PRESENT-DAY
Constantine woke up when he heard some noise nearby. He wandered his eyes and saw a girl in a bathrobe. “Hi baby, did I wake you up?”, the girl asked flirtily. He stood up and grab his clothes. “Why are you still here?”, he asked coldly. The girl put the tray of food on the table near the bed and hugged Constantine from the back. “You don’t want me here?” Constantine took away her hands. “I don’t. I told you to leave early in the morning. Yet, you’re still here.” The girl felt ashamed and hurt by what she heard. Constantine stared at the girl who was frozen where she was standing. “You know me. I don’t usually wake up with a girl on my bed. I have work today, I didn’t know you stayed for long.” The girl looked at him blankly and gave him a hard slap on his cheek. “You’re ruining the good moment I’m giving to you. You’re such an asshole, Constantine.”
CONSTANTINE’S POV
“You’re ruining the good moment I’m giving to you. You’re such an asshole, Constantine.” Words that rang in my ears. It kept on repeating in my head. I can’t hear anything she’s saying now. I watched her throw the robe and the food she prepared on the floor. I knew the very reason why she was mad at me. I’m an asshole like what she said, pushing every people who seemed to care and love me and ending up alone and miserable. She was hysterical and I can’t bring myself to do anything. I didn’t want to add fuel to the fire more… But…
The girl went to Constantine and gave him another hard slap, tears started to fall down her cheeks. “I don’t know why did I end up getting here with you. With all of the pain you’re giving, those false hopes, your unpredictable mood swings, and the treatment you’re giving inside and outside of your house, I didn’t know what was real or not. Or is there even a real one?” Constantine tried to utter words but failed to do so. He stared coldly at the girl who wanted answers from him. She sobbed when she felt that Constantine didn’t intend to answer. “What am I for you? A body? A body you can use whenever you wanted to? For pleasure or someone, you can accompany anytime, anywhere? For how many years we’ve been together, I didn’t know what’s my relation to you. Am I your girlfriend, side chick, or just someone who’s keeping me because I kept coming back to you and you’re selfish as fuck?” Constantine’s face darkened when he heard the girl’s last words. The sadness he was feeling turned into anger. “This wasn’t the first time you talked to me like that, know your ground.” He punched the table nearby which made the girl jump. He stared at her angrily and said, “You don’t have the right to talk to me like that! You know the rules. You signed and agreed to all the conditions I put on that paper. Yet, you’re complaining about how I treated you? Should I read our contract since you got the nerve to talk shit like that?”
Constantine was interrupted by the sudden knock on his door. “Who’s there?” He heard three short taps of a switch corresponding to another three long taps of it. He checked his phone and saw tons of missed calls and messages from a person. He grabbed his clothes and prepared to take off when the girl stopped him by blocking the door. “We’re not done yet!” Constantine grabbed her wrist and put her aside. He stared at her for a minute and gave her a credit card. “This should be a surprise gift for you but you end up being hysterical today. You can come back later if we’re not done, and let’s talk. I need to go. Lock the door before you leave.” He kissed her on the cheek which made her freeze like a statue. After everything she said to him, she can’t believe that he didn’t throw her out.
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Constantine arrived in a dark, gloomy, and dirty place surrounded by gangsters. People were watching as he walked past them when someone embraced him and made him startled. “Chill bro, you’re such a scaredy-cat,” Christoff said laughingly. “It’s not funny bro”, Constantine said while rolling his eyes. His reaction made his friend giggle at him. They walked straight down the alley and enter a slender door that leads to a fancy place. A place you can’t imagine seeing in its location. The place is fully decorated with Christmas lights and guarded by strong-built bouncers with shotguns on their chests. Constantine and Christoff showed them a piece of paper, they scanned it thoroughly before letting them enter the facility. The opposite side of the door leads to a place with many people--- rich and powerful people partying together. The music was so loud, the whole place was dazzling with different colors by the dancing lights, the smell of the liquor was over the place, and people were enjoying the place like no one can judge them there. The gentlemen continued walking after wandering their eyes for a minute, they walked past the drunk people and went upstairs. They saw two big doors on the second floor—one with the color of brown and black and the other with neon colors. “What door should we open, Christoff?” Constantine asked. “What do you think? I thought you got instincts with such things.” Christoff said while laughing. “You got the gut to tease me, huh?” Constantine said in a warning tone. Christoff laughed at the pissed Constantine and made his way to the door with neon colors. He opened it and saw two beautiful ladies in office attire. “Greetings gentlemen, finally you’re here. The boss is waiting for you. Please wait for a minute. We’ll be back". After some time, the ladies came back together with an old man. "My future investors are here. Welcome to the party". They stood up and greet the old man. They started to talk about their "business" which made Constantine more curious about how the old man made a fortune out of it. "I hope to see you on our next transactions for a few months, gentlemen." They nodded and turn their backs on the old man. The ladies opened the door for them and leave the facility. As they were walking, Christoff stopped for a moment. "What's the problem?", Constantine asked. "We got a great deal by the way. This is the best deal I've got so far. I'm so lucky to be here today. Such a huge money after all this", Christoff smiled happily. "This is just the start of something big. I will be a billionaire without my family's name, connections, and money. I'll start here", Constantine smirked. They walked towards their cars and leave the place...
