John’s Pov.
The day was pretty bright and sunny, not too bad for a Monday morning. I picked up my phone to check my schedule for today, damn! I have a whole lot on my plate for the day. I saw a notification from Fiona, my girlfriend. I opened it and schemed through her message,
“Hi honey, please call me soon, I miss you so much.”
I wasn’t in the mood to talk to her, or maybe I will later in the day but right now, I had a lot to worry about.
I leaned on my chair and swung it sideways while I used one finger to make a little noise in the office. My office isn’t so large but at least it’s portable, just as I like it. My father owns a big club so I work as the manager at the club. A knock on my door jolted me back to reality then a young guy in his early twenties walked in. “Morning sir, your father requests your presence” he said.
“Morning Vince, where is he right now?” I asked, twirling my revolting chair around, to face him properly.
“In his private room, sir” he responded with enthusiasm. I sometimes envied the energy he gave off. My dad said he picked him up from the streets after seeing how eager he was to leave life in the streets.
I’ve always looked at him like a brother I never had, being the only child of my father is a little bit boring so it wouldn’t hurt to bring him into my space. Besides, he’s the youngest amongst my father’s boys.
“Tell him I’d be on my way soon.” I said with a tone of finality.
“Okay…right away” he said, turning to leave.
Immediately he left the office, I stood up from my chair and made my way to my dad’s private room. I responded to a few hellos from my father’s boys, they were busy doing their respective jobs.
I got to the private room to find a man covered in sweat and tied up to a chair with thick rope. His face was covered with his hair and he put his face downwards, God knows what this man must have done to get on my father’s bad side.
The room was dimly lit with a small fancy bulb, if I wasn’t coming from my office I’d have sworn that it was dark outside. Two of my dad’s men held whips, I guess they must have whipped the man a thousand times. I walked towards where my was sitting and bowed my head slightly, it was my way of saying good morning.
“Do you know him?” My father said huskily, crossing his right leg over his left just before sipping something from a glass cup. Vodka, I whispered. Recently, he stopped drinking but well, he perhaps still does it when provoked. I swallowed hard, pursed my lips and looked towards one of the men standing close to the man on the chair.
I gave a slight nod and simultaneously, he pulled the man on the chair by his hair making the man yell out in pain. I recognized the man immediately as he locked his eyes with mine. He used to work with my dad a few months ago until he absconded with some of my father's money.
“Morris Bernaby” I said to my father without looking at him.
“Ah, my boy” he exclaimed lightly, relaxing on his chair. “This young man disappeared with my edibles worth a hundred thousand dollars and still had the temerity to take a few bundles from my office. I guess he must have thought I am stupid enough to leave my money without a camera” he continued, staring sternly at the traitor. Hard to tell his gaze due to the dark sunshade he had on, I could dictate he wasn’t staring anywhere else.
“I needed the money to do something…please John! Tell him I did it because I had no choice!” He said tearfully. I stood there looking at him without saying a word. I knew I was supposed to feel sober because he’s someone I used to know. I felt emotionless and the fact that he didn’t have a valid reason to steal, made anger build up inside me.
“What exactly did you need the money for? Huh?” I asked, walking towards where he was tied up.
“John, I’m sorry I didn’t think….”
“That’s exactly the point Morris. You didn’t think, did you?”
“Oh God John! Have a heart, I'm sorry, I didn’t mean to do it. I needed to settle some debts” he said shakily. He already knew his fate, death. I didn’t even feel sober knowing he used to be a worker at the club or the fact that we used to be on talking terms.
My father purposely called me to this room to finish him off, that’s exactly what i was good at. He stole from us, so he had to pay for his sins.
I turned towards the table and picked up the pistol on the table, then turned to look at Morris. I could see beads of sweat on his forehead and hear his shaky breath. I decided to tease him a little before I do what is expected of me.
“Do you remember how you used to help us handle this kind of situation?” I asked, placing the gun under his jaw, using it to lift his face so he could look at me.
“Please John, I’m sorry. Don’t do this to me, please.” He said tearfully. His face was sweaty and traces of blood were on the sides of his mouth. I guessed he took time to confess to his deeds.
“You dare steal from Big Jim. You made me lose the edibles worth hundred thousand dollars and still went ahead to steal my money. My fucking money, boy! Finish him off Johnny. I don’t have all day” my father hollered behind me with a tone expressing rage, finishing off the remaining liquid in his cup.
“Please John, I beg you. Don’t do this to me. I…”
“Shhhhh…” I cut in and continued, “I’m going to make this as quick as possible, and off you go” I said with a sinister smile with the gun under his jaw.
“Please John…I beg you”
His pleadings sounded like music to my ears as I turned around and walked towards my dad, then within a split second, I turned around abruptly and pulled the trigger, letting the fiery bullet do the rest.
“Clean up this mess” I said with a grimace. The two men carried the dead body out of the room, leaving me and my father alone. I walked to the chair opposite where he was seated and made myself comfortable on it. I couldn’t detect my father’s expression, maybe because of the dark shades he wore or the effect of the dimly lit room on him. He took the bottle of vodka on the table and poured some of its content into a glass cup. He picked it up and sipped from the cup slowly. He took off his dark shades and placed it on the table then clutched his fingers together, with a stern look on his face. “How did you sort the deal with Damien Sanders?” He asked, relaxing on his chair, swinging it side to side slowly. “Went pretty well dad” I responded. “Good to hear” he said, placing the glass cup gently on the table. “I thought you said you quit drinking because of your health? What went wrong again?” “Need I remind you that you have no right to tell me what to do” he asked, facing me and
Cindy’s Pov. The ride to work was a comfortable one and to be honest, it’s been a while since I felt such comfort. My neighbor, Mrs McLean, gave me a lift in her new car. I got to work fifteen minutes earlier so I had enough time to change into my work clothes. M&T restaurant wasn’t a big restaurant but sometimes we barely got customers but I guessed the owner is a really consistent person because despite the low sales, he still manages to pay the staff and maintain the place. I got into the work quarters, thankfully the people who are working with me in this shift are yet to come. I was to work the evening shift. I quickly took my work clothes from the closet, a light blue plain shirt with M&T’s logo on it and blue pants. I picked my name tag from my bag then pinned it on the shirt. As I was about to leave the quarters, someone I felt a presence behind me. I picked up a long stick that was placed on the wall, just in case anything was there to harm me. The room was dimly lit so
John's Pov I was pissed. I just needed to get away from Fiona by all means, not that I had any specific place in mind. But seeing her face all the time, I get reminded of how little control I have over my life. Dad had to choose a girl for me? Why couldn't I make that decision myself? I'm my own man, that decision has to be mine and mine alone. He's not the one who has to wake up to her fake face everyday for the rest of his life. She can't even hold an intelligent conversation. And the gum! Did she have to chew so loud?! Doesn't she know basic etiquette?! Yeah, I was pissed and I needed to calm down a little. It would have been better if I had a bestfriend I could talk about these stuff with, but our business is a tricky one and we can only trust family; even if I wanted to, I wasn't even that close to anyone. I drove around town a little, hoping to find some kind of distraction, but there was nothing, there was very little that interests me. Eventually, I decided to stop a
John's PovWhen I returned to the club, I was a little bit surprised to see Vince anxiously waiting for me in front of my office. I knew something was off immediately."You're back." He said when he saw me."Yes. Did something happen?""Not really, but I've been asked to wait for you and let you know that your father requests to see you as soon as you return."Why?But even as I asked myself that question, I knew why.Fiona."Did he return home yet?" I asked."No, he's still in his private room.""Alright, I'll go meet him."I didn't bother entering my office, I turned around and made my way to Dad's private room, so not expecting to see Fiona sitting on the armchair across from him with her head down and her make-up streaming down her face.They both looked up as I entered, no doubt Dad had an angry expression on his face."Come in, John." Dad said in a flat tone, gesturing at the empty armchair next to Fiona's. I kept my eyes away from her and took my seat. What did she tell him?
Cindy's pov"He likes you." Mabel said as soon as the handsome customer left. I had no idea she had been listening."There's no way. Did you look at him at all? I'm clearly not his type." I objected."Uh-huh, and he was clearly not staring at you like you're a goddess. Sometimes, I think you just have a pretty head on your shoulders but yet you're so dense when it comes to men. That man was flirting with you and you made a total fool of yourself. You should have flirted back, but you couldn't utter a word. I don't blame you though, he's really hot.""What are you talking about? Besides, did you see his tattoo? He's branded by the devil, there's no way someone like him and someone like me can end up together. We're worlds apart.""Oh please, he did that to himself, not the devil and his tattoo was nice. You're so obsessed with church. If you ask me, I think that men with tattoos are the nicest, they know how to treat their women right. I mean, that's a huge tip and he was a total gentl
The first thing that came to my mind was Maddie!"Mom? Dad? What's going on? Did something happen to Maddie?" I asked, hysterical while I looked down at my wrist watch, checking the time. There was still about two hours before Maddie would return home from school.Mom looked up at me then, actually surprised to see me."Oh, you're home. I didn't hear you come in." Mom said, giving me a smile I knew for sure was forced.Dad looked up then too, but he didn't pretend to smile, he just stared at me but I knew he wasn't really seeing me."What's wrong? Why were you both lost in thought?" I asked with concern.Mom waved it off."We're fine. How was work? Did you have a lot of customers today?""Barely.""I worry for Mr. Sam. We should remember to say a prayer for his business.""I know, mom. But that's not important right now, I know something is clearly up with you two. I'm asking what it is."Mom turned away from me to Dad, staring at him as the sad expression returned to her face.Dad bl
John's povI couldn't concentrate.For the past hour, I've been staring at the heap of documents on my desk without really seeing them. I was plagued with thoughts, thoughts of the angel-like woman I met the day before. I couldn't stop replaying our very short conversation and her smile, over and over again in my head.That was a problem.Even while I was with Fiona, shopping and the rest, I kept thinking about Cindy, wondering what it would feel like having her next to me rather than Fiona. Obviously, I would be happier in her company.But I wasn't doing it again... comparing Fiona to Cindy. That was not fair to Fiona and she actually made an effort to be less annoying throughout our outing. She didn't even buy so many shoes and clothes, unlike her and she used the proper cutlery at dinner.That was a good start.Yet... I was making no headway with work. I had to stretch my legs a little, go out for a bit to clear my head so I could focus on work. I had to get Cindy off my mind some
Cindy's povJohn...John...I liked his name... I liked it even more than Michael. Sure, I didn't know any angel named John, but Jesus's most beloved disciple was named John, that's still good enough.Though I felt bad that he couldn't have his lunch because of me, I was grateful for the talk we had, it left me feeling better. Mom and Dad may not need my help right away but that didn't mean that I was backing down. At the first sign of distress, I'll take up another job or two and make them collect all my savings, but I wouldn't let the worry bother me or ruin my mood anymore.Alright, so maybe Mabel was right, not a lot of men would take out their time to listen to other people's troubles or even offer any advice. And the way John spoke really proves that he could relate. I thought someone like him must have run away from home at age fourteen and lived on the streets, selling illegal stuffs, but I was wrong, he was someone that cared about his parents just like I did.Oh, Cindy! It