THE NECKLACE!

BRIA

I lay in my bed thinking about that despicable shithead. How dare he threaten us like that?

My train of thought was disturbed when I heard soft knocks on the door. I frowned, thinking who could be there this late in the night. I was dead tired, and my bed was not letting me go away from it. Unwillingly I dragged my half-asleep form towards the door. I opened it rubbing my eyes, but all my sleep ran out of the window when I saw angry Benji standing there, staring at me with hard eyes.

"Uu.. hey" I mumbled, thinking why he looked angry.

"You are forgetting something, Bria Maxwell." He stated in his calm but firm voice.

Benji never used my full name ever, except when I do something really stupid. My mind was running faster than Usain Bolt, rewinding the whole day, thinking about what I might have done to anger him.

He stood there looking at me with hard eyes and his hands behind his back which I was sure must have turned white because of his tight clench. I bite my lip in nervousness, and my hands are raised to my neck to fiddle with my necklace.

The habit annoyed Benji out of his mind, but I couldn't help it when I feel strong emotions like nervousness, fear or anger.

My hand froze, and my eyes went wide when I felt my bare neck. Holy shit! I looked up at Benji in realisation, and panic filled my mind. He was fuming in anger and frustration. Uh oooh! You are in a deep shit Bria the idiot.

"I- i- my .." I stuttered in panic. Benji took a deep breath to calm him and showed me my necklace dangling it in front of my face.

"You forgot to wear it today. I found it in your bag which you left in the living room."

"Thank God you found it, Benji. I- I am so sorry. I was-"

"Enough Bria. I already told you a thousand times that this is the necklace your mom has left for you. You should wear it every day and every minute no matter what! Don't you understand this simple thing, huh?" his voice was rising with every word.

I felt very bad seeing him this angry. I didn't like angry Benji. I open my mouth to say something when he lifted his finger and silenced me.

"We will talk in the morning. Go to sleep." He turned on his heels without more words and descend the stairs towards his room.

I closed the door and ran to my bed. I got under the covers and felt hot tears running down my eyes. I hate crying. It washed all my pain and made me numb. And I was tired of this numbness.

I looked at the necklace in my hand. It was a gift from my mom on my first birthday as I have been told. It was a silver crystal mermaid pendant. The chain was silver and thin. The pendant was embedded with aquamarine-coloured stone with a silver leaf design on it.

I was wearing it every day for as long as I remember. I didn't know why but Benji was always adamant that I wear it every day, even during swimming classes. Whenever I forgot to wear it, he got very furious like I have lost one of the kids in the crowd.

It always irked me, but I never questioned him. I thought that he looked at it as a memory of my mother as he was my parents' close friend for years.

This pendant opened my unhealed wounds again. Today I have turned twenty. However, I had to spend my special day without my parents every single year.

How I wished my parents were here hugging me and showering me with their love, telling me how proud they are of me. My father surely had kicked that douchebag's ass when he disrespected me. The thought brought a smile to my face.

'I miss you, mom and dad. I really do!'

A yawn escaped my mouth, and then I retired to my la-la land, thinking about my parents.

*

*

*

CAMERON

I was on a call, glaring at Gabriel every now and then. That man knew how I hate people touching my personal stuff, yet he took the liberty to go through my laptop as if it was his.

It was my personal laptop, for God's sake!

I tried focusing on the call for another minute but got distracted again when he whistled with raised brows looking at something on the screen with that stupid grin on his face.

What the heck was he watching?

I rushed to his side and what I saw on the screen made my eyeball pop out of my skull. I pulled the laptop away from him and shut it forcefully.

"She looked hot though!" He smirked, looking up at me.

I refrained myself from punching his face as I couldn't even curse at him when I was attending an important call.

I took my laptop with me and placed it on the other table giving him a warning glare when he stretched his hand to take my diary. He sighed and slumped back in the chair, not before giving me a middle finger.

Who would thought that a man in his early thirties could be so childish?

Five minutes later, I released a sigh of relief watching him get busied with his phone. Little did I know what was coming next to me.

I heard a knock on the door, and Gabriel called, "Come in."

I saw Kyle walking in with a brooding face. One could tell by the clenched jaw and the deep scowl on his face that he was pissed and would not hesitate to punch the shit out of anyone who crossed his path.

Gabriel ignored the young man as he plopped down on the couch, still not meeting our eyes.

Hmm... something was wrong!

I wrapped up the call in the next two minutes and hung up. I slipped the phone into my pant pocket and asked Kyle, "What gotten into your pants today?"

I walked to take my seat across from Gabriel.

"A bitch!" Kyle spat furiously.

Gabriel chuckled, finally looking up from his phone. "How many times I have told you to not get involved with those chicks. They are mannerless, selfish and too noisy!" He scrunched up his nose as if he had a long experience with them when everyone knew that for about the past six years, Gabriel was the only one amongst us practising celibacy.

He was never good with women, to be honest!

"You are the one who made me meet her!" He glared at Gabriel gaining the man's full attention.

All the playfulness drained from Gabriel's face as he stared at Kyle with a serious expression. Kyle must have sensed it as he tore his gaze from Gabriel.

Gabriel Wilson was many things, and if you don't know him well and fail to figure out his mood, then you are as good as dead!

"Who you are talking about?" He asked in a calm voice.

Kyle cleared his throat and answered, still avoiding looking at Gabriel. "Bria Maxwell."

"That girl with six kids and one old man?" I asked.

Kyle nodded his head in affirmation.

"What about her?"

"She is a total bitch, Cameron! You should have seen her. The way she speaks, the way she glares at you and the way she insults you... which well-brought-up girl does that to a stranger?"

"Every well-brought-up girl if she encounters an arrogant brat like you!" Gabriel shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly.

I sensed the tension growing between the two men, and I was not interested in spending an extra amount on repairing the furniture in my office.

"What happened? We send you there to get her signs on the papers of her property. Have you got them?" I asked, sticking to the main topic of discussion.

"Sign?!!" Kyle scoffed. "Forget about the signs. Instead, that girl gave me this!" He showed his cheek, and upon looking carefully I saw red marks imprinted on his skin.

"She..."

"She punched me, Cameron!"

Anger surged in me, and I slammed my fist on the table. Kyle narrated to us the whole interaction he had with her, and with every insult, she threw at us and especially at our boss, my blood boiled in anger.

"I told you, Gabriel. These people don't understand the simple language. They need to be handled in our own way!" It was his idea to use words in other ways only because she was a young girl with six kids to take care of.

Gabriel was silent for a minute, but I could see the wheels running in his brain.

"No, Cameron. We are doing this to get King's name clear in the records. This investment needs to be clean and legal for that purpose. We should be very careful with this matter."

Of course!

"Fine then! It is now your responsibility to make it happen before King finds out about it or you know that we all are dead!"

I saw from the corner of my eyes how Kyle rolled his eyes in annoyance. That man was misinterpreting King's tolerance.

'Well, let him be! Only time will tell him what happens when King loses his last bit of patience!'

***************

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