Malea’s POV
I’d been avoiding Lucian for a while now and I haven’t even heard back from Ales in over a week. It was the end of my shift and I was headed downstairs to the lobby. I shifted the folders that were tucked under my arm and looked up just before I bumped into someone.
Lucian steadied me by grabbing hold of my shoulders tenderly. “Woah there. Try to be more careful.” He said, his hands still on my shoulders, sending spirals of tingles up my spine. We stood there for what felt like hours but what must’ve been seconds. With me just wishing I could drop the facade and get lost in Lucian’s kisses. My eyes flitted down to his lips.
I stepped back from him uneasily. “Sorry.” I cleared my throat and began back down the hallway.
“Malea. We need to talk.” He called after me. I pretended as if I couldn’t hear him as I rushed into the elevator and sighed as it closed shut. Out of sight, out of mind.
I rang Ales’s doorbell and stepped back in surprise when Winter opened the door, her red hair toppled on her head in a messily precise bun. Her full pink lips stretched into a sly smile as soon as she saw me. She looked as if she owned the place, her presence making me uneasy. I wanted to talk to Ales myself.
“Darling. Your name’s Malea, right?” She asked. She pulled her silk pink robe tighter around her incredibly fit figure.
I nodded. I glanced past Winter and into the house. “I actually came here for Ales. Is she around?”
Winter bobbed her head over enthusiastically and moved out of the doorway to allow me entrance. With a coy smile, she ushered me into the living room where Ales sat in a silk robe, her body turned towards the insanely large TV.
“Winter, who was it?” Ales sighed while popping a peice of popcorn into her mouth.
Winter smiled thinly and took a seat, muting the television with the remote on the glass coffee table. “Ales. We have a guest.”
Ales groaned. “Who the hell could it be?”
Winter crossed her legs and shot me a quick glance. “Malea.”
Immediately Ales tensed, all the muscles in her body rigid and looking mechanical. A vein protruded from her neck in strain. She turned to me, her wide eyes set with no emotion.
“What brings you here, Malea?” She asked icily, her manicured fingers splayed out as if she’d just painted them.
“Can I sit, first?” I asked.
They nodded in unison and I sat next to Ales. I pretended not to notice how she moved a bit further away from me.
“I wanted to know how you were feeling. Every time I call your phone it’s always on voicemail and whenever I come over, the maid always tells me that you’re not feeling well.” I reached for her hand but she avoided my touch by tucking a flyaway hair away from her face.
“I’ve just been busy.” She said simply. Coldly. Ales glanced over at Winter who looked at her with a knowing look that had an underlying meaning. Ales immediately softened. “I just didn’t have time to return calls. I’ve been stressed as of late.”
I nodded knowingly.
“How are you and Levi?” Winter butted in. She had the look on her face that said she wanted to smile but tried her hardest not to.
My face immediately turned red.
Winter winked as if she knew what happened. “You and him must be really special to have you blush that much.” Winter nodded once.
“Haven’t been kissing any other men now have you?” Ales asked stiffly, her words making me ignite in a white hot flame of embarrassment.
“N-No I haven’t.” I stuttered, looking down at my hands lamely.
Ales set down her drink on the coffee table. “Malea, I know what happened between you and Lucian.”
I shook my head. How did she know. “No. Nothing happened.”
“I know that you kissed him.” Her demise softened, her eyebrows raised in pity. She laid a hand on my own. “I forgive you. Because I know you were in the wrong.”
Somehow something felt off about all this. But I still felt relieved and overall guilty even after Ales admitted to knowing what had happened.
“I’m so sorry, Ales. It was a mistake.” I shook my head, a single tear making its way down my cheek. “I’ll understand if you never want to speak to me again.”
Ales tsked, her face completely void of anger but full of compassion. “No need to worry, Malea.” And as if her face had been a mask, she shed it off and a new emotion took place of the last. She looked intimidating. “Just stay away from him. Another slip up and I won’t be so forgiving.” Her voice dropped several decibels, a dangerous warning lingering on her words.
A shiver ran down my spine. I nodded uneasily.
***
Alesandra’s POV
“Now tell me. How are you and Levi? Did he figure out what happened between Lucian and yourself?” I asked, oblivious to the fact that she looked weary.
Malea looked uncomfortable. She shifted on the leather seats. “Well something happened.”
“What?” Winter and I asked simultaneously. I glanced over at her. She looked just as curious as I was.
“He cheated on me. With his ex girlfriend.” She said simply and stiffly. I could tell it still hurt her to talk about it and I loved that. She deserves to hurt for making me hurt. Even though I forgive her, that didn’t mean I was over the pain she had caused me when I found out.
“Hmm.” I wondered aloud. Winter prodded me on with her eyes. “Aw, honey bun. I’m so sorry. I didn’t know Myra was having an affair with him still.”
Her eyebrows collided in confusion. “Not Myra. Gina.”
I sucked in a harsh breath. Winter had told me Gina was the type of person to steal another woman’s man. I felt bad for Malea. But then again, she deserves what came at her. She stole my man, and in turn, another woman stole hers.
I feigned compassion. “I’m so sorry. Would you like something to drink? Maybe lemonade, coffee, wine even though–”
The front door creaked open and the jangle of keys made my words die in my mouth. I glanced up just as Lucian walked into the room, his eyes focused on no one but Malea. He took in a sharp intake of breath once he saw her. A chord of jealousy rang through me.
“I didn’t know Malea would be here.” He said finally, his voice low and strong.
I stood up and sauntered over to him but his eyes were still locked on Malea’s. “How was work?”
***
Lucian’s POV
I took my eyes away from Malea who sat so rigid on the couch that she looked almost frozen. My heart pounded wildly. Did Ales know about Malea and us? If she did, she left no hints.
“I’ll be leaving. Thanks for talking to me, Ales.” Malea said stiffly and left.
Third Person POV
One of them frowned, not happy with what the other had said.
“So you think that’ll really work? What if it becomes even more of a mess than it is now?” The one with honey blonde hair asked the one with dark brunette hair.
They all sat at a table, the brunette at the head and the red head right next to the brunette. They’d been discussing the same issue for over an hour, knowing that they only had one chance to do this right.
The dark brunette rolled her eyes. “Stop being such a wuss. You want this don’t you? I mean you asked for my help.”
The blonde contemplated this. “Yes. I did ask for your help.”
The brunette smiled and turned to the red head. “Just do as we say and your ultimate goal and mine will be accomplished.”
The blonde nodded, a slow smile spreading. “Yes. Anything you say I’ll do as long as the outcome is in both yours and my favor as well.”
The redhead waved away the blonde’s worries. “No need to fret. Everything you require will be done as long as you follow each word we say. Deal?”
The blonde thought about the conditions for a second before smiling sadistically along with the others. “Deal.”