"Oh my God, what happened here?" Celine gasped as she walked into the living room.
I was still on the floor where I was when Baron left. Following their boss's orders, the goons completely brought the house down. There was not a single item in the room that was not destroyed. The table had been broken, the contents of the almost empty fridge poured out, all the dishes in the kitchen were broken and turned upside down.
In the sitting room, the couch was turned upside down and broken, the table at the center was broken to pieces and some of the shreds of glass had even splattered on me. I had not gone to my bedroom to see the extent of the destruction, but I knew there would not be much left to use.
After they had left, I took my phone and called the only person I knew I could rely on at any time of day or night. After I dropped the call, I wrapped my hand around myself and patiently waited for her to come. I used my last strength to hold back my tears until her arrival.
Despite all the pain I had gone through in my life, only one person had ever seen me cry. My best friend and she was my only support.
The moment she walked in I let the tears fall. They were already on the brink of falling, so when she walked in, they just spilled over unstoppably.
She rushed in, walking on the broken glass on the floor, and leaned down to hold me.
I held on to her and cried my eyes out, and at some point, I could hear her sniffing too. I looked up to see her eyes red, and I could see that she was fighting hard to hold back her tears from falling.
"Who did this to you Chris?" she whispered, almost sobbing,
I could not answer her, the only thing I knew was that I wanted to leave this place, to somewhere I could think clearly. "Please Celine, please just get me out of here," I cried.
Everything from there on went in a hazy blur. I could only remember walking downstairs, entering a cab, and Celine putting me to sleep.
*** *** ***
"Hey hey, good morning," I said to Celine as I sleepily walked into the kitchen from her bedroom. She turned around to look at me, and I could see the rim of her eyes all puffy and red, mirroring mine.She watched me with wary eyes as I walked from the doorway to the stool at the side of the counter. On the counter, she had already laid out two plates of sandwich and one cup of coffee.
"Here, eat," she said as she passed one plate to me. Her eyes held a million questions, and I knew I would have to eat to be able to answer them all. The Celine I knew only needed a name, and she would be storming out of here with a chainsaw ready to murder the monster. But I would not allow her to do that. The last thing I needed was to drag her into this mess and make her one of Baron's targets too.
I took the plate with a small faltering smile. She turned around and joined me on the other kitchen stool, with her plate and a cup of coffee.
As I took the first bite, I could still see her from the corner of my eyes. Her eyes were focused on me, unrelenting, waiting for me to start the conversation we both knew we had to have.
"About last night...." I started, but she quickly cut me off by just saying the word, "name"
"Hmm?" I asked like I did not hear her the first time.
"I want the name of the bastard that did this to you," she spat out angrily, and I knew her anger was not directed at me, but the whole situation.
I looked away from her to the plate on the counter. I thought of a million different lies to come up with, but none of them made any sense. I knew what she would do if I told her Baron did this.
"Chris, tell me," she insisted
I chewed on my lip and finally looked at her. "Um," I stuttered, "If I tell you, promise me, you won't go storming out of here to kill him."
"Of course I won't," she said with a smile that did not reach her eyes. I knew she was lying, "I just want to know,"
"Okay," I cleared my throat softly. "Baron did,"
She did not even let the words Baron leave my mouth completely before drawing her seat back and marching to the living room to get her leys.
I jumped from the stool and marched in front of her to stop her. "Celine, you promised," I said with my hands spread out to block her from the door.
"Well, this is me breaking that promise. I am going to teach that asshole a lesson he would never forget for doing this to you." she pushed against my hand, trying to get through to the door.
We had a struggle for a few minutes with her trying to get me out of the way and me trying to get her away from the door.
"Okay, okay," I said breathlessly, "you win. But please just listen to me first then decide if you still want to go and murder him." that was the only way to calm her down. If she heard what I had to say about Baron, maybe she would have a rethink.
"And you won't stop me?" she asked, almost breathless too.
"I won't."
"Okay, let's go back to the counter."
"Yeah, lead the way." I knew Celine too well, and I knew I could not trust her to not turn around back to the door the second I turned my back. She was very unpredictable when she was upset.
She led the way, and we resumed our positions on the counter. I took a small bite of the sandwich, and she did the same. I waited to swallow the bite before speaking."Why are you even defending him?" She asked between bites.
"Because that man is really dangerous. I can't have you confronting him without really knowing what you're up against." I had to learn that the hard way, and it would not be fair to Celine to drag her into all these after knowing what Baron could do.
"Like hell he is. He has not seen danger until he has met Celine Martin," she said with a hint of pride and anger.
I released a tired breath. "I know that, but please just listen to me."
"I'm listening, tell me why he was at your house last night."
"He came for this month's payment. When I returned from the hotel last night, he was already there."
"So what does that have to do with the way I met your apartment last night?"
I was hoping I would not have to tell her this part. Knowing Celine, I knew she could not stand to hear that a woman was being forced into a sexual relationship, much less her best friend. But I had to tell her everything.
"He wanted me to be his whore, in exchange for the loan," I said without missing a beat. There was no need to prolong this conversation, it was hard enough reliving it by telling Celine about it.
She immediately jumped from her stool, but this time she was not headed toward the door. She was at my side in an instant examing my body like a worried mom of a teenage daughter. "The pervert did not do anything to you did he?" I could see the contempt on her face.
"No, I'm fine. I just need to bath with all the disinfectant you have, he was all over me last night." my mind flashed to the way his hands and lips were all over me last night. I would do anything to wipe that memory off my mind.
She breathed a relieved sigh and sat back on her stool. "Why did you not have your taser or pepper spray on you?"
"I did, but I doubt a taser would do much against a room of 10 to 15 goons who were all armed."
Her mouth dropped as I said the words, I hadn't told her before how dangerous Baron was. "They had guns?"
"Yes, they did, and one of those guns happened to be on my neck in Baron's hand. So there really was not much I could do." I looked down at my half-eaten sandwich in defeat
She got up from her seat again and wrapped her hand around me. "My poor baby, I can't believe what you had to go through. I'm so sorry."
I relaxed into her arms, enjoying the warmth of them. She patted my head softly, and that did a lot to ease the pounding ache a bit "Thank you,"
"We should call the cops. We have to report this. If we can't do anything to fight back, we still have the cops." She said, releasing me.
I took another bite of the sandwich as she turned around to take her cup of coffee. "Of course, that's a great idea. I mean, how hard is it to find a cop that does not work for Baron."
"What does that even mean?" she asked.
"It means, the cops are not going to do anything to help us, because they work under Baron." I walked to the refrigerator to get a bottle of water.
"And how would you know that if you have not tried?" she raised her brows at me.
I took a large gulp of water, knowing I had to take this chance to come clean to her. "I know because," I paused and chewed my bottom lip. She was going to be really mad at this one.
"Because?" she looked at me in a questioning way.
"Because they did not do anything when I went to them the first time." I walked back to the counter, refusing to look her in the eye.
"Chris," she called in her mother hen tone, "what are you not telling me."
"Um..." I stuttered and finally looked up. She had one brow raised, waiting for me to speak. "remember when I said that I slipped and fell and got this scar?" I pushed my hair aside to show her the scar on the side of my head.
"You did not slip did you?" she asked and came around to my side of the counter.
I slowly nodded. "He sent his goon to remind me of the payment for the first month, and one thing led to another leading to this," I waved my hand over the scar casually.
"Why didn't you tell me?" she sounded a little hurt, which only made my guilt worse.
"If I had told you, you would have wanted to hurt him back for doing that to me."
"Because he deserves it," she said matter of factly.
"I know that, and I don't doubt that you would make him pay for it, but I don't want you to do that because I know what Baron can do. He's very unforgiving and ruthless, and he would not hesitate to make your life a living hell if you did that to him."
"So what are you going to do now. You won't let me hurt him back, and you won't report to the cops,"
"I don't know what to do, but I know two things. First I'm not going to drag you into this mess knowing what Baron can do, and second I need to have 40,000 by six pm tonight.
"What?" her eyes widened as she heard the amount.
"I refused his offer, so I have to give him back the full amount today."
"Oh my God, how are we going to get such a large amount in that short time?"
"I don't kn..." the sound of my phone ringing in the living room cut me short.
"I'll get it for you," Celine offered.
"Speaking of assholes," she held the phone up, and the caller id showed the name "Lucas."
As I saw the name, a light bulb went off in my head, and my eyes widened in excitement. "Oh my God, that's it, Celine," I jumped from the stool and snatched the phone from her. It was on the last ring when I picked it up.
"Hi Chis," his deep gruff voice filtered through the phone. "Can we ta..."
"The cafe today at 6 pm, if you're late I'll change my mind." I interrupted him and ended the call.
"Okay, will you tell me what is going on now?" Celine asked, looking confused at my sudden change in demeanor.
"You know how I need 40k by the end of today?" she nodded, but I could tell she still did not get it, "they need a nanny, and on the job application, it said the pay is 50k and above," I added excitedly.
Her eyes widened, and she gasped, a smile finally forming on her lips, "they're paying that much?"
"Yes, they are," I said happily.
"So that means you can pay Baron tonight and still have some cash left."
"Hm-mm" I answered and shook my head at the same time. She hugged me, and we both giggled happily, jumping up and down in each other's arms, like teenage girls.
"I'm so happy right now. At least that pervert is not going to murder you now right?" she asked when we regained our composure.
"No, he's not, I need to freshen up and get to work before our meeting."
We spent the next hour preparing for work. Thankfully Celine was only a few inches taller than me, so her clothes still fit. I put on a pair of jeans and a blue t-shirt, perfect for a regular workday. Celine put on her clothes too and got ready for work. We both headed out at the same time and decided I would come back to her place after work and my meeting with Lucas.
The Red Ferrari drove into the parking lot sometime around Five. From the cafe counter where I stood taking orders, I could see him inside the car, through the glass. Lucas kept yanking his hand through his hair, and I could tell that he was nervous, which was weird because I only saw the asshole side of him, and it was hard for me to believe he ever got nervous too.As usual, we had only a few customers to attend to before my shift was over. At 6 pm, my shift was over, and I was replaced by one of the new girls that had joined the cafe recently. I changed my clothes quickly and headed out through the back door.Just like the last time, he leaned on the car, waiting for me like a creepy stalker. I tried to push my dislik
Early the next morning, Celine and I headed back to my place to pick up whatever had not been destroyed by Baron's men. The landlord had estimated everything that was destroyed, and it amounted to a lot of money. Thankfully I still had enough money left.By the time we finished cleaning the house, it was already noon. We had to throw almost everything away as they were either broken or badly destroyed. Thankfully they had not destroyed all of my clothes, so I still had a few stuff to pack."Ughhh, I'm so hungry," Celine said, slumping on the bed. We had come here as early as 7 am and had only had coffee since then. So it was expected that she was hungry."Now that you s
After savoring the beauty of the room, I put my clothes in the closet, took a bath, and put on some fresh clothes. I called Celine to let her know I had arrived safely, before heading downstairs as Mia had asked.As I stepped out of the elevator, I could hear the loud excited voices of Aiden and Abigail, coming from the other side of the hallway. It was my first day and I would still need a few days to be able to find my way without getting lost.Following the sound, I walked down to the source and was led to one of the largest kitchens I had ever seen. The space between the island in the middle and the refrigerator alone was enough to fit my entire kitchen back at home.
After losing my way only two times, I finally ended up at the door Mia described to be Lucas' office. Only a matter of time before I would be able to know my way around here without getting lost. I took a deep breath, and gave myself a few seconds to clear my head, then knocked on one of the large double doors. I expected that he would be here since I took a damn long time to find it.His deep voice boomed from inside, "Come in."Well, here goes nothing, I thought as I pushed the door open.As I walked in, my eyes quickly took in the surrounding. Like every other room I had been to in this house, it was large, with a desk covered in stacks of folders, and a lap
My eyes fluttered open at the sound of my alarm the next morning. I had barely gotten enough sleep, which could explain why my eyes were still heavy and sleep-filled. The lack of proper rest was probably due to the unfamiliar environment or the conversation I had heard last night. I had so many questions I wanted to ask, but I had to keep them to myself. If they did not tell me about it, it meant I had no business with it, and I was not going to poke my nose into their matters.I was tempted to go back to bed and sleep for at least one more hour, but I knew that was a bad idea. The last thing I wanted was to wake up late on my first day.As the rays of the sun filtered into my room through the open window, I dragged myse
Sunday was my day off, but I spent the day playing zombies and many other games with the kids. Mia went out with her fiance, and I had not even seen Lucas all day. Which was good. At least my job would be easier that way.Evening came too soon, and we had not realized it until Emma came to call us for dinner. Just like before, everyone else was present at dinner except Lucas. The conversation at the table was fun, with Abigail and Aiden talking non-stop about how much fun we had. We watched cartoons, played tea parties, did a few science experiments, and built another dollhouse, quite an eventful day.After dinner, I joined the kids to clean up their playground, then gave them both a bath and tucked them in.
The rest of the morning ran slower than I expected. I cleaned my room, and the kid's room, read a book, and gave myself a mini-tour of the house. Emma was busy with laundry, and I had offered to help but again, she said no. It would still take a few more hours before the kids got back from school, I had to keep busy till then or I would probably die of boredom.I thought of doing some crochet, but I only had my pins and not even a ball of yarn. I would have to wait till I had the time to go to the store to pick up what I needed. I watched a movie on my phone and played a few games.I had not seen Lucas all day, but it was better that way. I picked the kids up from school at the exact time they finished and took them home. After they had a snack, we played hide and seek and ran around a little before going ove
"Your wife?" I asked in shock. "Ex-wife," he corrected sharply. I knew something had happened with her, and after my first interview with Mia, I just assumed she had died. It never did occur to me that they might have gotten divorced. "I thought she was dead." I blurted, not meaning to sound so nosy. He chuckled humourlessly. "I wish that were the case." We stood there motionless, Lucas still had his hands wrapped around my waist and I still had my hand on his chest. I could not help but wonder what kind of dumb woman would leave such adorable kids and this beast of a man, that was not only sexy but also super-wealthy, and actually cared about his f
Mia got married at the Terranea Resort. It was one of those places in California I had heard of but never so much as dreamt of being in. The ceremony took place by the beach cove overlooking the rolling mountains that gave way to a panoramic view of the sea. I was even more awed to see how they had turned it into the fairytale every girl dreamed of.The four pillar altar was decorated in red roses all around the roof—a befitting color for the month—with green branches curling around each pillar to the root. Red rose petals arranged in large cursive hearts littered the aisle leading to the altar, and golden candle lanterns were lit on either side. Even the seats were dressed in pink fabrics and red bows attached behind. It was like an early valentine's day, only more magical.The day became even more magical when Mia arrived in a carriage, yes a frigging carriage. As I got to my feet along with everyone else in attendance, I watched with the same awe and fascination with which I had wa
Christmas had never been anything special for me. I had spent my last two Christmas' before this working an all-day shift at work, wiping vomit off tables and getting yelled at by unhappy customers taking their anger and frustrations on me. Afterward, C and I would spend the morning drinking on a rooftop and dancing to Fuck Christmas by Eric Idle. It was not exactly like I was the grinch or that I forbade the holiday spirit, there really was just nothing to celebrate or be happy for. After spending most of my childhood holidays hoping I would escape some beating or screaming from the matron on duty at the foster care that day who would rather be drinking her guts out on her day off, it was not exactly my favorite time of the year, so I said a big fuck you to it every year.This year though, it was a whole different story. Like I had stepped into this perfect, in your dreams life belonging to someone else. And for the first time in my life, the reality was the more preferable option. T
Where do I begin? From our awkward first meeting to having bad guys and crazy exes thrown in jail, Lucas and I had been through one hell of a journey. The longest one I had ever been through my adulthood, I would dare to say. It was amazing to think how much my life had changed in the months I had known Lucas and the twins. I had gone from independent and never needing anyone besides my best friend to this woman who could not even do so much as breathe without them."Are you okay?" Celine asked, tilting her face to meet mine in the mirror."Nervous," I said, going for honesty as I tugged on the hem of the white fitted dress clinging to my body."'Oh bess," she cooed, adjusting my veil, "you have every right to be, it's your big day."I smiled sheepishly at the thought, staring down at the ring on my finger that would be joined by another in a few minutes, "It is my big day. Oh my God, I'm getting married bess." The words slammed a fresh dose of unrestrained happiness against my heart
Every story I'd hard about the afterlife was a big fat lie. There were no angels in white robes, no opera waiting to usher me into the gates of heaven but then again who said I was going to heaven. The pain shooting up my body felt everything like hell, or at least I knew the one coming would. I clamp my eyes closed tighter as I lay on the floor in what I know is my pool of blood, waiting for the pain I hope to come. She succeeded and I let her win, I let Sarah shoot me. There was no longer going to be the amazing sex with Lucas, no spending afternoons with the kids, no harmless gossips disguised as Sunday lunch dates with my best friend. No more of Lucas's family, all of that was now simply gone, just gone.The thought left a hot burning scar on my throat and I gasped, fighting to take in the air that was not coming. This really was it, I had lost and she had won. But the arms suddenly wrapping me in a warm embrace felt too familiar to be related to the icy feeling of dying."Chris?!
You know that feeling when you wake up to a day that just feels off right from the moment you open your eyes? It could be the harsh rays of the sun nearly blinding and forcing you to wake up early on a Saturday morning or the annoying sound of your alarm reminding you that it's a Monday Morning again after you spent Sunday evening drinking your guts out. That small, seemingly unimportant detail in your morning that makes sure you have a bad rest of your day. I was having one of those mornings, but unlike most, I knew exactly why it was going to be a bad day.After laying motionless in the same spot for what felt like an eternity, body unwilling to move and mind refusing to come alive, I finally found a reason to get up, thanks to my pressing bladder. I walked back into the room after finishing my business and realized for the first time this morning, that Lucas was not here and the kids had not come to barge down my door in search of me.I knew Lucas would leave early for what he had
It was sweet effing relief. After almost two months here, we were finally making the trip back home. While there were less than relieving reasons involved, it still brought a wide grin to my face when the sound of the wheels scraping the runway of Lindbergh field reached my ears.Martha and Calvin were the first to welcome us home, with Calvin giving the usual manly hugs and pats on the back to his two sons and Martha going through a long streak of teary hugs and sobbing her thanks that her grandbabies were okay. She had insisted all three of them rode in their car with them as we came home from the airport. I realized it had probably been a wise choice to keep them oblivious to my pregnancy. Martha, for one, would have thrown a fit if her hopes of having a new grandchild were suddenly crushed by my miscarriage.After almost two months away, I had almost forgotten what it felt like to be normal. My usual routine, the one I had when my life was still a simple cycle of getting Abby and
What happened to the curious cat again? Ah yes, she got her neck snapped by her fiance's supposed best friend because she would not simply stay out of trouble. I was fairly sure, no most certainly positive that was what Adrian would do to me as his eyes bored into me with something that looked rather far from the friendliness I had seen when we first met. Maybe my body would be found in a nearby dumpster in a week or more.And then it hit me. Lucas had told me he was coming here to check on security hours ago and as I stood there scanning the room briefly, he was absolutely nowhere in sight. Oh, my God! Maybe he hurt Lucas and was now taking out whatever anger was left in him on Baron. I thought they were supposed to be best friends.The thought had not completely settled in my mind when a familiar figure stepped out of the shadows, wiping his hand on a towel stained in crimson. It was Lucas. He halted in his steps as his eyes landed on me, shock and a slightly less version of anger f
It was hard to tell how long we lay there, with me half-naked and asleep in Lucas' arms. But when I woke up to the light scruff of grass against my knee, the red-orange of the sky told me we had been there in that position for quite a while."I'm sorry," Lucas rasped, and I realized we had shifted from the position we were in when I fell asleep. Lucas sat with his back against the wall of the maze, holding me to himself. It was the closest we had been to each other, with the obvious exemption of how intimate we had been before I drifted asleep. "I didn't mean to wake you up,""How long did I sleep?" I asked, with quite an idea in mind."Not long enough, you needed the rest." he stroked my head as he spoke."You should have woken me," I gave a brief chuckle, followed by a wince at the numbness in my hands as I attempted to pull myself away from him and sit up.Lucas held on to me tighter though, tutting and shaking his head as he did. "I don't want you to leave just yet, stay here in m
I had not realized just how much I needed to breathe fresh air that was not sullied by a mixture of stale air, pills from the doctor, and a large dose of my sadness. For what first like the first time in forever, the sight of food did not make my stomach churn, or at least it did in the right way. The scent of freshly made orange juice and blueberry danishes set out on the picnic table only made my mouth water and my empty stomach growl. I turned to my best friend the closest thing I had to a sister with a smile. "You planned this?" Of course, she did. I had to be the luckiest human on the planet to have everyone I had in my life now. She rounded the table, taking her seat with a knowing smile. "I was hopeful that today would be a good day." I tilted my head, a fresh wave of guilt pulling at my chest. I had been so drowned in my sadness that I had completely neglected everyone, myself included. "I'm so sorry for shutting you out too, Bess." She shook her head tersely, "Nope, we ar