The next morning before Ares went to university, he dropped by the hotel and handed the lost earring to one of the people at the front desk.
The earring was still wrapped in his handkerchief. He dare not to let it slip from the handkerchief.
From what happened yesterday, he wasn't going to touch the pearls with bare hands. That sh*t was going to stay wrapped and trapped.
The earring went through some adventure from yesterday night, but that's a talk for another day.
"I know who this belongs, so please don't hand it to anyone else even if they come for it," He told them as he signed a paper. He leaned closer to one of them to say the next part. "It is Ms Eirene Queen's. She dropped it in the bar last night."
"F*ck." The girl cursed loudly and quickly covered her mouth. "Excuse me."
"Yes. So be careful." He handed the papers back to her and made sure that the earring was secure, and walked out.
The hotel to school was a five-five minute walk, but it meant nothing to Ares, who grew up in the countryside and used to walk for miles just to get to his friend's house. The kidnapping didn't happen in the area, mostly because it was too remote and everyone knew each other.
As he walked, he felt the eyes of his father's men from everywhere. When he was waiting for the lights, helping a grandmother climb up the stairs, petting a stray cat on the street and giving him food... Countless watching until he met one of his friends at the school gate.
"Good morning!!" Eric came to greet Ares with a big grin on his face. He had a kinky dark brown hair which went wild in the morning and took a lot of time to tame and set for him. Still, there was always a strand of his hair that stood out. "You have eye bags. Did you have a nightmare?"
Eric handed his orange juice to his friend's hands and began examining him. He was the son of the most renowned doctor in the country, Edward Pendergrass's only son.
"No. Just a wild night," Ares replied and thought about his night.
Eric walked to face his friend with a hanging mouth. "What did you say?" He asked to know that what his friend said was a mistake.
"A wild night." Ares repeated the same words.
"The f*ck?" Eric covered his mouth dramatically and brought his caramel-coloured phone out of his caramel-coloured coat and frantically typed in something to call someone with shaky hands. "Karson? Ares is not a boy anymore. He is a man now."
Ares heard Karson saying what in the background.
"Ares just said he had SEX last night!!" Ares froze when he heard that. When did he say he had sex?
The boy immediately tried to stop Eric. To Ares, Eric's voice slowed and echoed throughout the world. Every single being heard what Eric said and those words were recorded.
Ares attempted to take the phone but that made it seem like he was embarrassed to Eric. So Eric continued to tell what his friend confessed to the other friend.
"Eric, stop telling lies!!"
"I'm not lying!" Eric retorted and resumed talking on the phone while fighting off Ares.
Things took a pause for a moment when Orion showed up.
"Morning, what's going on in here?" He looked between; Ares trying to snatch the phone, Eric taking the opportunity to sip on his drink in Ares's hand, and someone shouting in the background of the phone.
"Ares isn't a virgin," Eric answered after the sip.
Orion frowned, "What?"
"That's not true!" Ares finally managed to gain the phone and told Karson, Eric and Orion, "He told me I have eye bags and asked me if I had a nightmare. So I told him no, I just had a wild night. Nobody had... ss... seg... sseggs, sex." The boy sounded so confident apart from the last word.
The realisation hit the three.
Orion asked, "Ares, do you know the meaning of 'wild night'?"
Ares nodded like a little boy as he slightly sharpened his lips like a duck, "It means that you had a crazy night and you couldn't sleep, right?"
Karson asked through the phone after a dead-ass silence. "Who told you that?"
"I figured it out." Ares smiled proudly and nodded.
Eric frowned, "How?"
"Guys in the class always say that they had a wild night and often have eye bags. Sometimes, I think I'm so smart." He answered and looked at his friends with a cheeky smile.
"Don't use that." Orion said and walked passed him.
"Why? But I like the word. Reminds me of bulls and cowboys." Ares followed.
Eric casually took his juice and phone and told Karson they were going to talk later.
"We are not in Texas." Orion said as he strolled toward the school building.
"So? Whoa-" At this point, Ares was pulled back by his other friend, Eric and being whispered to the ear of his innocence.
"Wild night is slang for having sex." Eric showed his teeth with hesitance. Why did he have to be the one to tell Ares?
The boy looked down into space as reality hit hard. His face gradually and steadily turned deep red as a beetroot and he started shaking.
"Yep. So don't say it unless you actually had it." Eric advised and quickly followed Orion while he sipped his orange juice.
"UGH! WHY CAN'T YOU GUYS TAKE THE WORDS LITERALLY?! WHY DO YOU HAVE TO GO AROUND IT?!!" This time surely, Ares's voice echoed throughout the world and everyone in the whole school heard it.
-----
"What are you going to do with that recorder?" Jaxon asked the actress, who had been tossing the voice recorder in her fingers for at least thirty minutes while thinking.
"I guess I'll just keep it for now." Eirene finally stopped her action and put the tiny button-like object on the table. She also removed a pair of black Bluetooth headphones from her ears.
Jaxon observed the woman's expressions when she put them away. "He's clean."
"Yes, he is." She answered him and went straight to her laptop on a desk. It was almost time for her to do her daily routine, so Jaxon exited the room and went to his room.
Jaxon knew what Eirene was doing. She was a clever person. If she took an interest in people, she'd first research that person before she met them again and one of the popular ways to do that was by leaving a small voice recorder somewhere the target would be or into one of their belongings. If the target sold information about her after leaving and she was never going to meet them again.
She did the same procedures in the past traitors and only a handful of people passed the test. And apparently, Ares Queen was added to the list of people she could trust.
One of the pearls in the earring she purposely dropped in the bar was a small voice recorder that she disguised as a pearl.
If the boy gave to any reporters, he was out. But Ares didn't and instead took care of the earring since he was able to give it to the front desk. Also, the Queens' Hotel made it to the list because the receptionist didn't sell it for money and delivered it to the actress.
The receptionist who puked last night revealed that she was a secret fan after giving the earring back and asked for an autograph hesitantly, which Eirene surprisingly gave. The girl was over the moon and stumbled a few times as she made her way to the lift to go back to work.
Many admirers and fans of the actress weren't allowed to support her openly and when they did show their love, Eirene was always moved to the core. She returned the love by actively communicating with the fans on social media, always thanking them when she gets nominated or awarded and showing that she sincerely loves them and wears the gifts from fans now and then.
And that was why, even though the media and public don't want to admit it, Eirene Queen was one of the actresses that truly love her supporters.
Jaxon entered his room and decided to do some work while he left Eirene with her stuff.
He sighed as he sat down in front of his laptop. He was looking at a picture with a mixed expression of seriousness, tiredness, confusion, exhaustion, and worriedness. He had this photo for a long time even before he came to the Queens' Hotel yet he still couldn't make the decision. His mind was not made up yet. He had a lot of things to consider about the person in the photo.
In the end, he left the problem for tomorrow and called his company to see if anything has happened.
-----
Meanwhile in the next room...
"I love you."
"I love you too." Eirene smiled faintly, looking at the screen of her laptop.
"Now, let us talk with her." A group of women pushed the two people off the screen and occupied the space. They appeared to be in their sixties and seventies and looked healthier and happier than the ones that lived in the cities.
A woman with a straw hut asked Eirene, "How are you doing, baby?" She was the leader of the group.
"I am doing very good. How are about you?" The actress asked back.
"We are doing good too." The conversation suddenly ended there. The women looked like they were hiding something and were eager to say it but weren't allowed.
Eirene observed the elders and couldn't help but ask, "What is it that you want to say to me? Mother Ruth?" She asked specifically about the one that loved to spill secrets.
Mother Ruth looked around the group and answered shyly and buried her face in her red scarf around her neck. "It's not that we are confronting you or anything, darling."
Eirene tilted her head gracefully. It was not like her to say it gently. Mother Ruth was straight forward person and she rarely got nervous like that.
"Honey, have you met a good person there?" Instead of mother Ruth, the leader, mother Joy, asked when things got awkward.
"Why would you ask that?"
Mother Joy spoke full of confidence. "Because you seem to be more relaxed and smile more. Also, there is a soft aura coming off of you. There must be something that happened to you about men. Does that answer your question?"
Eirene just chuckled and curved her lips. The mothers were sure that any man would fall for the actress just by that small action. This queen really deserved the title of the queen from her gorgeousness, confidence, power and beauty.
The actress changed the subject and carried on the casual conversation. When the women's lunchtime was over, one by one, they went back to work but mother Joy remained back.
"Are you sure?" Mother asked.
"About what?" Eirene decided to act dumb.
"Ever since the day one of meeting you and hiring you, you are very bad at lying. I can see right through you." The old woman looked at the actress through the screen like a real mother would, adoring her daughter.
She continued, "I know what happened in the past but isn't it time for you to move on? Not every man is like him and I think the person you met there proved you right. I am not forcing you to be in a relationship but the hole in your heart can't be filled us."
"Yes, it can." Eirene interrupted.
"Don't be ridiculous." Mother Joy raised her eyebrows with a smile. "It's time for you to let go. Be free or you'll be wasting a lot of time in your golden era."
"I'll think about it."
"Good. I have to bake another round. Take care, sweetie."
"You too." The call ended and immediately, the computer brought the black wallpaper into Eirene's view. From a certain angle, her dazzling face was reflected but she wasn't looking at her face. Her eyes were drawn to the white handkerchief with the initial of A.Q sewed into the fine material.