The Next Day
LUCIUS
“You still have no leads on who sent those guys?”
“I am sorry, boss. I already ran a check on all of those guys and picked out the familiarities in their profile but there is barely any. They were deliberately and carefully picked out in case this happens. Whoever it is, doesn’t want you…”
“Enough of the blabbering” I cut him off, slamming a document into the desk in front of me.
“Check out where each of these guys frequent”
“I am already running a check on that but I don’t have results yet” He replied.
“I do not have the patience, Andro. I want everything done as fast as possible. I want a reliable lead in less than 24 hours”
“Yes sir” he replied and had turned when his phone chimed. He paused, glanced at his phone and turned towards me.
“I got the list of places they all visited in the past week”
“Run a quick check and find the similarities”
“Yes boss” He replied.
Eventually, I got it figured out. Four of those men had visited Twinnie Bar, a small and locally patronised bar in a ghetto area four days ago.
One step clser to findidng the bastard. I was so going to kill and chop that bastard into pieces when I find him.
MONALISA
“Irene” I called her name with a bright smile on my face.
“Hey Lisa” She smiled at me.
Irene had come to visit me at home because I had told her I was too tired to come outside and meet.
“Please let her in” I said to the men standing guard at the gates and they let Irene walk in.
Irene looked around the place, walking up to me. Standing in front of me, she stopped and brought back her attention to me.
“This place is beautiful” She commented.
“I know, right? There is a garden behind the main mansion and it is the most beautiful garden ever. I can also see the view from the window in my room”
“You reside here?” She asked.
“Just for two weeks. My mum isn’t around and I thought it would be wise to stay here and Lu… Mr. Devine isn’t bothered by me staying here anyways” I replied.
“That makes a lot of sense” Irene affirmed.
“I know. This place is a lot more beautiful. C’mon, let me take you in” I said and turned towards the main mansion.
Irene followed behind me and I walked as best as I could but there was no hiding it. My legs were super feeble from yesterday.
“Are you okay?” Irene asked.
“Of course I am. Does it look otherwise?”
“You are limping and that, very visibly” she replied and I felt my cheeks flush brightly.
“This is about your friend with benefits? You guys were together all throughout yesterday?” She asked.
“Yes but I am fine. Just a little limping.” I brushed it off with a wave of my hand and proceeded into the mansion.
“Welcome to my home… Temporary home” I chuckled as we found our way into the living room.
“This place is majestic!” She said and I nodded in agreement.
“Please have your seat. What would you like to have?” I asked.
“Nothing and you should sit down and stop limping around” she said and I couldn’t tell if it was in a serious tone or of she had said it jokingly.
Either ways, I sat by her side and she turned to face me.
“What did you spend your yesterday doing? You went partying eventually?” I asked her.
“Nah, I only wanted to go with you. Without you, I’d just stay back home. There’s no point going out to party without a friend” she said.
“Oh, I am really sorry I couldn’t go out with you yesterday”
“And you obviously can’t go partying today too” she pointed out.
“I guess so but I should be fine by tomorrow. Of course, I will be. We have lectures tomorrow, right? We can go wherever you want after lectures”
“I have got a ton of questions though”
“Shoot”
“When did you get this new friend with benefit?”
“It’s been a while now”
“A while? After breaking up with Bryant?”
“Yes but I knew him before then”
“Mind telling me who he is?”
I paused for a few seconds, wondering if it was okay to tell her about it. After considering it a bit, I decided not to. Lucius was Irene’s mum boss at work and if I told Irene about my relationship with Lucius, she might tell her mum and I didn’t think it was appropriate for her mum to know.
“I don’t really want to”
“Oh” she chuckled softly.
“That’s fine but do you think a friend with benefit is what you need at the moment?”
“I…” I couldn’t find the right words to say.
“I think this guy is taking advantage of you. Whoever this guy is, he can see that you are broken and he is taking advantage of that to get access to your body”
“No” an awkward smile appeared on my face.
“That’s not the type of guy he is”
“Are you sure about this? I think otherwise and I don’t mean to make you feel bad or anything but you don’t need a friend with benefit at the moment. I don’t even think you need any guy at the moment”
“Irene” I called her name softly but firmly.
“Yes?”
“You don’t know this man. I know him and he is far from the negative image you have in mind. He is a good person and I want him a lot. He didn’t manipulate me into the type of relationship we have right now. I wanted him and I went after him” I explained to her.
“I still don’t think you need a guy right now and…”
“Irene” I cut her off. I wasn’t going to just speculate anymore. I needed to ask her if she was interested in me.
“I have a question. Do you like me? As more than a friend?” I asked and saw her eyeballs widen a bit.
She looked away from my eyes, looked down and then looked back at me.
“I guess there’s no point hiding it from you any longer.” She whispered.
“The answer is yes, Lisa. I like you as more than a friend but I have been holding back from saying it because honestly, I am not sure if you like me the same way. I have… I have kept my feelings for you alive, hoping you are bisexual and would have the same feelings for me so Lisa, do you have feelings for me?” She asked and I could see the sincerity in her eyes.
She clearly had true feelings for me and I felt a bit bad that I couldn’t reciprocate the feelings. I didn’t feel attracted to Irene or any girls. I was straight and couldn’t reciprocate her feelings.
Taking her hands in mine gently, I shook my head slowly.
“I am sorry, Irene but I don’t have the same feelings for you. Can we just remain friends instead?” I asked and saw hurt grow in her eyes.
“Can’t you love me instead?” She asked softly but I didn’t respond as I had nothing to say. It wasn’t my fault that I could not love her back.
“Fine, it’s alright.” She forced out a smile.
“I definitely can’t force you to have feelings for me” the smile this time was a bit more genuine.
“Let’s remain friends. I will be your best friend forever, Lisa. I promise”
“Thank you so much, Irene.”