I staggered along the empty alleyway, coughing violently. My chest burned from too much coughing and I could barely see anything. I swayed side to side, using my hand to push myself off any part of the walls when I touched it. The honking of vehicles from the road and the busy chattering of people were drone to my ears, no one would notice if I died here for days. If only I wasn't a fool, if only I could be as smart as Landon. I lost everything to my stepbrother, my stepmother's older son who would stop at nothing until he claimed everything that was meant to be mine, that was the plan of himself and his mother. I should have known better when the devil he sent came, now I lost everything and wander the streets; homeless.
I leaned on the wall and sank down, no more can I continue, I have no reason to live, absolutely no reason. I continued coughing as my vision slowly covered with spots and tears. The poison was working well to my expectations.
"Who is there?" My ears twitched at the sound of the voice. "Hello?" I heard footsteps, faint breathing, and muttering. "Christ! What are you doing here all alone?!" I heard her hurrying to me, and I wondered how she could see in the dark alley.
Warm hands cupped my cheeks, tingles ran through my body, and her warmth brought my dead skin alive. "You are shivering, let me check your pulse," she took my hands and did something, all I knew was that her fingers pressed against my wrists made me smile, I hadn't smiled since the incident. "You have been drinking yourself to a stupor, your pulse is weak and I can tell you took poison. Good thing I always carry this with me…" Her voice sounded faint like she was far away. I could barely hear her between my heart thumping violently and colliding with my throbbing eardrums.
Her fingers scraped my lips, I could feel long pointy nails. She parted them and shoved a small ball into my mouth. I had lost my sense of taste and my smell was weak. But somehow her scent captivated my nostrils and bonded with my hammering brain.
"Eat it," I did not want to eat it, but something about her voice lured me to. "Now why would a handsome man like you subject himself to such misery and painful death?"
"T…t…that is w..wh…what I deserve," I stammered.
"And what makes you think you deserve death? Did you murder anyone? Torture someone and make them commit suicide? Sleep with a pastor's wife?" She joked.
I chuckled, "w…w…wouldn't all t…that be better?"
"What did you do?"
"I w…as a fool!" I cried. "I've l…ost everything! My f…amily, my friends, my pro…perties, my happiness and liberty to live! My stepmother and her son have taken it all! They made my father hate me, and made my fa…ther love him by framing me up for different deeds. I should have known better, I should have been smarter to know they would pull something again, and they did. I fell right into their trap, let that witch mani…pulate me in the name of love and now I have been disowned, all my inheritance passed on to him, the son of another." I was a crying mess at the end of my explanation, my hands hugging my burning stomach.
"You are speaking much better now, it's working. Now back to what you are saying. Is that why you have given up?"
"What? I said I have nothing left?! No one! I wander the streets homeless, sleeping wherever my feet land me! I used to live in a mansion!"
"Then work your way and build a castle. The fight is never over until death says it is over. As long as you have life, as long as you have hands and determination to succeed, to never give up, and have faith that better days are ahead of you, then I don't see why you can't succeed. Your stepmother and son want to see you crumble, they want to ruin you completely and watch you either kiss their feet or kill yourself like you are doing now. You are not supposed to let them live with the satisfaction that they destroyed you, you are supposed to fight and be someone great by your own hands. Show them both and your father that you are not what they made you out to be."
"You can be smart, always think ahead, and know how to neutralize, and how to detect a plot just by looking at the person. I am a pretty good judge of character and I know you are a strong boy, you just need to grow up and become a man, search deep for that man and dominant king inside you, and bring it forth. Mister, I don't know who you are but I am positive you can achieve good things, I am sure you can be greater than even your father if you work towards it. I myself have been fighting to be great, to prove to everyone who said my mother bearing a fragile female was a bad thing, to everyone who wishes to step on me because I'm a girl and girls aren't wanted in my family. You wanna know what? I'm still crushing them even now. You can do the same, mister, get up, clean yourself up, and live, show all them fools that you can be better with or without your father and his money. I'm going to make you a deal,"
"What deal?"
"Let's meet again in the future, say ten to twelve years from now, I see us meeting then. When we meet, we will see how great we have both made ourselves and the weaker one gets to grant the winner three wishes. It's a challenge, be great before the time expires, or grant three wishes you can't afford. You in?"
I forced my eyes open, all the pain I was feeling had stopped. I couldn't see her face, only her violet and cornflower blues shining like a mini torch. Her eyes permanently encrypted in my mind, the big round violet orb whirling like a pool with cornflower blue shading and faint brownish gold highlights.
"Your eyes…?"
"Oh, sorry," she closed her eyes, "I was born with it, love your eyes too by the way. So are you going to accept the deal?"
"I don't know where to start from,"
"Start from your mind. I'm sure there are great ideas in there that would hold answers that would help. And also, start with your strength and hands." I felt her deep something into the pocket of my pants.
"How sure are you that we will meet in ten to twelve years?"
"Instinct. Plus, it's a promise, and I never break a promise. Goodbye, mister, I hope you get better and prove that you are worth more than you look. Don't die."
The rest of the memory was foggy, but when I woke up in the alley the next morning, I felt different and determined to prove to her that I was better than my sorry ass. Pulling all my strength, I forced myself to my feet, the force caused something to fall from my pockets. It was money, she stuffed my pocket with enough money to get a small room to stay in. The girl whose face I never saw, whose name I never got gave me a new purpose, fueled me with the passion to complete a quest… Be the best version of me before we meet again.
But I didn't just gain a purpose and new determination that day, I gained the greatest love of my life.
Mordecai's standpoint I drummed my fingers on the large table, playing ignorant to the murderous glares Landon was shooting my way. I sat lazily on the chair, legs crossed with my suit jacket draping down the side of the black swivel chair. Chairman Shi Ye was smiling as he observed my proposition, it was already clear who would win the contract. "Well, gentlemen," he finally spoke, adjusting his oversized glasses. I've always wondered what his love for oversized things is all about. "This has been one hell of a decision, you all brought great propositions and your presentations were flawless, but as you all know, there can be only one to take the contract…" "Why not spit it out to us in a plain sentence that Mordecai here has won?" Landon growled. "It's obvious from the way you shine your dirty old almost fallen teeth while staring at his offers." Shi Ye's smile dropped into a stern look. "Landon, I will remind you that I own the company, not you. And next time when you want to pr
Chelsea's standpoint We weren't always this poor, we had enough to care for our needs. Father had a toy factory which I always dreamt of working at, and mother owned a restaurant that wasn't that bad. I'd rate it a three-star restaurant. Mother worked her ass out as a teen to save up money to buy the restaurant, she worked for years before finally getting enough money to purchase it. The restaurant was her life, and through it, she met the mistake called my father. They got married and things weren't bad, we were all living fine until three years ago when my father borrowed large amounts of money from three different banks unknown to my mother. The first two debts were for a business that didn't work out, and the third was the money he borrowed and disappeared with my mother's sister. Father left us to pay the debts and used his toy factory, mother's restaurant, and the house as collateral for the banks. We lost everything, and now the house was next. And the cherry on top, my younges
Chelsea's standpoint The doorbell rang, and I jumped to my feet and hurried to it. I unlocked the door to meet the smiling face of Delaney. She pushed past me and walked straight to Angela who was sleeping on the sofa. "Did she…" "Yes, she took her medication and is doing fine, just tired from waiting too long." "Hmmm, did she give any sign of speech today?" Laney asked with hope twinkling in her eyes. "Sadly, no," I murmured, her hope shattered, "but you don't have to give up hope, at least she's giggling now, isn't she?" "Yeah, better than it was four years ago," she rolled her eyes to her daughter once more and then smiled, "she'll be fine." "Angela is a strong girl, she certainly will. Did you come alone?" "Mordecai is in the car, he's waiting for us…" She explained as she carried Angela up. "Delaney, I don't know if it's possible to request something," I murmured nervously. She wrapped Angela's legs around her waist and arched a brow. I shifted my weight to one foot and cl
Chelsea's standpoint Tired out of my head, I dragged my miserable self out of the elevator and plodded to my apartment. I could barely see or think over my foggy eyes and brain, all I wanted to do was sleep. I was already planning on calling in sick for work tomorrow or just going late, I won't get fired after all. I lazily and drowsily pushed my door open, not noticing it was already open. Once inside the apartment, I kick my flats off and walk over to the couch; the beautiful sofa bed. I pulled out the bed and threw myself on it. "So tired," I moaned. I had spent all night working harder than I used to, the other female workers made me miserable because apparently, I was flirting with the boss who was also their crush. I didn't even flirt, but it was worth it. Wait still I give Autumn the gist, she would teleport back to Washington DC and try to play Cupid. I miss her. I miss him. God, I wanna kiss him! I saw his face in my dream, causing me to smile. I knew it was going to be
Chelsea's standpoint "Autumn—" "Three years, my best friend has been suffering and I didn't know, isn't that fucking great," she said sarcastically. "I'm sorry, I didn't want to bother you—" "What are friends for if they can't help each other?!" I flinched when she suddenly screamed in anger. Autumn rarely gets angry at me. "Weren't you there for me when my uncle tried to take everything away from me?! You encouraged me to be the amazing person I am today and use my wit to fight. All thanks to you I was able to get help from my godfather and am now the woman I am today—" "Au—" "What are you not bothering me for?! I'm sitting on top of millions and my best friend is suffering. Do you know how that makes me feel?!" Do you want to know the truth, I forgot Autumn was fucking rich. She lived her life so simple and plain it always made me forget her parents left millions for her before they died and left her in charge of their hospitals. "And you dare risk Carter's life! Why didn't you
Chelsea's standpoint Autumn and I walked into the diner while she talked about the boys she had encounters with. We walked to the counter. I smiled at Stella who was handling it. "Good morning, Stel, how was your night?" "It was amazing," she said, eyeing Autumn lustfully. Stella was into both women and men, mostly women. And with Autumn, there's always an attraction. "And who is this beautiful lady?" "Lady Autumn Of Milan, Italy," Autumn curtsied playfully. "You're Italian?" Stella gasped, she's a sucker for Italians. Autumn chuckled. "Not exactly, studied there. I was born here in America but my maternal grandmother was Italian/Japanese, so technically I'm an American Japanlian," she laughed. Stella laughed at her ridiculous joke. "Well, it's nice meeting you, I'm Stella Rain, by the way. You don't happen to be interested in women, are you?" "Sorry, sweetheart, all dicks and no puss," Autumn smirked. I rolled my eyes. "Fowie," Stella pouted, "but you can still try, I can mak
Chelsea's standpoint I turned to the door when I heard her awed with adoration. Angela's bodyguard brought her for the day, she was terrified and hiding behind him because of Autumn. I sprang to my feet and rushed to the door. "I am so sorry, Neman, I forgot my sister came home, I should have called to inform madam to keep Angela away," "You should have known better," he scolded. I looked at Autumn pleadingly. "Autumn, can you excuse us?" "Why?" "Have you forgotten about the child I told you I babysit for money? I just told you that, like an hour ago. Angela is afraid of people and is mute," "Nonsense," Autumn said with a wave, "she isn't mute, just extremely shy and insecure," "Autumn, she's mute," "Maybe she was. I've met mute children and I know how to handle them. Here, I'll show you," "Autumn…" she knelt and smiled at Angela who was peeping at her. "Hi there, Angel, I'm Autumn and I'm new here. I don't have any friends yet so will you be my friend? We can eat pizza crus
Autumn's standpoint Eleven years, for eleven years I had pictured the day we would meet again, how we would recognize each other. That night, I didn't see his face clearly. I might have had great night vision but it wasn't enough to see his face vividly. I wasn't sure how I would recognize him, but sitting there on the bed and staring at him with my mouth open was unbelievable. Compared to the wreck I saw years ago, this guy was dreamy, so dreamy it felt too real to be true. I rubbed my eyes to make sure it wasn't one of my fantasies again, to make sure I wasn't daydreaming about how he would look or foolishly getting myself wet. He was still there, gawking at me with lips parted and standing there looking like a sexy god who was banished from Olympus and had to blend in with humans. Angela tapped me, making me avert my eyes to her. She pointed at him, asking me if I knew him. "Something like that," I smiled. I averted my eyes back to him. "You look great, got better, huh?" He snapp