Lydia's POV
"Things can't possibly get worse," I sighed sipping my coffee.
Twenty minutes, that's how long I was at Starbucks asking myself if my parents were to show up and ask me about Justin what would I do? Tell them that after we broke up he moved miles and miles away from me to Connecticut? The number one reason why I didn't want to tell them about my breakup was because deep down I loved Justin and I was worried for him.
My dad, Harrison Hayden was a former commander in the army, now him finding out that a man cheated on me would lead to that man either behind bars or dead. And I'm serious when I say dead. I still remember 2002 Texas when Robert Sanders asked me out to prom. Dad almost shot him but due to Robert standing his ground he eventually accepted Bob as the right guy for me which to this day he thinks I will miraculously end up with him.
Now back to Justin. I didn't want dad to track him down, break his legs or send him to prison or maybe worse, kill him?! Justin was still in my heart as silly as that sounded but yes I was a fool for loving him.
"Lydia" someone called from behind.
"Oh God! Steve? Did you follow me here?" I asked turning my head to see a grinning Stephen Gilbert waving sheepishly at me.
He invited himself to one of the chairs beside me calling the waiter to call his order, "Okay. Yes, I followed you and maybe I might have seen you storming out of Power Inc. but but before you scold me, I have something to show you"
He smiled pushing his phone near my cup of coffee. Taking his phone, I scrolled down zooming in on the documents. This didn't make sense? Power Inc. was shipping drugs into LA. And not just any drugs, drugs owned by the biggest crime lord... Mafioso.
"H-how did you get this?"I stuttered my eyes bulging in surprise.
"Ooh I've got my sources and I know how much you hate the owner of Power inc. so this is your chance to bring him down"
Running my hand through my hair, an idea popped up. Yes the kind of idea where you see a light bulb lit up. Power Inc. was a shipping business that much I had figured out but if the police hadn't arrested or looked into Cornelius Powers it meant that they didn't have a clue of this. As much as I wanted to see that bastard rot in jail, I wouldn't hand what I had found to the police yet. On the contrary, I would use this as leverage to make him help me.
"Steve can you send me the documents"
"Ofcourse milady," Steve gushed and I rolled my eyes. He always had to make things weird. But today Stephen Gilbert proved himself worthy.
Excusing myself, I rushed out promising Steve I would be right back.
"Jessica, remember when I thought that you getting Cornelius' phone number was lame?"
"Yeah?"
"Well it was not lame. I need that number asap"
"Ooh Diaaa. You want him to have your number,that's cute"
"Jessica would you please send the number!"
"Ok shish!"
And I hung up getting excited when my phone dinged.
Dialling his number, he declined the call to which I called him again.
"In my hands are some juicy documents linking Power Inc. to well who do we have here? The biggest crime lord in LA? Mafioso? Now if you don't want me to run in my little bootsies to the cops you'll do exactly what I tell you to"
"I'm listening"
Victory the best feeling one could ever have.
_._._._._
Never since fifth grade when the maths teacher called me to do a maths sum on the board had I been this nervous. I paced across my apartment moving from my couch to the floor then back to the couch.
Did my apartment look neat? I mean did the cushions smell nice and look clean? Did my TV look like a fifty inch kinda expensive TV? And my woolen rug? Was it too dusty? And to my dog, was he allergic to dogs?
Calling Cornelius Powers to my apartment to talk things over probably wasn't the best idea. I mean he was a rich kid, probably owned the finest houses in all of LA, what would he think when he got here? That my apartment was too shallow? Too small for a woman of my criteria?
The ringing of my door bell made me jump while Oggie let out a bark in surprise.
"Breath in...out and try to look intimidating"
Opening the door, his cologne knocked my nostrils. Again was it Axe or Versace?
"Took you long enough", I snorted.
He made his way to my couch, smoothly rubbing his chin in thought. I also joined him calmly settling myself in my bean bag. By crossing my legs did I look intimidating? Did I look like I knew what I was doing?
"Here's the proof and if you even think of deleting that, I have so many photocopies that if anything were to happen to me, my friend would hand in this evidence to the cops"
He chuckled. He chuckled? Did he think I was joking? Drug trafficking was one serious crime that would land even a rich person like himself in the slammer.
"How long did you take to memorise those words? I was shocked you know. Lydia Hayden has me at my neck huh? How much?"
How much. How much?
"How much what?"
"You know ka-ching? Mula? Dollars? I have to say personally I thought you were into me but now I'm starting to see what you want? I can write you a cheque right here right now"
He reached for a cheque book from his coat, took out an expensive fountain pen and wrote something on the piece of paper. Smoothly ripping the paper from the book, he flashed the paper in my face making sure I would get a clear view of the words in ink.
Ten million dollars.
Cornelius' POV"You think money makes the world go round. Listen here Mr Powers I don't need your money nor will I ever be as low enough as to take money from you", she spat crossing her legs and getting comfortable on the ridiculous bean bag in her living room.It was at times like this that I wondered how a beautiful blond such as herself had a feisty and foul personality. Sure she didn't need my money but her apartment said otherwise. But I couldn't miss my target. Those documents in her phone were pretty legit. They were copies of invoices, delivery notes, cheques that Mafioso personally handed to me which made me know that we had a mole in my company either that or Lydia Hayden was a good reporter who outdid herself in scooping some dirt about me."Then name your price""I already named my price, Mr Powers. You agree to be Justin only when my parents are here and I'll not only forgive you but gu
LydiaWeekends meant everything for me. A time to shop for microwaved dinners, a time to stalk my ex on Instagram, a time to walk Oggie in the park, a time to sit back relax on the couch and stress eat over how much ugly I was becoming and how I would die lonely with Oggie's graveyard right beside me but this weekend turned out to be a nightmare.It was only noon yet I felt that with so much chaos going on the day was at its peak. To start with, my parents who surprisingly decided to stay in LA at my uncle's place for a month wanted to get to know 'Justin better'. My mom seemed sincere but dad?He was still the same man who chased my suitors from our home with a rifle and the way this was going I think both the fake Justin and the real Justin would be killed by him. Now to start off, when I told Cornelius to wear a disguise so that he wouldn't be recognized as the famous billionaire Powers, I didn't expect him to show up with a fake stubble (claiming he ha
CorneliusBabe. Babe. Babe.Calling Lydia Hayden that for the past couple of hours was torturing. Starting my Jaguar which I'd parked a mile away from the cheap restaurant we were in, I took the box on my passengers seat carefully removing my three piece suit.Within few minutes I was able to get into my formal wear getting rid of the stubble that almost came out with my skin.My phone buzzed and I checked the caller ID."Chance, I'm on my way. Got delayed but I'm on my way""Aunt Vicky is here, man" Shoot!"What is she doing in my office? Come up with something that will make her go home ,"I said but the silence that had gone for about two minutes confirmed my fear."She's in my office isn't she and lemme guess you have your phone on speaker again don't you?""Unfortunately...yes and my phone's on speaker"And I hung up. What would be better than my wonderful aunt visiting my office on this fine day? The last thing I needed was to listen to her lectures. The ones that I never seemed t
LydiaI had spent almost half an hour going through the documents in my computer. As a safety precaution I had both files on my computer and on the flash drive. Who else was Mafioso working with? Closing my laptop I let out a sigh puting my hair up in a loose bun. I looked over to see Oggie calmly sleeping on my bean bag. And my dad questioned the essence of having a beanbag, ha! It came handy at times like these.Hardly had I checked my windows for the third time when someone knocked on the door. Who in the hell visits anyone at almost midnight? Ok maybe strippers? Not that I had any grudges with them, but I had read once in a magazine, that s*x, the hottest funkiest sex happened at midnight. Now that I thought about it, would a male stripper really be knocking on my door?Why mine? It's not like he could smell my virginity from a mile away.Amazing how my brain would make up silly things when I felt sleepy!Slapping my forehead slightly, I went to the door t
CorneliusI awoke to the light that hit my eyes without warning.Who drew the curtains?Lifting my head slightly, I felt a sharp pain pierce my head. Great! A freaking hangover. I barely remember what happened yesterday and normally when I drink too much there's always a naked woman lying beside me. Turning around and sitting up, I tried to take in my surroundings.Purple sheets? A vanity table? Closet? Woolen rag? A familiar scent of lavender? Where was I? I turned to the nightstand, a picture frame greeting me. Was that? Lydia Hayden and her dog?I didn't. No. Calmly standing up, I moved around searching for things like my phone. I slept on her bed? With my clothes on? Then where did she sleep? Seeing my Italian loafers on the farthest corner of her room, I put them on taking my wallet on the nightstand.One word for this morning. I was confused. I had left Lydia's place two hours ago, went to my penthouse took a long shower an
LydiaYesterday. Yesterday was a whole new shit I hadn't thought I would do. I kissed him and I...I liked the kiss!Since he collapsed on my couch it had taken a whole lot of energy to get him on my bed. What? As much as I sort of hated him I wouldn't let him on sleep on my couch. His whole body would have been sore come the next morning. I looked over my bed seeing him calmly sleeping, his hair all over his face. Man he looked good when he was asleep but as fast as that thought came to mind I crashed it. Yesterday's kiss wasn't supposed to happen. I let myself get carried away and from that moment on I hadn't slept a wink. After taking a shower, I wore my leggings together with a light tee paired up with black sneakers. I needed a run, possibly to escape before he awoke and remembered the so awkward kiss we shared last night.Five minutes later, I was out my apartment running down the street with my mind so occupied. Seeing the traffic light tur
CorneliusI was terrible at showing my emotions. Heck I was terrible at consoling anyone. The last time I consoled someone we ended up getting arrested after a fist fight in some bar down town. And the guy being consoled who was Jay by the way couldn't help but get pissed the more.Now she. She clutched my shirt in her fists gripping my whole body for support. At first I hesitated, things with Lydia had become weird. Things with Lydia were becoming strange by the day.Resting my hand on her back, I pulled her closer to me feeling her tears penetrate my shirt. The dog sure meant alot to her, huh? Abruptly pulling away from me, she sniffed wiping her face with the back of her hands."I-i'm sorry. I didn't mean to entertain you"And the old Lydia Hayden was back. The one that thought I was a mere scoundrel who deserves something worser than death."Lydia"I purred her name ever so softly and for the first time I couldn
LydiaI snuck glances at him while he drove his Jaguar all around the streets. I don't know what had possessed me to accept his offer but right now all I knew was my heart seemed contented with him even if deep down I knew he was a bad guy.But bad guys had backstories right? Bad guys were often misunderstood and misjudged right?I had misjudged Cornelius Powers for so long maybe it was time to give him a chance. Time to discover what lay behind the handsome face of Cornelius Powers.Handsome? Had I just said Cornelius was handsome. I mean sure I had always known he was handsome but not until today, had I acknowledged it.We came to a pit stop outside his enormous gothic gates with the initials Powers Manor. Taking a little remote from the dashboard, he pressed a button thingy and the doors automatically opened. The small road led to an underground driveway and once the car stopped, he stepped out opening the door for me like a perfect gentleman.I was underdre