+++
Sylvester dropped the landline receiver after speaking
with Agent Dakolo, he sat back into his seat, trying to
decide whether to attend to the Agent's request first or to
follow after Henry. He chose the latter and got up from
his seat. He picked up his phone from the table and
proceeded out of the office.
Two minutes later, he was seated in the visitor's seat
behind Henry's table. Henry wasn't paying much
attention to him but was focused on his work on the
laptop.
'Here's what I wanted to show you' Henry quickly handed
a paper to Sylvester and turned back to his laptop. 'How
was the interview? What position did she apply for?'
Henry asked.
'There was no interview' Sylvester answered without
taking a look at the paper he was handed. 'She only came
to submit her credentials in person'
'I see' Henry said in a low voice, acting less interested.
'You thought I invited her over for an interview?'
'Yes, of course. You are the Boss here and you don't need
my permission to interview anybody' Henry answered
with a slight chuckle.
'But we already agreed to work with those available and
not to take in anyone else for now. I wouldn't go against
our agreement'
Henry paused and looked up, he fastened his eyes on
Sylvester's face. 'I didn't suggest that in anyway' He said
and turned his face back to the laptop. 'Oh! You thought
that was the reason I didn't agree to see her?'
'What else could be the reason?'
'I wasn't aware of the interview before, neither do I know
the position the interview is for so I didn't think I had any
business to do with her' Henry answered, keeping a light
smile on his face.
Sylvester remained quiet for a while, staring at Henry's
face. He had thought Henry was angry but Henry's
demeanor and words have proved him wrong.
'So what do you …' Henry paused on seeing that Sylvester
had not checked the paper given to him. 'Come on, read
what's there'
Sylvester picked the paper and scanned briefly through
it. 'When did you start working on this?'
'It wasn't my work, Dayo did it' Henry replied. Dayo was
the new employee that was taken in the week before.
'It looks good but we have to find how crackable these
codes are' Sylvester commented.
'That's why I was in your office then, I wanted to check
through your history log but I've been able to check it
from here'
'So, are they crackable?'
'Yes, it's even made up of very easy combinations'
'Does that make it usable or not?'
'It's not usable. It would be easily cracked by the
opposition'
Sylvester folded the paper and dropped it on the table.
'Agent Dakolo called some minutes ago, he'll be here in
the afternoon to get a report on all that we've been doing
concerning the breach we've been experiencing'
'Okay, I've been expecting him to ask for it. I prepared a
report already and he doesn't even need to come here,
we could mail it to him' Henry said.
'I think he'll also like to get some explanations, that's why
he wants to come physically' Sylvester put in.
'No problem, we'll be ready for him'
'So what do we do now with Mr Dayo's piece?' Sylvester
asked as he got up from the chair, ready to leave for his
office.
'We'll just keep it and keep working, we need something
deeper' Henry tapped the enter key on her laptop
keyboard in a loud manner and then relaxed into his
seat, signifying that he was through with what he was
doing. He stared up at Sylvester's face. 'You know we are
trying to entrap this group, so we have to be wiser than
they are. We cannot afford to use simple keys and scripts
in tackling them, that'll be making mockery of ourselves'
'Alright then' Sylvester shrugged and turned to leave.
~~~
**Kabakawa, Batagarawa Katsina, Katsina State. **
After lodging in an hotel for two days, the team finally
moved into the rented apartment for which they had
paid the rent fee for a year. The house wasn't too
expensive but it was big enough to contain all of them. It
was already furnished to their taste before they moved
in.
They had chosen a flat with three bedrooms in the two
storey building house with a total of six flats. Theirs was
located by the left side on the middle floor. Tarasha had
carefully chosen an apartment for them in an open area
this time, it would reduce the rate of unnecessary
suspicions. But they also had to be extra careful and
watchful.
It was Monday morning and work had begun already.
Cole was seated behind a table, composing an email on
his laptop to inform the Ata's foundation of their team's
arrival into the country. Benny was in one of the rooms
where he and Cole had chosen for themselves, arranging
the new arms and ammunitions into the wardrobe. He
neatly arranged the various sizes of bullets and sealed
explosives in a section. He arranged the pistols in another
section and long guns in another. The last section was
used to store his clothes and Cole's.
Aisha was also in her room, setting the place in the order
she wanted. She hissed on seeing the little bag of clothes
which she brought to the place. Although the bag was
actually the biggest bag amongst all bags of clothes the
team had brought, she still thought it to be small. Their
kind of job would not satisfy her desire to always take
her best clothes around town.
She hissed again as she saw herself in the mirror on
bending to arrange the makeup kits placed in front of the
mirror. What did she even need the clothes for now that
her hair was gone? She looked like a man, she thought.
She gave a brief mockery laugh at herself as she rubbed
her palms on the head. She then turned back to pick a
small case which contained more makeup kits. That
wasn't for her but for the team, the team would
frequently need to change their appearances on this
operation. Another small bag was lying beside the case, it
contained camouflage materials like artificial beards,
masks, wigs and even skinlike gloves.
Benny walked into the living room after he was done with
arranging the tools, he met Cole already closing his
laptop.
'Have you finished typing the email?' He asked as he
moved to sit on the couch.
'Yes, we'll see it when we come back from the boutique'
Cole answered, standing up with his closed laptop in his
hand.
'You want us to go now?' Benny seemed not too
comfortable with the idea.
'Yes, what else should we do now?'
'Why don't you send the email now and let's see their
reply, they may probably engage you in a chat' Benny
tried to convince Cole.
'I've sent the mail to the Boss first for vetting, until she
replies us we cannot forward it to the foundation' Cole
responded with a wry look on his face. 'Dust your lazy a-s
and let's go out to get the clothes now. I'll go get Aisha.'
With that Cole walked away, leaving Benny who remained
on the seat tiredly. For Benny, it was always fun to get
new clothes but this one was different, the clothes would
have to be disposed off at the end of the operation.
~~~
**Abuja**
2pm
'You went this far?' Dakolo stared Henry in the face as he
read the report provided to him. 'Even the US CCTV
officials have not discovered up to this, nice job' he
commended cheerfully jamming his palms together.
'Thank you sir' Henry smiled.
'The only thing that looks similar in this their report is…'
Dakolo began but stopped abruptly. He bent to bring out
the report from the US CCTV from his small brief case
which was placed by the leg of the chair he was seated.
He placed the binded four pages report on Henry's table.
Sylvester was the first to pick up the report and open it.
Dakolo opened back Henry's report which was still in his
hands. He began to flip the pages until he got to the last.
'Here' he said, pointing a particular area on the page.
'This code looks similar to theirs'
Henry bent forward to look at where Dakolo was
pointing. Dakolo handed it over to him to have a better
view.
" BN 10354
' Encrypt XL
<< — t.a.r– n.e.f — >>
Run script = enter '
>>"
That was one of the most mysterious encryption code
Henry had ever come across. He had never seen the key
words anywhere else before and since he discovered the
script, he not been able to decrypt it.
Dakolo collected the report Sylvester was holding and
opened to the second page. 'Here ' he pointed another
area to for Henry to look at. The encryption script Henry
saw in the US report was similar to the one in his report.
"BN 20679
'Encrypt XL
<< — s.e.r— n.e.f — >>
Run script = enter '
>>"
'What??' Henry's lips vibrated as he fixed his eyes on the
code, looking slightly baffled. He took his eyes off to
Dakolo face. 'The assassin group is larger than we
thought, it's a worldwide organization'
Dakolo licked his lips slowly and silently as he watched
Henry fix his eyes again to the report.
'Can I…' Sylvester who was anxious to see the correlation
stretched forth his hand impatiently to collect the
reports from Henry.
'So now that we know that we are dealing with a
worldwide assassin group, we have to up our game'
Dakolo finally spoke. 'Your engineers have to be
informed about what they are dealing with. And I think
the corporation has to establish a strong connection with
the US corporation'
'Wow! I wasn't aware that there have been breaches in
the CCTV operations in the US too' Henry spoke in low
tones, relaxing his back in the seat.
'There have been' Dakolo replied him, tapping a finger on
the table as he stared into the air and inhaled. 'The breaks
always comes during the period of assassinations just like
ours'
'Hmm… Same strategies, same codes' Henry said
thoughtfully.
Dakolo stared at Henry's face for a moment. 'Henry E.G, I
need to ask you some questions' Dakolo stated after a
brief moment of silence.
Henry sat upright and adjusted himself to pay attention,
surprised at the Agent's sudden change of tone. 'What
questions sir?'
'You were kidnapped recently' Dakolo paused and stared
at Henry's face, noticing a change. It was obvious to him
that Henry wasn't comfortable with the new subject.
'Yes sir' Henry confirmed reluctantly.
'It happened after you got a job from the late Chief Jubril
Lawal?' Dakolo continued, making sure he maintained
eye contact with Henry. Henry noticed this and decided
to try as much as possible to hide his expressions, else
the Agent would extract every information from him
even if he tried to lie.
'Yes, I don't know if the job was for Chief Jubril but it was
brought to us by one of his workers' Henry answered.
'Chief Jubril sent him' Sylvester quickly put in.
Dakolo took a glance at Sylvester and fixed his eyes back
to Henry's face. 'Let's talk about your abduction first. It
lasted for less than a day. How did you escape?'
'I was told that they left us to go after they had a
disagreement amongst themselves' Henry replied.
'You were told?'
'Yes, I was knocked out. I only opened my eyes after
we've moved far away from there'
'You and your girlfriend?'
'No, but a very close lady friend'
'Well, I don't need to go into details of how you were
abducted that day. I know that you have been questioned
about that already.' Dakolo adjusted to a more
comfortable seating position and placed his chin on his
right fist. 'You mentioned during your interrogation with
the police that your suspect was Dare, Chief Jubril's son?'
'Yes' Henry confirmed with a nod.
'But you didn't mention to me that you've seen him
recently' Dakolo frowned.
'Sir, we've not really been able to discuss personal
matters since you came into town'
'That's true.' Dakolo paused and turned to Sylvester who
was already clearing his throat to announce his desire to
leave since he felt he wasn't concerned with the
questioning.
'Mr Sylvester' Dakolo called with a chuckle. 'You have to
wait, I also have some questions for you too.' Sylvester
nodded in reply and comported himself. Dakolo turned
back to Henry.
'Let's push the personal matters aside for now' Dakolo
continued with Henry. 'Did you ever think that the kidnap
could be related to the job brought by the late Chief's
PA?'
'No' Henry replied sharply after narrowing his eyes
thoughtfully.
'You don't think so?'
'Yes, I don't' Henry shook his head in negative to
emphasize. He thought again briefly. Omotara was the
suspect behind the number he was investigating, so was
it really possible that she had planned their kidnap.
'So you insist that it could have only been Dare Lawal?'
Dakolo pressed. 'Wait' he cut in before Henry could
speak. 'What was the result of your investigation?'
Henry's heartbeat increased thrice in speed. The question
he was scared of have been finally asked. Was he now
going to turn Omotara in? Knowing fully well that Agent
Dakolo would not stop until he fishes out who Alexander
Evelyn really was and probably even associate her with
the Chief's assassination which Henry believed Omotara
was innocent about.

This story is about a Lady Assassin who was
trained in Russia, specially skilled in the art and
carrying out the job with no fears, restraints or
apologies.
She became so powerful and was greatly feared
by several of her male counterparts, including
some of the masters who trained her. She hated
so many things, God was number one on her
hatred list.
She came down to Nigeria and was still involved
in her profession until she met someone who
was willing to help her start a new life.
But people from the past came into her life
bringing back old memories. Then she met her
match, another fierce assassin

'We settled here too soon' was the thought that kept running through her head as she ran down the cramped hallway in the low gravity, crystallized blood splatter covered most of her helmet, but her head was only filled with figuring out how to get home. How naive we were as a species? We looked at the bright gray rock in the sky and our only thought that went through our heads was 'mine', even as we kept on killing each other for petty reasons and started ruling over our small dirt rock that floated through space we believed that we were the rulers of our world, oh how wrong we were.

----- Sometime before that ----- 

In the end, it was not any of the major private or state owned space agencies that established the first permanent moon colony, but the Artemis collective. Formed in the year 2010 by a series of medicine, manufacturing, aerospace and energy conglomerates it initially looked to be just another PR move and went under the radar for the general public. But in 2020, 10 years after their establishment they unveiled plans to form a lunar colony within 5 years, backed by their unveiling of the Artemis 1, the world's first fully functioning SSTO. An SSTO, or Single Stage To Orbit craft is a spacecraft able to reach a stable orbit without shedding any hardware or staging propellant tanks, in essence, a spaceplane straight out of science fiction. 

The Artemis 1 was able to straight up just fly into space by utilizing a revolutionary new engine design that was able to breathe air inside the atmosphere like a commercial aircraft, and in space function like a normal rocket engine by supplying liquid oxygen to the fuel mix. Overnight the Artemis collective turned into a sensation, they suddenly had usable technology governments and companies around the world had spent billions of dollars unsuccessfully developing, and it looked like they were going to dominate the private space industry, but in the end that was not the case. 'The Artemis 1, and all future design variations are only designed to, and will only ever carry Artemis collective payloads and personal' with that single statement the anonymous head of the Artemis collective underlined that they were not looking to enter the commercial space industry, and went on to establish a gateway station in moon orbit within that year. After the initial gateway station was established the Artemis collective only seemed to increase launches to an almost daily occurrence, with an ever increasing fleet of SSTO's they moved tons of cargo into 200 kilometer parking orbits, and then to the gateway station. The first moonbase, dubbed Site 1, they had promised was landed in a crater on the dark side of the moon exactly 5 years after the original announcement, with the fist crew inhabiting it a mere month later.
5 years after that historical event it was finally revealed why the base had been established, and presumably billions of dollars had been poured into the project, the Artemis collective had achieved viable fusion energy. By fusing deuterium, a relatively common hydrogen isotope with helium-3 mined and refined on the moon they had replicated the endless power generation of the sun, in a neat and clean package completely safe for the environment with no carbon emissions and only extremely minor leftover radioactive material, it was able to produce a magnitude more energy than even the most advanced nuclear power plant. Within that year the first reactor opened in Shenzhen China, entirely fulfilling the region's energy demand and proving the concept, rushing the world into the age of fusion power, with The Artemis collective as the sole supplier. The year 2030 marked multiple milestones of for the collective, Site 4 and 5 had opened on the moon and they now supplied 65% of the world's energy needs, but more importantly for the 24 year old certified pilot and PhD in engineering and theoretical physics, Isabelle Hansen, the year marked the first time in the Artemis collective's sought new employees, not only for normal operations, but also maintaining their ever growing lunar operation. 

[Age?]
"Emm, 24."
Finding herself in a tiny room with only a single chair, which she sat in, Isabelle faced a computer monitor and microphone speaker combination that was currently interviewing her.
[Confirm age]
"24 years old"
[Any history of radiation exposure?]
"What?"
[Failure to answer immediately affects this interview negatively.]
"Um, I've been x-rayed a few times."
[Calculating score of the interview, standby….]
"..."
As her robotic interviewer fell silent, Isabelle wondered why she flew all the way to central Africa for a job interview that appeared to fail harder than when she forgot she applied as a college lecturer, and gone directly into the interview after a solid week of drinking at a festival.
[Interview complete, please leave the room]
"Eh?"
[Vacate the room, or you will be vacated.]
"O-okay.."
In the end, she had no idea how she did. Leaving the cramped interview room she passed multiple lines of people in ties and left the Sci-fi like branch office and started looking for a taxi. Reaching the airport she took the first flight home, after suffering next to a crying baby she, at last, reached her hometown. Haggard like an exploited blue collar worker after a week long death march she deeply sighed, creating a cloud in the early morning fog.
"I need a beer… Or 10."
Looking around for an open bar she dragged her suitcase behind her looking for a place to drown her sorrows, until she felt her phone vibrate in her pocket,
"Mom please, not now… EH!?"
Expecting a massage from her overly worried mother, Isabelle lazily dragged out her phone to check the message, coursing her to make an exceedingly stupid sound as she rapidly refreshed her email client.
"Eh? EEEEHHHHHHH!!?"
"SHUT UP, PEOPLE ARE TRYING TO SLEEP!!!"
"SORRY!"
Since coming out of airplane mode she had received a single new email.

FROM: The Artemis collective
SUBJECT: Result of the interview 
-------------------------------------------------

Congratulations!

We have reviewed your qualifications and the recent interview, concluding that you fulfill the basic requirements for the next round of selection. Please report to the collective branch office #5 in New York within 10 days for physical evaluation and training.

For the betterment of the human race
The Artemis collective.
-------------------------------------------------

"I definitely need a beer.."

At the dawn of the 20th century, the world seemed like it would come to an end. After decades of overexploitation, the earth's natural resources were running out and the United States of America and the Chinese-Soviet federation both started to suffer from energy shortages to sustain the zero sum game they had been playing for the last 94 years, the cold war finally seemed like it was starting to warm up. 

But then it seemed like a single corporation saved the world overnight, the Artemis collective solved the energy crisis by achieving viable fusion energy by using a rare element mined on the moon. The Artemis collective saved the world, but in doing so, and establishing a permanent presence on the moon they might have awakened something the human race was not ready for.

The day started just the same as any other for Theodora Watson. She rose from the bed as soon as the sun had risen thanks to her trusty alarm. Before she could get dressed she rushed to the bathroom and thoroughly brushed her teeth before and washed her face smooth. And once she finished she rubbed her moisturizer over her bare brown skin that always seemed to glisten under the natural night that beamed through the window. 

As she finally made her way to the walk-in closet, her phone had rung and she didn't hesitate to answer.

"This is Theo." She spoke before placing it on the speaker and continuing her habitual process.

"Hey, it's your favorite assistant." A cheery voice said over the line.

"Good morning, Rach. Something wrong?"

"No, just a sudden change to your schedule. Boss said it's urgent that you see her immediately upon arrival. Is there anything you'd like me to do before you get here?"

"Shit." She muttered to herself whilst buttoning up her plain white top.

"Uh, can you organize my schedule accordingly? I was supposed to be interviewing someone and it's probably good that it's been pushed back. I haven't had the chance to fully research the person anyways. Remind me who it is?"

"Renatta Gilbert. She's a renowned humanitarian who's proposed a way to help spread awareness on climate change and a long list of global issues. They're already calling her the next Mother Teresa so I'd suggest nailing this. I see she's also a vegan so I made a reservation at a nearby vegan-friendly restaurant for two as a way of apologizing for the delay. Anything else?" Rachel quickly responded.

"I love you and I don't know what I would do without you. See you in a bit."

"Peace."

As soon as she ended the call she hurriedly squeezed herself into her pencil skirt and tucked the top in. Once she was straightened out, she tossed on a blazer and stepped into a sleek pair of heels. 

She then combed her honey brown waves over her shoulder and after applying a thin layer of lip balm under a nude brown lip she was ready to go. On her way out she grabbed her bag by the door and hurried to her car that sat outside her quiet home.

And as she started her way to work her phone had rung yet again. Without looking she hooked it up to the speaker and carried on.

"This is Theo."

"And this is Alex. Is that seriously your greeting?" Her best friend giggled over the line.

"Shut up. It's supposed to be professional."

"Are you trying to convince me or you?"

"Did you call just to mock me or is this conversation actually going to go somewhere?"

"I called to invite you out for some fun, we can hang out like old times."

"You mean like last night? We were out so late that I forgot to get my shit together for work. I'm never going to allow you to seduce me like that any longer." 

"What if I told you it was a cooking class specializing in baking a molten lava cake tonight?" Alex hummed.

"I'll think about it. No promises." She relented.

"Good enough for me. See ya, babe."

After hanging up the phone she sped to her place of work and for once arrived earlier than usual. She then parked near the entrance and hurried inside to greet the perky receptionist on the first floor. Her head popped up once she heard footsteps and smiled at the sight of Theo.

"Good morning, Ms. Watson. In a rush?" 

She was, but Theo knew by now that it was always wise to see what the eyes and ears of the company had to say. 

"As always, Lisa. Have any idea what I'm walking into?" She asked the usually gossipy girl.

"Well you didn't hear it from me but we are supposedly expecting a huge guest within the next few days."

"How huge are we talking?" Theo replied.

Lisa quickly leaned forward in her seat as she prepared to spill all the juicy details. No one ever asked how the girl knew so much, but they were grateful for the useful information. It seemed she had a talent for being invisible and hearing things no one had even a hint of.

"So huge that we haven't even got a name. The visitor is high profile and can't risk  their whereabouts being known by the general public so their identity is top secret." 

"Nothing's too top secret for you though, is it?" Theo smirked.

"You bet your ass it isn't. So after some poking around, while I don't have a name, I do know it's a celebrity so private that only a select number of people actually know who it is. But somehow we managed to secure a once in a lifetime interview that will launch this company into the spotlight. Not that Elite needs it, but it will be huge!"

"Good to know. I owe you one, Lis."

"It's no surprise that you're gonna be in on it as you're one of the best writers this city's ever seen. I want the information. What good is the office gossiper if they're lacking the best details?"

"I'll see what I can do. Thanks, girl."

"No problem. Have a good day!" She returned with a smile.

--

"You needed to see me?" Theo said upon entering the office.

Joan Vance, editor-in-chief of Elite magazine wasn't a social person. She was never one to waste time with a quick chat, not when there was work to be done. So for her to request to have a chat just out of the blue it had to be serious. The silver-haired woman wasn't known to ever hold her tongue and her honesty was one of the main reasons Theo worked so hard to work under her.

"Please, have a seat. I have a rare opportunity in my hands and I want to make sure it gets taken care of by the right person." She got right down to it.

"And that person is me." 

Theo placed herself in the seat before her grand desk while hearing the surprising news.

"Without question. I've managed to secure a first time interview with one of the most fascinating men this world has ever known. You've heard of the Ross brothers?"

"The forefronts of biochemistry? They're easily the most sought after men in the country."

"Precisely. But they're no mere men. And all but one of them have been open about their life and goals. The very ruler of the seas, Poseidon. Finally, he's reached out to us for an exclusive piece on him. And of course, I've selected you for the job."

"I'm honored, but why us? Did he say why he chose us in particular?" 

"I didn't ask. You don't look a gift horse in the mouth." 

"My apologies then."

"None necessary. You do understand this has to be good, right? Don't mess up this rare opportunity. You're an excellent writer. Your honesty is what people love to see. It's raw, blunt, and influential. And for once it can take a load off."

"So you want me to write a puff piece for Poseidon. That's not like you or me."

"Just this once. It wouldn't hurt. Trust me, sometimes it's tough but we have to bend every now and then." Joan simply shrugged.

"I can't be dishonest with my readers. We have a chance to show the world who this man is. He knew that when he agreed to this. This is what the readers want. Isn't that important?" She argued.

For all she knew, the man could be a monster in the making or worse, an egotistical maniac who thought himself above everyone else because of his power.

"There won't be any readers if this goes wrong. We have a rare opportunity here, okay? This will be historic and I want us to be a part of that. Come on, Theo. I need you on this."

"Choose someone else. I'm sure many of my peers can do just as good. What good is my credibility if I compromise over one man?"

God, she internally corrected herself.

"That's a lie and you know it. Do it for me, okay? If it fails, it's my ass on the line here. It wouldn't kill you to be nice for once."

"Only on the inside."

"Quit being dramatic," Joan laughed, "He'll be here first thing tomorrow morning which gives you the chance to make a good first impression. After that, you are to shadow him for a while just to get a feel for the type of guy he is in his natural habitat."

"I thought this was just a simple interview. You didn't say I had to basically tag along with the guy!"

"It's not for long. I'm sure he'll want to get it over with as much as you do. It shouldn't take any longer than a week. We need this, Theo."

"Fine. But I want a bonus after this."

"You make it good and you can have anything you want."

"I'll hold you to that, Joan."

"You have my word.  What's on your agenda now?"

"Renatta Gilbert in five."

"Good. You have the rest of the day to yourself to prepare for Mr. Ross. See you first thing tomorrow morning."

"See ya."

The first thing she did once leaving her office was a quick pit stop back to the ever impatient Lisa who seemed to be awaiting her arrival.

"I have a favor to ask. But this remains confidential. Can you do that for me?"

"I am a walking gossip magazine. How the hell can I manage that?"

"Just do this one thing for me. Besides, I supply you with ninety percent of your info."

"That is true. What can I do for you?"

"Get me everything you know on Poseidon."

"Well, first of all, no one calls him Poseidon anymore. He is Ryan Ross."

"Good to know."

"Why him?"

"I'm curious. Seems like our mystery guest is a fan. I just want to get a good idea of who he is so I can better understand the subject."

"And the subject is..?" She asked with a growing smile.

Theo hated to let her down, but she couldn't risk being the reason the entire world knew of his identity. At least not so soon. 

"They shall remain confidential for now," Theo replied knowing very well she would be able to connect the dots.

But for now, all that mattered is that she kept it between the two of them for the time being.

"That's not fair. This job is boring without knowing all the good secrets." She all but whined.

"You'll be one of the first to know, I promise. Email me everything you can before the day is over, okay?"

"I'm on it. Have fun!" 

And that was the last she heard before speeding off to greet yet another important client.

--

Renatta Gilbert could only be described as a woman of few words. It was the main reason the world wanted to know more about what went on in her head. She would give a few speeches a year, head off on a charitable excursion, and then it was as if she never even existed. She'd then fall off the face of the earth doing do god knows what and hopefully, Theo could get just a peek inside her seemingly perfect life. The subject had just finished adjusting her stunningly perfect shoulder-length bob of chestnut waves when Theo hurried over to the table.

"So sorry for the delay, Ms. Gilbert. I'm-"

"Theodora Watson, a renowned journalist with a Pulitzer under your belt all under the age of thirty."

Renatta smoothly stretched her hand out and firmly shook Theo's whilst looked her over with an observant eye. 

"In the flesh. But that all pales in comparison to your work. I'm sure you hear it all the time." Theo quickly turned the attention back on the intimidating woman.

"Too much these days. It's like applauding a fish for swimming. Why reward me for doing what every person should strive to do?" Renatta replied.

"Because sadly, there aren't enough people like you. It's your work that inspires others."

"I see. Well, it seems as though you may be right. And I hope you don't mind that I ordered already and I didn't know what you would like."

"No problem. I don't normally eat when I'm in my interview mode."

"Great. Well, I'm a partially open book ready for whatever."

"Okay, let's start small. Late last year you proposed a bill that would enforce a requirement for all American citizens to perform a form of community service for an unspecified number of hours per week. So many have already been up in arms against such an idea. What's your response to that?"

"Well, I can't do anything but ignore the negativity. People are never going to agree on everything so it wasn't unexpected."

"You wouldn't see your idea as an unnecessary push? You can't force people to care."

"Not at all. Society doesn't always know what it needs without a little push and shove. Should it ever be put in place, people will come to see just how good it is when others have to make necessary decisions. It's not a job I asked for, but I'm not afraid to do what needs to be done."

"How do you mean? Would you say this is something chosen for you?"

"Precisely. Everyone has a purpose and I've known all my life what mine was. I will change this world for the better and one day the people will thank me for it." 

And something about the way she said those words shook Theo in a way she couldn't even describe. Never had she heard someone so sure of anything in her life.

"That sounds a bit-"

"Extreme? I know, but I wouldn't have it any other way."

"I see. Well, I think I've heard all I needed to hear for the article. It's been very nice to meet you, Ms. Gilbert."

"Renatta, please. And I feel the same way. You're truly something special Theodora and I hope to hear more from you." Renatta stated with shocking conviction.

"We'll see."

"I should say so. You may have heard but I hold annual galas to raise funds for my charitable foundations and I'd like to invite you to this year's event. It would be a great opportunity for you to rub shoulders with the people in my circle and perhaps see a more personal side of me."

"That's too kind. I wouldn't want to intrude."

"Nonsense. It's just a month away so I'll be sure to add you and a plus one to the list."

"Thank you so much, Renatta." 

"No problem. I'll keep in touch." Renatta said as she finished up her previously untouched meal.

"Of course. Until then."

And what that being said Theo rushed out of the restaurant and looked up to see a surprisingly darkening sky. She'd just made it back to her car when again she received a call from Alex which she quickly answered.

"Hey! The class starts in half an hour and a few of us were gonna meet up for drinks before going. Are you in?"

"I wish. After the day I've had I just feel like relaxing alone to recharge. I am just exhausted. I hope you understand." 

"Better than anyone. I'll save some cake for you. Sounds like you need it and I'm bringing it over for a much-needed sleepover tomorrow whether you like it or not. Understand?" 

And after such an intense interview, she could think of nothing better than a good ole kickback with her best friend. But tonight was all about her, her couch, and a glass of hot chocolate. Meanwhile, she also had to read over anything that would help understand the mysterious Ryan Ross

"Yes. I'd love nothing more. But tonight I just need to be alone."

"Alright, I love you, Theo."

"Love you more. Have fun!"

She checked her phoned one last time to see the email from Lisa had just arrived. And now with the rest of the day in mind, she sped home thinking of her couch the entire drive. 

Once she arrived home, her clothes fell off as soon as she'd made it into the door and she traded the tight wardrobe for an old shirt that fell to her thighs and a pair of knee-high socks that warmed her sore feet. Instead of dropping herself on her couch, she settled into her comfortable bed and laid back with her laptop propped up with Lisa's lengthy email waiting to be read with an image attached. And judging by the image, he was stunning. His piercing blue eyes felt as though they looked straight through her and were probably nothing compared to seeing them right in front of her. Unlike his brothers, he had a head full of sun-stroked blonde hair that he kept combed back, yet they stubbornly fell over into his eyes anyways. In the photo, his lips were pressed in a tight line that Theo felt never did move. And despite the seemingly intimidating stance the photo conveyed, she couldn't help but see a strikingly handsome man past the barriers.

Here you go Theo!, the first line of the email read.

I am undoubtedly the one and only source for every piece of information unknown to man but for the first time in my life, I am stuck with bits and pieces of unreliable information. Ryan Ross is easily one of the most mysterious men to ever walk across the earth. He's one of the most well-known entrepreneurs alive today but it's like he's a ghost. 

All that we know is what he wants us to know which is nothing besides being tight with his brothers and that's it. That is all we've ever gotten from his own lips. But, it seems we're not the first to try to take a dig into his life. I found early reports dating back to the 14th century. While they aren't very reliable and a bit all over the place, they can only describe the three brothers as conquerors who served one man more powerful than each of them combined. 

Somewhere along the way, their leader disappeared and they turned their lives around and decided to contribute their knowledge into fixing our previously unbeatable illnesses and more. I wish I could tell you more. But if I could say one thing, it is this: be very careful. They may no longer be the monsters first introduced to our world but what could he be hiding from the world that he wants to reveal now?

❝ Why me? Of all the women in the world, why choose a normal girl much different from your world? ❞

❝ It's simple. You make me feel human. I've done things, terrible things in my past, yet when I'm with you I no longer feel like the monster I once was. You are my purpose, my better half, and my soulmate. Nothing in this life or the next will ever change that. ❞

❝ They'll come for me now, won't they? ❞

❝ Yes. You are my greatest strength and my biggest weakness. They will rise from every corner of the world to take you away from me. ❞

❝ And what will we do then? ❞

❝ We'll fight. ❞
-
in which a man who's known nothing but darkness finds a light that he finds he can't live without

On the beach, Yve has fallen asleep beside Vince after eating the food they bought. Her workload plus the things that Vince revealed tired her up.  Having understood all of this, Vince carried her back to the car and settled her in the front seat and drove back to the hotel.

After ensuring that Yve is comfortable on the bed, he went to the bathroom to freshen up only to be interrupted by Sylvan.
"What is it?"
"Primo, they found a report about Nyelle's mother. I sent the details to your email."
"Okay. Thanks."

Thinking that it must be urgent for even Sylvan to call him late at night, he went to his study to check his email. He didn't like what he read and for sure Yve wouldn't like this, too. But he's bound by the promise they made at the beach.

---
A few hours ago while eating on the beach
--

"Vince?"
"Hmm?" Vince said as he stopped eating to look at Yve doing the same thing to him.
"To be honest, I feel nervous knowing the dangers that being in the underworld might bring."
"Do you want me to quit?"
Yve looked at him and said, "As if it would be that easy to quit."
"So what do you want me to do?"
"Just be honest with me."
"...."
"I don't need you to tell me the specifics especially when it doesn't concern me. Don't make lies like you're going for a business trip or something. Just tell me you need to do something Primo-like."
"Primo-like, ei…" 
"..."
"Please, Vince. Other than that, I want you to ensure your safety as well. After that, I guess everything is fine with me."
"I promise." 

---
Back at the present
--
Vince took a deep breath and turned his laptop off and decided to tell Yve everything tomorrow morning. Before heading for bed, he instructed Sylvan to inform the police station that both of them are coming in the afternoon for their interview.  He finally took a shower and slept. 

The following morning, Yve was the first one to wake up and so she took the responsibility to prepare a simple breakfast for both of them. A few moments later, she saw Vince coming down from his room with a brown envelope in his hands. She decided to ignore it thinking it was related to Gray Group.

"Good morning, King!"
"Good morning, my Yve." Vince said and kissed Yve on the forehead.

But his next actions caused Yve to be curious. Vince pulled back a chair for her and urged her to take the seat. Yve decided to follow and was handed with the envelope. She gave him a questionable look.

"As much as I would like to hide it from you but a promise is a promise." Vince said as he went to the kitchen and served the food on the table. 
Yve reads the contents of the envelope and was shocked to see the title. 
"Did you held them captive?" Yve asked.
"Yes."
"How are they?"
"Nyelle is doing much better than your step sister."
"I want to see Nyelle now. Take me to her."
Vince knew about this but didn't say anything. He sat on one of the chairs and looked at her.
"How about your interview in the police station?"
"Ahh!! I almost forgot! I'll call Sylvan to…"
"There's no need. Upon receiving the report late last night, I ordered Sylvan to postpone your interview. It will this afternoon with me." Vince explained.
"Thanks. So, will you take me to where you're keeping her?"
"Do I have a choice?"
"NO!"
"Then to avoid your dangerous methods, I'd rather take you there myself before my subordinates kill you."
Yve swallowed her saliva in fear of what she heard but in the happiness of Vince's decision, she hugged her and whispered,
"Thank you so much."

Today is another busy day for me. Work and home are the only places I go to for the past 3 years. The end of THAT relationship ended my happy, easy-going life. But then, when I think about it, it was not his fault but mine. My friends would tell me that I need to move on. I HAVE MOVED ON. It's just I don't want any side trips anymore in my life. I have my dreams and I am working hard for it. Little did I know what the destiny has installed for me.

"Mom, I still love her. She ended the relationship without any valid reason and I didn't agree."

"But son, what if the reason is that she doesn't love you anymore? Isn't that a reason valid enough for you?"

"I have to know it this time, mom. I did try to go out on dates but still failed. I think meeting her again will help me know what is happening with me."

"I guess I have no other choice. But remember, don't let her disrupt your plans and the family's business."

"I know, mom. Steph, book my flight to the Philippines tomorrow."

"Vincent! Why are you in so much rush?!"

"Because I believe that the early bird gets the worm."



Just wait for me, Yve. I will get you back by hook or by crook.

Gun-Ho received an email from President Jeong-Sook Shin of GH Media.
She sent a list of five books to be published. She included in the list—the book titles, the number of pages of each book—the name of authors, etc. She also mentioned that two translators were working on translating these books into the Korean language because the work would be too much for one translator to handle.
At the end of her email, she added,
 
"There is a series of cartoons about world history which is very popular in amazon.com in the U.S. It is composed of thirty books. I'd like to publish this series in Korea, and I'd like to know what you think.
We are using the initial investment funds of 300 million won in publishing our first five books and another five books that we will publish, and also in operating our publishing company.
If we decide to publish the series of world history cartoons that I just mentioned, we will need an additional 300 million won. We will have to use over 3-degree color for these cartoon books and there are thirty of them. Of course, it's not like we have to publish this series, but I believe it is a good series of books.
I want to start working on this cartoon series as soon as possible before another publishing company takes it. Since this is cartoon books, it's hard to fail and to sell. I'm sure it will succeed.
From President Jeong-Sook Shin of GH Media."
 
Gun-Ho replied to the email,
 
"Dear President Jeong-Sook Shin, I will send you an additional investment fund of 300 million won as you requested. However, I will not increase capital. Instead, record it as I am working at your publishing company as a managing director. You can determine my salary in the range between your salary and the chief editor's salary. Once Four Major Public Insurance is filed for me, I will send 300 million won. You can record the money as you received it from GH Media's Managing Director, Gun-Ho Goo."
 
Gun-Ho was receiving his salary from three different companies. He was receiving 3 million won from GH Media, 15 million won from GH Development, and another 15 million won from GH Mobile. His monthly salary in total was 33 million won. Gun-Ho was subject to the aggregate income tax. But, since he was the sole owner of all three companies, as long as those companies were doing good, he was getting his dividends for 100%.
 
Gun-Ho sent 300 million won to GH Media, and President Jeong-Sook Shin made a contract with a publishing company in the U.S. for the cartoon series. The news traveled fast among the people in the publishing industry, and people started talking about GH Media.
"I heard there is a huge company behind, which is supporting President Jeong-Sook Shin."
"We shouldn't compete with President Jeong-Sook Shin. We can't win because we can't find that much investment funds."
"How did she get connected with that kind of big company?"
"That's why she was known as the hand of Midas in the publishing industry."
 
The architect office in the U.S. sent the design drawing to GH Mobile's office, along with the aerial view of the new factory. Gun-Ho was not an expert in this area, but the aerial view of his new factory that he would build looked so great.
"Director Yoon, can you make a clean copy of this?"
"Of course."
"Can you then make a copy of this and send it to the vice president of Lymondell Dyeon—Mr. Brandon Burke?"
"Oh, this? Sure. I will do that."
"We will have to include a letter with a copy of the design drawing and aerial view. Do you remember the interpreter who worked for us when Mr. Brandon Burke visited us last time?"
"Oh, yes, I remember him. The one who used to work as a branch manager in the U.S. Mr. Lee, I believe."
"Contact him and have him write a letter to Mr. Brandon Burke, saying that we are sending a copy of our new factory's design drawings and its aerial view, and we are ready to build a factory. Also, tell him that we'd like to make an official contract in the near future."
"Yes, sir. I will contact the interpreter immediately."
Director Yoon who was in charge of construction in GH Mobile sent a letter along with a copy of the factory's design drawings and aerial view to Mr. Brandon Burke who was the vice president of Lymondell Dyeon in Seattle, via EMS.
 
Gun-Ho received a phone call from Manager Seong-il Kang at GH Development. He said that they narrowed down to three final candidates for each position of a secretary and accounting staff, so they were ready for Gun-Ho to conduct the final interview.
"Sir, will you be available next Tuesday for the final interview?"
"Tuesday is not good. I have a meeting with the vendors and customers held in S Group. What about Wednesday?"
"I will set up the interview on Wednesday at 11 am then."
"Sounds good."
 
S Group hosted a meeting with vendors and customers in their headquarters in Samsung Town, Seoul. Many first vendor companies attended the meeting and many of them were big companies. Gun-Ho was one of them. When the meeting was almost over, someone came to the S Group's president and whispered into his ear,
"What? Our chairman is here?"
There were about 20 presidents of the vendor companies in the meeting, and the S Group's president said to them,
"Our chairman is here and he wants to talk with you all. Please stand up and clap when our chairman enters the meeting room, to welcome him."
The chairman of S Group was the owner of the S Group and he was an extremely wealthy man. Gun-Ho had never met him before.
"Our chairman is coming."
A man who seemed to be a secretary announced with a loud voice and the S Group's president quickly stood up. All of the 20 vendor companies' presidents stood up along with him.
The S Group's chairman entered the meeting room. He looked like he was in his 70s. He looked much younger in a picture on a newspaper though, Gun-Ho thought. But in person, he looked really old with a lot of age spots on his face. He certainly looked like a 70-something years old man.
"I am pleased to meet you all. As a matter of fact, without you all, our S Group will have to close our business. Don't you think? Mr. President?"
The S Group's chairman said to S Group's president. The president responded quickly and with a loud voice,
"Of course, sir."
"All we need from you is manufacturing good products. You just need to manufacture better products than the ones made in Japan or in the U.S. People say in Japan that they do 'Isshokenmei.'"
Gun-Ho was surprised by hearing it again because that's what the Japanese Engineer Mr. Sakata Ikuzo said before.
'Mr. Sakata Ikuzo even chewed a piece of plastic in order to taste the product that he was developing. The plastic contains carbon and sulfur, and he still put it into his mouth knowing the fact.'
 
The S Group's chairman seemed to be amused for some reason; he was smiling.
"Anyone of you knows what 'Isshokenmei' means?"
No one responded, and the Gun-Ho answered,
"That means a person risks his life to do something."
"That's correct. Let me see… You seem to be very young. Which company are you representing?"
"It's GH Mobile."
"Oh, I see. So, as the president of GH Mobile just said, I want you all to work so hard in developing good products to the extent that you risk your life. I believe that GH Mobile's president is doing so in developing their own products."

This is the story of a poor young man whose poverty even shreds apart their family willing to climb his way through society and into the top. A very realistic novel that moves away from fantasy and sci-fi and focuses solely on the issues of society and life.

➿
17 Hours Before..



River Kennedi enters the relative calm of his small, shared Apartment Complex. A rundown space, with second hand Furniture and displays of amateur art. A place kept spotless, except for the litter of completed, half finished and discarded paintings and drawings. The only case of disarray, against the washed out, but immaculate decor. 

River whisked his Raven black hair, away from his face. Squinting his emerald green eyes, against the burning haze of oil paint and acetone. He kicked off his old converse Sneakers, shaking off his knapsack--discarding it on the floor beside his shoes. He yawned marginally, feeling his body grow fatigued as his clothes rustled. His baggy Denims and Pullover Hoodie, a size to big for his petite frame. 

His face was contrite with weariness, and his legs ached from working a twelve hour shift. Something he was accustomed to, yet still found the side effects to be entirely bothersome. 

A loud clang in the Kitchen echoed throughout the Apartment. Capturing River's attention as he shimmied out of his grey Pullover, dropping it on the old, cloth Couch. 

"Shit!" The voice of his Roommate followed shortly after, making River chuckle lightly as he walked towards the Kitchen. 

James Bordeaux, the Roommate,  was standing over a spilled bucket of Canvas paint. A gruff frown on his subtly handsome features. His dirty blond hair caught up in a messy ponytail, and his blue eyes scowling at the predicament he faced. 

The paint had splattered all over the low, wooden cupboards--forming a puddle on the tiled floors. It's bright tint leaving speckles of red across the small, old doors. 

"That's gonna be a little hard to remove," River said, jolting James out of his terrified trance. 

"River! Goddammit, you scared the crap out of me!" James exclaimed frowning--his British accent as deep and attractive, as his magazine worthy face.

"You'll get over it, once you get that mess cleaned up. We can barely afford to pay for this place as it is and I'm pretty sure Ms. Corrigan won't appreciate your splatter art all over her Kitchen Cupboards." River mused and James mocked his smile. 

"Ha ha, you're a bloody comedian." James deadpanned, entirely annoyed. 

"And you're a bloody mess." River faked a British accent, causing James's bushy eyebrows to scrunch up in confusion. 

"Are you going to help me or not?" James asked, his ocean blue eyes pleading. 

River scoffed lightly, knowing well that he needed rest for the next day to come. Another five hours at the Burger Joint, and the next few hours of daylight searching for a new Job. 

"Nope." River said, walking towards the Refrigerator. The only decent piece of electrical appliance in the small, stuffy Apartment. 

"I hate you," James griped out and River grinned. 

"I'll live with myself." River said, removing a bottle of spring water. "Besides, I need to rest. I have a long day ahead tomorrow. You know I'd have helped, if I wasn't so sleepy." 

"This is why you should have chosen Art as a Major, yah bloody wanker." James implored, watching River down the bottle of Water in just one go. 

"I don't think your Professors would appreciate my stick figures, and smearing of paint with my tiny and not so manly fingers. Enigmatic my ass." River scowled with a thoughtful glance at James who rolled his eyes. 

"Fine I'll do it my damned self, meanie." James sassed and River smiled, nudging James as he passed him. Careful not to step into the paint, that would have surely stuck to his feet for days. 

"Where's Cassie?" River asked, noticing that James' character of a Girlfriend wasn't around. "She's usually strolling around half dressed, speaking crazy and screaming at you." River grinned at James. 

"Watch it, Mr. I can't get a Boyfriend because I'm too busy with my Business Degree." James mocked in a freakishly squeaky voice, and River frowned at the inaccuracy of it. 

"Hey, I don't sound like that! And I sure as hell don't have time to be coddled and fondled by a man." River challenged, but James simply scoffed. 

"And I presume fondling yourself while you think I'm sleeping is better?" James grimaced at River, who's cheeks tinted in abysmal embarrassment. 

"Dammit those old, squeaky ass beds," River cursed under his breath. James only smirked at River's rant, but he instantly realized he was allowing the paint to dry. 

"At least you're man enough to admit it," James gibed, roaming through drawers for something to clean the mess with. 

"Shut your Pie-hole, and clean that paint up, Mr. Bordeaux." River retorted, throwing the empty, water bottle at James' head. 

"You bloody wanker!" James screamed as River sped-walked away. 

River loved the banter between him and James. It was the one thing he looked forward to, after a long day of rude customers and a nagging Boss. He however felt the urge to tell James that he had been fired, but he also hoped that the high paying internship that he had been contacted about, would be granted before he had to. 

It had been days since he submitted his resume. He thought of it almost every hour, which led to him being distracted. It also roused up a sudden confidence in him. A confidence that made River talk back at his Boss, Mr. Bash. Who then proceeded to fire him. He thought if only he had kept his mouth shut--then again. River was tired of being spat on, walked over and screamed at by a man whom was much shorter than him. A man who in James's most colorful opinion, was an Arsemonger.

•

River entered the cramped interior of his Bedroom. A rectangular space, with mismatched wooden, metal, and plastic furniture. He hurriedly stepping out of his Denims, grimacing at the sudden coldness--seeping through his pores. Caused by the stone floor, that was the same bland, cream color as the papered walls. Murky and as boring as River thought himself. A trait he hated, yet lived with because of his past. 

He discarded the Blue Denims atop his bed, yawning and covering his mouth. 

River huffed heavily as he fell backwards into the Bed--in his boxers and an old but favored Band Shirt. Frowning as the loud squeaking resonated throughout the entire Bedroom. He gazed up at the lightbulb in the ceiling, his facial expression neutral. 

He quickly fished his phone from his left pocket. Sliding the cracked screen across, hoping to find something interesting. He then decided to check his emails, a small twinge of hope, inspiriting within him. That hope burst into nauseating nervousness, as he saw the brand new email in his inbox. 

Titled; Black and Co. Application. 

He swiftly flew up, in a sitting position. His heart palpitating so loud, he could hear it beating as if within his eardrums. With a fidgeting thumb, he opened the email. But his mobile data seemed to be slowed down, as it usually did when his megabytes ran dry. 

So he waited ten seconds, but nothing. 

Another ten seconds, then his patience ran dry--yet still there was nothing. 

He opted to wait another ten, but he gave up after just three seconds, the moment he remembered his Laptop. The only thing in the Apartment, that was connected to the Neighbor's Wifi. 

"Crappy phone!" River cursed under his breath, dropping the cellphone on the Bed. 

He then rose to his feet, hurriedly striding towards his cluttered Computer Desk. Where his HP laptop sat, halfway opened. He hastily opened it up, narrowing his gaze as the screen lit up. Within seconds, he entered his password and smiled. For the screen was already on the email tab. 

He paused for a second, even more agitated than before. His head felt swollen, and he feared if he water any longer. 

His brain would explode. 

River squeezed his eyes shut, clicking the mouse once. He let out a dry huff of air, slowly opening one eye. 


From: Grace Keller, CFO. Black & Co. 
Received 12:55 pm. 
Subject: Re:Application.

After reading that first line, both of River's eyes opened. Peering at the screen, with squinty yet eager eyes. 

Hello Mr. Kennedi, 

           This reply is in regards to the Internship Application that you have submitted. I have to say I'm quite pleased with your Resume, and I look forward to you attending a scheduled Interview. 


An excited scream erupted from River's lips, but both his hands swiftly covered his mouth to stop himself. River looked around, to see if James was nearby--unable to contain his excitement. He soon squeaked almost inaudibly, continuing the email. 


I have taken the liberty of setting up an interview on the nearest date possible. I hope that you will be able to attend on such short notice. I am aware that you have been recommended, by a well known Professor at Lockwood University here in New York. 

However, I wasn't able to review your Application until earlier today, but it is to my understanding that it had been sent to us a week ago. 

My apologies for the wait, and I sincerely do hope that the chosen date of the Interview is convenient to your daily schedule. 

See below. 

January 21, 2016. 3:00pm. 

Looking forward to meeting you, Mr. Kennedi!

〰

River's eyes widened as he read the date out loud. He was finally rudely interrupted by James--bounding into the Room. A bottle of Jergens Lotion, clutched in his hands--almost defensively. 

"Umm," River grunted and James's frightened expression, changed to one of relief. 

"Thank heavens! I thought someone attacked you!" James said, clutching his chest with genuine concern written in his eyes. 

River however, glanced from James, to the bottle of Lotion in his hands. "So you came to my rescue with a bottle of Lotion." It was more of a statement than a question, and James frowned at the revelation. 

"Uhh, yes?" 

"What were you going to do?" River asked and James's left eyebrow rose in limpid puzzlement. "Moisturize them to death?" River queried, and James's gaze flattened. 

"Has this bloody thing ever been in your eyes?" James asked, walking into the Room. 

"No, it hasn't." River said, sounding a little bit concerned. 

"Oh, well." James dropped the bottle of Lotion on River's bed as he plopped down lazily. "The least you could do is say, 'thank you James, for coming to save me. What a true knight in shining armor you are." James recited, almost too dramatically and River groaned in angst. 

"Thank you James, for coming to my rescue with a bottle of Lotion, obviously almost empty due to your rigorous amounts of masturbation." River mused and James cocked an eyebrow in his direction. "Your beds are squeaky too." River smirked at James's horrified look. "But as you can see, I'm fine. Just excited." 

"That's what that girly scream was?" James asked, befuddled and River face-palmed himself roughly. 

"No, you moron, well, kind of!" River seemed confused, and James seemed even more baffled. "I'm excited because I got the Internship." River deadpanned finally and James scowled. 

"The Black & Co.?" He asked and River glared at him incredulously. 

"No, for Men.com." River muttered, "Yes! For Black & Co., twit!" River snapped and James glared at him, but it soon turned into a broad smile. 

"Now way!" James exclaimed excitedly and River grinned proudly. 

"Yes, way!" 

"I knew you would get it, babe!" James said confidently and River blushed, a big grin on his lips that hurt from smiling a bit too much. 

"The interview's tomorrow!" River said, rising from his seat and sitting down beside James. 

"Uhh, tomorrow, tomorrow?"James's smile faded, worrying River immensely. 

"Yes tomorrow," River answered, his smile fading a little as he saw the look on James's face. "Aren't you excited?" River asked with a pout and James sighed heavily. 

"I am, I am but-," he paused and River frowned marginally. "You have to go see your Mum tomorrow. You know that visits to that God- forsaken place is complicated enough as it is." 

River scowled as he pondered the outcome of not going to see his Mother. 

He considered not going, but the Hospital only allowed visits twice per week in that Ward. So River had a decision to make, and it was enough to down his spirits. 

"Ugh, you're right." River said, falling back on the Bed. 

James followed suit, and they both gazed up at the ceiling. River was lost in thought, and James opted to remain quiet. To give River time to think about his options, and come up with a solution to his problem.

"Do you think she'll wake up?" River asked and James shrugged. "What if she does and I'm not there?" He queried, but James didn't have the answers he sought after. 

"I don't know, babe." James sighed, his worry for his Best Friend, obvious and genuine. "This Internship is a once in a lifetime opportunity. If your Mother does wake up from her Coma, I'm sure she'll understand why you weren't there." James advised and River gritted his teeth, considering James' words deeply. 

"The Interview is at 3:00, and visiting hours starts at 2:30pm." River acknowledged, and James nodded. 

"Go see your Mother, if even for ten minutes then go to your interview. Your Mother lived her life, despite how terribly it turned out. Don't let anything stop you from living yours," James said as he rose from the Bed, nudging River's cheeks in the process. 

"Ok," River pursed his lips, rising up to a sitting position. 

"I'm going to make us some Pasta, and you can tell me all about this new internship." James grinned and River blushed lightly, smiling up at James. 

"Ok," River nodded and James rose an eyebrow at him. "Babe," River let out exasperated, and James pointed a finger at him--clearly pleased. 

River watched in angst as James exited the room--his feet pattering against the floor lightly. He then turned to his Laptop--a slight grimace masking his features. 


〰


Soundtrack - Remember I Told You by Nick Jonas ft. Anne Marie and Mike Posner

Highest Rank | #1 in the LOVEWINS category | Book FOUR of the Color Of Love Series. 

In the pursuit of happiness, River Kennedi inherits a new life through sheer luck, or quite possibly his own potential. His secrets, his vulnerabilities, and the very best of him, is brought out when Sebastian Black walks into his life. Bringing with him, just enough baggage and just enough of the real and genuine him to make his own place in River's heart. 

| CAUTION | - This story contains sexual relations between two MEN. If you aren't a fan of LGBT Stories, then Color Me Black ISN'T for you. 

This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the Publisher, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

Copyrighted Material. (Proof of Copyright- https://static.copyrighted.com/images/seal.gif )

Although I know the basics in computers, how to log in and read/send emails, I don't know much. I'm 100% connected all the time, my job makes it hard to not be around them always. I have two cellphones, a laptop, a desktop home computer, desktop at work, and two tablets. I save all my passwords in a little black book, how am I to remember all my log ins? 
Friday night after work I went out to drink with friends, left everything but my phone in the car. Keys as well but I can unlock it from my phone. I don't like to drink but I usually just have one glass of a mixed drink. We where having a great time, just one problem. A group of middle aged business men started harassing our group. We where all ladies except Josh, but he's also a lady, and they couldn't help but intervene in all our conversations. The subject matter in our conversations didn't matter, they just gave us their two cents. It almost got physical when they started attacking Josh, I won't get into detail but amidst the fighting, I lost my cellphone. I lost my lifeline. 
It's been three weeks now and I got a new phone, a cute pink cover too. I didn't notice much but I kept getting weird spam. I always get spam but this was for a certain adult website with a certain gentlemen. It didn't bother at first but then it stated popping up to my work email. Slowly everyday, my inbox was just 100 unread pure spam emails. I didn't open any of them since I didn't want any virus but one email caught my attention. The subject was my full name, home address, and personal cell number. In the email it had a picture of me and my boo at the park yesterday during one of our walks. One of the weird thing is that our faces where cropped out and it had pig heads.  The next day I get messages on my phone that my car was turned on. I look out the window and my car is there. I get more emails and then my computer at work started acting weird. IT came and found absolutely nothing wrong with it. I went home and my home computer started doing the same thing. 
I'm about to go crazy when I see a flyer about fixing computers. I call up the company and they can go to your house to fix it. Sweet I thought, I don't need to lug all of this around. They came within 30 minutes and was already working on it. They found a virus and fixed it all up and I was excited. The next day I found an unread email, again with my name, address, and phone number. In the email it had another picture, it was the computer guy working on my computer and me watching over. My head was a pig but his was normal. The email also had a date but it didn't make sense, it was today's date. This picture was taken yesterday? I looked over to my phone, it was the same picture. I looked at my laptop and it's also the same picture. All my devices had the same picture. I show my boo and he jumps on the computer. They computer dudes didn't fix my computer but made it worse. We're trying to find the flyer, can't find it. We look though our call history, no number last called. We try to look for the business but no such business pops up. 
Was already freaking out when my car engine starts. We ran to the window but my car was gone. We didn't hear it pull out, it's like it was never there. My emails start blowing up, incoming mail over and over again. I get notifications on all my devices. I can't even click on one fast enough to read it. At the same time, someone's deleting them. My computer starts downloading a program while we try to cancel it  but nothings happening. We disconnect the internet but it's still downloading. 
"It's connected to a different router," my boo whispered as he tried to disconnect. It kept asking for passwords but there was none. I hear a Knick at the door and was about to run down when my boo stopped me. He went to the door and it was fedex, we got a weird package in a black wrapping.  No idea who it was from but my computer started flashing the words, open it. We open it cautiously and it was the flyer with a bunch of pictures. It was all of me on the train, in my car, at home, at work, and it all had the word "it" scratched  all over them. We where about to call the cops when the computer plays a love feed video. It was Metallica dude from my train dream. No wonder I thought the computer guy looked familiar. He was just sitting there, smiling, just looking at us. We would move slightly and his eyes would follow us. After 2 minutes of this creepy footage he finally says something. 
"I've been watching you sleep," he says with a gigantic smile, "so peaceful. I tried to get your attention but you wouldn't turn around. I wanted you to meet my friends..."
As soon as he says friends, we hear my car engine start again and the doors closing. They had the decency to lock my car but  when we looked out the window, my car wasn't there. Just two tall dudes standing in front of our door. They didn't move or doorbell, they just stood there looking up at us. 
"Fuck this," my boo yelled as he called the cops. I stood there looking over at the two hooded dudes but as soon as I looked over to my boo, they where gone. The cops came but they couldn't find any foot prints at the door any sign that people where there. Nothing happened for a while just random emails. It's been hot recently so I take naps on the weekend roughly around the same-time each weekend. I was almost in deep sleep when I hear a scratch sound at my bedroom screen. I'm paralyzed again, I couldn't move. I see a shadow in the mirror reflection, it has that same odd smile as Metallica dude. It want him though, this guy was bulky and he smelled. He smelled like soot. I hear the other screen being slashed. I started hyperventilating, it was inside. I tried moving my head, my toes, my pinky, anything, nothing. I feel the pulling of the bedsheet. Sharp claws trace my toes. I can feel it going from the pinky toe to my big toe. Cold clammy hairy hands grab my ankle.  I sit up and scream only for two other hands pull my arm down. "Hello," it whispered in my ear, "did you get my email?"

Small stores to tell in the dark. Dreams I’ve had and would like to share.

With Lou Cheng's insane hearing ability, it didn't take him any extra effort to hear He Zi and Yan Xiaoling's conversation clearly. He almost let out a laugh. 
Some people are walking jokers, and some are walking jokes… 
He nodded, his face not giving anything away. "I'll review the email and think of a proper reply."
"Thanks, Senior," smiled He Zi. 
When he got back to his room, Lou Cheng put the email matter aside and sent a text to Yan Zheke. 
"What did you make of your brother's words?" 
Her reply came quickly, with a "chin resting on hands" emoji. 
"Um… He's probably found a new goal. Back then, he used to train in martial arts like crazy. He was intent on realizing Uncle's unfulfilled dream of leading Songcheng Uni Martial Arts Club to the championship. For that, he was willing to go to any length."
"After achieving that goal, he might have lacked motivation. At least, that's what I think… After all, no one throws themselves into practicing martial arts for the sole purpose of getting stronger. Even if such people existed, they would need some sort of…stimulus."
She sent a block of text, so it was only wise for Lou Cheng to agree. 
"You're right. The Dragon King's objective is pure, but he too needed a stimulus. That was for the Warrior Sage to reach his current level."
"My cousin has probably found a new life purpose in the war-torn zones. Or at least that's what I think. [nods slowly]" said Yan Zheke. 
"That's good news," said Lou Cheng, heaving a sigh of relief as his mind went to the past. "If your cousin uses this opportunity to make the great leap, then he won't be in too much danger, even in the war-torn zones."
"…As someone known as the God of Disaster and Calamity, you aren't really qualified to say that. [blank stare]" said Yan Zheke. 
To this, Lou Cheng could only sigh. 
... 
At 11am the next day, the rides arranged by the committee punctually arrived at the hotel entrance. Lou Cheng had the privilege of having an entire car to himself, which may or may not have been intentional. 
The party was to be held at the historic Twilight Hotel and included a buffet. The moment he stepped into the hall, Lou Cheng saw the president of University Martial Arts Union, the elderly Mr. Fang Jinyu. He also saw the principal of Songcheng University, his master's friend Mr. Dong, a man whose full name remained unknown to him. Apart from them were the mayor and a few other important figures.
"Haha! Here comes the model student of your university," said the mayor to Principal Dong, pointing at Lou Cheng. 
Lou Cheng and his lot went forward and greeted them in unison. "Good morning Principal Dong."
After that, they greeted Mr. Fang and the others. No matter what, politeness was essential. 
After exchanging platitudes, Principal Dong looked at Lou Cheng and laughed. 
"Your master often told me he was going to educate you by giving you setbacks and putting you through hell. Seems to me like his plans never succeeded."
What the…to think my master had such sinister intents, thought Lou Cheng, surprised and amused. 
However, he didn't let these emotions override his smile. 
"That's not entirely true, Principal Dong. My crucial turning point did stem from a setback," said Lou Cheng, defending his Master's image. 
Principal Dong nodded, smiling. 
"Jianguo has gotten himself a good disciple."
Somewhere in Moshang City, Geezer Shi was enjoying his wine as he listened to a play. 
Suddenly, he heard a line that went:
"The worst in life…to keep bad company, to have an unfilial disciple…"
Tsk, Geezer Shi clicked his tongue. 
Couldn't have put it better myself, he thought. 
Lou Cheng chatted idly with Principal Dong and the other seniors on the subject of his master. Without realizing, they had formed a circle, occasionally taking drinks and snacks proffered by passing waiters. 
"I'm going to go get something to eat," said Lou Cheng, hearing the soft growl of his tummy. Smiling, he retreated from the circle. 
He then realized that his friends were all occupied. Some stuffed their faces, some chatted with their acquaintances who were association managers, coaches, and teachers from other universities, and some chit-chatted with other guests and contestants. Everyone had their own circle. 
Everyone but Lin Que. Plate in hand, he stood at the edge of the balcony, the door shut behind him. In this boisterous place, he had segregated a spot of quiet serenity. 
"As expected from a man who stays true to himself, regardless of his environment," laughed Lou Cheng. He carelessly added food to his plate, planning to join his cousin-in-law for a chat about the war-torn zones on the balcony after he filled his plate. 
Just as he was going to add more, he saw a familiar silhouette. It was Shu Rui, the reporter, dressed in a nightgown that offered a view of her milky shoulders. 
"What a coincidence," said Lou Cheng casually. 
"I wouldn't call it a coincidence, since I rushed here all the way from Huahai. In fact, I had Xiaoling forward an email to you beforehand." 
"You aren't based in Songcheng anymore?" said Lou Cheng, surprised. 
From what she said, that seemed to be the case. 
Shu Rui wrinkled her nose. 
"Yeah. I ended up going there on a whim. Huahai TV is nationally acclaimed, after all!" 
Their acquaintanceship wasn't at the level of a heart-to-heart talk, so Lou Cheng didn't probe further. 
"I read your proposal for the new show. It's pretty interesting. But are you sure I'm the right person for this?" he said. 
The show Shu Rui had proposed was "A Day with a Physical Invulnerability Expert," which wasn't going to be limited to fights and interviews, but would also explore the daily lives of Mighty Ones. 
To most people, this was an interesting and curiosity-piquing subject. Just like how farmers in olden times wondered about the life of an Emperor, snack-munching audiences would be able to embellish their Physical Invulnerability daydreams with the details from this show. 
"Why would you say that? I think you're great! You had the air of a general even during our first interview!" said Shu Rui uncomprehendingly, furrowing her brows slightly. 
"Um. What I mean is, my daily life is rather boring," said Lou Cheng. It was an honest, if self-deprecating, answer. 
"Nah, trust me. Nowadays, people's lives are so hollow they would watch others eat and sleep. Imagine how they'll respond to the life of a Physical Invulnerability Expert! No matter how boring, people will still watch it," said Shu Rui confidently, shaking her hand. 
Then, with a sincere expression, she said, 
"For the first season, I'm planning on inviting ten Physical Invulnerability Experts. Even though our TV station has some resources, I'm afraid that the other Mighty Ones might not find me trustworthy and will turn down the offer. If you could start the ball rolling, then they'll think, 'Oh, so Lou Cheng's in on this too'. Then they won't be so against the idea anymore." 
Lou Cheng pondered for a moment.
"Fine. But don't say I didn't warn you. You can contact the Longhu External Affairs Team and ask for my assistant." 
"Okay!" nodded Shu Rui excitedly. She then gave a mesmerizing smile. "Mhm…'Ask for my assistant', huh? Aren't you the big fish now?" 
Lou Cheng let out a chuckle. Pointing to the balcony, he said, 
"I have something to attend to, do excuse me." 
Looking in the direction he pointed in, Shu Rui smiled faintly. 
"Sure." 
When Lou Cheng had turned around, she peered at the balcony on her tip-toes. 
"So, the Conversation Killer's here too?" she mused to herself. 
... 
7pm. Opening Ceremony, Inter-University Martial Arts Nationals. 
When President Fang and Principal Dong had given their speeches, the host drew a breath and raised her voice.
"And now, let us put our hands together for a group of heavyweight VIPs." 
"I present to you…" 
Her words were drowned out by the thunderous volume of the audience. 
"Lou Cheng!" 
Following which, people chanted,
"Lin Que!" 
The audience shouted their names one after the other, exactly how the host had introduced the roster. 
"Songcheng Uni! Songcheng Uni!" they shouted at last. "Champions! Champions!" 
Backstage, Lou Cheng and the others were overcome with emotion, as though they had returned to the days when their blood boiled with passion. Even their bodies were shaking slightly. 
"Looks like they haven't forgotten about us…" said Xiao Ming, pretending to be unaffected. 
"Happy? Touched?" asked Lou Cheng, amused. 
Cai Zongming was silent for a few seconds. Forfeiting his calm facade, he took a deep breath. 
"Very." 
When he said that, the others' eyes reddened. Softly, they chanted along.
"Songcheng Uni! Songcheng Uni!" 
"Champions! Champions!" 
... 
Keeping his emotions contained, Lou Cheng glanced at his cousin-in-law, who had already turned his face away. 
They marched out in a file, welcomed by even louder cheers when they were on the stage. 
When the audience calmed down, the host smiled brightly. 
"They are the legends of the Inter-University Martial Arts Nationals, the team which took only two years to go from rock-bottom to renowned champions!" 
"And now, the legacy continues among them, with one of them now a Physical Invulnerability Expert, and perhaps more to come in the future!" 
"They were the champions three years ago. They are the pride of Songcheng University, and the pride of Songcheng! I hereby present to you, the full roster of Songcheng University Martial Arts Club!" 
In the residual chants of "Champions! Champions!" the host walked to Lou Cheng and smiled. 
"I'm going to interview everyone, one at a time." 
"Lou Cheng, you are one of the most successful ones to grace the Inter-University Martial Arts scene, the idol and role model of many. Is there anything you would like to say to your lovely juniors?" 
Taking the microphone, Lou Cheng reminisced for a moment. 
"On the path of martial arts, luck is as important as hard work." 
"First off, I'm not trying to pour cold water on all of you. What I'm about to tell you are just facts of the martial arts industry." 
"On the path of martial arts, without good guidance, consistent hard work, and a decent set of techniques, only one or two out of ten have a chance at getting to professional ninth-pin. Even then, many don't make it in the end. With an amateur pin certificate, they might have better chances of getting jobs and having stable lives, but there isn't much more to it." 
"Professional ninth-pin is the point where you will truly feel like a martial artist, the stage where you can show off your charm before your crushes. Your income will reach middle-class level. However, there is limited room for growth, unless you make it to Dan Stage."
"From professional ninth-pin to Dan Stage, even if you inherit good techniques, only one or two out of ten will make it. Beyond that, Inhuman is another bottleneck, and the number of people who eventually make the great leap is merely a handful." 
"And that's about it. If you really want to walk down this path, then it's best for you to know that you will likely end up as a low amateur pin. If your education fails to reach a certain standard, your future will be limited to a small city. It's a lot less rosy than what you might expect." 
"Alright, I've said enough, so here's one last thing. If you make a decision solely based on passion, I call it imprudence, not courage. A true warrior, a true martial artist, is a person who follows their dreams unwaveringly after thinking through the risks and difficulties." 
"That's what I wanted to tell you." 


Here martial arts are no longer intangible legends. They have been passed on from generation to generation and from century to century. After the confrontation with science and technology, they have completely integrated into modern society and all kinds of martial arts competitions are taking place across the country as superiority among scholars are hard to reach a consensus but not as difficult among martial artists!
Lou Cheng has inherited the lost skills of the greatest martial arts sect. Towards his original dream and the glory in his heart, he advances step by step, becoming the warrior of this modern city and the hero of the era!

From: Charlotte Withers
To: Ember Cunningham
Subject: Dylan Wu
Date: November 11 2016 15:52
Ember,
I have forward you the email about the meeting with Dylan Wu. I don't know your work ethic, but I am pretty sure you worked hard for this. Don't mention it to Jasper.
Charlotte x
******************************************
         
From: Ember Cunningham
To: Charlotte Withers
Subject:RE: Dylan Wu
Date: November 11 2016 16:06
Withers,
What's the catch? Did you send me the wrong information?
Ember
PR Assistant, Paperlove
******************************************
         
From: Charlotte Withers
To: Ember Cunningham
Subject: RE: Dylan Wu
Date: November 11 2016 16:12
Ember,
No catch. All the right information. I just don't want to do it. I have a lot on my plate that I won't be able to do it. Besides, I don't know the first thing about doing an interview.
Charlotte x
******************************************
         
From: Ember Cunningham
To: Charlotte Withers
Subject:RE: Dylan Wu
Date: November 11 2016 16:21
Withers,
You're right. You have no idea what to do...great call with this one. I guess I can cut you some slack—FOR NOW.
Ember
PR Assistant, Paperlove
******************************************
One problem down, many more to go. I figure if Ember comes with me to do the interview she would be a little less bitchy. I'll just have to wait until Monday to find out. A young lady with brunette curly hair walks over to my cubicle. She looks friendly, but then again she might be friends with Ember and here to make my life a living hell as well. She is carrying a red trench coat in one hand and a very expensive Gucci bag in the next. Hopefully, she isn't another Malibu Barbie.
"Hello." She leans against the cubicle frame. "I'm Skyla Savage." She extends her hand.
"Charlotte Withers." I give her a firm handshake.
"I know. I was wondering if you would like to go grab a bite and possibly drinks."
I look at her strangely.
"Oh no, I'm not into women. I'm the new payroll manager."
"No...no...I wasn't thin—sorry." I finally say hiding my face from embarrassment.
"It's quite alright." She says.
"How do you know me exactly?" I look at her and she doesn't seem to be thrown off by my death glare. Well, I hope that's how I look.
"The gossip mill on my floor is insane. I had to meet the new girl who has caused quite the ruckus in the building. Also, I hear you are cousins with the new guy, Everett. He starts work with me on Monday. I would like to know what I'm getting into when it comes to him." So Everett isn't working with Chase's father anymore? Hmm, why didn't he tell me?
"Did you want to meet me out of curiosity or you just want to know about Everett?" I raise an eyebrow at her. I've seen things like this happen before. Not with me, but other girls. I didn't want her to try and befriend me just to get close to Everett.
"Ok...you caught me. I really want to know about Everett. But I would still like to get to know you as well."
"At least you're honest about it." I give her a small smile. "Where would you like to grab a bite?" I need not judge her so quickly.
"Seriously?" she is surprised.
"Yes."
"Okay, I was thinking we can stop at this restaurant not too far from here. The food is amazing." She slips on her coat.
I take that as my cue to wrap things up for the day. Signing out my computer I gather my things. I honestly don't know if going out to eat with her will be a good or bad thing. I have my pepper spray just in case.
"I have to make a quick phone call and then I will meet you at the elevators."
She nods her head and walks off. I wait until she is no longer near to hear my phone call and dial the number. Things I've learned with dealing with seven possessive and overprotected guys was that just be honest and at least let one of them know your whereabouts.
****
Skyla and I are sitting in this nice French restaurant called Balthazar. It was a decent amount of patrons around this time of day. I look around taking it all in. I wondered if she is French. I take time looking over the menu not sure what to get and I ask Skyla, but she says when she comes here she gets the same thing and wants to try something different—no help there. The prices are too high here and now that I'm trying to manage life without calling my parents for help...
"Do you want to go back to my apartment?" I ask.
She chokes and her cheeks are a bright red. She takes a sip of her water and smiles at me. "Are you hitting on me? Shouldn't we eat and get to know each other first?" she teases.
I bury my face in my hands. "Oh, my God." I groan. I don't know what's worst Skyla teasing me about it or the group of men who overheard and is now glancing over at our table. I regain my composure. "I can make a good meal for us and we can actually talk about things without having to censor ourselves," I say the last part looking over at the group of men.
"It's the prices right?" she asks placing her menu down.
"Yeah," I bite down on my bottom lip. I haven't thought too much of it, but does Everett come from money? Something I should have thought about before. I don't care if he does or doesn't but for the lie sake, I should know things about him and his family. I will have to catch up with him this weekend about it. "I have a refrigerator stocked with food and I'm pretty sure Hulu has a show we can binge watch."
"Convincing," she pauses and looks around and then back to me. "Let's go."
We head back to my apartment and she is eerily quiet once we arrived at my floor. I dig in my purse for my pepper spray and keys. I will if I have too. I don't fully think about what I put myself into until it's too late. So, yeah now I'm worried about if I made the right decision bringing her back here. I turn around apologizing about how junky my purse is and I can never find anything in it. She looks up from her phone and tells me it's okay.
"Is everything okay?" I ask, hand still on the pepper spray in my purse.
"I...maybe it's nothing." She shakes her head.
"It must be something; you don't look too happy right now."
"Are you sleeping with Jasper?" she whispers.
"No," I look at her as if she has three heads. "Why would you—"
"It's just that you are staying here at his apartment."
I sigh loudly and deeply. "No, I was supposed to stay at a hotel, but next thing you know I was driven here. I didn't know it was his place until Chas—my cousin, Everett told me. Wait...how do you this is his place?" I release my hand off the pepper spray and take my key out, unlocking the door.
"I had my final interview here." She says with so much shame. I don't need her to elaborate any further. I can read between the lines
"Good thing you got the job or that would be pretty messed it—not on you on him—I mean it's not your fault—you know what let's just change the topic. Make yourself at home you should know where everything is or should I give you a tour to make it as if you never been here before. Did I just..."
"It's okay Charlotte." She smiles. "You are one very weird girl. I like that. You're different and not like the other women I have encountered in New York. Don't worry about me, I'm fine. Let's not bring this up again. Okay?"
"Whew, I can agree to that. So how about I just give you the tour anyway. You probably didn't see much of the penthouse your first time...right?" What am I saying right now. Jeez Charlotte stop with the word vomit already.
"It's okay, how about I just help you make something to eat?" she takes her coat off, placing it on the back of the couch and I do the same. I don't know why I always make things so awkward. I don't know if it's the only child syndrome thing I got going on. I don't try to say anything at all. I just nod my head and we walk into the kitchen.
I let Skyla lead the conversation while we cook. I rather not put my foot in my mouth again. I can tell Skyla was grateful for that too. However, throughout cooking I can tell she isn't used to being in the kitchen, we're making a simple pasta and she is even worse than Raven—when she started out cooking. I tried not to rip her head off, so I politely told her to go find something for us to watch. So now we are sitting in the living area eating pasta and sipping on some cranberry juice that I found in the fridge. I was just as surprised as Skyla was when we found out there was no wine.
"So," she places her clean plate on the coffee table. "That was very delicious. You should be a chef not working as an assistant for a magazine."
"Uh—never thought about it." I lie.
"Well, you should or even ask to work with Naomi, she is overseer of the restaurants that the company has invested in. I bet she can help you out a ton. She has a ton of connections."
"Yeah, I don't think cooking is for me, but I will keep that in mind." Another lie. "So, what would you like to know about Everett?" I don't like to tell lies, I actually think it's the worst thing to do. If I have learned anything of the last couple of months is that lying and keeping things from people is not the way to go.
"How is he as a worker?" she makes herself comfortable on the couch and I do the same. "A slacker or a go-getter?"
"I would assume he is a go-getter. I haven't really worked with him before."
"So how do you know him?"
"We're cousins."
"Oh—"
"Are you sure you are from payroll? If you were you should know—seeing you have our files no?" I calculate the distance from where I'm sitting from my purse.
"Yes, I'm payroll—I like to give employees their privacy. I only have been with the company for two weeks. Besides, if I was to go snooping there isn't a file with Everett's name on it or yours. I looked."
"You know I want to like you, but I have been burned and set up so many times—I just can't seem to trust you fully and I really want to." I have to be honest with her, well to a certain extent. I just don't want to screw this up and let something slip to someone whose intentions aren't good towards me and the guys.
"I can understand. What would you like to know?"

Charlotte Withers is a senior in college. When the dorm rooms are filled to capacity, Charlotte has to stay one semester at a frat house, where she meets the Seven Frat Brothers. She doesn't mind, nearly as much since this is her last year and then she is off to her dream job in LA. 
Follow Charlotte through a journey of discovering herself. 
Witness hilarious instant messenger convos and so much more.

"I have been his fan for quite a while. One day when he had concert here, accidentally we collided. Hmm.. at the airport. Then he recognized me through my emails. Yes, I was regularly emailing him. Then he replied my email. Then.. hmm.. one thing led to another we fell in love to each other. He wanted our relationship to be kept private. I guess.. he was protecting me. He did.. that prank thing with Miss Saeki. He didn't tell me, so I was shocked and fell ill. That was why he visited here last time. No, I never asked him to announce our relationship.  I guess it's his way to say sorry. I never want to interfere with his job neither, so I would never ask him quit from his company. He told me a day after he decided to quit. I didn't quite understand about his reason, neither. So, all I can do is supporting him. To all Takeshi-Tomo.. please, support him always," Xiao Ping closes her interview with clapping hands in front of her chest while asking Takeshi's fans to support her boyfriend. After shaking hands and says goodbye with the presenters, she walks out slowly. Her mind is full, repeatedly replays what she was saying in front of the camera. She was trying to be as sincere as possible yet also keep cautious not to let too much details. Still, she is afraid she said something wrong.

-----------

"Did I do something wrong ?" Xiao Ping asks Takeshi after telling him about the interview. "No. No, Babe. You did excellent," Takeshi replies then gives her a smile emoji. Xiao Ping replies with the same emoji.

"So how are you ? I mean.. did something bad happen to you ?" Takeshi asks after being silent for a while, carefully choose his words. "No. Nothing," Xiao Ping shortly answers. Nothing really bad has happened. It was merely sharp hateful stares from some of her friends. She decides that her suddenly soggy skirt after gymnastic class was only an accident, so was her bicycle's flat tires. 
"Yokatta  (thank God)," Takeshi types in relief.

"So when will your new website be launched ?" Xiao Ping asks, intentionally changes the subject. "Oh.. it still needs more time to prepare, as both Hiroshi and I quite busy lately," Takeshi replies. "You better asks someone to build it soon. The website is important to keep you in touch with your friends," Xiao Ping suggests. "Right.." that's the only response from Takeshi.

The truth is, his website is already launched, thanks to Azuka. He was the one who set all up, including putting its link to Takeshi's old website so all of his friends know about his new site. Since no one to do the administration, it is Takeshi himself who maintains it. He announces his current news on the announcement board regularly, also happily replies most of his friends' message. 

But he was so sad to find out some of his friends were mocking Xiao Ping, saying she is not worth to be his girlfriend. Some questioning why he needed to go far away to Taiwan for a girlfriend while there were many Japanese girls ready to be his girlfriend. The words were harsh and blunt. It is why Takeshi doesn't want Xiao Ping to read them.

--------------------

"Ugh.. those rascals !!" Xiao Ping hears her mother shouts in anger. In curiosity, Xiao Ping walks to the front door and opens it. She is surprised to see what's going on in her terrace. The front windows are covered with eggs, the floor is dirty with soil and ... that smell.. poop ?!?! She sees her mother with a fuming face is cleaning the terrace.

"Mom, what is it ?" Xiao ping asks. Her mother turns to her and gives her a forced smile. "Oh.. it's nothing. Just a bunch of rascal kids," Mrs. Yuan answers then continues to clean. Xiao Ping grabs the broom and starts sweeping the floor. "Aiyo.. don't do it, Xiao Ping. Your clothes will be dirty and smelly. Just finish your breakfast and go to school," her mother forbids her while taking the broom from her hand. "Go.. go," her mother insists her, waving her hand to tell her to enter the house.

Xiao Ping finally leaves her mother, walks inside the house. "It has been like that since you were interviewed by television, sis," Xiao Lan tells her while eating his porridge. Xiao Ping's eyes open wide. "Are you serious ?" she asks. Mr. Yuan pats Xiao Lan's head. "You talked non sense, Xiao Lan," he warns his son. "It's true," Xiao Lan pouts. "I'm sure it's just a coincidence," Mr. Yuan persists his argument. Xiao Lan shrugs. "Anyway, my friends sending you a Hi, sis. They want to meet you sometimes," Xiao Lan says to his sister again. "Why do they want to meet me ?" Xiao Lan widens his eyes. "You are the girl friend of their idol. You are famous!!" Xiao Lan answers, exaggerating the word 'famous' in a cute way. Xiao Ping giggles to see his act. "I am no body. But I will be more than glad to meet them," Xiao Ping says with a wide smile. "Okay.. Let's leave now so you can stay for a while at my school and meet them," Xiao Lan asks her excitedly. Xiao Ping nods in excited, too.

At Xiao Lan's school, Xiao Ping waits in front of the gate while Xiao Lan leaves her to call his friends. Soon he comes with eight little girls, excitedly half-run toward the gate. Those little girls are so excited to meet Xiao Ping. They shake her hands  with a wide smile and sparkling eyes. They ask her how it is like to be Takeshi's girlfriend, and they shyly ask her to send their regard to Takeshi, which Xiao Ping definitely willing to. After spending time with the girls for a while, Xiao Ping finally has to say good bye to them. She then continues her journey to her own school. 

Unfortunately, unlike the warmth and happy greet she received at Xiao Lan's school, once she touches the front gate something smashes her head. It is not a solid thing, instead it is a water-filled balloon. But since it was thrown from above with some power, the smash was quite hard, making Xiao Ping fell from her bike. Not only that. Once it hit her head, the balloon pops up and the water inside spills all over Xiao Ping's head.

It is 2000, where social media hasn't born yet, we go for internet by dial-up modem or internet cafe, and Korean hasn't ruled the entertainment world. It is where a simple Taiwanese day dreamer girl, Xiao Ping, falls completely in love with a Japanese super star, Hasegawa Takeshi. Thus she decides to chase her love. One event after another, coincident by coincident happens during her effort. Eventually, will she ever wake up from her dream or keep on chasing her dream lover until it comes true ?

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