AELLA Smack!!!The sound of skin hitting against skin reverberates around the thin walls of the kitchen. I clutch my aching cheek, willing myself not to cry, I can't let them win. "I'm not the enemy you ungrateful bitch." Kate hisses at me.I look at my dad who glares at me as if it's a strange thing that I don't want to marry a man twice my age. "This man has enough money to take care of you and whatever bastard children you might have," Kate says staring daggers at me."If he's so good, why doesn't Mia marry him?" I ask in a condescending tone."Mia is a child you bitch." Kate says while taking a threatening step towards me.I stumble back a little not willing to be slapped again. "Mia is my age!" "But at least she's not a slut like you." Kate says dismissively. "Look, Aella, the last thing we want to do is hurt you." my father says in a tone I'm sure is supposed to be placating."Oh you've hurt me already, you hurt me when you threw my mother's things out after she died, you
AELLA"Roman Montgomery, 25 year old masters student, and the star in every females fantasy and nightmare." a voice startles me out of the staring contest I has with the shadow. "Huh?" I ask, while turning towards the owner of the voice."I'm just offering helpful information." she says while nodding at the wrangler jeep guy."Oh, uhhh….. I didn't really need to know that." I say more than self-conscious, not willing to come off as desperate for his attention. "I don't think you have a choice in that." she says drily while staring pointed behind me. I turn to see who she is staring at, and I gasp lightly. Roman, as she had called him, had come out of the shadows and now stood in front of me. I couldn't help but marvel at his beauty, at 6'4 with dark haired and a chiselled face, he was by far the sexiest male in the room, and he stood with the confidence of one who knew it. "Gossiping me, I see." he says in a raspy voice that would make millions if he ever decided to go into audio
AELLA We drive around the city in an uncomfortable silence. At least it was uncomfortable for me. I make it my mission to take note of the major roads we pass in case I need to make a run for it. "Relax…., I don't bite." Roman says with a smirk, "at least not hard enough." he completes under his breath. "That's not helping. What if you want to kill me?" I say, shaking slightly. "Don't stress, I bury most of my bodies deep in the woods." he says with a pokerface. If there was a way for me to turn whiter than I already was, then I would have. I clasp my hands together and close my eyes and pray to whatever God there is, that if he were to save me, I wouldn't enter cars with strangers again. It's not like I had a choice this time. We get to a deserted dirt road, and he makes a turn for it, and then we are descending a little hill. He parks the car on the corner of the road and steps out to my side, and soon he's leading me out of the car. He still doesn't say a word to me as he s
ROMAN The drive back into the city was quiet as fuck. I swipe my hands across my face, trying to chase away the drowsiness that comes from hours of swimming. For me, it was more a sport I had to be good at than something I did for fun. "What's your class schedule for tomorrow?" I ask Aella. She straightens her dress with a scoff, "Surely, you do not believe I would tell you." "I have other ways to get it, I was just giving you a chance to tell me yourself." I say. "I don't have any classes tomorrow, just work." She eventually responds in anger. I don't bother responding to her lies, I knew for sure she had classes and I wonder what she hoped to achieve with those lies. My phone vibrates from the pocket of my jeans and I take it out only to see a message from my shitty friends. "Eyes on the road." Aella practically screams in my ears. I look at her and notice her near panic expression and I wonder what that's all about. When I had read her files, there was no mention of anxiet
AELLA I barge into the kitchen of the restaurant I'm working at and fling the half-filled tray on the counter. 'I wonder why the customers today were being extra bitchy and insensitive.' "Is everything okay?" Greg the restaurant's chef asks. "She said the egg was too salty." I respond angrily referring to one of our customers."It's a paprika-fried egg, it's supposed to be salty." He says while filling up another tray. I grab the tray and move towards the door, "Yeah, tell that to her." "Chicken and fries coming right up." I say with forced cheerfulness to my newest customer. After serving, I look at the clock and notice its time for my thirty minute break and I don't hesitate in heading out the back with a burger. I sit down on the back porch and groan into my hands at the unreleased tension in my lower back. Last night had been too much, we had watched movies and drunk a cheap bottle of tequila until we literally passed out. And then I had to wake up early this morning for my
CHAPTER SIX "Sip that slowly, because that will be your last glass for the night." Roman says, interrupting my line of thought. I glare at him and gulp down my drink at record speed, feeling lightheaded at my little act of defiance.I smile again at yet another faceless stranger I know I will never see again. After Roman had forcefully taken me for the primping required to attend an event of this magnitude, he took me back to his car and gave me a tablet which contained valid, strong and convincing reasons why I should attend his stupid ball without making any fuss. I had seen tons of pictures of both my dad, my stepmother, and my step-siblings. In those pictures, they were doing the most mundane things, like walking to the park, hanging out with friends, and even sleeping. There were also pictures of my friend Ashley, both in the dorm and at home. The message was very clear, and he didn't have to say anything more. It was clear that if he wanted to hurt them, he would've.While
"Just one instruction, Aella, just one. Don't get drunk, just that, but you still couldn't keep to it." Roman says with a clenched jaw. I look at him. Like really looked at him. I observe his features, tightened by anger, and can't help comparing him to a fallen angel. I lean all my weight on him, not particularly concerned about how crazy I might look. "It's not her fault, I got the drink and forced it down her throat." Georgia says, slurring on the words. "Noooo, that's not true, I was a willing participant." I manage to squeeze out in my drunken state. "And trust me, princess, you will pay for it." Roman interrupts."Why do you always have to be a killjoy? Who gave you the right to tell me whether or not to drink?" I ask angrily, probably jumbling all the words due to alcohol influence. "No one." "Absolutely no one gave me any right, I took it for myself." Roman says, "And the sooner you understand that, the better it will be for you." "Why can't you just be like every other
After we had successfully gotten rid of most of the flowers, keeping just a few, Ashley refused to let me go to my classes without telling her all the details of the ball. I told her everything that happened but kept some details to myself, mostly my conversations with Roman. I didn't know whether she would appreciate his arrogant and highhanded nature. "So what? Are you guys like dating now?" Ashley asks me. "No, we are not." I say strongly. Ashley packs her stuff into her drawer before turning back to me, "But he's called you his girlfriend on countless occasions." "And yet, he still hasn't asked me out. Heck, we've barely even gone on a date, excluding the ball." I say to Ashley. "Would it be so bad to date him?" Ashley asks me. I'm quiet for a few minutes, pondering my answer. No. It wouldn't be so bad to date him. Beneath the bad boy exterior lies a very caring young man, which I won't stick around long enough to acclimatize myself with. I flop back on the bed, not concern