Autumn lets go of the plate she was washing in surprise, getting goosebumps all over her skin as she immediately remembered how soft and warm his lips felt on her mouth that day. Her heart rate precipitates both in thrill of his next move and the anticipation of everyone just in the living hall.
“Sam.” She breathes, shakily when she feels his lips graze on her ear briefly. “We- we shouldn’t be doing this.”
She turns around to see him gazing down at her with a burning gaze. Sam’s eyes glance over at her lips for a few seconds before looking back into her eyes. Her cheeks warm up in response. She was about to say something when Sam put his finger on her lips to silence her. And then his finger trails down slowly down her chin, neck and makes her goosebumps with every touch.
He brings his face next to hers, “You were saying something, sweetheart.”
But before she could answer, Sam’s phone starts to ring as he pulls himself off her and takes the call, not quite moving away from her. His eyes were still on her, staring right into her soul.
“Yes,” he answers, kind of annoyed.
He listens to the question and his eyebrows furrow, “No, we’re out of town at Mid’s parents place.”
Sam suddenly pulls himself back away, clenching his jaw as he walks outside towards the living room and switches on the television putting on the entertainment news channel.
“We just received the latest scoop involving Midnight Hazelwood, Xavier Cavanaugh and Amelia Smith being in a love triangle? Apparently, Amelia and Xavier were seen flirting a few days before and just recently at the trailer launch, Xavier and Midnight were seen flirting at each other. We’re very much interested in who among them has managed to capture Mr Cavanaugh’s heart.”
Sam looks over at Midnight who was frowning at the television screen before she looks back at Sam. Her eyes immediately turn guilty.
“Is there something going on between the two of you?” Sam asks after ending the call.
“No.”
“Then what were you doing in the parking lot?”
“Just…arguing.”
Sam shakes his head and then says, “Don’t make any statements about this to the media. It’s the CEO’s order so we need to lay low about this. Apparently, you are trending a lot on the Internet.”
“That’s not how I imagined to see myself trend.” Miranda whispers and turns the television off. Her parents throw a worried glance at her.
“It’s going to be okay, sweetheart.” Alex says, trying to soothe her daughter.
Midnight’s phone begins to ring so she excuses herself to her room before taking the call, praying the caller not to be a reporter. She answered the call and immediately recognised her caller- it was Xavier.
“Did you see the news?” he asks, his tone was monotonic as always but with a hint of concern in it.
“Uhh yeah I did.” Midnight answers, surprised to see that he was calling her.
“Are you okay?” he asks.
Another surprise question. Is he drunk? There is no way in hell, Xavier would worry about her but here he was asking her if she is okay and she was speechless for a minute, not to mention, the way her heart fluttered for a few seconds.
“Are you there, Midnight?” Xavier asks.
“Yes, I am and I am okay.” Midnight breathes, shaking her head for being so silly. “Are you okay?”
“No, not really.” he says, hurting Midnight feelings.
He lets out a frustrated sigh, “So, when are we planning to release an article denying this thing?”
“You seem in quite a hurry.” Midnight exclaims, gritting her teeth, to keep her voice even.
“Is it this bad? Being in a silly rumour with me.”
For a few seconds, he goes quiet. Midnight could almost hear her heart racing in her chest. She didn’t know what she really was expecting to hear from him but still she wanted to test the waters and try to find a single hint for his strong aversion towards her.
“Yes.”
“Okay well,” Midnight’s feelings hurt, “you have no choice but to keep the rumor going because my agency isn’t going to release an official statement very soon. Good luck being stuck with me, Mr Cavanaugh.”
With that, she ends the call and tosses it away on her bed. Her eyes well up as she angrily wipes those tears away, feeling even more pathetic about it. Everyone in this industry loves her and says good things about her. She has a big fan following who adore her a lot. Then why is she so keen about this man who detests her to the core? Why does she even care about what he thinks of her? And why does he irk her in a way no one ever has before?
She lies down on her bed staring at the ceiling. Humans are strange that way. The more they have, the more they want. ‘Why do you hate me so much, Xavier?’
— — —
After Xavier had ended the call with Midnight, he felt even more frustrated than before. His phone had been blowing up so he just switched it off for a few hours, deciding to turn it on later. He wasn’t sure who to be pissed at more, at Midnight who couldn’t straight away ask her agency to stop spreading false rumors about her or at her agency for using her like she was some trophy to promote themselves.
He closed his eyes and immediately saw Midnight’s face smiling brightly at him. He opened his eyes and decided to wait for a few days for her agency to release an official statement otherwise he will do it on his own. With the amount of followers he had and the way he had built up his own reputation, people would believe him more than this small agency who were completely depending and working on their one actress. His words were always considered final, he was that powerful. He walked back to his laptop and took a look at the pictures- this was definitely not clicked by a paparazzi- he was sure it was one of his father’s little bitch.
His father was trying to find out his weakness but he wasn’t going to give him one. Even if it meant, Midnight would hate him more and more. If that’s what is going to keep her away from him and his dangerous world. It wasn’t a place for a girl like Midnight and he was definitely not the man for her- not with the kind of past he has had. She deserves to be with someone who can promise her a beautiful future, make promises of love, have a beautiful family- but he was the complete opposite of that. Dark, heartless and a person who has sworn off marriage a long time ago.
Xavier shuts down the laptop and walks outside his bedroom. His house was dimly lit, filled with expensive and exquisite furniture, and dark paintings hanging on the walls. The drapes of the floor to ceiling windows were drawn in the living hall. He walks over to his office room, straight towards the book shelves on the wall. Taking out a book with a red hardcover, he clicks on the small red button revealing a secret room inside.
The room was filled with a number of guns and knives on display along with other dangerous items. It looked like a torture room as Xavier saunters towards his black glossy desk and open the first drawer, revealing a number of black envelopes lying in there. He takes one out which he had received just a few days ago and it was quite similar to the ones he had been receiving the first time he met Midnight.
He unfolds it and reads the warning written in an elegant golden font- ‘Keep your distance from Midnight if you want to keep her safe. Your father has been sending his men to spy on her and her family. Don’t trust anyone.’
The very first he received that letter by a mysterious sender, he didn’t trust it but over time when he noticed that, all the things mentioned in those were true he started to depend on but even till now he hasn’t been able to figure out the person behind these. Whoever it was, they certainly knew him very well.
Reading it again, Xavier was determined to kill off the rumour and he knew he had to act fast. “You’re going to forever loathe me for this, Midnight. But trust me, it’s the best option for the both of us.”
— — —
Cavanaugh Tech Centre
The news of the scandalous love triangle was playing on the television screen- every channel was talking about it. Ashton had a sly smile on his face, his eyes focused on the chessboard laid in front of him. Levi was sitting opposite him with his usual robot-like expression plastered on his face.
The game was very close to being over. Ashton had one bishop left, with two rooks and three soldiers whereas Levi’s white paws had several soldiers left along with his Queen and two knights. Ashton moves his black King from B1 to A1, on his left looking over at Levi to make his next move. He had risked his pawn and threw it in front of the lions on purpose. He had already kind of guessed Levi’s next move but kept his mouth shut enjoying the show.
And as Ashton had guessed, Levi confidently moves his Queen to A7, in the straight direction of Ashton’s king. Ashton’s smile grows wider.
“Check.” Levi says confidently, thinking he had won the game.
“Levi, do you know,” Ashton asks, with a self-congratulatory smile, “what’s a king without his queen?”
Ashton then went on to move his bishop that was sitting on F2 and moved it to A7, where Levi’s queen was sitting and killed her off. His psychotic smile grows wider whereas Levi sat there in surprise, because he wasn’t clearly not expecting that clever move.
“Historically, less powerful.” Ashton says, crossing his leg on top of another, increasing the volume of his television. As a picture of Midnight and Xavier was shown, he starts to laugh out loud like a maniac. “Looks like you might be right about this model, Levi. We need to keep a watch on this girl, she is going to be very handy to us.”
Levi just sits there quietly, folding his hands into a fist, clearly able to read his boss’s evil mind. He also felt humiliated realising how weak he was without his boss.
Author's note-
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