As Brad walked on, he dreaded the interrogation he would face with Rose. But to his surprise and relief, the lady just walked past him, her head hung down as she tapped on her phone.Rose was just rushing to go make a phone call. "Hey," she said into the phone after the call was picked up.His phone vibrated in his hands. When he looked at it, it was another text from Claire again. The text read, "Where are you?!!!"Claire had anxiously called Brad an hour ago when he still wasn't at the party yet that he was late and since then she had been religiously following up with texts; long and short ones.When Brad steps inside the room, the party seems to already be in full swing. There were people everywhere. His eyes searched the room, in search of the person that had brought him there but instead of spotting her amongst the crowd, his eyes only clashed with the few ones that had made it their job to stare at him.Just then his phone rang out. It was Claire. He immediately answered the ca
"Hey Claire," Claire's manager rose to his feet and pulled Claire into a hug. His eyes raked over her, "You look stunning."Claire blushed. "Thank you." Then her eyes took in his expensive suit, usual cologne, and equally expensive shoes and she almost rolled her eyes. It used to mean a lot to her before but now, she knew that his outfit altogether was not worth the door to Brad's apartment. But she smiled anyway, "You don't look bad yourself, Gary."Gary spread his arms, his ego getting bloated. He had intentionally worn one of his most expensive tuxedos. Then he tapped her lightly on her bare arm, "Happy birthday once again." He picked up his wineglass from the table and raised it. "Cheers to an equally stunning year." Claire chuckled delightedly, "Thank you, Gary." She clasped her hands together, "And thank you for coming. I really appreciate it.""Come on. It's my pleasure." Gary's gaze suddenly slid to the man beside Claire. He nodded slightly toward his direction wondering who
Brad was a few feet away from his car when he pressed the soft button on his car's remote to unlock the car.He tucked the key in his pocket and opened the back door where he had stacked the gifts. He reached for the ridiculously expensive necklace first and tucked it in his pocket. Then he reached for the two bouquets she had insisted on - each had cost six hundred dollars. Brad remembered asking the sales boy who had attended to them that day if the flowers had other use than being a fancy package to make girls blush ridiculously but Claire had nudged him.He steadied the big bouquets in his hand then lastly reached for the shoebox and teddy bear. Surprisingly, they didn't cost that much.Balancing everything in his arms, he kicked the door close and managed to lock the car. As he made his way back to the venue of the party, the shoebox fell and he cussed under his breath as he squatted down to pick it up.As he started to rise, the sound of footsteps reached his ears before his ga
Immediately after he said that the man closest to him rushed at Brad, his broken pipe with the pointy edge was raised in the air, ready to strike Brad but his breath was knocked out as Brad sent a punch in his guts. The pipe fell from his hand and he let out a loud painful groan as he was thrown back.The others shook their heads at him. He was the second in command to their leader and they wondered how he had let Brad defeat him that easily. With a shout, they rushed toward him one after the other but Brad expertly sent a punch up their ass or in their face that kept sending them reeling back. The men who hadn't attacked yet and the ones who had managed to get back on their feet saw that Brad might turn out to be more of a challenge than they had thought so they decided to all go at him at once.Brad's muscles bulged. He saw that only his punches would not keep them away again so he picked up the broken pipe and baseball bat that had fallen. Brad's head turned from side to side as
Claire turned her head from side to side. She had first been worrying that it was taking Brad so long to get back then she noticed that her parents were nowhere to be found amongst the guests in the room."Are you okay?" Gary followed her gaze but didn't see anything peculiar.Claire turned to Gary. She managed a smile. "I will be right back."Gary's gaze followed her for a while as she walked toward a set of tables and chairs huddled together then he shrugged and turned away.Claire's brows were creased as she walked around the room for a few seconds. "Where had they gone?" She wondered where her parents were because it was rare that on an occasion like this, they would leave without informing her, particularly since it was her birthday.She decided to check outside.On getting outside, her gaze immediately falls on her parents’ back. They were on the balcony that extended from the entranceway. She saw that Rose was also with them. She hadn't even noticed that Rose was not in the roo
Claire's eyes gleamed as she pulled away from Brad. She was filled with sheer joy as she picked the earrings from the box. "I'll put it on," she said, already putting on the earrings. "How do I look?" She held her hair to the back so that Brad would be able to see the jewelry on her. Brad took in her grin and the glow on her face. He hadn't expected that the gift would make her this happy. He had just gotten it as an afterthought. "Brad?" He shifted his gaze to her ear when he heard his name. The earring was fine and it looked okay on her, he guessed. Well, he didn't know and he didn't care. He shrugged, "I guess it's okay. It looks fine on you." Brad saw Claire's cheeks turn pink even though her smile dimmed a little. "Thank you," she muttered. She had been expecting a more grand compliment but she guessed he was still coming around with the idea that he liked her. Claire glimpsed her parents still watching them from the entranceway. She could see their expressions but she co
Gary stood upright, removed the cigarette from between his lips, and squashed it with his shoe as he smoothed his jacket.He then made his way to the small commotion ahead."You know what?" Claire furiously turned to her mom, "Rose is saying all of this because she's so green with envy that I have a man and she doesn't!"Rose drew back and laughed, "Oh please, Claire, I'd rather die a spinster and spend the rest of my life with a pauper!" She eyed Brad as she completed her sentence.Claire was infuriated and she just wished she could blurt it out that Brad was not a pauper. If only they knew his financial status, they would all bow to him. "And how w-" "Now, Claire, you shouldn't have gone this far."Claire's retort was interrupted when a deep voice reached them. They all turned to see Gary walking toward them."What are you saying?" Claire's brows were deeply creased as she looked at Gary. Claire wondered why he was even outside.Gary stopped before Claire's parents and flashed them
"Shut it right there, Claire," Claire's mother burst out sternly. "Why will you have a man like Gary and still insist on a good for nothing?!" She passed Brad a scowl."Can you not see the stark difference, Claire?" Claire's father held her shoulders tenderly and tried to speak sense into his daughter's head. "Can you not see that Gary is responsible? Have you ever caught him in a fight or the company of criminals?""Dad," Claire furiously shrugged his hands off her shoulders, "What are you insinuating? That my boyfriend is a criminal?"Claire's mother closed her eyes in frustration. When she opened them back, she shouted at Claire. "Will you stop calling him your boyfriend?!""I will not stop because he is! Brad is my boyfriend!""So you want to spend the rest of your life struggling to get your basic needs, is that what you want?" Her mother held her gaze, "Your father and I have always made sure you have everything. Now you want to leave a very suitable and successful man and go fo