VII: Promise

Travis was busy typing on his computer when he heard someone knock on the door of his workroom. He immediately minimized the pop-up window he was currently working on. He opened the door afterward and was greeted by Nathalie's sleepy state. She was rubbing her eyes. "You did not send me home. Did I sleep here last night?" Nathalie asked looking up at him.

It was the first time she slept over at Travis' home, despite of all the uninvited visits she had to the place.

Travis just nodded. "Are you hungry?" He asked, smiling, before moving past her to make his way to the kitchen.

Nathalie followed him with her gaze, surprised by the cold-hearted man's soft expression. She thought the man had always been an introvert. He always gives her the cold shoulder, but she just thought that maybe the man had attachment issues so she didn't mind his icy attitude and tried her best to understand him.

The man was the best one yet, for this kind of job. He worked for an intelligence agency in the democratic world before moving to Coterie City five years ago. So everything the Republican City is hiding, Carina can have easy access to it because of Travis. Neither of them wasn't raised in the mafia land, so Nathalie had this natural reliance and trust towards him ever since they started working together.

"I was already planning to leave, but I could stay for breakfast." Nathalie retorted, smiling too, before following the man into the kitchen.

Travis reached for the pan with quite shaky hands. He was trying his best to not show it to Nathalie so she just hid it with a smile. He was still shy around the woman, but he promised to start getting used to it until the time he could finally muster up all the courage to tell her how he feels.

Carina got out of the car, fixing the strap of her clutch bag over her shoulder after closing the car door. "You don't need to go back here later. I asked Julian to fetch me." She said towards her driver, bending a bit forward to see the man's face. The man gave her a quick bow before driving off.

Carina then turned around to look over the large courtyard of the Jung residence. She was in the same place only a couple of times when she was younger, but all of those times were all filled with memories she would never forget.

She started walking towards the mansion, the guards carefully observing her every move because they didn't expect their boss' rival to be in their territory. Carina just raised a brow toward them. When she entered the house, some servants greeted her, bowing.

"Miss Carina." The oldest one called for her.

"Akari." She acknowledged. Carina remembers her as the oldest server that had been with the Jung family for years, and who witnessed how Huxley and Lilith grew up.

"It's been years since you've paid the young master a visit." She tells her, embodying a big smile.

Carina returned the expression. "I think you know the reason why I can't visit him anymore, Akari." She answered, before looking around the mansion. The lady just gave her a meek smile, understanding. "Where is he?" Carina asked.

"Young master will be down in a minute, miss. He is just taking a shower." The old lady answered, motioning for her to move to the big living room that was facing a big glass window where the view of the backyard where the riverside can be seen.

"I'll wait for him here." She told the lady, rejecting the offer to sit down. They bowed to her in agreement before leaving her alone in the big space. She walked towards the big window to appreciate the view of the lake and the sky beside the mansion. It's been five years since she steps foot here, and a lot has changed with the place.

"It looks a lot different, huh?" She suddenly heard a man's voice beside her. She looked over the sound right away. It was the man he was waiting for.

His towel was wrapped over his shoulder, and both of his hands were kept inside his pockets. His hair was still a bit wet from the shower, and it was quite ruffled, maybe because of the friction of the towel when he dried the little strands with it.

For a moment, she felt a tinge of nostalgia, seeing Huxley in a casual look, not wearing his prominent red suit and brushed up hair, but wearing a basic white shirt and sweatpants instead.

She was supposed to be ready with a sarcastic greeting for her rival, just as she normally would. But instead, her mouth seems to forget how to talk ill of him for a minute.

Huxley wasn't looking at the woman. He just continued his gaze over the view. While Carina, on the other hand, was gazing over him instead.

"Why don't we sit first?" He offered to the woman, turning his back away from her. They both sat on the comfortable couch, still facing the view. The server started serving their drinks.

"Huxley, I'm here to still convince you about-" She started, but was immediately cut off.

"I'll let her go," Huxley said, before picking up his drink on the small coffee table between them. Carina looked at him in surprise. "I've thought about it overnight. I've been too overprotective of her and it doubled when I started to handle the family's legacy. I didn't regret it, because it was for her good." He started explaining, after a sip of his drink. "But I realized that because of what I'm doing, she isn't getting anywhere.." He continued.

Carina was just listening intently to the man in front of him. His eyes looked like they had a slight look of complications.

"Our job isn't the safest. Our one foot is already buried in a pit, so we could be gone whenever. Lilith should start learning to take care of herself, in case I wouldn't be around anymore to do it for her." The man continued, his drink in his hand and his eyes still looking afar.

"Wait, Huxley." Carina placed her cup of tea down, agitated. "Are you dying?" She asked, her voice a bit high-pitched.

It wasn't even a minute when the serious man choked, spitting the tea out of his mouth. The man started to shake with laughter while coughing his throat out simultaneously, choking on the hot liquid he had just drank. Carina looked at him utterly confused.

"Why are you laughing?" She asked, getting a bit angry.

Huxley never seriously talked about life in front of Carina. He would always be making jokes or giving sarcastic remarks, even in serious situations, so Carina knew there must be a reason why he would talk that way.

"Why did you sound so concerned about me, Carina?" The man asked, finally looking at the lady beside him as he was wiping his arms where the tea spilled, with a table napkin. "The last thing I know is that you've been wishing for me to die for the past five years." He chuckled.

"I don't know Huxley! I've never heard you talk so seriously in all my life." She spat, before finally sipping on her drink, hoping it might calm her nerves down.

The man chuckled once more, seeing how flustered she was. "Of course not." Huxley finally answered her question. "I'm not dying. There's still an empire to lead." He added, embodying a small smirk.

Carina finally settled down on her chair after hearing his answer. She sighed, rolling her eyes. "Yeah, because I should be the one who gets to kill you." She muttered, before looking away from him. Huxley just smiled with her remark, not answering the woman.

"So Lilith will join me tomorrow?" She asked for his final decision.

Huxley nodded. "She's a big girl now. And I taught her. So, yeah." He confirmed. Carina finally felt relieved, that her team was complete for the mission. The both of them suddenly got quiet, watching the view in front of them. They stayed that way for a few minutes.

A small red canoe that was docked on the side of the river caught Carina's attention. "That boat is still existing," Carina commented. Huxley eyed the boat too. "I suddenly remembered the time when we got drunk in the middle of the waters, riding that canoe. I was wearing a gold gown." Carina laughed at the memory she recalled.

Huxley laughed as well. "And in my red tuxedo too." He added, remembering as well.

"Why are we wearing formal clothes again?" Carina questioned, her smile turning to a grin.

"We won the title of prom King and Queen that night," Huxley answered right away, proving how clear the memory is still engraved on his mind.

The air suddenly became flooded with awkwardness when they both realized they are talking about a memory they'd forcefully forgotten about.

Carina stopped looking at the boat. She suddenly looked down at her hands, a little embarrassed as she was the one who brought the topic up.

"You know that you were my first love right?" Huxley suddenly said, making the clouds surrounding them hue darker.

The woman didn't answer for a few seconds, as she play with her fingers out of nervousness.

"And you were mine too.." She finally answered, looking towards Huxley. He just gave her a genuine smile, fixing his posture on his sit.

"If we didn't have to inherit our family's gang, we could've been the worst couple in the game until now." He joked, chuckling for a bit. Carina returned his smile and nodded.

"Do you remember how many times you snuck me out of my parent's house just to rent the whole drive-in theatre downtown?" She questioned, feeling a bit comfortable. The man nodded.

"We were so addicted to the movie Bonnie and Clyde, I lost count of how many times we have watched it," Huxley answered, grinning.

The two laughed once more, reminiscing their old but young love. The air suddenly became lighter, as they continue to add up stories they would remember about everything they did.

Together...

Julian was driving on his way to fetch Carina when his phone rang. He looked over the caller ID quickly, before setting his eyes back on the road. It was Lilith. He connected his phone to his car's Bluetooth system, before answering the call. "What?" He asked, focusing his attention back on driving.

"Can you tell me where Jaxon lives?" Lilith asked, as soon as the man finished talking.

Julian laughed. "Oh. You're looking for a man. That's new." He teased.

Lilith sighed in annoyance. "I just want to ask him something about what happened at the party." She explained.

"He left." Julian simply tells her.

Lilith frowned on the other line. "What do you mean he left?" She asked.

"The principal told me earlier that he quit school," Julian said, curving around a corner. "He said he needs to stop school because of family matters, so I tried to visit him in his apartment earlier but he wasn't home. Oh- Lilith, I saw Nathalie going out of Travis-Hyung's apartment earlier. Do you think they-" The man was suddenly cut off.

"Please stick to our topic, Julian." Lilith grumpily said.

"Uhm- fine! He lives in Moonchild condominiums, beside Travis-hyung's apartment. I'm not sure if he's there right now though." Julian continued.

"Thanks." Was the only reply of the woman on the other side of the line, before dropping the call. The young man pouted, hearing the two beeps as the call ended.

He finally parked in front of the Jung Residence. He was about to call Carina to advise her he was already outside but he was stunned by the scenario that he saw, not too far away from his car.

It was Carina in Huxley's arms.

Julian didn't notice how he was suddenly gripping the steering wheel as he looked away. He suddenly felt a slight pang in his chest. He stayed in that position until Carina got inside his car. His sister just greeted him with a small 'hi' before sitting comfortably on the passenger's seat. Julian ignored her and just started driving.

The whole ride was quiet. Julian would just casually glance at Carina in the side view mirror. And his heavy feeling just grew gradually as he watches her smiling throughout the trip as if assuming that the woman was reminiscing about the moment she had with that guy.

When he parked the car in front of the mansion, he didn't bother to open the car for the woman and just immediately walked inside the house. Carina was slightly offended by the gesture but she didn't mind it because her mood was really good to give his adopted brother's mood swing too much attention.

The day went by without them interacting with each other. Carina went out again to meet her two assassins and Travis to finalize their mission tomorrow. When she got back home, it was already dark out. She went straight to her room to take a warm bath. Afterward, she asked her server to prepare the things she needed for tomorrow.

When the night deepened, she realized she needs to remind her little brother about the meeting he will be attending tomorrow in her absence, so she made her way towards the young man's room, but when she was already halfway there, he found the man he was looking for going up the stairs.

"JJ." She acknowledged, observing how the man seemed to be walking clumsily. He's looking down at his feet, his flannel polo shirt lowly hanging from one hand.

The young man heard her, so he immediately looked up, but he didn't even respond to her nor minded her as he just continued to walk towards his room.

"JJ." Carina grabbed his hand to stop him. "Are you drunk?" She asked, pulling him a bit to let the man face her. Julian just clumsily brushed her hand away and turned around.

Carina grabbed the man's hand again with his sudden attitude. "Julian, what the fuck is wrong with you? Look at me." This time, she asked him angrily, but still, Julian didn't face her. "Look at me." The woman said in an authoritative tone. The man still didn't budge. "Julian. I said look-" She was suddenly cut off when she felt soft lips against her own.

It took Carina a few seconds before she realizes that Julian was kissing her. She immediately pushed the man away, before slapping his face with her right hand. Carina immediately turned around to leave him, but this time, the man was the one who stopped her.

Julian embraced her from behind before she could go away. "Nuna.." He whispered, with a hoarse voice. "I like you, Nuna.." He said, sobbing.

"Julian, what the fuck are you saying? " Carina tried to remove the man's hand around her, but Julian was too strong.

"Nuna.." He leaned his face deeper on the woman's shoulder. "Am I not better than him, Nuna?" He continued, as his sobs were getting louder. "Am I not good enough for you?" He added with a more pitiful tone. Carina didn't answer. She was frozen in her place.

"Nuna... Please." The man continued, still crying.

"Julian... Let's talk tomorrow. You're drunk." She slowly tried removing the man's arms that were embracing her and this time, the man finally let her go.

When she was completely free from the man's embrace, she immediately walked away, leaving Julian alone in the hallway. She run towards her bedroom and locked her door, holding her chest with one hand because it was beating rapidly.

She's clueless about how to internalize what just happened. All that she knows was that she was completely bewildered.

Jaxon was walking towards his apartment when he eyed a woman sitting in front of her apartment. His smile gradually grew in the seconds when he recognized who she was. It's a woman with a fresh spider lily tattoo on her legs.

Lilith.

The woman with short black hair was busy focusing on her phone to recognize the man who was now standing in front of her. "Did you miss me?" The man asked, bending forward to meet the sitting woman's height.

Lilith looked up at him in surprise. She wasn't bothered by how close the man's face was because she noticed his hair immediately before anything else. "Your hair is silver." She said, before standing up on her two feet.

Jaxon eyed the bottle of whiskey that was inside a paper bag, on the floor. He grabbed it carefully before unlocking his door with a code. "Lilith, why are you here and why did you bring alcohol?" He asked her after they entered his apartment. "What are you planning to do?" He continued to tease her while smirking.

"Kill you, for making me wait for two hours." She answered, walking towards the living room.

"I'm sorry. Julian wanted to drink so I accompanied him." He said, giggling. "I'm a bit intoxicated so, I hope you don't mind being with me tonight." He added, before getting two wine glasses on the kitchen table. Lilith didn't answer him. "Is Travis not home?" Jaxon asked, before opening the bottle of whiskey.

"No, because if he was, I wouldn't have been in your doorway smart ass." She answered, rolling her eyes.

His apartment had transparent floor-length windows, so she could completely see the view of the never sleeping city.

She stopped moving and slowly sat in front of the remarkable view.

Jaxon was watching her from the kitchen as he was pouring alcohol into the two glasses. He placed some ice cubes on it too. "You fancy alcohol. You hate men, and now I'm guessing you love night views." Jaxon tells her, as he starts to walk toward the woman. He sat beside her.

Lilith looked at him. "Are you trying to read me?" She asked, one brow raised.

Jaxon just smiled, before handing her the glass of alcohol. "No. I just love observing you." He answered confidently. Lilith pretended as if she didn't hear what the man said and glanced over the view again.

"So, what made you come all the way here?" He asked, playing with the drink in his hand.

"When we were on the fire exit in Dionysus, did you notice anything weird about the guy I killed?" She immediately asked, looking at him.

Jaxon looked away from her, remembering the events that night. "Other than a girl like you, was the one who killed him, I didn't notice anything unusual." He finally answered, after a few minutes of thinking.

Lilith just nodded, but suddenly felt a bit more frustrated. She feels as if something was wrong but she brushes it off, assuming that maybe she was just really overthinking. She looked back again at the view in front of her. "What's wrong with a girl like me, killing someone?" She suddenly had the urge to ask the man about the way he delivered his answer earlier.

"Nothing. I just thought you were this innocent and introverted type of woman who didn't have- no offense, a gut, to even hurt a fly. " He honestly explained.

"So you are reading me then." She teased, raising a brow at him once more. Jaxon once again giggled, moving closer to her.

Lilith didn't even react. She didn't have the instinct to push him away. She'd been a little surprised at why she was just letting this man beside him, just do everything he wants around her.

"Lilith, can you promise me one thing?" Jaxon asked, after a few minutes of silence. The woman looked at him with curious eyes.

"It might be the alcohol speaking but," He glanced in her direction. "If in case you saw me in a different world, will you please promise that you will ignore me?" The man asked, his tone low and gentle. He stared directly into the woman's eyes. "Promise me that you will pretend as if you don't know me. Promise me that you will pretend that you have never met me." He finished.

Lilith tilted her head to the side as she was internalizing what the man was saying. She thought maybe the man was just saying drunk thoughts so she reluctantly and slowly nodded her head. "Okay." She simply answered.

The man gave him a small smile in return, which made Lilith feel more reluctant, as she observed how Jaxon's eyes, showed the opposite expression of his smile.