==Matteo==
I got off the phone with my secretary, just in time for a knock to come.
“Come in.” I said.
The door opened to reveal my butler. “Sire, I have the documents with me.”
I ushered him in, and he passed me the documents.
The first page read: Olive Samantha Haynes. The second page displayed her personal information. From the look of things, she recently turned 21, measured 5”5 in height and worked as a waitress at a local café. I flipped to the next page and saw her pictures.
My eyes circled around her form. I immediately shut the portfolio, not wanting to see more.
“You may go.”
He nodded, just as he was about leaving, I said, “Get the car ready. I'm going to town.”
***
We finally arrived to our destination after the maddening city’s traffic threatened to stomp us down. I couldn’t believe that at this time of the day, the traffic was much. One reason I cherished the peace and quiet Malchian Grove gave.
My driver alighted the car and strode into the building. Some time later, he returned. His expression plain, just like I’d indoctrinated.
“Sir, she didn’t show up today.”
I said nothing, but kept looking out of the window. “Drive to her residence.”
He started the car and drove out of the premises. We soon made it into the residence. A place called Hunnigton street. Suffice it to say that this was a disgusting place. A rat house. Everywhere was littered. The air smelled polluted and I could get the acrid taste of smoke in the air.
My driver, once again, left the car and got into the building. I regarded the house. It was an old apartment complex that wrecked of decay. I kept staring till the scent came. So strong was it that I couldn’t ignore. It smelled of frangipani. My undoing.
However, I knew better than to leave the car. This place reeked of criminality. Soon, my driver arrived.
He got in. “Sir, he—”
I raised my hand slightly, stopping him. “I’ll be right back.”
I left the car and followed the scent to the backyard. There were scrabs of metal and some other junks here and there. I searched around, wondering where the scent was coming from. I followed my gaze to the direction of the scent. It was coming from above. I lifted my gaze and it rested on a certain apartment. The left window at the fourth floor.
That was when I heard it.
Her weeps. They were soft, and felt like someone in pain. I paused a while before turning around.
Chapter 5.
I couldn’t believe the person that I was staring in the mirror was me. She was a totally different person. Her eyes were puffy and at the corners was soiled mascara. Her hair was unruly and had lost its nice warm texture. Its blondness was fading.
I also couldn’t believe the man that I called Dad had betrayed me. He was a stranger. He wasn’t that man I knew that bought me popsicles or rode a merry-go- round with me. He wasn’t the man that looked out for me, and made sure I didn’t get into trouble with guys. No, he wasn’t that man that shared his secret pancake recipe with me. He was lost. He was different.
I took my eyes at the paper that was on the table:
My conscience has severally dealt with me. I can’t forgive myself for what I did. I understand if you don’t forgive me.
I didn’t know what to make out of the letter. Because I got up from my bed and found it lying there. There was no sign of him around. I didn’t bother to call.
I closed my eyes, remembering what had happened. How my whole world turned around in a split second. When Dad had broken the news to me I stared in disbelief. I was too shocked to speak. Didn’t know what to say. Couldn’t bring myself to talk. I was broken. I was shattered.
When he had told me ‘they’, I’d thought he meant a company or something. Not two completely different individuals that he had offered me to.
I remembered screaming:
“How could you Dad!”
“I’m sorry. I wasn’t thinking straight,” he'd replied.
I shut my eyes tighter, wanting to dispel those thoughts. How was I going to escape this predicament? How? There was nowhere I could run to. No one to call…
I sat upright as a thought came to my head. Wait, a minute. Leah. Yes, Leah.
I dashed to my bed and took my phone. Immediately dialing up her number.
“Hey, ba—”
My sobbing cut her off. “I need you, Leah. It's urgent.”
“Oh my God. What’s the problem?”
“I don’t have much time. I’ll tell you everything when you get here.”
“Be right there.”
I spent time waiting for Leah by pacing the room. In no time, a knock came through. I rushed to open the door. As soon as I saw her, I wrapped my arms around her. Weeping.
She patted me, running her fingers across my hair. “It’s okay, honey. I’m here now.”
After crying, I pulled from her. Suddenly realising that I hadn’t showered and I must be a smelly mess. Either way, she didn’t show it. That look of concern was on her face as she led me to the bedroom.
We sat on the bed.
“What’s going on?” she said.
I sniffed. “A lot. I don’t know where to begin.”
“Breathe. Breathe,” Leah said, demonstrating with her hands.
How do I tell her I couldn’t breathe. That all I wanted was to run away from here. Never to be seen
With tears in my eyes, I said, “My…” I couldn’t even call him Dad anymore. I couldn’t bring myself to call him that. “Joe sold me off.”
Leah frowned. “Who’s Joe?”
“Joe Haynes. What does that tell you?”
She widened her eyes. Then a smile played on her lips. She gave a small life. “What’s going on here? Since when did you call your dad by his name?”
“Point of correction. He isn’t my Dad.”
“Are you alright? “
“Don’t I look fine?”
“Well, clearly you don’t. First, your hair is all over the place, your PJ should have seen better days and then, here you are referring to your Dad—”
“Stepdad.” I pointed my finger at her.
“Since when did that matter?”
“Since he...” I choked once again in my words. “Since he sold me.”
She looked confused, her hands raised. “Hold up hold up. Sold you? What do you mean?”
I walked to the window and looked outside. It was cloudy, fitting my mood perfectly. I really needed the rain to fall.
“I'm waiting.” Leah's words interrupted me.
I got startled a bit. I didn’t remember she was here. Swallowing up the remaining saliva in my mouth, I told her. Every single bit of it.
“What?” She rose from the bed. “How could he do that?”
She walked up to me and turned me to face here. “Look at me, Olivia.”
I did. My teary eyes on the one person I counted as friend. Her dark eyes had gone deeper now. Her face scrunched in concentration.
“Listen. Nothing’s gonna happen. They dare not lay their god awful hands on you.”
I sniffed, nodding. But deep down in me, I didn’t see any hope.
“That's slavery, and I need not tell you it's against the law,” she said. “Come here.”
I gave her a hug again, the tears still flowing.
*Olivia*Leah… I couldn’t be more grateful for a friend. For a sister. For a companion. She proved once again that she was the confidante I knew. She had suggested I offered to work for whomever it was my dad was owing. She made me realise I might be scared for nothing.I stayed in her apartment for the weekend and resumed fully to work on Monday. My boss had been considerate. When I told him I was ill he sympathised with me. I still hadn’t seen…Dad. I didn’t know where he was, and maybe I didn’t want to see him ever again.I got hold of some burger and fries then walked home. All I would do was eat and drown myself with some music. Something that would clear my mind.When I got home, I did just that, eating and lis
==Matteo==I slammed my palms on the table, fury blinding me. “How dare he?” I growled. “What gave him the effrontery? “My servant remained emotionless. Well, it wasn't as if I was expecting him to react.Fuck! The little bastard that called himself Lyons thought he could sideline me. The hell he thought. Ever since my encounter with my proposed…subject, I hadn’t been at rest. Thoughts about her plagued my mind. I would get flashes whenever I slept, and that scent was stuck in my nose. Fed up, I asked my servants to keep an eye on her. I didn’t want to claim her just yet. Now, everything was going well, until I was informed that Lyons…Lyons fucking Jones dropped by at her apartment. His conversation with her was
Chapter 8==Matteo==Her eyes were tightly shut. Her hair, sandy blonde, fell all over her face. It had been over thirty minutes she arrived, and I had been keeping watch. I was in the atrium with her.The first time I laid my eyes on her, intense hatred and disgust grew in me. I remembered thinking, what the hell was I going to do with this one. She was weak. She was frail. If I didn’t know better, I would have argued she was 15.Again, I cursed Haynes. Pete Haynes, the pathetic fool. He must have grown tired of the burden his daughter had on him, given that he decided to shift his responsibility on me.I sized the young lady again. I couldn’t tell what she would offer. Could I trust her to handle the kitch
==Olivia==My head was light, almost as if it didn’t exist. I wanted to speak, but couldn’t bring that to happen. Tried to turn my neck, that also was a failed mission. I was completely useless.Then, miraculously, my eyes began to obey me. It opened, slowly first before becoming fully active. I was in some form of room. The lighting was pretty dim, but I could still see. I tried to speak, to say hello, but cut myself shut. What happened? Where am I?Then, I saw a figure…no, someone. It was actually a person sitting few feet across from where I was. To say I was startled was an understatement. I literally had the scare of my life. Sitting before me was a guy. Now, although I couldn’t see much, I could tell that he was huge. He wore a black long
==Olivia==I didn’t sleep at all. Not with grieve nibbling at me and my stomach making the growl of the century. Right now, I’m crawled in a fetal position, my eyes dreary from long hours of crying. I was done wondering why fate was so cruel with me. I was done wondering why my life felt useless. Why I had to endure all these. I was done.I didn’t know what the time was, but I believed it should be sometime close to noon. This place was as dark as hell. Anyone who endured more than a day here could as well become a bat.I turned the other way, making sure that I didn’t disturb my left arm much. It was almost numb now from hours of staying fixed to the bed post.Sitting up, my legs made contact with the tray of nachos. At that instant,
==Olivia==I was rational; I knew that. As a child, I didn’t buy the idea that Santa Claus existed. It was just pure nonsense, I’d thought. There was no way in the world that an old heavily bearded man would ride through the skies with his reindeer and go on to distribute presents to kids. It was just too good to be true.As a tween, I didn’t see the truth in a fairy-tale romance, such that there were little to no problems at all. It sounded ridiculous. However, here was I, having the firm belief that my tear ducts had been emptied. I’d so much that it couldn’t be possible I’d be able to produce tears ever again.I was still on the bed. Hadn’t brushed, hadn’t showered, hadn’t eaten. I wanted to end it all. To sleep and never wake up again. And if starving w
Leah listened with a bored expression as the professor concluded his lecture. Her eyes glazed over, appearing to look at the projector, when in fact she was anywhere but here“That’s all for today. Make sure you come to get your individual topic for the seminar.” That being said, the entire class was free to leave. Leah stood up and silently packed her bag. A satchel that really needed to be changed. Olivia would have countered, which made Leah frown.Olivia. She hadn’t called since five days ago when she'd slept over at her place. Leah was sure she still hadn’t gotten over the news, well, who could? The poor girl had had the shock of her life. But then, Olivia had assured her she was okay.“I’m fine, “ she said while offering that smile she offered whenever she
==Matteo==Friday night meant a lot of things for different people. It was a time workers breathed a sigh, eager to head home and laze around. Teenagers saw that as an opportunity to throw parties, have sleepovers and do other silly things they did whenever they had the chance.For me, it was… It meant different things depending on my mood. It could be a cue for me to get to the woods and do what I did best, or it could mean I needed a me time—just me in my chambers. But not today. No, no. I knew right from when I woke up this morning that I wanted to fuck. I had to fuck.Well, I deserved to. I bore no hard feelings for my hormones. They were aware of how stressed I’d been lately. That girl. Olivia or whatever was a pain. Literally a mule. Frankly, I was going to have her thrown in the