A/N: This chapter is a continuation from chapter 43 where Natty told Gavin about the mystery black mailer. Enjoy.

GAVIN

"Where did you say, we are going again?" She asked the question while unwrapping another lollipop. The fifth one to be precise. She tossed the plastic wrapping on the dash board of my car, along with the rest of the wrappings which she had initially dumped there. She had turned my car into a dumpster. This is why I don't like having strangers in my car.

"We are going to meet up with a friend. He will help us track down the black mailer." I replied, swallowing the aggravation that was bubbling inside me.

"Hmm... this is so good. You sure you don't want one?" She was referring to the mango flavored lollipop that she was currently sucking and licking.

"No. Thank you." I rebuffed, shifting my focus to the traffic packed road ahead.

"So, this friend of yours. Is he a detective or something? How is he going to help us track down the mystery black mailer?" She probed then placed her feet on my dash board.

"Take your feet off my dash board." I spoke up, unable to contain my irritation.

"I don't know, they feel more comfy here. Good blood flow and all." She guilelessly replied, lowering the window. Wind gusted into the automobile, supplying plenty of fresh air which I didn't hesitate to inhale.

"Are you always this annoying?" I directed the question at her even though I already knew the answer to my question.

"You hurt my feelings by saying that, Gav." She feigned hurt.

"Aww...really? Thought you didn't have feelings or a heart for that matter." I shot back.

"Excuse me. I have a heart and feelings. I am human too you know." She protested.

"Thought you were a witch." I commented and she punched me on the arm. "Ouch." I mouthed.

"Serves you right for calling me a witch." She chuckled then took off her feet from the dash board. "You didn't answer my question." She said, scrolling through her phone.

"Which one? Coz you've asked a lot of questions in the past 30 minutes."

"Asking questions...the right questions is what makes one good journalist. My nana used to say that." She revealed, seriousness taking over her voice.

"I'm sorry about your nana." I uttered.

"She is probably in heaven right now watching what a disappointment I have become. I wanted to a good journalist like her so bad that I fucked up big time. And now here I am helplessly being black mailed by some shit head who will probably send me six feet under if I don't do as he asks." She opened up, a sad laugh accompanying her speech.

And this is the part where I play therapist.

"Hey, you are Natasha fucking Yen. The most powerful journalist in River Bridge High. Sure, you write shit about people but people enjoy reading shit about other people. They look up to you, waiting for you to publish a new story for them to read. What I'm saying is that you are their hero. And about that black mailer, we are going to get him before he causes further damage. He is not going to hurt you, I promise." I assured her.

"That was a really good pep talk, Gavin. Thank you for saying all those wonderful things about me. You ever considered being a motivational speaker in future?"

"Umm... not really." I cringed at the thought of me standing in front of a congregation, delivering a motivational speech. Especially because I have an embarrassing thing called stage fright. You heard that right, I'm fucking scared of standing on a stage in front of a congregation.

"Why? You are so good at this." She pried.

"I hate standing in front of large gatherings." I blurted.

"Wait a fucking second? You have stage fright?" She let out a gasp.

"Yes. Now you can laugh and write an entire article about it in your gossip blog." I urged, my shoulders slumping.

"It is funny but I won't laugh or write about it. Newsflash, I had stage fright too when I was little. One time, I peed myself on stage while reciting a speech. It was horrifying but thank God nobody noticed. Took a lot of practice to finally get rid of my fright." She narrated.

"I'm sorry, did you say, you peed yourself on stage?" I couldn't control a laugh from departing my mouth.

"Yes." She snickered. "Most embarrassing day of my life. Tell me something embarrassing that you did as a kid. Promise, I won't publish it on my blog."

"Well, I have many. But I'll pick the best one. Okay, the most embarrassing event in my childhood is when my pants ripped when I had bent to pick my pen which had fallen on the floor. Everyone in the hall way saw my butt and took videos of it. Think that's where I earned my third nick name...Rippy pants." I opened up, recalling the events of that morning, 9 years ago.

"Rippy Pants...so unoriginal. Couldn't they have come up with better nicknames?" She released a comment. "Also, how many nicknames did you have back then?"

"I have lost count. But I remember top four being: Fatty pants, hippopotamus, fat cry baby and rippy pants." I listed, my mind travelling back to some of the worst moments of my childhood. I was a chubby kid who was made fun of a lot. I remember going to the toilet cubicle at lunch to cry my eyes out and force the ingested food out of my system using my fingers. I hated the way I looked and most of all the way my peers made me feel about my body. It took me years of work outs and good diet to finally love and appreciate myself.

"Those kids were so mean." Natasha's comment plucked me away from the forest of memories, I was lost in.

"Yeah." I sighed, taking a turn off the main road. A few more minutes and we'll be there.

"If only they could see the sexy motherfucker you have turned into now." She attempted to lighten up the mood.

"Aww...you think I'm sexy?" I inquired, a smile tugging at my lips.

"You are sexy. Even a blind dog can see that." She retorted then started tampering with the car radio. She tuned into the news channel. I sent her a questioning look and she reciprocated with a cute smile and a shrug.

"In other news, Mayoral candidate William Stockfield is currently hosting a campaign at River Bridge Garden Square where he is addressing the people on why he should be the next mayor. There has been a huge turnout for his campaign. Here is what he has to say." The news anchor's voice blared through the speakers as she read the news.

"Citizens of River Bridge, I promise that if elected Mayor, I will strive to make this town a better place. There will be free education for your children, free medical care for everyone and more employment for the citizens of this town. I plan to set up various projects that will promote the economy of River Bridge..." Suddenly, she turned off the radio just when the mayoral candidate was getting to the good part.

"Hey. I was listening to that." I lamented, a frown settling on my face.

"Bull shit. This guy blabbers a lot of it. There is no way he is going to fulfill any of his promises. He hasn't even paid alimonies to his ex-wives. He has gambling debts too. The reason he is running for mayor is to embezzle funds and use it to clear his debts. If he is elected mayor, he will run this town to the fucking ground." She made an analysis.

"So, you are saying he is not fit for mayor?"

"Precisely. Your mom should be mayor instead. Feel like she has done a lot for this town. She has built a hospital, a multimillion dollar company that has offered employment for the town folk, an orphanage and a whole lot of other establishments. She gave back to the town." She showered praises on my mom and I actually felt proud of her. For years, I was too focused on antagonizing her that I didn't notice the good things she has done for the people of this town. She is their hero.

"Yeah. She did." I muttered, pulling up in front of a massive black gate. I got out of the car and walked to the gate which had a keypad. I typed in the four number code and seconds later, the gates opened, revealing a fancy residence which belonged to Fabian.

****

"Holy shitballs! Are we in paradise?" Natasha exclaimed as she peered through the open window, admiring the beautiful view as I drove into the compound. Rows of trees sat on either side of the tarmacked drive way. Water sprinklers which were on, nourished the neatly trimmed green grass which had adorned most of the compound. The place hadn't changed since the last time I visited.

"Is that a lake I see? And are those ducks?" She excitedly pointed at a small artificial lake. Fabian loved sitting by the lake and watching the ducks quack and play in the water. Said, it calmed his mind.

"There's a water fountain too? Who is this friend of yours, Gavin? Is he Bruce Wayne's twin?" Natasha fired the question at me, while gazing at the hypnotizing fountain which stood majestically on the property. Flowers embossed the foot of the fountain; mostly daisies.

I parked my car in front of the glass mansion, a few meters from the fountain. Natasha excitedly rushed out of the car and started taking selfies. She looked like a kid on Christmas after meeting Santa for the first time. I watched in silence as she made faces while taking countless selfies in front of the fountain.

"You do realize that this is private property right?" I finally spoke.

"Yes and?"

"You could get arrested for taking photos in it without the owner's permission." I was pulling her leg of course.

Her face paled at my statement. "Shit. Really? Your friend could have me arrested?" It was fun seeing her like this.

"God no! Just wanted to see your reaction." I laughed.

"Ha ha ha...really funny." She mocked with an eye roll then punched me on the arm.

"Ouch. Why'd you do that?"

"Guess I also wanted to see your reaction." She replied with a smirk.

"Do you guys plan on staying out there forever or are you gonna come in?" A voice which I recognized as Fabian's inquired. He was leaning on the glass railing, in his balcony, staring down at us. A black mug was in his hand. I'm assuming he was having black coffee. His favorite. His hair looked pretty much like shit. Guessing he must have slept in, being a weekend.

"Is that the friend you were talking about?" Natasha whispered beside me.

"Yes." I rejoined.

"Is he single?" She breathed and I immediately knew where this was heading.

"Yes and much older than you." I mumbled.

"I'll be 18 in a few weeks." She declared proudly. "How's my hair? Is it good? Fuck, if I knew you'd be bringing me here I would have worn something more...appropriate." Looks like my cock blocking attempts failed.

"I think your hair looks good." I gave her the approval she desperately needed, on our way to the front door.

"What did you say his name was again?" She enquired when we got to the porch. She was touching on her pink lipstick. Before I could answer, the door flung open revealing the host who was very shirtless by the way. Exposing his abs for the world to see.

"Welcome to my humble abode." He spoke in a rich Argentinian accent as he ushered us into his mansion.

"Fuck me." Natasha murmured causing me to roll my eyes so vigorously that I feared they might fall out of their sockets.

This is gonna be a really long day. I thought, as I stepped into the multimillion dollar mansion.

****

A/N

Working on Gavin and Natasha's scenes is becoming my new favorite thing. Their dialogues flow so naturally and I'm just loving it. Now that they are investigating the mystery black mailer, I wonder what could go wrong? Stick around to find out.

Anyway loves, thank you for reading and getting us to 25k. That's a huge milestone! Wouldn't have done it without you.