Prequel- Chapter 8: Midterm Crisis

Elian Storm

It was midnight.

Standing on the deck of a yacht, I was watching over the unloading of cargo full of illegal products on the dock. The movements were swift and quiet, though. The only sounds which could be heard was the waves crashing against the dock and the creaking of the wood underneath the footsteps. Although there was a touch of nervousness in the air. None of the men dared to misplace a single item under my watch.

In short, I was getting bored. I wanted to see Alena.

That reminds me...

"Did Braxton agree to shift their business somewhere else?" I asked my consigliere in a low voice. Braxton was the head of the gang that ruled the crime activities of Alena's neighborhood.

"No. Ash and I tried to negotiate nicely, but as you expected, Braxton is a stubborn old fool," Jace replied with a shrug.

"Did you tell him there will be no niceties anymore?"

"Ash made that very clear." Jace scoffed,  "But that asshole thinks the XS gang is stronger than ours."

I snorted at that statement. "Really? Where did he get that misconception from?"

"God knows."

I smirked. "This warrants a nice present for Braxton, don't you think, Jace?"

"Of course. I already gave the order to kill off some of his underlings. If that still doesn't wake him up from his delusions, then I would find some other way to teach him a lesson."

"Good."

My attention was distracted by the muffled sounds of helpless cries. I walked to the other edge of the yacht and leaned over the railing to look at what was happening.

Near another yacht, I found a few of our newly recruited men beating up two men in their mid-thirties. I swear these slackers...

"Hey!" I hollered to get their attention, and they froze up. "What the hell are you guys doing there instead of helping with the unloading?"

One of the men came running to me and explained, "Boss, those motherfuckers lent 60k from us and haven't returned it yet. We managed to catch them tonight while they were planning to steal a few boxes from us."

"So you are beating them to death? How is this a solution?" I questioned, and he hung his head in shame. "Give them some permanent damage for trying to screw us. Chop off a few fingers or toes, you idiot."

His face glowed as he exclaimed, "Got it, Boss," and ran back to his group to inform them of my order. Those two culprits cried out in protest as my men brought out their knives.

I closed my eyes, listening to their screams which was soothing in a strange way. At least it wasn't boring anymore.

I felt my cell phone buzzing in my jeans' pocket and pulled it out. Seeing Alena's name flash on the screen, a smile formed on my lips.

"Jace, oversee the unloading on my behalf for a few minutes," I informed and went inside the yacht, away from the noise.

Before I got the chance to even greet Alena, a tired whine came, "Where are yoouuuu? I'm in a dire crisis!"

"I'm outside with my friends," I lied bluntly.

Alena made some fake sniffles and said, "I'm exhausted from studying for these stupid midterms."

I stifled my urge to laugh and said, "Well, karma is a bitch, babe. You were laughing at me when my midterms were going on last week."

"At least your exams aren't in the middle of Valentine's week!" she complained. "I swear the professors thought this through. This is a conspiracy."

"You didn't seem to have much problem with the exam dates when they were first announced," I pointed out.

"Yeah, well, back then I didn't know I wanted a Valentine's date with my boyfriend," she retorted.

I chuckled. "Don't worry, we can still have our date after your midterms are over." I could still picture her pout, so I added, "How long are you up?"

"Let me see," she trailed off, then said after a few seconds, "Until two at least."

"Okay, I will drop by with some midnight snacks for you."

"You're the best!" She squealed, and I smiled at the change of her tone. "What are those sounds around you? It sounds like you are at the beach."

"My friends decided to come to the beach on a whim. They just started a bonfire and are having roasted marshmallows."

"Aww, no fair. I wanna go, too," she mumbled and made some sad puppy noises, which melted my heart into a puddle.

You're so cute—I wanted to say, but I knew she would slap me by coming out from the phone, so I opted for, "We can come here when the weather is better. It's way too cold here."

It really was cold. I was freezing.

"Aww, are you freezing there, baby?"

"Uh-huh."

"See, this is what happens when you go to the beach without me," she said in her smug voice. "Because I'm not there to warm you up."

"That's true. I do miss you being here with me."

I don't, really. Not here at this place. She deserves to be somewhere nicer.

I looked up at the transportation of the cargo and thought of the cruel words I had uttered a few moments ago. My smile disappeared at a recurring thought.

She will leave me if she ever sees this monstrous side of me, won't she? What will I do then?

"—baby? Are you there?"

I snapped out of my trance and realized that Alena was talking to me.

"Uh, yeah. I'm sorry I zoned out a little. What were you saying again?"

"Nothing you care to listen to," she sighed dramatically.

"You know that's not the case," I reasoned.

"Sure, sure. You must have been looking at some hot chick in a bikini."

"You think there is anyone wearing a bikini at four degree Celsius temperature this late at night?" I deadpanned.

"Baby, you have no idea what a determined woman is capable of," she proclaimed, a threat lingering in her tone.

"Okay, okay. Lesson learned. I will try not to get distracted while talking to you—cross my heart," I promised.

"Good."

"I will see you in a bit then?"

"I will be waiting!"

With that, I hung up the call and looked at the caller ID picture with a lingering smile.

"You know, this is gonna end up in tragedy." I jumped a little at Jace's sudden voice from behind me.

"Shut up, Jace," I grumbled.

"Are you sure? Because all I can see in the future—"

"I don't care what you see. I don't want to think too much about it. I just... I want to live in the moment," I murmured and smiled sadly as I thought of Alena. "You know, I have always been a planner and have always liked to follow through with a solid plan. But she... she makes me want to be reckless. She makes me want to be selfish and abandon my suffocating responsibilities and just make myself happy."

Jace patted my shoulder and said, "I see. Sorry for commenting without knowing anything."

"It's okay. I know you're just worried."

He hummed and teased, "I hope I get to meet her soon. I want to see the girl who can bring back out the sweetheart in you. You were such a sweet softie when we were kids."

"Shut up, Jace."

###

After two hours, I rang the doorbell of Alena's apartment.

"Who is it?" Alena hollered from inside.

"Your personal food delivery man who wants to give a hug."

"I don't need a hug. I only need the food."

"You sure you don't need it? Rumor has it that whoever I hug gets the first position in any competition. So you will top the exams this time around. Guaranteed."

"Oh, really? Who did you hug?"

"My youngest brother. He won an international painting competition last year because of my hug," I bluffed.

"Oh, no, then I gotta open the door. I need your hug immediately!" From her urgent tone I could say she didn't believe a word, but she opened the door nonetheless. "Hello there, delivery man," she greeted with extra courtesy.

"Hello." I smiled at her and stepped inside.

Once I closed the door behind me, Alena wrapped her arms around me, burying her face in my chest.

"Smells nice," she murmured, her body relaxed against me. It was as though the exhaustion from her entire day of studying was starting to loosen.

"Me or the food?" I teased.

"Both."

"Nuh-uh, you have to make a choice."

"Then the food, duh."

"Wrong answer." With my free hand, I grabbed her chin and pulled her into a gentle kiss, and as she kissed back, I felt as though I had never known anything quite as right as this. "The answer is me," I breathed against her lips before connecting them again.

She smiled in the kiss, despite being tempted to say that food came first for her. Her hand on my chest wounded around my neck, and I felt the kiss getting heated. So I pulled back slowly to breathe and walked toward the kitchen.

"So how is your preparation?" I asked with my back turned to her and started to open the takeout bag.

"I'm done revising everything. I'm just gonna have the snack you brought and go to sleep."

"How much sleep will you get then?"

She didn't answer me. Instead, I felt her enchanted gaze on my back and felt the room getting thick with tension.

I turned around and asked, "So?"

"Huh?" Her face flushed a little.

"Sleep. How much sleep are you going to get?" I repeated.

"Oh, um..." She turned her face away and said, "Five hours."

My eyes landed on her neck, looking extremely tempting. My throat started to feel dry. "Enough, I guess. So should we eat? The sooner we eat, the sooner you can go to bed."

She nodded and peeked at me, then she started laughing. "God, I hate how awkward we are."

I didn't know what to say just then.

"I think you should go. Because I'm so turned on right now, I might jump at you, and I have exams in the morning," she admitted.

"Plus, we haven't even been on our first date," I added.

"True. I wanted to tell you to stay the night before with pure intentions, but now, my intentions aren't pure anymore," she said while looking at me and biting her bottom lip.

"Even though I believe in my self-control, I understand if you don't—"

"Of course, I believe you wholeheartedly." You shouldn't. I'm a criminal. "I don't believe in myself to stop."

I nodded half-heartedly and said, "Let's eat, and then, I will leave?"

"Okay!" She smiled happily and went to bring out plates, asking me how my day went.

My heart suddenly felt heavy. While I loved being with Alena, I was conflicted about lying to her. She was saying that she trusted me wholeheartedly while I couldn't even manage to tell her the truth about my day.

But my desire to stay with her was much more than the increasing burden on my heart. I would continue lying if I had to.