"Child used as a bait by his father." The manager read out the title loudly. He sighed as he tossed the stack of sheets back on the desk. "Are you sure about this?" His authority could sue us." With a worried tone, he said. Monika's article contained all of the information the manager required. The moment he had been waiting for was right in front of him to bring down the only person he despised the most, Jake Norman, the new business sensation.
"I've never felt so certain in my life." Monika's came across as confident. She had no idea about Manager's obsession with Jake Norman, but she knew the man was a bad person after what she had witnessed the day before. "And this could get us a better media coverage."
Monika couldn't believe how quickly she had spent 5 hours on her fake relationship.' Who would have thought that running around the streets and playing basketball could be such a fun way to spend a date? She was walking down the streets on her way home, smiling as she remembered the date. Her joy was short-lived when she heard a call for help and discovered a young boy, probably around ten years old, running for his dear life.
"Please help me. Please. Please." The boy bumped into her and fell. Monika quickly assisted him in standing up, and he grabbed the hem of Monika's jacket in an attempt to hide behind her. Monika was shaken by this, as she looked around and saw no one seeking the boy.
"Hey, hey. There's no one around here, so you can relax. See" She tried to calm him down, but he kept looking towards the street at the end of the alley. She took out her phone, perplexed by the situation, and dialled 911. "Where have your parents gone?" She inquired, and the boy simply shook his head and cried, refusing to say anything.
"No. Please. They'll return me to him. Please. No police." He grabbed her hand and began pleading not to call the cops. The terrified boy was now shivering with fear, tears streaming from his eyes, and his voice was barely above a whisper, as if he was afraid of being noticed by someone.
"Okey. I'll take you to my house. Is that all right? She asked him while kneeling down to his level, and he simply nodded in response. "Okey." She did what she thought was right at the time and invited him to her home. The boy gripped her hand so tightly that his knuckles turned white; once inside the house, he relaxed his grip. Monika gave the kid an oversized t-shirt and prepared some food for him.
"Do you mind if I ask your name?" She watched as he ate everything on his plate. He had some bruises on his feet, most likely from running barefoot.
"Damien." He responded with a whisper.
"Can we rely on him?" The manager inquired, still sceptical that the boy could be innocent. "What if it was all planned?" He went on.
"Take a look at him. We can't leave him like this, and I've already spoken to him. He is prepared to make a statement." Monika said as she looked at the poor boy sitting on the chair, fiddling with the paperweight. She took her time approaching him and ruffled his hair. "Would you mind telling the inspector what you told me the day before?" The boy nodded as she spoke softly. Finally, the manager nodded, retaining faith in Monika. She turned around to check the time and cursed herself. She thought to herself, "Shit, I didn't even call or message him. He must be fuming," and she decided to call him.
On the other side, Steve sat motionless on the couch, Avengers: Endgame playing on TV. Matt and San were killing each other over the TV controller, as usual. Ethan was completely unconcerned about the war going on around him and sat on the bean bag, holding a bowl of fried chicken. He's always hungry, man.
"Who's up for some sports?" "I got us tickets." A rather tall man entered the house, holding five tickets. With a wide smile on his face, he raised his hands in excitement. But when he looked at the boys who were uninterested, his excitement crumpled like a rough sheet.
"Not in the mood, take Maya instead." Ethan responded.
"She's not a sports person, and even if I take her, she'll get bored." Jackson sat down next to Steve on the couch.
"I wish I could say that as well." Steve whimpered and rested his head on Jackson's shoulder, feigning a cry. Matt and San paused their bloodbath and sat on the floor, their full attention focused on Steve, and all four of them stared at him, perplexed.
"What exactly do you mean?" San inquired simply out of curiosity.
"Well, where should I begin? We went to see basketball on our date." Steve took a deep breath while palming his face. He kept his head down and whispered something that none of them heard, earning him a smack from Jackson. "We had a one-on-one match, which I lost." This time, he was heard by all. He kept his head down, his gaze fixed on his lap. The rest of them exchanged surprised glances for a few seconds before bursting out laughing. "Okay, enough. I had no idea she was a high school athlete". Steve attempted to defend himself, sounding reasonable at the time, but who cares?
"She sounds like a lot of fun. "When are you going to introduce her to us?" Jackson inquired, earning a death stare from Steve.
"With the possibility of you guys partnering with her. "No thanks," Steve began. "And after that day, we didn't even get to talk." He stated that he was feeling a little down because he hadn't spoken to her in two days. So far, he hasn't even received any messages. Thoughts of being dumped on a phony relationship lingered in his mind.
"Why don't you call her?" "I've got a better plan." Jackson gave a smirk. "We can also introduce her to Maya." He handed him the phone and encouraged him to call. Steve took his phone and began scrolling through the contacts, pondering 'should I or should I not' as his phone rang, displaying a known caller ID. "That's her." He whispered and answered the call keeping it on speaker.
"Before you go on about me ghosting around, let me tell you that I was extremely busy," Monika spoke all at once from another line, oblivious to the fact that she was on speaker.
"Hi. And I'm perfectly fine." "And about that, I'm still mad," Steve responded. He stated.
"As if I care." She responded, making everyone laugh except Steve, who was embarrassed. "Wait, you idiot, did you put me on speaker?" She objected after hearing muffled laughter from the other end of the line.
"We just wanted to invite you to dinner," Matt said from behind, clutching his stomach to keep from laughing. She sighed loudly enough for them to hear.
"Otherwise, I would have said yes, it was not necessary to put me on the speaker."
" Excellent, Saturday at 5:00 p.m. "Does that sound right?"
" Sure thing." She then hung up the phone.
"She's cool." San began, "It's going to be a fun weekend," and ended up getting a pillow smacked in the face by Steve.