Chapter 13: Kinda-Girlfriend Alena Fleur"Here," Elian said, putting down Lance's laptop on the coffee table."Are you sure we're allowed to use your brother's laptop?" I asked skeptically as Elian sat beside me and started typing the password."Sure, why not?" he shrugged and let me have the laptop.I shook my head at his brazenness and opened Lance's mail box. I added my email account and logged in, but there were no new mails with any attachments. "Did I not press 'send'?""I wouldn't be surprised if you didn't," Elian responded dryly. "Why don't you check the draft?""Even if it got saved in the draft, it wouldn't be here.""Then where would it be?""In my other account.""Why do you have two email accounts?""So that I can send myself emails," I simply answered. "Why don't you log into that account?" he suggested.I sighed hopelessly. "I don't remember its password. The password is in my phone's notepad.""Well, I guess we are back to square one." He closed Lance's laptop and g
Chapter 14: Shopping Adventure Alena Fleur When I got out of my room in the morning, I was greeted with the sight of Lance making coffee for himself."Good morning, Lance," I wished. I decided to call him by his first name since it would be weird to call both brothers 'Mr. Storm'."Morning, Ms. Fleur," he wished back."You can just call me Alena," I said."Okay," he simply agreed. "I didn't see you bring any bag of clothes last night," he mentioned.I looked at the pink cotton t-shirt and pajama shorts. Surprisingly, those female clothes in the drawer were my perfect size, though I didn't dare wear any of the undergarments of an unknown person."No, I didn't. These belong to your brother's kinda-girlfriend," I replied."Kinda-girlfriend?" Lance asked in confusion."Yes, do you know about her?"He didn't bother replying to me.I pouted and looked at the delicious cup of espresso he just finished making. "Do you mind making me one?""Yes, I do," he replied shortly."You know, your bro
Chapter 15: Tampered LaptopsAlena Fleur "Do you think they will come in here?""Maybe."We were both trying to catch our breaths after making a dash from the food court on the third floor to the men's bathroom on the ground floor. We were going to run out of the mall at once, but the security guard, who noticed us, had already informed the others to block the main and back exits, so we were stuck now.The bathroom seemed to be the best option, so we hid in here. Thank goodness, there were no other men at that time, otherwise, I might have gotten traumatized for life.When I finally managed to regulate my breathing, I noticed how close the two of us were standing.The situation seemed really funny, actually. Just a week ago, I couldn't have pictured in my wildest dreams that I would be hiding in a shopping mall's public men's toilet with my boss.Elian seemed to have noticed my expression. However, he didn't ask me anything and only tried to suppress his own chuckle. Was he thinking
Chapter 16: Split Personality Alena Fleur"Damn, there's nothing in them," said Jace Quentin, another of Elian's best friends and consigliere of his gang."You mean, everything has been deleted?" I asked dreadfully.Jace nodded. He was called here to crack the new passwords of Elian and my laptops. He was successful, of course, but our laptops were completely clean. There was not a single file or document.All my hard work and saved files were now… gone. I hoped whoever did this hit their pinky toe on the table corner many times."Can't you retrieve them?" Elian asked."I will try, but it might take some time," Jace replied."Good luck," Ashton mumbled, cleaning up the dishes from our dinner. He had ended up not only making lunch for us but also dinner because Elian and I were both incompetent in the cooking division."Ashton, don't do the dishes. It's Elian's turn tonight," I hollered as Ashton put the dishes in the sink."It's fine. Ash is happy to do it for me," Elian responded, a
Chapter 17: Like Home Alena FleurI opened my eyes to the familiar black ceiling. My head was throbbing, so I tried to reach out my hand to massage my forehead, only to feel a weight on it.I glanced down to find Elian holding onto my hand while he talked over the phone in whispers."—I don't want to take any risks, Dr. Hopkins. She is—" Elian paused when he realized I was awake. "I will call you later. She's awake." He put down his phone and brought his face to hover over me. "How do you feel right now, Alena?"I tried to get up, and he helped me. "Get up slowly," he instructed.When I was sitting up, I said, "I feel okay now.""What happened? Did your blood pressure drop or something?" Elian inquired."I don't know. Did I faint in the gym?" I asked.He nodded and asked, "Do you remember what happened?"I tried to recall, but I just remembered walking away from Elian at the ab crunch machine. "I don't remember.""Nothing at all?" I shook my head. "Nothing that woman said?""What wom
Chapter 18: PeriodsAlena FleurThe next day, when I woke up on the couch with a blanket on top of me, I vaguely remembered hearing Elian saying something before I fell asleep, but I assumed it was my imagination and went to get ready to go to the gym.Just then, I realized I got my periods. Shit.And I had no tampons. Double shit.But thankfully, there was no stain on the couch. If there had been, Lance would have surely poisoned me next time.I quickly made my way to my temporary room and grabbed a ton of tissues to make do for now. For some strange reason, I felt stubborn not to take help from Elian. I could have easily asked him to buy some tampons for me, but I didn't want to.He would do it for me, no doubt, but it felt inappropriate to ask my boss to buy my tampons for me. I was taking advantage of him, but obviously, there was a limit to it.Plus, I had dealt with this situation a few times before since I lived alone in my apartment and I sometimes forgot to stock up on tampon
Chapter 19: Acceptance Alena FleurHow could I like Elian? He was a freaking murderer! He was a mafia leader! He was my rude boss!No way, it was absolutely impossible.My heart definitely didn't flutter when he handed me my espresso every morning. It most definitely didn't race whenever we were alone and he was close to me. It surely also didn't skip a beat when he smiled. I obviously didn't ogle his body when he worked out in the gym. I certainly didn't stare at his lips in the middle of conversations. I clearly didn't want him to stay longer with me anytime we had to part.Those were just delusions my periods caused.Now, after five days, my periods were over, and I wasn't going to care a single bit about Elian—"Ouch!"I ran to the kitchen to find Elian hissing in pain. "What happened?""I touched the bowl without wearing gloves," he said, motioning at the microwave where he was supposed to be heating up our lunch."You're only clumsy when you're stressed out, so tell me, Elian,
Chapter 20: Perfect Chance Alena Fleur Later that night, Elian got a call from Jace that he managed to retrieve all of our files in our laptops and that he was sending them over with Ashton. When Ashton arrived, he informed, "Guys, I think we discovered who is behind all of it." "Which company?" Elian asked. "Not a company. It's a gang. Remember the XS gang?" Ashton asked. Elian clenched his jaw as he spat out, "Yes, what about it?" "XS gang leader's son, Xavier, joined the Blacklist gang and took control over it, and now, he's seeking revenge from you." I was totally lost in the conversation, but I at least wanted to understand a little bit of it, so I asked, "Why does Xavier want revenge from Elian?" Ashton shot a wary glance at Elian before replying, "Because he annihilated the entire XS gang." "Why did you do that?" I asked Elian. His jaw hardened as he spoke, "They started it first. They hurt my—" He closed his eyes as if he was recalling something horrible, and I place
Prequel- Chapter 15: GoodbyeElian Storm"David, I am willing to surrender myself if you hand over Alena to me safely," the steady but desperate words I uttered over the phone were ones I never imagined doing."You are such a fool, Elian. I never thought you would stoop this low for love. Such a disappointment," came the sneering response of the leader of XS gang, David Garner."I don't have the time for chit-chat, David. Do we have a deal or not?""Alright, you got it. Come to the location I will send you. I know I don't have to say this to you but come alone and unarmed," he warned.I hung up the call without bothering to reply."Elian, I don't have a goo
Prequel- Chapter 14: Last FightElian Storm"What should I say when I first meet them, Lance?" I asked, feeling slightly jittery."For the umpteenth time, Elian, I don't care," Lance replied flatly."Come on, help your brother out here," I whined."How should I know, man? Do you think I have experience with meeting my girlfriend's parents?" Lance retorted."Right, you don't have a girlfriend," I snorted."Who needs a trouble like that?" he said with a bored look."It's not a trouble—""Besides, can you just be a little disappointed that the XS members e
Prequel- Chapter 13: Hidden TruthAlena FleurAs time passed by quickly, the minutes blended into hours, the days slipped through my fingers, and before I realized it, weeks turned into months, and months transformed into years.Finally, it was here.My graduation.It felt as though it was just a few days ago when Elian graduated, but before I knew it, it was already my time to graduate.These past two and a half years we spent with each other was an enchanting experience that filled my heart with lasting memories of joy and love. I never wanted to forget these wonderful times.I was smiling through my university album when my phone rang.
Prequel- Chapter 12: Chance RuinedElian Storm"Fucking hell, just get off already," I muttered under my breath, trying to get rid of the stubborn blood stain on my phone case.It was my favorite one, and yet, in a rush, I made the mistake of picking up Alena's phone while my hands were all bloody. I couldn't ignore it, either, knowing all too well how Alena would scold me."Looks like I will just have to order a new exact one—"Just then, I heard the front door open."Shit. I really shouldn't have given my key to her." But what else could I do? It would be suspicious if I didn't, given that we had been dating for one and a half years now.I threw my
Prequel- Chapter 11: For HimAlena FleurI stayed quiet as Elian vented out his anger.I stayed quiet as he confessed he loved me.I stayed quiet as he walked out on me, shutting the door in my face.I wanted to stop him, but my muscles wouldn't move. I became numb. He had always made me speechless, but never in this way. My chest had never hurt like this before.My legs gave up, and I plopped down on the edge of his bed, tears stinging my eyes."What should I do? Wha–what should I do?" I asked myself, my voice choking up. "What if... what if he never comes back?"I buried my face in my hands, full on sobb
Prequel- Chapter 10: Unleashing The AngerElian StormI was deep in my slumber when I heard shuffling around me. I peeked an eye open to find Alena running around my room in a hurry while getting dressed."Good morning, babe," I mumbled groggily, stretching my arms and rising up from the bed.Alena stopped in the middle of putting on her cardigan and came to give me a hurried kiss. "Good morning, baby. Did you sleep well?""I always sleep well when you are with me," I replied and tried to catch her for another kiss, but she was already on her way to the dressing table to grab her hairbrush."Of course, I'm the most huggable person ever," she praised herself.I smiled looki
Prequel- Chapter 9: First DateAlena Fleur"You are a man of your words, I see," I teased when I opened the door and found Elian sporting a red denim jacket."I had to go buy this," he grumbled, rolling his eyes.I laughed and kissed his cheek. "Baby, it was a joke, though."Yesterday, after my exams were over after one week, we were riding on his motorbike when I told him that he had to wear something red for me since we missed our chance to celebrate Valentine's Day. It was solely for the purpose of teasing him. As expected, he profusely denied it, but in the end, he gave in to my persistence and said that he would wear a red denim jacket or shirt.The more time I spent with him, the more
Prequel- Chapter 8: Midterm CrisisElian StormIt was midnight.Standing on the deck of a yacht, I was watching over the unloading of cargo full of illegal products on the dock. The movements were swift and quiet, though. The only sounds which could be heard was the waves crashing against the dock and the creaking of the wood underneath the footsteps. Although there was a touch of nervousness in the air. None of the men dared to misplace a single item under my watch.In short, I was getting bored. I wanted to see Alena.That reminds me..."Did Braxton agree to shift their business somewhere else?" I asked my consigliere in a low voice. Braxton was the head of the gang that ruled the crime activities
Prequel- Chapter 7: Heart StringsAlena FleurThe moving day finally came. It was the first day of February—the first day I would live alone.The days leading up to here had been torture because I hated packing. But I comforted myself with the dreams of the end result.My roommates had kindly offered me help, but I humbly denied it. I didn't have too many things to bring anyway. I just accepted Tiara and Sara's help. They were the ones I hung around the most during classes—also the ones who teased me the most about Elian."Al, why didn't Elian come?" Sara whined."So that you could tease him? No way in hell," I told her, opening a carton of my books and keeping the books in their place on t