Ed is not picking his calls. My emails are still unanswered. A muscle in my jaw ticks, what’s his problem?
The glass doors slide open on sensing my movements, a proud smile takes over my lips and I nod to the guard’s greeting. The motion sensor is one of many upgrades I made to this place after taking over.
Dina is on a phone call when I pass her desk, she signifies for me to hold on but I look right past her and continue to the hidden private elevator that will take me to my office floor. I imagine Dina scowling at my retreating figure but I don’t care. I want to preserve the peaceful feeling from visiting Ava a little while longer and Dina will burst that bubble as soon as she opens her mouth. Her missed calls require explanations I am not ready to listen to, I am taking Ava’s advice—trying to stay positive today.
I step into the elevator while browsing through my call history. My eyes zero in on the fifth name.
One. Two. One. Two. Three. My fists meet the punching bag in quick succession. Sweat trickles down my forehead to the front of my tank top. I go again, hitting the bag I pretend is Jei’s face until I tire myself out. Hugging the sagging bag, I scream but the sound is muffled by the music playing in the background. I snatch the bottle water lying in the corner, take a long, satisfying gulp and stare at my angry reflection.Heated cheeks. Muscled arms I flex to release the tension. Short drenched in sweat. Tank top glued to my sweaty chest. The lights reflect on my forehead, I swat the hair sticking to my face and groan. The late night workout didn’t help. Fuck. Walking out of the gym with my head cast down, I jog to the room.It is hard to stay focused since I haven’t heard from him. Sure, there are other investors, a lot of people would be honoured to work with me. Only little problem is, they don’t have the money nor patience Jei do
In the morning, I step into the office with a toothy grin sure to frighten my staff. Medina is the first one to greet me, she comes running towards me, I stop in the front of the elevator, waiting for her to catch her breath. She takes big gulps of air, I stifle a laugh at her flustered expression. We might need to incorporate a workout routine to the schedule if she’s this discombobulated after a thirty second run.“Good morning, Sir.” I acknowledge her greeting with a bigger grin, she freezes for a nanosecond before snapping out of it. Directing her attention to a thick blue file in her grip, she flips through it. The hand holding my jacket lowers, I take a sip of my coffee. “I got something.” Her finger pokes an underlined paragraph, she chuckles at my tight smile. “It’s a private auction sale.” My lips pull into a grim line, I haven’t been to many sales but the few times I did, it was on a weekend not a bloody Thursday
Today must be the day of bastards because this is the second one I am seeing in thirty minutes. At least Jei is a likeable bastard with something to offer, can’t say the same for that asshole over there. Vincent smirks, his hand goes up in mock salute and Jei returns the greeting by tipping his head. I scoff, the idiot is teasing me. Tugging on my tie to the point of suffocating myself, my gaze wanders in his direction, to the back of his head. Though his eyes are glued to his phone, I am certain he is also watching me.Of all the people I had to see today, God chose him. Thank you, Jesus. Doing great work since the day of the separation. I shove that painful reminder somewhere dark, squeeze my knee until images from last night flood my mind. The memories have the desired results, the tension dissolves, I cast Jei a glance. Would it be a good decision to get the card on his behalf? As a sign of goodwill. My focus returns to Vincent, the lights dim but I can still recogn
“...The durak is here.”The statement rings loud and clear in my ears, my gaze lowers to Vincent’s lips moving in painfully slow motion. Every emotion I have held in comes rushing back to me, then I see red. My fist connects with his cheek before I can second-guess the move, the crunching sound of bone meeting flesh sends a sadistic thrill down my spine and I punch him again, smirking at the undeniable pop that signifies a broken nose.He doesn’t get a chance to recover because my fist comes at him again. His neck snaps to the side, blood splatters to his jacket and I shove him to the floor. Grabbing him by the collar, I rain numerous punches on his face, his neck, every open skin my fist can access. I want to kill him. And the voice re-echoing the shit he said about Sophie only fuels my anger. Why does he have my daughter’s name in his mouth?Blood trickles from the fresh cut on his cheeks, quickly spreading to the white tile
I wake with a splitting headache, rubbing the back of my hand against my eyes, I place a kiss on Brianna’s forehead with a promise to visit often. The month is almost over and it is my first time here. I should check on her frequently but it’s hard seeing her lifeless body every time, being unable to do anything.The shirt at the foot of the bed catches my eyes, I look around for what I know is not there. A trashcan. I tuck the shirt under my armpit, stroll to Brianna’s wardrobe and pull out an old t-shirt of mine. It smells like whiskey and old shirt but it’s better than walking around the house in only a stained white singlet.My fingers press to my temple, I gently massage the spot until the headache subsides. I exit the room after a glance at the bed. A jolt of pain stabs my insides at the silence, I amble down the corridor with my head cast down. I don’t know, I guess a part of me expected she would have waved or something. 
Her bedroom is empty. A flood of relief sweeps over me, a smile curls my lips. At least she has the good sense to keep T away from there. I jog down the stairs to my next destination—her home office. Making my way into the corridor, I pass through doors and voices from the third door have me pausing to listen.A man is inside. He says something to make her laugh, I dig my nails into my palm and scoff. I raise my hand to knock but decide against it. After one glance down the empty corridor, I push the door open.El jumps, her seat clatters to the floor and she smoothens the front of her gown. “Bran... Brandon. Hi.”Barely looking her way, I fix a pointed stare at her guest. T is more coordinated, too relaxed for a visitor. He stands and turns slowly to meet my gaze, no hint of fear in the smile he offers me. I give the mocha skinned man a onceover. I am a foot taller, bulkier too, maybe I will break his nose to teach him to sta
I rewatch the videos, everything from over two months ago. Nothing. The home camera doesn’t show Brianna or El or Sophia together. Regret ripples through me, I toss the laptop on the sofa. I should have put cameras in all the rooms instead of El’s alone, it made sense back then to do only hers. Propping the laptop on my lap, I rewind the video, pausing when a scene with El rushing into the bathroom comes up. The timestamp on the lower part of the screen shows the video is less than a month ago, I almost skip it until I see it’s not the same from the night she fucked herself with a dildo. Anger stirs inside me, I exhale. El stops in front of the mirror, for a few minutes, she stands there, looking lost and scared. I tense when she moves to sit on the toilet seat. Burying her face in her palms, she bursts into tears. What happened? Her trembling shoulders, matted hair and red eyes pull slightly at my heartstrings when she sits up to wipe the snot running down her
The girls are in bed when I leave the house in my matte Ferrari, I slow down as I near the entrance of the club, honking in response to the greetings of the bulky security men. They let me in without a second glance to park at my usual spot, my hands tighten around the steering, I exhale without stepping out.Twentieth of September. I look away from the date on my phone, wishing the lines will blur and my memory will fade but today is not my lucky day.Today makes it five years since Elna and I separated. I slip out of the car, step into the club through the secret entrance for the owner. My eyes adjust to the narrow, dim-lit corridor, a few naked bodies with masks protecting their identities sashay past me. I dismiss their greeting, dodging bodies until I arrive at the front of my playroom-cum-office. I take in a deep breath, rolling my shoulders to loosen the tension.Colognes mixed with the different smells thick in the air tickle my nostrils, I fiddle