**Sometime before**
I’m late! This can’t be happening to me! The supermarket promotional sale starts in ten minutes, and I am going to be late for it. I looked down at the grocery shopping list that my granny had carefully prepared and sighed. If I miss the sale and they run out of stuff, we’re not going to be able to get everything within our budget.
I have to hurry. I ran at full speed along the sidewalk leading to the supermarket. I dodged around people, couples holding hands, children on their tricycles, an uncle walking his dog and so many more. However, I had to come to a sudden halt when I almost ran into a slightly plump old man. He must be in his fifties and was dressed in fine clothes like he was from the big city. I mean, no one at his age dresses this well around here.
“I’m so sorry, Sir. Did I run into you? Are you hurt?” I apologized and fired off my questions at him rapidly.
I think I stopped in time before running into him, but I had to ask to make sure. He seemed shocked to see me apologizing profusely to him. However, in the next instant, he started smiling at me.
“I’m fine, young miss. There’s no need for you to worry. I may look old and a little on the fat side, but I assure you that I am strong and very fit!” the old man replied in a booming voice before laughing loudly.
“Oh…I’m so glad to hear it. Well, then…” I replied happily as I smiled back at him. However, I was very aware of the fact that I was running late. I couldn’t stand here and chat with him forever even if I wanted to.
“Wait miss!” the old man called out to me as I turned to leave.
“What is it? Do you need help with something?” I asked.
“Do you…happen to know someone called Jack Witman?” the old man asked, his eyes narrowing at me.
Umm…I don’t think I’ve ever heard of someone with that name before.
“Sorry, sir. I haven’t heard of that name before. Sorry, I couldn’t be of help here,” I replied truthfully as I smiled sadly at him.
“Hmm…I see,” the old man replied softly.
“Are you looking for that man? Does he live in this town?” I asked in case I could help.
“Yes. He’s…an old friend of mine. We had a couple of fights when we were younger and I haven’t seen him for many years but now that I’m getting old, you know…I kinda want to see him…” he said a little sadly.
“This is a small town but…I’ve never heard of him. I’m so sorry…” I replied regretfully.
“Oh…nevermind. That’s ok,” the man said with a small smile.
“Well then, I have a place I have to be. So…have a good day, Sir! I hope you find your friend!” I said as cheerfully as I could.
I said before bowing respectfully to him and running off towards the supermarket. I definitely won’t make it on time but if I hurried, I was sure that I could still get some promotional items that granny wanted.
“See you again soon, little miss,” the old man muttered to himself as he watched the young woman run further and further away from him until she disappeared in the crowd.
…
I trudged along the sidewalk with bags full of groceries in both hands. These are the result of my effort in grabbing items on sale. Although I arrived a little late, luckily, I was able to buy most of the items on grandma’s grocery shopping list. She should be please with my achievement.
However, I did not imagine that it would be so heavy. I guess if I set some money aside and start saving up, I could purchase a bicycle or a small trolley of some kind that I could use to transport these heavy bags of groceries. It’s just a thought for now though, we didn’t have that kind of money to spare, unfortunately.
I wasn’t born into a poor family. I lived the first sixteen years of my life as part of an average-income family with an average standard of living. We had a house; a car and I went to a private school where I had many good friends. My parents owned their own company, and everything was normal and fine until that fateful day.
Around six years ago, my parents died in a car accident when a transport truck crashed into their car. The investigations later revealed that the truck driver was drunk from a party he had attended the previous night and had a hangover when he came to work in the morning. Regardless of the reason, I lost both my parents on that day.
The accident was featured in the news with clear photographs of their whole car burning up in flames before it exploded. A few other people who were at the scene were hurt. The truck driver was seriously injured but survived the crash.
My parents always drove me to school in the morning before they went to work. It was just wild luck that I wasn’t in the car with them on the day of the accident. Since I had a sleepover party at one of my girl friend’s house the night before, I was on my way to school with her when the accident occurred. I always thought back to that twist of fate. If I didn’t join the sleepover back then, I would have probably died along with my parents in the crash.
Who knows…perhaps that would have been the better option?
My life changed drastically after the passing of my parents. For one, I learnt that not everyone who seemed to mean well actually meant well. Right after the funeral for my parents, I found out that their so-called business partner had taken over the company and that there was nothing left of it to be passed down to me. Basically, I was somehow scammed out of my stake in my parent’s business. Everything that they have built all went to waste over a night.
Matters went from bad to worse when I was told that my parents had debts with the banks, and they demanded to take away the collateral: our house. After settling the debt and all was said and done, I had lost the house, the car and almost all of my parent’s life savings. I walked away from the whole thing with less than three hundred dollars to my name.
--To be continued…
Obviously, since I didn’t have any money and had no way to earn any either, I had to quit school. I didn’t have a place to live anymore, so I had to move in with my only surviving relative: my grandmother. With just one small luggage of clothes and necessities, I took a train to a nameless town in the countryside where my grandmother was living.By the time that I left the capital city, I was already prepared for the worst. When I first stood in front of the address that was supposed to be where my grandmother lived, the reality wasn’t too far from my expectation. My grandmother, as I was told, ran a small confectionary and cake shop in a very small town. The description was spot on.‘Sweet Time’ was the name on the faded white and pink sign of the small shop owned by my grandmother. It was clear that the sign had faded from white and red to its current state of pink. The shop was located on the first floor and
That’s impossible. My parents never mentioned taking out any debt from the mafia and definitely not five hundred million dollars. What would they even need that much money for anyways? We lived a normal life. We didn’t have any crazy money to spend like that.I turned to look behind me at my sobbing grandmother who had a look of absolute shock on her face. I knew it, this is probably also my grandmother’s first-time hearing about all this. I was worried about my grandmother. She looked so pale like she could pass out at any moment and her silent sobbing cries had gotten louder as the situation worsened around us.“It’s just as the contract states. Your parents borrowed five hundred million dollars from our boss and we’re here to get it back. Simple,” the man continued in a passionless voice.Simple. My foot.I looked down at the contract that I clutched tight
I heard a low voice call out to me before a hand reached out and shook my right shoulder. I woke up with a small jump. When did I fall asleep? I must have dozed off during the multi-hour ride to the city. I guess I was tired, I didn’t realize when I had fallen asleep at all.Where am I?The car had come to a complete stop and looking out of the window I could see that we have arrived at a gigantic mansion decorated in the baroque European style. This building is massive! Are we at a luxury hotel?I could see the beautifully decorated garden outside with its cupid water fountain and flowers of various types and colors. If the circumstances of my arrival here had been any different, then I’m sure that I would have enjoyed the view and would have felt super excited to be in such a nice place. However, the only thing I felt right now was anxiety, fear, and stress.The men wordlessly unbounded my hands and feet before carefu
“So, you do remember me. Excellent!” the boss said with a warm smile that showed off the wrinkles around the corners of his eyes.I have to say that I did not expect the kind-hearted uncle to be a mafia boss. In other words, I did not expect the mafia boss to be a smiley uncle figure.“Yeah…umm…hello…once again, I guess,” I stammered when I finally found my tongue.“Have a drink, dear. You look a little tired from the trip. It must have been a long one…” the boss said as he gestured to a glass or water that was placed on the coffee table.“Thank you…” I whispered as I reached for the glass.“Did my men treat you roughly? I did order them to be gentle with you…as gentle as handling a feather,” the boss asked, suddenly his gaze was serious.For some reason, I figured that I shouldn’t tell him that they
“So, you see, that family member that I have chosen is my son. Trust me, it’s much better than marrying me, is it not?” the boss said, laughing at his own sick joke.I stared at the document in shock as my hand shook. If I tear this paper apart, will that void the contract? I guess not…As I was deep in thought as to what I should do next, the boss’s mobile phone started to ring loudly, disturbing the tense atmosphere in the room.“What? I see…and? We’ll cover it…give her the best treatment,” the boss spoke through the phone.The conversation came to an end and the boss looked at me with a sad face and I wondered what that whole phone call was about.“The man that took your grandmother to the hospital just called,” the boss said solemnly.“How is she?” I asked with worry.“I think she already knew this but…
“Miss Malissa, the boss wants to see you now,” the leader of the men in black said as he poked his head in through the opened door.“Ok…let’s go,” I said as I walked towards the door.I wished I had gotten to speak with my grandmother, but she was still asleep. I wanted to talk to the boss too. Perhaps, he had already given up on the wedding based on what happened earlier today.…“You want me to what?” I said as my eyes widened in shock. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing.“Hahaha! You don’t have to act so excited. It is as I said, I want you to move in and live with Hayden. He’s handsome, isn’t he? Just like me when I was younger…” the boss said cheerfully as he sipped red wine.“Umm…what he looks like isn’t the main problem here…” I muttered.“You will do as
Hayden had arrived and is sitting very close to me opposite the dinner table. This is the closest that we’ve gotten since we met at the church at what was supposed to be our wedding. Although, it failed miserably at my relief.Well, at least, he isn’t dead drunk this time, I thought as I looked at the man sitting opposite to me.Now that I had a chance to see him up close, I had to admit that Hayden is extremely handsome and attractive. Light blond hair, flawless skin, bright blue eyes, and a very handsome face with a straight nose. He looks like an angel, a prince, a Greek god, and everything else along those lines.As I have observed before at the church, Hayden was very tall, and I barely reached his shoulders even in those ultra-high heels I was forced to wear at our failure of a wedding. I wasn’t surprised that he had a girlfriend or at least a lover…or two…or more…?I was also sure that
“…I don’t understand,” I said, confused.“It’s simple, really. Each time you break any of the rules, I’ll fl a part of your body as mine,” Hayden said with a smile.“As yours?” I asked, still confused. If all parts of my body are still intact, how can he possibly claim a part to be his?“Yes. The body part that I’ve chosen to claim will be mine to do with as I please, wherever and whenever I please,” Hayden stated as he smiled with utmost satisfaction at his own idea.Seeing that I still looked quite confused to this alien concept, Hayden laughed softly at me as he continued to watch me from the opposite side of the table.“Stand up…and strip,” Hayden commanded, his eyes never leaving my face.“Excuse me?” I replied in shock. What did he just…say?“Stand up and take off your clothes.