The event finally came to an end without a hitch and each student returned to their class. The day ended with their English teacher returning their work.
"Goodbye and have a good weekend!"
"Goodbye, ma'am, and have a good weekend!" each student said as they left.
"I'm going to see the French teacher real quick, I'll meet you at the exit. Goodbye, ma'am, have a good weekend," said Cassidy, the teacher replied, and she left. Corine also put her bag on,
"I'll go get my drawing. Goodbye ma'am, have a good weekend," she said before leaving, Chloe and Harmonie put their bags on and Harmonie went to the front of the teacher's desk.
"You didn't give me my paper, ma'am."
The teacher nodded and said, "Yes, I know it's just that what you wrote-"
"That was a lie, you can give me my paper back now," said Harmonie, the teacher looked at Harmonie and knew she didn't want to talk about it, she gave her paper back and saw her getting ready to leave. She asked her, "Is that still the case?"
Harmonie stopped and then started walking toward the door. The teacher thought she was not going to answer and started to get ready to leave, and she heard, "No. Goodbye, ma'am, have a good weekend." then she walked out, Chloe said the same thing to the lady and walked out.
"Goodbye." the teacher said softly.
"Harmonie, what was she talking about?" asked Chloe, Harmonie didn't answer but passed her paper and Chloe read it.
"... My wish was granted.
They no longer ignored. I would have preferred the opposite.
Every day I came home with new injuries, I was bitten up again and again, relentlessly. I had become their punching bag, a toy they could manipulate, and insult. I was nothing to them. It was the same in 8th grade. I went through all of this without knowing the why and the how of my situation. ..." (***)
Chloe, as she finished reading it, looked up at Harmonie. "Do you want to talk about it?" she asked, handing the paper back to her.
"No. There's no need. Besides, what I wrote is wrong..."
"Not all of it, there's some truth in what you wrote."
"Yes, The bullying, the mugging, and the fact that I'm the oldest in my family are the parts that are true," she said as she turned back to Chloe, "Did I forget something?"
Chloe who was about to answer was interrupted by Harmonie, "Ah, yes, that's right! I forgot about my 'parents' separation, again, it didn't happen the way I wrote it. Why did I write this story? What good did it do me? I have no answers to any of these questions, but I can try to make a hypothesis about it. I think that maybe I would have preferred it to be this way. But it didn't. I wish I could talk to you about how I feel, but I can't. I don't know what I feel. I don't even know how I feel. All I can tell you is that I don't regret writing it, even if the rest of what I wrote is false." she said tiredly.
She turned her back to her, "Let's go, the others are probably waiting for us in front of the school gate."
...
"Where do I put this?" said one of the men in casual suits present, holding a chair in his arms.
"Red for the umpteenth time, you put it over there, where we're going to set the table," said Valerie
One floor below, Harmonie, with a simple gray t-shirt and a jogging suit of the same color, had in hand work gloves and was wiping the sweat on her forehead.
"Here." said a man dressed in a black t-shirt and black pants, handing her the bottle of fresh water. Harmonie took the bottle after thanking him and drank almost all of it. She exhaled and then said,
"So, if I understand correctly, we have the whole building at our disposal. How many floors are there again?"
"Yes, we were able to negotiate the purchase of the entire building and there are exactly 10 floors. The first five floors are for organization, and the boss said you can use the rest."
Harmonie nodded, "What was the building used for before?"
"Nothing, the construction was finished, but the owner couldn't find any buyers because he wanted to get rid of it since he was in debt with the construction. That's why it's empty like this. It's only the top floor, that we were able to finish the repairs."
"Hm... very good, thanks, John. By the way, who's the one with the full project plan? I'd like to take a look at it."
"Red has it. He must be upstairs with the boss, and you're welcome, Captain."
Harmonie looked at him then sighed as she looked away,
"Seriously, when are you going to stop calling me that? Anyway, I'll go find him."
When Harmonie found Red, they discussed the organization of the building and after several arguments and negotiations, it was decided that the top floors would be used by the organization for security.
"Well, I have to go, guys. I'll be back tomorrow to help you with the rest. Bye, see you tomorrow."
"Bye, Captain," said the group members.
"See you in the morning, Val, bye."
Valerie nodded and said, goodbye in turn.
...
The next day, as promised, Harmonie went to join them in the morning with Chloe. She wore this time a black t-shirt tucked in her black cargo pants with black working boots and gloves, and a plain beige cap. Chloe had the same outfit, but her t-shirt was beige, her pants green with a military motif, and her beige working boots with a black cap.
"Captains!" said the workers seeing them, Harmonie sighed and Chloé was silently laughing.
"They're cute," she said while smiling, Harmonie looked at her and then ignored her.
...
"So we decided that the first floor will be used to accommodate people of course, with the reception and everything else. The first and second floors will be for catering. The third and fourth floor is for training, healthcare, and spa. The fifth floor is the office of everything that deals with marketing, finance and everything else, I forgot to mention... The sixth, seventh and eighth floors are at your disposal and the ninth and tenth floors are for the organization," said Red, closing the door.
"You could have just said the fifth floor is the one that takes care of the floors below. The sixth will be for my business, however, the seventh and eighth will be where the suites are. I only need one floor because I will have about 20 workers at the most, min. 10. The rest of the business, the company will take care of it in Lieme. I want to start small for now."
Red noted all that Harmonie had just said and nodded, "Very well, I'll let the boss know, Captain."
"Alright, we'll have to go now," Harmonie said as she looked at her watch,
"Keep me posted, no matter what happens."
...
In the car
"Marc drives us to Jay's house," said Harmonie as she took out her phone from her jogging pocket.
"Yes, miss," he said, but this time Harmonie ignored the fact that he called her Miss despite her numerous objections. She just didn't have time to dwell on that detail.
"Chloe sends a message to Jay that we're coming and then calls the director of Lieme and tells him to send us all the necessary documents by email in addition to ordering and sending us the necessity for the company here." She said while tapping on her phone, "Ah! I almost forgot, ask him to see with the employees if some want to come work here. And especially to see with the chefs, I would like to start with two cooks if possible, they will of course be taken care of by us, the time for them to be able to settle well."
"Very well," said Chloe, Harmonie then brought her phone to her right ear.
"Hello, old man, we're going to get started sooner than expected."
...
At Jay's
"Where is Harmonie," asked Jay to Chloe. Chloe turned her head and did not see her friend.
"She's probably in the car on the phone, I was on the phone too, so I wasn't paying attention." she turned back to him and said, "You, how are you?"
"I am fine. The little one is already sleeping. She was waiting for you, but she fell asleep." Jay said as he stepped back from the door to let Chloe in. Chloe walked in and headed down the hallway to the living room, as she knew the little one must surely be asleep on the couch.
"What's it like being the kid's nanny?" asked Chloe, Jay sighed and said,
"I really don't know why you thought it was a good idea to leave me with the kid. At least she's at ease, except when it's time for you to come and get her." Jay then looked at Chloe, who looked back at him, "Speaking of which, can the little one tell time or what?"
Chloe laughed quietly so as not to wake the sleeping child on the couch, and shook her head before saying, "No, she doesn't know, but let's just say she's smart. At home, Harmonie tells her what time we will come to her. And even with a wristwatch, she shows her how the hands of the watch will be positioned, when we come to pick her up, or something like that."
"She's insightful," said Jay, not hiding his wonderment.
They then heard the door open and close and then footsteps and, a few seconds later, the appearance of Harmonie,
"Hi, Jay," she spoke softly as she saw her daughter sleeping on the couch, Chloe beside her.
She moved forward until she was in front of the little one, then crouched down and watched her as she removed a few curly strands of hair from her face and softly stroked her cheek. A little smile formed on the child's face and Harmonie also smiled, then she straightened up.
"Everything settled on your end?" asked Chloe, Harmonie stretched then covered her mouth with a yawn.
"No, not yet, but that can wait. We have the party to prepare." Harmonie then bent down and lifted the little one in her arms, then patted her gently on the back to calm her down.
Chloe stood up in turn, and turned to Jay, "J, it's too bad you can't come." said Chloe, showing disappointment on her face.
Jay smiled and then said, "Yes, it's a shame, but another time, maybe."
Chloe nodded, Chloe took Adelaide's bag and toys that were next to her, and they headed for the exit.
"Goodbye, J," said Chloe as she left first,
"Bye," said Jay, watching her leave.
"Enjoy your date," said Harmonie, Jay's cheek tinted slightly.
"And you enjoy your evening." Harmonie nodded, then turned away.
"Goodbye, then."
"Goodbye," said Jay as he watched them go with a slightly happy smile on his face.
'It's nice to have a family.' he thought before closing the door to his house. He looked to the sky and said, "Thank you."
....
Chloe Pov
The sleepover we planned to do, which was my idea, was like a little party since there won't be many of us, with games, music, food... Something, a little bit classic, and Harmonie and Grace are in charge of the food. They had already prepared everything in advance last night and were grilling the meat there.
On our side, Corine and I were taking care of the decoration. We removed from the living room all that seemed to us inconvenient with our movements.
We removed the sofas with the help of two worker, and we put them in another room, we then put many beanbags of different colors.
I'm not going to lie to you the living room was big enough to put more than 30 people but Corine and I thought that it would be more interesting to have the living room divided into different parts destined for different games and of course a big part, destined for the dance.
I have to go wild on the dance floor today.
We had finished putting the lids and plates of each on the table in the dining room. Yes, it was originally going to be a dinner party, but then I thought why not have a sleepover, and then I thought why not a party? I was undecided.
In the end, it was Harmonie who told me, and I quote: "We have room to do all three, why bother."
So now we are doing all three and Corine and I are preparing the food trays.
Each tray had its own food or drink. There were 20 trays, 4 for candies and chocolate, 4 for snacks, 4 for mini pizzas, 4 for sandwiches and 2 for drinks or glasses to put the beverage, and 2 for dessert. We also numbered the plastic glasses so that each one would not be mistaken.
It's a bit too much for us, of course, in addition to what Harmonie and Grace prepare for us. But let's say since we were not the only ones living in the house, I mean those who work for us, we did a little more for them.
Harmonie and I didn't really need people to take care of us and the house, well maybe the house since the house is huge for only two and a half people, and we could manage, but Harmonie's grandfather and mother were against that.
We have 10 maids in the house, but they weren't home all the time, except for Grace, they had a kind of schedule of what day each one came to work, and they had their own area. Grace was the head maid, so she organized all the movements of the servants and agenda, and she was also the one who took care of us when we were in Lieme.
Every day, we have 2 servants and Grace by our side, and since the arrival of Valerie and Hazel, we also had more bodyguards.
For security reasons, according to Hazel. Well, we already had a bodyguard who acted as our driver. But apparently, that was not enough.
Speaking of security, Harmonie has officially started to take over from her grandfather with his business.
As for me, since I turned eighteen, I inherited my parents' business.
My uncle was the one who took care of it before, but he allowed me to get into the industry very early.
And he was happy with that because it allowed him to continue his dirty business, hence the fact that he was again the target of the government agents.
My assistant Julia is the one who takes care of the business in my absence. She is the daughter of my parents' assistant.
After her retirement, Julia was recommende for me and is now doing an excellent job.
The days when I am not at home, or school, it just means that I went to fulfil my duties. And I can't say it enough, in a suit with my heels, I am a big deal. I'm so sexy.
"Chloe!" I gasped as I felt a hand on my shoulders, turning my head to Corine,
"Are you okay?" I looked at her questioningly,
"Yes, why?" She reached out and placed her hand on my cheek and wiped away the tears that were running down my cheek without me knowing it. In her eyes, I could see the concern. It snapped something in my mind. And I felt tears welling up in my eyes. Seeing this, Corine took me in her arms and I put my head on the crook of her neck.
I don't realize it all the time, but sometimes it hurts, and the tears flow even when I talk about other things afterward. No matter when I mention them a tear is bound to flow without me being able to stop it because at the time I don't realize it, and this little gesture of Corine's brought back a memory in me, hence the fact that now I am crying.
And when I am aware of this pain, it is so unbearable. Unfortunately, time has not erased it, on the contrary, I have the impression that it is getting worse, and that the memories are not enough for me anymore. It went from 100 to 0 very quickly.
I heard someone whispering, and felt a hand caressing my back to calm me down, but I know I fell asleep.
...
RAIS Pov
Harmonie had come to look for Chloe, so she was surprised to see her in Corine's arms.
Corine noticed her presence and Harmonie came closer to them and put her hand on Chloe's back and started to caress her because she knew that this could calm her down quickly. This proved to be correct, as she knew she was asleep.
Harmonie took her in her arms and brought her back to her room, she put her on her bed and left her room, closing the door behind her. She then went to help Corine and Grace.
Chloe Pov
I felt someone shake me slightly, which made me open my eyes.
"Are you awake?" asked Harmonie,
"Hm..." I replied, I was still a little woozy at the time.
"The others have already arrived," she said, handing me some water.
I sat , took the glass, drank the water, and said to Harmonie as I passed her the empty glass,
"Wait..."
When I felt I was awake enough, I got out of bed.
I stretched with a yawn and asked Harmonie,
"How long was I asleep."
"An hour," she replied, "Get changed, and then come downstairs."
"Can't I stay in my pyjamas?" After we got home from Jay's, I preferred to stay in my pyjamas.
"No, later. Go freshen up. I'll be waiting."
So I decided to take a shower, feeling the water running down my body felt good. I didn't even realize that my muscles were tense, but the water was doing its job and calming me down.
Thinking back on the day, I'm not even surprised that I fell asleep. The lack of sleep, plus the mental and physical fatigue, didn't help either. But even without that, I tended to get sleepy when I cried too much.
But since it wasn't the case today, I think that fatigue must have played a role.
After I finished getting ready, Harmonie and I joined the others.
They were in the living room, and I finally understood why Harmonie asked me to change. I won't lie to you the view was,
"Wow!"
" Close your mouth," said Harmonie, I hadn't even noticed it was open.
"Uh...you look lovely," I said almost breathlessly.
They smiled and thanked me, Each one wore their dress with their little touches of originality. As much as I love putting on dresses, describing them is an ordeal on its own.
But I will do my best. Valerie wore a long green, a little dark, dress ,' Mermaid-like, I think they say? Whatever.' She had a naturally beautiful face, but her makeup put her femininity even more forward. And her hair was in a loose bun on her head, with two loose strands on each side of her face. She was not the type to wear jewelry, but she had green earrings and a silver necklace with the letter V on the end.
Cassidy had a black sundress with black low heels and a bracelet on her wrist. She put down her wavy hair and had mascara and pink lipstick. She wore pink earrings, which looked great on her.
Cassandra had on a dress that was so beautiful, it looked great on her. The dress was tight and had a small opening at the bottom. The color of the dress was red. She wore red heels, of course, and a silver necklace with a crescent moon pattern. She also had a bracelet with a star pattern on it. She had her hair tied up in a bun without any loose strands. She had simple and natural makeup that brought out her hazel eyes. 'She must like the color red.'
"H!" I whispered but hearing no response from her, I turned around and saw her eyes glued to- *drumroll* 'Cassandra!' And she wasn't discreet. I nudged her and she turned back to me.
"Hm?"
"You're not discreet, bro." She only nodded and lowered her head. I smiled slightly before whispering,
"Well, what I wanted to ask you is, was the theme of our party 'fancy and elegant' or something similar?"
"Why?"
My eyes widened, and I looked at him, confused, "Didn't you see them?" I whispered-yelled.
She turned around again to look at them or maybe look at HER then shook her head and finally turned back to me and said,
"No," she said, answering my previous question,
Then she went to the kitchen. And I watched her leave, not understanding this reaction of hers, or maybe I have my own idea.
"Why are you smirking?" asked Cassidy, I turned back to her and shrugged in response.
"Did you guys agree to wear dresses or what?" They looked at each other and shook their heads, smiling.
"By the way, she's not here yet, Hazel."
"No, not yet, I guess, if you haven't seen her." At that moment, we heard the doorbell ring,
"Ah! That must be her." I said as I headed for the front door.
But I didn't expect what was going to happen, my heart almost gave out.
Well, the moment I opened the front door with a smile on my face to greet Hazel, well, it wasn't her.
However, the shock was even more terrible since it was the person who haunted my dreams and my mind every second.
"Sylvia?!" I said, not understanding her presence.
I must have looked like a goofball next to her.
If I had known that the theme of the party was chic and elegant, I would have worn a dress, not a jogging suit and polo shirt.
Even though I looked great in my outfit, it would have been better if I had worn a dress or a suit or an outfit that was in line with the theme 'But not a jogging suit, damn it!
Sylvia's dress was a classic light yellow dress with flower motifs. She also had on her shoulders a black silk shawl covering the showy parts of the dress with yellow pumps and a black handbag.
Her red hair was loose and slightly wavy. I'm going to avoid describing her makeup and the rest since I feel that I won't be able to stop describing this beauty of mine.
'Yes, she is mine... She will be mine... Soon... At least, I hope so... But she will be! I hope so!'
"Hi Chloe, aren't you going to invite me in?" said a voice whose softness sped up my heart rate again.
'I need to breathe.'
'Breathe, damn it!'
'Wait, how do we breathe again?'
'Damn, are you stupid or what?'
'Ah, yes, it's good I remember!' The innumerable thoughts continued to surge rapidly in my mind for a few seconds before I could finally regain my senses and shift to let her finally enter.
When Sylvia passed in front of me she thanked me with a little smile, and, all I could remember at that moment was her sweet perfume, her sweet voice, her beautiful smile, and the way her hips were moving. Yes, I have my priorities.
This woman, she is driving me crazy,
"Let's just wait a little longer, Chloe, just a little longer. Soon you won't be a student anymore, and you'll get her. Soon..." I whispered, trying to calm my impulses.
She was always getting me all worked up... 'Come to think of it, who invited her? Or rather, who told her that there was a party at our place? Wait, how did she know where we live?'
And here I go again with my many thoughts, 'No! Is she stalking me? She's already into me?'
"Sylvia! I'm glad you could clear your schedule. Come on, I'll show you the house. " Harmonie said as she held Sylvia's forearm, and they left to tour the house.
'Hm... so it was Harmonie who invited her, why didn't she tell me. I'm not against the idea of her being there, on the contrary, I'm delighted about it, if it had been me who asked her, she would surely not have come.'
'Thank you, Harmonie.'
Finally, the other thing that made me happy about my outfit was the outfit of Harmonie and Corine. It looked like the Totally Spies, I of course was happily matching with Sylvia which is a total coincidence. Harmonie with Cassandra, and Corine with Valerie. Hmm...those two? If it happens, it means that fate is really doing a good job.
Well, since the VIPs without Hazel are here, it's time to turn on the sound and get fired up on the dance floor.
" Ooh!!!! "
....
In a dimly lit room
"Boss-" Started a man in a black suit, left knee, right fist on the ground and head down, before he felt a blow to his side that made him fall. But he very quickly resumed his previous position for fear of being attacked again.
"Do it again." said the man standing in a very cold tone to the one kneeling in front of him.
"King-" tried the man on the ground, and the standing one nodded and went to sit on the couch in front of him.
"Well go on."
"King, we're still looking for her, I have word from Lieme that other bodyguards were sent here for her. We couldn't tail them for fear they would notice us."
"So you're useless!" The man on his knees shaking slightly in fear of being hit again and said quickly.
"We got word that the police were looking for Mr. Yves, and we know exactly where his location is."
The man who called himself 'King' understood, if they found him, he could find his longtime target. And a disgusting smile formed on his lips.
"Good, very good indeed, find him as soon as possible."
"Yes, b- king!" he said before standing up, relieved that he was able to catch up.
Then several shots were heard, and the man collapsed the last image he saw was of the man in the chair with his legs crossed, one hand supporting his head, and a gun in the hand of his outstretched arm.
'You son of a b-' and the man died on the spot.
"I warned you to call me properly, though. What a waste." He sighed and stood up, throwing the gun to the floor, "Get rid of the body, and I want this place cleaned up by the time I get back," he exited the room.
A man emerged from the shadows behind the chair and said," Yes, King." before the door closed behind, the man called King.