Chapter Eight

Kelvin & Colin

{Kelvin's POV}

“Aw! My head hurts!”

I wake up and find myself on the floor. What happened last night?

“You were so wasted!” a female voice says behind me.

I turn around. Ivy leans against a wall with a cigarette in her hand.

“What are you doing here?” I ask.

“What are you doing there?” She throws back my question.

“I was out last night…” my mind goes blank thinking whether I slept a night or two days.

“You got so drunk, you don't know what's happening.”

“Aw!” I feel a sharp pain as I try to think.

“Don't stress whatever is in your head now.”

“Fuck you!” I hold my head not minding the underlying sarcasm.

With the last bit of strength left in me, I pick myself up and head straight to the kitchen to prepare something to satisfy the grumbling in my stomach - if only Laurel could do this for me, rather I'm stuck with this woman.

After an hour, I regain my sanity, sober enough to discuss with Ivy or hear whatever she has to say.

“Hope you're sober now?”

She's just plain evil, watching me struggle to do everything myself while burning cigarettes one after another.

“You have no conscience yunno,” I say with a towel on my neck.

“Where are you going?”

“To take a shower of course!”

“How can you even think of taking a shower at this critical time when we are about to get exposed?!”

“At least if I go to jail, I wanna look fresh.”

She shoots at me angrily.

I know how to push her buttons. Ivy is very impatient, she wants everything done quickly and that's why she is in this mess. I, on the other hand take my time to think and calculate before taking any action. Unfortunately, we're business partners and our operations are carried out in this city so I work with her whether I like it or not.

“So what happened? How have you messed up?”

“You little ingrate! You bastard! I'm trying to save our necks and you act so cool and collected with me!”

I roll my eyes. She's always overreacting over nothing. “Ivy, just say what you want to say and let me go live my peaceful life.”

“Peaceful life! Oh, you're so not living that peaceful life anymore because the police has included your name in their suspect list for the murder of my uncle.”

“Well, they'll have to prove it, right?”

“Oh goodness Kelvin! Why am I working with you?!”

“Because you need me bitch. I didn't kill Benjamin, you didn't either so why fret?”

“What! You didn't kill him?!”

Is she kidding me right now?

“So who did?”

I roll my eyes again. “Ivy, Ivy, Ivy. So dumb and foolish, easily carried away by emotions. Why would I even murder your uncle?”

“Well, the reason is quite clear. To keep our business safe.”

“I won't soil my hands with the blood of someone as insignificant as your uncle.”

“It doesn't matter now. The police are unto us as we speak.”

“How did it get to the police by the way? They won't just have supernatural powers and know what we're doing, will they?”

She averts her eyes as her mind starts to wander.

“You told someone, didn't you?” I ask with a raised eyebrow.

“Even if I told just anyone, it wouldn't have led to this. The problem is that I told the wrong person.”

“What! You actually told someone!” Oh I was right. Ivy is so stupid, easily swayed by emotions. That's the problem working with women, they just drive you insane!

“It's not my fault!” She defends herself. It's always not their fault, they never take the blame. “She forced the truth out me!”

“Oh come on! Did she put a knife on your neck and forced the truth out of your mouth?”

“You won't understand!”

“I don't want to understand!”

“That's because you've never had a real friend in your life!”

This is leading to an argument. I'm meant to be scolding her silly.

“Friends! Friends! Who needs friends!”

“I do! I fucking do!” She throws her cigarette away in annoyance.

Urgh! Here comes the drama and I'll be forced to sympathize with her now. When Ivy gets this emotional, she can make the worst decisions and I won't be spared.

She breaks down in tears. “She has been my friend since childhood and we have shared deep secrets with each other. Even if I want to lie to her, I can't no matter how hard I try. I didn't have to say anything to her but she somehow figured it out. If I had known she's that good a person to prove Colin's innocence, I wouldn't have met up with her in the first place!”

I feel the anguish in her voice. Ivy has been through so much. Ever since she lost her parents, she took the responsibility of being a father, a mother, a guardian and a sister to her only family member, Jane. Truth is, everything she is doing is all for her sake. I don't judge her sometimes when she feels so overwhelmed and turns to me for consolation. Yes, I do understand why she may have told a friend. Maybe I wasn't there to help her come out of her lows.

But at this point, I really really don't want to understand her right now. She has taken it too far, putting our business in jeopardy. If things get any complicated than this, our business may be at the brink of exposure. By the way, who is this childhood friend of hers that I don't know?

After I give her some time to cool off, she ends her drama and comes back to the nasty Ivy that she really is.

“Who did you expose us to?”

“My best friend. I never really talk about her because she's my weakest point.”

“I know she's your best friend, can you just tell me who she is?”

“Laurel. She called me up to…”

I do not hear the rest of her story. All I think of is the name she just mentioned. Not too many people bear the name Laurel so it can't be another person. I've known Ivy for a while but I didn't know she had a best friend, and a childhood friend for that matter whose name is Laurel - my Laurel. Putting two and two together to make four, Laurel actually knows that Ivy and I are related somehow.

Oh shit! The party last night! Oh shit! Oh shit! Oh shit! Alex mentioned it. He knows too! I begin to recall some of the things I said at the party and gradually, the headache starts resurfacing.

Now I know why Alex invited me to a party and got me so drunk. It all makes sense. He must have also known about my desire for his fiancée because he mentioned her name. But what did I say about her? If I was that drunk, I know I'd say things about Laurel I can't take back.

Well, well, well, I guess the battle line has been drawn.

“Are you even listening to me?” Ivy brings me back to reality.

“Yes, yes,” I mutter.

Time to set my plan in motion and get back what I rightfully deserve.

{Colin's POV}

I know it's stupid to think love in the situation I'm in but I can't help it. It's more stupid even after getting heartbroken by her elder sister. Why Jane of all girls in this world? She hates me, she always puts me down and ridicules me, never misses an opportunity to insult me so why her?

I guess it all started when I looked into her eyes. Is it just me, or am I easily charmed by the eyes of the Lance sisters. She didn't like me but she believed in my innocence from the very beginning. She supported me even when I expected nothing from her. ‘It's just a small act of kindness and humanity.’ That's what I've been telling myself ever since but it's like the more I tell myself that lie, the more I fall for her.

Snap out of it Colin! Focus Colin, focus!

“Hey Colin, someone is here to see you,” a warder calls out.

I enter the visiting room, Jane sits somewhere afar fidgeting about something. I don't want to believe something bad has happened, I've already had my fair share of misfortune. I take a seat across and wait for her to say something.

“Hi Colin,” she greets.

I simply smile. Not because she's being nice or whatever, I'm really happy to see her again.

Colin!!! Snap out of it for the last time!

“Won't you reply me?” She says, obviously after seeing how lost I am.

“Umm… hi,” I say. Curse you Colin. You sound just like a teenager on his first date.

“I brought lunch.”

“Thank you.” Maybe I'm just not used to this side of her.

“How have you been? It's been long since I last saw you. What's the latest on your case?”

“Don't worry about me. Officer Henry and the rest are working tirelessly to get me out of here and catch the actual killer.”

“Really! Officer Henry knows you're innocent!”

“Yeah, something like that. Thanks to Laurel.”

“I can't wait for you to be out,” she says and almost immediately shies away.

“I'm sure I'll be out very soon,” I say, thinking I would say some cuss words after but nope, I shy away too.

Yep… as expected. Things get awkward between us.

“Can I ask you something?” Jane and I ask at the same time.

“Go first,” she says.

“You go first,” I insist.

“No you…”

“Just say what you want to say Jane.”

“Err… you'll be out soon. Where will you go after you're released?”

Good question. Although I thought she wanted to confess to me.

“I don't know yet. But I won't be coming back to your house, that's for sure.”

“Right.”

“Is that what you want to ask?”

“Umm… yes. Your turn.”

Shit! Why did I let her go first? What am I going to say now? She played her card well and left me defenseless.

“Thank you for being here,” I manage to say.

“We should eat,” she suggests.

After an almost quiet lunch, she starts to pack up. I can't let her go like that. Jeez! I have to act fast or else, who knows when next I'll see her.

As she is about to pack the last item to put in her basket, I act like I want to help her but move my hand to brush hers. She looks up at me. I allow the moment to build the courage to hold her hand but she doesn't nix my advances, so I take her second hand. My face draws closer to smell her fragrance. The sparks fly and everything around us seem not to matter anymore.

Her rosy lips stands out as she bites it with her eyes begging me to dare. I accept. Eyes closed, deep breaths, our desires come alive and our lips come together for a kiss, a kiss so euphoric, I wish for more.

She pulls away abruptly. “Goodbye,” she says and leaves with her basket in haste.

{Kelvin's POV}

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(This POV is rated 18. Parental guidance is advised)

There are two things I know for sure. Ivy feels betrayed and she's gonna do something stupid. I've tried calling her line since forever but she isn't picking up. It's in times like these that I hate being Ivy's partner in crime. I'll not only be her Damage Control Manager, I have to also babysit a grown ass woman from doing something in a flit of rage.

Oh well, I won't bother about that yet. All I want to do now is get rid of Alex and have Laurel all to myself. That woman has been driving me crazy ever since I met her in her bathrobe at her apartment. Fuck! That woman is so damn sexy.

I sit on a sofa with my phone in hand facing a poster of a model posing for the camera. The poster advertises women underwear so definitely she ought to be half naked. I ignore it as I go through my Facebook news feed but a thought flash my mind. I look up at the poster and let my imaginations take over. Laurel's face replaces the model's and leaves me drooling for a good time. The desires takes me by the hand all the way to cloud nine.

No! This isn't right.

Before I can think of doing something else to distract myself, I feel a boner. I look down and see a nice heavy bulge in front of me. Damn! This is not a good time, it's not a good time at all but the mental image of Laurel overtakes my self-will.

I sit back comfortably, looking at the poster again. It is Laurel posing for me. I set little Kel free from the denim shorts and Calvin Klein boxer briefs caging him as my adrenaline kicks in.

The picture of Laurel in her bathrobe starts becoming clearer and clearer. I imagine her pulling off the bathrobe, seducing me to follow her inside her room. I stoke harder as her seduction becomes more intense. She pulls off her underwear and reveals everything to me, all for me. I can feel it coming up, the tension, the pleasure, becoming an addiction, an obsession. I don't want it to stop.

I feel her touching me, feeling my every muscle, licking my rock hard abs. Goddammit! It is coming so close to the climax.

Like a fountain, my seeds rush out and all my senses set on fire. I relax a bit, my body ache from the stroking but the muscle spasms is so worth the pain.

I sigh. Once again, I daydream of Laurel and get wasted. I must have her at all cost. I need to stop this solo sex and do the real thing.

My phone rings and I pick up.

“Hello,” I grunt.

“Boss, Ivy has given us an order and the rest of the boys has gone to carry out the job,” my minion says.

“What order?”

“To kidnap Laurel.”

“What!!!”

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Hey readers, I hope you're enjoying the story so far. I want to know your suggestions at this point, k

Q&A

What does love mean to you?