It’s getting closer to the evening. Raquelle is busy reading a book while sitting in the living room with her legs placed on the sofa. At some moment, she made herself relax and focus on the text, over which she runs her eyes. It’s very quiet in the living room. A big chandelier and a few little lamps placed in different places on some tables are turned on. It’s quite dark outside, and only streetlamps placed literally on every single step are able not to let people fear darkness and find a road.
This atmosphere encourages Raquelle to enjoy reading a favorite creation in a thick book that she is holding in her hands. She gets so busy with it that she does not hear a hall door slowly opens, and then Terrence enters the living room. The man locks the door, puts the keys on a table placed near it, and goes further as slowly as a snail, touching a bruise under his eyes that hurts slightly and outstands against his naturally white skin.
When Terrence is going to get up to the second floor, he sees Raquelle sitting in the living room and reading a book with interest. The man watches her for two seconds and quietly comes to her from behind. When she feels someone is standing behind her, the girl moves her eyes to her fiancé.
“Oh, hey, sweetie,” Raquelle smiles shyly.
“Hey, sweetheart,” Terrence says with a slight smile, bends to Raquelle, and kisses her softly on the cheek. “Reading a book?”
“Yup, I found my favorite one and decided to re-read it…”
“I knew it, seeing how much you got busy reading.”
“Just reached my favorite moment… So, I didn’t hear you.”
“Okay…” Terrence chuckles quietly and glances aside for a second.
Raquelle frowns slightly and looks at Terrence better, who looks kind of upset and gloomy.
“You’re okay?” Raquelle asks anxiously. “You look sad…”
“I can’t deny it…” Terrence replies hesitantly and locks his fingers tightly. “My mood is really bad…”
“Problems with the band? Or Daniel?”
“No, no… The problem is not about it… I spent a great time with him and worked on songs a little.”
“But what’s wrong then? Wanna share it with me?”
“Erm…” Terrence scratches the back of his head. “Yes… I want… There’s something…”
“Then you can…”
Raquelle wants to ask something, but then Terrence turns another side on her, and she just notices the bruise on his face.
“Wait, what is that?” Raquelle asks anxiously, gets up from the sofa shortly, comes to Terrence, turns his face on her to see the bruise better, and opens her eyes full of horror widely. “My gosh, what’s wrong with your face?”
“Oh, don’t press too much…” Terrence winces slightly when Raquelle presses on his bruise. “It’s hurt…”
“Damn, where did you get this bruise? Did you fight with someone?”
“The most important thing is that I’m fine,” Terrence says quietly. “And the bruise will be gone in a few days.”
Raquelle lowers her hands sharplyand looks at Terrence a little gloomily, saying in quite a loud voice:
“Do not dare to avoid an answer, Terrence James MacClife! Tell me what the fuck happened to you now! If you do not tell me everything at your wish, I will get the information out of you by force.”
“Hey, hey, quiet, sweetie, quiet,” Terrence says in almost a whisper, trying to keep calm and calm Raquelle down, as he softly grabs her by the shoulders. “Don’t cry so loudly. Do you want the whole house to know it?”
“I swear, Terrence, I will not get off you until you tell me everything. Speak what kind of trouble you got in, and who beat you so strongly!”
“I promise I’ll tell you everything, but let’s first sit down and calm down a little.” Terrence leads the excited Raquelle to the sofas, seats her down, and sits down next to her.
“I did know I shouldn’t have let you go anywhere,” Raquelle says in a little shaking voice, shaking her head with pity in her little wet eyes. “I did feel you’d get into something.”
“Don’t worry about me, sweetheart, I’m okay,” Terrence replies softly, taking Raquelle’s hand. “First, everything wasn’t fine, but now I feel much better.”
“Something horrible happened?”
“Well… Actually, yes…” Terrence falls into silence for a second and glances aside. “Actually, the situation is really very hard and dangerous…”
“Please, tell me what happened to you,” Raquelle says with pity in her eyes. “I wanna know everything.”
“I will do… I promise…” Terrence sharply exhales and braces himself to start telling what happened to him. “So, the letters you and I got weren’t anyone’s joke. The danger is really threatening you and me.”
“Really?” Raquelle rounds her eyes.
“Yes,” Terrence pronounces in a low voice. “Today I made sure that there was a real threat for you and me.”
“But what happened to you? Explain clearly! I understand nothing!”
“Sorry, it’s just unpleasant for me to say it…” Terrence exhales sharply. “No matter how much I don’t want to confess it, I have to do it.”
“Hey, MacClife, stop beating around the bush!” Raquelle demands loudly, a little irritably. “Say what happened to you, and who gave you this fucking bruise. Or you will get me irritated and make me kill you!”
“Raquelle, stop raising your voice on me!” Terrence replies gloomily, while Raquelle rolls her eyes and glances aside. “Calm down, at last! And if you do not the fuck stop shouting, I will not say anything.”
“Okay, okay, I’m sorry…” Raquelle inclines her head guiltily and looks at her hands, tightly locking her fingers. “Sorry for shouting… I’m just worried about you and wanna know who beat you so strongly.”
“I get it, but try to control yourself,” Terrence replies quietly.
Silence settles in the air for two seconds, during which Terrence glances aside and exhales sharply before he starts to speak:
“Everything happened after I left Daniel’s home and went to the favorite place of you and me. I walked there a little and decided to go home. But when I came to my car, someone suddenly pushed me in the back very strongly. That’s why I almost fell on the car and hit my head against the hood…”
“You hit your head?” Raquelle asks with horror in her eyes, getting white from horror and looking like she is about to cry.
“Nope, I stood on my feet and didn’t hit my head.” Terrence falls into silence for a second to swallow up nervously. “Then I turned and saw a man wearing total black. A horrible man. His face didn’t make me feel anything but disgust and fear. I asked him who he was, and what he needed from me, and he said he was looking for me.”
“Do you know him? Or have you seen him before?”
“Nope, I saw him for the first time. When I tried to leave several times, he took me under an arm and didn’t let me do it.”
“But what did he need from you?”
“He should’ve just scared me by the order of a certain man, who allegedly had many contacts and could do anything to me.”
“Scared?”
“I won’t tell our full dialogue, but I wanna say that man is working on the one, who sent the letters with threats to us.”
“So, did you find out who sent us those letters?”
“Yes. That man said we didn’t know his boss, but his boss knew us and everything about our lives. He wants to revenge on us for nobody knows what and will not give up.”
“My gosh…” Raquelle closes her mouth with a hand with horror in her eyes.
“And that man definitely knows my parents. As well as his boss. Those two had known my father and mother a long time before I was born.”
“So, you should talk to your mother.”
“No, I know someone to know everything about this bullshit much better.” Terrence makes a short pause. “You have three guesses to say who can tell us absolutely everything.”
“I don’t know, honestly…” Raquelle throws her hands up.
“Think better, my love,” Terrence smiles slyly. “Who is very close to us and has been pretending that everything and fine and isn’t going to confess anything?”
“Oh, my gosh…” Raquelle thinks for two seconds. “Do you wanna say…”
“Yes, Raquelle, you got it right!” Terrence nods confidently. “That’s my friend, Edward Lockhart! That man exactly said that the guy knew about the tricks of his boss well.”
“Edward?! But what does he have to do with it?”
“That man confidently blamed Edward for the fact that we received those letters. And he hinted that he might’ve planned something bad against us. And he is not the one he wants to be.”
“My gosh… Is your friend connected with that man? Could he be his accomplice?”
“I wouldn’t be surprised if it was true. And he said Lockhart knew something about my brother.”
“About your brother?”
“That guy can tell me who he is and how I can find him.”
“Wow…”
“And before leaving, he said that my brother was much closer to me than I think.”
“So, should we look for him among the people from your circle?”
“Maybe. But I don’t know who it could be.”
“If Edward was a little similar to you, I would assume that he was your brother. But… You’ve got nothing similar features.”
“No, that’s not him. But I wouldn’t be surprised if his name wasn’t actually Edward Lockhart.”
“Me too. And the fact that he showed us his driver’s license doesn’t mean it’s not fake.”
“Oh, I don’t know what to think…” Terrence sighs tiredly. “At first, I refused to believe it, but after thinking a little, I thought it was quite possible. Edward has lately been behaving so strangely and doesn’t almost tell us anything about his life and his business for the reason. We should’ve paid attention to it.”
“Do you think Edward really has something against us or does something that the boss tells him? Is that why he imposed himself on you so hard?”
“I can’t be sure, but he one hundred percent can tell us something. That man said if I wanted to know all the truth, I needed to ask my friend.”
“So, is that man aware of what’s happening? And does he know where to find your brother?”
“Yes, but he said only about the letters and his boss, and said my friend could tell us what that man is hiding. He definitely knows something about my brother, but he refused to say it. He just said that his name was Edward Robert MacClife, just like my mother said once.”
“Wait, that’s what those letters meant!” Raquelle exclaims, getting sharply straight. “If we know who to ask, we will discover all the secrets. That’s what it meant! We should ask Edward!”
“Exactly! Now I don’t doubt it. If we wanna know all the truth, we should press my buddy against the wall and get the information out of him.”
“Oh…” Raquelle puts her hand on her forehead and sighs quietly. “It seems like he got into something serious, knowing someone wants to take revenge on you and me.”
“Not only you and me, Raquelle. That man began to threaten Edward himself, Natalia, and even my parents. At first, he hinted that the danger was threatening you, and then he promised to destroy my mother. And then he mentioned your friend and that idiot, who got serious problems.”
“Natalia? What does she have to do with it? She is not a part of your family! The MacClifes are in danger, as I understand!”
“Maybe, because she’s dating Edward? It seems like that man decided to kill everybody because of the problems with only one – my pal. Killing him is not enough, and he decided to defeat us, too.”
“Oh, gosh… What’s threatening us now? And what do we have to do with Edward’s tricks? He did something, but we should the hell pay for it!”
“I think my beloved friend knows very much about it. And I will find it out in any way.” Terrence glances aside and hums. “Now I will get the truth out of him. And he will no longer avoid answering all my questions I want to ask him.”
“No, Terrence, I’m afraid it’s worthless,” Raquelle shakes her head. “Edward will hardly wish to explain something.”
“I give a damn,” Terrence glances at Raquelle sharply. “This time, I will make him speak, even if I have to do it by force. And I swear, if I know that little boy really has something against us and got our trust to do his dirty tricks, I will stop speaking to him forever. And I shall make him tell me everything he knows about my brother. That asshole will personally bring me to him.”
“And how are you gonna make him speak?”
“I don’t know yet… But I shall find a way to make him speak. Press to a wall so that he has no choice and tells me everything immediately. I am no longer going to close my eyes to his silence and the business he does secretly from everybody.”
“Hey, do you think his disappearance could have to do with this story?” Raquelle asks thoughtfully. “What if Edward disappeared for one month not because of the job he got in another city? What if it has to do with that man, who sent us the letters?”
“Yeah…” Terrence nods. “Maybe… But honestly, I forgot that he had disappeared for one month… But I wouldn’t be surprised if Edward’s disappearance really had to do with that man.”
“It seems like he has quite serious problems…”
“That man said my friend meddled in this business at his wish. He kind of always meddles in people’s business and tries to pretend to be a hero, while he’s afraid of everything.”
“Quite possible… Despite Edward’s pretty face and shy smile, I’ve treated him with suspicion from the beginning. I smiled at him just for you and Natalia. But now I understand that I wasn’t wrong when I felt that something was wrong.”
“Now I’m starting to doubt whether Edward is really such a sweet, fluffy, innocent, and shy guy. The words of that man made me understand that my friend could really give us many problems. I mean, he did it when we got the letters, and I got attacked by the man, who said someone we didn’t know was threatening us.”
“Yeah…” Raquelle sighs heavily. “Now, I don’t doubt the situation became too dangerous for us two. Someone would probably love to catch you somewhere again and beat you much stronger than today.”
“Anyway, I can stand up for myself and am ready to fight with anyone. Do you think I let that man mock me? No, sweetie, I was protecting myself as hard as possible after he grabbed me by the collar and strongly threw me against the car. But he was quite a tough nut, and it was hard to fight with him. He was beating me so strongly with his legs and hands that my whole body hurts. And I got so much blood flowing out of my nose that I barely stopped it.”
“Oh, my gosh…” Raquelle gets kind of green from horror, while tears roll out of her eyes, her hands start shaking slightly, and she can barely connect words in sentences. “Did that man… Beat you so strongly that… You got… Nose… Bleeding?”
“Yes, but luckily, I’m absolutely fine now and don’t care about the pain,” Terrence replies softly. “It will be gone in a few days.”
“I can’t believe, I have nothing to say…” Raquelle shakes her head, sniffing quietly and feeling her eyes get wet from tears. “I did know I shouldn’t have let you leave home. I was sure it wouldn’t be over in a good way… And you came back home half beaten, with bruises on your body…”
“Raquelle, please, don’t worry about me,” Terrence takes Raquelle’s hand and tightly squeezes it, looking into her eyes with pity in his gaze. “I’m safe and sound. Luckily, I didn’t end up in a hospital.”
“Why did you do what you wanted?” Raquelle makes a quiet sob and shakes her head. “And you say I am headstrong and always do what I want, listening to nobody and wishing to feel everything by myself. You are more headstrong and don’t wanna listen to me when I say you shouldn’t do something.”
“I swear, I didn’t think it would happen! I wouldn’t have imagined I would’ve had to meet the stinker, who works on someone, who wanted to revenge us because of my friend’s tricks.”
“You could think of all variants of the possible consequences. But you didn’t listen to me and went to Daniel’s home, but you also said my assumption that Edward could have to do with that was nonsense. You were defending him and saying your friend was too sweet and fluffy to get in touch with it. But now you see I was right.”
Raquelle shakes her head and wants to leave the living room to calm down a little. But Terrence sharply gets up from the sofa, takes the girl under an arm, turns her on himself, grabs the brunette’s face, and confidently looks into her eyes.
“I confess that I wasn’t right,” Terrence says confidently. “I made sure about it and understood that I shouldn't have defended Edward. Maybe, we aren’t able to prove that he has to do with it, but his behavior makes me think about it and ask myself if he had problems better about it.”
Terrence moves a couple of Raquelle’s hair off her eyes and caresses one of her cheeks tenderly with his thumb, still holding her face in his hands.
“Please, forgive me for not listening to you and calling your version nonsense,” Terrence apologizes truly. “I will repeat, you were absolutely right, and I confess that I did the wrong thing when not listening to you because of my reluctance to believe that my friend could get in touch with that bullshit. I didn’t wanna hurt or upset you.”
“It’s okay,” Raquelle hesitantly moves her eyes up to Terrence, sobs quietly, and smiles shyly. “You should have your opinion… You had a right not to trust me and say my theory was bullshit. I understand you treated your friend too well and thought he was too decent to get into crimes. I just assumed it, knowing what was currently happening. We saw Edward was behaving very strangely…”
“It’s not bullshit,” Terrence puts his hands on Raquelle’s shoulder. “At the bottom of my heart, I thought it was possible. But I refused to believe that Edward would get into these tricks or betray us. But now, forgetting about my good relationship with him and rating the situation soberly, I know we have many reasons to watch him closely.”
“Oh, it doesn’t make sense who was right or wrong,” Raquelle sighs heavily. “What happened is happened! Forget it!”
“Anyway, I’m very sorry about not listening to you.” Terrence hugs Raquelle tenderly, presses her close to himself, caressing her head with one hand and running another slowly over her back, and softly kisses her on the top of her head. “Very sorry…”
“It’s okay, I’m not mad,” Raquelle replies softly, answering Terrence’s hug with a slight smile and putting her hands on his back.
Two or three seconds later, Raquelle steps back from Terrence and sits on the sofa.
“And now, when we know someone is threatening us, we need to decide what to do, and how to find out who has to do with it.”
While Raquelle runs her hand through her hair and bends a leg under herself, Terrence sits on the sofa next to her.
“Are you asking what to do?” Terrence rounds his eyes. “We will make Edward tell us everything he knows about the one to take revenge on us.”
“Yeah, but how are you gonna do it?” Raquelle wonders. “You said you didn’t know how to make your friend speak!”
“I know, but I won’t leave this business without my attention and will find out everything that rutrag hides. And if I have to, I will feel free to show cruelty toward him.”
“By the way, you said that man also mentioned Natalia…”
“Yeah, and I think she should also know everything that guy is hiding. And it would be great to ask her if she has met someone or gotten letters or threats.”
“Agree, but don’t forget, Edward and Natalia would hardly love to see each other and would feel uncomfortable if they were together. Remember how they wanted to run away from us not to be in the same place with each other.”
“Right, we can’t invite both of them… So, we will be talking to them by one… Now we need to make a second attempt to try to talk Edward into it and get the truth out of him. And then we’ll talk to Natalia, tell her about the threat, and ask her if something similar happened to her.”
“Oh, you know, Terrence, you were sure it was a bad idea, but now I start to doubt this decision is right.”
“Sadly, we have no choice,” Terrence replies a little desperately. “The letter dropped a hint. So, we should talk to Edward. This is the only way to find out something about the one, who wants to harm us. Find out what happened to my missing brother.”
“Well…” Raquelle glances aside for a second. “Maybe, you are right… That man definitely encourages us to talk with your friend.”
“As for Natalia, if we try hard, we’ll easily find a way to make her speak. But it’s gonna be much harder in Edward’s case… I think we need to do something for him not to be able to hide his emotions. If he saw or heard something and understood that we knew about that man, my friend would get scared and nervous. We’d easily see it if we closely watched his reaction.”
“Listen, Terrence, what if we invite Edward here, pretending that we know nothing, and ask someone of the servants to give those letters to us?” Raquelle suggests. “We could read the letters aloud and watch your friend’s reaction.”
“Hm…” Terrence thinks for two seconds, frowning slightly, and clicks the fingers of his hand. “Yes… Yes! I like your idea! If we do it, we’ll probably, easily reveal my friend. Edward won’t be able to keep calm if he realizes someone he knew found us.”
“We’ve gotta use our acting skills.”
“Well, it’s not a problem for me,” Terrence smiles mysteriously. “Anyway, from today, I will no longer believe the lie that guy says.”
“It seems like your acting skills did a good thing,” Raquelle laughs shyly.
“Agree. Although I haven’t played too many types of roles, I learned to show any emotions.”
“I’m sure you’d be pretending so that Edward guesses nothing ‘till it’s time. Nobody could play someone as brilliantly as you do.”
“You do know well that everything goes smoothly whatever I do,” Terrence smiles slyly, raising his head proudly. “Because I’m handsome and madly talented.”
“Aw, it’s been a while since I heard you praising yourself,” Raquelle laughs shyly. “Honestly, I missed these moments a little.”
“Whatever happens to us, I never forget who I am and am as confident as never ever.”
“Aw, sweetheart…”
Raquelle kisses Terrence cutely on the cheek, which she later pinches slightly. Then a short silence settles in the air, during which the man caresses the girl’s head with a tender smile. But later they stop smiling and think about their problem.
“Okay, let’s think we’d make this idea real,” Raquelle says thoughtfully. “And when Edward tells us everything, we can talk to Natalia and explain what happened.”
“Nobody knows how much time trying to make Edward speak would take,” Terrence frowns slightly. “But we need to find out everything as soon as possible to know what to be ready for.”
“Something tells me everything’s gonna get worse and worse.” Raquelle sighs quietly and glances aside.
“You say it like the situation is worthless, and we have no hope for the best,” Terrence notices.
“Sometimes I think it’s true,” Raquelle shrugs and starts to look at her hands. “First, you got problems with your band, then something happened to the relationship of Natalia and Edward. And now we’re getting threats. And your friend has to do with it.”
“I believe that man really threatens the whole family of MacClifes and those, who are closely connected with them.”
“Your friend, my friend, you, and I are connected with him as well as your parents.”
“Right… It seems like it all has to do with my parents, too…” Terrence frowns slightly. “I wonder why did that man mention my father and mother? He talked about both of them… And he threatened to destroy Mother and mentioned Father… How does he know them?”
“Maybe, your mother knows something? Don’t you wanna carefully talk to her and find out if she and your father had enemies? Your parents are probably well aware of that situation.”
“Honestly, I wouldn’t like to talk to Mother and make her excited. Yes, she always feels when Edward and I lie to her, but I don’t wanna tell her about the threats and the attempt on me.”
“Listen, maybe, that is why she is insisting upon your meeting with your father?” Raquelle assumes, getting a little straight. “What if he knows about this situation very well and has wanted to warn you for a long time?”
“Yeah, but that man didn’t say my father knew something.”
“I think you should overcome your offense and agree to meet your father. Your mother wants it so badly for the reason. I believe she could know very much about this situation.”
“But if she does, why does she say nothing? Why does she make Father do it? To find a reason to reconcile us and make me listen to his excuses for his behavior? If Mother knew something, she would tell me that.”
“I don’t deny, your relationship with him is also a reason to meet… Edward hinted that you could be deceived when someone told you your father was cruel and treated your mother badly.”
“I think it was just words. How could Edward know it if he didn’t live with Mother, and Father, as he said, wasn’t close to him?”
“Well, I dunno…” Raquelle glances down. “If I were instead of you, I’d like to try to find out something about the one, who told you that.”
“Yeah, but how do I do it if I don’t know who that was: a man or a woman? If I knew who said it, I would surely ask them about it and find out if the words about Father were true.”
“What if your mother can say who did that? As it happened at your home, she was supposed to be near you and hear someone saying that.”
“I don’t know, Raquelle, I don’t…” Terrence exhales quietly, running his hands over his face. “I’ve always been surprised by the fact that she forgave him so easily after what happened. But if Mother explained why she did it, I would probably understand her.”
“Maybe, she’d say, but you don’t show interest in it and keep believing your father is terrible. That’s why Mrs. MacClife wants to tell you the truth less and less.”
“I wouldn’t say it. Mother hasn’t gotten sick of asking me about it for almost ten years. And I’m sure she’ll keep insisting upon that for much more.”
“I’m sure she knows something. That woman is the only one to be able to tell you the truth about her relationship with your father. Show interest in it, Terrence. Not for a relationship with your father. For making this situation clear. Or you will never know what happened when you were a kid.”
“Now I won’t surely do it… Now I have a goal – to make Edward tell me the information about the one, who threatens us. And I am not going to give up.”
“Well… As you wish…” Raquelle shrugs. “I just try to think logically and connect the known facts. And there is much about my assumptions that fit together and have some explanation.”
“Yeah… I must confess that you have brilliant logic,” Terrence softly caresses Raquelle’s cheek. “It’s rarely possible to meet a mix of a brilliant mind and eternal beauty.”
“As my grandfather Frederick said somehow, teach thinking logically,” Raquelle smiles mysteriously. “But actually, you could guess it yourself… You aren’t a stupid man, do often give quite wise pieces of advice and understand everything quickly.”
“But I wouldn’t think about much of what you say.”
“I advise you to play chess ‘cause it makes you think much. Grandpa and I often played it when I was much younger. However, we agreed to play someday.”
“Chess? Do you play it well?”
“I’d say I do well. I’ve won half of the rounds, but Grandpa has won another part.”
“I believe you’re a strong opponent.”
“Wanna check?”
“Erm…” Terrence thinks for two seconds and looks at Raquelle confidently. “Yes, I want!”
“Aren’t you afraid to give in to the more experienced opponent?”
“I’d bet who’s stronger,” Terrence chuckles slyly. “At some period of my life, I also played chess quite well.”
“You played chess?”
“Yup. My mother can play a little, explained what all the figures meant, and showed the right moves.”
“Wow… I didn’t know…”
“It’s another confirmation of the fact that I can do anything perfectly,” Terrence replies with his head proudly raised.
“Alright, pretty boy…” Raquelle smiles slyly. “If you’re so confident and think you’d get a victory over me, I’m suggesting that we play one game someday.”
“With great pleasure. A loser will make a winner’s wish come true. If I take a win over you, you will make a wish of mine come true. Well, if you’re stronger, okay – I will become your slave being ready to make your caprice come true.”
“Aren’t you afraid that I can a wish, which would make you work hard to make it come true?” Raquelle laughs shyly.
“Well, I think you’d have very nice wishes that I’d love to make come true without persuading,” Terrence replies in a lower voice with a sly smile, caressing Raquelle’s cheek and keeping a hand on her knee. “Still, I hope to win and make you my obedient slave.”
“Keep dreaming, Terrence, you won’t be so strong at it,” Raquelle says with her head proudly raised, grabs Terrence by the collar, brings her face closer to his one, and confidently looks into his eyes. “So, you will do everything I say.”
“We will see it, beauty,” Terrence softly grabs Raquelle by the throat and chuckles shyly. “I will make you remember that you will lose if you decide to fight against me.”
“Take off your crown, peacock. Someday I shall find what I will take a win over you in.”
“It will be your unreal dream. Nobody can be a better Terrence MacClife than Terrence MacClife himself.”
“Sometimes you act like a pompous rooster.”
“Get ready to lose, cutie,” Terrence says confidently with a sly smile and kisses Raquelle tenderly on the lips and the curve of her neck, over which he runs the tip of his nose slowly. “I have very many plans for you that I wanna make come true.”
“Well, I also know what to do to you in case you lose. And trust me, you will not forget it for a long time.”
“We will find out whose dreams will come true.”
“Of course, m…”
Raquelle does not say it because Terrence gives her a continuous, little harsh kiss on the lips, holding her by the back of her head. While she relaxes under the influence of madly nice feelings and the warmth that spreads over her body, the man easily places her on his laps. That’s why she makes a quiet squeak during the kiss. Then he steps back and leaves a few kisses on the front of her neck, which make her give a sensitive moan and roll her eyes in pleasure.
“It isn’t honest…” Raquelle pronounces through a quiet moan.
“What’s not honest?” Terrence smiles innocently, leaving Raquelle’s neck alone and looking into her eyes while tenderly caressing her head. “The fact that I missed my beloved girl and wanna relax a little in her company?”
“First, take a win at chess over me, and then you’ll get what you want.”
“Seriously? Don’t you, sweet lady, think it’s not honest that you pretend to be hard-to-reach after you stole something from me?”
“What?” Raquelle chuckles kindly. “I stole?”
“Yes…” Terrence tenderly caresses Raquelle’s cheek. “Something special that got me tightly attracted to such a charming girl.”
“Actually, I’m not a robber.”
“But you have something in your hands.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about, sir,” Raquelle smiles slyly, as if she is flirting with Terrence and playing along with him. “And I actually think this talk is worthless.”
When Raquelle wants to sit up, Terrence slightly grips her yawl and looks into her eyes, raising her head a little and keeping it suspended.
“No, this talk is not worthless,” Terrence says in a nice, low voice, lets his hand confidently get underneath a tender pink slim tight tube top of Raquelle and starts to tenderly caress her belly, not moving his eyes off her and feeling her abdominis internus get slightly tense when his hand slightly touches them. “I will not let go of the one, who stole my heart and can drive me crazy with just one gaze.”
“You are guilty of that, respectful,” Raquelle says confidently, softly caressing Terrence’s cheek and running her hand through his little disheveled hair. “You shouldn’t have driven me crazy and made me fall in love with you at first sight. And feel me up and kiss me insolently at our first meeting.”
“I was resisting ‘till the end, but couldn’t resist such an attractive beauty. And you did not stay indifferent to my natural charm, great self-confidence, and eternal sexuality. However, I don’t know a girl, who would resist me. Everybody wants me. But I chose the one, who’s the reason why I become more confident and feel a few years younger.”
Terrence gives Raquelle a tender, short kiss on the lips and a continuous one, still caressing her belly and the naked curves of her waist with his warm hand and not hiding his sly smile, when she answers him back. And then the man leaves a few more similar kisses on all the parts of her face and then smoothly slides to her neck, kissing which always helps him drive the girl crazy. Just like he does now, when she feels she gets goosebumps on her body from just one slight touch of his lips. Every part of her body reacts to his dizzying kisses and moments when he runs his lips over the tender skin of this very sensitive area.
“Oh, damn, MacClife, if you keep driving me insane, I will not be responsible for what I’m gonna do to you,” Raquelle exhales sharply.
“I will continue and drive you insane,” Terrence says confidently and gives Raquelle another continuous kiss on the lips, putting his hand tenderly on her cheek, and hearing her makes a quiet moan.
“Hey, is that okay we have tons of problems, and someone is threatening us and wishing literally to kill us? But we have fun with each other instead of reflecting on a solution!”
“When you’re near me, I forget everything in the world.” Terrence, holding her by the back, raises Raquelle so that she is now sitting between his legs, softly grabs her throat, and sets his bedroom eyes into her eyes. “Could I think of problems when I have such a freaking attractive cutie by my side?”
“I do think about problems even when you’re near me. Despite your unreal attraction and ability to make me give in.”
“That’s bad, baby,” Terrence leaves a few short kisses on the curve of Raquelle’s neck. “I want you not to think of anything but me. Let’s forget that someone is threatening us, and my friend wanna kill us, at least for a while and play a little.”
“What if I don’t forget?” Raquelle sharply steps back from Terrence and looks at him questioningly. “What are you gonna do?”
“I’ll have to do nothing ‘cause you’ll give up anyway,” Terrence shakes his head with a sly smile, caressing Raquelle’s cheek and running the back of his hand over a curve of her neck. “Or do you, silly girl, believe you’d resist such an irresistible handsome man like me?”
“If I couldn’t resist, I’d take these fucking clothes off you and leave you in your underwear or actually naked,” Raquelle raises Terrence’s face by the chin, looking into his eyes with a sly smile. “But, as you see, you’re still dressed.”
“I’m overwhelmed by your power of will.” Terrence, looking into Raquelle’s eyes with some slyness, puts his hand on her knee, caresses it tenderly, and later gets closer to her crotch, feeling her body getting goosebumps on it. “But you know, I do even like it. When you play hard-to-get, it causes a greater wish to make you mine.”
“I did say, if you wanna get what you want, take a win at chess over me,” Raquelle smiles innocently, slightly pulling down Terrence’s coat that he has not taken off after entering the house, and runs her hand slowly and tenderly over his touch chest. “But you will never get a victory over me.”
“Oh, c’mon! Come to me, my wild cat…”
Terrence easily presses Raquelle to himself and, tightly hugging her by the shoulders and waist, kisses her on the lips so that she does not understand what happened. At first, she tries to get out and slightly slaps the man on his arms, but then relaxes slowly and leans her head back. The man gives all his love and passion to the kiss, tenderly caressing the front of the girl’s neck with his fingertips and holding her by the nape of her neck with a free hand.
A little later, he smoothly moves his lips to this sensitive area, and his hands get down to the gracious curves of the lady’s waist and stay on her thighs. The brunette does not sit on the sofa and does also show love to her fiancé, caressing his face, stroking his glossy black hair that is as soft as silk when he takes a break to take a breath away. She tenderly runs her lips over his ears, kisses the bruise under his eyes a couple of times, and leaves a few cute kisses and slight bites on his neck. It all makes him smile shyly and close his eyes from pleasure, feeling a strong shake over his whole body and barely being able to breathe well.
“I think it’s not the best place to do it,” Terrence notices in a little hoarse, low voice. “Maybe, let’s go up to the bedroom?”
“Want me to drive you crazy and make some exciting wishes of mine come true?” Raquelle asks with a sly smile.
“Wait, babe, I just started and haven’t come to the most interesting moment. You know well that I can do much more.”
“C’mon, try to surprise me. Maybe, I’ll give you my thankfulness if I’m pleased.”
“Then let’s go to the bedroom, if you can’t wait to distract yourself from the bad things. And end up in the arms of the real man.”
Raquelle laughs shyly and bites her lip slightly. Terrence gets up from the bed with a proud look, takes the girl’s hands, and easily pulls her on himself, making her stand on her feet. Then the man hugs the girl by the waist, putting his hand on her thigh later, and leads her to the stairs with a mysterious smile. And when he is near them, Terrence makes Raquelle stop, putting his hand on her shoulder. While she looks at him questioningly, the brunet takes her in his arms without saying a word. The girl puts an arm around the man’s neck with a quiet squeak. She keeps another one lowered, and then she also puts it around her fiancé’s neck. Terrence goes upstairs to the second floor and goes to the door leading to their room. On the way, the girl covers literally his whole face with cute kisses and runs her fingers through his jet-black strands, making him smile widely.
When Terrence finally comes to the door he needs, he carefully places Raquelle on her feet and holds her by the waist for two seconds to make sure she does not fall. He is going to enter the room but gets pinned to the wall by the girl and barely understands something when she, putting her arms around his neck, sharply kisses him on the lips. However, the man answers her back shortly, putting his arm around her waist and caressing and squeezing her thighs and buttocks with his free hand.
Terrence finds the door handle by feel during the passionate kiss with Raquelle, slightly presses it, and opens the door with a heavy breath. And the girl closes the door of the bedroom with a key she takes from a little table placed near her after she and the man enter it. Getting busier with each other and planning to spend the rest of this day with a wonderful person, they forget about the problems and let themselves relax. Terrence hopes he will come to himself after what happened today, and Raquelle is happy to help her fiancé feel better and is ready to make any of his wishes come true.
***
Two days later. It’s about two o’clock in New York. Natalia decided to leave home and walk somewhere in the city for the first time in a while. The girl still feels depressed and is about to do something bad. But she holds herself down too hard, always thinking of those she should live for. But she completely understands she will be deprived of this energy very soon because something is eating her inside too fast.
Slowly walking in popular places in the city and keeping her arms crossed over her chest, Natalia’s mood does not get better. Even the beauty surrounding her does not make her smile. Green thick trees with many leaves on them placed almost on every single corner, little bushes, flowerbeds, a little river that is placed across the asphalt path, on which people are going… Little children walking near their parents and sometimes making happy sounds, dogs obediently following their owners and chasing a crowd of birds or looking at people with interest… The girl keeps being indifferent anyway. And when a couple in love goes by her, she watches them with a sad gaze, dreaming of walking on the streets along with her boyfriend in the same way and press herself to him. She is sure that she will no longer manage to feel beloved in her sweetheart’s arms.
Natalia falls into her thoughts so deeply that she does not notice that she accidentally runs into someone. The girl immediately wakes up from a trance, making a quiet “Ouch!” and raises her eyes to the one she ran into. And she becomes dumbfounded when she sees she ran into Edward. The girl shakes slightly and instantly jumps back, looking at what’s surrounding her with scared eyes and starting to breathe heavily from the excitement.
Edward himself also shakes slightly, but keeps standing in the same place. His eyes closely look at the girl, whose appearance causes a sense of true anxiety. However, the man does not show it and keeps being indifferent, looking at her confidently, kind of arrogantly.
“Sorry, I didn’t notice you…” Natalia says quietly, moving her eyes down.
“It’s alright,” Edward replies coldly, looking quite tense, and swallows up nervously. “I fell into my thoughts and didn’t have time to turn aside.”
“It’s okay…”
“Honestly… I didn’t think I’d meet you here…”
“I didn’t do, either…”
Putting his hands in the pockets of his coat, Edward looks at Natalia from head to foot with an indifferent look, while she glances at a person with a little dog on a leash.
“Erm, how are you doing?” Edward asks hesitantly.
“Fine,” Natalia lies in a low voice, crossing her arms over her chest and looking down. “I’m fine. And you?”
“Fine. Thanks for asking.”
“I’m glad then…”
“How long ago did you speak to Raquelle and Terrence?”
Natalia says nothing for two seconds, holding down her emotions so hard and wishing to go away as soon as possible not to see Edward, whose pretense makes her finger over nervously.
“I recently talked to Raquelle…” Natalia replies thoughtfully. “And I saw Terrence on the dinner, which they invited us on.”
“Alright…” Edward purses his lips, feeling a strong awkwardness and not being happy to meet Natalia. “And I haven't seen Raquelle since that dinner…”
“Raquelle said Terrence and you were at Mrs. MacClife’s home a few days ago.”
“Yes, it’s true. It was the last time I saw Terrence. But I sometimes talk to him on the phone…”
“Glad you’re speaking,” Natalia glances aside, still keeping her arms crossed over her chest.
“How is Raquelle doing?”
“Fine. Living with Terrence well, complaining about nothing… And she recently had a photoshoot, in which she shot along with a tiger.”
“A tiger? Interesting! I think it was great.”
“She liked it, but felt scared. A wild animal, after all…”
“I get it…”
“What about Terrence?”
“Worried about the band.”
“I heard about it,” Natalia glances aside again, still keeping her arms crossed over the chest. “Has nothing changed?”
“No, sadly,” Edward also crosses his arms over the chest, unconsciously copying many actions of Natalia, keeping his emotions deep inside and putting on a mask of indifference. “I’d say everything got much worse… The band is about to be disbanded…”
“Will they search for a new drummer instead of Peter? Or finish their story that barely started?”
“Maybe, yes. But they don’t want to lose Peter and dismiss the band. But due to the problems that guy got and is silent about, it’s impossible to save the band so easily.”
“Raquelle said…” Natalia starts to look at her black boots on a little heel, still keeping her arms on her chest and wishing to leave as soon as possible, as Edward’s pretense makes her afraid of something and feel a great awkwardness. “I’m not sure everything will end well. But I really wanna believe the guys will save the band. I’d be sorry if their effort wouldn’t be worth it.”
“I don’t want it, either, but nothing depends on me…” Edward replies quietly, sometimes glancing on different sides and nervously shifting his weight from one foot to another. “Terrence and Daniel should save the band.”
“You’re right…”
Natalia tries to ignore looking into Edward’s eyes so hard. She looks at anything but him. She is ready for anything not to see his eyes full of disgust for her. An awkward silence settles in the air for a few seconds, during which the girl still keeps her arms crossed and looks down. Edward looks at her much better. Although there are no emotions on his face that would show his interest and anxiety, he does really care about what’s happening to her, despite the offense he keeps inside.
“Are you okay?” Edward frowns slightly. “Honestly, you look bad.”
“Yes, I’m okay…” Natalia lies, moving his eyes aside and exhaling quietly. “Why do you care about it? What’s happening to me and why is none of your business!”
“Well… Erm… We aren’t strangers to each other… And I wonder what’s happening to you… And has happened all this time…”
“Yeah?” Natalia wonders, hiding that it’s nice to know Edward cares about her, but not showing it. “Do you really care about it? You would not even move your eyebrow if you knew something happened to me!”
“If something happened to you, you would start crying like a hysterical girl,” Edward replies quite coldly. “Just like you did when I saw the real way you treated me.”
“Oh, maybe, you remember what you said after you started that scandal! Huh! Remember what kind of dirt you showered me with?”
“You are the one to blame for starting that scandal and ruining what was happening between us.”
“Ah, I am the one to blame!” Natalia opens her mouth, hiding her emotions with aggression. “Are you our innocent and fluffy one, huh? You are not such a sweetie, Edward! No matter how much effort you apply, your rotted character shows up anyway. I did make sure about it when you said what I don’t even wanna remember!”
“My character is not rotted, Natalia. You acted like an egoist and gave a fuck about me. I gave you a chance to explain everything! But you did not recognize your mistake and confirmed that you lied to me all the time. But you know well that I cannot stand people, who lie to me. I have said it thousands of times! Thou-san-ds!”
“And I can’t stand people that try to slander me!”
“Oh, who slandered you?” Edward smirks loudly, putting his hands on his hips. “I told you the truth on that day. But I think you refuse to confess that you are an insolent and shameless liar!”
“I think you are not going to confess that you lied to me and were pretending to be sweet, decent, and kind.” Natalia looks at Edward with contempt in her eyes from head to feet. “But now I know you are a scumbag. The scumbag that used my naivety and got my trust!”
“Unlike you, I have never lied to anyone.”
“Oh, come on!” Natalia smirks loudly, rolling her eyes. “You did lie to me to play with me and leave me after getting sick of playing a drama! So, you have no right to hate liars, while you are the one.”
Edward exhales sharply, running his hands over his face and trying to control the inside anger that gets stronger and could easily get out of him.
“Listen, Natalia, let’s do it without a fight,” Edward suggests in a quiet, little cold voice. “I am ready to understand and listen to you if you wish to give in and stop telling the lie that you try to make the truth.”
“Oh, yeah!” Natalia hums contemptuously, starting to behave quite aggressively and speaking in a loud voice. “I will not say anything about my personal life to such a disgusting man. If I had known you were such a bastard, I would not have talked to you on that fucking day we met.”
“You know, if someone had told me you were absolutely false and egoistic, I would have kept myself far from you. I’m cursing the day when I talked to you at the café and gave my money for your coffee.”
“If only you knew how disgusting it was to stand next to you at the dinner at Terrence and Raquelle’s house. I was counting down ‘till I could finally get out and not see you anymore.”
“I regretted agreeing to go where you were many times,” Edward throws rudely. “I could not want to stop having to see such a disgusting liar like you. The pretense of who I can barely take.”
“Then I am suggesting to stop pretending that everything is fine, and we still madly love each other. I can go to Raquelle and Terrence’s home right now and tell them you are a scumbag, who did just a disgusting thing to me.”
“Would they believe you? If I told them how you deceived and betrayed me, those people would prefer believing me and not doubt that they befriend a false bitch!”
“Ah, am I a false bitch?” Natalia wonders loudly, pointing at herself with a finger. “So, are you an innocent guy? A fucking victim! The victim that is trying to pretend to be a good, sweet boy, who everybody must love?”
“You can tell your friends what happened between us right now. I’m sure you would make me guilty, so everybody gets mad at me for no reason. You are a professional at it! Lying insolently when looking into the eyes of people is your element.”
“My friends do know who I really am. But many of them met you literally one month ago and haven’t found out what demons you have in your mind. But if I really wish to ruin your life and turn everybody against you, I can easily do it.”
“Stop pretending nobody knows who!” Edward throws coldly, becoming more aggressive and barely fighting back his anger. “You are a pathetic coward that can only cry when she runs into problems and waits for someone to save her. You are still waiting for your fucking prince on a white horse like an idiot! Ha! You will never have the one! Because you are a false liar!”
“Described yourself?” Natalia asks rudely, loudly. “Fits you so well!”
“Stop lying, Natalia! You have been lying and pretending that nothing happened for a few months. It’s time to finally tell the truth that you are hiding from me. Raquelle, Anna, Terrence, and your parents. They are waiting for you to tell them something but haven’t heard at least hints.”
“I don’t understand you…” Natalia pronounces in a shaking voice, shaking her head. “You don’t know what you are talking about!”
“I do know what I’m talking about!” Edward throws loudly, irritably. “I think only the blind wouldn’t see you’re hiding something from everybody. You’re trying to hide it, but you do it terribly. So terribly that you got bitten through shortly.”
“Ha, you are also not too talented at pretending. Do you think your pretty face and ability to talk people down and quickly change the subject decide everything? Would you avoid some questions? No, Lockhart, it’s not going to work forever. Moreover, I don’t doubt that our friends bite you through a long time ago.”
“Did you probably rejoice, seeing Raquelle and Terrence allegedly forgot about you and stopped being interested in our life? No, my dear, they didn’t do it! They are just pretending and keep watching us and getting the information piece by piece.”
“Why do you care if they forgot? They both understand they should not meddle in our business, and we’ve gotta solve them by ourselves.”
“Yeah, as if you want to solve everything so badly!” Edward hums loudly, rolling his eyes. “You started all of that, you must end it! Explain to everybody, tell the truth and find excuses for your actions and hysterics!”
“I advise you to do the same,” Natalia puts her hands on her hips. “You are afraid someone would reveal your secrets that you’re definitely hiding from everybody. Huh, Edward? Don’t you wanna confess all your business and tell people what you actually want?”
Edward gets sharply white and nervous, shifting his weight from one foot to another because he understands Natalia is absolutely right.
“What a rich fantasy you’ve got!” Edward hums contemptuously, hiding his excitement so hard, but understanding how fast his heart is beating. “Now you believe I’m hiding something. Start to know reality, girl! You are not living in your dreams!”
“What?” Natalia slightly raises her head, looking at Edward arrogantly. “Have nothing to say? Or are you afraid to lose the trust of those, who don’t know you are not the one you pretend to be? I’m sure you’ve been annoyed by those calls for a reason. I remember you got nervous when getting a call and coming back dumbfounded after a talk with some people. It makes me think you got serious problems.”
“I don’t know what you mean,” Edward replies coldly, feeling every single muscle is tense.
“No, Edward, you understand everything. I wouldn’t be surprised if you’re connected with a crime band and got into Terrence and Raquelle’s life to destroy them. You’re pretending to be so good and decent that everybody loved you at once. I can imagine what kind of disappointment they’d feel if they realized there was a real scoundrel among them.”
“You are really mentally sick!”
“I can bet who is much more mentally sick. Maybe, you have some demons, because of which you may be way worse than your friend is. So, don’t dare to say I’m lying to you and even sick because you aren’t better than me.”
“Stop saying bullshit, you, stupid idiot!” Edward throws rudely, growling loudly. “I have never met such a hysterical, brainless chicken that can only cry and lie to everyone.”
“Shut up now, you, fucking scumbag!” Natalia hisses crossly, threatening Edward with a finger. “Or you will make me so enraged that I, scumbag, will ruin your life. You will never be able to look into the eyes of the people, who you insolently deceived.”
“I am sick of your attempts to pretend to be sassy, while you’re shaking from fear and wishing to hide from all problems in your hole.”
“But I am sick of your attempts to wash everybody’s brains and pretend to be good!”
“Your sick fantasy starts to make me more irritated.”
“If only you knew how disgusting it is for me to be beside you!” Natalia looks at Edward from head to feet with contempt in her eyes. “Gosh, I can’t believe I could love such a nasty scumbag that revealed his real side that he was hiding so hard.”
“I also hate myself for falling in love with such a brainless duck that not everyone can take. There were so many good girls around, but I got a crush on your beautiful face and let myself fall in love.” Edward shakes his head, looking at Natalia with hatred. “I would give everything to fix that mistake and not to fall in love with a hysterical girl that lies to everybody, pretending that she is fine and trying to pretend to be a sassy girl, who is literally ready to save the whole world.”
“Better look at yourself, Lockhart!” Natalia hisses, sharply coming closer to Edward, starting to threaten him with a finger and look and looking into his eyes contemptuously. “You are probably afraid of everything, but you are hiding it. Because men would be laughing at you, and girls would never look at you and get a crush on your pretty face.”
“There are things that I will never do due to fear. But I would not be afraid of showing cruelty toward you and washing your brains as well as possible. If you have them, of course. People are right when they say blondes are brainless chickens that think only of clothes, cosmetics, and men.”
“Holy shit, I never thought you’d be like this… Maybe, your daddy hated you so much and despised you for a reason. Having such a nasty sonny is a cruel punishment for any person. I’m sure he knew what a bastard you were. So, he treated you terribly and made the other sons, who were thousands of times better and more decent than you.”
Being furious by what hurt him so much, Edward grabs Natalia sharply under her elbows, making her squeak quietly from a strong pain. He sets his cold and evil gaze full of hate and disgust into the widely open eyes of the girl getting sharply white from fear.
“Close your mouth, bitch!” Edward hisses with evil in his eyes. “CLOSE! GOT IT?”
“So, did I hurt your feelings?” Natalia smirks contemptuously, trying not to show her fear and looking into Edward’s eyes confidently, a little arrogantly. “You wanted a father’s love, but were hated all your life and got kicked out of your home. I guess it’s your punishment for your disgusting actions.”
“Do not make me enraged, bitch, or I will not be responsible for my actions. I’m usually a quiet man, but if someone makes me wild, someone will have to regret it.”
“Ha, what are you gonna do, coward? Would you be screaming and waving your hands like a sick idiot? Or take an example from Terrence and slap me in the face as strongly as possible?”
“Do not dare to call me a coward! DO NOT DARE, HEAR ME! I AM NOT A COWARD!”
“Listen, stop screaming,” Natalia throws gloomily and sharply gets out of Edward’s strong grip. “Or people would think you’re crazy and call an ambulance, so you go to a mental hospital and get your brains washed.”
“If you do not close your fucking mouth, I will surely become a psycho and do what you will have to regret,” Edward threatens loudly, looking literally red and wild and breathing heavily with flared nostrils. “AND I WILL NOT REGRET ANYTHING! I WILL NOT FEEL SORRY FOR SUCH A BRAINLESS CHICKEN LIKE YOU!”
“TRY!” Natalia shouts, sharply waving her hands. “OR I SWEAR I WILL RUIN YOUR LIFE AND TELL EVERYBODY WHAT A BASTARD YOU ARE!”
“Keep working your tongue, Rochester, keep,” Edward looks at Natalia from head to foot with disgust in his eyes. “You can only do this. And talk only about fashion brands, cosmetics, and hairstyles. You are a brainless doll. The brainless, insolent, false, and nasty doll.”
Wishing to hide her fear of Edward, who does not watch his mouth and looks like a furious lion that is about to attack a victim, Natalia chuckles quietly. And then she starts laughing nervously, trying to be shy at first, but then laughing loudly.
“You should see your red face and wild eyes, while screaming here like a hysterical girl,” Natalia says through a nervous laugh. “Oh, so sorry that I didn’t see Terrence when he was screaming at Raquelle. But I’m sure you outdid him. To prove that you are not actually sassy and not a coward.
“Did you go insane?” Edward throws rudely, knocking his fingers at his temple. “Stop the fuck laughing at the whole street!”
“Maybe, I find my phone and take a photo of your evil red face and show the photo to your friend? So, he laughs at you and gets mad after I tell him everything you’ve done to me!”
“Stop laughing, idiot!” Edward sharply runs to Natalia and painfully grabs her under her elbows with his widely open eyes, making her squeak and wince from the pain. “CALM DOWN NOW! OR I WILL PUT YOU IN A MENTAL HOSPITAL IF YOU WENT CRAZY FROM YOUR PROBLEMS!”
“You should be careful not to end up there,” Natalia throws coldly. “The one to need mental health help is you.”
“Listen, you, bitch…” Edward strongly grabs Natalia by the yawl and squeezes it tightly, setting his gaze full of evil into her scared eyes, while she shakes slightly from fear and barely holds tears down. “You made me too furious by your lies and your disgusting behavior. Do not make me more the fuck enraged! Or you will not forget what I will do to you.”
“If I get you so irritated, why did you start talking to me?” Natalia wonders, not being able to stop laughing and getting Edward mad. “Well, I ran into you – and what? You would’ve shaken something off and kept planning your ‘grandiose future.’ And I wouldn’t have gotten sick from your pretense.”
“I’m surprised that our friends can stand such a stupid idiot that has sawdust in her head. Your parents have probably regretted raising such a hysterical and egoistic daughter many times. Who they took care of so much that she can only waste the money of her mommy and daddy and buy something at the stores.”
“Shut up, bastard, or you will regret it,” Natalia clenches her hands into hard fists, breathing too heavily from anger.
“I am not afraid to tell the truth,” Edward says confidently. “That not everybody dares to say. I don’t know if you’ve been told what an egoistic and false bitch you are, but I am not afraid to say it. Maybe, that’s why men leave you. They know you are a pathetic whore that hangs out on anyone’s neck and is jealous of those, who have a second half. A spoiled, nasty gal that thinks only of herself and is as stupid as a chicken. And I’m absolutely sure you will never meet an idiot that would agree to stand such a hysterical bitch that cries for the reason or without.”
Natalia loses her temple and is no longer going to hold down a wish to attack Edward. The girl literally makes a hole on the man’s forehead for two or three seconds and then sharply raises a hand to slap him in the face as strongly as possible. But Lockhart tightly takes the blonde’s hand a few centimeters away from his cheek. The excited Natalia looking literally red from the anger tries to slap him two more times and then just starts to beat him on his arms and resist like a wild cat. However, Edward is much stronger and grabs the girl easily and quickly so that her arms are tightly pressed to her body.
“HEY, LET ME GO NOW, BASTARD!” Natalia demands coldly and loudly, starting to beat Edward’s ankles with her legs and the heels of her black boots. “I SWEAR, LOCKHART, YOU WILL REGRET IT! LET ME GO, I SAID!”
Natalia barely gets out of Edward’s strong grip and tries to slap him in the face again. But the man reacts instantly again and tightly holds her hands, literally trying to kill the girl with his arrogant, cold gaze.
“You know, now I really want to slap you in the face,” Edward says in a low, rude voice. “But I will not make my friend’s mistake. Not because I’m afraid to regret it. Because it will change nothing. I can give you even one hundred slaps and pull some of your hairs out. But you will not get brains and coincidence.”
“Why are you afraid?” Natalia asks arrogantly, setting her contemptuous gaze into Edward’s eyes. “Come on, Lockhart, hit me strongly! If you want, you can even beat me to half-death and then happily watch me die! But all of your close people, whom you are deceiving so insolently, will turn their backs on you. And you will no longer hide behind your mommy’s back. She will also turn her back on you after she finds out her younger sonny behaved much worse than the older one. Who HAD coincidence and REALLY regretted everything he did.”
“Close your mouth!” Edward hisses with an irritated growl. “Or you will regret being born in this fucking world!”
“Ha, what would you do? Make your wish come true and slap me in the face? I don’t think you’d get it off easily. If I have to, I will report you to the police, and you will have to expect unwelcome visitors at your home. You will not scare me, and I will destroy you. Don’t even hope I will be silent! And at the nearest time, I will go to Raquelle and Terrence’s home and tell them we got in touch with a bastard. Maybe, your friend will be disappointed, but he should know the bitten truth about you instead of thinking you’re good and defending you when someone says something bad about you.”
Every new word of Natalia gets Edward more furious. His widely open eyes are full of hate and evil, his pupils are pinned, and his body shakes from the tension. He literally makes a hole in the forehead of the girl for two seconds with a heavy, loud breath. And then the man sharply grabs the girl under the elbows and pulls her to the bench, while she shouts loudly and tries to resist but is too weak in front of the anger of this person. Then Edward rudely pushes Natalia off and walks in a couple of circles, not being able to keep his emotions under control. After hearing her loud sobs, Lockhart strongly grabs the blonde by the hair and sets his gaze into her widely open, half-wet eyes.
“So, are you happy?” Edward throws rudely, “HAPPY? LOOK WHAT YOU BROUGHT EVERYTHING TO! WHAT YOU TURNED ME INTO! BECAUSE OF YOU, I BECAME SO WILD AND BARELY CAN HOLD DOWN A WISH TO DO WHAT WILL MAKE ME A SCUMBAG FOR THE OTHERS.”
“You are a scumbag that loves nobody but yourself,” Natalia cries. “Maybe, I have everything and need nothing, but my parents taught me to love and appreciate my close people. But you had nobody, who would make you remember you could love people for what they are. Not wait for them to become kind fairies and give you just something from what you want.”
“If you had told me the truth when we didn’t have a relationship, I would have probably understood you and helped you. But you refused to explain something.” Edward glances aside for a second. “However, I give a fuck about your problems. I will never forgive you for betraying me and being a false bitch, who swore that she was innocent and good but recently showed her rotted character.”
“I don’t regret that! Not telling you much more about my life. I SAVED AT LEAST SOME PART OF IT!”
“Then look for another asshole that would be pleasing his princess, who put on a crown in an early childhood,” Edward throws rudely. “I will be very sorry for that man. He will not be happy with a brainless, false slut that changes men like gloves.”
“SORRY?” Natalia sniffs loudly. “YOU DO FEEL SORRY FOR NOBODY! You are an egoist, Edward! The egoist, who envies those, who are more successful. I’m sure you are terribly jealous of Terrence deep inside because he has everything, but you have nothing. And I am very sorry that your friend doesn’t know he is communicating with a nasty rat.”
“Do not forget that he is not a perfect man,” Edward hums and crosses his arms over his chest. “Somehow, everybody hated Terrence for what he did to Raquelle. He turned from God to a nasty bastard. But when he decided to become a hero and save your friend, he came back to Gods again and got a bigger peacock tail. Nobody thinks about what a scumbag my friend was. And I am sure he will not have started a musical career if newspapers had said he raised a hand on his fiancée.”
“Everybody forgave Terrence because he REALLY REGRETTED HIS ACTIONS! But you will never do. Your heart will not squeeze when thinking of all your nasty tricks. And you will never be ashamed of your mother and father. Never.”
“I am sorry you are not ashamed of your parents for being so false, shameless, and stupid. I think even if someone kicks you on the head, you will understand nothing and will keep being a stupid goose that nobody needs.”
“Close your fucking mouth!” Natalia throws rudely with evil in her eyes. “I hate you, cad! HATE! You ruined my whole life! Any other man has not let himself behave as disgustingly as you did! Before meeting you, my life was way better than it became when you came into it. I want to forget the day we met. It would be much better if it never existed.”
“I agree with you, at least on something!” Edward hums contemptuously, crossing his arms over his chest. “My life was also much better when I didn’t have you in it. I want to forget the day we met. I am cursing it. I am sorry I fell in love with the one, who did what none of my exes did. I had real feelings for you, but you killed them. Once and forever.”
Natalia swallows up nervously, understanding how painful it is for her to hear it, and her eyes get wet from tears that she is barely holding down.
“Ha, I have never loved you, bastard! I dated you just because I was afraid to stay single! You can think I used you! I DO NOT NEED SUCH A DISGUSTING SCUMBAG BEING MAD AT THE WHOLE WORLD! I TOLD YOU THE TRUTH THAT YOU WANTED TO HEAR!”
These words hurt Edward to the bottom of his heart and make him feel much more depressed and empty. The man did not expect he would hear something like this from the girl he truly loved. He wants to fret, fume, and cry like a girl. And while he does not hide his evil and openly shows it to the girl, but he has to fight back his wish to cry so hard. But Edward does not betray himself and lets his anger get obsessed with him.
A tense silence settles in the air, during which Natalia just sniffs quietly with tears in her eyes, and Edward is breathing like a furious bull and tightly clenching his hands into fists. And then the man sets his cold gaze on the girl, slowly getting closer to her and literally making a hole in her forehead. And he sharply grabs her by the throat that he strongly squeezes, while she tries to catch some air and move off the hand of the man, who is probably ready to kill her right here.
After coming quite closely to Natalia and feeling her smell that gets into his nose, Edward must confess to himself that he is still attracted to him psychically. He would have great pleasure to kiss her, take off her clothes, and possess her gorgeous body, which he finds madly sexual. The man has to apply much effort to hide these emotions, not wishing just to kiss the girl due to the offense and pride. Natalia also realizes that she is still attracted to Edward, and he makes her breathe unevenly and feel how fast her heart is beating. This man is freaking handsome and sexually attractive. He causes a strong wish to taste his soft lips, touching which has always made her shake strongly.
Nevertheless, Natalia immediately forbids herself to think about being ready to give herself to Edward right now. She would not resist him, and she would obey him in everything. Something about his gaze makes her realize Lockhart feels the same and still goes crazy for her sexually. Natalia even gets herself ready that Edward might wish to kiss her by force. But the man gets to control his instincts and keep his emotions inside for a few seconds, during which they look into each other’s eyes.
“So, do you think I’ll kiss you, undress you, and possess you right here?” Edward asks in a low voice, setting his icy gaze into the wet eyes of Natalia. “You think I would not have enough strength to get control of myself and not to succumb to this temptation? No, Rochester, don’t wait! I am not going to kiss the false slut that has been kissed and fucked by many men! I will not go so down. My girlfriend MUST be decent and loyal. Never lie to me and tell me the truth. Besides, you did confess that you used me and decided to date me because of fear of staying single. It’s enough to forget you ONCE AND FOREVER.”
Edward rudely pushes Natalia off himself and clenches his hands into fists with a contemptuous grin.
“SO, GET OUT OF HERE!” Edward screams at the top of his lungs. “GET OUT OF HERE AND NEVER STAND IN MY WAY! GOT IT, BITCH? GOT IT, I AM ASKING?”
“Ha, I’ve finally heard it!” Natalia throws rudely. “FINALLY!”
“Yeah, get out of here! Go to have fun with some men and fuck them! You’d give them pleasure. Do what you are so good at. Many people love such whores like you. You can even go to work at a strip club and start earning your money by shaking your ass in front of rich men and getting many dollars out of them.”
Natalia wants to leave silently and say nothing more, but Edward’s words make her much more enraged. The girl sharply turns around and comes to the man, who squints his eyes, lowers his hands down and looks like he is about to explode, and sets her contemptuous look into his eyes.
“Close your fucking mouth, nasty bastard,” Natalia hisses with evil in her eyes. “I am truly sorry that you became such a horrible friend for Terrence. Sorry that Mrs. MacClife got such a strong love for you. But I am sure that you will be bitten through early or late, and everybody will turn their backs on you. And I will not feel sorry for you. Because you deserve to suffer and die all alone.”
Natalia gives a start sharply and leaves Edward as quickly as possible, while he keeps standing where he is standing, being overwhelmed by what happened and watching the girl with a cold gaze until she hides in the corner. But when he stays alone, the man lets himself take off the mask he put on. After what happened, Edward feels like he got a few bullet wounds and a few knifes put in his back at the same time. The pain he immediately gets obsessed with is unbearable. He feels hurt because Natalia lied to him and dared to say she used him.
After such a great adrenaline release, Edward feels emptied and depressed, not knowing what to do: screaming, crying, beating someone, or doing something else to express the pain that he was hiding so hard during the fight with Natalia. No pain from wounds or hits against something can be compared with the one the man is feeling now. It seriously hurt and insulted him because he thought this girl was really in love with him. She was so happy when he confessed his love to her, and they began to date! It’s hard for Edward to believe Natalia could deceive him so cruelly and use him for a few months.
Recalling that moment over and over, Edward starts to feel more split and deceived and barely struggles with a hurricane of feelings and emotions that is about to get out. The man nervously walks in circles for some time, but then slowly sits on the sofa and doubles over, running his hands through his hair and feeling his eyes getting wet from that are coming to them. Edward does not care about what someone could think about him when seeing him crying. The man feels so bad that he cannot keep all these emotions inside.
“No, I don’t wanna believe it, I don’t…” Edward thinks with sadness in his eyes and sniffs quietly. “She couldn’t deceive me all the time… I don’t wanna believe Natalia used me and never loved me. Fuck… I don’t want… I don’t want… I never thought she’d be like this.”
Edward grabs his hair much tighter, slightly shaking from one side to another, as he is sitting on the bench.
“I’d better go insane, hear someone’s voices in my head, and see hallucinations,” Edward thinks with despair. “I really wanna think it all didn’t happen, and I just have a too wild imagination. I wish someone confirmed that I love dreaming everything up. I wanna live in real life that I wanna make better…”
Edward raises his head, trying not to cry so hard but meeting a failure as little drops of transparent tears start rolling over his cheeks.
“Please, someone, tell me it’s not true!” Edward begs silently, sniffs quietly, and wipes tears off his eyes, understanding he sees everything blurry because of them. “Tell me this fight didn’t happen, and that girl didn’t say she used me. I don’t want to think it’s really happening to me… I don’t want, I don’t want…”
Edward shakes his head, not even trying to hide his tears and letting his emotions get out. A little later, the man closes his face with his hands and doubles over, leaning on his laps with his elbows with a little heavy breath. Lockhart understands he is not able to take the betrayal of Natalia. Even though he knows he cannot suffer because of her until the end of his life. Edward has been trying to forget that girl for a long time. But the man keeps reacting even to her name and cannot leave her in the past to keep living with the hope that he will meet the one, who would never do what Natalia did.
***
Natalia quickly goes to the quietest location of this place, where there is nothing and nobody but doves walking on the ground, and swans and ducks swimming on a little lake in little crowds. After finding a free bench, the girl sits on it and lets her emotions out, while there is nobody, who could see her like this.
Natalia starts to cry as strongly as she has been doing for a few months – since something happened to her. She is shaking strongly and cannot calm down. The girl could hold on somehow, but the fight with Edward struck her down. Because Natalia has not found the courage to tell at least someone what she is worried about, a time bomb is set into motion and might destroy the girl. And all of her close people and her friends might turn their backs on her. Her parents, Letitia and Anthony, have not called her for a few days. And Edward turned his back on her due to the constant lie. If it’s so, Raquelle, Anna, and Terrence will also do it. At least, she thinks so…
Natalia is hurt to the bottom of her heart by the horrible insults of Edward, who kind of forgot she was his girlfriend. However, the blonde is sure the man treats her like this for a reason. She does not deny that his charges for lying and betraying are not groundless. It’s not an attempt to hurt and humiliate the girl. Anyway, Natalia thinks it’s too late to change something. And it pushes her to the wish to do something to herself. She understands she will no longer take the nightmare that’s been happening in her life for a long time. The girl madly wants to come back six months or one year in time and live the life that was way better than the one she has to live. But she understands she will never get this chance, and what happened will always stay in the past.
There is a barrier in front of her that she cannot get over to let everybody know what’s happening to her. And when she left Edward, tears began instantly flowing. Natalia can do nothing to calm down and forget what happened. Her patience is on the edge. Literally, on a tiny thread. To break down, she needs a little – just one more push that would make her do a stupid thing. She is so obsessed with such a strong depression that she seriously thinks about how to leave this world forever. Even for her close people, Natalia is not ready to overcome what she has to survive. And she, however, thinks they will get mad at her because of her lie and leave her alone.
She forgot what happiness was and literally lost the ability to smile and enjoy her life. Her heart is absolutely broken and could hardly be fixed. One knife is put in this one too deeply. To be clear, two knives. One of which is put in her back. The wounds are so deep that even if a miracle happens, and someone does their best to treat them later, a big scar will not be gone. It will always remind her of what happened.
“Gosh, I’m so sick of worrying!” Natalia thinks with tears in her wet and red eyes. “I can’t take all of this anymore! I’m on edge! If something else happens to me, I won’t take it and will wish to die! I’m sick of lying to everyone because I would be dead if I opened my mouth. I’d rather let my secret go away with me, so nobody knows what happened to me. My friends and parents won’t be worried. They’ll leave me because of my lie. Just like Mother and Father did… Like Edward did… It’s hurt to hear someone showering me with mud for what I ain’t guilty of. But I can’t tell the truth. I’ll be dead. They didn’t let me do it…”
Natalia makes a sob and tries to catch a breath, understanding it’s quite hard for her to breathe, and she literally chokes with tears.
“My wounds are too deep…” Natalia thinks, wiping off tears under her eyes. “There are too many of them. They won’t be gone anymore. I wanna die. To stop suffering like this. I’ve suffered too much to keep getting tortured. I can’t be silent about it all my life… Just like I can’t keep lying to everybody and making them think I’m false and deceitful. Edward is absolutely right. I can’t blame him for lying, ‘cause he tells the truth. The truth that he isn’t afraid to say. I messed up everything and did her best for that man to hate me so much.”
Maybe, Natalia understands that she should share what she is worried about with someone or just cry on someone’s shoulder. But the girl is sure she should sacrifice her good relationship with her close people. It’s said by someone’s rude voice that always reminds her that she must be silent.
Natalia keeps crying bitterly and hating herself more and more for doing such a disgusting thing to those, who wish her the best. Nobody has gone here yet, and the girl is still surrounded by swans and ducks swimming in the lake and doves walking from one side to another. She understands she has only two variants: either telling someone what she is hiding, or leaving this cruel world once and forever and taking her secret away. And no matter how much Natalia wants to choose the first variant, a very annoying voice says that she should keep her mouth shut and keep making people think she is an insolent liar.
***
The stranger is still hiding from everyone in almost the quietest place in the city, waiting for a moment to give his enemy a sudden hit on the back and make him pay for all the sufferings. Luckily, he has a trustworthy helper, Victor Johnson, with whom he is now talking on the phone to find out the latest news that someone to be close to the stranger’s offender tells him.
“Did you find out something new, Mr. Johnson?” the stranger asks, standing near the window, watching what’s happening behind the apartment where he is hiding and seeing that it’s cloudy and a little cold outside. “Could you make me happy with something?”
“Sadly, I don’t have pieces of good news, my friend,” Victor replies. “We can’t move from the same point and choose a moment to make that stinker pay for everything.”
“So, is there no hint?”
“Even a hint… And I must make you upset by having an unpleasant piece of news that has to do with your family.”
“Piece of news?” the stranger rounds his eyes and sharply gets frozen in horror. “But what happened? Did someone suffer?”
“Erm, I advise you to sit down in case you are standing. Because you might get excited by what you are going to hear.”
“Mr. Johnson, please, tell me what happened,” the stranger begs with pity in his eyes. “Hide nothing from me! I must know literally everything about that fucking scum: what he does, where he goes, who he talks with, and something like that.”
“I completely understand you, but, please, keep calm.”
“I’m calm, Mr. Johnson, you can speak. I will accept everything you’re gonna say.”
“Alright…” Victor sharply exhales and quickly clears his throat. “In short, my informant found out that some people were supposed to get letters with threats a few days ago.”
“So, did that scumbag start his plan?”
“Yeah, it seems like that man did.”
“And how many people were supposed to get letters?”
“I know only about two letters for two people. I was told that the helpers of your enemy have already delivered the letters to those people.”
“Oh, damn!” the stranger claps himself sharply on his forehead and keeps his hand on it. “So, they’re gonna know a danger is threatening them…”
“I don’t think they’ll guess it was your enemy because that man didn’t write his name. I don’t know what he wrote in it, but my informant barely heard that it was written so that it’d be hard for those people to understand who was threatening them, and what they did wrong.”
“Hm…” the stranger frowns slightly. “So, anonymous letters… Did his accomplices know where to send the letters?”
“Yes, your enemy wrote an address of the home where at least one of the letters was supposed to be delivered.”
“And a second one?”
“A second one was supposed to be left in another place where someone they needed should have been.”
“It seems like that bastard knows where those people are living. Is it a home address?”
“Yes, it seems like it’s the address of a residence in the quietest place in the city that is under great protection. I don’t know how his accomplices end up there, but the letter has been sent to the right address by those people.”
“Since the address is known, it’s gonna be a double threat for those two. Those stinkers might go there and do something to them.”
“Erm…” Victor thinks for two seconds. “It’s not everything. The case is that something else happened.”
“Something else?” the stranger steps back from the window and starts to nervously walk in circles in the whole apartment. “You’re starting to scare me, Victor. And I’m starting to think that I lose control of the situation.”
“No, my friend, while we know what’s happening in his surrounding, we have the situation under control and have a chance to play some actions.”
“Alright… Then tell me what happened.”
“The case is that one of the people of your enemy recently committed an attack.”
“An attack?” the stranger rounds her eyes. “Who?”
“Terrence MacClife. My informant recently told me your enemy ordered that one of his pals scared that guy and let him know that his family would be dead soon.”
“What? Terrence?” the stranger shakes his head with horror in his widely open eyes and becomes speechless for two seconds because of the excitement. “That bastard attacked him? Are you sure about it?”
“Yes, it’s the information confirmed by my source,” Victor says confidently.
“No, no, it can’t be true… I don’t want to believe it…”
“But you have to, my friend…”
“Say, did he suffer somehow? Did that stinker harm him much?”
“I don’t know it. I know your enemy planned the attack along with his pals to let Terrence know danger is threatening him.”
“If something happens to him, I don’t know what I’m gonna do… I hope Terrence didn’t let that stinker do something to him and protected himself.”
“And yeah, I must tell you that he is one of those, who got a letter with a threat. So, it turns out that Terrence found out about the threat much earlier than he got attacked.”
“My gosh…” the stranger closes his mouth with a hand and shakes his head with horror in his eyes. “So, does he also know about me?”
“It’s unlikely. That man’s goal was just to tell him that his family got serious problems, and your enemy would destroy him soon.”
“Oh, my gosh…” the stranger claps himself on the forehead and exhales sharply. “I don’t like all of that!”
“Something tells me that Terrence didn’t almost suffer. Your enemy knows he can stand for himself and wouldn’t let anyone hurt him.”
“I have only to hope he really managed to resist that man,” the stranger expresses hope and falls into silence for a second, glancing at the window. “And I hope that I will have the opportunity to meet them and talk.”
“I know, my friend.”
“You know how much I’m dreaming about it.” the stranger sighs heavily with sadness in his eyes and sits on the chair. “I’m dreaming of seeing my younger son and finding out something about my older one.”
“Yes, I know that you don’t lose hope. Even after so many years…”
“If only you knew how much I want to let Edward know that I’m madly sorry about what happened.” the stranger runs his hand over his hair. “That I would fix all my mistakes if I could turn the time back upon.”
“I get it. But excuse me, I don’t understand why you decided to leave your wife. You loved her with all your heart and still do! People get divorced when they don’t love each other, and it’s disgusting for them to be in the same room. Although you and she often fought when being nervous, you had tender feelings.”
“Mr. Johnson, I swear I didn’t really want it. I’m madly sorry about losing my family because of my terrible act and not being able to live with my wife and our children.”
“You knew well that if it was hard for you to take care of your children when they were kids, you could always have the help of my wife and me. Lydia and I would have watched them with pleasure.”
“I know… But we didn’t want to load you with our problems and make you watch our children. You had a daughter, who you should’ve raised. Moreover, we lived in your apartment because we had no money for our own one. We were literally dependent.”
“Come on, we’re long-time friends! For us, it wouldn’t have been a problem. We would’ve been watching Diana and the children of yours. Sometimes you watched my daughter when we had to leave somewhere. So, we could’ve thanked you and watched the boys.”
“Oh… Although it wasn’t too good to leave my children with you, it would’ve been much better,” the stranger sighs quietly. “We got so nervous ‘cause we had to take care of two little children and had money issues and problems with my job. And when the guys shouted at the whole apartment and begged us to feed them, change their diapers, put them to sleep, or give them attention, we were ready to go anywhere not to hear the childish shouts.”
“But your wife had to take care of her child by herself and try to earn some money after you left her.”
“I’m still apologizing to her for giving so much pain. And I am ready to apologize to my younger son one hundred times for not getting enough love and care from me.”
“I don’t blame you for anything, my friend, and I know what happened in your family. Moreover, we both know that you had failures for a bigger part of your life because of that stinker, who is going to destroy your whole family.”
“But you judge me anyway.”
“I don’t deny it. But I know you didn’t want to do it. You told me you wanted to have a big, amicable family so many times.”
“Yeah… Now I’ve got four children, but I lost my beloved wife. And I’d hardly come back to her…”
“Well, since she hasn’t dated another man for more than twenty years and hasn’t gotten married again, I think that woman keeps being loyal to you.”
“Well, if I dream a little, maybe, you’re right. But the reality is different. We’ll never be together. Coming back to each other just because of our children is senseless. I’m glad we actually established our relationship and can talk as good friends and parents of our children.”
“I’m sure that everything will get better early or late,” Victor replies confidently with a slight smile.
“I wish…” the stranger throws gloomily, slowly gets up from the chair, and starts to walk in the whole apartment, sometimes coming to the window and looking through it. “If not for my children, I would have no reason to live in this world. The meaning of my life is them. My wish to watch them growing up.”
“But we both know that you love him.”
“They mean the whole world to me. If not for my boys, I would give a damn about everything and let that bastard keep being happy that he’s using what he stole from me.”
“You’re talking so much about your older sons, but you literally forgot about your younger ones. Don’t you love them?”
“Of course, I adore my youngest children, too. But I haven’t met them since my second wife left me and took them away. She banned me from getting closer to them… And sadly, I know nothing about them.”
“Are you missing them?” Victor asks with sadness in his eyes.
“Very much,” the stranger sighs heavily, running his hand through his hair. “At least they weren’t deprived of my attention when they were born one by one. I hope their mother didn’t turn them against me and make them think I was a beast.”
“I think they should understand that their mother is just hurt and doesn’t want her children to talk about you. If they’ve always loved you and known you’re a wonderful father, no words of their mother will make them change their mind about you.”
“Yeah… I don’t know what I’m gonna do if the four sons of mine hate me and think I’m a demon that can’t love and be tender.”
“I’m sure it won’t happen. And someday you’d get a chance to speak to all your children.”
“I’d like to believe it…” the stranger falls into silence and thinks for a second or two. “I wonder if I had a daughter, would she refuse to speak to me and hate me with all her heart?”
“Boys are usually proud and sometimes may refuse to do something because of pride, even if they really want to. But it’s a little easier with girls, ‘cause most of them are more understanding and generous.”
“Something tells me that girls won’t be born in the MacClife family soon. Our family has always had more boys. Only boys have been born in the latest three or four generations. I have four sons, my parents had my older brother and me… My grandfather and grandmother became parents of three sons. And my great-grandmother and great-grandfather had one son…”
“I believe your genes were stronger than the genes of the mothers of the men from your family.”
“I don’t know why it happens, but everybody in my family is fertile, and boys were born in their families.”
“So, it’s gonna happen to your children.”
“Maybe…” the stranger smiles slightly. “Anyway not giving someone such beautiful genes would be a sin. My Edward has become a very sympathetic boy. He got little dimples on his cheeks. You could see them when he smiled. Though, I rarely saw his smile that he also got from her. Maybe, he smiled, but I was always so busy that I could not notice it.”
Silence settles in the air for two seconds, during which Victor thinks, frowning slightly.
“Tell me honestly, did you get upset when your second wife left you?” Victor asks hesitantly. “Just a little? You lived together for a long time. Ten years if I’m not mistaken…”
“Honestly?” the stranger thinks for two seconds. “Honestly, not very much. I’m only upset because I’m not able to see my youngest sons. If she and I had no children, I would even be happy to break up with her. I didn’t love that woman. I just respected her as the mother of my children and a workmate. And I’m grateful to her for giving me and the baby Edward a home and accepting him. She treated him well and never wanted me to send him to his mother, so he let us live together.”
“But if you loved your first wife, why did you get married to the one you didn’t love? Just because of having a home?”
“I would say so. I met that woman at a very good time. She fell in love with me quickly and helped me get a job. Well… To thank her, I decided to answer her feelings and even proposed to her to marry, and she agreed. Thus, I got a chance to live a more or less good life.”
“Wasn’t living with that woman uncomfortable?”
“It’s amazing, but nope. We got on well and always tried to be open to each other. I didn’t feel discomfort while living with her. And a wish to give Edward a good life wasn’t torture for me.”
“I think if he knew the truth about the hard life of you and his mother, he would be kinder to you. Not at once, of course. An offense can’t be forgotten immediately. But Edward will surely make some conclusions…”
“It would be great, Mr. Johnson…” the stranger exhales quietly, sitting on the chair after getting sick of walking in circles.
“Don’t worry, my friend, everything will be better for you.”
“My life will get better only when I don’t have to hide from anyone. And when I take revenge on the one, who stole almost everything from me. I expect my sons’ forgiveness less and less. But I must make that scumbag pay for everything he’s done to me.”
“I promise, we will get that man caught. Early or late, he will unconsciously give us a reason to catch him. That man would meet a failure in something.”
“You do know it’s quite hard,” the stranger notices in a desperate voice.
“Yes, it’s hard, but hope always dies last. A solution might come up when we don’t expect it, or where we don’t look for it. Maybe, we don’t have it now, but we should be aware of all his tricks and know what’s happening in your surroundings.”
“I know…”
“By the way, what are you gonna do when everything is over?”
“I don’t know, Mr. Johnson, I can’t say anything.” the stranger clears his throat quickly, looking at the whole room. “But I can tell you exactly that my life will never be the same.”
“Do you think you wouldn’t get what was stolen from you back?”
“I think, nope. But I won’t get upset if I can’t do it.”
“But what’s gonna happen to you? You’ll have to live somehow, look for a place to live…”
“Maybe, I’ll find something… I managed to find it when I got kicked out several times. And this time, I will not be homeless… I’m able to earn money, at least for food and the rent of the most terrible apartment.”
“I think your brilliant education could help you find something good.”
“We’ll see, Mr. Johnson…”
While the stranger runs his hands over his hair and glances at the window, Victor sighs quietly and says nothing for two seconds before he says thoughtfully:
“Oh… Excuse me, my friend, but, unfortunately, I have to say goodbye. I need to go a few places.”
“Yes, yes, of course,” the stranger replies quietly. “Keep me aware of what’s happening.”
“Sure. Goodbye, my friend.”
“Goodbye, Mr. Johnson.”
The stranger turns off the call, puts his phone on the sofa, and doubles over, leaning on his laps with his elbows. The upset man starts to understand that the situation is getting harder, and he loses control of what’s happening. But this man is sure that he must not give up! If he gives up right now, his enemy will take the victory. But he cannot let it happen if he wants to save his family. So, the stranger is ready to continue the fight and do his best to take revenge on his enemy, who took everything that he had some time ago.
ns 18.68.41.146da2
