Invisible String

Chapter 5

"Stop staring and continue eating, April. Bleach said he will be here in about an hour to pick you up," Ramee said, smirking as he sipped from his glass of water.

She rolled her eyes and didn't respond, not wanting to make it more awkward than it already is. It was hard to get her eyes off of him, the muscles and the abs were too distracting.

"So..." Bleach eyed his mother knowingly while flashing a mischievous smirk on his face when she got into his car.

April raised a brow at her son, trying to warn him from instigating. But being Ramee's son, and hanging out with CG, the young redhead loved to stir the pot.

Bleach chuckled, "I need to know, Mama. But not in detail please."

Confused and flustered with what her son said, she slapped Bleach's arm, which earned a small "aw" from the young man.

"Nothing happened, Bleach! I was asleep the whole night, I couldn't even remember anything," she denied and looked away, while the other decided not to push.

When they arrived at the Mond, Lucas was already waiting for her at her penthouse. He was wearing his usual business casual fit and was on the phone as she entered the suite, with Bleach tailing her.

"Hey, Lucas! I feel like I haven't seen you in a while!" she exclaimed and sat beside him.

He put away his phone and looked at her from head to toe. "What happened to you, April? I haven't seen you wear something like that in a long time."

"I got a little bit crazy last night so I ended up at my ex-boyfriend's bed," she explained which sounded so wrong from the other's point of view, earning a chuckle from Bleach.

Lucas eyed Bleach but didn't say anything. He had been supportive of everything April did and would not question her. "Just make sure your focus is still on your goal, April," he advised, then changed the topic. "Ricardo is coming in three days, he'll bring your dress."

April smiled widely. "Great! I'll ask the other girls if they already have dresses for the wedding. Ricardo picks out the best ones!"

Lucas agreed and excused himself to answer another phone call. While in Los Santos, her best friend promised that he'll take care of her businesses, which she was thankful for.

She asked Bleach to order lunch at Maldinis while she took a shower.

As the warm water trickled down her skin, bits and pieces of what happened the night before came back to her. Some of it was blurry, but the most important part was clear.

"So, Carmella huh? I thought you guys broke up... guess you didn't," April let out a drunken laugh while she was laying on Ramee's bed. He just saved her from stripping in front of everyone and decided to bring her to his place.

"April, you're drunk, just sleep," he tried to dismiss the topic but failed because the siren did not let it go even in her drunken state.

"You don't have to pay for my bills anymore, I can take care of myself now!" she sighed and closed her eyes but continued to speak. "Crazy how you are with Carmella when I am finally not a burden and equal to you. Did you even miss me?"

The memory was back to being blurry after that question. She couldn't recall what he said after but she knew that she fucked up.

"Fuck!" she mumbled under her breath when the memory hit her. Her head started to pound again so she stepped out of the shower and decided to rest for the day.

"I may have said something to Ramee that I should not have said," April told Ray when they met at the latter's office at the hotel the next day.

The brunette looked at her and pushed the papers she had on the table as the topic piqued her interest. "What did you tell him?"

"It's all blurry but I told him that I was upset that he's with Carmella," she answered as she covered her face with the palm of her hands with embarrassment.

Ray reached out to her hand and squeezed it. "Do you mean it?"

April shrugged. She knew that the warlord still held a special place in her heart, but she wasn't expecting that she would be upset seeing him with another girl. And she was not ready to admit all of it, except to Ray.

"I had been with other men in Liberty, but none of it was serious. I guess seeing him again made me feel things, and seeing him with Carmella... I don't know, it didn't feel so good," she answered truthfully.

Ray smiled worriedly at her and rubbed her gorl's hand with her thumb to calm her down. "You have been here for less than a week, April. Don't rush yourself into figuring out things right away, especially if it involves matters of the heart. Take your time, but don't stop yourself from having emotions."

"I hate this, gorl. I have not felt any of this for three years, but three days into this city and I am already in too deep," she told Ray and rolled her eyes in annoyance. "I just hope he did not remember anything. He was drunk too, I think."

Ray chuckled, "What did he tell you when you woke up? Did he mention it?"

She shook her head, "He didn't."

"I know Ramee, you know him well too, he would not let something like that slide. So if he remembers what you said, he will not let you rest until he gets answers from you. Since he did not mention it, he might be too drunk to even remember anything," Ray said, trying to make light of the situation. "Don't worry, if he ever mentions it, I will know."

She nodded in agreement and her breath started to normalize. When she convinced herself that he was not gonna remember any of it, she switched the topic to her gorl's love life.

"Tell me, what is up with you and Randy?" she asked.

The brunette rolled her eyes and shrugged, ready to get her best friend caught up with her love life. "We tried being in a relationship, a year after you left. We were together for a month but it didn't work out for us. No one knew about it. We are now just friends... who give each other's needs when we need it."

April smirked and looked at her gorl knowingly. "So when you went out during girls' night, it wasn't because Randy was in trouble?"

"He was in trouble but he got out of it right away. I stayed at his house that night, and you can formulate in your head whatever happened next," Ray answered honestly. "We are better this way. No break ups, no commitments."

"But do you have feelings for him?" she asked her.

Ray nodded and smiled. "We always make sure to tell each other how we feel. Right now, the feelings between us are mutual."

The siren was confused with her gorl's "situationship" but didn't want to ask more questions. She was curious how Ray handled all of it but guessed it could be a question for another day.

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A short update because I got little bit of motivation :)