"He is Joshua?" Maddie was surprised to know that their target was an f*cking old friend. Luckily the sound of the song in every corner of the room made her voice not boom. Now Maddie understood why the photo of the man was familiar to her, it was because she had known him before.
Maddie was in shock, staring in disbelief at the fact that Castelia could remember Joshua easily. Castelia wasn't surprised she coincidentally met her first love after so many years. No, Maddie was as shocked as Castelia was that she remembered something terrible between them.
When Castelia was in high school, Castelia fell in love with a cold man named Joshua Vepsa. The man wasn't just hard. He was terrible, he was bad and he hurt Castelia. Stupidly, Castelia couldn't forget him, let alone erase her love. After everything Joshua did, what Castelia got was not love but trauma. Maddie saw that Castelia was shaking a little without being able to take her eyes off Joshua who was chatting casually with his friends.
Maddie grabbed Castelia's wrist and dragged her out of the bar, they faced each other at the side of the shophouse, in a deserted parking lot filled with cars. Maddie touched Castelia's cheek, making sure she was looking her straight in the eye.
"Take a deep breath, Cas," the girl said, taking a deep breath for Castelia to follow her. After slowly exhaling the breath she took, Maddie said, "Don't worry, don't think about useless things, okay?"
Castella couldn't. Just as Maddie had reminded her, her fear had skyrocketed and all the bad memories she thought had vanished came back in less than five seconds. Castelia brushed Maddie's hand away and turned her back. Castelia's legs suddenly went weak just because of Joshua's face which was terrifying and comforting at the same time. Castelia took deep breaths, all of which were useless because all she felt was her eyes turning red.
Castelia didn't want to cry, especially after doing her pretty eyes and eyeliner, but she was having a hard time. "How can we meet him this place?" Castelia didn't say much and her breath was running out as if she had spent two hours running non-stop.
Maddie had the same sense of wonder, not expecting them to see each other again after four years of the man's disappearance. Maddie can't even talk about how crazy Castelia misses Joshua.
Castelia crouched down and rubbed her face in annoyance, she was silent as all the memories brought her back. Four years ago when Joshua suddenly disappeared without a word or trace. Three years ago, she accepted the love of a man to erase her love for Joshua. Castelia thought she was successful until her heart went crazy because of the man's face which didn't change much.
Castelia sobbed uncontrollably. She wasn't crying because she still loved him, she was crying because she was scared to remember how badly Joshua had treated her. Surprisingly, Castelia even wanted to approach him to question why he had disappeared.
Castelia gripped her wrist tightly. There were no wounds, but she seemed to be able to see—what Joshua had done to her. It was terrible, but Castelia's feelings were stronger than all the pain. She still thinks about Joshua, and always his gentle demeanour is the cure for her fear. Castelia missed his little touch on her head, and she wanted to feel it.
Castelia's sobs got louder, making Maddie rush over to her. "Cas, please." Maddie was at a loss as to how to calm Castelia down, all she could do was help wipe away her tears. "It's all over, okay?" Castelia said whatever she could while assisting Castelia to stand on her feet. "You guys haven't seen each other in four years, and he won't remember you anymore."
Maddie bets on it because a bastard named Joshua only comes to Castelia when he needs to and he's even been ignoring her for a year. The bastard suddenly appeared and disappeared without a word. Such a person couldn't remember who he had hurt. At least that was what Maddie hoped.
"Look at me, Cas," Maddie pleaded, she lifted Castelia's face to make eye contact. "Look at me," she repeated, wiping away the tears that rolled down Castelia's cheeks. Maddie would put aside who Joshua was and all the bad things that had happened because they came here to work. Something had to be done in three days or ten million dollars in damages and they are dead broke.
Maddie said emphatically, "We'll settle our business with him and we'll never see him again, okay?"
Castelia wished she could do it as easily as spoken. She trembled every time she imagined herself walking up to the man. But was it really fear when Castelia's little heart whispered that she wanted to look at Joshua from near?
Castelia swatted Maddie's hand once more, causing her to stare in despair. "I can't," said Castelia. She bit her lower lip hard, reminded that dealing with Joshua was something she'd been trying to avoid three years ago. Castelia wanted to keep it that way so she wouldn't enter into a messy, statusless relationship again.
Damn, the words ran through Maddie's head, unable to understand how they could meet someone they avoided when clients were offering big bucks. Maddie patted her head and took a deep breath, now convinced that nothing would be easy when it came to much money.
Yes, that's the fate of those who will never become rich. Maddie couldn't undo this job and she didn't have ten million dollars in their account. So, in plan B, Maddie couldn't help but say, "Then we'll switch positions." Usually, Maddie would be behind Castelia because Castelia is good at flirting with her beautiful face and body. But Maddie had no choice today.
Maddie took the handbag from Castelia's arm and slid a packet of medicine powder into her bag. She looked at Castelia before saying, "Find a seat and make sure you distract his friends when I get Joshua."
Castelia nodded in response and she went to find the seat furthest from the man named Joshua. Castelia was scared to look at him, so she picked the most distant chair and kept stealing glances while Maddie walked into the bar.
Maddie tossed her short silky hair and walked gracefully to where Joshua and his four friends were. "Hi," the woman greeted as she stood in front of the target table. Maddie smiled, her pretty face quickly causing everyone to look her up and down and back to her pretty face.
All except Joshua. He was cold, just like the last time Maddie remembered him. He wasn't even interested in staring at Maddie for more than a second. Joshua placed his glass on the round table thigh-high before sharply asking, "You guys calling a slut?"
The knife from Joshua's mouth went straight into Maddie's heart, successfully offending her even though Maddie still had to remain calm to look attractive. As long as Joshua knows how much Maddie hates that title he gave. Maddie hunts down someone's husband's private whore, not one of them! "I'm not that kind of person," Maddie responded, still smiling sweetly. She lied, "My friend left suddenly on business, so I'm here alone. Can I join?"
Maddie was one hundred percent sure all of Joshua's friends would be nodding their heads soon enough, but Joshua sarcastically said, "You're beautiful, you have big boobs, big booty and white skin. But you know what's bad about you?" Joshua's gaze was full of contempt as he stabbed Maddie in the eye and tell, "Your short hair makes you look like a b*tch. A b*tch who's only good at dressing up but not good at rocking."
Maddie remembers the story, Castelia didn't like long hair but she purposely kept it long because she never forgot Joshua's insults her badly for that short hair. Maddie didn't know what was behind Joshua and the short hair he hated so much, but Maddie's heart was on fire. Joshua has just insulted something she is very proud of, which she took care of for fifteen hundred dollars per three months!