Josh went into his apartment and slammed his door shut in frustration because he was so annoyed with Isabelle. He couldn't believe that she was still convinced that he had feelings for Jennifer and it hurt to think that she may never trust him again and they wouldn't get back together.
He went into his kitchen and grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge. He downed the entire content into his body and sighed in satisfaction as he finished it.
He decided to take a shower because he felt dirty and with that, he went into his bathroom and turned on the water. The warm water fell all over his skin and it felt like magic.
After he was done, he walked over to the little tub and was about to brush his teeth. He opened the cabinet and took out his brush and paste and when he closed it, he was staring at the mirror on the cover of the cabinet but the face he saw wasn't his; it was Garin's.
He blinked almost immediately he saw the mirror and his face returned in it. Josh wasn't sure what had just happened. He felt that he was just seeing things that weren't there because he was tired and exhausted from the previous night that he couldn't even remember.
He finished up in the bathroom and went into his bedroom to put on some comfortable clothes. After he got dressed, he lay on his bed and decided to text his friends about what happened this morning with Isabelle.
He dialled Frank's number and his friend picked up.
"Hello, Frank," he began.
"Sup, Man?" Frank answered.
"I'm not even sure anymore, dude. You will not believe where I woke up this morning or who was naked beside me," Josh said.
"Tell me," Frank asked, his interest already peaked.
"I woke up in a motel room with Isabelle beside me," he said.
"What? That's awesome, Man. Does this mean you guys have buried the hatchet and are getting back together?" He asked.
"No, Man. Let me finish. Neither of us could remember how we got like that," he told him.
"What do you mean?" Frank asked because he was a bit confused.
"Frank, I have no recollection of leaving my home, meeting up with Isabelle and heading to that motel, and neither does she. It's almost like my mind was erased and I can't remember anything," Josh said with a palm on his head.
"Are you trying to tell me that you and Isabelle got together last night, went to a motel, probably had sex and you can't remember any of it, anything at all?" Frank asked.
"That's right, and that's why I called you. I was wondering if you saw me or if you know anything that can help me figure this out," Josh asked.
"After Chris and I left, that was it. We didn't speak again throughout the rest of the night. You know what? I'll get Chris and we'll come over and try and make some sense of this whole thing, alright?" Frank said.
"Yeah, that will be great," Josh agreed.
"Alright, hang tight, we're on our way," Frank said and hung up the call.
Josh was even more confused now. He placed his head on his pillow and closed his eyes, trying to remember something, anything that happened after he went to bed. He searched through his mind, trying to see if he could get any glimpse of last night.
Just when it seemed like he was starting to recollect, his doorbell rang and it pulled him out of his mental journey. He wondered who was at the door because he knew it couldn't be Chris and Frank so he got up to check it out.
He reached the door and looked at the door camera on the wall and saw that it was Jennifer. She had a bunch of files in her hands and he remembered that he had asked her to bring him some work files so he could work from home.
He opened the door to let her in and was left a bit flustered when he saw her outfit. She was wearing a long tight black blouse with a very low neckline that revealed her firm and well-rounded boobs. Her net stockings could be seen making their way from her high-heeled shoes to her legs and up her thighs which were very exposed because of the short length of her skirt. Her hair was packed in a bun so it didn't cover her neck which made her show a lot of extra skin and she had this look on her face that was predatory and yet, innocent at the same time.
Her attire wasn't as revealing as what a stripper would wear but it was definitely not appropriate for a workplace but Josh just felt that that was her style of dressing and she didn't have any ulterior reasons for wearing it.
"Good morning, Sir. I'm here with the files just like you asked," she said in a formal tone.
"Oh, yeah. I forgot about that," he said and took the files from her.
That was it. She'd brought what he asked for and he'd collected it. There was no reason to invite her in, he thought to himself, so he was about to say goodbye to her when he noticed her tugging at her heels.
"Are you okay there?" He asked.
"Yeah, I'm fine. My feet just really hurt because I sprained it on my way here when I stepped on a banana peel and almost fell," she claimed.
Josh felt like that story was highly unlikely but he kept his thoughts to himself. He couldn't call her out about it and he also couldn't just send her on her way just like that so he had no choice but to be the gentleman.
"You could put some ice on it so it doesn't get worse. I have some in my fridge," he said.
"That would be a big help. Thanks, Sir," she said and walked into the apartment.
"Please, have a seat while I get you that ice. Would you also like something to drink?" He asked politely.
"Some juice if you have," she answered.
Josh took the files and placed them on his desk while Jennifer waited for him on his couch. He came back out and went to the fridge. He took an ice pack and a bottle of orange juice and took them to her.
"Here you go," he said and handed her the items.
"Thank you, Sir," she said and took them from him.
"Well, I'll leave you to it and get started on those files," he told her and went into his office.
He went back into his office and sat down to begin. He opened the files and his laptop as well and began going through them. He did so for a few minutes and sighed when he felt his shoulders ache. He didn't understand why he felt so weak but he really was tensed up and as if he willed it, he felt a pair of soft hands on his shoulders massaging them and boy, did it feel good.
"Sir, you seem a bit tense," Jennifer said to him as she massaged his back and shoulders.
"Yeah, I...um, I had a weird night," he said.
"Maybe I can help you relax a bit," she said as she hit some really tense muscles on his shoulder.
It felt so satisfying and Josh was enjoying it too much to realise that she was trying to seduce him.
Jennifer's hands were on his shoulders but they slowly started moving to his chest and his abs and then, even lower. As she reached the bulge in his trousers, Josh's eyes shot open and they were red.
He grabbed Jennifer's hands and held them so tight, it felt like he was about to break them. She winced in pain as his grip tightened.
"Don't touch me," Josh said in a deep voice that wasn't his own.
Garin had taken over his body and was not going to allow someone who wasn't Isabelle to try and have him.
"Josh, you're hurting me," Jennifer cried out and continuously tried to pull her hand away from his grip.
Josh suddenly regained control of his body and let go of Jennifer's arm. She moved away from him and held her wrist in pain.
"Why did you do that?" She asked him with tears almost falling out of her eyes.
"I'm so sorry, Jennifer. I didn't mean to, I don't know what came over me," Josh apologized.
Her wrist was bruised and it looked really bad. Josh took her to the kitchen and placed an ice pack on her wrist to help with the pain and prevent swelling.
"Again, I'm so sorry about this," Josh said as he gently moved the ice across her wrist.
"It's probably my fault," Jennifer admitted.
"How is this your fault?" Josh wondered.
"I freaked you out just now and you reacted that way because I took you by surprise," she said.
"Well, I wasn't expecting you to try to...you know," he said and smiled at her.
"I know. I just couldn't help myself," she said and smiled back, "Well, I guess I'd better get going. When will you be back in the office?" She asked as she got up.
"I think I'll take a few more days off," he answered.
He walked her to the front door and opened it for her. Before leaving, she turned around to say goodbye to him.
"Well, get better soon, Sir," she said.
"Thanks, Jennifer," He said and leaned in and was about to shake her hand but she instead went for a hug.
Josh was taken by surprise again but he didn't want to push her away so he just returned the awkward hug with an uncomfortable smile on his face.
Jennifer let go of him and as he was about to pull away from him, there was this moment when their lips were so close to each other and she looked into his eyes. She was so tempted to kiss him but before she could act on her thoughts, Josh pulled away.
"Goodbye," he said awkwardly and she left.
He shut the door, leaned on it and let out a sigh. This wasn't a great situation to be in because he was her boss and also, he wanted to get Isabelle back and involving himself with Jennifer would certainly ruin the chances of that happening because it would confirm Isabelle's suspicions about him having feelings for her.
"This is not good," he said to himself.
*****
Isabelle got home and just like Josh, she was exhausted and didn't even know why. The morning had gotten off to a really weird start and she was adamant about finding out what happened last night.
She walked past her answering machine and saw the message light blinking so she pushed the button to hear them.
"Hey, Isabelle, It's Neo. I got to the hospital this morning and they said that you were gone. For some reason, nobody saw you leave so I assumed that you snuck out so I came over to look for you but you weren't home and now, I'm very worried. Please call me when you get this message so that I know you're alright," His voice said.
Isabelle was shocked to hear this because she couldn't remember leaving the hospital. She also decided to call Neo so he wouldn't worry anymore.
She dialled his number and waited for him to answer. He did.
"Hey, Neo, It's Isabelle," She said.
"Isabelle, where have you been? I've been so worried," he asked her.
"Yeah, I'm fine. I got tired of being in the hospital so I took off and I'm sorry I didn't call you and made you all worried and stuff," she lied.
"Well, are you alright?" He asked.
"Yeah, I'm fine. I'll call you later so we can meet up, alright?" She said.
"Okay, see you soon," he answered and hung up.
Isabelle was so tired and her muscles were sore so she decided to take a nap first and when she woke up, she'd look for more answers for what happened to her last night.
She went to her room and fell into her bed. It didn't take long before she fell asleep and her attempt to rest and have some peace failed as her sleep was plagued with strange dreams.
She dreamed of fighting what could only be described as a demon with a sword made of fire. She saw herself flying through the sky and beneath her was a river of blood.
From flying, she started to fall and the blood on the ground caught on fire and just as she was about to land on it, someone caught her and saved her life, but when she looked at his face, it was yet another demon and he let her go.
She fell to the ground and it swallowed her upon impact and she immediately found herself in a white room full of mirrors. Her reflection in the mirrors wasn't of her but of a different woman and it was a face she'd seen in her dreams before. She moved closer to one of the mirrors and stopped right in front of it.
The face she saw was looking back at her and it was surely a different person. It was Hannah.
"Isabelle, let me in. I can help you. I can make sure they don't take him away from you," Hannah said to her.
"Who are you and what are you talking about?" Isabelle asked the reflection.
"I'm you," Hannah replied and the dream ended.
Isabelle woke up and she was feeling really panicked. She was starting to get scared, thinking that she was going crazy and she needed to speak to someone she'd be able to open up completely to. Seeing as she hadn't made any close friends since she moved to L.A, the only one she could call was her cousin, Gwen.
She took her cell phone from her bedside table and called her cousin.
"Gwen, I really need to see you. I think I'm losing my mind and you're the only one I can talk to," She said.
******
"How could you two idiots let yourself get beat up by a bunch of dead spirits? How?" The devil yelled at Gentel and Zarif.
"Father, forgive us for failing you but..." Gentel tried to say but Lucifer cut her off.
"I don't want to hear your excuses. I can no longer bear your incompetence," Lucifer shouted.
"Please, Father, give us another chance and we will get rid of Garin and his angel. We will make sure they can't stop you from claiming victory against all of creation," Zarif begged.
"You both have had more than enough chances and I can no longer tolerate your failure. You'll both remain here in Hell while someone else deals with sending Garin back to Harlem," The Devil said.
"But who will be able to replace us, Father? Gentel asked.
"Kari has been begging me to send him to Earth to take care of Garin so, I'm giving the task to him. If he succeeds, he'll be given the mission and the both of you won't set foot on Earth for another thousand years," Lucifer said and walked away.
Gentel had an angry look on her face. She was worried that Kari would succeed and Lucifer would give him the task permanently. All she could do was hope that he'd fail so her father would give her back the task.