"Awh! Look at this!" Lavender happily squealed at her kitten, Creampuff, who was jumping to catch the hanging feather toy which she was holding. She was playing with him joyfully, forgetting for a moment that she was not well. "I'm tired without even having to move around!" She exhaled. "How come you're still so energetic?" She picked him up in her arms while sitting on her knees.
Petting him for a while, she gave him a few kisses and put him back near his bed. She poured a little more kitten food in the bowl for Creampuff to eat. "Eat well and grow into a big furry ball so I can hug you to sleep. We can let Tristen sleep on the floor." She giggled at the thought of having a cute chubby cat. She let out a small sigh before looking at the time.
"Ah, it's time I leave. Better give Jim a hard copy of these drafts along the soft one." She petted him once more, recalling the plan that she had made; she was going to ask Tristen to marry her. She wanted to end those mafia troubles for once and for all; for the good of both of them. She stood up and went in to choose her best dress for the day before heading for a warm shower.
"What is Juggy up to these days?" Tristen asked, sipping some coffee while reading the newspaper. "Nothing out of the ordinary. Everything seems to be fine, it's going all usual." Brendon replied, taking a seat beside him. "Bates got his daughter back, right?"
"He did. Bates called me right after, but I was..."
"With Lavender, I know."
"However, I did get back to him later. Though he got Renee back, he seemed more concerned about something else." Tristen replied.
"What else?"
"Juggy let him go without a fight. Bates said that he was drunk while he took the money in exchange for her daughter, but I don't think the same."
"What do you mean?"
"Juggy has something going on. He will not sit quiet because he must've figured that I helped Bates. Indirectly, I ruined his business because now he is one person short, and that is because Bates took Renee away." Tristen shut the newspaper to rub his temples. "Do you think Lavender is in danger?" Brendon asked. "I don't think, Brendon, I KNOW she is in danger." Tristen removed his revolver tucked behind him under his shirt and threw it on the table.
"That reminds me, I had to call Lavender and ask her if she's well." He pulled out his phone to dial her number. "Isn't she well?" Brendon asked, playing with Tristen's revolver. He rolled the gun on his finger by sticking it in through the trigger hoop. "Yeah, and I don't think she knows about it." He replied with a little worry in his tone.
"Tristen?" Lavender picked up.
"Where are you, love?" He asked.
"I'm about to enter Jim's office for the meeting. Why?"
"I told you that I'd drop you. You know things don't smell good these days."
"I know, and I'm heading straight to your place after I'm done."
"I'll come get you."
"Tristen I swear I'll be okay! Don't worry about me."
Tristen took a deep breath before exhaling it. "Alright. What about your fever? Did you throw up again?" He asked. "Thankfully not. I'm feeling very good today, better, in fact." She smiled, being as cheerful as ever. "Okay, call me when you're done." He said. "Sure! I love you." She replied.
"I love you." He smiled, before Lavender hung up. "Send Peter and a few other to Kilns Word Publications. My Missus is very stubborn." Tristen said. "She's a female version of you, Tristen." Brendon smirked, throwing his revolver back at him after standing up. "Talk much?" He raised his brow and pointed his gun at Brendon.
"I'll go talk to Peter." He nervously chuckled before taking his leave.
At Kilns Word Publications, Lavender was supposedly in the most unprofessional meeting anyone could have ever attended. "LAVENDER! YOU ARE A STAR!" Jim stood in front of the conference table with his hands in the air. "You have done it! YOU WROTE A NOVEL IN LESS THAN 6 MONTHS!" He shouted on top of his lungs.
"Jim..." Lavender rolled her eyes while the other staff sat holding their heads. "Sir, can we send it forward for technical editing and further procedure?" One of them asked. "SEND IT EVERYWHERE! Let them know that our STAR writer, Ms. Lavender Hills of KILNS WORD PUBLICATIONS, has written a second book in the same year!" Jim happily danced as he swayed his body from left to right like some windsock.
The employee looked at Lavender blankly. "Send it for technical editing and typeset proof, which I don't think will take much time. Jim will manage the invoice stuff and rest." Lavender said, standing up. "I feel like I'm on top of the WORLD!" Jim jumped on the conference table with the manuscripts in his hand. He kissed the papers as if he was married to them.
"The meeting is over. Get to work, everyone. Keep up with your good efforts!" Lavender smiled, dismissing everyone from the meeting. All the employees smiled back at her and took their leave. I'll surely be the one running this company someday if my boss keeps up with this behaviour, she shook her head before facing Jim.
"Jim." Lavender said, picking up her purse. He was too busy dancing to his own tunes to listen to something else.
"JIM!" She stomped her foot on the floor, startling him. "Yeah?" He asked. "I'm not going to write another book for the next 8 months, probably more, got it?" She bargained. "Your wish is my command!" He answered melodiously. "And I'll be going away, out of the country." She added. "Fly away!" He said, spinning in circles.
"I'll be leaving then." She smiled, before exiting the room.
Soon after she left, there was a sound of someone falling hard on the floor, followed by a painful groan. "That was bound to happen. Poor Jim." She scoffed, entering the elevator. "Ah, right. I had to call Tristen." She pulled out her phone but stopped right before she could call him. "I'll just barge in for my plan to be more effective." She giggled, deciding to put a simple text.
Lavender: I'm coming.
Tristen: I'm waiting :)
Lavender smiled to herself, as she exited her company building. She made her way to the parking lot where she was unlocking her car. What she did not know, was that someone had been waiting for her. "Lavender?" A hand held her shoulder, making her gasp. She jerked it off and raised her purse to hit the person, stopping right after seeing their face. "Bates?" She squeezed her eyes at him.
"Hey, I just wanted to make sure you're okay." Bates said. "You know my answer is still no. You really dare to ask me out knowing that I'll be marrying Tristen?" She folded her arms. "No, it's not that." He panicked, when she saw a girl behind him. "Is that, your daughter Renee?" She asked. "Ah, yes." He said. "Renee, here's your favourite writer, Lavender Hills." He majestically said.
"You're the one who my dad works with?" Renee exclaimed. "Not quite, we're company friends. The company does the work, we just write." Lavender smiled, patting her head. "I like your books very much! I want to be a writer like you and my dad." She said. "That sounds lovely! You should read a lot of books for that." Lavender advised.
"Renee, why don't you go sit in the car?" Bates said, as she nodded and obeyed, leaving them alone. "What's wrong?" Lavender asked. "I don't know if Tristen told this to you, but you shouldn't be roaming alone like that." He said, standing closer.
"I know, Tristen told me." She rolled her eyes. "He told you? Then you must know how powerful Juggy is. I just got back my daughter from him. I can't believe I had to pawn her since I lost a bet to him. It was really nice of Tristen to lend me a hundred million. You know she doesn't have her mother now." Bates sighed sadly, while Lavender stood there cluelessly. The silence was so loud that the breeze could be heard rustling the leaves of the trees.
"What the hell did you just say?" Lavender snapped, making his shoulders jump.
"You know, Tristen helped me pay Juggy back so that I could get Renee. Else he would have sold her at the bidding event that happens every year. Every mafia attends it as it's kind of mandatory." Bates explained, watching her expressions turn angry. "Wait.... you didn't know?" He asked, but her face was enough to answer in her place. "Ah, my bad." He looked in random directions.
Lavender slapped him hard across the face, creating a loud noise. It even caught Renee's attention who was sitting in the car. She saw her father holding his cheek in pain while Lavender stood with teary, yet fiery eyes. "Why?" Bates asked in confusion. "How could you make your daughter suffer like that?" She scolded in her most fearing tone. "That..." He sighed. "You're right. I deserve it. I deserve even worse for making her live like that." He lowered his gaze. "I'm sorry for telling you this, I thought you knew about it."
"I only knew that Tristen had something going on and that he wanted me to not go wandering alone. He's so dead now." She snapped, folding her arms. "I see." He said, looking at Renee in the car. "I'll get going. I have a novel to finish." He gave a small smile, pulling his hand out for her to shake.
"Good grief. Finally, that goblin novel will be out." Lavender smirked, shaking his hand. She knew very well that he was talking about that incomplete novel because of which Lavender had to go to the extents of writing a new one. "Sorry to put you through the trouble of writing two novels in a year. Jim must be dancing in his office out of joy." He said. "Yeah, he fell because of it." Lavender added, making him laugh.
"You know what? Thank you for not writing your novel, Bates. I'll always be grateful for that." She said, smiling widely. "I don't think I did anything, though." He said, confused. "Oh, you did everything. It's the entire reason why Tristen and I are together now." She lowered her gaze in shyness. "That's right. But, you know that the ending's still far, right?" Bates raised a brow. "Of course, there's still a lot that will happen." Lavender smirked. "I'll take my leave then. Be safe." Bates pulled his hand back.
"Take care of Renee. That's all." She said, as he nodded. She watched him walk back to his car. When there was a considerable distance between them, her smile faded as she turned grim, anger burning her eyes. "You're so freaking dead, Tristen."
"Dad?" Renee asked the moment Bates sat in. "Yeah?" He asked. "Is she the one you wanted to propose to?" She asked. "How'd you know?" He smiled, his expression surprised. "Because of how you looked at her. But dad, she's waayy out of your league. She most probably has a boyfriend, too. You should probably have known by now." Renee shrugged.
"My girl, when did you grow up?" Bates put his palm on her head as she giggled. "On the other hand, you're no less a match for her. Did you ask her?" She asked. "I did, but I had to choose between you and her. I can always find love, but I'll never find a daughter like you again." He pecked her head, before he started the car to drive away.
Lavender pulled out her car from the parking lot and proceeded to drive too. "There she is! Let's ambush her right in front of her place." A man said. "There, there. We're in hurry, but not enough to get ourselves caught beforehand." Juggy said. "She's not going to her place."
"How did you know?" The other man asked. "Because she's being followed by his men. She's heading to Tristen's place." Juggy said, watching Peter and the other men escort Lavender's car. Lavender adjusted her rear view mirror to find a black car following her. Oh no, what's this now? She thought to herself. She then noticed the symbol on the grill of the car that had the initials T.K.
Ah, they're Tristen's. This guy... She rolled her eyes, stepping on the gas.
"This is the list of events that will take place at the bidding. You should go through it so we can place our priorities for the events important to us. The date is close." Brendon said, handing a file in Tristen's hand.
They stood in his living room, surrounded by men as usual. Tristen was standing right before his couch, facing the front door. "We just need to look out for any rare drug or weapon. That's all, nothing else." Tristen said, pointing on the paper. "No artwork or aesthetics this time?" Brendon asked. " No, not necessary. My wife won't let me keep stolen decorative pieces in my house." Tristen said, making him laugh. "We'll need them to manage our legers." Brendon reminded. "Fine, mark them." Tristen sighed.
"Done. Then how about.." Brendon was interrupted by the clacking of heels that gave off a feminine energy.
"TRISTEN?" Lavender's voice roared like a lightning striking the ground. "What was that?" He asked in a frightened tone. "I'm wondering the same." Tristen replied. They all looked at the front door which was already wide open with a woman was standing in the middle of it.
"Lavender?" Tristen squeezed his eyes. "You gave Bates a 100 million so that he could take his daughter back?" She spat while standing in her place. "How did she-?" Brendon was shushed by Tristen. "I just wanted to help, that's all." He tried to explain, suddenly feeling nervous. "SHE WAS PAWNED OFF! HOW COULD YOU LET THAT HAPPEN?" She shouted, suddenly the most invincible one in that room. "I-I didn't know until Bates told me!" He defended.
Tristen's scared too, Brendon smirked. "But you hid it from me." She argued. "Love, I didn't want you to know because I knew you wouldn't like it. You were ill too! That reminds me, h-how're you feeling now." Tristen gulped hard, feeling the emotion of fear for the first time. "I. Am. ANGRY." She growled. "Love, I can make it up to you, I promise. Let's go upstairs and talk!" He desperately insisted, indirectly asking her to stop lowering his fear on his men.
"Marry me." She said, dropping everyone's jaw. "What?" Tristen asked, unsure if he heard it right. He stared at her cluelessly, as if he were dreaming. His girl was asking him to marry her, his day couldn't get any better.
"I said, marry me, Tristen or I'll kill you." She threatened as she marched into his direction, throwing her purse on another couch. Tristen shoved the file into Brendon's hands before spreading his arms for Lavender, who threw herself into them.
Her fingers encircled behind his neck, as her lips erased the distance between them. "Marry me, Tristen Killings."