Chapter 8

2:21 PM

Los Angeles

December

"Good morning, Leon!", a voice said, he had medium dark hair and eyes. He was wearing a white buttoned up shirt and black pants with a belt around his waist.

His hair was kind of a slick back, with little strands of his hair on his face.

He walked up to Leon, he extend his hand, they both were shaking hands, someone else came up to them, it was Parker.

"Hey, man! I need you to sign these papers for the transportation for the next 3 days", he called out to Leon.

He was holding some file folders, Leon grabbed a pen from his pocket and started to write his signature down, he gave the papers back to Parker.

He placed the papers back on the folder before he lunged his arms on his back and wrapping his legs around him with the folder in hand. Leon dropped the pen accidentally and started to hold Parker's thighs as to not let him fall down.

"Get off of me, you little bitch", Leon demanded as he was giving his friend a piggyback ride, he's used to Parker's childish gestures, so he's really not as bothered as Parker thinks.

"I don't want to, carry me", Parker replied, they're both really demanding of each other sometimes it's kind of hilarious.

"It seems you two get along with each other...", the man complimented, smiling awkwardly.

"Parker, remember him?", Leon asked him, Parker looked over at the man, he somehow recognized him immediately, he felt as if his mood was completely busted.

"I don't...", Parker replied, awkwardly, he did remember him but he wanted to act like a dumbass since that man, has completely changed his life before.

"Parker, it's me, Julian. It's been like three years since I've seen you two! Que concidencia, verdad?", Julian was smiling brightly, Parker sighed in frustration, he felt as if he was about to go completely insane to the point of going to an asylum.

"Let's go over there, shall we?", Leon questioned him as he walked towards a living room door, this room was the major living room of the home, consisting of huge sets of couches and chairs.

Parker hopped off Leon's back before sitting down on a grey couch, Leon sat down next to him.

The man known as Julian sat on the other couch in front of them.

"Well then, it's a long time since I've seen you both. Ever since my divorce from three weeks ago, I was able to see all of my old peers again. I was trapped for a long time, now I can move anywhere I want, just on my own", he spoke politely, then a knock was heard on the door.

"Sir Cashmere, I was wondering if I could speak to you later since you're busy at the moment", Noel peeked his head through the door.

"Noel, come on in!", Parker suggested him delightfully.

Noel slowly stepped in, and walked towards a chair before steadily sitting down before pulling out his cellphone.

°~2:37 PM~°

He turned on his phone, the screen lit up, he decided to text someone while waiting for his turn to talk.

"Come here, don't be so introverted now", Parker told Noel, patting down the space next to him on the couch.

Noel hesitated to move next to him, but afterwards he sat down on the couch, Parker wrapped an arm around Noel's neck before leaning his head against the shoulder.

"It looks like he's a good friend of yours, isn't?", Julian asked, Parker ignored his question blunty and stared at Leon with happy eyes.

He didn't have the guts to talk to that man after what he did to him, he'll never forget all the pain he cause him to suffer. But now, he's actually moved on at this point, but him coming back as if nothing happened is embarrassing in his eyes.

"I want you to tell me when should we go on a date. I want a picnic date, how about you?", Parker teased him, with a slight smirk on his face.

"I'm rejecting you and your dating plans...", Parker turned to Noel, pointing towards Leon.

"Do you see how selfish he is? He's such a bastard, you know", Parker explained to him jokingly, he laughed softly as his own remark.

Noel stood there silently, he didn't say anything at all, Parker leaned his head against his shoulder again.

"Well then, I need to know why I'm here, Leon. Please share me the details", Leon looked over at Julian.

"We're being attacked by EXCEED, after you ran away from the cartel you were there for 20 months until two weeks of your retirement, please tell us what you were working with 14 days prior", Leon asked him, expressionless.

"They wanted to snatch a girl, it didn't end well", Julian responded to him directly.

"Right, what do they want from her? What are they plotting against us? Who else is in involved in the situation?", Leon interrogated him.

"I honestly don't know, we actually didn't get confidential information unless you were a spy looking out for intel from the other person", Parker heard the conversation, he cleared before looking at Noel.

"Her, right?", he asked while pointing towards the cellphone, Noel nodded his head quietly.

" What are you talking about?", Leon asked, Parker looked at Noel, he started to confess some quite useful information that caught everybody's eye.

"I know someone from EXCEED, Sir Cashmere, I saw a name on your files laying around in your office last time you left for the upcoming campaign you have ready in the industry, the name is Lianelle Souza, she's a current spy from EXCEED", Parker listened to him clearly.

"What?", Leon asked, astounded. "She's a known Brazilian model in Los Angeles, but she's been working for EXCEED for 5 years, she's looking for intel at the moment", Leon looked at him.

"Parker, look for the files on the second cabinet", Parker nodded and later he took off to find them.

°~2:58 AM~°

Julian stayed silent for a moment before deciding to engage into a conversation with Leon's bodyguard. "Well, what's your name?", Julian stared over at Noel.

"My name is Noel, nice to meet you, sir", Noel replied to him, respectfully.

"Oh, which part of Mexico are you from?", he asked him another question, Julian gave him a small smile.

"I'm from Cotija, sir", Noel responded politely. "Oh...You don't look Mexican at all, so I thought you would say you're not from Mexico. I'm from Sinaloa", Julian told him.

"I'm half- Mexican, sir", Noel responded, Julian nodded his head.

"Oh, I understand", Julian said, later looking to Leon.

"Well, then what we were talking about,

Lianelle, she is a known spy in EXCEED, I guess you used to work for Descend, right? I saw you with Gabriel most of the time", his eyes turned to Noel once more, Leon is quite fascinated by the fact that someone who used to work for his enemy also works really close to him.

°~3:11 PM~°

"Well, I left EXCEED because I was in debt, so they're tracking me down at this point, I'm trying my best to hide myself from the world now. But I won't mind helping a friend in need", Leon stared at him, they have been friends since he first started to have his own mafia group, now he has built an empire of his own.

"So do you train your men like your grandfather does?", Julian asked Leon, he nodded his head silently.

" I do, unless they have over two years of experience and have been trained professionally, they work for us on the spot", Leon explained to him, Julian understood him.

"Do you have to train them yourself or...", he stated to him.

"I have trainers to help them", Leon looked over at the door.

"I had to take over my dad's cartel business, he's been diagnosed with terminal cancer and only has 5 months to live. I'm the new boss if that makes sense. What do you think?", Julian asked him, Leon scoffed.

"Congratulations...", Leon said, emotionless as a stone wall.

"You're still the same old guy", Julian joked around while giggling softly.

They started talking about their business manners and their lifestyle for a while, Leon's cellphone started ringing , he pulled it out of his pocket before answering his phone.

"I found it, I'll leave them inside your desk drawer so you can check them around later", Parker told him, Leon ordered him to leave it and come back to where he is.

After a few minutes, someone went through the door, it's Parker.

°~3:47 PM~°

"I'm back...", Parker joked lightly, Leon decided to stand up before walking towards him.

"I guess I'm done now, you're coming with me?", he asked, Parker laughed as he suddenly hugs his neck, Leon had to lean in towards him due to how short he is.

"Seung, lift me up now, don't be such a bastard", Leon scoffed at him before furrowing his brows in anger.

"Tsk...Don't call me by my middle name...", Leon warned him coldly before slowly pushing him away.

"Alright, Seung...", Parker teased him, Leon pushed his shoulder aggressively.

"Well whatever, I'm heading to the gym, call me if you need anything", Leon started to walk as he took off his black tie completely, Julian started to follow Parker around all the way to the backyard of the home.

Parker slide opens the door before walking out and sitting on the edge of the backyard deck peacefully.

He pulled out his carton of cigarettes and a lighter, he put a cigarette on his lips before lighting it up.

"Hey Parker, it's really cold outside isn't it?", Julian walked up to him before sitting down.

He ignored his question again, Julian sighed disappointed as he sat down next to him, looking at him smoke with ease.

"What do you want?", Parker asked him, unbothered.

"I wanted to...talk to you", Julian confessed to him.

"Let's hear it", Parker exhaled the fumes into the air, looking at the plants that have perished or look gloomy, just like how he's feeling deep down, dead.

"I wanted to apologize for what happened. It's not the best time to do this but since you're here, I would like to tell you this face to face", Julian said, with a sense of guilt.

"I...I love you and you love me, but we couldn't connect because of the stunt I pulled on you", he continued, he sighed before talking again.

"Parker, you changed a lot, I could tell. I missed all these years without you, I deeply regret everything I did. I didn't mean to do all of that damage to you. I just wanted to forget everything because everyone else around me made me feel ashamed of who I loved and forced me to love someone else...I never wanted that, it was my only choice. But now I'm free, I can go back to you again, so I wanted to say I'm sorry for everything, making you feel like a fraud. A burden..." Julian apologized profoundly, he felt so ashamed, guilty, regretfull of how he treated him.

Parker decided to stare at him, he decided to respond to him.

"I loved you. I couldn't stop crying for days, after a while, I shut down the ideal of love. To me, love didn't exist, it was all an imaginary scenario. I just started to fuck around with people since. I don't want to look at the outcome of a relationship anymore, not after what you did. I'm now so happy living by myself, I don't need someone give me love anymore", Parker told him directly, he hated this man with all of of his guts back then, now he has let go and decided not to fall in love again, never again.

°~4:53 PM~°

"I was wondering if...we could start all over again", Julian confessed to him, showing his remorse towards him.

Parker tapped the ashes off to the ashtray before looking around to put his mind at ease, what he did say?!

He just met him again after three, long years, this is what comes out of his mouth?

"In your dreams, kid. I'm not dating douchebags like you, all you wanted out of me was acceptance, I gave it to you, but then you threw it away like piece of trash that you are. You followed what you thought was right, you were forced into an arranged marriage after they found out about our relationship, I told you it was fine and that we can be friends".

"But no, you humiliated me, dumped me, laughed at me when I crawl my way back to you, and saw me like I was a clown. I'm nobody's clown, the only clown I see is you, I won't let you treat me like that again. I saw you in the altar smiling like a fucking bitch with that trashy woman of yours. What did you do during our speeches? You called me out and spread lies about me wanting to fuck you and use you for my business", Parker let loose of himself and spilled his guts without realizing it.

"You made me look like a fucking bitch, people started to turn against me, and after that, I had to heal myself from all of the drama you just threw at me. It was a long journey, but after that, I accepted it. I accepted that I'll let nobody run over me like that again, we used to be enemies, remember? Then we fell in love, just to be against each other all over again?", Parker slowly inhaled, trying to catch his breath.

"You fucked me over like it was nothing. how long was our relationship? Two years and a half, for what? You just casually threw it over the window like I was an old, broken dollhouse that didn't work anymore", Parker chuckled sarcastically after that, he wasn't in the mood for relationships at all.

"Is it because of Leon?", Julian asked him, he turned to look at him.

"Huh? What do you mean?", Parker gave him a puzzled look, before inhaling smoke before releasing it into the atmosphere.

"You asked him to go on a date with you, calling him names, carrying you around,that's what you call a couple right?", he remarked, Parker let out a smile before laughing at this shitshow he's seeing in front of his eye.

"I wouldn't date him, that bastsrd is too much to handle, I swear. He's like a uhh- well I guess we just play around like that, that's how I put it", Parker explained, crashing his cigarette on the ashtray he left on the edge of the deck.

"How about we just talk things out, just like friends?", Julian asked him, Parker stayed quiet for a moment, he later smiled slightly.

"I'll do friends, friends only.It won't hurt being friends again, will it? I'm going to see what Leon is up to, let's go", Parker accepted his apology, he doesn't hold to grudges for too long, so why not?

Before he could open the door, a figure opens the door, it was Leon in his gym outfit, he put his hands on the door, before leaning in to see outside.

"Already?", Parker questioned him, e already finished working out that fast?

°~5:13 PM~°

"Let's go", Leon told him, Parker was confused on what he meant.

"To the date you were saying, dumbass. But Noel and Zoey are joining us", Leon later walked away without saying another word to get ready, he knew Parker was joking around, but a little date to somewhere fancy wouldn't hurt him a bit.

"What the- I was just joking...", Parker had an astonished look on his face, at least he gets to go out somewhere.

"Oh shit, I guess this is how you joke around with eachother", Julian remarked, Parker sighed from the embarrassment he felt, how foolish of him to let himself get into this mess.

His friend has beat him in his own game.