One For All

Chapter Twenty-Eight: Darren's Redemption

Chapter Twenty-Eight: Darren’s Redemption

            Papers were scattered all over the floor. They were a variety of folders and files, articles from magazines and newspapers, and journal notes. As if an office space and been torn apart throwing everything out. Broken glass sprinkled the floor on top of it all. The coffee table was flipped over and in the middle of all the chaos Darren sat. He sat with his legs crossed looking calm. In reality the calm had happened after the storm rather than before. With his eyes closed he kept seeing them in his head.

            Two weeks, two weeks had passed since his life had been flipped. Darren always won. Any game he played; he always came out on top. It was just the way life worked. A month ago he’d been on top of the world. He had all the contestants in the palm of his hand. He’d been working on crushing their spirits and taking them to the edge. He’d found out from Rebecca about Clara’s secret feelings for him. He’d always played around with the idea of coming between Mitch and Clara. He’d tried his best to put that aside but when Rebecca provided him with the proof. Well, the idea manifested into an obsession.

            He’d been done with Mary after a couple of times. The truth was the game of sleeping with his secretary got old and boring—fast. And so he’d moved on even if Mary hadn’t. Knowing that Clara was interested in him made seducing her that much easier. He had been curious as to how far she would go. To his greatest delight she went all the way.

            Darren looked around the room. He was angry at the mess that had been created. Every time he closed his eyes he could see Noah’s smirk as he announced they were One For All. He could see Aiden taking the first step to stand by his friend. All five of them had betrayed him. All five of them needed to pay. Darren always won. But not this time. This time even he had to admit he’d lost. He leaned against the couch as he tried to figure out where everything had gone wrong.

            There were so many aspects that it made him feel nauseous. There were several factors that had been out of his control. Mary, Clara, Mitch, Mason, Aiden, Noah, Declan and Owen. If he was honest he could even trace it to Rebecca and Madison. Madison had been the bitch that set things in motion. She’d played her own game and had decided to quit. And she’d recruited Clara on her side. A surge of anger passed through him as he thought of that. He had never thought that anyone would have wanted to quit their dreams. But she had done it. He pictured Madison crying and the thought pleased him. He promised himself that he would find her and make her cry. He wanted to be the cause of her tears.

            He thought of Mary. How expendable she was supposed to be. How unimportant she truly was and yet she’d decided to write herself into his own story. It was unacceptable. He couldn’t stand it. Never in a million years would he have thought that the secretary would have let herself get pregnant. He clenched his fists as he thought of how she’d reluctantly revealed it to him and then confessed that she had told Clara about it. He’d told her to get rid of the problem before it grew but she refused. The idea that she was out there somewhere with his child that he didn’t want made him angry. The bitch would pay. He would keep tabs on her and the child and make their life a living hell.

            He thought of Clara’s betrayal. She’d sided with Madison, she’d sided with Mary and she’d sided with the five boys. She was always against him. She was beautiful and tempting but he had to admit that she only got in the way. He knew she was a good liar because she was still with Mitch and acted as if nothing had happened between her and Darren. But Darren knew the truth and he couldn’t help but smile as he realized that that was the way to her undoing.

            Mitch. His other best friend who was an idiot. He was still clueless although now on edge because of Mary planting seeds in his head. Mitch would be easy. Darren just had to make him trust him again. He needed to gain Mitch’s trust again and he had no doubt that he’d accomplish it. And when he did, he would reveal Clara’s betrayal and make them both pay.