Chapter 104 Paraglider

Chapter 104 Paraglider
XAVIER

Laughing at Leo's jokes, I picked up my glass and took a sip of my iced tea. My buds and I are seated at our spot as usual and Leo won't stop cracking Brad and me up.

"Seriously, Leo, that's straight up impossible," Brad said.

Leo huffed.

"No one would believe that shit, right, Xavier?"

I hummed mid-sip. "It's coming from Leo, man. You don't need to believe it is impossible or not. Just laugh."

Brad laughed.

So did I as I stared at Leo's forced straight face.

"You are funny as fuck, man," I said, still laughing.

"Ha ha. Maniacs." Leo said. "Believe it or not it is the truth."

"Yeah right," Brad said, chuckling as I sipped my drink again.

"Look," Leo began again. "Another thing is......"

"Ugh! Get off me!" A scream drew our attention in a certain direction.

Two girls dressed in bikinis are fighting. One is on top of the other and they are both grabbing their hair.

"What the...." I heard Brad ask as I realized who they were.

Oh fuck.

"Wait, is that Jessica and Kendra?" Leo asked.

"Ugh!"

"Hey!"

The girls kept screaming as they fought.

Like on cue, the three of us quickly headed towards them.

Jessica is the one on top and Kendra is grabbing Jessica's hair. They are both grabbing each other's hair.

What fuck is going on?

Before we got there, Alex, Jessica's friend, Kendra's friend, and Michael got to them and separated them.

"What the hell is going on here?!" Leo yelled as Kendra's friend held Kendra who was breathing heavily while glaring at Jessica.

Jessica is held by Alex, her friend, and Michael. She is breathing heavily too, her hair messed up, and holding her left hand.

Like she is injured or something.

What fucking happened?

"What is the meaning of this?!" Brad asked, looking at both of them.

"Have you both lost it? You just made a scene!" Leo yelled.

"I didn't do anything to her!" Jessica spoke up.

"You were on top of her. We all saw it." Kendra's friend yelled back.

"That's because she...."

"Shut up!" Leo snapped at Jessica.

"But I....."

"I said shut the hell up!" Leo snapped again, making Jessica stare at him.

"Leo," Brad called.

"No, Brad. This kid is getting to my last nerve," Leo said, scowling at Jessica.

"I only asked her if I could join her in making sand castles," Kendra spoke up. "But she dismissed me rudely."

I heard a scoff of disbelief from Jessica. She is staring at Kendra in disbelief.

"I told her she doesn't have to ride, Uncle Leo." Kendra went on. "The next thing she did was push me and began attacking me like a maniac."

"That's not true!" Jessica chipped in.

"Shut it," Leo said, making me furrow my brows at him.

"But she is lying, Dad. Stop lying, Kendra. You know that was not what......."

Leo shut her up with a stinging backhand slap, sending a weird signal to my fucking senses.

"Leo!" Brad yelled.

"Uncle!" Alex yelled.

Leo didn't respond or take his scowl away from Jessica who held her cheek while staring at him with teary eyes.

I clenched my knuckles as my blood boiled.

"You know better than to embarrass me here," Leo said to Jessica.

Jessica kept staring at him while still holding her cheek.

"Get out of my sight right now!"

Jessica moved her teary eyes from Kendra to Leo.

Leo is still scowling at her.

She turned, taking steps away as her friend and Michael followed her.

I clenched my jaw as I stared at Jessica walking away.

I can tell she is sobbing by the way her friend is consoling her as they walk.

"How could you do that, Leo!" Brad asked.

Leo didn't respond.

"What the fuck is wrong with you?!" Brad asked.

"That was too extreme, uncle." Alex chipped in.

I heard a scoff from Kendra.

Leo still didn't say a word but walked past us, heading back to our spot.

"I can't believe he just did that," Brad said.

"I would say I can't believe my own father and brother just ignored me but placed all their concern on someone else's daughter," Kendra said, making us look at her.

She is staring at Brad and Alex.

"But no. I can't say that. Because you two obviously don't care about me!"

"Come on, Kendra," Alex said. "Stop saying those things."

"No. I won't stop. Cause it is the truth!"

"What actually happened?" Brad asked.

"She was literally on top of me. She almost ripped my hair out of my scalp. You all fucking saw it or are you two going to pretend you didn't?"

Brad and Alex didn't say a word but stared at her.

Kendra scoffed, shaking her head in disbelief.

"You two don't believe me, do you? It is clearly written on your faces," she said, scoffing.

I am having a hard time believing it too.

"Well, I am glad Uncle Leo stood up for me. You two are a terrible disappointment. The three of you," she said, throwing her last sentence at me.

I held her gaze.

She averted her eyes from me.

"Let's go, Cedes," she said, walking away with her friend.

"Kendra," Alex called but got no response.

Brad heaved a sigh.

"I will go talk to her," Alex said, following Kendra.

I looked towards Leo. He is seated on one of the benches and busy with his phone like he didn't just put his fucking hands on Jessica in front of everyone.

"This shit is annoying," Brad said.

I kept staring at Leo.

"I can't tell if his hitting Jessica was out of his position as her father or out of hate," Brad said, making me look at him.

He is staring at Leo while shaking his head in disbelief.

I moved my eyes back to Leo.

"He doesn't seem to like his own daughter." Brad went on. " I just don't understand it."

That backhand slap replayed in my head, making me clench my knuckles again.

Like how could he do that shit?

Her father my ass.

It was clearly out of fucking hate.

I have gotten a backhand slap like that myself from my fucking father too.

Countless times.

And it is not a fucking little one. It is very stinging.

I can tell how Jessica is feeling right now.

And it fucking messing with my head right now.

"Oh boy," Brad took my attention. He is staring in the direction Kendra took.

I looked in the direction.

Carmen is approaching angrily.

"Carmen," Brad called but she walked past us.

"Carmen, wait," Brad called but....

"Leo!" she yelled as she headed towards Leo.

"Fuck," Brad said, hurrying towards Carmen.

I took steps towards them as I stared at the incoming scene.

"Leo!" Carmen yelled.

"What?!" Leo yelled.

Carmen took running steps towards him but Brad chased her, making Leo get on his feet.

Carmen almost got to Leo with her hands stretched out to grab him but Brad grabbed her by her belly.

But that didn't stop her from struggling to reach for Leo with her hands.

"How dare you put your hand on my child?!"

Leo scoffed. "Seriously?"

"Ugh! Let go of me!" she yelled, struggling to get out of Brad's hold.

"Calm down, Carmen. Please!" Brad begged.

"Let me go!"

Brad was still holding her.

"I can't believe you came all the way here to FUCKING FIGHT ME BECAUSE OF THAT BRAT!"

"You are a bastard, Leo!"

"Oh yeah?"

"A fucking bastard!"

Leo scoffed, sipping his drink nonchalantly.

"Let go!" Carmen snapped, releasing herself from Brad. She turned to him and pushed his chest, making him take a step back.

"You stood there and let him hit my child. Both of you!" She looked my way.

"Carmen...."

"Don't call me!" she snapped at Brad as she moved the strand of her hair off her face.

Brad stared at her.

"Don't you ever say my name," She snarled, staring at him while breathing heavily.

"Get your ass back to the hotel, woman. You have made enough scene," Leo said, making Carmen look his way.

"That will be the last time you put your hand on my child."

Leo stared at her nonchalantly.

"Try it again and you will regret ever knowing my freaking name." With that, she walked away.

"Bitch," I heard Leo say, making me look at him. He is back in his seat, sipping his drink and pressing his phone.

What the fuck is wrong with him?

"You are so fucking impossible, Leo," Brad said.

"Yeah, whatever. I am going to get myself some more drinks." Leo said, getting on his and walking past us.

I stared at him as he walked.

"Carmen is right. Leo is a fucking bastard." Brad said.

"He has to pay for that," I said.

"Yeah. Someday he will. He will realize his mistakes. For his sake, I hope it is not too late."

I shook my head. "No. Not someday. Tonight."

Brad looked at me. "What?"

I looked at him. "You remember years ago when he did the same thing to Carmen?"

Brad furrowed his brows.

"He hit Carmen because he thought she cheated on me with that guy in the fucking old school band."

Brad stared at me.

"I still don't understand why but you were more furious than Carmen who took the pain herself. You were so furious that you made me hire thugs to beat him up for hitting her. Which he doesn't know we were behind it till today."

"That was a long time ago."

"Hmm,"

"And you know I can't stand it when men hit women."

"Well, he just hit Jessica." I pointed out.

He huffed. "Jessica is his kid. You can't tell a father how to treat his child."

"I disagree. Jesica didn't do anything to make him hit her like that."

Brad heaved a sigh. "I know that."

"As you said earlier, you can't tell if he hit her out of being her father or out of hate. I say hate. That motherfucker clearly hates Jessica."

He stared at me.

"He needs to get a taste of his own medicine. We are hiring some Fiji thugs tonight. Are you in or out?"

He didn't respond.

I raised my brows.

He opened his mouth to speak but.....

"Guys," Leo took our attention, approaching with a pack of beer. He stood in front of us and raised the pack.

"I got for you guys too," he said. "Dig in?" he asked, chewing something and smiling.

"Sure," I said, taking one beer. I opened it and took a sip. I lowered the beer and let out a satisfying sigh.

"Refreshing, right, Brad?" I asked, looking at him.

He stared at me.

I smiled a bit.



NEXT DAY.........

AT THE BEACH AREA......

I am dressed in my white shorts, white sweatshirt, blue unbuttoned short-sleeved shirt, and dark shades, standing among the group that is about to go for nature tour, I stared at the flyer in my hand as the tour guide went on with his unnecessary speech.

Like can we just get on with this tour already? We know about the fucking safety measures.

What are we? High schoolers?

Sighing, I returned to reading the directions on the other side of the flyer.

I have been busy with nothing but work, work, work, work. This vacation is a perfect opportunity to do something else.

Something fun like exploring nature.

Yep. I am about to do a walk in the woods.

Sounds fun.

It is called the Regal Forest.

Awesome.

I have always loved nature. It gives a very pleasing feeling. More reason I accepted to go the minute Leo brought it up.

Speaking of that asshole, Brad has been blowing my phone with his texts.

I took out my phone from my pocket and unlocked it.

Brad's texts are literally dancing on my DM. Talking about we went too far last night.

Leo is in pain and won't get out of bed.

I scoffed. That's what he gets from being a fucking asshole.

"Where are you? You are supposed to be here too. Do you want him to suspect us? We literally did this to him. He is our friend!"

I rolled my eyes.

"Relax, man. He will be fine. Just a few days of pain that's all. And he is not going to suspect us. He didn't when we tried it the last time." I sent the text and moved it to my email.

"Come on, Jess! It will be fun!" A female voice caught my attention in a direction that is a bit far from where I am.

I saw Jessica and her friend walking towards some people who were about to go paragliding.

Jessica's friend is literally dragging Jessica's hand and leading her towards the paraglider group.

I scoffed slightly.

She is not going to join them. I am sure of it.

The Jessica I know is scared of almost everything.

Such a cute little introvert.

I scoffed, still staring at her.

I furrowed my brows the minute I realized I was fucking smiling.

I withdrew my eyes from her, shaking my head.

And did I just call her cute?

Seriously, man, what the.....

My phone beeped again. Brad texted.

"I told you this wasn't a good idea. Now I am babysitting our friend. His cheeks are fucking swollen. Carmen is not even here. She is still mad at him. Us, actually. Why did we do this to him?!"

Sighing, I attempted to type but...

"Alright, time to go!" The tour guide said and we began walking.

I returned my attention to my phone and typed a quick text.

"Look I gotta go, men. Leo will be fine. But happy babysitting though👍."

Smirking, I locked my phone and put it in my pocket as I followed the group.

I looked towards Jessica's direction. As expected, she is standing alone, hugging herself nervously dressed in jean shorts and a pink blouse as she stares at her friend who is getting ready to paraglider.

I scoffed.

She never disappoints.

On the bright side, it is a good thing she is like that. I can't tell how safe that paraglider is.

It is better that she just watch.

Facing my path, I followed the group into the woods.

Time for some me time with nature.



HALF AN HOUR LATER.......

IN THE MIDDLE OF THE FOREST......

I raised my phone for a signal as we walked.

I can't find any.

I am literally the only person behind the group, lost in all the tour guide is saying, and struggling to get a signal.

Jason sent me an email a few minutes ago but I can't open it cause of the fucking absence of signal!

And I have a feeling it is that particular email I have been waiting for.

Worth a lot of millions.

Fucking shit.

I stopped in my tracks as I moved my phone around.

I found a signal at a spot.

I clicked the email but the signal disappeared instantly.

"Shit," 

I turned, heading towards a path to find the signal again.

This email just had to come during my fucking focus. How interesting.

I had the entire day yesterday. And the day before.

Why fucking right....

I got a little signal instantly.

Perfect.

I was about to open the email when I realized I was the only one standing in this forest.

I furrowed my brows, looking around me. I didn't see anyone.

Great.

They left me.

Or maybe I left them while looking for a fucking signal.

I heaved a sigh, returning my attention to my phone regardless.

I will look for them later.

Or I could just go back to the resort.

The email opened and I couldn't help but smile the minute I saw the deal of half a billion dollars.

Sealed and mine.

That's more like it.

Nothing gives a businessman joy like sealing a huge business deal.

More money makes you horn.

I moved to Jason's DM and began typing.

I sent him a text and locked my phone.

Alright, where is my tour grou......

"Ahh!!!!! Help!" A familiar anxious voice from above took my attention.

I looked up and I saw a figure floating past a paraglider wing.

I furrowed my brows.

"Get me down, please!"

What the....

"I don't want to do this anymore please!" She cried as she got out of sight.

"Help! Catherine!"

Jessica?

Wait she.....she actually did the....

"Ugh!!!!!"

I heard a lot of wood cracking from the direction she just moved to.

"Fuck"