You are trending,” Lisa shouts throwing herself to the sofa beside Aiden who is seated down in front of the coffee table, she opens the can of coke letting the gas drizzle when she takes a sip.
She looks up resting her head on the sofa to look at Lisa who is scrolling down her phone with an ear-to-ear smile on her face. The excitement on her face drowns when she looks down at Aiden who stares at an empty space her eyebrows furrowed in a deep thought.“Den, are you okay?” she asks tossing the phone to aside.After short moment of silence Aiden closes her eyes and inhales a deep breath in and lets it out as she opens her eyes “Nothing,” she sighs running her hand through her hair as she sits straight taking the can and takes a huge gulp of the chill cola letting the gas play in her throat “Why am I trending?,” she asks picking up Lisa’s phone she unlocks it, her eyes squints when the image displays, moving the screen closer to her vision she scrolls down at the multiple images with different titles and new comments keep popping up.“How are you with him?” Lisa questions her voice comes out loud as she slides down sitting beside Aiden.“You know him?” Aiden questions puzzled.“He is my idol,” she clasps her hands closing her eyes like dreaming a fairy tale “He is handsome, charming and, wait!” she alarms opening her eyes facing Aiden who is staring at her with curled eyebrows and unevenly formed lips “How come you are with him?” She exclaims.“Idol?” she repeats “no wonder many were staring, I just ran into him,” “Ran into him? How?” Lisa asks impatiently.“The job which I applied,”“Yeah,”“The son is him,” she explains rubbing the back of her neck.“Really, Wooooooooow,” Lisa hugs her by the side in excitement “You just kissed him which is the dream of every fan girl,”“Kiss?” Aiden repeats dryly “It was an accident,” she brushes off.“Anyways it was a kiss, how was it?” She giggles her mind picturing the scene of the images.“Girls like you might be cursing me right now,” Aiden turns to her right facing Lisa questionably “Aren’t you mad as the people in the comments because I just kissed your idol,” “I would If it was someone but you, now I’m excited on the fact that my friend is closer to him,” Lisa holds Aiden’s arm resting her head on Aiden’s right shoulder, she flutters her eyes “Introduce him to me later,” she blurts.Moving the can close to Aiden’s mouth she rolls her eyes “We are not close, don’t think too much,” she says dryly as she gulps down the cola.The ringing of the phone plays in the messy room for a while, groaning aloud his hand makes its way out of the duvet over him, his finger swipes up the green call icon while he stays on the bed, his body arched. He Puts the phone on speaker and buries his face in his hands waiting till the voice on the side hit his ears.“Are you fucking out of your mind,” Evan yells “Didn’t you want to get back on stage,” he screeches “You are being bashed online,” he growls his expectation of getting another job destroyed.Riley’s fingers crawl up to his hair pulling it out of its roots as he kicks on the mattress, he cries “I know,” he bawls continuously kicking the mattress “That was my first kiss,” he squeezes his eyes shut replaying the scene in the bus.“First kiss,” Evan repeats aloud in surprise “Is that something to be worried about now? Your image is being ruined online,” he grunts low trying to calm himself despite the fact that he resigned for Riley as being Riley’s personal manager created a special bond with in them.Riley lays himself on the bed spreading his arms wide his posture in a shape of a star, he stares at the ceiling and scowls “What am I supposed to do?”“Try to fix this or,” “Or?”“Let's find a solution together,” Evan hangs up.Riley closes his eyes taking a deep breath he lets it out furrowing his brows when the picture of Aiden on him flashes “How can she take it so easy?” he lifts his eyelids, staring at the ceiling again “Is she used to kiss….,” he jolts up sitting straight with his legs crossed, he rubs his chin and speaks to himself “Why am I so troubled? It’s just an accident and wouldn’t be taken as my first kiss,” he snaps his finger his lips spreading to a grin “It's not a big deal for me too,” he shrugs his shoulders and gets off the bed. He looks around the messy room and strolls out of his room, he steps back from the entering the washroom when the doorbell rings. He looks down at himself the only piece of cloth is the towel around his waist, despite he answers the door knowing that it’s Evan. His eyes widen when he pulls the door open his lips apart, he blinks once and gulps down his saliva moving his gaze to the ground he looks straight “Why are you here?” he asks Aiden making sure that his voice comes out casually yet his mind never stopped replaying the incident.She stops talking to the caller and moves the phone away from her ear, showing him the screen where is name Mr. Mintz is displayed. Riley stares at the screen for a while at the back of his mind agreeing that he cannot escape from her because of his dad, his brain suddenly clicks on something which makes him face her, those eyes ready fall out of its socket. He bites his lower lip noticing her furrowed eyebrows, he follows her gaze looking down at himself.He holds onto the white towel which is around his waist above his knees and exclaims “Give me a sec,” he steps back slams the door shut resting his shoulder on door “Dad, why am I oblivious?” he sighs feeling ashamed. Grabbing the bathrobe from the rack he wears it and walks back to the door, taking a deep breath in he lets out “Be normal,” he orders himself as he pulls down the door knob. Aiden waits outside crossing her hands over her chest tapping her feet to the floor, the noise of her boot tapping on the tiled floor is the only sound in the specific floor of the apartment. Riley curls his lips inside when he looks at her, he moves aside to allow her in, before he utters a word, she steps in rushing to the balcony she looks out checking around ignoring the owner following her. “Hey, hey,” Riley calls out as he steps back leaving her place to return to the hall “Who gave you the permission to come in,” he snarls crossing his arms over his chest, he raises a brow at her questionably when she faces him.“Your dad,” she answers as she exits the balcony and takes her seat on the sofa, Riley follows her and stops in front of the table between the sofas.“Seriously, did he tell you to barge into my house,” he points his index finger at her curling his eyebrows.Aiden nods in reply, she raises her eyebrows when his phone rings.Grumbling under his breath he runs to the room and answers the call of his dad putting it on speaker.“Why didn’t you tell me that she is coming home?” Riley barks as he grabs all the dresses on the floor and throws it to the corner of the room.“I called you many times but your line was busy,” Mintz explains.“From today onwards Aiden will follow you,”“Aiden?” he mentions her name for the first time as he stops his actions, jumping forward to the cupboard he moves the phone to his ear, he calls out low “Dad,” he sighs “Do you have any idea what’s happening online, if people see her around me again, I’m sure that……,”“That’s none of my business,” Mr. Mintz cuts off.“How come it’s none of your business when I’m your son,”“Keeping you safe from my doing is my business, and now it’s your doing,” Mintz blurts smiling in the other side “It's not like you haven’t been in any mess before and how was the kiss,” Mintz chuckles.“Kiss! It was an accident,” Riley explains.“I know that your image is being ruined right now, as you’re my son I’ll give you an idea,”“What is it?” Riley asks Instantly interested as he sits on the bed waiting till his father speaks.“Make her your girlfriend,”“You seriously got the nerve to joke now “Riley grunts under breath as he hangs up the call and tosses the phone on the bed. He hops in the shower taking a long time than usual to piss Aiden, after ages he walks out dresses up and leaves the room. His eyes widen at his surrounding watching three men dressed in blue walking around holding some electrical items.“Wait, Wait,” he stops one of them who walks pass him and asks “What’s happening here?”“Fixing the cameras sir,” the technician replies.“Camera?” he repeats his voice comes out loud in surprise “Who called you?”“Madam,” he points to his left where Aiden orders one of them to fix the camera at the right angle.Riley runs his hand through his hair in frustration gritting his teeth he stomps towards her “You’re making me lose my patience right now,” he yells flaring in anger “Who gave you the permission to fix cameras in my place? Are you doing all these for money? You just want get paid for doing your job, how about this. I’ll pay you a higher amount. I’ll pay you three times the amount dad will pay you if you sleep with me right now, I’m sure that you will be fine to sell your body for the filthy money,” he stops glaring at her as she chews onto her inner cheek and keeps a step forward, Riley regrets the very next second of his words his expression softens watching her silent. Aiden keeps another step forward; in a blink of an eye, she grips his right arm and twists it behind his back bending him over the sofa head “Ow. Ow,” Riley hisses holding his shoulder with his left hand taken back by her action “Let me go,” he begs struggling in her grip which is strong to keep him still or he is weak to fight her.“Your words were really rude, you know?” Aiden asks dryly watching him from behind, ordering the workers to continue with their job she looks down at him.“I know…I know,” Riley stutters.“So?” she says twisting his arm making him to let out a scream.“So,” he repeats curiously out of habit “Oh. Oh,” he howls when her grip tightens “I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” he apologizes trying to take a look of her “Let me go now,” he requests softly.Aiden keeps a step back and let's go of his arm when the doorbell rings, Riley holds onto his right arm rubbing over his muscles passing a glance at Aiden who is talking to the worker he hurries to the door grumbling under his breath as he complains that she is a witch.“What’s taking you so long to open the door?” Evan exclaims the very next second the door opens “You are just in trouble with some crazy girl and I should be answering numerous calls explaining,” Riley raises his brows curling his lips in, leaving way for Evan to enter, he follows him inside.“Whoever that girl is, I don’t care ask her to apolo…,” Evan stops in his tracks his eyes glued on Aiden who stares at him with her hands crossed over her chest.From Aiden he turns to his right with the expression of what’s-going-on-here.What?” Aiden and Riley shouts in unison, taking a glance at each other they face Evan who is seated on the centre sofa and both of them are at his either side.Adjusting his glasses, he lets out a sigh, after a long explanation of the current situation he couldn’t accept their answer, which is still in a question mark. He pulls out a file from his bag and places it on the coffee table in front of him, Aiden’s and Riley’s eyes move to the table following his actions and they look straight at each other and again at Evan. Evan calls out “Riley,” he continues intertwining his fingers he leans forward facing Riley “ I know that you are afraid to read the comments online,” he states which makes Aiden to look at Riley “Articles have been posted overnight and you know that there are people against you already, “Evan explains his eyes never leaving Riley who stares down at the carpeted floor “They're saying that you are playing over another girl to fulfil your desires,” his voice stiffens as
Pinching the bridge of his nose, Evan walks to and fro, he furrows his eyebrows and stops in front of Aiden and Riley who are seated next to each other on the sofa “Something is off,” he exhales observing the both of them.“What’s missing?” Riley asks curiously.“It’s just…,” Evan points at Riley and at Aiden “You both don’t look good together,” he sighs “How come other couples look perfect together even if there is nothing between them,” he explains almost talking to himself.Riley knits his eyebrows and turns to his left taking a glance at Aiden who stares at an empty space her expression clearly showing that she is not interested, his lips move to an uneven smile when he faces Evan “I get you,” he blurts nodding his head understanding the stiff air with in them.Evan orders moving his hand showing the position “Move a little closer,” he states which makes Aiden to pass a glance at Riley when his shoulder touched hers “I doubt that people would believe,” Evan continues his eyes neve
Aiden’s P.O.V“I’m sorry for disturbing,” Mr. Mintz says as he takes a sip of his coffee “Make your order,” he pushes the menu to my direction“I had dinner with your son,” I smile moving forward.“It’s good to know that you can get along with him, he is such a trouble,” he chuckles dryly and exhales “He is very stubborn and immature sometimes,” he continues, I nod in reply agreeing to his statement as Riley is really a brat sometimes, I could see some kind of sparkle in Mr. Mintz eyes when he speaks, the spark which can be seen only on parents “He was on a bumpy road since the beginning of his career and he lost his mother few years back” he removes his spectacles and places it on the table “She was hit by a car in front of his eyes, it took him a long time to get over it,” he speaks his heart out and I stay there attentive to his story, the nostalgic expression on his face shows that he is spilling his heart out “But he is really a good person.”“Yea, he is,” I reply pouring the liq
From Evan my eyes move down straight to the phone stand where the phone is kept with the circular light, letting out a loud breath I turn to my right at Riley, who is seated next to me on the sofa, Evan is standing behind the coffee table staring at us, we stay silent for a while till the count down for the live is done and there the camera is on, the comments keep popping on the left side of the screen. I sit there faking a smile at the screen cooperating with him but neither of his words are getting into my head, the chattering on my right stops when the comments keep slidingAre you both really together?They don’t look good together?How can we believe that he is really into her?Is he playing again?Is she a victim as well?What about Mira?Mira? Who’s that? Seems like he has some kind of history I guessMy eye balls slide to the right corner of my eyes to take a glance at him, he stays still staring at the screen with an unreadable expression, I look down noticing his intertwine
Third Person P.O.VPassing the main road Aiden walks to the store by the end of the street, she stops in her tracks when she notices Riley seated outside by the balcony where the chairs and tables are arranged. Looking around finding the store lonely she walks towards and sits on the chair next5 to him, he looks up from her shoes and a smile makes its way on his lips when she sits.Looking at the three empty cans on table she exhales “Stop drinking,” she says dryly as she throws the empty cans to the bin by their table.“I did not have enough,” Riley replies staring at the can on the table, he looks at Aiden and says “I don’t get drunk,” he smiles, taking the can he gulps down the remaining alcohol in it, biting his lower lip he curls his lips inwards by pressing the can harder “You can leave,” he states opening another can, the tone of his voice enough to show that he is not drunk as he didn’t stammer. Letting out a breath Aiden inserts her hands into her jacket’s pocket shrugging h
Riley’s P.O.VLooking through the transparent glass wall of the cafe outside, I observe the surrounding, the clear water of lake reflects the trees and sky onto it, there are few people walking around, and there I spotted two familiar faces. The reporters think that they’re well-hidden but always be found by me, the same thing happened when I went out with Mira and the next day the article was about me having one night stand with her. My gaze averts to the person seated opposite to me leaving the corner seat empty, she looks around as she runs her hand through her short black hair, my vision follows her actions when she removes her black leather jacket revealing the plain white t shirt. Her dressing sense always seem off.“I can't believe that my girlfriend dresses like this,” I snarl letting out a loud dramatic sigh, leaning behind I rest my shoulder on the chair head, my gaze moves down and up again at her.She furrows her brows and looks at me for a while “Do you expect a mini ski
Third Person P.O.VRiley snakes his hand around Aiden's waist, he pushes her against his body, his eyes staring at her. From his hands she looks up at him, her head moves backwards immediately noticing the short distance between them, she furrows her brows squinting her eyes watching him, their chin almost brushing against each other. Riley stays still staring at her his heartbeat beginning to pound again, he bites his lower lip feeling nervous, pursing his lips to a flat line he flutters his eyelids as his cheeks heat up."Are you feeling unwell?," Aiden questions watching him closely, she steps back pushing him behind and looks around "That person is gone," she informs as she straightens her jacket."Are you ok?," She asks again facing Riley who looks around chewing onto his inner cheek, he faces her when she spoke."Yeah...," He replies lowly looking away, his heart still pacing."Your skin is red," She states as she sits on the bench near by.Riley takes deep breaths in and out he
~One week later~Aiden takes a spoon full of cereal and puts it in her mouth, chewing the crunchiness she gulps down the milk in the glass as well. From the bowl she looks straight to see Riley, who stays frozen staring at the cereals which are floating on the milk, his eyes are slightly open staring at an empty space, his hands held together in front of his crotch, absent minded."Riley," Aiden calls out as she slams the glass of milk on the table making a loud noise to get his attention but failed. She stares at him, her lips parted in disbelief, brushing her bangs behind her ears she inhales a deep breath in and lets it out to calm herself. Licking her lips she plasters a fake smile on her a face and leans forward."Riley, nothing......," She stops when he stands and walks away from the table silently.Aiden slams her hands on the table and gets up from her seat, she follows him as he kept short steps."Nothing is going to change just because you stay locked up in the room and ea
The hall is crowded with people, Emma walks around everywhere greeting the guests present. The guests are seated around the circular tables on the either sides of the walk leading the podium. Pleasant strains of melody music drifts through the crowd. The walk path is arranged with blue and white roses in a row and straight on the stage stands Riley. He is in a black, single breasted, satin tuxedo with a white wing collar shirt. He adjusts his tie and rubs the back of his neck, his stomach feeling weird. He nibbles on his lower lip staring at the large door, waiting to see her. The smell of fresh flowers fills in the air. The music stops, and all heads turn to face the far end of the walk. The opening to the bridal chorus begins to play. The door opens and there she comes down the isle.Everyone in the crowd stares at her, surprised. Aiden has worn a strapless white wedding gown with white embroidery on her bodice. Rhinestone and pearl beads are sewn on her gown. She also has worn a tw
~Three months later~Riley’s P.O. VThe shimmering wet sand sweeps over my bare feet. The drizzling of water and the smell of salt only capture my senses. I stroll ahead closer to the water, letting salt water wash over my ankles. It’s been three months since the tragic incident and it feels like it happened yesterday.The waves are just like our life. The way time washes over us and every time it does, it makes us stronger as it moistens the dry sand. Time teaches us how to overcome obstacles and it makes us a better version of ourselves.Just like how waves bring along the plants in them, it’s like the people who enter our life. Some stay like how plants attach to the sand, but some leave, like how the water takes it back.I was in a relationship with my university crush and we broke after mom passed away as I didn’t hangout with her months and she initially visited me to inform that she is no longer interested in me. And then it’s Mira. She was my colleague, and we worked on a song
Chapter 40: Her saviorChloe lifts his body and stays on his knees, he grabs her tied hands and pins above her head, he lowers his body over hers, their face close to each other “Why?,” he growls, his voice loud enough to scare anyone but not her, she never flinches nor blinks, her eyes looks into his “What’s so good about Riley?,” he grunts “Why are you choosing him over me?,” he asks, his tone stern.“You cannot be compared to him,” she spits, “You killed everyone for your own selfishness “ she controls her breath.“Because they took away what’s mime,” his grip on her loosens “The boy I pushed down from the rooftop in school,” he moves back and continues, his eyes fixed to her wound “He stole the watch which mom gave me,” he says, he lifts her shirt and balls the material in his hand “You know how much I worked hard to take over the company,” he places the material on her wound and applies gentle pressures on it, Aiden looks down at his side features, her ears only on him “My father
The sound of the phone text notification finally gets into her ears, her heavy eyelids lift slowly. She runs her hands through her messy hair and sits straight, her dull eyes look around the empty hall. The phone beeps again. A low weary sigh leaves her lips, Aiden stands and walks to the shelf. Her brows meet looking at the phone screen, an unknown number. She clicks on the message, a current location shared: the underground parking of her apartment.She checks on Emma, a slight smile makes it’s way on her lips to see Emma asleep peacefully. She puts on her shoes and leaves with her phone. The underground parking was closed for a couple of weeks due to construction, the dark alley is brightened with one or two lights which makes the large space dim, some places pitch dark. Aiden holds her phone in the air, with the torch on. She walks through the exit door of the apartment, her eyes observe her surrounding.She doesn’t know the sender of the message but decided to face the music as s
A fond smile sweeps across Riley’s lips, he rubs her knuckles with his thumb, her hand in his. His fixed on her sleeping face, he smiles wide when some strands of hair falls over her face kissing her cheek. He moves his bent legs closer to the sofa where Aiden is laid, his fingers brush her, hair away from her face and tucks behind her ear. “Your dad was right,” he says, his voice low and gentle “You are ironically weak inside,” he moves his head closer, his lips softly lands on her forehead. A kiss on the forehead has many reasons and the most affectionate kiss than a kiss on the cheek and lip. It means I will protect you, I’ll be by your side and I will care for you.His phone rings, immediately he grabs it from the short table and mites it, taking another last glance at her, he stands and walks out.“The person who killed Johnson is released,” Eric reports as soon as the call in answered.“Are you following him?,” Riley asks, his thumb cracking the other four fingers.“Yes,
Aiden stands from the stool beside the bed and pulls the duvet over Emma who is asleep. She didn’t want to take her mom back to their house soon after the funeral, she thought the place will bring sad memories… A home is always full of memories… She accompanied Emma since Johnson’s funeral, the two passed days already excruciating. She never left her side, giving her courage and consoling her mother like she is totally fine where as she is broken terribly… There is no human who are strong, everyone is weak in one way or another. She tucks her hair behind her ears and inhales a deep breath, she bends and places a kiss on Emma’s forehead. Riley waits outside Lisa’s room watching Aiden, it’s been a couple of days which seems like ages for him to see her, he rarely saw her even though they are under the same roof, when ever she walks out the room she passes him a forced smile, to show him that she is fine but he knows, he knows that smile is fake. He knows that she isn’t alright. He kn
The grey sky darkens the environment, few faded rays of sunlight gets through the heavy dark clouds. The box pleated joint of skirt fits around her unsexy waist, the peach material blended with faded red roses brightens her pale skin tone. In front of the mirror she steps back and moves her spread legs closer, taking another complete glance of her reflection. She adjusts the sleeve and pulls up the precise deep neck feeling uncomfortable in her attire, a low vexed sigh leaves her lips when the zipper at the back cracks down… Her brain requests to give up despite her heart which orders her to wear it on as she is sure it will make her parents happy, she looks forward to witness Johnson’s reaction as he loves to see his daughter dressed up, in addition she wants to try it on for Riley because he has set up a grand dinner tonight.“This is annoying,” she grunts under her breath and snakes her arm behind her back trying to pull up the zip, she slides her other arm over shoulder…. She zip
“What?,” Riley exclaims, his voice loud to grab the attention of the two nurse in the elevator.He looks at Aiden and closes his open mouth, he waits silent making no move until the elevator door part, the two nurse walls out and the doors close again going up to the seventh floor.“Blake called and told that Chloe has prepared an abrupt press meeting tonight,” she says.He rubs the back of his neck and stands straight… he was in glee expecting victory on his way but it hadn’t end yet….“What’s up with his action?,” he frowns.“Isn’t it obvious!,” Aiden pulls out her phone from her grey coat and scrolls through the feed “Neither of the photos we uploaded in the video aren’t true except Catherine’s clip,”“So, what can he do because they were fake,” he looks at her with raised brows, curious.“Maybe he can prove those fake,” she shrugs.“Then what about Catherine, he can’t tell she is not his sister,”“They are not biological,” she reminds him “And Catherine doesn’t like to be involved
The air around the room stiffens, the two guards who are called to Chloe’s room exchange glances, they wait in silence till Chloe gives them permission to explain what happened. Seated on the sofa at the center of the office room, Chloe stares at the laptop screen , his clenched jaw tightens as he narrows his eyes in rage, his eyebrows dragged down, he forms his hands to fist, veins pop out his skin. He taps onto the enter button again for the sixth time, the video footage of the hall replays ; the clip of Riley and Aiden. The blue orbs fixed on the two figures in the screen, his eyes are blazing flames; dangerous.“Sir,” Kevin calls out, he swallows down the lump in his throat and strolls to the sofa, his feet stop when he observes Chloe.“What?,” Chloe asks, his tone low and stern.Kevin lowers his gaze and informs “The reporters are waiting outside, Sir,” he looks at Chloe, whose focus is on the laptop screen “All the news is about you and,” he stays silent for a second.“And what?