Chapter 31

I’m sorry about the length of this one… It just needed to happen bruh😌😂.

Cainine’s POV

Okay… okay, calm the fuck down, you hear me? Calm the fuck down… You’re older now, twenty fucking four, that’s a big age. You’re old enough to stand up to him, you’re also old enough to stand up to yourself and learn to sort out your feelings and emotions, you can’t let him fuck with you like this.

“Fuck!” I yell tapping anxiously at the sink my hands still wet from touching the cold water. I look up to meet my reflexion staring right back at me with the same dark daring eyes. What’s sick is I had some of his features so yes, my eyes and his were the same, same shed of grey, same shape, and it was like it was him staring right back at me, mocking me.

“Is everything okay?” I look behind at Sparks who was standing by the open door and nod my head not wanting her to worry, I’m sure that phone call meant nothing, he was just trying to mess with my head. “You sure?” Sparks asks her eyebrows raised and I nod again.

“Yes, just some stupid phone call, let’s get back in there” I say and walk past her.

**Hours before this Shit**

“How long does it take you to get ready damn it?” I ask watching Sparks from the bed as she concentrates on putting what she called ‘the finishing touches’ of her make up.

“I’m almost done be patient will you?” she mumbles and I sigh impatiently and lay my head back on her pillow.

After getting up earlier and having our moment with Sparks interrupted, we decided to get ready since the event Austin had organised was starting at 5.00 in the evening and it was already 2.00 by the time I was really able to move and think clearly. So I showered and got ready at Austin’s place since I had practically moved there after Nik’s visit. After we were all ready, except for Sparks obviously, we decided to have lunch together before leaving.

The guys agreed to go to the gym first and carry on with the finishing touches while I took Sparks back to her place to get ready before the event. It was now almost 4.30 and she was still checking herself out in the mirror, I mean I get it she’s beautiful and all, but we’re just going to the gym woman.

“Almost done” she says and I get up and exhale deeply already tired. I walk to where she’s seated looking at her through the mirror and smile. I mean this lady’s face should be placed on every billboard just to advertise beauty “Why are you smiling like that?” she asks a small smile on her lips and I place my hands on the chair she’s seated on and lean on it to get closer to her.

“Damn you’re beautiful” I admit and she laughs it off.

“I bet you say that to all the other girls” she says and I know she’s trying to joke with me but I somehow take it personally.

“What girls? I don’t know what you’re talking about” I smirk as she looks at me questioningly through the mirror.

“Whatever you say Forbes” she says then goes back to fixing her make up this time wiping the lip gloss under her lower lip in a very slow teasing manner with her thumb. I scoff and ruffle my hair a little. What was she doing? My eyes focus on her now painted, dark plump lips and I recall this morning and the exchange we had. It was clear that we had a lot of things to discuss and a lot of unresolved feelings, but damn with lips like those, it’s impossible to use mine for talking. All I wanted was to press mine against hers and stay like that forever.

“Done” she says pushing the chair back and snapping me out of my thoughts, she stands up and I look her from head down and feel frustrated.

Why the fuck did we have to go anywhere? She looks amazing her hair tied in a high pony tail, that I would love to undo if she would let me, a t-shirt that I would love to reach under and a pair of short that weren’t that tight, thus making it easier for me to reach under.

“You look amazing” I tell her already reaching for her as if she’s mine and only belongs close to me.

“I bet you-” she begins but I interrupt her knowing exactly what she was going to say.

“Stop comparing yourself to other girls I’ve fucked it’s annoying and I thought I made shit clear last night” I frown my arms sneaking around her waist to bring her closer to me. She suddenly looks guilty after I say that but that’s not what I intended.

I understand why she would say things like that judging by my records but I did tell her I feel something different for her. “As far as I’m concerned, you’re the only one I’ve kissed sober and I don’t regret it one bit” I try to joke but we both knew I was serious.

“That’s supposed to make me feel special?” she smiles slightly and I smile back.

“Very…” I whisper studying her face loving how well the makeup made her beautiful eyes pop “because you are” I add and she smiles wider making my heart increase. The woman was interfering  with my circulatory system a lot lately.

“We should get going, it’s getting late and you’re the man of the hour” she says and I nod letting her go.

“This morning was the first time we kissed sober” I chuckle pointing that out and she looks back at me and smiles.

“For you maybe” she retorts and I frown, what the fuck did she mean? Before I can ask she’s already out the door.

“Sparks, what the fuck do you mean for me maybe?!” I follow behind yelling.

**

“I have to say this looks pretty successful to me” I nod my head looking at Austin and he shakes his head.

“These are mostly just new members not as many investors as I thought there would be” Austin says and I frown mainly feeling sad for him.

“Well at least there’re new members” I say looking around at the strangers moving around the gym looking at the machines. Some of the people were trying them out and some were just standing around the secluded area with the tables which took the whole of yesterday to arrange.

“Have you spoken to any of them ?” Austin asks and I nod “Well…?”.

“Well, I like none of them, see that man right there” I speak pointing a middle aged looking man in khakis “…was okay, but ruined it when he suggested changing the place… I don’t want to change anything” I explain and Austin nods his head. “Also the woman who just left said she had no idea I was looking for a partnership she thought I was looking to sell the place” I say and Austin sighs in disappointment.

“This isn’t what I expected” he says. “But Drew says he spoke to one of his friends who knows someone who might be interested in this project so let’s hope that won’t be a disappointment” he says and I look at him.

“Come on dude, nothing is a disappointment… All of this is amazing, you got me new members within such a short time, about fifty people and my gym will be packed by Monday” I explain to him. “Damn, I’ll have to expand this place” I exaggerate to cheer him up and he smiles a little his eyes lighting up.

“Yeah, we can get rid of the yoga place next door” he says and I laugh.

“That’s the spirit, now come on go and suck up to all the members with your pretty face while we wait for Dee’s person to arrive” I pat him in the back and he scoffs and walks away to the area where Chris was speaking to a couple of people. I look around the gym realizing I had lost Sparks since we got here about two hours ago. I have spoken to so many weird people I was beginning to lose hope in humanity. And I’m asked why I don’t socialize huh?

I suddenly feel someone slide their hand in mine and I look down to see Sparks smiling. “Why do you look so fucking lost?” she asks “is everything okay?” she raises her eyebrows and I sigh feeling a bit calm for some reason.

“Yeah” I smile back at her.

“Okay… so remember when I said I’d help out and all” she says sounding excited and I nod a bit confused.

“Yeah, and you’ve already done a l-“.

“Shut the fuck up, I want you to meet someone” she says and I raise my eyebrows.

“Who?” I ask.

“Okay so…” she begins as she pulls me towards the area with all the machines. “My twin brother Logan, remember him?” she asks and I nod “he’s kind of popular with the ladies and all, but also kind of an influencer” she goes on and I look at her still confused not knowing where she was headed with this. “So I pulled in some strings, called in some favours and got him to agree to volunteer to work here, thought it would pull in more people” she explains and I smile stoping on my tracks.

“Seriously?”. This lady right here has been such a big help to me without even knowing it, and now she’s doing even more. Unbelievable.

“Yes” she says looking very pleased with herself and I pull her to me and hug her feeling physically warm with her body against mine, but also feeling the same emotionally because well… she was here. It takes some seconds but she relaxes and her arms go around my waist.

“Thank you… I mean it” I whisper close to her ear and feel as her arms tighten around me.

“Don’t thank me just yet” she says back and I sigh, I don’t deserve this “now come on, let’s go”. She pulls away from the hug but holds my hand and goes on pulling me. “There you are… ” Flame says as we approach a boy next to a treadmill with hair as dark as hers. The lady he was talking to gives him a smile and a little wave then walks away.

“Here I am” the boy replies and I squint, studying him, not only because I’m searching for his resemblance to Flame, but also because now I couldn’t help but think he looked a bit familiar. “You brought me here forcefully and now you’re watching over me like a freaking hawk?” he asks, his accent is just like Flame’s but stronger and I can’t shake off the feeling that I’ve heard and seen this boy somewhere.

“I don’t care about whatever you’re up to, I just wanted you to meet Cainine” she says to him pointing at me.

“Oh, your little girlfriend…” he begins and turns to look at me and just when our eyes meet and his smile drops, it all comes back to me.

“Holy shit” I whisper. “You’re that guy” I say out loud and he has the same shocked expression as I do.

“You’re that crazy psycho bitch that broke my nose” he says and that moment replays in my head again bringing back the anger that came along with it. This guy thought he had the right to put his hands on me then act cocky after.

“And I’d do it again you sick fucker” I say stepping towards him.

“Woah woah woah… You two know each other?” Flame gets between us a frown on her face and for a minute there I’d forgotten she was here.

“Yes” I say my jaw clenched as I look at him. “This asshole spanked me at some party…”.

“Oh no no no no no… That wasn’t as painful as my broken nose” he defends and I clench my fist. The nerve he has, I could punch him again right now but we’re taken away from our moment as Sparks begins to laugh.

“Well…” she chuckles “I was going to introduce you two to each other but it seems you’ve already met and know each other pretty well” she laughs harder and I hate… hate that she finds this funny. “Logan you met Cain, she’s mostly violent and that’s just her and Cain you met my stupid brother Logan who is mostly a perverted whore” she laughs gesturing to us.

“Well you’re nothing like him” I say.

“I won’t accept her as your girlfriend Flame… I don’t like her, find someone else” he scowls looking at me as if I murdered his dog.

“She’s not my girlfriend” Flame defends.

“But trust me man, if I wanted your sister to be my girlfriend she would be and you’d have no say in it… Completely no say” I defend my part and Sparks scoffs. I look down at her hoping she doesn’t say anything that’d embarrass me.

“Seems like you two have a lot of unresolved feelings” she says a smile still on her face.

“Yeah and I am definitely not working here” he says to Flame.

“Good… I don’t want you to, unless your face gets to replace the punching bag” I retort. This guy really had some nerve.

“Listen… listen to that Flamey” he whines to his sister and I roll my eyes. I cant believe this guy is Sparks’ brother, him of all boys in Lorenzo falls, life really had a way of mocking me.

“You guys can’t act like this” Sparks trys to bring peace between us, she looks at me and smiles sweetly. “Come on, we can talk this out, can’t we?” she looks over at her brother “afterall, it was your fault and you deserved it, you cant go around just putting your hands on everyone” she scolds him and I smile a little. Was she defending me?

But before I can bask in the feeling my phone vibrates in my pocket and I reach for it. I look at my screen and notice it’s a new unsaved number. Maybe it might be a person who’s seen Austin’s ad since he placed my phone number there instead of Chris’.

“A minute…” I raise my finger excusing myself from the little argument I was having and receive the phone while heading to the bathroom which was the only silent, less crowded place.

“Hello” I speak into the phone sounding a bit calm for a person who just found out that the girl who they have a weird attraction to’s brother assaulted them a while ago. It was funny when you thought about it though.

“Hello…” my blood immediately runs cold when I hear the voice and I regret receiving the phone call. “I missed you too” Nik speaks into the phone and I can imagine the smile on his face judging by his tone.

“What the fuck do you want?” I ask pacing around the bathroom already.

“To congratulate you” he says and I’m puzzled for a minute. “You didn’t run this time, you faced your problem and that… that’s what a Forbes does” he says and I roll my eyes.

“Is that all?” I ask and he chuckles.

“I love that you came up with that plan and all, it’s quite entertaining that I am willing to add another month to our little bet” he says and I frown what game was he playing?

“What do you mean?” I ask.

“I’m just trying to show you that I came here in peace Alison and I’m willing to wait two months for you to finish carrying out this bullshit of a plan” he says “I’m taking it easy on you Ali, two months your gym’s worth for one month of my business’ worth… I think it’d be entertaining this way”.

“Why? What kind of sick game are you playing here Nik?” I ask. Now I appreciated that he added two months to the bet. But if he was a normal father there wouldn’t even be a bet. Plus I knew he was up to something.

“I’m not playing any games Ali, and to show you that, I even got you a gift” he says and I frown and stop pacing by the bathroom sink . “A present that none of your friends were able to get you…” he says his voice cold.

“I don’t give a shit… I told you I want nothing but peace from you” I tell him and open the tap letting the water flow to my warm, free right hand.

“Oh no, this gift you’ll appreciate and I mostly want to teach you a lesson” he says. “I want to show you how powerful I am and how powerful you can be… I want to show you that I can take things away from your life and also bring them back anytime I want” he says and I suddenly feel chills run all over my body for some reason. I don’t know what he meant by that, but it was obviously nothing good.

“What the fuck do you mean?” I ask my jaw clenched. If he was trying to get to my head, he was succeeding.

“You’ll see… Good luck” he whispers. “And always remember, your dad loves you” he adds before hanging up and I scoff.

“Fuck you”.

He just wants to mess with my mind right? I know that’s what he’s doing so he could win this stupid bet. This wasn’t even about the bet for me, it was about me showing him that I can stand up to his bullshit and build my own life. I needed to show him that damn it. I wet both my hands and wash my face when I suddenly feel it getting too hot in the room.

Okay… okay, calm the fuck down, you hear me? Calm the fuck down… You’re older now, twenty fucking four, that’s a big age. You’re old enough to stand up to him, you’re also old enough to stand up to yourself and learn to sort out your feelings and emotions, you can’t let him fuck with you like this.

“Fuck!” I yell tapping anxiously at the sink my hands still wet from touching the cold water. I look up to meet my reflexion staring right back at me with the same dark daring eyes. What’s sick is I had some of his features so yes, my eyes and his were the same, same shed of grey, same shape, and it was like it was him staring right back at me, mocking me.

“Is everything okay?” I look behind at Sparks who was standing by the open door and nod my head not wanting her to worry, I’m sure that phone call meant nothing, he was just trying to mess with my head. “You sure?” Sparks asks her eyebrows raised and I nod again.

“Yes, just some stupid phone call, let’s get back in there” I say and walk past her.

I was feeling a little too upset to have a conversation with her or anyone, but unfortunately I had to stay here.

Sparks catches up to me and holds onto my hand, I look back at her the frown still on my face “I’m sorry my brother spanked you” she pouts and this manages to get me to smile.

“I mean if you let me spank you, then we’d be even” I tell her and she rolls her eyes. She somehow reminds me that there’s more to my life than the darkness and constant anxiety…. Than what Nik created. She created a bubble that always got me to feel safe and at peace for some reason, and she always carried it with her.

“Not a chance” she chuckles “but he’s agreed to work here if that makes it better”. It didn’t make it any better cause I didn’t know the guy and already hated him but if he’d help pull in people then okay.

“Thank you” I smile pulling her close to me by the arm then holding on to her by the waist. “You really are special” she smiles and I cant help but notice her eyes shift to my lips then back to my eyes. I love that she thinks about kissing me just as I do her.

“I’m sorry to interrupt this Cainine…” I look behind me to find Chris looking at us nervously “but Drew and Austin are looking for you, they say she’s already arrived”.

“She?” I frown.

“Yeah… The investor” Chris clarifies and I nod.

“Oh okay, where is she?” I ask already walking towards Chris Flame’s hand still in mine. It just felt right.

“With Drew and Austin in your office” he says and begins walking to my office. We walk behind him, Flame following me and squeezing my hand just like she always does. I don’t understand how her hand in mine can be so comforting.

We get to my office and I can hear Drew and Austin laughing in there with some other female’s voice. Nice, they’re already flirting, this might actually work. I take a deep breath then exhale plastering a friendly smile on my face before opening the door.

Austin, Drew and the lady all turn to look towards the door and my smile and heart, along with Flame’s hand drop as my eyes meet with hers. I’m not good with faces trust me, I can fuck someone and forget their face by the next day, but there were faces you just couldn’t forget, there were eyes that always seemed to haunt you.

I suddenly feel nauseous, taking in the familiar looking girl in my office. I take slow footsteps into the office though I didn’t feel like I had enough strength to do anything with my heart racing so fast I could hear it along with an annoying ringing in my ear. Then a small smile appears on her lips and it all comes back to me and hits me as hard as fifteen trucks, that smile, that innocent smile that she always gave me.

“Hayley?” I call out her name feeling a bitter taste come along with it.

“Alison?” she smiles a bit wider and I feel all the strength drain from me. The world had to be fucking with me. And it was fucking with me hard… Real hard.

**
Yeahhhhh, I’m sorry this chapter had to be sooo fucking long I just had to write this gym scene sooner or later and yeahhhh, here it is, you loved it ? I know you did. Ha !

**
Okay re-editing me here with a fun fact, I made up that ‘hits as hard as fifteen trucks’ thing at school, I went to a boarding school and this one time I was so tired and was talking to my friend, she’s an amazing person, anyway, so I keep complaining to her of how tired I am and tell her that I wish I could just get hit by fifteen trucks and die. She asks why fifteen and I tell her I have no particular reason I just want to get hit by fifteen trucks until I unalive, and that’s how that came up so… yeah. Vote, comment, next chapter pops up.