Eleven
1918 Words
The soft thuds of Mason's sneakers colliding on the concrete ground, resonated the sound of the steps he took in the early hours of the morning. His hands were in the pockets of his sweatpants and face kept blank even with the way the cold harsh breeze touched his skin.
He walked for a while along the quiet street of his neighborhood until he got to the entrance to the lawn of Jerome's house. Mason stood at attention while his gaze lingered on the door of the big house. As if on cue, Jerome walked out but did not see Mason until he had locked the door and turned around.
The two men maintained a strong eye contact until Jerome broke it when Twinkle also walked out of her own house in sports leggings and bra which was covered by a sweat jacket. She stood at her doorstep, looking hard at the men who were both cladded in sports outfits before approaching them cautiously.
"Good morning, sir," she said to Mason then glanced at Jerome who was still glaring at her boss. "Good morning, Jerome."
Jerome grunted in response and walked through the both of them only to be held back in the arm by Mason who shot him a glare.
"You do realize that you'll regret all these once you've come to your senses, right?" Mason asked and Jerome just looked him up and down and yanked his arm out of his grip.
"Just stay away from me," Jerome pleaded with his two hands poised in his face. "I beg of you. I've had enough."
Mason backed away, glanced at Twinkle and nodded then gave Jerome a scoff before walking back to where he was coming from.
Jerome looked down at his feet with furrowed brows then began to walk away and when Twinkle jogged up to his side, he paused.
"Hi," she stated and frowned when he started walking again.
"What do you want?" Jerome asked while increasing his steps but the brown haired woman did the same. He gritted his teeth and paused. "Can you explain to me why you're following me?"
Twinkle shrugged her shoulders and stood in front of him. She bit her bottom lip and boldly made eye contact with the fuming man.
"I know you don't want any of your friends around you but you shouldn't really be hard on them. After I spoke to Elizabeth, though with a lot of pleading, she told me what happened. The truth is, your friends didn't actually force the woman to abort the baby," she said and crossed her fingers behind her back.
Jerome raised one of his brows as soon as he took in everything she had said. His eyes moved from her short brown locks that framed her tan face, then her arched brows, long lashes that framed her hazel eyes to her pink lips. He mentally admitted that the woman in front of him was beautiful, more naturally beautiful to be exact. He blinked.
"I appreciate you trying to help them, but don't get involved," he retorted and made a move to brush past her but she moved in the same direction at the same time which made him step on her foot.
"Ow!" Twinkle yelped then knelt down.
Jerome felt his heart skip a beat and immediately knelt on one knee to look down at the foot she was touching. He swallowed and hovered his hand over her foot, confused on what to do.
"Are you okay?" He whispered and flickered his gaze to hers, which clashed with her brown eyes.
Jerome found himself locked in a staring contest, forgetting about the hurting foot or anything around him except for her eyes and the way his heart was beginning to thump at the proximity he realized they shared.
"I-I am sorry," he muttered to her hearing but saw from her awed expression that she did not hear him.
The blonde haired man noticed how her eyes roamed his face in what seemed like admiration and a very little trace of lust. His eyes went down to her parted lips and from his rear vision, he saw her eyes flicker down to his.
A car horn blared hard, which caused the duo to stand and move apart to look over at the car waiting to drive into their compound. They both waved apologetically and the man in the car only responded with his middle finger.
"Rude," Twinkle murmured and shot a glare at the car that pulled in front of the house. "Do people in Birmingham act like that?"
"What? No, it's too early in the morning after all," he replied and began to walk away but paused. "And Twinkle, please stay out of my business. You're just new here and know nothing."
"Can I not show concern?" Twinkle asked and the tall man spun around to look at her skeptically. "I am human and the man you hit yesterday is my boss. Since I am his personal assistant, I have a little right to make sure somethings are okay."
Jerome laughed drily and closed in on her at a respectable space. He shook his head for a few seconds then placed a hand under her chin.
"Don't mix your feelings in this, Twinkle and I'm sure none of them will like it if you want to help. You're just an employee and you'll remain that way until you leave on your own will or through being fired," Jerome said in a low and angry voice then walked away without another word.
Twinkle stomped her foot.
•••
Ciara did not know if she could laugh or feel down as she watched her son babble and play with his toys where he sat on his baby cushioned mat in the corner of her office. She kept her cheek on her open palm while her other hand held a pen which was poised on a notepad.
The door opened and Nora walked in casually. She looked over at the red haired woman who smiled at Lex who's attention was brief on her before he resumed his play. Ciara sat straight and smiled shortly at Nora who took one of the seat in front of the desk.
"How are you?" Nora asked.
Ciara scoffed. "I wish I was okay. But I'm not."
Nora tucked a lock of hair behind her ear and stretched her hand across the table to hold Ciara's closest hand. She squeezed it softly and moved her hand back to her side.
"Let's hang out?" She requested and her friend shook her head. "Nope, I'm not going to take that as an answer. Once it's time for lunch, we'll be going to the kitchen Hatch for lunch whether you like it or not."
Ciara frowned at the fact that she felt a hint of happiness and relief coming from the words the woman opposite her. She eyed her suspiciously and raised a brow in interest.
"Aren't you supposed to be sad? Like more sad than we are?" Ciara asked and Nora shrugged with confusion written on her freckled face.
"About?"
"Jerome. You should be sad about the way Jerome is handling things. I mean, you two are really close and your relationship is quite a strange one but ever since yesterday you went to see him, your countenance changed. Did something happen?" Ciara demanded in a concerned tone.
Nora cracked a smile then rolled her eyes at her best friend who was staring worriedly at her. She crossed her arms and leaned on the chair.
"Of course I am not okay with everything going on. It's just, I understand the kind of person Jerome is. He'll come around sooner or later, besides he has the right to act the way he is right now. We were the one who kept such a secret away from him," she replied while twirling a red lock of her hair between her fingers.
Ciara nodded. "Okay."
"You said Fiona came by Mason's company yesterday, right? Ok, and this witch told you she came in peace but went ahead to feed Jerome's head with lies, huh? The note you got from your door step already gave you this warning and the threat Mason's company got is the next thing that will be launched," Nora stated absentmindedly.
Ciara hummed.
"Fiona is linked to this, we know that already but what you just said makes a lot of sense. Which means that, whatever that may come after their plan to maybe destroy Mason's company will be dire," Ciara added. "Don't you think we should call the police?"
"It won't be that easy if Fiona is responsible and you know she was just granted bail. Fiona had enough courage to get out of prison and throw such a bomb at us so quickly. Which means that whoever is with her on this isn't just one or two people but also powerful people."
Ciara stroked her chin in thought as she tried to brainstorm for anyone of Mason's rival who might have the strong dislike to do such a thing against Mason. After a moment, she shook her head and scoffed.
"You're right but his company has never had any deep brawl or diss with anyone. All they do is try to outshine each other," Ciara chuckled. "This goes way beyond business, Nora. This vendetta is much more personal than you think. Joker has more personal ties than just business and Joker can be anyone very close to us."
•••
"I am Henrietta, welcome to the Kitchen Hatch and what would you like to order?" A soft feminine voice said to Harry and Elizabeth who were sitting in their seats with the menus in their grasp.
Elizabeth looked up first and made eye contact with the grey eyed younger brunette standing in front of them with a small notepad.
"Hi, you must be new here," Elizabeth stated and the Henrietta girl furrowed her brows. "What I meant is, we are regular customers and we haven't seen your face before. I guess SooHoo finally left for her home town."
Harry adjusted his glasses after reading the menu for what he wanted then looked at Elizabeth for a moment then shifted his gaze to the wavy haired woman by his side. He narrowed his blue eyes at the unfamiliar face, her round face which had some baby fat even though she was an adult. Her brown wavy back length hair was down and framed her face while her grey eyes darted between them.
"Are you new?"
Henrietta blinked. "Yes, I am. I just started working here yesterday."
"Oh," he said.
"Tsk, well. I suppose you don't know our usual but it seems like the menu has been changed. Weird," Harry said and Elizabeth hummed affirmatively.
"Oh, okay. But I'm sure you can still order something," Henrietta stated in her soft voice.
"Sure. I'll have two cake slices, the small sizes and a cucumber smoothie," Harry stated and caught the grimace Henrietta had on her face for a split second. "What?" He chuckled.
"It's disgusting, I know," Elizabeth voiced out for her and the other woman nodded sheepishly. "Who takes cucumber smoothie and why is that on the menu?"
Henrietta giggled. "Okay, noted. And you, ma'am?"
"Please, call me Elizabeth and he is Harry. You'll need to be calling us by our names now. Almost all the staffs here knows us and we like to be called by our actual names," Elizabeth said, all the while smiling hard.
"Wow," Henrietta gushed. "That's nice."
"Just get me a plate of grilled chicken and rice," Elizabeth said and Henrietta noted it down then left.
"She's cute," she said and Harry just nodded.
The doors of the restaurant opened and Jerome stepped in, making the two friends stare at the man in concern.
- Writer
