TRAPPED BY HIM

CHAPTER EIGHT–A Troubled Mind

Lucas

“The prices of these gadgets are worth more than the sales we’ve made over the last three months.”

The evening skyline of California, streaked through the glass windows of the boardroom on the eleventh floor.

I watched the assistant manager of my company drone on, his eyes darting from end to end. He was always a nervous, rather jumpy man. On other days, it bothered me, but today, it didn’t.

I wasn’t even seeing him. I was looking through him.

My thoughts were elsewhere, and occasionally, my eyes would dart over to Jada, my new assistant, and I’d be reminded of Cily.

Jada was not Cily. Jada lacked Cily’s softeness, her innocence and hard edge. Jada lacked Cily’s face, and Jada was simply not Cily.

I didn’t make a mistake firing her. It was all part of my plan.

A plan that had not turned out so well.

I’d watched helplessly, as she declined my offer, unable to scream at her, to beg her, to choose me.

Why would she anyway? What have I ever done for her, except constantly twist her nerves ever since she was hired. To her, I was the devil.

Everytie I blinked, I saw her.

Her slim curvaceous body, and her soft lips. Everytime, I lingered on that image, it progressed from there into a downward spiral. I needed her, and she’d chosen her criminal father.

Why was she so stupid?

I was never going to admit to myself that maybe I’d gone too far, because I knew I was not. She owed me, because she used me first.

Maybe I’d even lost that contract because of her. Her plan was to seduce me and distract me.

It’s all her father’s machinations really, to get rid of me.

To make sure my mouth stays closed forever.

After years of sabotaging his business slowly, and the constant spying on him, maybe the old man had finally caught on to me.

Now he was on a payback spree, and Cily was just the perfect weapon. And I’d let my guard down.

For her, my mask had slipped. A rare phenomenon.Now, I didn’t know how I felt about her defiance.

It was what I admired about Cily. Her defiant spirit. Even in that, she still had an innocence in her, that amused me. It intrigues me.

Cily intrigued me.

“Sir?”

I snapped out of my daydreams, sat up straight and cleared my throat. In a silent cry for help, I glanced at Jada.

I wasn’t listening to anything, and would appreciate a couple of notes on my Ipad.

But Jada simply smiled at me, like a cartoon. Clenching my jaws and biting down on my lower lip, I glared at Jada.

As expected, she recoiled, and turned away sheepishly. It was like sprinkling salt on an earthworm.

Like everyone else, and all my assistants before Cily, she was scared of me.

“Uh…what?” I asked with furrowed brows, as I fixed my best glare on the assistant manager. He too recoiled and took a couple steps back.

“I’m saying that we are losing some sales, as a result of the latest increase in prices.”

I stared at him, completely blank. “Isn’t that meant to be your problem?” I countered. “Isn’t that why I hired you?”

The assistant manager looked away, and to the other members of the table, for support. But they all turned away, leaving him to his fate with me.

I was already in a sour mood, and now, it was even worse, and unluckily for the assistant manager, he would be my scapegoat.

“Sir, maybe we need to reconvene another time.” A member of the shareholders spoke out, breaking the tension in the room.

The eyes of everyone in the room were on me, but all I saw were people who were scared of me.

Suddenly, everything made no sense. The energy to carry on with the day, as usual, was no longer there. What was the point?

I realized that my days were brighter because of Cily. Waking up every morning with the thought of driving Cily insane was my motivation for getting out of bed in the morning.

Remembering what life felt like before Cily was impossible.

“Jada, email me the records for this meeting and the dates for the next meeting. I want to believe that you took some notes down?” I asked Jada, as I stood up from my seat.

Jada nodded, and waved her Ipad around, like some answer to my question. The room paused, as though waiting for me to reprimand her. Usually, I would torture Jada just for fun, but I was not feeling up to it.

I desperately needed to get out of here.

****

Derek popped his head through the window of his car. “Where to?”

“Home.” I said crossing the road with my hands in my pocket. Entering the car, I slammed the door shut. With Derek, I never had to say how I felt out loud, I could show it with physical aggression.

He never complained, In fact he encouraged my habits. He was the only one who truly knew me, and understood me.

The car, an Aston Martin, Derek’s latest car, glided through the streets of the posh Beverly hills. He wasn’t taking me home. He was taking me to his own home.

And the last thing I needed was to see his wife and his kid. I didn’t want to think about her.

“I asked you to take me home, and you brought me to your home.” I drawled the last sentence, making sure he caught my drift. I wanted to be alone, not in an atmosphere of love.

Derek looked at me funny, and scoffed. “You sounded like a dying man, Lucas. Groaning into my phone like a little girl.” He was mocking me.

“Alright, can you stop it? “

“I’ll stop it when you realize how foolish you’re being.” Derek parked the car in the driveway and turned off the engine. He turned to me, not done with his speech. “ If you want that girl, why can’t you just tell her? You did not have to go so far either. What you’ve done is push her away, for good.”

I stared back, blinking at Derek. A dull pain raced through my chest, followed by a flash of dizziness. And just like that, my head began to ache.

But Derek continued, oblivious to my condition. “What is it about Thomas Tate that you want to ruin your life over? It was a long time ago, and trust me, Lucas. I understand how it feels to be shot and left to die. But at what cost will your revenge be?”

My head throbbed even more, my vision began to blur. Slowly, I flexed my fingers and reached for something to hold.

Breathe. I closed my eyes as I tried to force the growing pain in my head away.

It only made it worse.

“Are you okay?” I heard Derek ask. His face was twisted into a mask of concern and he peered worriedly into my face.

Images of Thomas Tate, and that night,and the bullet tearing into my flesh, and burning into my skin made me shiver.

I felt the pain of the bullet again, like it had only just happened. My breath came in short gasps, as I struggled to get myself back.

Then I thought about her. About Cily.

Her hair, falling down her shoulders like a cascading waterfall. I thought about her eyes, those hazel brown eyes that made me weak in the knees. Her perfect body, and her dazzling smile.

Then my breathing began to ease up. My vision was beginning to clear up and the headache, still there, was much less reduced.

The scar on my left shoulder where the bullet had sunk only itched now. The moment was over. It had passed.

“What just happened?” Derek asked, his eyes wide with worry and fear.