Noel’s POV.
So nostalgic, I sighed as I walked on the cold streets, dressed up like some rich boy. It felt like I was wandering around my own home with shoes, like I was a guest star in my own show. I could see so many familiar faces, mainly prostitutes I knew and spend time with. For instance, this one over there, by the street lamp; that blonde chick with the short, red cocktail dress, the painfully-high heels and the frostbites on her cheeks was Melinda. She’s a nice girl, really. We had fun together once in the love hotel. That day was pretty cold and there weren’t many ‘customers’, so we decided to head back home and warm ourselves together in the bathtub.
I smiled at her warmly, but received no attention. I guess she didn’t notice me. And to be honest, if she sees me that well-dressed and healthy all of a sudden, she would probably hate me a little. I mean, who wouldn’t? We all have that hate towards rich people. We all think they earned their money through some other way than ours; possibly stealing and playing dirty, rather than working hard. And perhaps we’re right.
Suddenly, an idea emerged in my mind. I slightly smirked and walked towards Mel and another girl next to her; a hot redhead which I vaguely remembered. They didn’t even pay attention to me, but I made sure to remind them of my presence with a simple throat-clearing.
“I’d like to buy.” I simply said, and Mel looked at me, not recognizing my face in the dark. Great, that was meant to happen.
“Look, kid, just go to your mom and suck on your popsicle or something ..” She mumbled, averting her gaze with a cigarette in her hand. Rude, I mused. Didn’t remember them as that nasty, and we met a few weeks ago.
“I’d like to suck on something else, thank you very much, lady.”
“Listen, I do-.. Noel? YOU SON OF A B*TCH!” She smacked me and I felt the stinging in my cheeks, as well as my lips curl into a smile. I couldn’t help but laugh at her annoyance, and to my relief, she joined me.
“W-where the f*ck have you been, what happened to you?! You look like a ghetto rapper or something!”
“I take it as a compliment, baby.” I winked at Mel and she slapped me again, this time – on the other cheek. Well, at least they were flushed from both sides now.
“Look at you, you’re .. brand new.”
“Yeah, you didn’t even notice me.” I noted.
“Shut up, how can I notice someone like that? You look like Barack Obama’s adopted kid.”
“He doesn’t really have an adopted kid..” the redhead chick muttered next to Mel, but she quickly ignored her and hugged me gently, smelling slightly of sperm. Ah, the nostalgia.
“B*tch, you smell like d**ks. You need a shower.”
“And you smell like a baby girl after her first bath.”
“I’m a boy, if you haven’t noticed.”
“You’re gay!”
OUCH. That’s not true and all the prostitutes knew it. I was bis*xual. Aiden was the gay guy in the relationship. The homos*xual relationship. My homos*xual relationship. N-Nevermind.
“Spread your legs and I’ll show you how gay I am.” I smirked, winking at my friend. There wasn’t really anything between us, but we like joking around like that.
“Not for free, baby. We’re friends and I can make a discount, but you know it ain’t easy, life is tough.”
“I know. Which is why I offer you money, in exchange for … a soul.”
“F*ck you, I dyed my hair and you still call me a ginger.”
“A soulless ginger!” I smiled happily. Aiden would never make me this cheerful. It was always so .. awkward with him. So uncomfortable. My heart beats like crazy whenever he’s around me and I just can’t relax.
“Anyway, all jokes aside, how much do you want?” I asked, taking out my new wallet. Aiden gave it to me, along with some cash in it. You know, about 300k. Nothing much for him. Needless to say, when I saw the money, I fainted.
“Well, I .. for free?”
“No, you give me 2 dollars, I gave you 20,000.” I rolled my eyes.
“I mean, don’t you .. you know, a blowjob at least? You have to be kidding me, you must want something.”
“I want you to be okay. Now tell me how much do you want.”
“Noel, knock it out.”
“B*tch, how much?”
“YOUR MOM.”
I groaned and quickly took out 5k, stuffing it into her mouth like I would if it was my dick. She quickly pulled it out (again, as if it was my dick) and coughed a bit, looking at the money incredulously.
“Y..you weren’t kidding.”
“Of course I’m not. Now take them, stuff ‘em in your breasts and go find yourself a better hotel and a job. And give me that cigarette.” I took the cigar from her hand and embraced it in a warm hug between my lips, smoking with delight. Not the best brand, but definitely good for someone who hasn’t smoked in a month.
Melinda sighed and nodded, attacking me a moment after with a passionate kiss on the lips. I couldn’t even breathe whilst she was kissing me, pressing her big breasts against my chest. I wondered how it didn’t hurt her when she squeezed them like that, but then again, they’ve probably been through worse.
“I-I don’t know how to thank you..”
“Just get a life. That’s how you’ll thank me. If I could, I’d help others, but my boyfriend might get mad at me for spending money on .. you know, prostitutes.”
“Doesn’t he know you’re a prost..wait, he? YOU have a BOYFRIEND?”
“Long story short – a rich guy found me on the streets, offered ‘help’ and now I live with him and he f*cks me, which automatically makes him my boyfriend, I suppose.” I explained, not really caring about the looks Melinda was giving me. Oh god, she probably though I’m out of my mind. And that’s true, I am out of my mind. I still don’t believe what I did back then – get in the car of a stranger and accept to live together with him.
Well, he was handsome. That helped a bit.
“So .. you’re basically his pet?” I frowned at her question.
“I’m not a pet, Melinda. I’m a .. uh ..”
“A pet.”
“No. He’s head over heels for me. And I don’t have much time to chat .. ”
“And you? Are you head over heels for him? Do you even love him, or do you just use him for money?”
“I don’t use him. I’m not the one who asked to live together, he took me under his wings, he saved me. That doesn’t mean I have to love him. Besides, he has a maid ..”
“A maid? And there’s nothing between them? You know how the movies go – the maid is always in a love affair with her ‘master’.”
“Bullsh*t, there’s nothing between them.”
“You sure?”
“Look, I really have to go.” I frowned and gently patted her shoulders, turning my back. God, I really loved my friend, but she got on my nerves so often that I couldn’t help but leave her behind. At least she has the money to start a new life, so the next time we meet, she’ll be in a better mental and physical condition.
“Jealousy is the first sign, you know!” she shouted after me, but I pretended I didn’t hear and walked to the café, feeling my heartbeat fasten. First sign? For what?!
A couple of minutes passed in silent, but fast-paced walking until I reached the café and entered, seeing no one familiar. Of course, I expected that, so I took out the purple card from my pocket and lifted it discreetly, getting a whistle almost immediately.
When I turned my head towards the sound, I saw a bald man, about forty years old, with grey eyes and a black short boxed beard. He had a single, clean golden ring on his left ear and I couldn’t help but feel intrigued by the person’s style. He nodded at me and I quickly sat on his table, which was next to the windows. I chose the side in front of him, and he cleared his throat, watching me closely. I could almost melt at his gaze – it was that hard.
There was an awkward silence between us, which the waitress interrupted.
“What would you like?”
“Diet cola, please.”
“I’ll pay.” The man joined, just when I was about to take out my wallet to pay in advance. I looked at him, but he only nodded and averted his gaze.
We didn’t speak until the cola came. I noticed he was drinking coffee, the blackest one I’ve seen, and I felt uncomfortable ordering a fuzzy drink.
“It’s fine.” He mumbled.
“Eh?”
“Don’t feel bad about it. I wanted to pay.”
“I was thinking about something else, but thanks for the comfort. Now, let’s get to business.” His soft expression quickly changed and I couldn’t help but avert my own gaze. I didn’t want to look at those harsh, grey eyes .. And for a moment, Aiden’s golden eyes emerged in my mind, as if serving as an alternative for the eyes before me.
It felt calming …
“Cassie told me you’d come.”
“Yeah, I’m here now. Tell me what you’ve got, because I don’t have much time.” I drank some cola and licked my lips, looking at the guy whose name was probably Michael. He nodded and moved closer towards me, as if to whisper. I didn’t feel comfortable getting assaulted by his breath, yet I knew I had to endure it.
For who was I doing it all again? For the man I said I didn’t love.
“I have some pictures. They’re at home, but I have a few shots of Hoff holding Croft’s elbow harshly or yelling at him.”
“Pictures won’t be enough. I need audio evidence with Hoff himself.” I demanded. A mere snapshot with the phone was not going to suffice for something this serious.
“And I just happen to have one. A fan of Aiden left his phone on Voice Recording during a fan meeting, and forgot to take it later. When he finally picked it up from the guard in the morning, he found it was still on Record and listened to the audio. He could hear Hoff cursing Aiden and telling him what to do in a vulgar tone.”
“Let me guess – the audio’s at home, too?”
He didn’t answer, but he did smile in a .. weird way. It was then when I got a call from Cassie. Albeit I couldn’t answer, since she canceled it a moment after, I knew it was time for me to leave. Fast.
The man nodded at me and I finished my drink, standing up quickly.
“We’ll meet again soon.” Michael said with a tone through which I could hear him smile. I did my best to smile back and quickly turned towards the exit, running as fast as I could to home.
When I arrived, it was .. already too late.
Aiden was looking at me furiously (or at least, it seemed like that to me), with his golden eyes full of anger and indignation, while Cassie was gone, probably in her room. What did she tell him and why was he back so soon?
“I’ve been waiting.” Aiden muttered through his teeth, and when I got closer, I could see that he was .. worried, rather than pissed. He was almost panicking. Why?
I wanted to say something, yet the lump in front of my throat was making it hard, and with every next thought in my mind, each one – worse than the other, I decided to crack something like a joke.
“Oh? Let me guess, you couldn’t sleep without me. Did you tried counting to ten?”
“I did.” He replied, to my surprise. I thought he would just look at me incredulously and b*tch-slap me. Funny how my mind works.
“How far did you get?”
“Two hundred and twenty-six thousand eight-hundred and fifty. But I could’ve always waited longer, if needed.”
I gulped, feeling my cheeks fill with blood. It was all Aiden’s fault. When he had to be rude, merciless and harsh on me; when he had to yell at me and beat me for running away and not giving an explanation for Cassie to cover me up with; for promising Aiden I won’t leave, then betraying him and leaving; he was being romantic, kind and worried about me.
I felt my heart whimper in pain from the guilt that weighted on it, but I knew the blonde probably felt worse.
Who gave me the right to be so insensitive towards the man that saved my life?
AN: Not really proud of that chapter, but the next ones will be better! This one happened to be a bit uneventful .. anyways, thank you for all the votes, comments and follows, you're the best <33