Chapter 3 – She Will Kill Me Herself

Mordecai’s POV.

I was clutching my chest as I stood in the bathroom. The pain was searing throughout my chest, and I didn’t even have it in me to actually scream out or anything. All I could do was breathe heavily and take it. I didn’t even know what was going on around me.

When I opened my eyes, Nellie and what’s her face were looking down at me. Nellie looked really worried, while what’s her face looked terrified. I didn’t understand why, until I realized that I was lying on the bathroom floor.

“What happened?” I groaned as I got up.

“Poppy here says she heard a crash coming from here and when she got here, you were passed out. She came to get me,” Nellie explained.

Poppy...

That’s what ‘what’s her face’s’ name is.

“I’m fine,” I mumbled as I walked back into my room.

“Uhm Poppy, I think it’s best you leave. As you can see, Mr Hart needs to rest,” Nellie told the girl.

“He’ll call me though right?” whatever her name is asked.

“Uh, sure,” Nellie said. I didn’t expect the sudden kiss placed on my lips.

“I’ll be waiting for that call,” she purred before grabbing her stuff and leaving.

Nellie sighed. “Poor delusional girl.”

“Please don’t,” I pleaded, knowing what was coming from a mile away.

She crossed her arms. “Don’t what Kai?”

I waved my hand, signalling to the position she was standing in. “Don’t this.”

“Alright. I guess you’d rather have Judith do ‘this’,” she smirked.

“Oh God no please!” I pleaded.

“Exactly! Kai, you need to go and see a doctor about this,” she insisted.

I shook my head. “No, I don’t! Doctors will just tell me shit I don’t want to know.”

“So you’d rather die on us then?” she questioned with a raised eyebrow.

I rolled my eyes. “I’m not doing any dying, so you can calm down.”

“How you manage to convince yourself that you’re fine every time is beyond me,” she said before leaving the room.

I just didn’t want to go to a doctor, plain and simple. Call it fear or whatever; I just wasn’t up for being told that I can’t do what I love anymore. I’m only twenty nine years old, and my career is at its highest peak.

I’m not about to give into any sickness of any sort.

I checked the time and found that it was seven in the morning. I couldn’t remember much of what I’d done the night before, but I knew a party was involved because of a, the aching in my bones, b, a pair of my party pants was on the ground and c, I had a hangover of note.

I groggily made my way downstairs, all the way to the lounge. By the time I made it to the couch, I felt like I’d run around the entire state of California. I wanted nothing to do with anything, and of course my lovely helper knew this as she opened all of the curtains to let the sunshine in.

And I thought that was the worst she could do!

“Why? Why would you clank pots? Why do you hate me so much?” I groaned.

“Because I told you not to go to that party and what did you do? You snuck out! So suck it!” she replied as she continued to clank the pots together.

“What do you want? What will it take to make you stop?” I was borderline pleading.

“A written agreement, signed by you, stating that you will not go to any parties for the next four months,” she bargained.

I scowled. “And if I fail?”

“You owe me 500 000 bucks,” she said with a nonchalant shrug.

I rolled my already painful eyes. “Because I’d be crazy enough to agree to that.”

“You scared?” she taunted.

“Oh please! I’m a professional stunt man for heaven sakes! I’m not afraid,” I scoffed.

“Then you won’t mind this little deal,” she smirked.

“What do I get if I stick to it?” I asked.

She tapped my nose. “My never ending friendship.”

“You’re my sister! You’re not my friend,” I pointed out.

“Well, to everyone else I’m actually your helper, but I could be your friend?” she joked.

“Go away Nellie,” I sighed. She kissed my forehead before leaving the room.

You see, Nellie has a point. To the rest of the world, she is my helper, but she’s actually my half sister. About three years ago, I found out that the people who I thought were my parents, had actually adopted me. It took me a whole year to track down my biological mother, and she was pretty much shocked when she found out I was given up for adoption.

The story is that she got pregnant with me when she was only fifteen, and my dad was some rich nineteen year old punk at the time. He and his family decided that my mum and her poor family would never be able to take care of me, so when I was born, he and his family took me away from her. She was too broke to fight them, so she regretfully let me go.

I asked the adoption agency when it is that I was adopted, and they told me that I was brought in by a young man when I was just six months old, and that the family I grew up with adopted me when I was seventeen months old.

My mom helped me track down my biological father as well, and we learnt that he’s still wealthy, but that he’s got a family of his own and all. My mom had a few words to share with him, and long story short, I only have one parent that I love.

My adoptive parents, Kyle and Mary Hart, passed away about five years ago, leaving me with my older brother, their biological son, Zebedee. When things had settled down with my biological mother, Karen Tedder, she introduced me to Nellie. The three of them are the only family I really have.

Since I was already famous by the time Nellie and my mom stepped into my life, I gave them the option of either being in the spotlight as my family members, or just keeping the whole thing under wraps. They both surprised me by opting for the latter option, but I refused to let them continue living the way that they were.

I bought my mom the house that she wanted, which is thankfully in an estate, so I don’t really have to worry about her safety, while Nellie moved in with me. I wanted her here because we never got to grow up together, and with how quickly we clicked, I guess my older brother instincts kicked in.

She finished her degree in Financial Management the same year that I met her, and she’s been my financial manager since. When I asked her what people thought she does for a living, she told me that they think she’s a helper to a secretive employer. Apparently I made her sign an NDA that keeps her from having to divulge about her life.

She’s just terrified of letting people in.

I learnt that about her pretty quickly. I also learnt that there’s only one person she truly regrets keeping this side of her life from, and that’s some woman named Beverly Rhymes. Apparently the two of them have been best friends since birth. Their birthdays are even on the same day.

“Here you go,” she said as she came back with a tray of food. It had some sophisticated looking dish on it.

I looked at it blankly. “Can’t I just eat normal food for once?”

She shrugged. “You’re the one who hired a world renowned chef.”

“Yeah, only because my last chef tried to poison me,” I grumbled.

“Only because you’re such a royal pain in the ass,” she teased.

“I am not that bad,” I defended. She scoffed.

“The world would beg to differ,” she mumbled.

“What are you getting at?” I asked, having heard her.

“I mean that you’re a pain in the ass. You’re my brother and I love you to death, but you’re still a pain in the ass. You’re mean, you’re moody, you’re irresponsible, you’re a drunk and you are so, so very demanding,” she replied.

“Really? That’s what people think of me?” I asked. I was a little hurt by it. I mean I know I’m not the greatest person, but that’s deep.

Nellie nodded regretfully. “Yeah, it is.”

“I didn’t realize. I’m going back to bed,” I announced, suddenly too annoyed for anything.

“Kai, I didn’t-”

“It’s ok Nell. Thanks for being honest with me,” I said. Just like she did, I kissed her forehead, before heading up to my room.

I was up three days later, ready for my meeting with the directors of the new movie I’ve been filming. As usual, Nellie had already set out my outfit for the day. Since my sister is talented at almost everything, when she’s not being my financial manager, she’s my stylist and make-up artist. Since my hair doesn’t involve much maintenance, she does that for me too.

I think you can understand that Nellie is probably the most important person in my life. I mean, I’ve got a close relationship with Zeb, and I’ve also established a relationship with my mom, but Nellie is the person who keeps me sane and on track. Even when I met her, I had just been told to shape up by my PR team. Thanks to Nellie, I’m a bit of a better person.

I would be nothing without her.

She smacked me as we made our way to the meeting place. “Dude, you need to get your head in the game!”

I don’t even know where I’m going.

“My head is in the game,” I lied.

“And this is me you’re lying to,” she replied, deadpan.

I yawned. “I’m just tired.”

“Yeah well you need to be untired,” she replied.

“That isn’t even a word,” I smirked.

She raised an amused eyebrow. “Are you a dictionary now?”

“I don’t need to be a dictionary to know that the word doesn’t exist Nell,” I replied as I rolled my eyes.

“Well, at least you’re still functioning well enough in the head,” she taunted.

I stuck my tongue out at her. “Oh shut up.”

“Now you just need to find your maturity,” she laughed.

I glared at her as the car came to a stop. “I hate you.”

Ken, our driver, let us out before we headed inside. We were supposed to meet Judith, my manager, here. That woman is the scariest woman I know, but I wouldn’t have a career if it weren’t for her. My first manager duped me and ran with my money, but Judith has stuck by me since the first movie of mine she saw.

“You’re late,” she said when she saw us approaching her.

Nellie rolled her eyes. “By two seconds.”

“You’re still late,” Judith commented.

“Whatever, let’s go!” Nellie huffed.

“Now Mordecai, I want you to not say anything if they say anything bad about you in there, but if they’re praising you, then you just smile and say thanks. Do not, and I emphasize not, even think about praising yourself. If you’re too cocky, I swear they’ll drop you in a heartbeat,” Judith instructed as we made our way to the boardroom.

I nodded. “Got it.”

I may not be a good listener, but when it comes to Judith, I’m always listening. She’s always right about these kinds of things, so I never go against anything she tells me to do, for the mere sake that I’m richer because of it.

The meeting was really boring, and heavens know I wasn’t paying attention, though by now I’ve mastered the art of looking interested. My sister probably looked interested, but Nellie actually has a talent of sleeping with her eyes open. So while she looked interested, I knew the glossiness in her eyes meant she was a goner.

She doesn’t snore or drool in her sleep, which apparently helps a lot in situations like this.

Three hours later, the meeting was finally over. They were just going through the changes of script and general direction of the movie. According to them, I’m doing great at it and all they wanted to let us know was that they want me to star in the sequels as well.

All in all, great news.

Judith patted me on the back when we reached outside. “Well done sport! You’re still a money making machine.”

“You know this,” I smirked.

“Now, now, don’t get a big head about it. You can party responsibly to celebrate, but don’t forget that you have shooting tomorrow at ten,” she warned.

I nodded. “I’ll be there.”

“Alright great! I’ll see you guys tomorrow,” she told us before hugging us both and leaving.

“Mordecai, you are not allowed to party to celebrate this,” Nellie said seriously as Ken brought the car around.

“You’re not serious right? I haven’t even signed your stupid agreement yet. Besides, Judith just said I can party,” I argued.

“She said you can party responsibly, which you never do,” she countered.

“Oh come on Nellie! Please?” I begged.

“No,” she stood her ground.

“Pretty please? You can come with me. I’ll even introduce you to some famous people,” I bargained. I watched the indecision enter her eyes. While my sister is the responsible one of us both, she’s also a major fan girl for some of these celebrities.

“Alright fine! But we’re only staying for three hours,” she warned.

“Only three hours,” I smirked.

Four hours later, we were ready to go to one of the parties being hosted by one of my co-stars. Apparently our movie getting a sequel was a big deal. I gave Nellie the honour of styling us both, and she went with gray chinos, a black long sleeved shirt with a black blazer and black dress shoes for me, and a simple black number for herself.

When we arrived at the party, it was already in full swing, and it didn’t take a genius to know that this would be one hell of a night.

To think most of the people here had to be up and sober by eight the next morning.

“AND THE MAN OF THE MOMENT ARRIVES! LADIES AND GENTLEMAN, MR MORDECAI HART,” Hunter, the host, shouted. Everyone turned to me and they all cheered.

I was dragged everywhere for the better part of the night, and I had no idea where Nellie was. I had alcohol shoved down my throat, and I’m pretty sure I smoked and took drugs I don’t even know the names of.

So, in other words, I had one hell of a good time.

“Where’s that fine ass helper of yours?” Charlie, my best friend, asked. He and I had found a vacant couch to sit on.

“Like I have any clue,” I shrugged before chugging some vodka.

“Damn man, my girl would be so mad if she knew I was here,” he giggled.

He was fucking giggling.

I frowned. “You have a girl? Since when?”

“Oh right! I didn’t tell you. Man, she’s beautiful and she’s intelligent. We fucked like once, and I was like, yep, she’s the one. I’m going to ask her to marry me,” he slurred before passing out.

I wasn’t too drunk to not know that Charlie was speaking out of his ass. He’s never had a girlfriend before, and now he was talking about walking down the aisle? Something just didn’t add up. In any case, he’s too much of a player. It would never work out well for him.

“Hey sexy,” someone purred next to me. She looked pretty enough, so I entertained her.

I found out that her name is Mendel. The name sounded familiar, and I couldn’t remember why, but she didn’t mind reminding me. Apparently she’s a new pop star that’s taken over the charts. I don’t entertain myself with the entertainment industry, despite being one of its biggest stars, so I had no clue she was famous.

She didn’t like the fact that I didn’t know who she was.

Anyway, we hooked up, and by the time my sobriety was returning, it was three in the morning. I looked around the whole house for Nellie, but I couldn’t find her. I turned on my phone to find a text from her saying that she’d left.

Five hours ago.

I caught a cab back home after finding Charlie and getting him into a cab as well. By the time I made it home, the sun was rising out. I opened the door and Nellie was already waiting for me. She looked highly upset, and I didn’t know what to say to her.

She didn’t say anything either, but instead handed me a paper. It was the agreement. It had even been signed by my lawyers. She was pretty serious about this. I read through it and something caught my attention.

“Rehab? If I lose to this little bet, I not only owe you money, but you want me to go rehab as well?” I asked incredulously.

“It’s not even about the money for me. I love you Kai, but you’ve got a drinking, spending and drug problem. I just want you to live a healthier life,” she said.

“By bullying me into shit like rehab?” I barked.

“You need the help,” she muttered.

“I DON’T NEED FUCKING HELP WITH ANYTHING!” I shouted.

“YOU’RE AN ALCOHOLIC, AN EXCESSIVE SPENDER, A DRUGGIE AND YOU HAVE HEALTH ISSUES THAT YOU WONT ADDRESS! EXCUSE ME FOR CARING!” she shouted right back, tears streaming down her face.

I didn’t mean to make her cry.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa! It’s four in the morning guys. What’s all the shouting about?” Geronimo walked into the lobby. He was dressed in pyjamas, but he didn’t look like he’d just woken up.

“You know what? It’s fine! You can do whatever the hell you want to,” Nellie said before storming off.

“What was that about?” Geronimo asked.

“It’s none of your business,” I snapped before heading to my room.

I was fuming so much that I didn’t even bother with sleeping. I had to be on set at nine in any case, so I just went over my lines for the shooting that day. By eight, I was dressed and ready to leave. I’d asked Geronimo to make me an energy packed meal, and he added a protein shake and an energy drink.

Nellie was still mad at me, and she didn’t say anything when I left. She didn’t even come with me. I called Ken and told him not to fetch me. I instead drove myself to the studios in my Maserati Granturismo, and Judith was already waiting for me when I got to my trailer.

“What did you do to Nellie?” she asked as soon as I walked in.

“Good morning Judith. How are you? I’m great thanks,” I mumbled.

“Don’t sass me! I’m royally pissed off at you as it is,” she said. When I looked up, I could see the pure fury on her face.

“What did I do now?” I bothered to ask.

“Oh, you were only caught doing drugs, drinking alcohol, and making out with one of the hottest pop stars on the scene right now,” she said as she put out a stack of magazines and newspapers on the table.

“And not to forget the fact that these photos have gone viral, together with videos of you going wild at that party last night. I thought we were passed all this shit Mordecai,” she added.

“We were, I mean are. I was just having a good time, though I’m not sure why making out with the blonde was a bad thing,” I admitted.

“She’s mooching off of your name right now. Being associated with you has given her just the publicity she needs. It’s voting season for the Sage Music Awards. Everyone knows that the winner of the newcomer category always gets more deals, more exposure and more fans, which basically means they’re set with their music careers. She’s been nominated and her attachment with you has gained her some of your fans. We cannot have your fans’ attention shifting at a time like this. This movie is really important and you need to understand that. You can’t be pulling more shit like this,” she explained.

“Look Judith, I’m sorry ok? I was just craving a good night out, and I got one. I wasn’t really thinking about the repercussions of my actions,” I told her honestly.

“That’s why Nellie’s mad,” she realized.

I rolled my eyes. “If you knew, why’d you ask?”

“I wanted to see if you’d be man enough to tell me,” she replied.

I raised an eyebrow. “Man enough?”

“She’s right Mordecai, whether or not you’d like to admit it. You need help,” she told me. I was hoping Nellie hadn’t said anything about my health.

“What exactly do I need help with?” I asked, just to be sure.

“Your alcohol, spending and drug problems!” she snapped.

So Nellie didn’t tell on me.

“Fine! I’ll cut back on everything,” I lied.

“Cut back? Oh no! You’re not ‘cutting back’ on anything. You’re giving that shit all up,” she countered.

“And if I don’t?” I challenged.

“I’ll drop you,” she replied seriously before walking out, leaving me stunned.

Having Nellie be mad at me was one thing, but having Judith threaten to drop me was another. I’d be nowhere without Judith, and I needed to rethink a lot of things if she was threatening to leave.

I don’t actually have a drug problem. I only take drugs at parties, so letting go of those wouldn’t be hard, but I’ve become dependent on alcohol, so that one would be a bit of a problem to overcome. Spending would also be a hard one to overcome since I have the money for all the shit I spend it on. I was surprised when my phone rang, with my mom being the caller.

“Hey ma,” I answered.

“MORDECAI PRESTON HART-TEDDER!” she shouted. I held the phone away from my ear.

She gave me the name Preston. I didn’t have a middle name before I met her. I changed my last name last year to make it officially Hart-Tedder, which is also Nellie, Zeb and my mom’s last names. It was a decision we all made together to unify us as a family since Nellie and our mom also adopted Zeb, who adopted them right back.

Zeb and my mom are the only people who officially use that last name since I’m already known as Mordecai Hart, and Nellie doesn’t want to explain why her last name’s changed yet.

“Ma, it’s too early in the morning for you to be shouting,” I said.

“Well, maybe you need someone to shout you into reality,” she snapped. Before I could respond, the chest pain returned.

“Mordecai?” she called.

“Uh yeah, I’m here,” I replied, slightly out of breath.

“But you won’t be for long if you don’t go and find out what’s wrong with you!” she ranted.

Nellie!

“Nellie called you?” I asked as I clutched my chest. I decided that it was better to sit down.

“Of course she called me! She was very upset when she did, and after telling me why she was so upset, I completely understood why. Mordecai, do you know how her father died?” she asked me.

“No,” I replied.

“He overdosed on drugs and alcohol,” she informed.

I suddenly understood why Nellie cried during our argument. This is a bigger deal for her than I was aware of. You know, when you have things like drinking problems, you tend to feel like people just don’t understand, but at the same time, you don’t understand that you’re actually hurting them as well.

“She doesn’t want to lose you too Mordecai. She’s just found you and you’re the brother she’s always wanted. Please promise me you’re going to try and be healthy? And that you’re going to get yourself checked out by a doctor. I can come with you if you want,” she offered.

“I’d like that,” I replied. Having my mother there would help, especially since she couldn’t be there when I was younger.

“Alright! Go to your shooting, and I’ll come to you tomorrow for that check up ok?” she said.

“Ok ma,” I replied.

“And make peace with your sister please?” she added.

I sighed. “I promise I will.”

“Good! I love you baby,” she said, sounding much happier.

“I love you too ma,” I chuckled before hanging up the phone. Unfortunately my little bit of happiness was short lived by my chest pain.

I drank a glass of cold water, but it didn’t help with anything. Before I knew it, I was called onto set. I don’t know how, but I managed to pull through the pain for the shots, but people could tell that there was something wrong with me from the amount of times I was asked if I was ok.

“Alright! That’s a wrap for the day! See you all back here tomorrow!” the director announced.

“What is wrong with you?” Judith asked once I was back in my trailer.

“It’s nothing,” I lied.

She crossed her arms. “It didn’t look like nothing.”

“Just let it go!” I snapped.

“Fine! Sleep it off or whatever and think about what I said. I’ll see you tomorrow,” she said before walking out.

Great! Stuff to think about!

I grabbed my things and headed out, the pain in my chest intensifying. I was at a red light when it looked like stars were dancing about my vision. I was breathing quicker, and the last thing I thought about before greeting the darkness was that I needed to die from whatever this is.

Because if I don’t die from this, Nellie would kill me herself.