BLEGH!
"Lavender, how'd you get so ill?" Claire rubbed her back while Lavender threw up in the pot of her bathroom. "I seriously don- BLEGH!" She puked her guts out.
"My goodness, who gave you the flu? Was it Tristen?" She scolded. "No." Lavender spat. "He's gone, right?" She asked, sniffling. "Yeah, he left." Claire replied, giving her a wet towel.
"He shouldn't know about it. He worries too much about me. Just too much." Lavender reasoned. "I mean, he loves you. He has every right to be." Claire replied. "Freshen up, I'll set the table for you. Eat your breakfast and have your meds." She rubbed Lavender's back before leaving the bathroom.
"It stinks." Lavender rolled her eyes, flapping her palm in front of her nose left to right. She flushed the toilet before washing her hands. "How the hell did I get sick? I was fine until weeks ago." She wondered, before rinsing her mouth with water.
"Was it at Jim's company? But I didn't eat anything there." She mumbled to herself. She poured some mouth wash in the cap of its bottle and gargled until she was sure that her mouth was clear. She widened her eyes as a thought struck her mind, making her spit the liquid into the sink. "Was it because I drank too much alcohol?" She stared at herself in the mirror.
"I bet that could be it. But then..." She sighed, looking at the designer hand wash bottle kept beside the sink on the counter. "Good lord, I should have gone to the doctor the moment I was hurt." She whined, stomping her foot on the floor.
"Did she throw up?"
"Yes, sir. She did. She was also against you knowing it." Claire sighed, speaking into the receiver of the telephone. "No wonder I fell in love with her. She's stubborn." Tristen replied, making Claire laugh. "Anyways, thanks for letting me know; I'll see her soon later this evening. And keep me up to date with her health. She won't tell me otherwise."
"Definitely." Claire replied, as she heard the call disconnect. She made her way to the kitchen where Lavender was already standing in front of the refrigerator.
"My, my!" Claire gasped, getting startled. "Saw a ghost?" Lavender asked, eating a small chocolate before closing the fridge. "No, it's just that I thought you were in the bathroom. Didn't expect you'd come here so quick." She awkwardly laughed, watching Lavender sit at the counter. "Where's breakfast?" She asked, looking at Claire who was still standing by the door. "Uh, yeah. Almost ready." She rushed to the stove to to put a pan for heating. "Were you talking on the phone?" Lavender narrowed her eyes at her in suspicion.
"NO! Not at all!" Claire gave an exaggerated laugh. "I heard you talking, though." Lavender insisted. "I, uh..." She spun around and started pouring pancake batter into the heated pan.
"Geez, how long are you going to hide it? I already know about it, okay. You can drop the act." Lavender rolled her eyes, placing her phone on the counter to go through her messages. "You know about it?" Claire gulped hard. "Obviously?" She replied, wondering what was wrong with her assistant. "I'm really sorry Lavender, but he was worried and I didn't know what else to do!" She panicked.
"What the hell are you talking about? Is everything alright between you both?" Lavender made a confused face. "Us both?" Claire blinked her eyes in confusion. Oh no, does she think that I'm betraying her by talking to Tristen? Does she think I'm... in an affair with him? She thought, panicking. "No Lavender, that's not what I was doing! You're getting a wrong idea!" She said, putting the pancakes on the plate before turning off the heat.
"What wrong idea? Aren't you guys already a thing?" Lavender scoffed. "No we're- wait, what?" Claire asked, rushing over to Lavender with the plate. "Brendon and you, aren't you guys together already?" She asked, taking a bite out of her plate.
"Me and Brendon?" Claire stared blankly at her face, watching her pour honey and some raspberries on her pancakes. "Did he not propose or something to you? You know, to ask you to be his girlfriend or whatever?" Lavender asked, dumbing down her expressions for her to understand.
"Ah! That!" Claire laughed her head off, taking a seat beside her. "And you say I'm the one who's sick." Lavender rolled her eyes, proceeding to eat her breakfast. "We've not quite reached that stage yet, Lav. But I have a feeling that it's going to be soon." She squealed, burying her face in her palms.
"So you're a thing. Got it."
"You could say that too." She giggled. "Aren't you eating?" Lavender asked, pushing her plate to offer some pancakes to Claire. "I already ate. You need this more." She pushed it back to her. "I need to write down my chapters! I'll get to work as soon as I finish this meal." Lavender said with a firm intention.
"And your medicines." Claire placed the tiny canister in front of her. "Yeah, them too. I honestly don't think these are working, though." She replied. "That's how it is. They take time to improve your system. You'll be well soon." She assured her.
"Alright. I'm done." Lavender finished her meal and took her medicines before standing upright. "No one can stop me from finishing my novel." She said firmly, looking out of the window.
"That's my girl!" Claire hyped her up.
"Did you count the money? It's not less, is it?" Bates panicked, asking his assistant John. "I did. For the fifteenth time, yes. It's the same amount." He sighed. "I just need to give this to Juggy and I can take Renee back home." Bates sighed. "I just hope he didn't do anything to her."
"She'll be alright." John replied. Bates and John were on their way to Juggy's place to hand him the money he owed. He obviously had his men with him, but he clearly knew that only he would be allowed to go in to get Renee, his daughter, back. "God, what would I say if he asked me where'd I get the money from?" He panicked. "Just tell him you arranged it somehow." John replied.
"I'm afraid he'll know that I borrowed it from.." Bates trailed off as his phone vibrated in the pocket of his pants. "Tristen." He received the call from the same person he was talking about. "Bates? Where are you?" Tristen asked.
"In my car, on the way to Juggy's." Bates replied. "Alright, call me when you get your daughter back." He said, ready to hang up. "No, wait!" Bates yelled. "What is it?" He asked.
"What will I tell Juggy if he asks here I got the money?"
"Make something up, but do not, Bates, DO NOT tell him you got it from me. I will not let you live your life peacefully if something happens to Lavender. He has given me the benefit of doubt and I'm constantly switching places between work and Lavender's place."
"I get it. I will not let him know anything about it." Bates nodded, hanging up on the call. "What'd he say?" John asked. "Lavender is in danger. He said he'd make my life difficult if something happens to her." He explained. "But boss, I thought you liked Lavender, too." John pointed out. "I know..." Bates sighed heavily, looking out of his window as his driver drove the car. The sky looked grey. Unlike a winter sky, it was looking like it would rain. The sun was hidden behind the dark clouds that would roar any moment to show their crackling anger.
"I like Lavender, but Renee is my everything. I cannot be so selfish to let my daughter be sold and sent off to some Russian brothel just because I want to find love again. I can find someone else to love, but not another daughter to look after." He said. "Does that mean you're giving up on pursuing Lavender?" John asked. "Yes. I made many efforts, too. But it only accelerated the growing hatred between us. Especially after Tristen was involved." He sighed. "I'm thinking that I'd step down and keep it low after cleaning this mess, focusing more on my writing than my businesses now. Renee is growing up, and I do not want her to be influenced by me as some mafia, but rather as someone who is worthy of being their child's role model."
"I respect your decision." John said, as they entered Juggy's place. It was huge, no less than Tristen's. Except, there were many more guards than both Tristen and Bates' combined. Of course, no doubt he was rich by doing those businesses that paid billions.
Human trafficking.
"Listen, John." Bates said as the driver stopped the car. "We cannot expect it to go smoothly. No matter what happens, who dies, you are going to stay alive and take Renee out of here the moment I get her out of that hellhole. It's my job to bring her out by doing whatever I can, and from there you need to take her and get her to Tristen's. That is, if a fight breaks out." He explained the plan to John who listened carefully.
"We'll be ready." John said, getting out of the car and opening the door for Bates. His men did the same and stood out of their cars. There were about 7 cars, all 8 seaters, full of men. "Only you, enter." Juggy's guard said to Bates. "Yeah, I know." Bates replied, gripping the suitcases filled with cash. He stepped in through the gates and was followed by two guards.
His heart beats got faster every time he took a step. Heaven forbid anything from happening to Renee, he thought, entering his house. There, Juggy was sitting in his living room with alcohol in front and guards around him. "Ah, Bates. I was waiting." Juggy laughed, loosing balance from his couch. His guard held him and helped him back up; that was how drunk Juggy was. He was tall and had a personality of a wizard. That was because he wore long coats that ended right at his calves.
"Wanna drink?" Juggy asked. "No, thanks. I'm here to return the money I lost to you in the bet and get my daughter back." Bates said, being straightforward. "I see. So sad I couldn't have fun with her, though. You should've taken your time." Juggy laughed his head off. Control it, he is drunk, Bates thought to himself. "Juggy, please." He put the suitcase on his table and opened it to show the amount.
"It'll take too long to count them." He rolled over to the side while holding the bottle of drink. "Start counting, bastards!" He yelled at his men who got to work immediately. After what seemed like an hour, the men were done counting. Bates stood in front of Juggy the entire time they were counting the bills. "It's 100 million in total. Full sum." One of them said. "So you got it all?" Juggy chuckled. "My daughter now, as it was promised. Give her back." Bates said.
"Bring her." Juggy motioned, before staring at Bates. "Where did you get this from?" He asked suspiciously. "I got some of my goods earlier than they were scheduled. The rest I took from my savings." He replied calmly. Deep inside, he was panicking and wanted to just get it over with.
"Dad?" The little twelve year old girl called out. "Renee! Come here!" Bates cried, hugging her daughter who came running to him. "Are you alright?" He asked, checking her arms to see any sort of scar received from physical abuse. There were some bruises, but no signs of permanent scars. "Did they hit you?" He whispered. Renee quietly nodded in a yes.
"Let's get you out of here." He held her hand before looking at the drunken man. Juggy gave them both an exaggerated smile, blowing a drunken kiss in their direction. "Dad." Renee tugged on his arm, telling him to get out. "I'll be going now. Thank you." Bates said, turning around to leave. "It's weird." He mumbled once they were outside the gate of the house. "What?" Her daughter asked. "He let me take you away without causing any scene." He said, as John opened the door to the car. "John!" Renee smiled and ran to hug him, too. "It's good to see you back safe, Renee." John patted her head before she quickly sat inside her dad's car.
"What's wrong, Bates?" He asked, watching him standing while completely lost in his thoughts. "Ah, nothing. Hurry, sit ahead." Bates motioned as he sat down, taking hold of the door handle to shut it himself. They took off from Juggy's house quickly to avoid any unwanted trouble.
"What a beautiful mother and daughter reunion! Brings tears to my eyes!" Juggy cried while in his high, throwing the bottle on the table in front. "He's a father, Juggy." His guard corrected him. "Ah, right." He shook his head.
"This means one thing." Juggy sniffled.
"What?"
"Tristen has betrayed me."
"Dad, when I was shut in their basement, there were many other girls. Are their dad's going to come save them?" Renee asked, as she wrapped a shawl around her torn clothes. "Let's hope for it." Bates smiled, caressing her head. Renee went on talking about the things that happened to her and John kept her busy by showing his keen interest, meanwhile, Bates was thinking about something. Even though Juggy was drunk, how could he let us go that easy? He wondered.
He pulled out his phone to dial the man who would definitely know the answer to it, Tristen. But unfortunately, he couldn't reach him because he was too busy to answer his phone.
"Ah, Tristen! Let me down!" Lavender complained loudly, holding Tristen's shoulders while his arms locked themselves around her butt. "What were you trying to do by climbing the kitchen counter?" He asked, keeping her up in the air. "I was hungry! The sour chips were up here, I just wanted some." She whined.
"You could have told me." He spun her around, placing her feet on the floor. "We're out of them." She pouted, sadly. "I thought you had two boxes worth of chips stored in the cabinet stocked this week?" He creased his brows. Lavender looked in random directions, playing with her fingers.
"This is the reason you're not getting any better." He playfully hit her on the butt, making her gasp. He was scolding her like she was a kid. "How will you recover if you keep eating junk?" He folded his arms across his chest. "It's not my fault if I get a craving for sour chips!" She argued like a little brat, folding her arms in the same way.
Tristen looked at her face, as a thought hit his mind. "Love, let's get you a follow up health check up at the hospital." He suggested. "NO!" She accidentally shouted, which even startled Tristen. She covered her mouth right after, realizing her mistake. "Sorry, I didn't mean to. It's just that I've been getting moody these days." She lowered her gaze. "I understand." Tristen wrapped his arms around her, resting his chin on her head.
Things don't seem good, He thought. He took a long sniff from her hair and exhaled heavily. "You smell like flowers even in your sickness." He smiled, looking at her. She blushed and hugged him tighter, only for him to whisper in her ear, "You threw up again this morning, didn't you?"
"How'd you know?" She panicked, breaking the hug. "Baby, just because I'm not able to stay here for longer, you're disrespecting my absence by not taking care of yourself the way I do." He said. "Tristen, I'm doing all I can. I take morning walks in my backyard for fresh air and water the plants, have breakfast and other meals, take my pills after every meal and I also get appropriate amount of rest. More than I rest on an average day, in fact. I do every thing you and the doctor have told me to, baby. But, nothing works." She creased her brows sadly.
"Then let me take you to the hospital for a check up, that's all I'm saying. If the medicines aren't working, maybe there's another problem." Tristen insisted, pulling her closer by the waist again. Her front was pressed upon his again as her hands rested on his chest. "I haven't even finished my novel and I'm supposed to submit the draft in the next three days. If I delay in submitting, then it would take even longer for correction services and other such procedures." She sighed heavily. "Baby, a check up takes no longer than fifteen minutes." He tried to explain.
"Tristen! I'll be fine I swear! Just stay by me while I type the chapters!" She jumped in her place stubbornly. Tristen let out a huge sigh, putting his palm on her forehead to check her temperature. Her fever is going away. She isn't supposed to be throwing up at this point, then why? He thought. "Alright. But we're leaving the moment you feel nauseous again." He bargained.
"Sure!" Lavender smiled, standing on her toes to peck him quickly.