© 2018 Shay Spencer. All rights reserved.

Something New

[ Chapter 6 ] God Damn Mazaradi

. . . . .

Hayden

11 Months

. . . . .

For the longest time, I had gone without feeling a thing; it seemed like the best option after Scarlett had left me behind.

Every kiss, every night with another girl that I couldn't remember, every glass of hard alcohol that I consumed was fleeting - just as I my time away from Scarlett would be. But little did I know, she would take to Axel's lifestyle the same as I had a year and a half ago. She would push herself to the limits only to come up short and wondering why the hell she did it in the first place.

The only difference is she had so many people there to catch her when she fell. I was still trying to pull myself together before I flew off the handle in the middle of Reynold's Records.

"He's not in, Mr. Pennington. May I take a message?" The girl smiled sweetly back up at me, clicking her way through Axel's 'busy' schedule. There was techno-music playing softly about the lobby area, the two of us being on the top floor. Suffice to say, the building wasn't up on the latest in security previsions.

I rolled my eyes, "I know he's here."

"Mr. Penn-"

"His mazaradi is parked out front. Kind of hard to miss a car like that."

The brunette blushed at the realization.

"I can pencil you in between his three o'clock and his four-thirty?" She offered, batting her long black eyelashes back at me. Her gorgeous hazel eyes were a great compliment to her supple caramel skin, and though her good looks and plunging neckline had gotten her this far, it wasn't about to work on me.

"He's in now. I saw some perky red-head waltz in there less than five minutes ago," I pulled my hand from the counter. "Don't mind me. I'll be out before you know it."

I couldn't be bothered to lodge her complaints as she avidly tossed them in my direction. I had business to tend to with the very man that was meant to take over this company at year's end.

Without warning the large door at the end of the short hallway flew open, and out came an utterly stunning woman standing at Axel's side. She looked me up and down, noting my casual attire and silently comparing it to that of her short pencil skirt and grey sleeveless turtleneck.

Quickly she brushed her deep red hair over her shoulder, handing a note to Axel before she strode past me wordlessly.

Had to admit, I wouldn't hate to have Axel's job if it meant being surrounded by this many voluptuous women.

"Penn," Axel greeted with a half frown. "What brings you to New York?"

He nodded back towards his office and made his way inside, leaving the door open for me.

"You know why I'm here," I said, making sure to close the door behind us. It closed with a thud, one that I'm sure echoed down the short hallway to let his crypt keeper that he was safely locked inside.

Axel nodded a second time, "I thought she'd send Wren or Zane to collect her things. They're been boxed up in the penthouse on Houston if you're lost."

"I'm not here to pick up her shit, Axel," I hissed, the words slithering through my teeth. "I'm here to figure out what the hell happened that night."

His eyebrows popped up at the mention before he leaned back against his desk. "I don't know if I can help you there, Penn. Seems it's classified information where Scarlett Blaine is concerned."

"Then un-classify it," I walked a few paces, stopping just inches from him. "If you laid a damn hand on her I swear to god-"

"Maybe I did," Axel smirked. He crossed his arms over his chest, straining every strand on his all too tight suit. "So what? You may have thought that you and your little step sister had something, but you didn't. She's a California girl that wanted to be a little naughty for the summer. When she got here, she figured out she wanted a real man, and she came," he paused obnoxiously, "to the right man."

The only sound that could be heard for half a mile was the sound of Axel's nose crunching under my fist.

"Penn!" Axel's hands flew up to cup his tattered flesh. The sight wasn't pretty and my hand felt like it'd been run over by his god-damned mazaradi, but it sure did feel good to watch the blood pore out of his nose.

That was a little too dark a' thought.

"You had it coming the second you looked two ways at Scarlett," I rose an eyebrow at him when he finally met my eyes.

"Hayden?" The voice that came from the now open door sent a shock through my body, and not in a good way.

I turned ever so slowly, feeling the pain shot up my arm from my hand as it really set in at the sight before me. "Angel," I nodded in her direction.

Her jaw nearly dropped as far down as Axel's as she shoved me aside, trying to assess the damage I had done to New York City's most infamous playboy. The two shared a knowing look, the woman prying Axel's hands from his nose to inspect it further before something pulled her back. She dropped her left hand to her side and held out the right one expectantly.

Axel gave me a pointed glare as he picked up the spare key and tossed it in Angel's direction. "You know the place?" He asked.

"Scarlett made sure we knew the address."

The air suddenly felt thick with tension before Angel nodded, silently backing away from the crime scene. Though my resident stepmother had made her exit, I couldn't stop myself from sticking around to find out exactly why Axel made Angel Blaine quiet down for once.

"Get out of here before I call the cops," Axel's voice was gruff with the pain he must have been feeling. The tears were pricking at his eyes were also a good indication that I'd played a part in quite the experience.

"Things were just getting fun," I whined, patting Axel on the back before he swatted my hand away. "Don't get all grumpy on me, Reynolds-"

"You punched me in the face, Hayden!" Axel yelled. "Get the hell out!"

"And you got me kicked out of school before making a move on Scarlett!" I countered with equal force. "How long do you think it's going to take me to get over that!"

Axel bit his quivering lip, the pain seeming to take him over with his outburst. I ran my fingers over my soon to be bruised knuckles as I watched Axel pick up a stray napkin that had been sitting on top of the take-out box laying out on his desk. The office was immaculate if you excluded the all too disorganized mess that was Axel Reynold's in the flesh.

He shoved the napkin up his nose, wincing at the pain.

"Do you want me to get that red-headed call girl back in here?" I teased, receiving yet another glare from Axel.

"If I can't talk about Scarlett without you punching me, expect the same if you ever say anything remotely bad about Josie again." I held up my hands in defense, taking a note from Angel and walking out of the office without another word.

I kept my head down as the receptionist rushed past me to be at Axel's side. Vaguely, I could hear him mutter something about 'taking the day off' and to 'tell Josie to drive him home'. I honestly felt bad for whoever this Josie girl was.

"Hayden," Angel's voice rang in my ears again as I clicked the down-button on the elevator. A feeling of pure fear ran over me as I met Angel's worried gaze, the both of us not knowing what to say at a time like this.

"I hate to ask this," I started with a half-hearted smile, "but please don't tell my dad."