After a long and exhausting trip back that lasted most of the night, I finally arrived home. It was already dawn, and the silence in the house was broken only by the sound of the wind blowing the leaves of the trees around the property. I entered the house and found Verena still awake on the garden balcony. As I approached, the cold air enveloped me."What happened? I thought you wouldn't come back." She was surprised to see me."It's cold, let's go inside, and then I'll tell you." We settled on the living room sofa, and then I told her everything that had happened and how I had been rejected."I'm sorry, Mor. I didn't want you to go through this." She said, seeming guilty, before finally breaking down in tears. "I'm sorry. I know what I did was horrible, but I was desperate.""It's okay." I approached her to hug her. "It's okay. It's not your fault. I understand. You love him." I tried to comfort her."I'm so sorry." She sniffled. "But this is good, right? They don't deserve you, and
I tried to formulate a response, feeling a mixture of apprehension and excitement running through my body, but the words seemed to have vanished from my mind. Lyall's provocation awakened the desire that I had been trying to deny and suppress since our first encounter. Not just because I had just met him, but because I should focus on what was important. I knew it was a bad idea to get involved with any of them."I..." I cleared my throat, trying to clear my mind. Staring at his bare chest didn't help. "Good evening, Lyall," I said, circling him and opening the door, escaping down the hallway with my heart racing.I entered my room, closing the door behind me. I took a deep breath. I couldn't allow the attraction to Lyall to divert me from my objective. Any involvement, even if only physical, could complicate things. However, I couldn't deny that his presence affected me.There's no room for distractions, Morana. Stay on guard, and keep your focus. I stared at the doorknob for a few s
My heart was pounding in my chest, adrenaline coursing through my body as I closed the door behind me. Two minutes. I quickly decided that the best course of action was to use this time to run as fast as I could and try to gain some initial advantage. A second later, I was already entering the dark forest, forcing my legs to move as quickly as I could. Tall trees rose against the night sky, their branches intertwining like giant fingers reaching towards the heavens, forming a high and impenetrable canopy that blocked out the light, causing almost complete darkness. The faint light of the moon cast deep and eerie shadows on the tree roots and surrounding bushes. My senses sharpened, adapting to the environment as I pressed on. The night air was cool and damp, filled with the scent of leaves and wet earth. The sounds of nature echoed around me, composing a chilling melody. I could distinguish the sound of animals moving and the wind rustling and creaking the branches. I tried to focus
ELLIE You know that phase in life where it seems like all your friends are happy and have achieved everything there is to achieve? That was the phase I was going through. It seemed like all my friends had achieved professional success, found the perfect partner, and were getting married or planning to have children. And I was the outlier in this story. At twenty-seven, I'm starting to feel like I'm stuck, even though I'm happy with my work as a scientist and researcher and extremely happy for my friends, I couldn't help feeling unhappy with my love life. It was hard not to feel a little jealous of each couple's story in my large group of friends. Bennett or simply Ben, and Zoe, two cretins who fell in love before they could kill each other, I don't know how they were still alive, maybe because they took out all their anger on each other in sex. Anna, my best friend, and William or Will, former jerk and tattooed nerd, the most handsome and hottest I had ever met. I was still trying
"No. Please, let me go," I begged. "You know you're not supposed to be here. Now come on." With ease, he lifted me and put me over his shoulder. I had to use all my strength not to scream or fight. I tried to decide whether to try to escape before he took me to the others. Maybe I'd have a chance against one of them, but certainly not against four. Damn it. He was too big. A confrontation would probably kill me. I shouldn't have come here. Was this the end for me? What would they do to me? As he approached the house, drawing the attention of the three men on the porch, I realized that my only option to try to survive was not to resist and try not to provoke them, hiding any emotion. But I doubted that anything would be left of me when they were done. One of the men, with long black hair, howled with excitement, coming towards us. "What do we have here? Looks like Lyall found something for us," he said with a big smile, while the other two seemed curious. All three were as big as th
Lisa pinched my arm, and tilted her head towards the tall, muscular guy who had just walked into the bar. “You didn’t go out with Mitchel yesterday? You’re fast.” I arched an eyebrow, teasing. “Five minutes, that’s what I have to say in my defense.” She laughed and I joined her. We were getting drunk in some bar in Manhattan, celebrating the end of classes. Earlier, we took the last test, which will select one of the students in my class, to occupy a position in one of the largest companies in the country, Ryan Enterprises. It is the first time that Ryan offers a program in partnership with our University. Although Columbia has partnered with several other major companies in the market, the position at Ryan offers the opportunity to work directly with the CEO. This would be incredible, not only for the possibility of using this experience to assemble the final work, which we would have to present, but also because I couldn’t imagine a better way to start a career. For me, it repres
ELLIE How I wished to say yes. His lips seemed so inviting, so close, almost irresistible. All I wanted was to lean in and kiss him while pulling his hair. And then, to rip off his clothes and feel the warmth and weight of his body on mine. But everything between us was undefined, and sex would only further complicate things. We needed to talk before anything else. "We... we need to talk first," I managed to say. He nodded, his lips curving into a weak smile, a failed attempt to hide his frustration. "Okay, let's do it on your terms," he said, stepping back, allowing me to breathe. "Dinner then?" "How about a run in the park tomorrow morning?" "A run?" "Unless December's cold is too much for a beach girl like you," he teased. "I know what you're trying to do." "What?" he asked, trying to contain a smile. "You're making it a challenge because you know that's how I operate." "So... 7 o'clock?" "You also know I hate waking up early." "Think of it as an attempt to do things
ELLIE You know that phase in life where it seems like all your friends are happy and have achieved everything there is to achieve? That was the phase I was going through. It seemed like all my friends had achieved professional success, found the perfect partner, and were getting married or planning to have children. And I was the outlier in this story. At twenty-seven, I'm starting to feel like I'm stuck, even though I'm happy with my work as a scientist and researcher and extremely happy for my friends, I couldn't help feeling unhappy with my love life. It was hard not to feel a little jealous of each couple's story in my large group of friends. Bennett or simply Ben, and Zoe, two cretins who fell in love before they could kill each other, I don't know how they were still alive, maybe because they took out all their anger on each other in sex. Anna, my best friend, and William or Will, former jerk and tattooed nerd, the most handsome and hottest I had ever met. I was still trying