Chapter 14 - Are you there?

CALISTA

“What the fuck are you doing in my house?”

What the hell? What sort of rubbish did I just walk into?

“C-Calista, I didn't know you were coming.” Her eyes widened in horror as she quickly covered herself. Her gaze shifted behind me and I knew exactly who she was looking at.

Painfully, I tore my gaze away from the naked man behind her and looked at Mikhail instead. Unsurprisingly, he had that indifferent, shitty look on his face, as none of this concerned him.

“Is this the reason you wanted to take me to the supposed new bar? You invited her over, Mikhail!” I snapped.

He said nothing. Instead, he pressed his phone to his ear like I was not even there. That infuriated me, and the sudden urge to jump on him and punch the living hell out of him nearly took over.

“Mikhail,” I called again, but he lifted a finger, signaling me to keep quiet.

“Maco, where are you?” he demanded, his tone changing drastically. The vein on his forehead bulged and his jaw clenched tightly.

I frowned slightly.

Am I overthinking? Why the hell does he look more pissed than I?

I should be the one angry here.

“I told you to get rid of her,” he spat, and I flinched at the anger in his voice. “Don't fucking tell me that. Get here right now.”

He hung up and then looked at Sera. “And you… What are you still standing there for?”

“I-I'm sorry,” Sera said, her voice shaking like she was about to cry.

“Out!” Mikhail thundered.

She screamed and ran out. Was she seriously leaving naked?

The man followed immediately, clutching his clothes to his chest. I closed my eyes and pressed my fingers against my temple, trying to ease the headache forming in my head.

When I opened my eyes again, Mikhail was already walking into the living room. Outside, Sera stood near the gate, arguing with the man and trying to collect his T-shirt.

For some reason, I felt sorry for her. Maybe it was because I had never seen someone humiliate themselves so badly before.

“How can you reduce yourself to this?” I muttered, shaking my head as I walked into the living room.

Just then, a loud crash came from upstairs and my head snapped in that direction. What was happening this time?

I hurried toward the stairs, but before I could take another step, Mikhail came out of Eleanor's bedroom looking even angrier than before.

He dragged something behind him and suddenly flung it over the stairs. The object crashed on the floor just an inch away from me.

“Ah!” I flinched and raised my hands as small particles scattered near my feet.

“Calista!” he shouted, rushing towards me. He grabbed my hand and pulled me closer, his eyes scanning my body quickly. “Are you alright? Did it hit you? I didn't see you there.”

“It's okay. I'm fine,” I said quickly, trying to calm him down. What is wrong with him?

His eyes searched mine carefully, like he was trying to confirm I was not lying. I held his gaze and tried to look as normal as possible.

“Oh, thank God.” He let go of me and ran a hand through his hair in frustration. “I want you to do me a little favor.”

“What is it?” I asked.

“Can you go up to your room and only come down when I ask you to?” he said seriously.

That was not a difficult thing to do, but the way he said it made it sound like something serious was about to happen.

“Okay,” I replied slowly. I also needed to call Sera and ask why she would do something like that.

He walked past me and headed outside through the front door, and I did not think too much about it at first.

Then my eyes moved to the object he had thrown out of Eleanor's room, and my heart suddenly went cold.

Sex toys. Handcuffs. Things I did not even want to look at twice.

My stomach twisted.

I quickly ran upstairs to my room and kicked the door open, immediately searching for my phone. The table was empty. The bed too.

Then I remembered.

My bag. It was still in the living room.

“Ugh!” Frustration rushed through me and I kicked off my heels before storming out of my room and slamming the door behind me.

I went downstairs quickly and saw my bag lying on the couch. Grabbing it, I turned to leave, but a car horn suddenly came from outside.

My heart immediately started beating faster as the thought of Eleanor walking into this mess flashed through my mind.

Quickly, I pulled the curtains aside and peeked outside.

Although a small part of me wanted to see her reaction when she found out that I knew everything, I still could not bring myself to let that happen. She was already shaken from what had happened earlier, and letting her walk into another disaster would be cruel.

Thankfully, the person stepping out of the car was not Eleanor.

It was Maco.

He rushed over to Mikhail and whispered something to him while handing him a package. Mikhail grabbed his hair in frustration and I narrowed my eyes slightly. He only did that when something was seriously wrong.

That made me nervous.

Mikhail said something to Maco and the man's eyes widened slightly before he suddenly turned in my direction.

I froze.

Did he see me?

Quickly, I pulled the curtain closed and stepped back, my heart racing faster than before. Without wasting another second, I ran upstairs again, remembering Mikhail's favor.

By the time I entered my room, I heard the front door open downstairs and voices echoed faintly through the house.

I shut my door and locked it immediately.

Throwing my bag on the bed, I took out my phone and scrolled until I found Sera's number. I put the phone on speaker and placed it on the dressing table while removing the pin from my hair, letting it fall over my shoulders.

I pulled my blouse over my head and threw it on the floor.

On the fourth ring, Sera finally picked up.

“Cal?”

I froze for a moment and stared at the phone, suddenly wondering if this was the right thing to do.

I did not even know what she was to me anymore.

“Hello? Are you there, Cal?” she said again. “I'm very sorry for what happened. I didn't know…”

“I was going to be there?” I cut in coldly. “You really have some nerve, Sera.”