There was a collective groan in the audience as many picked up their mugs to sip from.I knew if I took a sip, my team mates would ask who it was but I also knew if I didn't, I'd be lying about my feelings. 'Well, technically, Kol isn't my work mate. He is my boss' I reasoned to myself and stayed my hands.I noticed Dara drank from her cup beside me. I nudged her in the shoulders, a big smile on my face."Who?" I whispered, unable to contain myself. I hadn't noticed her pay attention to anyone. She barely looked people in the eye.She adjusted her glasses but said nothing. I nudged her again, this time earning a smile from her."His name is Kayden." She whispered back. Her eyes lit up at the sound of his name."Kayden?" I wondered."I don't know any Kayden.""He's not here actually." My lips formed an 'o' at the sudden thought that he might not know."Well, does he know?"She nodded her. I almost yelped. I had no idea why I was so happy for her, but I was."You've got to introduce me

"What is your problem?""Nothing is my problem. You are the problem."I sighed as I moved towards another pair that was fighting."Guys... what's going on?" I rubbed my forehead as I could feel a headache coming along."She keeps hoarding the spoons like it's hers.""And why are you hoarding the spoons?" I looked at the lady in question who had a snarl on her face."He keeps licking them anytime we mix something." Her face scrunched up in disgust.Ugh. Some boys will just be boys."That's not proper. Don't lick the spoons. They're for mixing." I hurried along, feeling like a middle school teacher after scolding the guy.After a couple of minutes of looking around, I looked at the time. It was 10 minutes to the end of the contest."Okay. You have 10 minutes left. Dot your cake i's and cross your pastries t's." Everyone gave me a deadpanned look. I shrugged. I was beyond stressed and only wanted it to be over at this point.***The design team had done fairly well and I was now on the c

Kol was extra gentle with me as he washed my skin. My energy was spent so I had to rely on him even to the point of taking off and putting on my clothes.He carried me to his bed and lay down beside. I didn't let him leave my side as I held on to him as tightly and as closely as possible. "You scared me so much. You wouldn't wake up even throughout the night." "I'm sorry." I sniffled, wishing I hadn't inconvenienced him."You have absolutely nothing to be sorry about. It was my fault. I'll never let anything happen to you again." His voice soft against my ears. I squeezed his shirt tight wanting him to hold me against him. He understood and placed his arms around my head and I stretched my hands over his torso.The night was cold but his body provided me with more than enough warmth. He placed a kiss on my forehead as I began to drift asleep.It was a near traumatic experience and I relieved the scene in my dreams. In it, Michael completed what he'd started. I woke up with a scream

I listened as he spoke, not moving. Only my fingers rubbed circles along his back."My mum was always high on something or drunk as f*ck. She never cared where the money came from or what her son did to get it, just that it did.""We'd gotten into a fight that night. She couldn't find money where I'd kept it and I wouldn't give her any either. She threw me out."He moved us so he was laying down and I was on top of him, my cheeks on his chest while his hands remained on my waist."That was when I met Jason. He'd been in one of the shelters set up in one of our streets and he was in a way worse off condition than I was. Naturally, we became close."I rose my head to look up at him. I wanted to see his face as he recalled events from the past. "Jason always used underhanded methods sometimes to get what we wanted. I hadn't noticed much because no one gave a f*ck about us and we just wanted to survive and Jason was doing that quite well.I had come up with an idea and we were looking for

"You okay?"I faked a smile at Thea and nodded, my heart still running at a thunderous speed. "Yeah. Would you like some toast?"She looked at me quizzically first because we'd just eaten but a smile spread along her face. I just needed an excuse to collect myself."Of course. Make that two for me." She yelled after me.I picked up pieces of bread, buttered them up and put them in the toaster while I looked at the message again.The sender had no name, nothing.I tried calling the number but the number didn't exist.I racked my brain to figure out who could've sent me the message but absolutely no one came to mind.I figured it was a mistake and deleted the message. I picked up the toast and carried on with my activities.Thea hadn't suspected a thing and for that I was relieved. I didn't want her to be worried for absolutely no reason. "The year is ending, isn't it?"We looked up at the sky from our balcony, wrapped up in blankets."Yeah." I agreed with her. The year had started ex