Chapter 17

I really shouldn’t be out here, but I can’t help it. I’m a little afraid, a little wary at what would meet me at the door. Still, I bit my lip and pressed the button on the intercom.

The dialing tone came and I self-consciously stepped back, wondering if I was standing too close to the panel. I felt out of place. My jeans and shirt was definitely no place for this posh, high-classed apartment. If I considered Mr. Elxa’s apartment –my new home –in Miami was high-classed, then I didn’t know how to describe Hayden’s place here in NYC.

I had been to NYC once with my mother on vacation when I was a teenager before she died, but it had been a strange vacation, for she had insisted on wearing sunglasses wherever she went. While we’d visited Broadway, the Times Square and everywhere a rightful tourist should be in New York, my mother had never seemed exactly glad. She did know –strangely –the places of the best eats somehow, and even though she hadn’t seemed happy, visiting those places that she suggested –somehow it made a light of joy click in her eyes.

Still, a one-time vacation in NYC didn’t make me anymore used to the place, and I’d almost been ripped off by the cabbie as he almost dropped me off at the wrong place. Still, I’d somehow found my way to the apartment, where I was very aware of my glaring lack of appropriate clothing –seeing a few of the citizens walking out of the posh lobby in their neatly pressed suits, their stilettoes and their amazing dresses meant for runway models.

The dialing tone of the intercom rang through as someone picked it up, and a familiar voice –slightly distorted by the machine –spoke.

“Who is it?”

“Um… Hi. It’s Kaylen, I’m here to see Hayden?”

"Kaylen?" The voice hesitated through the intercom. "Kaylen Hearst, the plus-one with Elxa?"

It wasn't the most pleasant of ways to be addressed as-to be known forever as Mr. Elxa's plus-one -but since I was trying to meet someone who obviously had little to do on acquaintance to me, it was something I had to accept. I had almost forgotten my fake surname too -forgotten to ask Mr. Elxa about it too.

"Yes. Is Mr. Hayden around?" I asked, suddenly realizing that I had never been introduced to his surname. There had to be a million Haydens in this world; I could have easily gotten the wrong one from Mr. Elxa's desk. Technically it couldn't be considered stealing if I had previously been allowed in the study by him, right? After getting approval to be 'clearing out his trash' in his study, it had only been a matter of finding Hayden's name in one of Mr. Elxa's cabinet. Finding an address couldn't kill, right? I wasn't finding such information for any underground business deals.

I was just here to make nice; to make things even.

"He..." The voice trailed off, as if trying to consider the appropriate words to say. "Did you come down from Elxa's place in Miami?"

I didn't know how he knew, or why he specifically stated Miami. Did Mr. Elxa own other apartments elsewhere? He was surely rich enough to afford, but I didn't know Mr. Elxa to be the type who would flaunt his wealth in such a way. Still, there were so many things I didn't know about him and yet here I was, trying to meddle into something larger than me. I felt like a single little girl taking on the world, without a single clear idea of what I wanted, as I stood there. All I'd known was that I needed to talk to Hayden and make things right between the two men. I didn't know what it was that had pissed Mr. Elxa off so badly to make him yell and shout at Hayden, but it was obvious that Hayden hadn't been happy at all. In fact, the punch he'd given probably showed exactly how much Mr. Elxa must have tripped him.

"Umm yeah. But don't tell him; he doesn't know I'm here. I'm supposed to be visiting a friend in the hospital."

There was a sigh audible through the intercom, and then a beep sounded as the small LED light flashed green, signaling the go-ahead for me to enter.

“Come in and have a seat.” The voice instructed, and the click meant that the connection was shut. Smoothing out imaginary creases in my shirt and jeans, I tried the doorknob and wasn’t very surprised to find it turning smoothly beneath my grip.

The sight of an amazing apartment with full-length view of the Madison Square Park awaited me; the interior of the place so beautifully decorated with the ‘open’ concept taken entirely into a new view. From the entrance, I saw no distinct separations of the different rooms, but it was definitely an all-in-one mash up as a large plasma TV took up the span of the large wall beside the full-length glass-‘windows’. Couches that could fit a football team were pristinely white, sitting before the television with low tables set amongst them for convenience.

These facilities sat near the window, but closer to the entrance, a step lower, was a large round seater that seemed better off in a restaurant or a posh bar, meant to facilitate informal meetings. In interior décor definitely took my breath away, and yet somehow there was homely feeling to it all; as if this was a place very much used and lived. I don’t know how long I took to take in everything, just standing one step into the apartment, but it was long enough to have the person who had answered the door coming in with a wineglass in his hand, already half full with dark red liquid.

“Kaylen, make yourself at home.” Jeremy greeted with a soft gentle smile, though his eyes weren’t as bright as it had been on the cruiser the other night. Was he unhappy at my presence?

“Is Mr. Hayden home?” I asked, a little relaxed now that I knew exactly who it had been through the intercom. It had always been a familiar voice, but I hadn’t connected a name or face to that voice until now.

The name brought a slight frown –the slightest frown I have ever seen –to his face, and he moved towards the rounded seater, bringing his wineglass along. Taking his invitation and his lead, I followed him to the velvet seater, carefully positioning myself across his as I dropped by bag by the floor at my side.

“He’s in, but he’s not seeing anyone. In fact, he hasn’t been seeing anyone in… well, weeks.” Jeremy replied in a perplexed tone of voice, a mixture of sadness and regret flashing across his face before it wiped quickly off to a sociable, friendly slight smile, as if he didn’t want people to see his worried face.

“Ever since his visit to Miami?” I asked, shocked. What had Mr. Elxa and Hayden been arguing about –something that had changed the way Mr. Elxa now acted, something that had made Hayden hide in his apartment ever since? Exactly what had happened?

“Ever since his visit to Miami. He wouldn’t talk to us –only just said that he’d given up, that it was pointless, and how he should never have let her go.” Jeremy sighed, as if finally deciding to forgo the obvious façade, as he took a long drink from his wine. I watched in heavy silence as his throat worked, as if he could drown himself in wine. “When he didn’t appear after his return to New York, Hayley got worried. We visited, and the place was a wreckage. After being discovered to have broken down, he secluded himself in his room, and hasn’t come out since. Hayley and I have been taking turns watching over him, trying to coax him to come around. Things didn’t get better –Hayley’s on her way to get his trusted friends now from Boston.”

I bit my bottom lip. While both the men had been furious at each other after the argument, it was clear that Mr. Elxa had gotten past everything quickly, settling back into his usual routine –albeit with more tension, more silence and more emotional pain. He had been less open in his dealings, less expressive with his eyes and the Mr. Elxa I knew these days had entirely returned to the man I’d met at the street corner.

Apparently Hayden had had it worst.

“I’m so sorry about this, Mr. Jeremy.” I apologized, even though it wasn’t really my position to do anything. Still, I felt like I had to do something, anything at all.

“Don’t be.” Jeremy sighed again, eyes drooping with sadness. “It isn’t your fault. We can’t say for sure what happened, but if it’s enough to reduce Hayden to such a state, then it must be about the family he lost. In all sense, that man’s just like a boy –have never truly entirely grown up ever since I knew him –still clinging on to painful hopes even though 21 years have ruined most chances of him meeting his lover and his daughter again.”

“He told me about them before Mr. Elxa came home that day.” I admitted, trying my best not to look uncomfortable when Jeremy looked up at me in surprise.

“You said ‘Elxa came home that day’. You live with Elxa?” Jeremy asked, surprise coloring his features now.

“Yes.” I admitted with a nod, though it was strange that he thought my staying with Mr. Elxa was weird when he had known that I came from Mr. Elxa’s place in Miami. “I have been for a few months now.”

“That’s…” Jeremy trailed off, dim green eyes looking far off in a distance. “… A surprise. Hayley would be pleasantly surprised at this knowledge too.”

I tried my best not to make a face at the remembrance of the woman who had threatened me and shown two sides of her face within the five minutes of acquaintance I had with her. “She didn’t seem to have received me well.”

Quickly, to jump to the defense of his lover, Jeremy shook his head as if to emphasize his point.

“No, Hayley just finds it hard to grasp facts of newcomers, especially people who become familiar to those close to her without her knowledge. Elxa had done a great job keeping you hidden from all of us, so Hayley got an unpleasant shock when you arrived, a great beauty. She was convinced that you had somehow allured Elxa and enamored him with your looks without getting into his highly defended mind. Hayley didn’t want Elxa to be sidetracked by the needs of a man, to let anyone else close to his heart because his sexual desires was in power.” Jeremy explained, and while I questioned how he knew so much about his lover’s mindset, I was more interested in his explanations.

“But why? Why is Ms. Hayley so interested in Elxa? Are they related somehow?”

The now empty wineglass sat between us, as Jeremy leaned back in his seat in a comfortable, casual movement that fit his casual outlook –simple shirt and Bermuda that fit him very well.

“Complicated story short: Elxa’s suffering since fifteen years ago was due to his decision to ally himself with Hayley. Our side was dealing with a dangerous, ruthless man and he got people to hunt down Elxa’s family. Elxa was lucky to have escaped the accident, but it left him and Jon alone in the world. Hayley’s been feeling guilty to him all this while, and in place of May, she tries her best to watch over Elxa.” Jeremy explained, and it seemed to make a little more sense now. No wonder Elxa thought he was May’s murderer. His decision to side with Hayley had pissed off the wrong man, and in retaliation, they’d taken May away from him.

No wonder Jon hated him.

“Oh…” I bobbed my head in understanding. “But what about Hayden? Elxa seems way closer to Hayden than Hayley. Well, at least they seemed to be closer before…” I trailed off, for there was no need to further elaborate on the rift that was now occurring between the two men.

“Hayden approached Elxa to have the man look for his long lost lover and daughter. Elxa owed Hayden a favor, and agreed. Over time, Hayden got through to Elxa –both being men who had lost many things and understood the test of standing alone through long years.”

I nodded to show that I was following the explanation, looking down at my hands with interlocking fingers. “Until weeks ago, when they had an argument about something.”

“Until weeks ago.” Jeremy agreed, face settling on an expression between somber and sad. “I’m sorry you had to make a wasted trip, Ms. Kaylen.”

“Oh, it’s nothing.” I said quickly. “But is it okay if I try to talk to him, though?”

Jeremy seemed to consider that for a short while, then shrugged as if to tell himself that there was no harm anyway into letting me try to get through to Hayden. Though I knew none of them very well, the least I could do was try, wasn’t it? I had come all the way here from Miami anyway; might as well give it a shot. Jeremy stood up and motioned for me to follow, in which I did carefully, making sure I didn’t ruin anything of the beautiful interior decoration. There was even a stone statue of some luscious, scantily-clad Greek goddess standing in the corner, overlooking the magnificence of the place. At the corner of the large room was a cool glass spiral staircase that led to the upstairs, where the rooms disappeared through the second floor partition to a corridor with a series of rooms.

There was no asking which room Hayden’s was, for it was the largest, at the end of the room, and tightly shut. A plate of untouched food sat on the floor outside.

“He’s in there. Initially he was responsive but nowadays, I don’t even know if I want to imagine what’s going on inside. Soon, I’m going to have to pick the lock and force my way in.” Jeremy sighed heavily, gesturing me forwards as he lounged back, trying to give me some private space to talk. I thanked Jeremy quickly and stepped forwards until I was up to the door. It was entirely quiet inside, and I didn’t want to entertain the thought of someone passed out on the floor inside.

Hesitantly, I knocked on the door twice but didn’t try to open the door.

“Hayden?” I called experimentally. There was no form of reply, and I steeled my mind from the worst case scenario. “Hayden? It’s Kaylen. Kaylen Hearst, Mr. Elxa’s plus-one on the cruise ship, remember?”

Somehow, the name ‘Elxa’ seemed to draw some sort of a stir inside, and I breathed a soft sigh of relief to know that at least the man locked up inside was still responsive to a small extent.

“I don’t know what happened between you and Mr. Elxa that day, Hayden, but I’m worried. Both you and Mr. Elxa need to talk about things. He regrets his movements, and I can see it in his eyes that he’s trying to atone, but he doesn’t know how to. He has the same look in his eyes towards Jon, and now it’s the same with you. Don’t lock yourself up, Mr. Hayden. Talk to Mr. Elxa and sort things out.” I tried my best, putting my heart in my explanation but the silence that replied me told me that I wasn’t getting through. I suppressed my depressed sigh, as I placed my palm on the door, as if it could get me closer to Hayden.

“If it’s about your wife and daughter…” I ventured, closing my eyes and taking in a deep breath. The funniest thing about us was the fact that I had lost my father the same way Hayden had lost his wife and daughter. Both of us had broken families due to women trying things out the same way, making us lose our loved ones before we could even know them. As a victim myself, I guessed I connected to the feelings that Hayden felt. “… I’ll tell you that I’ve learnt to let go. My mother took me and ran away from my father, but she still loved him wholeheartedly. She taught me to love my father, even though he wasn’t there. My mother was an amazing woman, Mr. Hayden, and I learnt to love whoever who loved her enough to make her smile and laugh at the memory of him. I don’t know him at all, but I love him for making her smile even when he wasn’t there. Even though I never saw his face, never remembered anything; I still love him.”

I pressed my forehead lightly on the door, my free hand pressed over my heart in the pure wish that he would understood that I felt the same pain as him –being victims of the same situation.

“Mr. Hayden, if I can love my father like this, your daughter must love you the same way. If you have unfaltering faith in your lover, and trust that she loved you even after she left, then you don’t have to be sad. You don’t have to blame yourself for anything, and you don’t have to search so desperately. Your daughter could be surviving well, just praying to her father and thanking him for giving her life. I thank my father constantly, Hayden, be it whether he is alive or dead. I thank him for giving me life, for making my mother smile. Your daughter will too. Your lover loves you enough to leave you. Your daughter will love you the same way.”

The long period of silence that punctuated after my speech dragged on, and even though I’d already poured my heart out, it seemed that I hadn’t gotten through. Jeremy hadn’t made a move to react at my words yet, but I could hear him holding his breath, as if he had been waiting –hoping –for some sort of reaction. For an almost-too-long moment, there wasn’t any.

And then, a stir, and the sound of shuffling.

Then the sound of someone sobbing uncontrollably on the other side of the door.

“Do you really think so?” A small voice asked, sounding like a small innocent boy who had discovered that he could amend his ways after breaking his mother’s favorite vase. “Do you really think they love me?”

I wiped away the happy tears from my cheeks, trying not to cheer in victory.

“As much as a daughter can love her father; as much as a woman can love a man.” I reassured quickly, and at the other side of the door, the sobbing still continued. But it was the relieved sobbing of a man who had finally thought things straight, and found out that at the end of the road, was a silhouette of a daughter who loved her father.

“Thank you…”

I wiped my tears and sniffled softly, letting my hand fall from the door. “If you really miss her, Mr. Hayden, you can treat me like her. I can treat you like the father I never had. We can make up for everything; as long as we believe that there is love.” I whispered softly, so that only he could hear me through the slit of the door.

It was an idealistic thought; idealistic goal and I knew it. But how could anyone in this world survive without love?

They could; and turn out like Mr. Elxa. I would never, in any day, wish Mr. Elxa’s coldness on Hayden. Mr. Elxa had been broken by the death of May, but Hayden could still be saved.

And if I was the only one who could save him, then I would.

I could be his daughter if he wanted it.

To save him.

_____________________________________________________________________________________

She sat at the other side of the door, holding in her breath. The melodious, slow and romantic theme song of the drama played as the lead female character put her palm flat on the door. My heart thudded along with the suspense, and I gripped the pillow tightly within my arms, feeling all tingly and warm inside even though this wasn't even real. Still, a woman could dream and fantasize about the Right Man for her, and dramas were the best way I could connect to those ideals now. It didn't give me anymore hope to finding my Mr. Right, but at least a moment's worth of recluse was enough as I watched as the camera angle switch to the situation inside the room, the lead male character sitting with his back leaning against the door.

"It's me, Maya." The woman said, voice muffled through the door. "I want to make everything clear."

The directions for the actor must have been made very clear, for he reacted quickly to the sound of the actress’s voice, looking up from the barrier he'd made with his body and legs against the world. The makeup was perfect, though I suspected the tears were real talent on his part.

"I never told you, but I love you. Everything I've done, I've been trying to deny it, trying to ignore it, trying to push you away. But I don't know how to do that anymore." The female lead continued, and the camera panned back through the door to show her kneeling down and leaning against the door, her forehead pressed to the door as if she could get through to him.

"I don't even know if I can trust you anymore." He said lowly, his radio voice that reminded me of Mr. Elxa, keeping soft. "I don't even know if your name is Maya or not. I don't know which words you say are truth or lies. I don't even know if you have ever spoken a single word of truth."

The scene cut into flashbacks of the happy memories the two main characters shared together, and my heart lifted momentarily along with those happy scenes. The drama had reached its climax where the male lead finally found out that everything had been orchestrated by his girlfriend -from their 'accidental meeting' all the way to their 'kidnapping incident' that made the male lead fall badly for the female. It was kind of pathetic, but I kind of wanted this kind of relationship; even if my partner were to be getting close to me for some reason. At least through such times I would at least feel loved and wanted and desired by a man. I had been loved by my mother before, but that was obviously a totally different thing altogether.

“I know what I try to say won’t make everything up, Edward.” Maya replied with a trembling voice, and I marveled at both the actress and actor’s ability to make my eyes sting to. Here I was, watching a drama and about to cry along. Talk about amazing skills. “But you are a smart man. Why would I, who have earned so much already, want to get close to you to get your money? It was never the prestige of being with you. It was never your money. I had both of those in my world. But I guess I just wanted someone who could see me for something else than what I am.”

“That is what I don’t understand, Maya. Why me? There are many men out there who will love you, and not see you for your con. Why me?” Edward pleaded, but the camera followed as Maya straightened up, wiping the tears from her cheeks.

“Because you stole something very important from me.” She said somberly, and there was a long moment of hesitation, in which the theme song played in the background.

“Right. My father stole your mother from you. That’s what this is all about.” Edward said bitterly, but the combination of tears and helpless laughter was enough to break even my heart as I dabbed the tear gathering at the corner of my eyes quickly away. Beside me, Jon snickered and muttered something sarcastic and probably offending, but I had long tuned him and his judgments out. Who asked him to sit with me during Drama Time anyway?

“You have it wrong, Edward. Yes, it started like that. I wanted to see what it was that made my mother want to leave her life. I wanted to see the family she left mine to be with. I wanted your dad to pay. But that all faded away when I met you, Edward. You stole more than my mother. You stole my heart; and this is the first time I’ve even allowed it to be seen.” Maya sniffled beautifully, and I couldn’t fathom, for the life of me, how someone could make a move so embarrassing so beautiful. I mean, if it were me, I would probably look like a hideous ogre with bad hygiene.

“I’m leaving, Edward. For good. The Head has assigned me a task in Russia, I’m moving there until I’m done with whatever I’m supposed to do there. This is the end of us…” She didn’t leave anything more to words and walked away. The background of the romantic theme song rose to the foreground now as the scene flickered back to the male lead’s distraught and conflicted face as he pushed his fringe up, a single, manly tear escaping from the corner of his eyes.

The scenes of when he found out about the truth of Maya came to play again, and it constantly flickered between flashbacks and the present, the romantic tune always playing. I felt more tears escape, and I wiped them quickly, distantly hearing Jon snicker again. Damn him, if he was going to annoy me more, I was so going to kick his ass back into the room. He could be back there, holed up again, and I would be only happier.

The tell-tale fading away of the romantic theme song set alarms ringing, and I watched with increasing pace of heartbeat as the sound of a phone ringing interrupted the sorry sob/flashback scene. Edward –or the actor acting as Edward –wiped his cheeks and picked up the phone.

“Hello?”

“You shouldn’t have let Maya leave, Edward.” A female’s voice said coldly, and a pang of realization hit through me.

“Mother.” Edward seemed to suddenly hit a realization. “Aren’t you supposed to be dead? Where are you? Is it true; Maya is your daughter?”

“It is true; I left Maya when she was just a little girl to be with your father and you. Didn’t you love me? Your darling step-mum that protected you every time you had a falling out?”

“You were lying to me!”

“It didn’t matter to you back then, did it? But it doesn’t matter now, does it? Your step-sister; your girlfriend. She isn’t going to stay around for long anymore.” The cold voice through the phone sneered, and my spine tingled in cold realization.

Jon gasped.

There was the sound of a boom, then Edward rushed to the window. The scene switched quickly to the aftermath of an explosion, and the sight of Maya lying on the floor just beside the wreckage that had used to be a car, bleeding.

“I thought I taught you up better, Edward? Always love the girl who loves you enough to try to risk her heart. Maya was blind to have given you her heart, but you are doubly blind to refuse to accept it.” The voice on the phone mocked, and the connection shut. The camera stayed panned on Edward’s shocked and helpless face, before the ending sequence started, signaling the end of the show.

“What!” Jon declared, jumping from his seat on the couch beside me, positively hopping mad. “What! How can they make such a cliffhanger for an ending! What!”

“That’s how they keep people watching.” I wiped the last of the tears from my eyes and cheek, straightening legs that had previously been crossed beneath me. “Besides, I thought someone said this was just some stupid drama only girls watched?”

Jon stopped in the mid-rant, then turned around with an indignant expression.

“I wasn’t keeping track. I looked up only just in time when I heard the explosion.” Jon’s cover-up was mediocre at best, and I stifled the laughter as best as I could, though it wasn’t a particularly successful movement as he most probably heard most of my choked voice escaping between fingers. “Hey! You were the pathetic little girl who cried during the sob-romantic scene! I mean, who cries at a scene like that? It’s not like Edward told Maya that he was down with last-stage cancer yet.”

My eyes turned wide, and Jon’s face, if possible, only got redder at the realization of his words as he slapped his hand over his mouth, as if the movement could take back the words already spoken.

“You watched the show enough to know that Edward has cancer!” I declared triumphantly. “So you weren’t coming out here to ‘rest’; you were watching the show secretly!”

“Was not!” Jon protested indignantly, but it was a weak argument as I jumped up and did a crazy dance of joy that would embarrass an extreme large population of dancers. When I was done, Jon was left so between amusement and indignance that his expression was purely comical, and I collapsed into a laughing heap, managing to tickle him enough to join me as we eventually collapse on the couch, laughing at each other for our stupid expressions.

“You suck at hiding things, Jon.” I taunted, flicking him on the forehead to tease him even further. This got another amusedly offended expression from him, eliciting helpless laughter from my part.

“Oh yeah? I’ve got a bunch of secrets that you’ll be running screaming if you knew.” Jon baited in reply, and I pretended to be uninterested as I raised a brow.

“Right, probably that you have an embarrassing bladder problem, or you spend fifty minutes every day in the showers admiring your small penis?” I teased, and the affronted expression I was replied got more uncontained giggles from me. Quickly, Jon jumped to his feet before me, as if height could prove a point.

“Small penis?” He repeated, fingers fumbling with the buttons on his slacks. “I’ll show you ‘small penis’!”

“Should I get my magnifying glass?” I teased quickly, but before any real point could be made, the phone rang –which was a big surprise, for the phone at the apartment rarely rang at all. The only time it ever rang was either wrong number calls or calls of advertisements. It didn’t help that Mr. Elxa usually called my phone when he needed to reach me. Needless to say, Mr. Elxa had learnt to ‘reach’ Jon through me.

Still, I picked up the phone.

“Hello?”

“Kaylen.” A tight voice spoke through the phone, and the initial surprise quickly wore out as I pressed a name to that tightly controlled voice. Mr. Elxa didn’t hold his tone so tightly before, nor did he ever call the home phone before.

“Mr. Elxa, is something wrong?” I asked worriedly quickly, feeling the joking atmosphere fade away quickly as I took a seat back on the couch. Jon had calmed down considerably too, and the realization that it was his father calling simply gave him an emotionless expression, as if hiding his feelings again.

“Kaylen.” Mr. Elxa repeated again, and I heard labored dragging of breaths.

“Mr. Elxa? Are you okay?” I asked, increasingly worriedly. He didn’t sound right at all –he sounded as if he were in pain. He had the tight caliber in his voice when he still had a limp, but this was definitely worse somehow.

“Kaylen.” He said for the third time, and finally seemed to find words to put other than his name. “Pack all you need and leave the apartment with Jon. Stay in a hotel for the week. Don’t come back home, no matter what. I need you to leave as soon as possible.”

The instructions were clear and curt, and while I understood that this was supposed to be a no-questions-asked situation, I had to ask.

“Mr. Elxa, you sound in pain. What’s wrong?” I insisted, and some of my worry must have gotten through to Jon, for the boy sat up straighter at the worried insistence in my voice, brows pulled into a frown.

There was another pause of heavy, labored breathing, and I was sudden quite aware of the background noise –the sound of ambulance alarms.

“One of my business deals… didn’t go well. I got shot and almost knocked down. I’m on the way to the hospital now.” Mr. Elxa admitted, but how the hell could someone be sound so calm –if not pained –about it?

“What!?!?!? You got shot and almost knocked down?” I repeated, raising my voice in shock. “Are you okay?”

“Relax, Kaylen. They only got me in my left arm and left a few bruises. I’m fine. All you have to do now is take Jon and get out of there; fast.”

“Which hospital are you going to? We’re going to see you.” I stood up, Jon mimicking my movement quickly, his face betraying his emotions now as he stood closer, trying to eavesdrop when it wasn’t really possible.

“I’ll tell you once you are safely in the hotel. Go –pack and leave now.” Mr. Elxa instructed firmly, and there was no mistaking the order in his voice. I could only put in enough time to wedge in a well wish before Mr. Elxa hung up, presumably to fight off the pains of his gunshot wound.

“What happened? Why is he going to the hospital?” Jon asked immediately as I disconnected the call, gray eyes shining with deep worry.

“He… He was having some deal, and it went bad. They shot him in the arm and almost knocked him down…” I replied absently, still trying to find the space in my mind where I could store this news and deal with the shock that accompanied with it. I knew Mr. Elxa had enemies, but surely they weren’t as ruthless to shoot Mr. Elxa in broad daylight? This wasn’t a drama; this was reality. Shootings could get anyone locked up –everyone knew that. Had Mr. Elxa been dealing with shady businessmen? Worse; was he a shady businessman?

It wasn’t time to be questioning Mr. Elxa’s profession, as I dropped the phone on the soft couch and began making for my room.

“Quick, we’re supposed to pack and run. We’re going to be staying in a hotel for the week. I guess it’s for our safety, if his deal went bad to that extent.” I instructed, but it surprised me when I turned back to find that Jon had already disappeared. The sounds of drawers being pulled open slammed close roughly came from the corridor, and I followed it to find Jon in Mr. Elxa’s study. He had already messed up many things, but seemed to be looking furiously for something.

“What are you doing?” I demanded, standing helpless in the doorway as Jon pulled open one of the metal cabinets lining the wall, running his fingers furiously, quickly through the file names.

“This crap has got to stop. I thought he was going to learn something when he began to change for your sake, Kaylen, but it isn’t. I need to slap some sense in him but first I need to do some research.” Jon replied gruffly as he searched furiously, and I could only stand there, watching dumbfounded as Jon pulled out file after file, flipping the pages impatiently before jamming them back haphazardly. Mr. Elxa would kill Jon if he knew Jon had been so crazily rummaging through his things, but at the moment I was more concerned with Jon’s sudden streak of mental breakdown.

“What are you talking about?” I demanded, somehow still not daring to step into the study for fear of upsetting something more than Jon already had.

“I thought he changed for you. He began to change after you changed me. I was hopeful that he might stop, but he isn’t. So I’m going to do something about it. Enough pretending to be oblivious; this is the last straw for me.” Jon said explosively, and slammed the cabinet close with a force so heavy it shook not only the cabinet itself, but cause heavy vibrations to the wall behind it too. Moving back to Mr. Elxa’s desk, he began shuffling through the papers and files there.

“What the hell…” Jon muttered, and this time I lost the battle against my instincts as I ran over, trying to peek at what he saw at the bottom of the stack. In laminated plastic, the bottom of the stack held a piece of document that seemed strictly official.

Death Certificate.

Name: May Alexandra Lorren

“That sick bastard; I always wondered where Mum’s death certificate went.” Jon muttered, but seemed to quickly get past the fact as he continued rummaging through the stacks. Finally, pulling open a side drawer, Jon seemed to chance upon what he’d been looking for, as he pulled the small book out and flipped it open, taking a scan quickly through it. I didn’t want to know how Jon knew what he was looking for, but it was apparent that he had found it.

“Ellen… how could she…” Jon muttered, frowning even deeper now. I was still too busy gawking at the death certificate Mr. Elxa had hidden at the bottom of the stack.

Time seemed to stop as Jon flipped a few pages more.

And then he slammed the book shut, a furious expression on his face –an expression angrier than anything I’d ever seen. It was an expression almost as angry as Hayden and Mr. Elxa had been that day, and it frankly scared me. If Mr. Elxa’s anger was scary, then surely his son’s anger would be the same explosive force?

It turned out I didn’t get to stay around to see the effects. Jon simply just took off charging out of the room without a word. Without a word, a look, he simply rushed off. I tried to follow, but the boy was fast. The next thing I knew, the front door was slammed close, and I was left in an empty home, suddenly very lost and alone.

And afraid.

Still, I had been given an instruction, and I had no idea where Jon had run off to.

I bit my bottom lip and went to my room to pack, praying to my mother and, if possible, my father, for Mr. Elxa’s and Jon’s safety.