Chris was helped out of the boxing ring and made to sit for a while. Monica went away briefly and returned with a water bottle which she opened and handed to him, her face creased with worry. Rose stood a little distance away and watched the scene, trying but failing to hide her worry. She hadn't expected him to get knocked out so hard and she was worried about him and also about getting in trouble with Mr. Michael Bolton, he paid her to protect his son, not put him in harm's way. Sarah and Lucas stood at a corner, deep in conversation, both seemed unbothered about the situation, they had both been into this for years and both knew that Lucas' punch had done no real damage to Chris, he just hadn't been hit by a punch of that magnitude before. Rose knew this too but her sense of judgment was clouded with fear and worry. After a while, Chris got to his feet, with Monica still rooted to his side. The others turned to look at him and Lucas walked up to him."How's that jaw feeling pal?"
They walked into the arena and all thanks to Rose' excellence in planning and organizing, they were soon properly geared up; combat suit, body vests, goggles, padded collars, boots, gloves and knee and elbow pads. Then they proceeded to the field where they were given their paintball marker, paintballs, hopper, air tanks and pod packs. With everything set, Rose explained the rules to them as she paced. "It's quite simple actually, Sarah and I are teammates while Chris and Monica are teammates. Each team has their bases on the opposite ends of the field and the goal is to steal the other teams flag from their base and return to your base, without running out of lives." she said and paused. "Each player has three lives, in other words, get shot three times and you're out, only as a player though and not as a team. Are we good?" she asked then stopped her pacing and turned to face them. "Well?" she asked further when no one gave a response."Uhm, I guess?" Sarah spoke."Yeah, whatever"
It all came rushing back to him, kind of like a dam of memories had been broken free in his brain. Victor, his childhood trainer, the man in the picture, the baseball cap mystery man, the one who had appeared and disappeared during the death of Scuro Lancia's Don Martini; they were all one and the same person. How had he been so blind? It was still the same baseball cap from when he was just a little kid. He could still remember how Victor would walk up to him in the Sanders' back lawn, as he took off the baseball cap and his backpack, with the words "hey buddy," as he messed up his hair with a ruffle. He remembered how he always tried to squirm away from those ruffles and how Victor had always been faster and more agile than him, trapping him before he could move out of his reach. If the man in the picture was Victor and he had killed Scuro Lancia's Don Martini, then he certainly had not done it on his own accord. Someone must have been behind giving the order and making the required
The first beep of the alarm was enough to wake Richard up and without hesitation, he dismissed the alarm and immediately got to his feet. He hadn't been able to sleep a wink through out the night. Today was the day he had been waiting for, the day Thomas Bolton would officially announce him to the world as his son, but somehow, he didn't feel excited about it, he thought of it as another duty to be carried out. Now that he thought about it, he hadn't felt excited about it at all. He walked to the bathroom to begin his preparation. He brushed, shaved and had a bath. When he was done, he stared at his reflection in the mirror for a while and absent mindedly brushed the scar Thomas had created with his wine glass few days back, it had faded a lot thanks to balms and creams, it would take someone getting really close to notice it and he didn't plan on letting anyone into his space. He ran a hand through his now jet black hair, pleased with it, then he stepped into his room where his per
Chris brought out his phone and dialed Monica's number and she picked up at the first ring."You and Rose should meet me at the ice cream palour on 5th in the next fifteen minutes," he said and hung up. Then he turned to Merlanie. "Send that article to me, then clear out my schedule for the rest of the day and head home," he said. Merlanie understood the situation and didn't bother pressing him to attend to company business."Yes sir," she said with a nod.Chris was about getting into his car when it crossed his mind that things were probably stirring up and about to get heated again, and leaving Merlanie to find her way on her own, was probably not such a wise move. He walked up to one of the vehicle of guards and instructed her to get in."See to it that Ms. Merlanie Jones gets home safe then you can head to the ice cream parlour on 5th," he said to the three guards in the vehicle and they gave a "yes sir," with their heads bowed. Turning to Merlanie, he said "Lock yourself in and
Arthur McDoyle woke up to his alarm ringing and without opening his eyes, struggled to swipe at his screen and dismiss the alarm but the alarm just kept on getting louder. After a brief struggle he opened his eyes in annoyance and dismissed the alarm then rolled over and tried to get back to sleep but couldn't. He opened his eyes again and looked at the time on his phone, it was 2:37pm. Jeez! How long had he been passed out from his alcohol induced sleep? He couldn't recall the events of last night clearly at the moment but he had a vague memory of being thrown out of the club by some bouncers and he couldn't even remember how he had gotten home, he must have been really wasted. He tried to get up and clear his head with a shake, but was hit by a splitting headache, causing him to hold his head and sit down again. OK, he would take it easy and slowly get and go get some aspirin and water in the bathroom. He was trying to stand up slowly when his phone started blowing up with notificat
Chris had been the last one to arrive at the ice cream palour. He had walked in to see the ladies sitted at the most secluded booth even though they were the only ones in the shop. He had been waved over by Sarah who was sitted beside Rose on the side of the booth that faced the door. He walked over to join them and slid in beside Monica."We already placed our orders," Rose said "Plain old vanilla for you."Chris didn't say anything but only acknowledged her words with a nod and a tight lipped smile. He was still caught up in the surprise and anger of what he had found out. He felt angry, betrayed, surprised and scared at the whole thing.Monica slid a hand into his and squeezed it causing him to look at their connected hands then up at her."Sarah filled us in already and we also checked out the news," she said "I'm so sorry about this." she finished."Sorry?" Chris asked and disconnected his hand from hers. Why was she sorry? Did she think he was sad because he felt like he had los
Richard stepped out of his car and looked at the limo wondering which of the Bolton men was inside; his dear uncle, Michael Bolton or his precious cousin, Chris Bolton? He folded his arms across his chest and smiled at the limo, waiting for its occupant to come out.In the limo Chris glared hard at Richard even though he knew Richard couldn't see him. He balled his hands into fists and they shook in anger. He ought to get out of the vehicle and punch the smile of that animal's face, he thought and quickly undid his seat belt and rushed out of the car and charged at Richard."Just the one I wanted to see; my precious cousin" Richard thought to himself with a smirk on his face as he watched Chris Bolton get down from the limo and charge at him, no doubt with the intention to attack him. He watched him get within reasonable distance and closed his eyes as he waited for the punch he was sure Chris Bolton would deliver, but nothing came.Chris charged at Richard with balled fists, ready