“ANSWER ME! WHAT do you want?” Misha screamed again at her phone when the person on the other line remained quiet.“Is this Misha?” asked the female voice from the other line.“Yes,” she said, her voice voice a tad lower this time but still tense, “What do you want?”“What is happening?”Misha’s eyebrows both rose. “You are what is happening?”“Misha, this is Maggie.”“Yes, I know you—what?”“This is Maggie. I’m using my sister’s cell phone because my I lost my cell phone.”“Maggie?”“That’s what I’ve been telling you.”“Oh, I thought you were—““Who?”“Kayla.”“Kayla who?”“Soren’s sister… estranged sister.”“You seem eager to strangle her. What happened?”She told Maggie what Kayla had been doing—the friend request, the text messages and the pictures. She even sent Maggie the photos.“I don’t know why she’s harassing me,” Misha said, exasperated. “I don’t think she knows I’m Soren’s girlfriend, unless those who know have told her.”“I didn’t. How could I? I don’t know her.”“I know
OF COURSE, MISHA, Maggie and Yana still became dumbfounded with what Ellis said.Kayla, you little piece of something that’s not good, Misha thought before she slowly raised her hand. ‘I-I know her, sir,” she stammered a bit. “Why?”“Well,” Ellis said and scratched his cheek with a finger, a sign that he wasn’t comfortable with the topic. “She called me up on my phone, which was strange because she wasn’t in my contacts and she wouldn’t tell me where she got my number, but she was asking me about you, Misha.”“What did she say, sir?”“She’s direct to the point, didn’t waste an iota of breath, ” Ellis answered. “She wants you out of the project. And it would be fine for her for Maggie and Yana to continue, but it would be much okay if they too would be removed from the project. But if not, she’d be happy to see Misha leave.”“I’d go with her if she leaves,” Maggie said.Yana didn’t say anything but she nodded.Misha swallowed. “What did you say, sir?”Ellis chuckled. “I asked her who
MISHA EXHALED, WHICH she hid from Soren and checked her email on her cell phone.She got new mails but nothing from Starshine.She went back to Soren, stopping herself from frowning. “No, I havent’ received it yet,” she informed him.“Ellis and his friends are slow,” he said lightly. “But I’m sure, it’ll arrive, if not tonight, maybe tomorrow morning.”She bit her lip upon hearing it. “Soren,” she said, ready to talk about Kayla.“Yes.”“Let’s talk.”“Perfect,” he said. “I was about to invite you to have dinner with me tomorrow, secret, of course, so we will do it in my house where no spy can enter, to celebrate you getting the project officially.”She cleared her throat, and opened her mouth to finally tell him about Kayla. But then, she thought, it would probably be better if they talked in person. What she would tell him was almost akin to breaking up with, and breaking up over the phone or through emails or text messages wasn’t nice, so yes, it would probably be a lot better to t
“KAYLA?” HE ASKED, the wrinkle on his forehead remaining.“She’s calling Ellis and other people at Starshine, to have us removed from the project.”“What did we agree upon regarding her?” he asked casually.“Ignore her.”“So why are we talking about her now?”“I can’t help it,” Misha argued. “She’s trying to cancel me and my friends, make us jobless. I mean, I’m sure she won’t stop here, she’ll harass again with our next projects, again and again until no one’s willing to give us a job.”“I won’t let her cancel you and your friends,” he said, which sounded like he was making a vow.It’s too late, she wanted to say.There was no doubt now that Kayla had been successful in her first attempt to strip her and her friends of a project, one that Misha was sure would lead to other cancelled noteworthy projects. And Kayla would only stop if she would abandon Soren. So Kayla was basically making her choose: be a model or be Soren’s girlfriend. And Kayla thought she would be in a serious predic
MISHA COVERED HER mouth to stop herself from giggling as she was being tickled by the soft kisses Soren was planting on her neck. And then she remembered that just a few moments ago, she was scared of losing her virginity, and now she was happily giddy—Soren’s kisses really had their way of making her forget everything.Soren finally lifted his head from her neck and went back to her lips and gave it a passionate, kiss, then, he stared at her deeply into her eyes again, a stare so intense she thought he was trying to melt her with his eyes. And there she was, at that moment, still hungover with the intoxicating kisses she just received from him, like a submissive drunk, ready to yield to anything he wanted to do, ready to accompany him to wherever he wanted to go, as long as his lips would never abandon her lips.He only had to tell her.“I love you,” he said to her, almost a whisper while he caressed her arm with his hand, those three words had made a home in his lips. “I’ll never ge
MISHA STARED WIDE-EYED at her inbox.There was an email there with the subject Starshine Corp., and right below that line, she could read: Dear Miss Misha Marzan, this is Ellis…She got an email from Ellis. Was it the contract? Maybe. But it could also be a letter telling her that she and Maggie and Yana were out of the project. She exhaled. Well, she could live with that and she was sure her friends, too. It was just that a contract would be a lot more delightful because it would mean that the good had once more trounced evil. Well, she didn’t know if evil could really describe Kayla now, roguish could be a more apt adjective for her. And she and her friends, were they good? Well, at least they didn’t go about trampling on other people.She opened the email, and attached to it—voila! — was the copy of the contract.Yes, Starshine was still offering them the project and they could officially clinch it once they signed it. And with their signatures on it, Kayla would be hard put to tak
MISHA STOOD UP bolt upright while retaining eye contact with her sister. “Kayla Cortez is here? In our house?” she asked Ruth.“Yes,” Ruth answered and crossed her arms on her chest, annoyance visible on her face. “And she’s looking for you.”“Why is she looking for me?” she asked. Yeah, really, why? Was she going to ask her personally to quit the project from Starshine? Then, that would just confirm that Kayula was one crazy gal.Ruth shrugged and walked away, taking the direction towards her own room.“Kyla is there?” Misha heard Maggie asking behind her.She closed her door and went back to her laptop and looked at Maggie. “Yes.”“Should we call the cops?” Maggie asked and smiled a visibly annoyed smile.“I don’t think she’s here to kill me.”“We don’t know that,” Maggie shot back.“You want us to go there?” Yana asked, seriously.She looked at Yana. “She’d long be gone before you can get here,” she said because she had no plan of talking to Kayla. The only words she’d probably tel
KAYLA LOOKED A bit flabbergasted. “I’m here to talk to your daughter,” she answered while remaining seated—and poised.“Get out!” her mother pointed dramatically to their door and demanded.“Oh,” Kayla smirked. “This family is rude.”“We are only rude to people like you!” Misha’s mother’s voice thundered. “People like me?” Kayla muttered and scoffed. “What kind of person is me, then?”“Possibly belonging to a family of killers!”“Mom!” she tried to stop her mother.Kayla’s eyes widened in shock before standing up, facing Misha’s mother. “A family of killers?” she exclaimed and stopped, like she was giving Misha’s mother to clarify what she just said.“James Marzan!” her mother uttered, the intensity in her voice decreased, probably realizing that it was indeed a grave accusation.“She’s my uncle,” Misha said, her voice calm in an attempt to defuse the volatile situation.“So?” Kayla’s face was both amused and confused as she glanced at Misha, and Misha could tell that she wasn’t fei
SOREN SHOOK HIS HEAD as the elevator door opened. What was he thinking making love with Misha? They went here in this hotel so they could avoid the flood. They wouldn’t even need a bed as they could spend the next hours sitting on a couch waiting for the rain to stop.Or maybe, he could ask Misha to reveal to him her secret—if her secret was huge, it surely would take hours for him to process it and the rain and the flood would have long been gone by the time.“Do we really need to get a room?” Misha asked him while they were walking at the hallway. “We can just stay at the coffee shop.”“We can’t stay there for three to four hours,” he said. “The owner might think we’re up to something,” he joked.“Then, we transfer to another restaurant.”“I didn’t think of that,” he said. “But too late for now, we already have a room.” He stopped in front of a room. “Okay, here it is,” he said and opened it with the key card. He stepped inside with Misha walking behind her.It was just a single ro
“YOU HAVE A secret,” Soren said, his tongue pushing, forcing those words out of his mouth.“I do,” Misha said bashfully, her face threatening to redden.And what secret could that be? If Soren would take into consideration the conversation he just had with Ellis, he should already have an idea what that secret might be, and he vacillated on whether he would allow Misha to reveal it to him, or that they should just proceed with his proposal. If that was Misha’s secret, he really didn’t need to know about it or confirm it—he’d still marry her and bury that secret in the past. A dozen dark secrets from her would not hinder him from marrying her, but if divulging it to him would make her breathe easier, he was ready to listen to her.“What is it?” he asked and held his breath.“It’s embarrassing,” she said.He swallowed an imaginary lump in his throat.“You look nervous,” she noticed and chuckled.He chuckled, too. “It’s because don’t know what secret you’re going to tell me,” he said and
“WHAT?” SOREN ASKED, although he clearly heard what Ellis said. He was thinking that he just used the wrong word.Rape?That word would never crop out in a conversation about Misha.“Somebody asked me if I know that Misha was allegedly raped in the past.”“Are you serious?”“So you didn’t know?”“I didn’t,” he said.“But is it true?” Ellis asked, he paused and then he added, “You don’t have to answer it.”“No, I will answer it,” Soren said, he wasn’t sure if he’d be amused or annoyed or would be angry. “It’s not true.” If something like that had happened to Misha, he was sure she would tell him about it. “Who told you about it?”“It doesn’t really matter, he only read it on social media, so it’s just a rumor, which is possibly not true,” Ellis said. “I can give you the link if you want.”“Please do,” he said.“I’ll send it to you later. Is Misha aware of it? That some people are spreading nasty rumors against her?’“I don’t think so,” Soren said. “She’s with me right now. If she’s awa
SOREN LOOKED STRAIGHT into Kayla’s eyes and she didn’t blink, and there was no denying that he could sense sincerity in her words—and it was blowing his mind. He had always thought that the word sincerity was never in her vocabulary. “You want to go Misha’s house and talk to her parents and convince them that all these rumors against me were all baseless?” he asked her just to make things really clear.“Yes,” she answered without hesitation.He smiled wryly. “I don’t think that’s possible,” he said.“What’s not possible?”“Them letting you inside their house.”“Even when my intentions are good?”“Even when your intentions will save the world from all evil things,” he said matter-of-factly. “Her father might choke you… I mean, well, he might not, I mean, he won’t, because that would send him to jail, but I’m just trying to illustrate how angry he is with you and I’m sure he’d do something that will show the magnitude of his anger towards you, not just in a physical way. And her mother
“Kayla and Brix?” Misha repeated what Soren said. “The Kayla and Brix?”“Yes, the infamous duo,” he answered. “They’re already at the living room as we speak.”“What do they want?” she asked, her voice sounding alarmed.“I haven’t spoken to them but neither looked combative.”They’re treacherous,” she said. “They would look calm in front of you, say nice things, so they will drop your guard down and then they will put out their knives and attack you.”“Wow,” he muttered. “That’s… that’s imaginative.”“I mean, why would Brix go there if they mean no harm? Brix is her attack dog. If Kayla wants just some conversation, she would go alone. If she wants someone punched, he’d bring Brix along.”‘I don’t know,” he said. “I will talk to them.”“Maybe you should call the police first.”“He chuckled. “They haven’t done any crime, Misha.”“But I suspect that they will.”“If they mean to harm me, why would Kayla go with Brix?” he said. “Brix can do the job alone, there’s no need to incriminate he
“Hello.”Misha wanted to smile the moment she heard Soren’s voice from the other line. It was just one word, and still it was enough to convey massive amount of loneliness and frustration. His past “hellos” to her calls used to happily jump into her ear and dance inside it; now it just sounded sad, like it wanted to just curl up inside her ear and sob .“Hi, are you still driving?” she asked him.“No, I’m home.”“And Cindy?”“I dropped her off at a mall.”“How was she?”“Disappointed,” he said. “But she really wanted to help, so she’s planning to talk to Vera, maybe, Vera talking to your parents would do some good. At least, everything she’d say about working for Kayla wouldn’t be hearsay, and she might have really incriminating evidence.”“Yes,” she agreed, “that would be good.”“So,” he breathed hard, “what’s the verdict?’ Are you calling me to say we should call it quits for real this time? Would this be our last conversation?”And Misha thought she would never be this happy hearin
Misha’s father took the phone from his wife’s hands and looked at the screen.Misha watched her father’s expression become grimmer by the second. And after a minute, he returned the phone to Ruth and glared at Soren, who looked helpless at the moment, like a defendant in a court waiting if the judge would set him free or give him a life sentence. Worse, Soren didn’t know what his crime was. Misha grabbed the phone from Ruth and looked at the screen: YouTube was splashed on it and there was a video which thumbnail was of a man who resembled Soren. No, it was indeed Soren. She clicked Play and watched it. “Get out of my house!” her father ordered Soren, his voice firm.Soren stood up and looked at Misha. “What is it?” he asked her.Cindy stood beside Soren.Misha stood up, grabbed Soren’s hand and pulled him. “It’s a video of you making a punching bag out of another man,” she told him softly while she was leading him to the door, still holding his hand while her other hand held Ruth’s
SOREN HAD ANTICIPATED that Cindy might change her mind and that he shouldn’t leave her even for a one second, it was just that he couldn’t, for the life of him, reject or delay Misha’s phone call. If somebody else was calling, he wouldn’t even touch his phone and just let it ring or reject it outright.He was reaching for his phone in his pocket, thinking of trying to see if he had someone in his contacts that might have Cindy’s phone number, while re-entering his shop. He got his phone out and was about to put it on his ear when he saw someone approaching a table—Cindy. She sat back at the table, noticed him and smiled at him.He walked briskly towards her. “I thought you left,” he said as he sat in front of her.“I just went to the rest room,” she said.“Yeah, of course,” he said, smiling and feeling relieved, like a mountain had been dislodged off his chest. He exhaled lightly and said, as casual as he could, “I want you to come with me.”And there was an immediate apprehension on
“WHY WOULD KAYLA want my photos?” Soren asked Cindy.“Not just any photos,” she answered. “Kayla wants sensitive ones, like a girl kissing you.”“Like when you kissed me?” he asked, his voice sombre.And she blushed immensely. “Yes,” she said. “Kayla wants some photos that will show you that you’re not nice.”“So you’re also working for Kayla?”“No,” she quickly denied, fidgeting. “It was Vera who dared me to kiss you. I didn’t know then that she was working for Kayla, I swear. She knew you’re one of my crushes… she said she’d treat me… take to a bar if I’d do it… I’m so sorry about that.” She reached for her pocket. ‘I have pictures when we were in the bar that day on my phone, me and Vera… I can show it to you…”Soren’s phone rang while she still was reaching for her phone.He reluctantly picked his phone from his pocket. But his eyes widened as he saw who was calling him—it was Misha.He immediately stood up, signalling at Cindy with his hand for her to stay at her seat—tio which s