The Dawn

Chapter 8

Ria's Pov

"Do you really have to do this?" V murmured for the 20th time.

"Yes," I hissed, "I really want to do this".

She stared at me with an expression that showed utter boredom and shifted uncomfortably from one leg to another. Her cap was turned backwards and her gun was still stuck inside her camouflage pants.

"I really hate playing paint-ball! It's weird and gross and I really don't want to get this disgusting goop all over me." She whined.

Since today was a Sunday and I was feeling relatively refreshed, I had dragged her out to play a game of paint-ball with me. I adjusted my cap and reloaded my gun.

"Then just let me shoot you and I'll be the winner then." I said simply.

She rolled her eyes and moved back, covering her body behind the bark of the tree.

"Have I ever accepted defeat?" She called out.

I smirked and rolled behind the bushes, gun at the ready.

"Here comes the Drew-man!" Drew passed by screaming as he shot his gun in multiple directions.

I rolled my eyes. I completely forgot that he'd come along. I hadn't exactly asked him but he'd overheard me invite V over the phone and insisted I brought him with me. He ran haphazardly towards the steeper part of the woods all the while shooting in the air. I flinched as he toppled over and fell forward, rolling down the hill and landing straight on his face.

"I'm okay!" He yelled.

I shook my head and turned my attention back towards V. "Come on. Don't you want to go home? Let's get this over with. It won't hurt, I promise. Just one shot and it'll be all over."

"Ha! You think you can bribe me like that and then tease me for being a loser for the rest of my life? Not happening sister!" Her hand appeared from the side of the tree and she tried to aim a shot at me.

I ducked behind the huge sign board to avoid getting hit before quickly taking cover behind an enormous bolder.

In the distance, I could still hear Drew panting heavily as he dragged himself back up the steep hill.

As soon as his face appeared at the top, I shot him in the forehead.

His mouth formed an 'o' shape as green gunk began to drip down his face. He looked at me as if though I had just literally fired a real bullet at him.

"Nooo!" He screamed, dramatically clinging on to a rock like he had been shot for real.

I smirked. "Ha! Got you now didn't-" Before I could finish my sentence, I heard a shot and then felt something sticky on my hand. I brought my hand into view and sure enough, there was pink goop dripping down. I turned to look behind me as V stood there, her gun pointed at me and an evil but triumphant smirk on her face.

"Got ya!" She yelled.

Drew began to laugh loudly. "Haha see what happens when you mess with the Drew-man! In your face, you-" before he could finish his sentence, I shot him in the face, twice, causing him to lose his hold on the rock and go toppling back downhill.

"That's right. Die b***h. Die." I smirked. Behind me, V laughed before dumping her gun on the ground and moving forward to help Drew up. I sighed and dropped my gun on the ground and shrugged off my jacket. My hand was still sticky and I realized V was right.

This thing really is gross.

After we washed up, the three of us because Drew looked like we had buried him underground for sometime, we headed over to a cafe to have something to eat. All that running around, and rolling down-hill twice for Drew, had made us hungry. Me and V usually traveled via bus or uber but Drew had insisted we traveled in his awesome car. So here I was, sitting on the front seat of a metallic grey BMW x5, jamming to Boy with Luv.

"You know, this K-pop group isn't all that grea-"

"Don't you dare finish that sentence!" Both me and V yelled at the same time.

Drew raised his hands off the steering wheel for a second before putting them back, grumbling something about girls being crazy over K-pop for no reason. I rolled my eyes and cracked up the music in an attempt to drain his voice out.

He parked infront of the cafe and the three of us walked inside. Once we placed our orders, Drew turned to me. "So? I heard you rocked the meeting and Andrew got the contract eh?"

I smiled proudly. "Yup," I replied popping the 'p', "How come you didn't show up at the party afterwards though?"

He smiled sheepishly and rubbed the back of his head. "Family duties. Had to go to one of mom's boring frat parties."

Drew, like Andrew and Parker, belonged to a very rich family. His father owned multiple departmental stores around the city and his mother was a very well-known designer. I suddenly remembered that I had forgotten my phone inside the car.

"Drew. Give me the car keys. I left my phone in the car."

V rolled her eyes. "Really you should just glue it to your hand or something. You always forget it at places." I made a face at her and held out my hand for the keys.

Once he gave it to me, I left the table. V and Drew had launched into a very deep discussion involving pizza and pineapple. I snorted at them before walking out of the cafe and towards his car. Drew had parked it not very far, so I didn't need to walk that much. I opened the door and slid into the passenger seat. Once I retrieved my phone, I was about to head back inside when some really loud noises attracted my attention. I moved forward to see what was going on.

At a distance, I spotted a blonde girl yelling and screaming at a guy who looked oddly familiar.

Andrew.

"Why don't you understand? How can you say something like this?" She screamed hysterically. Andrew seemed seriously bored by her tantrum. The girl took a deep breath and all of a sudden, began to seductively ran her hand over his shirt.

"Honey. It's okay. I know you're just confused. I told you, I choose you. In the end, it'll always be you." Her tone sounded really seductive.

My jaw dropped open. How can she change her tone in just about a second? Wasn't she yelling and screaming just now?

Her change of attitude seemed to irk Andrew even more. He kept clenching his jaw and his grey eyes looked so intense and scary that I would've cowered in feat if I was the blonde chick. But she wasn't getting the hint as she kept clinging to him.

"For the last time, I don't want to see you ever again!" He practically yelled at her face before pushing her aggressively off himself and walking my way.

I was frozen to the spot and just staring at the two of them. He looked up and spotted me for the first time. He stopped for a second before making his way over to me.

"What are you doing here?" He asked.

I huffed in slight annoyance.

"What? Can't I be here?" I asked.

Before he could answer, the blonde girl caught up and gave me a once over before a dirty look covered her features.

"Whose the b***h?" She snarled.

My mouth dropped open again.

Did she just call me a b***h?!

I ground my teeth before snarling, "This b***h has a name. And she isn't clinging to some guy like this slut here," I pointed towards her.

"Listen here. I really don't care who you are. But just stay away from my man." She continued, placing her hands over Andrew's shoulders. "He's mine."

Andrew simply rolled his eyes.

"Gladly. By the way, did you fall in the sparkle pool on your way here?" I smirked as she glared at me. Not giving her a chance to retort, I spun on my heel and stalked back towards the cafe.

I sat back down on our table, fuming, where the food had already arrived. V and Drew were digging in like they had lived in a forest all their lives and were just experiencing the city life.

"What took you so long?" Drew asked, half a chicken leg in his mouth. Beside him, V had already finished half of her club sandwich.

I sighed. "Met Andrew and some girl outside. She kept sticking to him and he was trying to get rid of her." I cut out the part of our colourful exchange.

"Was she blonde? With so much botox on her face you'd think she belongs in a plastic box on display and not walking outside?"

I nodded vigorously, laughing. "Yup. She was it."

He groaned. "She's back."

"Who is she?" V asked, joining the conversation.

Drew took a big gulp of his coke. I unwrapped my burger and took a bite.

"I don't know if I'm supposed to tell you this but I guess telling you won't make a difference. Her name's Carmen and she used to date Andrew. He was crazy about her. Would buy her expensive gifts, flowers and what not. But what he didn't understand was that she was just a manipulative slut who loved his money more than him," he picked up another chicken and began to slice it, "She distanced him from all his friends and would make him shower her with the most expensive of gifts. He spent thousands of dollars on her."

I felt pretty shocked hearing this. Andrew didn't sound like the type to be this cheesy in a relationship. He always struck me as the type to be extremely rigid. The idea of him falling in love had seemed kind of impossible to me.

"Why'd they break up then?" I asked him.

"Well there was a time when J.C was going through a hard time and almost went bankrupt. Andrew turned to her for support but found out she'd been cheating him with another man. Took him months to get over her."

V made a sad face. "Now I feel bad for the guy. He must've been heartbroken."

"Carmen not only cheated him but she also married this guy. But after about six months, she divorced him and has been running behind Andrew ever since. Personally, I think he's going to cave into her again. He really can't resist her." Drew shrugged before tipping the empty coke glass over his mouth, drinking the very last drop even.

I'd thought Andrew to be smart and practical. But he even had a soft side to him.

The door of the cafe opened and Andrew strode in and stopped by our table. V, who was seeing him for the first time, froze on the spot. One fry hanging from her mouth and her sandwich clutched in her hands, she looked really funny.

Andrew had his gaze fixed on Drew though.

"Hey mate." Drew said casually, burping loudly.

I snorted. Andrew whipped his head to glare at me before turning his attention back to his friend.

"Why didn't you tell me you were here?"

"I heard the she devil's back." Drew said, ignoring Andrew's statement.

Andrew pinched the bridge of his nose in slight annoyance and sighed.

"Yeah. Just managed to get rid of her."

"Take a seat pal. Drew shall make you feel better." He patted on the chair next to him.

"It's okay. I have to go anyway. I came here to inform," he turned towards me. I was in the midst of taking a bite from my burger but seeing him I stopped mid-way, my mouth hanging open, "you that tomorrow you have to clean the storage of my office." With that, he walked back out the cafe.

I place my burger down and glared at his retreating back.

"Jerkface." I muttered.

"Oh. My. God. He is hot!" V exclaimed. She squealed and clapped her hands together.

"Hey! What about me?" Drew cried out, looking slightly offended. "Have you seen these muscles?" He flexed his biceps.

I snorted. "Come on Drew. We all know you had those things stuffed."

He launched into the story of his workout sessions and diets and I tuned him out. A girl needs to enjoy her burger and fries in peace but Andrew just doesn't understand that.

And neither does this Drew.

My back ached and I was ready to kill my boss. He'd made me clean the storage room in his office and when I say it's messy, I mean really messy.

Papers were all discarded on the floor in huge bundles, the cabinets were filled with records no longer needed. It had been 5 hours since I had started cleaning all this junk. Andrew hadn't shown up at work today because of some personal errand he had to run. Fiona told me he was out of city.

He'd better stay out of city if he doesn't want to be killed by my bare hands! I thought furiously as I stuffed the papers in a sack.

The sun had set outside and dark shadows had taken over the sky. The only thing separating the storage room and Andrew's office was a glass door with a wooden frame. From there, I could see the big clock that ticked to 7.

I gazed at my boots, which I had taken off and discarded on the floor and was walking around the room barefoot. My favourite black Louboutins. V gave them to me as a birthday present last year.

Since Andrew wasn't around to nag me today, I figured I could rest for a few short minutes. I sat on the ground with my back against the wall and closed my eyes for a brief moment.

I woke up to complete darkness. Rubbing my eyes, I looked around. The only light coming in was from the glass in the door. That too, just a small ray.

What time is it?

I lifted my head and looked back to realize I had hit the switch in my sleep, causing every light in the room to switch off.

I was about to switch them back on when I heard noises coming from Andrew's office. I became slightly tense as it couldn't be him. He was supposed to be out of city as of this moment.

I cautiously got on my knees and crawled near the door, making sure I didn't appear infront of the glass.

Someone was continuously opening drawers and cabinets, muttering under their breath. I pressed my ear against the wall, listening intently.

Whoever it was was in a hurry because he was opening and closing drawers in split seconds, ruffling papers and going through files.

I tried to secretly see through the glass door, without exposing myself, who the heck was it.

A burglar?!

I noticed the silhouette of a man standing near Andrew's desk and a pair of shiny, branded black shoes. Weird.

Before I could see anymore though, his phone blared. I quickly pulled myself out of his view.

"Yeah? Calm it will you old man!" He yelled in a gruff voice. "I don't know where he hid it. But I'm going to get my hands on it no matter what. He got that because he bribed the company owners. We're the ones who really deserve it."

I covered my mouth as my eyes widened in realization.

He was talking about the contract!