me feel like the odd one out in every scenario. When he is with me, he is a sour lemon, but when he is with others, he is the sunshine making everyone feel bright. Did I commit some kind of sin to be at the receiving end of this kind of treatment? No, it can't be. He can't be the only one to treat me
“How dare-” one hard punch. “-you touch her.” Followed by another punch. The aching pain in my jaw is nothing compared to the scene unfolding in front of me. On one hand, thousands of butterflies are settling in my stomach, giving me a feeling that I've never felt before. Cared for. Prioritized. Growing up, I always wanted to be cared for because I was just so tired of taking care of everything and everyone without getting anything in return. Needless to say, I've always been carrying that hollowness in my chest. Seeing Spencer getting so violent, beating the shit out of those giants who weigh like a ton, asking them how dare they touch me, are making me feel things. Things which should be banned from being felt by me. On the other hand, the rational side of my mind is telling me to stop him before he ends up killing anyone. Cars have started to stop to witness the drama. It won't long when people start to call the cops, if they haven't called them already. Snapping out of my contra
“It's alright.” I assure Spencer for the 100th time in the last few minutes, “Stop touching your lips. You don't wanna be obvious, do you?” He shakes his head immediately which I find utterly adorable. He is acting so adorable that my mind is pulled into a delusion where Spencer Cruiz is this adorable guy who plays right into my fantasy. He is so perfect in this reverie of mine that my mind almost forgets about his potential girlfriend and child. The useless crush that I've on him grows bigger the more he acts clueless and nervous. This reminds me of the day when I realized I developed a crush on my boss even though he was a hard ass. He looked as charming as usual that day. It was something else in his aura that pulled me in. He could have avoided the deal that day as it didn't make us much profit. But he stood in his place and fought for the deal, not letting power hungry people take it. He took the deal to help out the people who were residing in that area. That day I realized his
“Are you alright, sweetie?” Grammy asks, giving me a tissue paper from the tray. “Uhh…Yeah.” I fumble with my words, taking the tissue while looking at the lady in front of me. What is this Karen doing here? She wasn't supposed to be here. If only I knew it's Spencer's evil aunt, I would behave well enough with her. But then again, why am I getting worried? I need to unimpress and this may give me a head start. Moreover, she made Spencer upset somehow. “Oh, honey, you sure are clumsy.” Grammy shakes her head in amusement, laughing as I clean my dress. “You….” The lady raises an accusatory finger at me, “Where do I know you from?” She appears to fight hard with her memory. So, she doesn't remember and yet she is fuming. Is she always so rude? That won't surprise me. “Well, I do look like a supermodel. I won't be surprised if you think you know me from somewhere.” I'm quick to answer, making sure I sound as unfriendly as I can while smiling sweetly. She has the audacity to scoff
Silence prevails in the house for a while. My blood boils in my vein. The sound of the slap still rings in my ears. How could she do that? Who gave her the right to strike at me like that? But it's not the thing that's making me lose my temper. It's how she slapped Spencer. He didn't deserve it, not after he fought with those goons for me earlier. With rage dominating every but of my sense, I stand beside Spencer. “How dare you?” I almost yell at her, eyes burning with anger. “Just because you've money do you think that you can treat anyone like shit? Who the fuck gave you the right?” Her eyes widened hearing me swear at her. What did she expect? Did she think I would politely answer her after she threw a fit like a freaking toddler? I wasn't wrong that day about her. She is an absolute imbecile.She still has the audacity to come at me. She raises her hand again. Oh, I'm ready to throw the dish at her face. At this point, I don't care that she is Spencer's aunt nor I'm doing it t
His words hit me harder than a sack of bricks. Is it really over? He was pestering me to unimpress his grandmother by blackmailing me, as bizarre as that sounds. Now he wants to tell me that it's over. I went through the trouble for nothing. I shouldn't be complaining right now. Isn't that what I wanted all along? Then why am I having a hard time swallowing his words? Why am I feeling as if my world just crumbled down in front of my eyes? As his words sank down in my mind, I realized how messed up I really am. I was still clinging on to the hope that I could give meaning to my hopeless crush on my boss even when I know he has a potential girlfriend with a child. How could I stoop so low? “Now you can freely be with your girlfriend.” My heart sinks as I utter those words out loud. Spencer frowns, “What are you on?” I scoff at his act of ignorance. I still can't put my finger around the reason why he is keeping his relationship with his girlfriend a secret but it doesn't mean it doe
“What's this?” Spencer narrows his eyes at the content on his table. Like a novice spy, I study his reaction carefully. And just like a novice spy, I find nothing out of the ordinary. His regular demanding tone and suspicious look on his face are all I get. “It's a flyer.” My response doesn't help him and it shows. He grows impatient with me. “It's about parenting classes. They are giving the first two classes free as trial classes.” His eyebrows remain raised as if he were silently asking me where I was going with it. “What's this doing on my desk?” His voice is calm and collected as usual. “Nothing. I was thinking of giving it to my older sister. She is having a baby.” With that I snatch the flyer from his hand. I'm a loser when it comes to lying. The truth is that I still can't fully trust him. That night he claimed he didn't have a girlfriend. But how could I let the fact slide that he was talking about a child with someone? I just wanted to confirm something. I wanted a rea
I barely slept last night. As if I didn't already have enough on my plate, I now have to worry about Spencer digging into my past and getting close to a secret that I am willing to guard with my life. I could have approached him and caught him red handed last night. I could yell at him for going behind my back. But I didn't. I had to stop myself from making a mistake. He is gonna get ideas if I act too aggressive. Even though he has given me reasons to believe that he is good at respecting boundaries and being cooperative, can I really believe him when made the decision to dig into my mother's past without consulting me first? Can I really believe him with what's left of my past? “Fuck it.” I curse under my breath, lighting up a cigarette. It's been a long while since I smoked, but it's about damn time I lit up one again. I don't wanna see Spencer at the time and I need to think. With my sleep derived brain which is constantly trying to bring me down by making me relive my horrible
“Have a safe drive home.” I tell him when he is done washing his hands after washing the dishes. I couldn't have asked for a better guest. He insisted on washing the dishes even though he cooked the meal. I tried to refuse. No matter what the situation is, he needs to be the stubborn one. So, I let him be. His eyebrows shoot up in a questioning manner. “What?” “Aren't you going home?”He gives me a look that tells me that I'm an idiot. After looking at me with blank eyes for a moment, he speaks up, “I'm not leaving you alone here tonight.” I want to argue, but his voice leaves no room for argument. I should be mad at him for being so demanding. However, I find myself feeling a whole different emotion. Warmth. It's what I feel seeing him so fiercely protective of me. “Spencer, you must be tired.” I try to reason with him. “Right.” He agrees, flashing me a tired smile on cue, “That's why I'm gonna take your couch and sleep there like a deadweight if you don't mind me doing that.”
I thought I was the one dominating the situation, that I had the situation under my thumb. Oh, how wrong I was. It doesn't take much for Spencer to show me my place. As his hands trace over my breast, his mouth attacks my delicate neck. He leaves his marks on my neck more passionately than I did, leaving me a moaning mess. My hands comb through his hair not so gently. I won't be surprised if I'm hurting his scalp right now. None of us care about it though. We are too lost in our world of lust and sensation. If we could turn into one body, we would definitely do that. We are way too close to each other with him holding me against the wall, fueling my desire more by the every passing second. Moments later, we are a panting mess. Our eyes meet as we savour the moment. There's something in his eyes that I can't quite place. They look hungry for more no doubt, but there is also something else hiding there. I dare not question it though it piques my curiosity. “Should we-” before he can s
“You alright?” Spencer asks, carrying the curry to the table as I stand near the couch with my phone in my hand. “Yeah.” I don't sound so reassuring even to my own ears. “Who was it?” He asks, setting the table. Who? I wish I had some knowledge. I racked through my brain to come up with something. Maybe I'm overthinking. The text sounded like a threat, but was it really a threat? Sure, the person knows my name, but I can't determine a tone through texts. “Uh-” I open my mouth to say something, but Spencer beats me to it. “I'm sorry. I'm stepping out of the boundary. You don't need to tell me anything.” He lays out his words carefully, finally looking at me. I shake my head, smiling a little. I don't know what got into him, but he's acting like a perfect gentleman. The sensible part of me is telling me not to fall for it, but the wild part of me is enjoying every bit of it. Right now, I don't even care. I need to do something to get the stress off of my chest. He is the perfect d
My mind is still racing. The place is quiet and yet I can hear all the bustling noises of the shady hospital where my mother dragged me to abort the child, I can still feel the pain in my belly. My hand instinctively flies towards my belly, rubbing it.“It's not as good as yours, but this ought to do.” Spencer's voice pulls me back from my dream world. “Huh?” I ask, confused. “Coffee.” He replies, pointing at the streaming cup on the table in front of me.“Oh.” I utter, “Thank you.” It seems like the total reversal of this evening. Huh. How can things change in such a small amount of time, huh? I didn't think I would be at the receiving end of his care so soon or at all. My eyes follow how he tries to draw out a smile to reassure me it's fine, but his smile doesn't reach his eyes. When he determines it's enough reassurance, he sets back towards the kitchen to cook God knows what. I finally did it. I kicked my mother out of my house. It took ages for me to do so, but I did it. I t
I was scared of David, my mother's new boyfriend. He wasn't just scary, he was downright evil. Unfortunately for me, my mother refused to see that side of him. I didn't totally blame her though. Her whole life was fucked up. Being a prostitute, she never got even a bit of respect from anyone. She was a trash under everyone's shoes. She didn't even value herself. She didn't even know who got her pregnant with me. It was David who showed her respect and cared for her. Little did she know his show of care was nothing but a facade. David was someone who could make me tremble like a leaf in a disastrous storm just by the mention of his name. It's not like he physically hurt me. No. He found my face and body too pretty to scar it. But that didn't mean he didn't leave me broken. I was the rag doll in his hands, and he was a rough motherfucker. For some moments I was happy with him as well. My mother was a druggie prostitute. I never got the love I deserved from her. I craved it my whole li
“Up until now, I didn't even know your name, John. If you don't want to get your ass beaten and thrown in jail for assaulting someone, I suggest you pack your bag and get the hell out of my life because I swear to God if I see you even within 100 meters of my home, you are gonna regret ever knowing me.” It takes every bit of strength and willpower for me not to stutter, and I'm damn proud of it. Total silence embraces us following my outburst. I bet no one expected me to explode this way. Looking at the shocked face of everyone around, I can confirm it. However, it's not only surprise that's on their faces. When I look at Spencer, he gives me a subtle, proud smile. Relief starts to nest in my stomach, but I forgot my mother is in the same room. I forgot that as long as she is present, happiness and relief can't have the bravery to knock at my door. “Is that how you pay back your mother?” Her tone remorseful, cheeks full of crocodile tears. I fucking hate myself sometimes. I know wh
After my little panic attack, it was a silent journey to my home. I tried to tell him I could take a taxi home but he didn't listen. He insisted on tagging along. If he already didn't know how my mother's brain was wired with ultimate greed, I wouldn't take his offer, not that I had the luxury of making that decision. Time's crucial now. Spencer's hand brushes over mine as he pretends not to see my hand and rest his hand. I withdraw my hand automatically. He appears flustered, his cheek taking the colour of crimson. “I'm sorry.” He apologises in a small voice, avoiding eye contact and focusing on the road. “It's alright.” I assure him. I tell myself the same thing. I'm just rattled by whatever happened. There is no way I would have reacted to this way otherwise. It feels like my skin is burning. I hate feeling this vulnerable. After that, we are back to silence. I can feel his occasional gaze on me. He is making sure I'm not breaking into a panic attack again. I'm mortified to ha
While Spencer is gone to take the urgent phone call, my phone vibrates beside me. I let it ring, knowing it must be my mother asking for yet another favour. I was lucky to get my apartment to myself for a few days while I was dealing with the incident with Spencer. She went to a little staycation with her fiance before her big wedding, and of course she had to take her favourite daughter with her. Fortunately or unfortunately, I'm not the favourite daughter. When the phone rings again, I fish out the phone from my purse with an annoyed sigh. To my surprise, it's Owen who is calling. “What do you need, Owen?” I try to sound annoyed. “ A lawyer would be great. Thank you.” He sounds anything but kidding. And there it goes again. I thought I could get a moment of silence and peace after the storm I went through. Turns out, God doesn't want me to rest. Great. He must think I'm strong enough to handle all the problems he throws at me one after another. “What happened?” I ask as I gathe