Chapter 28

"Well, not anymore! James has you in his profile picture plus your lips are almost pursed on his", I went back, in the memory lane, but couldn't find an actual moment in which we clicked a picture like such. Did he have cameras in his bedroom? Oh no, that way, he'll know that I stalked his stuff. A part of me was happy, that I didn't allow him to go off-limits. I was happy because it was just a kiss, and I was sad because it was an actual 'kiss'. The 'touch' part didn't count because it wasn't as per my consent.

"I swear, I am not dating him!" I tried convincing Mr. Reynolds. It felt bad somewhere because I did not want Mr. Reynolds to think about me that way.

"That's your personal life like you said! I called to tell you that as per the contract you cannot date anyone from the office premises. I hope I am clear enough", he cleared his throat. His words were crystal clear to me, I replied with a "Yes sir. I won't give you another reason to complain".

I canceled the call after hearing an 'okay' from him. I never expected a goodnight anyway. I felt bad for being accused of a relationship I wasn't into. It wasn't the first time that he judged me, but somewhere it felt wrong deep within.

I wanted to cry but I controlled it because it wasn't the perfect time. I controlled myself and opened my gallery, in order to analyze the pictures. I read every sentence one by one. Every word on it was crazy enough to knock me down, with a hammer of course. It read "I, Aaron Reynolds, in all my senses want to handover my entire property, from a small nail till my office building, to Mr. James", the first line was clear enough for me to understand everything. The letter consisted of 4 pages, but the first page was clear enough for me to understand the agenda behind it.

I at once tried calling Mr. Reynolds back but none of my calls were being answered so I decided to directly meet him the following morning

AMANDA'S POV

I unwrapped myself from the blanket I was curled upon with thoughts that devastated the situation of my mind. I could not sleep because of all the drama I faced last night, it was disturbing me. A simple question rotated in my mind, that, how could a childhood best friend betray someone this badly? Money spoke, it always did.

It was 7 in the morning. I unlocked my phone and texted an "I love you ", to my fags aka Gina and Francis. I knew that they were sleeping but I could see the delivery message so I just hanged up my phone and kept it in the bag. I was read, in my cotton flowered one piece. I paired with a simple braid and flat sandals.

I decided to skip college, being aware of the fact, that I was missing a lot of studies. I had to focus on an even important issue. I knew that my sister's whole life would be a complete wreck if I didn't open her eyes soon plus it would be easier for Sam to abort, after her encountering James's true face. Well, thinking about Mr. Reynolds, he owed me so much. Undoubtedly, he's a jerk, but a respectful one, in a good way. I could not let anything bad happen to him as well.

I quickly stuffed some biscuits in my mouth so that I don't starve out of hunger. I swung my sling bag on my shoulder and double-checked that it had my phone, as it was the only evidence, which was proof. Without it, Mr. Reynolds wouldn't even consider listening to me. I did make a copy of those pictures and attached it to my laptop so that if in case I lost the pictures, I had a backup.

I took a taxi but then something vibrated on my lap. I knew it was my phone, on analyzing it, I realized that it was a call from James. I was uncertain regarding the main subject of his call. My hands shivered when I tried answering it.

"Hello", I finally dragged the call button right.

"Don't you dare act smart with me Amanda Waters, I know that you've stalked my room and found evidence, now that you know something, let me tell you, that you don't know everything"

"Everything...?" I questioned gathering my guts. How much worse could the story get?

"I'll buzz you a small video on your phone right now, check it fast while I call you back in a minute", he canceled the phone and I could already see a video message notification.

I opened the video and I was more than shocked to see that the video consisted of my sister, my Samarrah. They were basically lip-locking with each other with open mouth. James's hands were doing the talking. They traveled on every part of her body. I was devastated by the video, it seemed like a nightmare to me. The message behind it was pretty clear, that if I exposed him to Mr. Reynolds, he'll do the same with my sister in an uglier way by leaking the sex tape in public.

And my phone rang again. I quickly answered it by dragging the cursor to the right. "What kind of human are you?" I had no time to punctuate my sentence so I completed it without doing much of respiratory exercises. I was completely mad at him and I was pretty sure that the call was from James.

"I may be evil, but yes, you could be a reflective version of it if you exposed me in front of your so-called boss because after you do that", I could feel him grinning on the other side of the phone "I have to, sooner or later upload the whole complete version of this sex tape on every social networking site", he continued.

"No, you please do not do that", I was silently crying.

"Then lock up your tongue as what you saw was just a theatrical trailer. I have made some copies of it on my laptop as well, so you better shut the fuck up"

"I swear I won't utter a word", I replied instinctively.

"Meet me in an hour at Orad Cafe, dare being late, he warned me.

I signaled the taxi driver to take a U-turn as Orad cafe was on the opposite side of the town, completely far from my office. I knew that going there was dangerous but I didn't have any other choice too.

"Check my laptop and take it to Mr. Reynolds if necessary, URGENT", I texted my fags so that in case something wrong happened to me, they could alert my boss. I checked upon the delivery status and sighed out of relief when it notified 'success'.

"I can be a bit late today, I apologize already", I dropped a text message on Mr. Reynolds's number. It took me exactly 15 minutes to reach my destination. James wasn't anywhere around so I relaxed and ordered a coffee for myself. I wanted to explain to James, that what he was doing was wrong. I had a 0.01 percent hope that this motherly type of holy lecture would certainly work. I couldn't look at the cons of this situation so I was satisfied with the pros.

"Hello baby girl", this word annoyed me more than anything could ever. James took a seat in front of me and grabbed the coffee mug. I hated his guts and his existence. Mother earth would feel light and relieved if he died.

"Look James, this thing would lead you nowhere, okay?" I breathed deep.

He sipped my coffee "It led me to you" he looked at me and continued "Look Amanda once I get everything that Reynolds has, I can rule and have the most luxurious life ever. We can share that life. I do have feelings for you. I never wanted to blackmail you. It was just because of the circumstances. Forgive me, baby girl?"

I quickly dragged my hand away from his "You are the only person Mr. Reynolds trusts. He considers you his brother. Please don't break that trust. I beg of you"

"That's the reason I dislike him, he takes away everything I like", he paused for a while "You included", he resumed.

Do I like Mr. Reynolds? Why do I even act so possessive when it comes to him? Why does he matter so much? I questioned myself infinite times but was unable to find answers to it. No, I couldn't label the feelings as an attraction.

"I'm just very loyal towards my Job", I replied without any hesitation. He looked at me, straight in my eyes, so I tried to look away. Every time he looked at me, I felt suffocated. It felt like someone was choking me to death.

"Can be seen", he looked at me vigorously, his eyeballs twirling and examining every intimate area of mine.

"You keep my secret and I'll keep yours, fair deal", I stood straight and ironed my dress while standing up straight. James stood in synchronization with me, came closer and caught me through the back of my hair, and certainly pulled it too. It caused me pain, but I didn't utter a single word because I didn't want him to consider me weak and fragile "I dare you baby girl. I'll make your life a living hell if you speak to Aaron anything regarding this topic", he pulled my hair harder this time and took the lead.

I followed him slowly and tried my best to avoid making any noise whilst walking. He opened the door of his car's passenger seat and directed me to walk in. I quickly took a seat and buckled the seat belt. On closing the door, within a minute, he hopped on the driver's seat. Before driving, he quickly attached a pen drive to the on-screen music player and loaded it with pop music online.