Chapter 18: Phone Call
LUCIAN called Alex, his most trusted lawyer, to mediate the situation with the driver’s family. Alex explains that they can pay the family and ask them to drop everything.
Though Lucian is a righteous person, he lets Alex handle everything using money. For him, his righteousness can be bent as long as it's for Malena’s sake.
After 24 hours, Malena got out of the hospital, Alex paid the family's medical bills and gave them $200k compensation. The case was dropped and the police did not pursue the investigation.
Lucian sent her home and stayed in her apartment and hugged her the whole night. For him, this was the longest and the most intimate night they had together. He smiled while staring at her face. He then tries to kiss her on the lips, but she wakes up and moves her face so that he kisses her cheek.
Though he was happy to be lying beside her, sleep did not come to him easily. Instead, he stared at the ceiling and only fell asleep around two in the morning.
Around six o’clock he was awakened by his alarm. He immediately got up and saw that she was no longer beside her. He went downstairs and saw her cooking breakfast. He can smell the bacon, eggs, and newly brewed coffee.
She smiles at him and asks him to eat beside her. He stared at her and he could feel his heart slowly melting away with the sight. It’s the life that he was longing for. He held her hand and they ate breakfast together.
Before Lucian went upstairs to take a bath he hugged her from behind and tried to kiss her on the neck. She tried to dodge him but failed. She wanted to push him away but stopped, instead she tickled him and then ran away from him.
He followed her to the coach and tickled her in return. Unknowingly, she accidentally dialed someone on his phone.
Sieve had just finished knitting a scarf and she was happy with how the design turned out. She folded the scarf and put it in a box. She was staring at the box with a smile on her face, she then heard her phone ring, and when she checked its Blade.
She answers her phone after the 2nd ring;
S: Hello?
No answer on the other line.
All she could hear was the laughter of a man and a woman. She then heard someone say, "Aren’t you going to be late for work?"
"Work can wait, this can’t."
A female soft voice then yells, "Babe stop!" Then she hears laughter again.
She then ended the call. She felt stuffy and unpleasant. She then threw the phone on the bed.
"What the fuck?" She thought to herself. She lowered her head and stared at her knitting materials. She could imagine him having a great time with his girlfriend. "It must be fun having someone that loves you." She mumbles. Her face filled with sorrow and envy.
***
"I’ll visit you again after work and stay the night." He says while staring at her.
"No need, I can manage. It’s already beyond my comfort zone, letting you stay for tonight." She said while she lowered her head.
He glanced away with a gloomy face.
After a while, Lucian went upstairs, took a bath, and got dressed while he was drying his hair. He checked his phone and saw a recent call to Sieve that lasted for almost 20 seconds.
"I must dial her number while on the coach," he thought.
He then texted her;
[I accidentally dialed your number, did you hear anything?] That’s what he wanted to say but he sent;
06:50:03 AM - Eastside at 7 pm.
She heard the notification on her phone but ignored it. She then lay on the bed curled up and fell asleep.
Lucian arrives at the office and continues to check his phone. He sat on his chair and turned on his computer.
"Why isn’t she responding?" He asks himself.
"Is she still asleep?" He added.
John’s voice jolted him back to reality.
"Hey, congrats on the Sierra Project," he says. Behind him is his secretary named Tim, who also congratulates him.
Tim then proceeded with handling the documents for Lucian, soon after he left.
Latton woke up at 12:00 PM and finally responded to his message:
Blade 06:50:03 AM - Eastside at 7 pm?
Sieve 12:01:02 PM - See you there!
He heard the notification and read the message. He then smiled at his phone. John, who was eating lunch with him in his office, then says; "I heard Malena got into trouble and you stayed at her apartment all night to comfort her. Am I expecting wedding bells soon?"
Lucian almost chokes on his food upon hearing that. He smiles and tells John about his parent's requirements before giving their blessings.
(Show us that she can be something for herself aside from being your girl)
John agrees that what they are asking is reasonable since he is the only child and they want the best for him.
"Just curious, are you still seeing that girl you call a stress reliever?"
He nods while chewing his food.
"Wow! Never thought I'd see the day Lucian Caldwell would stay with the same girl for more than one night." He paused and then glanced at him.
"Is it possible that you are falling for this girl?" He added.
Lucian stared at him coldly and said:
"No! Malena will always be the love of my life. If only she was open-minded like me or if my parents gave their blessing to us..." He paused and looked down..."Sieve will never exist in my life."
"Sieve? That’s a weird name," John says.
"I’m sure that’s not her real name and I never gave her mine. She thought my name was Blade."
"Blade? Of all the names in the world, why the fuck did you choose that?"
"I panicked while writing the letter. I sensed that she was about to wake up. I don’t want to give her my real name and at that time my mind is blank. The only thing I can think of is my in game name back in high school."
"Blade and Sieve?" John laughed hysterically. "If you didn’t have a girlfriend, I would push you to pursue this girl. You have the same wavelength of weirdness," he added.