"Anny! The hell. Girl how do you manage to sleep past 10 o'clock?"
"Gab." I screamed.
I had missed this soul so much. Quickly I got out of bed and hugged her tightly. Off late she has been spending so much time with Lukah that I haven't had time for our girls out. Yah! I was a little bit jealous but am happy she's happy now.
"Hell no. You have never been this happy to see me. What do you want?" she asked.
"Well..." I dragged.
"Anny spit it out." she demanded.
"So this is what happened." I started.
I told her everything that had happened. She was keen on listening. Even though she asked a million questions over a period of 20 minutes.
"so... Let me get this straight. You want me to sneak into Lukah's study room go through his computer and search for this Rd name thing."
"Exactly." I agreed.
"You are going nuts."
"Come on Gab I need your help. The person who was sent almost killed me. Am not going to let this slide."
"Fine but just this once. Okay?"
"Okay."
Suddenly we heard the main door open. Guess it was Max. He wasn't here the whole night. This made me wonder what could have possibly happened. I rushed to the sitting area. There he was standing. Gazing at me.
"I thought you were asleep."
"Just woke up."
Gab came from behind. Judging by the atmosphere, she bid me before saying a 'hi' to Max who gladly responded to that. She walked away as I slightly waved a bye to her.
"I see you are back." I spoke walking away.
"Yah." he replied.
I headed to the bathroom. Soon I was out of the shower dressing up in a warm attire. I then prepared to brush my teeth before doing anything else. In the midst of minding my own goddamn business he spoke out of the blues.
"Are you happy staying with me?" he asked in a low tone.
"What is that supposed to mean?" I asked my mouth full of foam while I continued to brush.
Looking at him through the mirror I saw his hands a little swollen and bloody. Quickly I rinsed my mouth and walked to where he was standing.
"Max. What is this?" I directed my gesture to his knuckles.
He seemed tense. His eyes were glued to the floor. Before I could ask anything else he was already on his heels walking away from me.
"Not a chance. You are going to stay here and tell me where in the fucking world you were." I ordered him raising my voice.
"What If I don't want to?" He paused. "You won't force me right?"
Not now not ever. We had to settle everything here. I wasn't going to leave it this time. Yah, I was angry beyond words. Yet u stayed calm in order to understand everything.
"Max. I am tired of you doing this." I yelled.
"Doing what!"
His tone was low and calm. His eyes never leaving mine. He stood there body built and bold. I felt a little bit awkward since I was the only one heated up at the moment.
"Stop pretending you know exactly what I mean."
For a couple of seconds we remained silent. I watched him while he stood there like a statue in his own world.
"Shit! Am out of here." I cursed.
When I was about to leave he stopped me right on my tracks,held both my hands in his. I knew then I had a break through on him.
"It hurts Anny."
Unfortunately, he was a hard one to crack. Maybe I was doing it all wrong. Getting information out of him would cost me so much more than just tears.
"Jeez! Seriously."

I walked him to the couch, made him seat and wait for me. Moments later I came back with a first aid kit on my hands. Sitting besides him, he slouched a little. Getting to work I poured some spirit on a cotton wool to disinfect the swelling. It looked nasty.
" I kinda lost my cool and got into a fight with Rd." he confessed.
He got my attention but I never showed him he had it. Slowly I continued to clean his swell while he continued to talk. Bet he felt like I was ignoring him.
Suddenly he tilted my head towards him.
" Are you listening? " He asked.
I slightly nodded then looked away from him to the first aid kit. Fishing out some bandages, I continued with what I was doing. I knew I'd give myself in if we looked at each other for more than ten seconds.
"He is dangerous, Anny." he continued.
The guy seems mysterious and dangerous yet I tend to find my boss a hundred times more dangerous than him. He didn't give me any information past that. Hence my plan was still on. I needed a hand full information on him.
" All done." I announced.
Yah! The bandage fit well and I was pretty sure the swell won't be infected.
"Thanks."
This was the first time he is being sincere. I was glad I could be of help.
"Wanna order take out?" he asked.
"Did someone say take out." I heard Lukah's voice round the corner.
Both Gab and Lukah walked out of the blues. Max looked at them annoyed. Bet he wanted some time alone.
"We are heading out wanna join?" Gab asked.
I turned towards Max. He slightly smiled then nodded his head in agreement. Quickly I put on some outdoor clothes.

Soon we were walking to the direction of the main door. That was not until Max pulled me back than I noticed he wasn't okay.
"Max are you okay?"I asked.
We have been falling out but that does not necessarily mean I don't care about him to the extent that I can not know when he's not okay.
" I know I haven't been that great to you that's why you are falling out. I also know you can't stand me right now but baby girl this is for the best. Hiding all this from you, it ain't easy. You care about me, I see it in your eyes and am thankful for that. Just trust me if I could I'd turn back time to be with you in a better manner. " he paused.
His eyes never leaving mine. Now I was tensed. He had never been this way. We argue, we fall out but in the long run we still get back together. That's how we are.
" Max you are scaring me right now. "
" Hey! Don't be it's okay. " He tried to calm me down.
He hugged me tightly before we made our way out. That was after Gabby kept calling us over and over. Suddenly I felt his lips on mine once we reached the door. It was brief yet I loved it.
" I love you Anny. "
I smiled to the fact that he acknowledged it. This was the second time he did that and I felt it. More and more I feel entangled with him.
" I love you more." I said before running away to where Gabby was. She looked at me as if I had done something wrong.

"quit pretending you are thinking and I know you ain't." I slapped her hand that was placed oh her head at the gesture of thinking.
We all boarded Max's V8 as he drove to the venue.
"Anny hit the music." Lukah suggested.
"Yah! It's so quiet in here." Gabby agreed.
There I was connecting Lukah's phone to the cars bluetooth. Soon the music started playing. At first we slowly vibe to the rhythm. Later we started singing along.