For a moment, I am confused.
Of course, the card belonged to Jace Greyson. That shouldn’t create any issues, because my frickin name is Jace Greyson. Had Coraline hit her head somewhere? Was that the reason why she was acting so goddamned strange today?
“I knew that you were up to something sketchy,” Coraline goes on to say, “This card is clearly not yours, you have stolen it from somebody. Who did you steal from? Do you know how much these cards are worth?”
“What? I didn’t steal it, because that’s my card, and that’s my name,” I insist, “I’m Jace Greyson!”
The waiter looks in between us, and his brows furrow, “Sir,” he addresses me, “this is a very valuable card, and the miss’s claim is a serious offense. I don’t think I can let you go. We thought you were wealthy upon your initial reaction to our mistake, but now I’m starting to think that it isn’t the case.”
Why, the gall…
I step forward and grab the card from Coraline’s hand, making her yelp, and read the name on the card.
Jace Greyson.
What was she so confused about?
And then it hits me
I wasn’t Jace Greyson always. When I was in high school, my surname was different. Instead of using my father’s surname, I was using my mother’s surname. It was only after graduating that I changed my name to what I was using now.
So, everyone in High school, including Coraline and Jon knew me as Jace Pastor. But Jace Pastor didn’t exist anymore. I was Jace Greyson now.
“I changed my name after I graduated,” There’s a lot of history and secrets between the circumstances of my name which I do not want to reveal to anyone, so I decide to keep it simple, “In high school, I was using my mother’s name, but now I’m using my father’s name.”
“Oh, how convenient,” Coraline spits, her eyes narrowing even more, “No ordinary person can get their kid a card like this. Who is your father?”
I sigh, “I don’t know how I’m supposed to convince you of this.”
“You know what, folks,” the waiter looks in between us and puts up his hands, “I’m just going to let you two figure it out. The bill is paid so I got no obligation here.”
With that, he leaves me in the parking lot with Coraline.
“You know, I felt sorry for you before, but not now,” Coraline seethes, “You’re clearly a thief. I thought you were better than this, Jace. You used to be a decent guy.”
“And you used to be a smart person who could see the truth when they see it,” I snap back, “Also, don’t act like you’re all high and mighty now, what you did in the restaurant is still wrong.”
“I don’t believe you. You stole that card from someone rich,” she takes out her phone from the purse slung across her shoulder, “I should call the police now.”
“What? Are you crazy? You’re taking this too far!” I screech, not fancying the idea of getting entangled in a police investigation in the middle of all the other drama in my life.
I shove my hands into my hair and turn away from her, my mind racing to find a solution for this. All around us, the twilight was turning to night. More and more vehicles come to park in the restaurant parking lot, and music starts to come from the reception room. Clearly, the Alumni Association party was going on. So why is Coraline out here arguing with me rather than going in and having fun with her friends?
God, there’s nothing I won’t do more than for her to leave me alone to go home.
Finally, a thought buzzes in my mind. It’s not a particularly good one, in fact, I do not like it at all. But it got the potential to work.
“Look, I got an idea,” I state.
“I’m listening. What is this great idea you’ve conjured that can prove who you are?”
“Look, I loathe to do this,” I sigh, “But go to dinner with me.”
“What?”
“Go to dinner with me, and I can show you I am who I really am,” I reply, “I’ll call my driver now to pick me up, and he’ll set things straight. I’ll use this card and prove to you that it belongs to me.”
Coraline blinks at me, “You want me to go to dinner with you?”
“I don’t like it same as you clearly do, but that seems like the only option that’ll keep you from calling the cops on me,” I say, crossing my hands, “or you can be a normal person and just believe me without jumping into ridiculous conclusions.”
“I can’t do that,” Coraline protests.
“Great, then I’m going to go-“
“No, you can’t!”
But Coraline doesn’t get to talk anymore.
Another car makes its way toward us, this time it’s a vehicle I am not familiar with. But it looks right at home with all the expensive vehicles in the restaurant parking lot. The lights of the car dim as it parks next to us, and the door opens.
Out of the car steps a young man around our age. He is tall, with brown hair with streaks of silver, clearly, dyed, cut in a rakish style, and molded into his head with so much product. He wears a pair of sunglasses (who the hell wears sunglasses at night?) so low on his nose that you can see the color of his eyes, which is a lighter shade of brown than his hair. He’s dressed in a designer suit consisting of a shimmering silver jacket which is garish to look it. On his neck, there are several chains, all made of silver and white gold, and rings on his fingers. In one of his hands, he holds a cigarette.
The man saunters towards Coraline and without even asking, puts his arm around her and pulls her to him.
“Well,” Coraline blushes, “I don’t think I would be able to go on a dinner with you, Jace. Because this is my boyfriend.”
“Hey, baby,” the guy who got out of the vehicle, the guy who is apparently Coraline’s boyfriend-because of course, this moment has to be more dramatic than it was, why not?-presses his lips to her cheek and gives her a smacking kiss. Then, he takes another drag of his cigarette.He gives me a once over before asking his girlfriend, “Is this dude harassing you?”I gape at them. She was the one harassing me!Coraline shakes her head, “No, it’s complicated…”“Wait, do I know you,” letting go of his girlfriend, he steps towards me, and blows the smoke from his cigarette which he was holding all over my face.I screw up my face in disgust and step back. Geez, where were this guy’s manners?“I doubt you do,” I mutter.“No, no, you look familiar,” he points at my face, “I think I’ve seen you in Empire city. You’re Anton, aren’t you?”Empire city? Well, there is only one place in Empire city where people could find me. That was at the Kings’ College. So, this guy goes to Kings' College, or he
I snap out of the daze I find myself in as Aiden berates Coraline for a crime she did not commit, and rush to her side. Aiden’s rant gets cut midway when I shoot him a glare, but the thunderous expression on his face does not change. For a moment, I wonder if he is drunk, but no, he looks stone-cold sober. This means that pushing Coraline and demeaning her like this was done intentionally. I turn back to Coraline, anger humming in my chest. I did not like her, but that was another issue. It wasn’t right to be treated like this by her own boyfriend. “Here, let me help you get up,” I ask her gently, and she nods, clearly shaken by Aiden’s actions. She lets me help her to her feet. Aiden continues to glare at us, a storm brewing in his eyes. I know I’m not helping my case right now, but damned if I leave a girl alone in a situation like this, no matter how badly she treated me. “You don’t have to go with him if you don’t feel safe,” I whisper to Coraline. Distantly, I saw the Maybach
Coraline was pretty silent when we dropped her at her parents’ house, rather than the apartment she shared with her ex-boyfriend. She changed her mind after learning about my identity after I promised her that I would help her get into Greyson Consolidated. It felt like her fears alleviated a bit, and she promised not to go back to the apartment for her own safety. She thanked me profusely after we dropped her off, and gave me her number. “I’m sorry,” she apologized again, looking near tears, “I’m so sorry for everything I did. I don’t deserve this help…” “I forgive you,” I responded, and meant every word. Gerald doesn’t ask me any questions as we make our way home, nor does he talk after we get there. He follows me silently as I walk through my father’s house, meaning to go to my room. “Young master,” finally, he talks, “did you have any dinner?” My stomach, at that moment, chooses to growl. “No,” I say, “didn’t have the time, was with Aiden and Coraline.” “I see,” something
“Well, well, well,” Aiden sneers, and I feel my fists clenching on either side of me, “look who it is.”“Aiden,” Coraline breathes next to me, and in the next moment, moves behind me. I feel so damn protective of her that I move my body right in front of hers yet again, just like the night at the restaurant.“Hello, Coraline,” his voice is anything but pleasant when he voices her name, “I see you’re still shagging the cockroach.”“He’s ten times, no, a thousand times the man you are,” surprising me, Coraline growls, “What the fuck are you doing here, Aiden? Are you stalking me?”“Is that what you think this is?” he demands.“What else am I supposed to think? We broke up, Aiden, don’t you remember? I left. You’re the last person I expected to see here.”“Well, I could say the same,” a gloating smile takes over his mouth, “Do you know why I’m here, Coraline?”“Clearly, we don’t,” I find myself saying, “which is why we asked in the first place.”He ignores me, his attention on Caroline,
For a moment, I can’t place that voice with those words. It just feels wrong, because I never expected that specific voice to utter those specific words.But then I whip towards where the voice is coming from and notice Gerald making his way toward us. Gerald did not accompany me to Caroline’s this morning, he said that there was something that needs his dire attention, so I left on my own. Which was more than fine with me, because having him as a shadow made me nervous for some reason.Gerald has traded his normal butler uniform for a sleek suit and walks with the confidence of a man who knows what he’s doing. His expression is crossed, not quite angry but not pleasant either, and his eyes are hard and cold.Distantly, I wonder, what the hell is going on?“Gerald, what are you doing?” I ask him as soon as he nears us, “we can handle this, you don’t have to get involved.”Gerald sighs, “on the contrary, young master, I believe this is one of the moments where my involvement is necessa
Gerald sighs, “I guess we have some things to talk about.”“Damn right we do,” I step closer to him, “like who the hell you actually are? I thought you were a butler.”“It is my role at times,” Gerald replied, looking tired, “Young master, perhaps we can talk about this later. Right now, I believe that the lady you accompanied here today has got an interview to attend to.”We both turn to look at Coraline, who is looking like she had no idea what was happening.“Of course,” Gerald continues, “that is if the young lady still desires to have a position within the company. I can imagine an experience like the one she had the misfortune of witnessing today might deter her. Miss. Coraline, would you like to have the interview now, after everything?”The direct address startles Coraline out of her thoughts, “um, yes, sure. If you have me,” she adds quickly, “I can do the interview.”“Very well, both of you follow me.”We do as he says and trudge toward the Zelt Technologies building. The wh
Coraline’s interview is coming closer to its end. I feel anxious to get out of here, as the surrounding seems to have an almost suffocating effect on me. Everything I learned today is too much for me to handle. I need some peace and quiet, a chance to leave the building. But Gerald dogs my steps along the way.“I know it’s too much to handle,” he says, “but think of it this way. You will be getting a COO’s salary rather than an allowance from your father. You would be able to live as independently as you want. Get your own apartment, your own vehicle, and take care of yourself like you want to.”“Very tempting, Gerald,” I mutter unhappily, “but I’ll pass for now.”“Jace,” for the first time, he calls me by my name, and I turn to him with a sigh He looks confused, “why do you deny this so much? Is it because of my position in the company?”“God, Gerald, that’s the last worry in my mind,” I assure him, “in fact, I feel good about having you here at the company. You could clearly handle
Coraline and I decided that the day was too good to waste by going home, so after lunch, we take a detour to the park nearby. We walk the cobblestone path that leads us around the park which looks beautiful with all its lush trees, freshly cut grass, and well as ponds filled with ducks and swans that dot it here and there. I feel myself become more and more relaxed as we glide through the path, listening to the sound of the wind rustling through leaves, people playing with their children or walking their pets, and spotting various kinds of birds flying through trees, all while engaging in pleasant conversation with Coraline. I nearly forget the altercation we have mere hours ago at Zelt Tech with Aiden and his goon of a manager, followed by the revelation of Gerald’s actual status in my father’s employment. All in all, it had been such an eventful day. Something that seems to be a frequent happening in my life as of late.“I hope I’m not offending you by asking this,” Coraline pipes
“Oh, fuck!” I let out as I spring away from where I’d been lying with my head on Estelle’s lap. “Holy shit, I’m normal! I’m normal!”I pat at my body, and sure enough, it’s two-legged, hairless, and my hands are actually my hands! With fingers and pink skin, with only some fine hair on my forearms, and no black fur in sight!I immediately look behind me, and nearly cry in relief when I see that I have a normal, human posterior, not one with a tail.And to my surprise, my clothes are still intact though I had ripped them when I had turned into a dog, but they were still here. Thank God, because I did not fancy getting naked for the second time today.“I did not think that would happen,” Estelle comments, and I turn to her. She doesn’t look too shocked at my reappearance as a human. She stands up from where she had been sitting, brushing off her pants as if on habit before turning to me with a smile, “Well, it’s a good thing I didn’t call that hospital.”I stare at her for a moment, won
I cower near the toilet, scared out of my fricking mind as the door opens, hoping to everything holy that she would not freak out, which is stupid considering who would not freak out when they see an animal in a room where they initially left a human in?But to my utter surprise, when Estelle opens the door, she does not scream or throw anything at me.Instead, she blinks.Once.Twice.And then she opens her mouth to say, “Oh.”I blink at her. What did she mean oh? There’s a fricking dog creature in her bathroom and no sign of a human, the human that came to her house naked in the middle of the rain! Why does she look so calm and curious? Why is she looking at me like this was every other Tuesday in her life? I feel so confused that a whine falls from my throat, and that seems to snap her out of her contemplative stare.“I didn’t realize that you were one of them,” she tells me in a confused tone, brows furrowed, “I mean, it’s not like I’m new to this, I should’ve been able to smell y
I felt different.It was like everything that made me myself, my personality, my conscience, my thinking, and my control over my body, had been plucked out of the said body and then put into a small box somewhere in my mind. I didn’t have any control of my body, although I could feel my body, but then I could not actually feel like I did every day. No, it felt like it wasn’t my body, but then it felt like my body, but not my body again…I didn’t know what to make out of this. My head hurt, and I felt like my breathing capacity had increased and my legs had shortened, and I couldn’t stand up regardless of my somewhat dubious control I tried to open my mouth to talk but couldn’t do that either.And my visions feel weird, everything feels lower than it did before whatever happened to me happened, and the pictures flitting through my eyes seem far more intense than normal. I can hear so many noises as well, the fill of water in the tank somewhere, the sloshing of liquid in the septic tank
“Okay, so this is going to sound utterly unbelievable at first,” I say, “but bear with me, okay? This really happening and I am not lying, not one bit.”Estelle raises a brow at me. “Okay, normally, if someone tries to defend themselves that much, I might get a little suspicious, but then again what happened to your girlfriend made it to the news and I would never have thought anything like that taking place outside movies or books so I’m going to let you tell your story and pass judgment afterward.”“Fair. To be honest, I don’t even know if I should tell you all this considering there’s still an active investigation happening,” not that the active investigation was doing anything to help. You would think that after being one of the centerpieces of a murder and kidnapping investigation you would be questioned by authorities daily and at least be sent to jail once, but so far, we were only hearing crickets from the police side. It felt like they were truly living under the impression t
Estele sighs, running her fingers through her hair.“I honestly don’t know at this point,” she says, “I’ve never really given any serious thought about this. I knew from the start that I was going to be very careful when having sex with people and was always prepared up until yesterday. And like I told you, I’m not the one for hookups and one-night stands. I love relationships, and I’d gotten out of one just mere months ago and still am not over it, not really.”“Oh, I’m so sorry,” I wince, wondering how two similar people like us could’ve done the same mistake, “was it a bad breakup? I didn’t bring back any memories or something, did I?”Estelle gives out a snort of laughter at that.“No, dude, I can’t even remember the hookup so nothing like that happened,” she reminds me, “and it wasn’t a messy breakup per se. I just…we fell out of love, you see. I never thought that would happen in a relationship. We had been dating for like two years now, and I honestly thought that the next step
After spending quite some time rifling through her wardrobe, Estelle comes downstairs to where I’m sitting on one of her mauve-colored couches with a fluffy blanket wrapped around my frame, holding some clothes.“Good news,” she grins at me, “there are some clothes one of my friends left here after staying the night, and she is about your size. So, if you don’t have an issue with pink,” she hands me the large pink t-shirt she’s got bundled in her hand with a wry quirk to her lips, “and basketball shorts,” she hands me bright red basketball shorts, “then these are yours.”I squint at the combination and comment, “You know, I don’t mean any offense, but who on earth wears this combo even to bed?” The t-shirt is fuchsia with cute, squiggly sheep jumping over a bright green patch of grass. It is truly an assault on the senses, and the less said about the shorts the better.Estelle snorts, “She’s a bit into the eclectic side of fashion. You want me to try and find something else?”“Oh, no,
“Follow me,” I’m being instructed as soon as I enter the quaint little house through the doors. I take a brief look around, my newly deepened senses getting acquainted with the new surroundings I’ve found myself in, and there's nothing to complain about. The lavender and cream scent that emanated from Estelle permeated every available surface of the house and then some, along with the intermingling scents of the cut flowers artistically arranged in various cute vases on almost every available flat surface, one vase each, and the smell of firewood burning in the fireplace. The wallpapers are mauve themes, the skirtings are white, and the floor is made of polished hardwood, and the house lighting is ambient. There is a window seat near the large window I failed to see from the outside, and the wall next to the window is covered with a bookrack. I squint at the old-looking books, trying to see if there are any names on the spines. Some have names, but a lot of them are nameless.Interest
I try to see if there are any materials lying around in what seems to be the backyard of the house, but there are only flowering plants and herbs, neatly grown in flowerbeds and growing heartily, all over the yard. It’s not fenced or gated, and while to me that looks like a bad move security-wise, I guess the residents of this quaint little house do not think so.It’s actually a cottage, by the looks of it, and extremely old-fashioned at that. Blue in color, freshly painted, with white windows and doors, as well as a black tiled roof that had an opening for a chimney.Smoke is coming out of the chimney, and the glow of evening lights emanates from behind the white curtains that had been put behind the windows. It looks homely, and surely someone living in a home like this would not turn away someone needing help, would they?I desperately wish I had something to cover myself, but sadly there is not, so I try to use my hand. Never have I felt this humiliated by a circumstance, and I h
There's something wet on my face. That is the first thing that registers in my mind when I start to gain consciousness from the sea of darkness that my being had been submerged in. The wetness is cold, cold enough to shock me into the real world from wherever it was I had been before, where darkness was a constant. The second thing I register is pain. It's the kind of pain that you would expect to overtake your body after extensive surgery done by some amateur medical professional after a rather terrifying car accident. I feel like I'm cut up and being sewn off raw, with needles pricking onto my skin from everywhere all at once. The wetness starts to increase, and soon enough through the pain, I realize that this had got to be water. What kind of water, I'm not sure. But judging by the force of the icy drops colliding with my skin, I feel like it's rain. Why am I being drenched by rain? Why do I feel so hurt? What's going on? I do not know, but I have been through enough harrowin