With Lisa gone and his boner, too, Arnold went back to what had kept him up all night long — going through the files contained in the USB flash drive. He was dedicated to finding dirt. Like a hobby. Like a need. Whichever, he had to find something, anything.His phone buzzed a few minutes into scrolling and reading at files endlessly. He looked at the caller ID and his face lit up instantly. It was Jia.He picked the call instantly, clearing his throat."Jia," he said, trying to sound chill when, in fact, he was happy to speak to her."Arnold! How have you been doing?""I've been fine, thank you.""Are you free this evening?"He sat up. "Why? Is there a problem?"She laughed nervously. "No, no, there's no problem. I just wanted to, you know, invite you for dinner."His ears perked up. "Dinner? That's cool!""Yeah. It's just my way of saying thank you for the time you spent with me at my grand aunt's place and all the help you rendered.""Oh, it's fine. You don't have to do that.""Don
A large box of pepperoni pizza lay open on Arnold's bedside table, with just two slices left. Three jumbo cups of coffee were right next to it. Arnold sat cross-legged on his bed, bent over his laptop like his life depended on what he was doing.The adrenaline rushing through him kept him straight at it for a long time. His fingers were beginning to cramp from scrolling and scrolling and scrolling for far too long. But, he continued. He'd come this far. He couldn't give up now. He couldn't sleep now, either.He looked outside his window briefly, and caught a glimpse of the sun beginning to set. When he looked back at his laptop screen, he finally discovered something new. He sat up, straightening his back as much as he could. Then he scrolled down, down, down, his eyebrows raising higher and higher as it all came together right before him. It felt like he was finally able to find the missing puzzle pieces and he was placing them back where they belonged.He cleaned his eyes with th
Arnold found a parking spot in front of the restaurant. It was a little bit of a hassle, but he did it. As he alighted, he caught sight of Jia coming down from her own car and smiled.So she'd driven today, he thought. She was becoming brave."Jia!" He waved at her.She smiled brightly as soon as their eyes met, and all but ran over to meet him.As she got to him, he pulled her into a hug and kissed her on the cheek, moving back to watch the redness creep up her neck to her cheeks."What a coincidence!" she said, bouncing on her feet with glee."A pleasant coincidence," he concurred. "Shall we?" He stretched his hand out for her to walk in front of him.Together, they walked towards the restaurant.As they passed by the door and entered in, Arnold got a strange feeling. He turned to the side and caught a glimpse of a strange looking woman dressed in all black, her forehead bent in mock sobriety as she stood outside the restaurant, just by the side of the door. A black face cap covered
Arnold could feel someone's stare burning an invisible hole through him. It made him very uncomfortable. So uncomfortable that he could no longer sit still opposite Jia and eat his meal, sip white wine, and pretend like all was well when it wasn't."I'll be back soon," he told Jia.Standing, he scraped his chair against the floor as he moved swiftly, trying to catch the person fast. Jia watched him in confusion, but for a moment, he didn't mind.If it was who he thought it was, he didn't care what extent he had to go to catch the culprit.That lady on all black was going to pay.He balled his hands into fists by his side as he walked towards the door of the restaurant, ready to avert trouble from Jia and him while teaching the person a lesson, in return. He had to do what he had to do. And fast.His phone buzzed.It was Jia.I dunno why you left the table in a hurry. Any problem? By the way, my client has arrived. I'm heading outside to meet her.As soon as he read the message, he put
Vera stared at the man in front of her in shock.Arnold?Fuck.Fuck.What as Arnold doing here? Why was he bumping into him again?And, why did he keep getting even more handsome and expensive looking each time they bumped into each other?What was he doing here?She turned to look at Jia who was staring at him and her, trying to gauge the reason for the way they were reacting to each other.Wait. . . She looked at Arnold. Then Jia. Was this the person Jia had mentioned she was on a date with?The familiar hot redness rose from her neck to her cheeks. How embarrassing was this? She looked down, wishing the ground would open and swallow her."Vera? This is Arnold. And, Arnold, this is my client, Vera.""Vera," Arnold said through his teeth.Jia looked at him now, eyebrows creased. "You both know each other?"No one responded to her. Vera and Arnold were too busy trying to see which of them would get tired of staring at one person first.Jia prodded further, not willing to let it slide.
Arnold knew better. He knew way better than to act out based on the overwhelming anger he was feeling. Or, at least, he was supposed to know better. But, after everything that had gone down in one day, it was hard for him to keep up the calm guy, big talker act. He had to hit something, to hit someone. He needed to take it all and free it from his chest, from that cage that was becoming so crammed and tight within him.Jia had gone. What he'd looked forward to had gone along with her. He'd genuinely looked forward to spending a cool, serene evening with her and maybe they could have bonded even more after diner. But, he'd never know now, after the two women he regretted ever being with had come to ruin what was left of him and Jia's evening.Everything good he got. Everything good was leaving him. That was what it felt like. And he couldn’t help but stop feeling that way.It had happened before. When he as broke and miserable. And now that he'd gotten money and a little bit of fame,
Sasha opened her heavy eyes with a start.Where am I? She asked herself in her head, unable to say the words out loud.Her head was pounding.Is that a headache?No, it was worse than a regular headache. It felt like someone had wiped her over the head with a large wooden plank over and over again until she fell unconscious instead of hitting her head just once.She opened her eyes wider and all he could see was white walls. Everything was so damn white.Am I in heaven?No, she couldn't be. This couldn't be heaven. If it was, she was sure she wouldn't be feeling this intense headache.Everything felt so damn heavy. Like she was high on drugs but the drugs were doing little to nothing to help her situation.She sniffed in the air painfully slowly, getting in the overwhelming smell of medicines. All kind of medicines.She tried to move, but couldn't. When she looked down at her body, she was bandaged and strapped the bed. She couldn't even stand up from the bed. Drips were stuck into he
The sun was streaming in and all suddenly felt light and good. Jia opened the door and let him in. Again.One would think she'd gad enough with the way she'd stormed off at the restaurant, leaving him speechless in the dust. But, she'd yielded. Again.Arnold had a way with words. It was so easy to just swim in his voice. In the way he said his words, speaking calmly, choosing carefully before saying more. So, when he came knocking on her door, begging for one more chance to explain things."Jia," he started, his face looking so remorseful, it was so hard to resist."Come in."She led him to her living room and watched him watch her home. This was the first time he was entering inside. He'd always just stood outside the door or met her in her driveway.She looked at him. He looked at her back. Somewhere within her, she wanted to hate him for being the way he was. She knew he was far from perfect. She didn't even expect him to be perfect. Heck, she knew about his one night stand between