IT HAS BEEN three weeks. Three long, excruciating weeks for Arthur of going to the gym 5 days a week. He groaned awake and turned over on his bed, groaning even more at the sore and aching muscles all over his body. After lying in bed rebooting his brain for 10 minutes, he swung his leg over his bed and stood up. He went to the bathroom to brush his mouth and wash up, as he did his things, he looked at himself in the mirror. "There are no changes!" He muttered at his reflection. "I'm still as skinny and puny as I was one month ago."He rinsed his mouth and went to the kitchen. He had been following his coach's instruction by cooking his meals himself. He had bought a cookbook filled with different recipes that he wanted to try and after he started cooking his meals, he found out that he enjoyed cooking very much.He mixed up his protein shake, broke 5 eggs into his heated-up frying pan, and sat down to drink his shakes as the eggs cooked. All he wanted to do today was just to eat,
ARTHUR CHECKED HIS wristwatch again. It was 8.00 p.m. on the dot when he walked through the door. He gave a nod at the bartender. It was not the one he knew, but that didn't deter him from greeting. Mr. Swan stood near the door of the stairs, beside him was a huge man that made Arthur feel like a dwarf. "Ah, there he is," Mr. Swan said when he saw Arthur coming towards him. The huge man turned and gave Arthur a hard stare. "Arthur, this is your direct boss, Ethan," Mr. Swan said. "Ethan, this is the new guy, Arthur." Ethan and Arthur stared at each other for a while, and then Ethan stuck out his hand for a handshake which Arthur started to take. But then he looked into Ethan's cold eyes and realized what he was about to do so at the last moment, he retraced his palm a fraction and caught the handshake well. He knew Ethan wanted to squeeze his hand and watch him writhe in pain, but Arthur caught Ethan around his fingers instead of his knuckles and watched as Ethan squeezed and ex
ARTHUR GLANCED BACK briefly as he hurried through the dark hallway, he could still see the silhouette of the lady following him. "What the hell?" He muttered to himself as he burst through the door of the employee restrooms. He went to the hand basin and poured water from the tap onto his face. As expected, a few seconds later, the door opened and the lady walked in. Arthur looked at her through the mirror and then turned, "I'm sorry, ma'am but you can't be here. This is the male employee's bathroom," She smirked and walked forward, "Are you going to carry me out?" She asked slowly as she approached Arthur. "What do you want?" Arthur asked gripping the edge of the basin. "I remembered you from that restaurant that day," The lady said. "You've gotten even hotter. More…" she touched his upper arms, "Masculine and harder." Arthur slicked out of her grasp. "So what do you want with me?" He asked. "I want you," The lady said, walking forward again. Arthur took a step back. "Listen,
"WE SHOULD DO this again," Moriah said, running her fingers over Arthur's chest. Arthur groaned and sat up. The past 3 hours had passed in a blur. He had come over to Moriah's house and they had had sex, and it had felt good at the time, but now, he felt like shit. "No, we shouldn't." He sat up and grabbed his shorts from the floor. "I don't want to see or hear from you again. Just stay away from me.""I can't do that," Moriah said, sitting up and missing closer to Arthur who flinched and stood up. "Oh, that's how it is, huh?" Moriah asked, clutching the sheets to her chest. Arthur ignored her and started dressing up. "Maybe you won't ever see me again, because when I tell Brandon that you raped me, you will be floating dead in the Atlantic Ocean."Arthur stilled and turned to look at her. "What? You can't do that." He said. "I didn't rape you, you came at me first." "Who will he believe? Me or you?" Moriah asked and laughed. "You are now stuck with me."Arthur, who was already re
"Liver problem?" He slid off the examination table. He knew the doctors would not be able to do anything to him. This was a punishment from the system, and Arthur knew that he was at the mercy of it. He groaned as he reached for his trousers and began to dress up. The nurse returned. "Mr. Salvatore?" He hurried over to stop him. "The doctor is not done with your diagnosis yet. You are supposed to lie back down until the doctor comes back," She started to direct him back to the bed. Arthur pushed her off. "I am alright," He said. He coughed and wiped the blood from his lips. "I know what is wrong with me." "What?" The nurse asked, dumbfounded. "I'm leaving already," Arthur muttered. "At least, wait until the doctor comes back. He will prescribe some things to aid with the pain if it is the cost of scanning and surgery that you are worried about." This time, it was Arthur's turn to be dumbfounded. "What?" He asked. "Maybe you are worried that you would not be able to pay for th
ARTHUR'S HEAD WAS reeling as he saw the "rejected" and low whine of the paying machine. He glanced around to see if anybody else had noticed, luckily, the people around him, including Brandon Cole were more interested in their food. "Could you try it again?" He asked the waitress who sneered and swiped the card through the machine again. When it still blinked red and showed "rejected", she rolled her eyes. "It is still rejected, sir," She scoffed. "I will have to call the police to arrest you for attempted fr "What?" Arthur asked. "System, show me my status," he muttered. There was no answer from the system. Arthur cursed under his breath. So this was all a punishment from the system. He sighed and thought of what to do. He had some little cash at home. It was only bout 10,000 dollars but he wondered if the restaurant would allow him to leave without paying to get the money as if the money would even cover his bills. "Sir?" The waitress snapped. "Did you come here to eat on a s
THE RIDE BACK home was uneventful for Arthur. The pain in his abdomen had reduced, and the drugs were making him fall asleep. After a few minutes, the taxi pulled in front of Arthur's apartment. He paid his fare, gave the driver a tip, and then proceeded to walk into the house. He was startled to see a big figure seated on his couch. "Arthur!" The figure said, standing up and turning to face him. It was his stepbrother. "Liam," Arthur replied sourly. "I was starting to think when you would be back," Liam said cheerily. "Where did you go?"Arthur ignored the question and instead, said, "You have to stop breaking into my house like this," Arthur walked across the room and sat down on a chair. "What?" Liam laughed easily. "It's not breaking in if the door wasn't locked," He said. Arthur yawned. All he wanted to do now was to go back to bed and sleep off the pain. "What are you doing here?" Arthur asked. Liam shrugged. "You know, I was in this part of the country and decided to hop
"THE TREASURY DEPARTMENT?" Arthur asked. "What for?" "You are a suspected criminal," the manager said slyly. "They are the ones that handle things like that." "I am not a criminal, my money is locked," Arthur argued. "You have no proof that the money is yours," The manager said. "It could be the money of some poor bloke in another city, maybe Texas, that you have scammed and taken his money." "What are you talking about?" Arthur was lost. "Or," the manager brought his index finger to his temple. "It could be the money gotten from selling arms or drugs like cocaine." Arthur kept quiet and just stared at the man. "The treasury department doesn't take it easy with men like that." The manager said. "Who knows what they would do to you? Maybe ship you off to a remote island prison in Siberia or Russia." Arthur pinned the man with a steady stare. "So what do you want to do?""I am supposed to do my normal duty and call the government officials to take you away," the manager said. Hi