ALEXANDERMy father stood at the other end of the Hallway, staring down at me and Frederick with eyes that held no atom of emotion.Zero emotion. Usually the man was difficult to read, but with careful looks, I could pick out a flash or hunt of emotion in those dark eyes. But now, none of that could even be seen.Frederick, who I thought had already gone by now, adjusted his stance behind me. It was no surprise to me how much our dad's strong aura and fierceness was enough to make a person want to 'buckle up'. It was only natural. If I was not so used to being in this kind of uncomfortable situation with him, I would have been shaking too.However, for a long time now, it has been hard for me to feel fear. Not of death, not of my father either, who was scarier than death."Son," He called me."Yes, Father." I answered.He spoke no more as he fell into steps, his hands stuffed in the darkness of his pockets as he made his way towards me.Quietly, I stood there and waits for him to reac
ALEXANDERHis eyes blazed with fire and brimstone they set on me as though he were about to shoot lazers from them.Whatever boldness I still had to stay on my feet, it shook me. I stood there and took it all in, the venom, the darkness, the anger that blazed in his eyes as he looked at me, after my little confession."What?" He spoke, his voice was cold and deep. Chilly. It sent chills crawling down my spine, but I somehow still stood my ground and looked him dead in the eyes, unmoved. This man could have whipped out a gun and shot me dead. But for some reason, I was barely fazed. Barely. I would say barely because I still did feel the impact of his glare."We could take about this at home," My mother had to step in, her voice in resistance as she stepped in between me and my father. "Alexander, go."I didn't.She came in between me and my dad, her hands in between us as she closed the distance between us and further pulled us apart from each other in an attempt to salvage the situat
DARLENEThat Night, for some reason, was unexpectedly more awkward than the others.I couldn't seem to understand.Whether it was because a part of me was not ready to take to my usual behavior every night — picking up my things to look for a guest room to be in. And he, following suit after me, feeling guilty to sleep in the bedroom when I was not there, while I was sleeping like a 'visitor' in his home, then further proceeding to go find somewhere else, anywhere else, to sleep in. As far as it was not on the Master's Bedroom bed.But tonight, I wasn't sure if I wanted to sleep in a different room. I hated that I couldn't explain why to myself.What I even hated more was the fact that, because of my little confusion, all it got me was me and Alexander stuck in one room.And the man did not even look perturbed.Not even in the slightest.It seemed like to him, having to sleep in this room with me was not in any way affecting him. It surprised me how he couldn't even pretend to be take
"I want to sleep in the Bedroom tonight."Did he hear me?It didn't seem like he did.Alexander was at the drawer when I had made that statement and even though I wasn't looking at him, I could tell right off that he was covering up for the night.I didn't even bother to react, as though I had noticed him pretend to be deaf. I played the same game with him, kept my mouth and shut and went back to my business.Because, cool. It was even better this way. This silence. Since hewanted to be the one ignoring me now. Absolutely cool."So, is that why you have been folding those clothes for the past three hours?"My head shot up immediately he said that, my eyes jamming directly with his back, glaring daggers."W-What do you mean by that?" I fired him questioningly.I heard him chuckle, even though his back was turned to me. His shoulders quaked with a little laugh and I just stared at his back while at it. Because I failed to understand what was funny."Darlene," He said my name as he shook
I woke up the next morning and Alexander was nowhere to be found.A part of me was unsettled for a second, but another part of me wanted to conclude that he was in the bathroom. But after waiting about half an hour, I didn't see him or anything that looked like him.That subtle unsettlement in me quickly turned into Worry.I got downstairs in my PJs and started to walk around the house, to and fro, navigating from one end to the other as I subtly went in search of him. But the only faces that I met with were the familiar faces of butlers and maids and helpers and cooks and I walked around the entire place, searching in vain, like a damsel in distress."Maybe you should have just called though?"I stopped when that voice came behind me. That familiar voice of which I knew who it belonged to."Well, Alexander, try to let people know when you're going to—"Huh?I had only realized it so that it was not Alexander, when I looked back."Frederick?" I frowned."Flesh and Blood," He grinned b
DARLENELaura Diego and I had been best friends since right about Highschool.It all started one random morning in school when I was having a particularly hard time. I used to get bullied a lot, which was ironic because considering the fact my dad was a popular baker, it should have added some reputation to me, but unfortunately, nothing like that happened.They particularly found it funny that my father as so famous, yet did not have enough money to live in the kind of mansions that their parents had. And, funnily, Laura used to be one of them.One day, she surprisingly stook up for me. I didn't expect it so. Their friends were laughing and mocking me, going on about how ugly my clothes looked, and as usual, I was just going to ignore them and pretend like I was not bothered by all they did to me. Even if I was. And Laura noticed that, and surprisingly, stood up for me. She called out her friends and told them to leave me alone. That was a test to their relationship and having that
Laura showed up two hours earlier than we agreed.We decided that we would meet up at one of her favour spots by the park, and the time set for our little meet up was 12pm.I arrived there on time, and whatever made me think I was going to be earlier than Laura, I still questioned till now. I reached the benches to see my best friend already waving at me from her distance, her wavy black hair shining and glinting under the light, and her big eyes filled with excitement of all forms.Laura was like a little child. It was just as adorable as it could get annoying. The girl was so happy to see me, and nonetheless, as I walked out of the car, shutting it behind me as I made my way towards her, she would not stop grinning and waving. At some point, she even started to run to catch up with me."Girl, I MISSED YOU!" She was screaming at the top of her lungs as she squeezed me into a tight, breath taking hug.She couldn't have been more excited to see me. Her happiness, I hated to admit, was
DARLENE"Wow."Those were the only words that had left Laura's mouth after I had told her everything about the Mckenzie family and how it had affected my marriage with Alexander.She was so quiet that I started to wish that I did not even bring it up. It took a lot, and I mean, more than a lot to bring down the spirit of a girl like Laura, who always saw the positive in everything and was more than enthusiastic at all times."I just can't wrap my head around the fact that he would keep something like that away from me, till after I married him." I told Laura."Would you have married him if you knew before hand?" She asked me.I pondered on the question. It was not the first time that I had been asked something like this before. But usually, I asked it to myself, and one answer always prevailed after repeated rounds of wondering."I don't know," I said, sighed as I came to one realization. "I don't think so.""So, is that a No or a I'm not sure?" She asked me. It was rare to see Laura