Not so far away from the city, a woman dressed in the latest collection sat by the balcony under the starless sky, phone in hand, her icy stare could be compared to a glacial only as her words matched it.
" When I give you an order you must submit to my command.."
A man spoke calmly through the line, even then one could tell who had the last saying.
"Mrs. Johnson, I get your situation. However–"
"Didn't I make myself clear enough?"
"Absolutely, yet I must remind you it's something only Captain Johnson should do. These are his cards, you can cancel the ones under your name only."
"That's my money. And he's my son and until he's found all his cards will be cancelled."
"I suggest you call your bank adviser in the morning to let them know so they can follow through with the procedures required."
The woman smiled as she thought she had won this battle, yet the lawyer's reply irritated her.
"Yet I must let you know the ones under my client's name will be untouchable until second notice."
"I can't allow a thief finding them and spending my mo-"
"That's Captain's Johnson's salary. I have strict orders to manage his finances whilst he's missing. No transaction goes through without my approval, unfortunately for you, that includes either cutting them off or keeping them running."
"How rude! Do you know I can get you fired with the flick of my fingers?"
"I'm aware, but as Captain Johnson's lawyer and friend I'm the one who has a power invested upon me to handle his finances. Now if you excuse me. It's quite late and this call is out of my work time."
"Impudent!"
"I'll be glad to hear more about you in the morning, have a good time, Mrs. Johnson."
"Don't you dare t–"
The call ended leaving the mad woman with her rage to herself.
Her husband stepped on the balcony when she started cursing to the air.
"Low life peasant. I'm going to ruin his career"
"What's it now, Geneva?"
The gray haired older male spoke as he approached her.
"Your son's lawyer is a snake. He refused to cancel Joshy's cards."
She whined, pretending to be offended and hurt as she looked down.
The elder male was used to her behaviour and rash decisions so he asked in the most kind way he could muster to hear all the details before getting into a conclusion.
"Our son had been missing for less than a week now, what if someone found him? They could use the money in them to help him."
"You're too naive, Gerald. If they did, they'd empty his bank account. Who can even assure us his lawyer is not doing that same thing this instant?"
"Be realistic, dear. They've been friends since high school."
"He's a beggar. He just befriended our son to get something out of him, power status and the job he has now."
She sputtered out of spite, balling her fists, in contrast her husband kept a cool demeanor as he replied.
"Just because you don't like him doesn't mean it's true. He had worked hard to get where he is, Joseph didn't intervene in it."
However, those words triggered the sleeping demon within the woman who burst out, dissing her husband with poison marred in her words.
"See! This is why Joshy couldn't find good friends. You dismiss me as if my opinion wouldn't matter so he befriended rats like that one."
The older man frowned ever so slightly, clearly annoyed yet didn't lose control over his actions or words yet that didn't mean he would hold in his thoughts.
"That's only because you take everything out of context to fit your narrative. Picking out friends just because they have money doesn't make one any different than a gold digger."
"Now you're insulting me!"
"I'm not, but it's a fact that giving money more value than an individual is wrong. Geneva… It's exhausting. I'm not growing any younger either and your tantrums are taking a toll on me. If you wanna talk we will do it tomorrow."
She gasped, hand on her chest, staring at her husband.
"If I'm so tiring to deal with then why don't you ask for divorce?! Even better stick to that fruity lawyer who you defend so much."
"You know out of all the things you've said tonight this is one of the smartest. I'll take your word."
"Wait, what?"
Her icy greyish eyes widened, perplexed at her husband's comment which floated on the air as he made his way back into his house.
"Are you seriously gonna leave me for that twink?"
Her husband held back a laugh, yeah a terrible timing to laugh but her over dramatic reaction was hilarious to him.
"I mean, divorcing you, Geneva. I know your hatred for people with those preferences flows deep within your veins strong enough to poison someone so I wouldn't risk my own life at your hands. But keep that attitude of yours going and you'll walk away without a single penny out of my house."
She ran to her husband to slap him yet he held her wrist, firmly yet softly as if to not hurt her, deep down he loved that woman.
"Don't tempt me to make my words come true. Sweet dreams, love"
He pecked her forehead, letting go of her arm which he swatted away when his grip was gone.
She saw him walking away to the other wing of the house, the thought of losing all she thought she had built filled her with fear.
Living under a bridge wasn't an option, coming back to her hometown, to her family, wasn't one either.
She stomped back to her bedroom, thinking of ways to get her son's engagement moving forward as it could be a safe way to ensure she would have a roof even if her fears come to life.
~Next morning at Jack's place~
Josh woke up earlier than anyone at said place, he spotted the curly messy bangs brushing his nose making it a bit itchy, the young male latched onto him with every limb, snoring softly.
His chest rose up and down in soft movements, with the same rhythm he moved limb by limb away from him as he replaced himself with a big pillow.
Teo squeezed it when Josh fully switched places, a soft living smile reached his twinkling steel-brown eyes.
With a new found serotonin boost he made his way to the kitchen hoping no one minds him using it.
It was foreign, having someone to guide him through it would be good, yet finding out by himself was intriguing too.
He walked towards a door within the kitchen as he was looking for something to make a hearty meal.
Opening it he noticed it was the fridge, inside there were eggs, milk, fresh fruits in transparent little containers, yoghurt and something that resembled chicken.
He fetched the chicken, milk, and eggs, closing it afterwards, bringing them to the counter.
He washed his hands after getting into work whilst he set on his playlist in mid volume as if to not wake up everyone yet.
Josh left the chicken inside a bowl of lukewarm to unfrozen, in the meantime he made some batter with the milk and eggs in another bowl adding some salt and sugar to add taste.
Right after he was done he fetched some spicy spices from the cabinet, avoiding the ones he wasn't fond of.
Cutting the chicken into small bite pieces was the next step to dig them into his saucy mix, the smell alone could make someone drool.
He left them marinating in the fridge in the middle so it wouldn't freeze if it stuck to the bottom.
His phone vibrated in his jacket pocket but he didn't notice as it was laying on the chair.
The bread was on sight so he didn't have to look for it, conveniently it was enough for everyone.
He cut off the edges of the bread, and as soon as he was done he danced to the song in his mobile whilst he sought some chocolate bars.
They were in one of the drawers by the counter, 7 indeed, so he just took one and broke it into small squares.
Then he turned on the pan and poured some oil in it, giving it time to warm up. He filled the squared pieces of bread with the chocolate, pressing a fork on the edges to seal it.
When the oil was boiling he dove the bread within the batter so he could submerge it into the hot oil.
He kept filling the other pieces whilst the sizzling and the pleasant smell started to fill the living room.
Teo scrunched his nose when the sweet smell hit his nose, his eyes were puffy due he slept more than usual, his movements were lethargic as he sat on the sofa noticing he was left alone in there.
"Where is this silly man?"
He pondered to himself, getting on his feet to stretch out his exhausted body.