Harlan was slightly surprised. He had expected that the security men would try to drag him away and he would have a fist fight with them before Jack… yeah, that is if he is not sulking somewhere, would come and help him. His hands ache as he thought about that opportunity he just missed to use them.
"Am I supposed to know you?" He asked the man kneeling in front of him."I was there the day you came for a Camry, I still remember you well, Sir," the man said."Oh, get up," he wasn't aware someone had been taking notice of him when he came with Jack to get the car he is using presently.The woman looked from the security men to Harlan in surprise. A swear form in her forehead, as she tried to clean it off and make it oblivious, it became a mess, making her look more of the monster Harlan had thought she was when he first saw her."And, who is she?" Harlan asked, directing his question to the security men.<"You could have let my miserable life end, Harlan," more tears flowed down his face as his voice was still faint. "Hey, man, don't talk that way. I'm happy to see you again.""You don't understand what I did to you. I almost killed you. Don't you get it? Harlan, I could have killed you!""I know you would never do that to me. We are far too close for you to do something as horrible as that," Harlan said softly."Harlan, why did you spare my life?"Harlan sighed and stood up. He turned his back on Kelvin and sighed again."Because I can't think of life without you.""But, Harlan…""Shh. We can find something to do about your jealousy. I want you in my life, you sure as hell know that, man. Don't make yourself look pitiful by thinking you are bad. You aren't, you get that?" He turned around to look at Kelvin.Kelvin shook his head, "Harlan, you are making a mi
"Lydia, will you just get straight to the point and stop making things difficult for us!" Grandfather bellowed, running out of patience."I swear, I saw him. I saw Harlan Smith. He told me that he is Harlan Smith… He told me that I should warn everyone because we are pissing him off. I swear, father, I saw him with my two eyes," Lydia said, her make-up had been smeared with her constant use of her handkerchief to wipe her face."Then just tell the artist how he looks, what you remember about his face so that he can make a sketch for us," grandfather said, this time, he tried not to shout.Lydia turned to the artist, he is one of the Alberts too, he had a pencil in his hand but had not been able to draw more than a human hair."Did he have a mustache?" The frustrated artist asked the bewildered Lydia."No. He looks very young. He doesn't seem like someone who had started growing a beard," Lydia said, she pulled at
The four hour lecture seemed like eternity to Elizabeth. She sighed in relief when the professor went out. Unlike before when Harlan was there and she would steal glances at him, she has been looking in space all the time. She sighed again and grabbed her pulse as she made to head out of the hall. Someone waved a hand in front of her face. She glanced at the person. Jason. The last thing she wanted at the moment was to have things to do with him, Harlan's death was still fresh in her memory and she wondered if she would be able to get past it. It's been three weeks."Hi," Jason said.Elizabeth nodded her head, hoping Jason would get the hint that she was avoiding a conversation with him but he didn't."Where is your boyfriend?" She caught a glimpse of mockery in his voice.She glared at him, "get out of my way.""Has he ditched you? It's too early for that," Jason thrust his hand in his pocket and continued looking at her.Elizabeth brushed past him and hurried off. Tears were starti
She ran out of the library, toward the direction of the voice. He was wearing a black T-shirt over black jeans trousers, as always, his face was calm, one of his hands was in his pocket as he stared at her. He was leaning on the wall. He stared at her."Harlan?" Elizabeth couldn't believe the faint voice was coming from her. She rushed to him. His hands are wide open now. The next moment, she was thrown against the wall. She looked up quickly. There was no one. No Harlan. Slowly, she stood up and tried to process what just happened. She looked around the place in search of Harlan but there was no one in the area. She went back to the library. She met the library attendant preparing to lock the door."Elizabeth?" The woman was taken aback by Elizabeth's appearance, her hair was rough and her eyes swollen. "Did you see anyone here just now?" Elizabeth asked."No.""No one? You didn't see anyone wearing black?" Elizabeth probed wishing the library attendant would just confirm that she
Harlan trashed out the paper he had scribbled his ideas on. What is the use of everything if Elizabeth is neither answering his calls or being at home? For a moment, he imagined Elizabeth going to night parties. He shook his head at the imagination but it didn't help. Without thinking, he sent a message to Jack: find out the number of parties going on tonight.Since their argument on the day he went to meet Simon, they had rarely spoken. Occasionally, Harlan would call Jack only to bark out orders at him and the latter would do whatever he was asked to do without demanding explanations.His phone beeped. Jack had replied: 56.Harlan's eyes widened at the number. What if Elizabeth were in one of them? Probably with Jason.He stood up and walked briskly to the kitchen. He grabbed a bottle of water and drank everything in a gulp. He belched. Elizabeth would never go to a night party and at least, not with someone like Jason. He had gone to her house an hour ago when she wouldn't answer
Kelvin bumped into his parents as they were about to go out of the gate. He looked from his mother to his father. His mother seemed to have aged and his father had several wrinkles on his face. They must have been worried about him."Mom?" His voice cracked.He saw relief mixed with love and something else… fright in his mother's eyes as his father pulled her protectively behind him."You were at a hospital?" His father asked.He looked sharply at his father. He had not informed them about it. Unless Harlan told them, there was no way they would have known."Yes. I've been discharged already," he said."We were about to come see you," his mother said behind his father."I guess it is good that I arrived on time. How have you been, dad?"He saw a hint of fear in his father's eyes too. He almost frowned as he wondered what was happening. They were acting so out of it. Before now, his mother would have pulled him in a hug immediately she saw him especially when he was coming from the hos
Harlan grabbed a bottle of water in the kitchen. He rubbed his eyes after taking a gulp from the water. If he went on at this rate, he wasn't sure if he would get past twenty five years. Just a little more information and Mr Smith's cooperation and he would go on with his plan to expose everything that the Alberts are up to. He noticed that Maria wasn't in the kitchen. He strode to the sitting room. He heard Mr Smith's voice and a woman's voice. Not wanting to interrupt them, he decided to walk back inside, but then, he heard the woman say, "I didn't expect you to be fine."He tiptoed to the door leading to the sitting room and placed his hair on it. The door was rarely closed, it made Harlan more curious to know who Mr Smith's guest was. "Will you tell your maid to give me something?" The woman asked. She had a slight British accent."She is a robot and her battery is down," Mr Smith said.Harlan frowned. Maria doesn't run out that quickly. He remembered plugging her in overnight.
Mr Smith stared at Harlan, he was quite surprised to hear Harlan try to make him choose between two options. His son would really make a great businessman. "Which do you want to do?" Harlan asked.Mr looked away and gulped down the content in the cup. He filled it again."Why do you want to know about the Alberts?""You know how much they have been after my life.""All that will be solved once they get to know who you are. And, Jason wouldn't have done all those things to you if he knew your identity.""Dad, are you by any chance… scared of them?" Harlan asked.Mr Smith smiled, "if I am scared of them I won't be where I am today. I have met a lot of families than them that cooperated to do more terrible things than the Alberts are doing in order to get to the top.""So, why are you holding back from telling?" Harlan asked.Mr Smith cleared his throat and looked at Harlan through the corner of his eyes. He felt slightly jealous that Harlan looked more like his wife than himself. Nela