'Him'

"Admit it already, you were checking him out." Beatrice insisted, leaning across to grasp my hands positioned on the table. I knew she noticed when I spaced out at the meeting earlier, I totally expected this, a major attack on my emotions.

"No, I wasn't." I protested weakly, yanking my hand out of hers and burying my hot face in them.

"I knew it, I wasn't mistaken!" She swiftly abandoned the chair and pranced around the office with her slender hands attacking themselves in an excited clap.

"Stop it, Tris." I scolded. She paused in her ecstatic march around my office and pouted.

"Someday, you'll admit it. Did you see the looks on the faces of the women when he smiled? It was as if they had imagined him stripping..." I slapped my hands over my ears to drown out the next set of naughty words she uttered. My hands automatically fell off my ears when her mouth finally stopped quivering.

"Don't you have work to do?"

"Aside from the energy draining documents waiting to be typed, no."

Beatrice strode to a seat and curled her fingers on its top. I nodded my head, having found the perfect way to get rid of her.

"If that's the case..." I trailed off and formed a triangle with my fingers, at the same time noticing the sudden flash of eagerness in her razor sharp eyes.

"...go take care of the documents, they won't take care of themselves." I completed my statement with a toothy grin that made a scowl materialize on her face.

"Very well then, I'll leave." She stuck out her chin and turned to leave.

"And Tris?"

She angrily twirled around.

"Don't forget to shut the door on your way out."

She narrowed her eyes and sashayed out of my office, intentionally leaving the door wide open.

Despite the numerous tasks I occupied myself with, my mind never wandered far away from Tamara. I thought about the kind of treatment she was receiving from the kidnappers.

Were they starving her? Do they beat her? Was she sexually assaulted? The answer to the latter filled me with so much anxiety. Adding to my distress were images of Tamara wearing a dress which was splattered with blood. There was a gory gash situated above her left eye which made me tremble furiously.

It has been a long time since I was overwhelmed by fear of this magnitude, it enveloped me in its enormous and venomous claws, it made me feel helpless by shoving the realization of Tamara's dependence on I and mom's decision, down my oesophagus. After that, it broke me into minute pieces, leaving me emotionally and physically drained.

My phone rang and vibrated, dancing around the table. I half-heartedly thanked the caller for salvaging me from my deplorable condition.

My hand shot out to stop my phone from falling off the table, I glanced at the screen and with a smile, I pressed the ' accept ' button, after which I connected my phone with my ear.

"Hello," his voice swam into my head, leaving behind a pleasant sensation.

"Hey."

A disused paper caught my interest and I reached out to squeeze it into an uneven ball

"How are you feeling?"

"I feel like hell, I feel weak, powerless, vulnerable, I feel entirely terrible."

I choked out as tears filled my eyes. He didn't speak for a few seconds and I knew that he was busy with his thoughts.

"Want to get rid of those feelings?"

I would do anything honest for that.

"I madly want that." I breathed out and straightened the paper; its surface was covered with tiny creases. Sadly, my life was just as messed up as the paper. The paper was an unpleasant reflection of my soul, it was in a mess. My intestines tightened as the sad reality fell upon me.

"Meet me at Alex's coffee shop, do you know how to find your way there?"

I nodded and remembering that he wasn't physically present in my office, I spoke in the affirmative.

"Fine, I'll see you then, it'll be worth your time, trust me." He spoke after inhaling deeply.

Trust.

That's one emotion that died a long time ago. I no longer knew who to trust or who to turn to, but as it stands, the only people I could trust was Mom, Tamara and myself. Other people had in one way ended up sticking a knife right through my heart, twisting and turning till it savagely ripped out my vital organ.

Peter.

And no, I wasn't referring to Peter as my vital organ, my heart is.

"Sure, I'll be there."

When he ended the call, I freed my feet from my shoes and stretched my toes in gentle movements, rubbing them against each other and at the same time twisting my feet till my bones let out a satisfied sound. I left the comfort of the swivel chair and walked to the water dispenser that was positioned close to the bookshelf a little distance behind my table. After pouring myself a glass of water, I gulped down the revitalizing liquid.

💭💭💭

"So, what's the big surprise." I demanded impatiently from Philip who was seated opposite me on a yellow chair, the same colour as mine.

Earlier on, I had gone home to cool down my uncontrolled emotions, taken a much needed shower, dressed up and checked on mom who was engrossed in a peaceful and silent conversation with Michael. Although I strained my ears, I couldn't make out any of the numerous words they exchanged.

I reluctantly walked to Alex's Coffee shop where Mr. Philip was already seated. There were countless times when I wondered how he managed to remain undiscovered by the paparazzi and his uncountable and dramatic fan girls.

The coffee shop was not as busy as it should be. A few people were seated at different yellow tables in the beautiful shop. Some had differently coloured earphones plugged into their ears, taking occasional sips of the nearly black liquid trapped in the mugs before them.

The shop was decorated fancifully with tiny cups of coffee pasted on the white walls. Pretty flowers contained in vases with intricate patterns were positioned at different points on the walls, held firmly in place by ring shaped metals, protruding from the walls. Only observant eyes like mine would be able to detect the metals because the designer intelligently painted them with the same colour as the vases.

"I wonder how you find this bland liquid appealing." I eyed the cup of coffee on the table. Ignoring me, he took an arrogant swig of his coffee. I imitated his action minus the arrogance by raising my cup to my lips, but instead of coffee, it was my favorite drink, water. I took a quick sip and set the cup on the table.

"So..." I trailed off, hoping he would catch on.

"Impatient aren't we?" His eyes travelled over my shoulder and I turned to see what trapped his attention. Two guys came in through the door and weaved their way among the tables to meet us.

One of them had a black beanie on his head together with a pair of medicated glasses over his eyes, a red Abercrombie shirt overlapping his somewhat faded pair of jeans trousers complimented the pair of black boots on his feet. He had a black bag slung on his shoulder and an arm wrapped around the shoulder of his companion, an exact replica of him. The only thing that created a little distinction between the two of them was the dissimilarity in their clothing patterns.

"Phil man, what's up?" The beanie guy hailed and shook Philip's outstretched hand which later linked up with the other twin, who was dressed in black. I awkwardly shifted in my seat as they interchanged their words.

"Guys, meet Florence, Florence, meet Sebastian and Stephen."

Sebastian was the beanie guy while his twin was Stephen.

At least their names were better than ridiculous twin names like Lila and Lola or Andrew and Andra or August and Augusta or Luke and Like.

Sebastian and Stephen looked a little older than me and the same age as Philip.

My breathing pattern changed when Sebastian disconnected his bag from his shoulder and sat right next to me our shoulders touching lightly. He turned effortlessly to me and his lips formed an alluring smile which made my heart go into a frenzy.

Trying my best to push away the ardent flame that Sebastian kindled within my body, I returned a smile. Philip was already in a discussion with Stephen who sat to his left.

His right hand carefully liberated his bag and allowed it sit on the floor beneath us. After freeing his right hand, he extended it towards me for a handshake. I accepted his hand and shook it slowly, at the same time staring into his honey coloured irises. My eyes broke off briefly from his to watch the pacifying caress of his fingers on the back of my hand.

"Florence, it's a pleasure to finally meet you."

I stared back into his eyes and noticed that his pupils had significantly dilated.

Hey everyone!

How are you all doing today/tonight?

I know some of you are about crucifying Florence😀 It's only her hormones doing their job.

What do you guys think about Sebastian? Drop your comments below.

There are lots of my characters you haven't been seeing since the last book, Anastasia, Darius, Maya, Peter, they'll appear as the story line expands.

I love everyone of you, don't ever forget that.

❤