He woke up flat on his face. Arms and legs stretched on his worn out matrass. He lifted his head and felt the bad soar on his neck. He sat up, didn't even bother to change his clothes after a very long shift last night. As he stood up, he started to feel the stiffness of his muscles, and how much he really needed to go back to sleep.
But it's already getting dark outside. He heard a muffled sound from Jordan's flat. He was talking to someone. He stuck his ears to the door, he was talking to a woman. He opened the door to the inside of the building where a stairs going down to Jordan's flat was in front of it. He cautiously approached the stairs, the conversation was clearer.
"I don't want to live there anymore, Jordy! I need to find my own way, if I stay there he'll make me work for Jacob or Iris!"
"I know he's hard to deal with but you're not old enough to move out on your own."
"I'm not moving out on my own, I'm moving in with you ... here ..."
"Whaaatt?? No!! I mean, NO!! Are you crazy? You know how much dad hates this place ... he'll kill me!"
"Fine than ... I'll just go somewhere else and find a place on my own ... like when you found this place when you were 14, right?"
Adrian sat on the first step of the stairs, listening to Jordan's argument with her 16 year old sister, Jade. Jordan sighed in frustration. "Friday ... please ... don't make this hard on me, I can't have dad on my ass all the time, I have things to do around here, I can't babysit you."
"You don't have to babysit me! Are you kidding me? I don't need a babysitter! I just want to be out of the house, he wants me to start doing internship at the office, involved with some paper works, learning stuff I don't care about ..."
"Look, I know you don't wanna do those things, I get it ... but you're barely out of high school ... unless you know what you want to do with your life, you're pretty much stuck with dad's office, okay? And you can't come here running away from dad and tell him that you want to live here without knowing what to do next!"
"I know what I want to do, Jordy, I've been working on it for awhile now ... I also know dad's not going to approve, that's why I have to try and pursue this outside the house, away from the prying eyes of his guards ... they have guns now, do you know?"
Jordan subsided, "Really? I haven't been home for awhile, I didn't know he's gotten so paranoid now ... guns huh?"
"Yeah, and they were always spying on everyone, always on a look out ... they look more like mercenaries."
Jordan raised his eyebrows, "Hhmm ... and Jacob?"
"Still the same ... he's been working longer hours now, Iris has her own thing going on ... I don't know what but she has quite a collection of boytoys coming in and out of her bedroom, they work as guards too."
Jordan was silent for a moment, he knew that his brother's marriage had gone through some rough edges but knowing that his wife was parading young lovers in the house was a whole new level of bad marriage. He considered Friday's request. "I guess you can stay here for a couple of weeks ... it's school holiday anyway, right?"
"Oh, yesss!!! Thank you ... thank you ... thank you ..." she hugged him and kissed his cheeks.
"Any chance you're sharing that thing you've been working on?"
"Maybe," she said playfully.
Jordan stood and walked towards the stairs, "You heard that Adrian? She's staying with you for two weeks."
Adrian walked down the stairs, lazily stared at Jordan.
"Sorry man, can't have her here 'cause Esmee is staying here too."
Friday came and threw her arms around Adrian, "Thank you ... thank you ... thank you..." she screamed.
He couldn't say no to that girl, the sister he never had. He gave Jordan a sharp look but he just laughed at it 'cause he knew how close they were and Adrian wouldn't say no to something like that.
"I'm gonna go home and get my things ... I'll tell dad I'll be staying here with you then, right?"
"Do I have a choice?" Jordan's sarcastic question went unanswered. Friday jumped excitedly and had a wide smile on her face. She hurriedly out the door leaving Jordan to deal with Adrian staring at him.
"I owe you this one! She said she's figuring some stuff out, she wouldn't tell me anything about it ... you two always had some secret telepathy language or some sort, right? Some kind of code or sign language you have between the two of you," Jordan was being sarcastic again referring to the special bond that Friday shared with Adrian.
Jordan and Adrian had been the closest of friends since they were 14, and when Friday started coming to The Dungeon to visit her brother, she developed a close relationship with Adrian. Her given name was Jade Cromwell, her mother died shortly after giving birth to her. When she understood what had happened at the age of six, she changed her name to Friday, the day that she was born and the day her mother died. The only two people who would call her by that name were Jordan and Adrian.
Smart and resourceful, sagacious for her age, her dad wanted her to be part of his business empire. Soon she will be graduating from high school and would have to determined her day preference. She had always looked up to Jordan and Adrian, she had decided long ago that she will not end up as a corporate slave.
The night after the big concert was uneventful, Adrian needed the early night off and couldn't wait to hit the shower. He just remembered that he hadn't taken any since the day before. He went upstairs to his room, locked his door.
Friday was measuring up his bedroom, a stack of boxes were piled up in the middle of it. "This room is perfect!" she said, still cheeky at 3.30 in the morning. She went over to Adrian with glittery eyes, "You have to promise me something, I need you to keep this a secret ... and I need your help," she pleaded.
"Okay," he said.
"I'm leaving Mofocity! And you're going to help me!"