Hey guys, check out my new book The CEO’s Contract With the Thief on my profile. It’s going to be intense and suspenseful and a lot of what we all like and love.

“Smile, the worse is yet to come,
We’ll be lucky if we ever see the sun,
Got nowhere to go. We. We can be here for a while,
The future is forgiven, so smile.”
Smile by ~Mikky Ekko

The video plays and there’s a young girl, probably about seventeen or eighteen in the video. Flawless skin, high cheekbones, few freckles, nude lipstick on her full lips and the make-up on her face is all-natural. Her blonde hair is tied neatly in a ponytail, but she’s still beautiful. She’s wearing a red tank top and blue bum shorts. She’s sitting on the bed in the video and looking closely enough, Avril realises that the room the video was made in is the same room she’s in now except much older and abandoned.

Something about the girl strikes Avril, and she feels like she’s seen her before in a flash, but she can’t wrap her hands around where exactly.

“Hey, I don’t know how to say this, but in case we watch this someday I want you to know I love you Noah and I still think this is stupid.”

After saying that she moves back to the bed and sits down on the bed someone walks to her and sits beside her Avril knows that face too well and though Noah and Luke are practically identical, she knows their difference from the way they talk, walk and behave she also can tell them apart with their body gesture and the person who just walked to the girl is not Noah, but Luke. A very much younger and skinnier in build Luke with short blonde hair, probably in his late teens. The girl who is oblivious to that, however, kisses and lets Luke coax her into the bed.

From what the girl had explained before their make-out started, Noah has been trying to convince her to make a video with him and finally, she agrees to make it and so she’s probably thinking who she’s with now is Noah.

‘Just like you thought the man you were with six months ago was Noah,’ the small voice in her head tells her.

The girl’s clothes are rid of in a matter of seconds and tossed to the floor and Luke does away with his as well, as their kiss grows frantic and desperate.

“Please be gentle, Noah,” pants the girl in a weary tone. “you know it’s my first time.“

“Yes, baby, I know and I will be, always.”

Avril shuts her eyes as the anger she feels watching the videos grows because the girl in the video may not know the difference, but Luke does and so does Avril while she watches and it’s sickening. Sickening that this girl is with someone she doesn’t know or want to be with, sickening that Luke may not be who she thought he was and had crossed the line no-good brother should cross, and sickening that Noah is still affected by what Luke did to him up to this day and this may be the reason Noah hates and resent everything about Luke.

Noah is a lot of things, but he’s certainly not one for pretending and it hurts her to say this, but maybe that was exactly what Luke did and made his way into her bed six months ago because at this point she agrees she knows nothing about Luke.

Moans after moans fill Avril’s ears up accompanied by quiet purring and calling of Noah’s name as the clap of their skin sound loudly through the room.

“Linda, I am so sorry I’m a—” the apology strange voice tries to give stops halfway and the pair scramble away from each other. “What the fuck is happening here?!” the voice Avril places as Noah’s thunders and her eyes are forced open again to stare at the TV screen.

“Noah?!” the confused-looking girl calls before turning to Luke, who is holding an unapologetic look on his face. “Who are you?!”

“We haven’t officially been introduced. I’m Luke Castillo, this idiot’s twin brother.” For someone who was caught red-handed in an act of sleeping with his brother’s girl, Avril notices he seems to be in complete control.

The next thing that happens is what anyone who watched the video would expect which is Noah surging towards him on the bed, throwing himself at Luke and the girl squeal as she scrambles to her feet off the bed and out of the video capture, leaving the two boys throwing punches at each other are on the bed left on the video.

Luke gets on top of Noah and holds him down with his neck while Linda yells, “Let him go! You’re going to kill him.” From where she stands.

Luke turns to look at him with the look of one that’s possessed. “Yeah? Then good.”

Noah kicks his legs as he struggles to breathe and his hand goes to the lamp stand close to the bed. He grabs the lamp and swings it forward, smashing it against Luke’s head and causing a loud crash in the room. The impact is so strong that Avril jumps in fear from the chair where she sits.

Luke collapses from on top of Noah on the bed and becomes as still as a dead person. The camera does not make out his face because of the positioning, but he seems to have gone unconscious to Avril.

“Is he dead?” Linda asks, voice wrecked and completely scared.

Noah glances at her and the look of anger he had on his face dies away before he looks back down at the bed. “Luke! Luke! Wake up, Luke!” Noah shakes and eventually turns him around and gasps aloud. “He’s bleeding badly. He could be dead,” Noah says, anguish and fear written all over his face. “I killed him. I killed my brother!”

Linda rushes over to the bed and this time she’s wearing now wearing her bum shorts and black bra. She takes Luke’s bloody head in her hands and turns it to a side. “What are you doing?!” Noah yells, alarmed by the much blood now on her hand.

She places her finger on his neck. “Feeling for a pulse,” she answers. They both stay silent for a while before she turns to him. “I can feel his pulse. He’s alive. Get me his clothes. We need to stop the bleeding before taking him to the hospital.” Noah is still stiff in his position and unable to move. “Noah! Snap out of it.”

He jerks back and looks at Linda, who gestures to the clothes and he runs to the front of the bed and brings it. Linda then tears it into pieces and ties it around Luke’s head.

Trembling and shaking profusely, Noah mumbles, “I’m a monster. I’m a monster.”

Linda gets down and walks to him, taking his hands in his. “You’re not a monster, you’re a good guy and I love you just the way you are..” She kisses his lips and beckons to him. “Help me put on his trousers and let’s take him out.“

Noah picks his trousers from the floor and puts them on, Luke. “What will I tell everyone?”

“Tell them we were playing tag, and he slipped and fell while we were playing tag.”

He finishes putting on his trousers and zips them up, “They will not believe me.” He replies with a certain weary tone.

“I’ll back you up. Come on now.”

Avril only regains herself a few minutes after the video stops playing to see Noah standing in front of her. She also realises that she is also crying and unable to stop herself. Maybe this is much more than she can handle in this state and condition and she doesn’t want to be seen like this, but Noah already has.

“What happened after?” She can’t help herself, but asks after Noah offers her his handkerchief and she wipes her eyes with it.

“He lived. With no memory of that day or any other previous day. I hit him too hard, and it disrupted his brain functions and though he survived, he lost all his memory and never got them back and he still loses 50% of every memory he gets.”

“Does he know?”

He shakes his head. “No, nobody knows, only Linda. Everyone but Luke and I were off to our grandparent’s place and we were supposed to join them a day later. We never did.”

“He has to know why he can’t remember. He deserves to know and apologise.”

His expression goes from cool to murderous in a matter of seconds. “I will not tell him. He doesn’t deserve to know.”

Avril nods, understanding the limit she was not supposed to cross, “And Linda, what happened to her?”

“We broke up.”

Thoughts run through her head and even though she hopes to keep her mouth close, she can’t, and she gets up. “You two have shared the same girls, but I think you’ve been going after Luke’s girls and ruining things for him after what he did. I think that’s why you lost Linda, the girl that loved you with everything she had, the girl you loved.”

“I lost Linda the day he had sex with her! I was supposed to be her first, and she was mine! He made me into what I am today. Now everyone gets to call me the monster, and he’s the good guy, the good son? He doesn’t get to live happy just because he can’t remember what he did to me, not as long as I live.”

She moves towards him and knowing full well how quickly he can get furious and take his anger out on her, but she has to try.

“I’m so sorry for what you went through, no one should go through that torture, but you did and now you have to move on Noah and find happiness, you deserve it and stop showing yourself as this bad guy who everyone needs to be afraid of, you’re hurting and though Luke survived the trauma of that day, you never recovered.”

“I believe you’re going to find a girl that will love you, every part of you and I know you’re still scared that Luke might take her away from you just like he did Linda and me, but not if you show her this amazing side of you first.”

“I’m not a good guy, Avril, you know that.”

“Yes, you’re not, but you’ve got your heart, and I never thought I’d say this, but it’s in the right place and to be honest I think the kid I saw in the video is still in there, he wants to come out and love again, but this charade has to go.”

For the first time in forever, Avril spots a genuine smile on his face, which brightens his whole facial features. “You say things as they are and that’s what I love about you.” He pulls her closer and kissed her forehead.

She heaves a deep breath, relieved that he didn’t snap or lose his cool. “It gets me into trouble, but it’s worth it.”

“Are you going back home or you’ll leave from here?”

“I can’t go back, not after everything. I can’t do this now.” There are a lot of things to consider and maybe happily ever after isn’t really for her. Her heart is hurting, but she knows it’s the decision she needs to take now. Take care of herself and put herself first before anyone and everyone. “Maybe someday, but definitely not today.”

He wraps his arms around her and she hugs him back and they stay that way for the next few seconds that pass before pulling away.

“There are a hundred thousand pounds in the SUV and there will be a million pounds in your account by tomorrow as payment for our agreement. Take care of yourself, Avril Good.”

“You too Noah Castillo.”

She didn’t take a flight, instead; she took Noah’s car and drove until the fuel got exhausted. She pulls out the drawer of the car and in it is a big brown envelope. Curious, she unwraps it and looking inside; she sees a lot of money, immediately remembering Noah saying he left a hundred thousands pound in his car for her.

She feels unsafe, knowing she has such huge money all at once and more than anything right now, she doesn’t want to be alone on his lonely path. She can’t call Japhia Luke or Noah for help, as she’s hoping to put all that behind her in this new chapter of her life and she knows that only one person fits these criteria. Picking up her phone, she dialled his number and gave him her location.

She then moves to call Japhia’s number but figures a text is better, so tapping on the messaging app on her phone.

<To Japhia>

I know my secret is hard to carry, and I never meant to put you in such a difficult situation, but you’re going to have to bear my secret longer than we both thought.
Forgive me Japhia

<From Avril> Sent 2:49 pm

Then she presses send and then taps on Luke’s name, composing a message for him as well, which differs from what she sent to Luke.

<To Luke>

I can’t do this. I’m sorry Luke.

<From A.G> Sent 2:51 pm

After receiving the delivered message notification, she turns her phone off because if she knows Luke or Japhia might call and demanding answers she isn’t ready to give yet.

Three hours later==>

Avril is fast asleep when there comes a tap on her window and, opening her eyes, she sees Wesley. She picks up the envelopes, opens the door and gets down before closing it, wiping at her dim eyes to brighten them as she leans against the car.

Wesley looks a little different from the last time she saw him, which was a week ago as he is now spotting an extremely low haircut, leaving his brown hair at about 1cm length long. His ears still have those green diamond earrings that match his green eyes, making them as mesmerizing as ever, and his lips are full and deliciously red. He’s wearing a hooded red leather jacket and black skinny jeans which display his firm and muscled legs and she knows she’s better than this, but she can’t stop herself from the thought of wanting him under her.

Her mind yells at her to look away, but she can’t, not until she hears him say “Hey,” breaking her out of her lustful thoughts.

Her cheeks heat, but she can’t help the hormones running through her wanting to pull him into the car and having her wicked ways with him.

“Hey, you came.”

He smiles at her. “I said I would. Shall we go?”

She smiles and nods. “Thanks and yeah, but first I got to make some things clear.”

“Okay.”

“There’s no guarantee of a relationship. All I want is a friend and though I can’t forget what you did, I know I need you. Do you understand?”

“Couldn’t be clearer.”

“This is a hundred thousand pounds and I’m sure this will take us along for a very long time,” she hands him the big, brown envelope “and lastly and most importantly, I’m ten weeks pregnant and my hormones are crazy so ignore 60% of what I say and do in the next couple of months.”

Wesley is blown away by the last one and he stares at Avril carefully, wanting to know if she’s pulling his legs, but when he realises that she’s not kidding.

“Whose is it?”

“Mine,” she replies, feeling a little angry and irritated that this is the first question he asks her and she walks on towards his black BMW car. “You coming or not?!” she yells back when she notices he’s not following her.

“Right behind you,” he replies before running after her.

The End.