==Olivia==
I woke up to the sound of a phone call. Awesome, it was from Leah.
“Morning, Leah. Thanks for the really needed present.”
She squealed. “You liked it? I bet you did!”
I rolled my eyes. Leah's present was two pairs of Victoria’s secret lingerie. Among the most outrageous things she had sent, this took the lead.
“Oh yes. Cos I work in a club and my success really depend on how flimsy my underwear is.”.
“Don’t be an ingrate.”
“I’m not,” I said. “But you now how these things are. I’m not comfortable with ‘em.”.
“That’s why you should learn to get used to it. Everyone wears a lingerie, Olivia. This is 2021.”
“Whatever. Thanks, though.”
“You welcome. “
“Yeah.” The thought came. Maybe I could ask Leah to lend me some money. Uhm, Leah?”
“Yes?”
“Can I uhm, can you lend me some… Never mind.” I didn’t know how to say it.
“No, no. Can I lend you what?”
“Ugh, forget it, Inspector,” I said, chuckling. “Anyways, I gotta go.”
“Not so fast. Come on, what’s up?”
“Leah, I told you. The there’s no—” I saw Dad walking into the kitchen. “Morning, Dad.”
He nodded and went on to turn on the faucet.
“I’ll talk to you later, Leah.” And I hung up the call before she could protest. I watched Dad pour himself a cup of water. He gulped it and cast me a look.
“You came home late yesterday.”
“Yeah. I hung out with Leah after work.”
“How was it?”
“Fun.” Ordinarily, I would have rattled on about how the day went, but I didn’t. I could sense the pain in Dad's words. Something was troubling him.
“Dad?”
He looked at me. I wanted to tell him that I knew something was wrong but my words got stuck in my throat. I couldn’t bring them out.
I shook my head, indicating that he shouldn’t mind.
“I want to have a word with you, “ he said.
I knew it! Something was wrong. At that point, anxiety set in. My mind wandered on the very many possibilities. From the look things, whatever it was wasn’t good.
He sat on the sofa beside me. “Sit,” he said.
I did as he told me to, even as the nerves were getting the best of me.
“Olivia…” he said, licking his lips. Red flag! Whenever he did that, it showed that something was amiss. “I want to apologise. I’ve been a terrible person, a negligent father. I…”
“Don’t do this, Dad. We've passed that stage.” I couldn’t bare seeing him berate himself. I couldn’t see him blame himself constantly for Mom's passing and what he termed to be our misfortune.
“No matter how you put it. No matter how hard you try to deny it, you know the truth,” he said. He took his eyes from me and stared straight off. Something was going on in his mind, and I was left trying to figure out what actually it was. “I did it again, Olivia. I failed you.”
I wasn’t taking it anymore. I left my seat and got to him. I took his hand on mine. “Dad. Tell, me what's the problem? Money?”
He turned at me sharply.
“I kinda guessed. See, that’s not a problem. I could give you…” The shake of his head kept me quiet.
“It's beyond that. I…” He buried his face on his hand. “God, how do I say this?”
I stared in confusion. A hard frown on my face.
When he took his hand from his face, I could see how red he had gotten. He was about to cry.
“Olivia, please tell me you'll forgive me.”
“What are you talking about, Dad?”
He pinned his lips, finding it hard to swallow. “I…I’m sorry. “
“You picked up smoking again?” I said, fearing that he had fallen back to his habit.
He gave a rue laugh. “I wish.” Sniffing and rubbing his palms together, he looked at me. “Please, promise you’ll forgive me.”
“Dad, I promise. Just tell me whatever it is, please.” I said, my patience falling really bad.
“I…” He cleared his throat. “I used you as a collateral.”
I paused. I wasn’t sure I got what he said. “What do you mean?”.
Still rubbing his palms, he said. “For loan. I used you as a collateral.”
I looked at him, the confusion still in my eyes. I gave a short laugh. “Is that the problem? Come on, Dad. You promised me you quit. Now, I’m really disappointed you started smoking again.”.
“This isn’t the effect of nicotine, Olivia. As bad as I want this to be a dream, it is not. They're coming for you. “.
“They? What are you talking about?”
He took his eyes away from me and began crying. His chest heaving violently.
I stared in utter disbelief. “Who are they, Dad?”
==Matteo==I got off the phone with my secretary, just in time for a knock to come.“Come in.” I said.The door opened to reveal my butler. “Sire, I have the documents with me.”I ushered him in, and he passed me the documents.The first page read: Olive Samantha Haynes. The second page displayed her personal information. From the look of things, she recently turned 21, measured 5”5 in height and worked as a waitress at a local café. I flipped to the next page and saw her pictures.My eyes circled around her form. I immediately shut the portfolio, not wanting to see more.“You may
*Olivia*Leah… I couldn’t be more grateful for a friend. For a sister. For a companion. She proved once again that she was the confidante I knew. She had suggested I offered to work for whomever it was my dad was owing. She made me realise I might be scared for nothing.I stayed in her apartment for the weekend and resumed fully to work on Monday. My boss had been considerate. When I told him I was ill he sympathised with me. I still hadn’t seen…Dad. I didn’t know where he was, and maybe I didn’t want to see him ever again.I got hold of some burger and fries then walked home. All I would do was eat and drown myself with some music. Something that would clear my mind.When I got home, I did just that, eating and lis
==Matteo==I slammed my palms on the table, fury blinding me. “How dare he?” I growled. “What gave him the effrontery? “My servant remained emotionless. Well, it wasn't as if I was expecting him to react.Fuck! The little bastard that called himself Lyons thought he could sideline me. The hell he thought. Ever since my encounter with my proposed…subject, I hadn’t been at rest. Thoughts about her plagued my mind. I would get flashes whenever I slept, and that scent was stuck in my nose. Fed up, I asked my servants to keep an eye on her. I didn’t want to claim her just yet. Now, everything was going well, until I was informed that Lyons…Lyons fucking Jones dropped by at her apartment. His conversation with her was
Chapter 8==Matteo==Her eyes were tightly shut. Her hair, sandy blonde, fell all over her face. It had been over thirty minutes she arrived, and I had been keeping watch. I was in the atrium with her.The first time I laid my eyes on her, intense hatred and disgust grew in me. I remembered thinking, what the hell was I going to do with this one. She was weak. She was frail. If I didn’t know better, I would have argued she was 15.Again, I cursed Haynes. Pete Haynes, the pathetic fool. He must have grown tired of the burden his daughter had on him, given that he decided to shift his responsibility on me.I sized the young lady again. I couldn’t tell what she would offer. Could I trust her to handle the kitch
==Olivia==My head was light, almost as if it didn’t exist. I wanted to speak, but couldn’t bring that to happen. Tried to turn my neck, that also was a failed mission. I was completely useless.Then, miraculously, my eyes began to obey me. It opened, slowly first before becoming fully active. I was in some form of room. The lighting was pretty dim, but I could still see. I tried to speak, to say hello, but cut myself shut. What happened? Where am I?Then, I saw a figure…no, someone. It was actually a person sitting few feet across from where I was. To say I was startled was an understatement. I literally had the scare of my life. Sitting before me was a guy. Now, although I couldn’t see much, I could tell that he was huge. He wore a black long
==Olivia==I didn’t sleep at all. Not with grieve nibbling at me and my stomach making the growl of the century. Right now, I’m crawled in a fetal position, my eyes dreary from long hours of crying. I was done wondering why fate was so cruel with me. I was done wondering why my life felt useless. Why I had to endure all these. I was done.I didn’t know what the time was, but I believed it should be sometime close to noon. This place was as dark as hell. Anyone who endured more than a day here could as well become a bat.I turned the other way, making sure that I didn’t disturb my left arm much. It was almost numb now from hours of staying fixed to the bed post.Sitting up, my legs made contact with the tray of nachos. At that instant,
==Olivia==I was rational; I knew that. As a child, I didn’t buy the idea that Santa Claus existed. It was just pure nonsense, I’d thought. There was no way in the world that an old heavily bearded man would ride through the skies with his reindeer and go on to distribute presents to kids. It was just too good to be true.As a tween, I didn’t see the truth in a fairy-tale romance, such that there were little to no problems at all. It sounded ridiculous. However, here was I, having the firm belief that my tear ducts had been emptied. I’d so much that it couldn’t be possible I’d be able to produce tears ever again.I was still on the bed. Hadn’t brushed, hadn’t showered, hadn’t eaten. I wanted to end it all. To sleep and never wake up again. And if starving w
Leah listened with a bored expression as the professor concluded his lecture. Her eyes glazed over, appearing to look at the projector, when in fact she was anywhere but here“That’s all for today. Make sure you come to get your individual topic for the seminar.” That being said, the entire class was free to leave. Leah stood up and silently packed her bag. A satchel that really needed to be changed. Olivia would have countered, which made Leah frown.Olivia. She hadn’t called since five days ago when she'd slept over at her place. Leah was sure she still hadn’t gotten over the news, well, who could? The poor girl had had the shock of her life. But then, Olivia had assured her she was okay.“I’m fine, “ she said while offering that smile she offered whenever she