Sundays. What perfect days to work and organize.

Such a shame that he had to deal with this. Well, this was fun too, Lis thought. He wished, he didn't have to see that face.

Oh, well.

“You cannot be serious,” Saul said, his voice calm, collected and menacing. As if that would work on him anymore.

“Mhmm, whatever helps you deal.”

“You are joking.”

“As I said, whatever helps you deal with it.”

Lis looked at what used to be a cold, calculative pair of eyes opposite him. There was a crack in the man's armour now.

He didn't have to say it out loud. It was done. He had already won.

He watched as Saul flailed, to retain his power, his dignity, his cold fist to force his order down his' and others' throats.

But that's just the thing.

Power doesn't have to show off. Power is confident, self-assuring, self-starting, self-warming and self-justifying. When you have it, you know it.

But Saul Jeffrey didn't have it anymore. And he seemed to know it all too well even as he tried his best to not believe it. To call it a bluff. Just a foolish dream he had seen which in no way was connected to reality. 

He would be even more of a fool to do so.

His empire of arrogance and cruelty was toppling right in front of his eyes. People were getting to know. It was a pitiful sight, to say the least. But he did not deserve pity. He did not deserve any of it.

He watched the old man. His expressions changing, not staying how they usually were.

All of a sudden, in a fit of anger and disbelief, Saul threw the objects from the table to the ground, making a mess.

He charged towards Lis, intending to harm him, whether it be physical or mental. To prove that it was his reign. That he held the ropes.

“I tell you what to do and when you do it.”

Lisa just smiled an unsympathetic smile to that.

After all, Lis was supposed to be just another pawn of his. Designed to be his perfect little puppet. To use, to be amused of, to break, to play with and with all said and done, to throw away. Nothing more. 

Yet here he was.

The usual smugness was not there anymore. He was frustrated. His wild eyes fixed on him. He was vulnerable now.

He couldn't harm Lis any longer.

It hadn't been a fairytale.

Having nothing to so much was a journey full of chaos. 

Ten years. It had taken ten years to reach the point Lis was at now.

Patience, frustration, misery, it had taken so much and more.

A big part of his life had been taken away from him.

And it all started with a naive, innocent young boy who didn't know how to differentiate a friend from a foe. Barely a teen with big dreams just trying to work it out.

That was when he first met Saul. He had offered him a chance. A chance at making it in the music industry. And Lis had taken it. What's the worst that can happen, he had thought?

A lot, as it was apparent. A whole lot more than he could ever imagine. But then again, he hadn't known as much bad in the world as he was about to.

They hide in sheep's clothing.

Polite and harmless. And that harmless exterior was the contract. The contract that bound him to Saul's orders. Like a leash. He wouldn't realise until it was too late what that contract could do.

It was just a piece of paper. Just an agreement. How hard could it be?

When you can't even sit where you want to, you can understand just how hard it would be.

But at that time, things were a bit different. Happy and hopeful as most beginnings are. He had found friends and a possible crush. Boys with dreams just like him. Those were the good times.

He never truly realised how the bad ones consumed, clouded them and made a disaster out of it.

The good ones were rare. But even those rare ones brought unexplainable happiness. A sense of peace in the midst of a violent storm.

Until that light had been snuffed out too.

He had been subjected to more hate than he could ever believe. Anything and everything he did, was controlled. Every single day felt worse and worse.

He would never make it, he had been told so many times that he started believing it. As if it was a fact that he had to learn to accept with time.

He hoped that he would be able to be with his lover someday, in time, without fearing the judgement of others.

He wished he did not have to hide who he was. His identity had been taken away in the name of popularity in fame.

He wished he wouldn't have to fake so much.

He wished someone would get to know what went on behind the scenes.

He hoped he would be able to make it someday.

All in time.

All in time people would realise the racism, sexism, homophobia and so many other nasty things that flourished here.

For money and fame, they could and would do anything.

Dealing with lies was one thing. Being involved in it so much that you yourself become one was another.

And he had seen it, faced it, seeing no way out had accepted it. Years and years of lies. 

To the point that it didn't matter anymore.

It seemed, he wore a mask every day. Not anymore.

He had broken out of all of them. He had more than anything accepted himself.

He had been drowning for so long, he, at last, found his way out of it.

In time he learnt whom to trust again.

And deceitful cowards pretending to be friends were not one of them.

He watched now as the security guards took him away. Saul Jeffrey would be arrested. He would be punished for his sins.

All those who had been wronged, will get a chance to breathe again. The truth was getting out. He would be able to protect his people.

And he would make sure that no one after him would ever have to go through this level of viciousness.

He had, at last made it, now.

And this?

This was just the beginning from the end.