The words were as soft as a feather. “Christian!” she said out loud, bolting awake. She was drenched in sweat. Her heart pounded like it was trying to break free from her chest. With both hands, she held onto her chest and for a moment, she just sat there—breathing fast and trembling. The room was silent, but inside her, everything screamed. The name still echoed in her ears. She rushed to grab her phone but all she had access to were basic calls and messages. She still hadn't figured out the passwords to her locked apps. Getting her phone fixed would erase all the data and that was not an option. Her phone was the only way she could tell herself the truth about her situation without fear of being misled. She heard Alex’s footsteps as he walked through the hallway and a thought came into her head. So, rushed to meet him before he reached the staircase. “Wait!” she yelled as soon as she forcefully opened the door. Alex turned and walked towards her. “Good morning, Ju
As soon as she felt his grip loosen, she grabbed her bag and stormed out of the room. “June, baby, please…” “June.” “June!” His voice grew less audible as she moved farther from the room. “Ma’am, here’s your jack—” She snatched it from his hand without waiting for him to finish and stormed out of the building like her life depended on it. “What happened, ma?” She ignored Mr. Williams’s concern and entered into the car before he had the chance to open the door for her. Mr. Williams stood stunned for a moment. He was worried, more like terrified of what Mr. Smith might do if he found out something had happened to her under his watch. He got into the driver’s seat and cautiously asked again, “Madam, is there a problem?” “Just drive, please,” she responded, her voice filled with agitation. As the car pulled away from Velaré, she let out a heavy sigh. The truth she had uncovered was simply too much to bear. Had her life not already been burdensome enough? She didn’t just have a
Her eyes slowly looked down to where he had placed his hands on her face and like a dirty rag, she picked it up and tossed it out.“Who do you think you are, to touch me in such a manner?”“Why am I even wasting my precious time on you?” she muttered.“Excuse me, I have somewhere to be.”He laughed, his shoulders faintly bouncing rhythmically. “I didn’t know you had finally woken up. I was going to check up on you, I promise.” He stopped talking and lowered his head to match her gaze. His hand was placed on the doorframe as he looked deeply into her eyes.“Did you wake up from a coma with an attitude or something?”“I don’t mind though. I like my women rough.”He raised his hand again to caress her face, but she looked at him sternly, as though she was going to murder him.With his hand hung mid-air, he looked at her, unsure of what to do, but it was clear as day that she wasn’t joking.Ashamed, he closed his fingers into a fist, lowered his hand, and retreated from her.He looked de
Velaré—a high-end restaurant with private dining rooms, tucked away behind a nondescript black façade on the streets of Manhattan.Velaré was invisible to the average New Yorker. No signs. No menus in the window. A high-end tailor shop on the left, art shop on the right.Like a veil of night, it was hidden behind a giant black gate. A fingerprint panel, seamlessly embedded in the stone wall, invisible unless you knew where to press.No door handle, no bell. If your name wasn’t already in the system, you’d walk right by. The perfect discretion.June stood staring at the walls, her hands hung numb by her sides as though her body was reacting to what her mind couldn’t catch up with. Tears ran down her face and she didn’t bother to wipe them away. Her mind felt as if it were collapsing in on itself. She had started remember things that made no sense— unclear faces, ambiance, rushing through her mind at the speed of light without any clarity. No distinction between what’s real, what’s ima
David interrupted, “Hold it right there, man. Don’t even complete that statement, and delete whatever is going through your mind right now until I’ve spoken with her.” He took a sip from his glass, rocking the seat.Silence fell between the two friends.“Hello, doctor.”Alex unbuttoned his jacket and sat down with his phone against his ear and his eyes fixed on David, he continued.“Okay. She will come to the hospital tomorrow. Thank you,” Alex said on the phone after he picked it up.“What’s that about?”“It’s June’s doctor. She has to go to the hospital for therapy.”“Yeah, yeah, cool.”. . .7:00 a.m. The following day “It’s all a lie.” He smiled, his lip gradually moving toward his left cheek as he walked closer to her with each footstep. He stopped just far enough that each exhale, with a hint of champagne, wiped across her face.She abruptly took steps backward, her eyes avoiding his. “What?… What is a lie, Alex?”“You really want to know?” He started coming toward her again, t
“Arhhhh! You should have waited until 7 p.m. since you wanted to be so late,” David said, feigning anger.“I don’t have the time for your shenanigans, David. What do you want? And those dirty legs off my table.”. . .Evercrest International School’s 9th-grade football tryouts.“My goodness! David, leave the line, please. I have corrected you countless times.”“You just aren’t fit for this,” Coach said irritably before facing the other players to address them. “You, replace him. Yeah, give…” He continued.“This wimp”“Who?”“David, why does he even try when he is such a wimp?”“Ignore him, man. I don’t feel like getting called to the teacher’s office today.”“Yeah, right.” The boy laughed. “Hey, David, take this.” He tricked him and pushed him to the ground. David landed with his chest on the floor. He held a grip with both hands on the ground, sand particles grinding painfully into his skin. He struggled to lift himself into a kneeling position.“St-st-stop,” the kid imitated david’