Carl's mom, Ms. Sarah was sitting on her king-sized bed, giggling and watching a movie on her laptop and suddenly her door was forcefully opened by Carl.
Ms. Sarah gasped out of shock "how dare you barge into my room unannounced"
"why did you hire those thugs to have Anastasia kidnapped?" Carl angrily yelled at his mother.
"show some respect for me, Carl, don't you raise your voice at me" She fired back, pointing at Carl.
"All these years I have been tolerating your narcissistic behavior and respected you as my mother but you're beginning to cross the line. You demand respect at all times but you go about disrespecting anyone who doesn't meet up to your standard" Carl vented.
"Carl, you better watch your mouth, I am your mother," she said, standing up from her bed.
"you're my mother, yes, but I'm not going to let you disrespect Anne or try to hurt her again," Carl said in a husky tone.
"Just look at how you're talking to me because of that slut…"
"…stop it, mom, she's not a slut. Don't call her that" Carl interrupted and Ms. Sarah's eyes broadened. She could tell her son was deeply in love with Anne.
"I don't understand why you hate her so much that you had to get her kidnapped," Carl said, feeling frustrated.
"I only did that because I don't want her close to you." Ms. Sarah confessed.
"Wow!! You went that far??" Carl shook his head in disbelief.
"yes!! I can tell you're in love with her and that low-life baker would probably want a relationship with you because of your money and your good looks. I can't afford to let my son get involved with that poor girl" she furiously said.
"you don't have to worry about my feelings for Anne because she's already in a relationship with my best friend," he said and his mom smiled.
"she's dating Carlos?" she chuckled. "then good for her, besides she suits Carlos more than you" she laughed and Carl's facial expression changed. He felt sad.
"you're feeling sad because I said she suits your best friend more than you?... then you're going to get extremely hurt and Jealous seeing Carlos and that girl together. So if I were you, I'll keep my distance from her because we both know you can't handle being jealous." Ms. Sarah said.
Carl paused for a while "you should be thankful to Anne she's not pressing charges against you. But the next time you try to hurt her, I am going to lock you up behind bars" he warned
"you wouldn't dare do that to your mother," she glared at him.
"Try me," he said and angrily left her room.
*****
Anne wiped her tears and got up from her bed 'he must've left' she thought because Carlos had stopped knocking or begging her to open the door.
She unlocked the door and opened it and to her surprise, she saw Carlos sitting on her doorstep.
"Anne!!" Carlos said as he stood up and immediately hug her. He had to give up knocking on her door since Anne was too stubborn to let him in.
Although, Anne didn't return the hug. Her hands were glued to her body but Carlos just wanted to feel her warmth.
"Anne please forgive me for being stupid, forgive me for being such a fool. I'm sorry you got kidnapped because of me" he pleaded to her softly.
Anne tried to disengage from the hug but Carlos tightened the hug so she won't let go of him.
"Anastasia, please forgive me for hurting you, I'm sorry for causing you much pain" he begged her like his life depended on her forgiveness.
Part of her wanted to forgive him and make things go back to the way they were for her and Carlos while another part of her couldn't just forgive Carlos for hurting her but since she loved him so much, she couldn't stay angry at him and she returned the hug. While she was in his embrace, she took a deep breath and noticed he smelled different, not like he used to.
"Please tell me you're no longer upset with me," Carlos said breaking free from the hug with his hands around her neck.
"I'm not," Anne said in a low tone.
"then kiss me" he requested and she locked lips with him.
Anne knew how persistent Carlos was so she kissed him even though she was still a little upset with him.
'what if Carlos was seeing someone else? what if I wasn't important in his life and he's faking everything?' those thoughts were in her head as she was kissing him.
However, Carlos took charge of the kiss with his hands caressing her body. He tried to undress her but she stopped him.
"Why are you resisting me? don't you love me?" Carlos muttered holding her waist.
"I do love you, you just smell different," she sighed. "You usually smell like fresh mints but now you smell like roses, like a lady's perfume and it bothers me."
Carlos knew it was Linda's perfume, she had forced him to spend the day with her and that was why he missed the picnic with Anne. He smelled like Linda because he slept with her and now, he's beginning to run out of lies and excuses.
"Anne it's just perfume." he said trying to kiss her but she kept on resisting. "if you're uncomfortable with it, I'll go shower to take it off". He said kissing her neck.
"No need for that, I'm not in the mood for this" Anne said breaking free from him and she crossed her arms to her chest.
"I thought you wanted me," he said in a sad tone, feeling brokenhearted.
"I do! …I just have doubts about you, I can't help it, I'm sorry" she said and went to her room.
Carlos left her house upset and frustrated, he got to a club so he could chill and ease his pain.
It was a popular club known as 'club 21'. The club was covered in red light and loud music, some strippers were dancing on a pole, and some people were making out, while some were wasted in alcohol.
Coincidentally, Carlos saw Carl in the same club, he was sitting alone at the bar counter sipping alcohol. Carl had gone to the club after his argument with his mother. He felt depressed about what his mother told him to stay away from Anne so he wouldn't get hurt seeing her and Carlos together.
While Carl was in his trance, he felt someone tap him and he turned his head sideways and saw Carlos.
"Hey bro what are you doing here so late at night?" Carl said to Carlos as he saw him.
"It's just 10 pm. I should be asking you the same question 'cause you barely drink" Carlos said, sitting down on a stool near Carl.
"I just wanted to clear my head," Carl said sipping his alcohol.
"in a club like this?" Carlos said.
"Nicholas, give me a bottle of tequila, bills on my rich friend here," Carlos said to the bartender and pointed to Carl as the rich friend.
"rich friend!?" Carl chuckled inwardly. He's already used to Carlos telling the whole world that he's a wealthy man.
Carlos please don't get mad but do you know my mom was behind Anne's kidnap?" Carl said.
"that bitch!?" Carlos growled as he opened the bottle of tequila
"watch it, man, she's my mom," Carl said
"And a bitch. The only reason why haven't dwelt with her is that she's your mother" Carlos said.
"Trust me, my mother has been giving me a hard time too but how's Anne?" Carl asked
"Anne!?!" Carlos cleared his throat "Anne has never raised her voice at me not until tonight," he sighed
"she also rejected me when I tried to touch her". Carlos said in a deep voice as he was drinking the alcohol from the bottle.
"easy man, you're going to get drunk," Carl said to Carlos as he kept on drinking.
"Maybe you've hurt her feelings that's why ...but did you try to hurt her physically when she raised her voice at you?" Carl asked curiously.
"I almost did," Carlos muttered.
"almost?? So you could've hurt her?" Carl questioned him with a worried look on his face. "cheating on her is already too much for her to handle but you better control yourself not to get physical with her. " he warned.
Carlos said slowly as he became drunk "Carl, you better start minding your own business okay? You might be my boss but that's in the office not in my relationship."
"But I'm your best friend, I swore to you I wasn't going to tell Anne you're cheating on her, but seeing you hurting her without me correcting you makes me a bad friend to you," Carl said.
"yeah, but all the times I've cheated on my previous girlfriends, you never said shit. In fact, you cover up for me. Why do you care about being a good friend now?"
"because Anastasia is different" Carl said
"hmm... it sounds like you have feelings for my girlfriend" Carlos laughed.
"And what if did?" Carl asked knowing that he was in love with Anne, he only asked to hear Carlos's response.
"then go ahead and date her," Carlos said facetiously as he opened another bottle of alcohol.
"sooner or later you're going to regret this Carlos," Carl said.