12:07 AM
Los Angeles, LA
February
"Vente, vente! Pelicanito, vos vení pa' ca!", Noel yelled out as he saw a green birds with red, blue, and yellow feathers on top of a fridge, trying to get him down.
He extended his hands out in order to catch him, but the bird looked down at him, his head moved to the side.
"¡Si, a vos te estoy hablando! No te hagas el gran maje, vos! No jodas!", Noel yelled out angrily, the birds finally lifted up his wings before flying its way to a large black cage on top of a drawer.
Noel rapidly followed him, closing the cage door before locking it, he sighed in relief.
The bird is a parrot, his name is Pelicanito, or little pelican, for short.
"Puta maje...", Noel cursed under his breath, trying to calm down as he realized it took him an hour to get the parrot away from a high place he barely could reach.
Noel has arrived home from his duty an hour ago, he's never had time for himself lately at all.
In the place he calls home, it's only himself and the parrot he calls his pet. The home is mostly quiet since he's the only human being living in such a large place, where he owns a two room house with a large backyard. He sat down on the couch tiredly, where he laid himself down completely. He hasn't eaten anything since lunch, knowing he doesn't have much of an appetite.
He sighed as he felt such exhaustion, he steadily got up to walk towards his kitchen to see what he could do.
His choice, a casual bowl of cereal, he sat down as he took a spoonful before chewing it down in silence. He looked over at the parrot who was trying to get his attention desperately to be released once more.
"Noel! Noel!", the parrot started to squawk his name, he also knew how to talk, which felt like a blessing and a curse.
"¿Que paso?", Noel questioned him to tell him what's happening from across the kitchen island.
"Noel! Noel!", the poor bird continued, Noel sighed deeply before going back over to the cage before releasing the huge parrot out of its cage, the parrot climbed over his arm before he had him carried back to the kitchen island where he placed the parrot down. He sat back down while his eyes stared at him, the bird looked back at him in confusion, slowly stepping towards him.
"Que paso? Como estas?", the bird asked him, Noel gave him a puzzled face as he had the nerve to ask him what was going on despite the fact that he was literally screaming his heart out when he was locked into his cage for a minute.
"Que paso?", the bird repeated as he was asking what was happening, tilting his head to the side while looking at him.
"Tú, tú...", Noel started to burst out laughing hysterically, he couldn't take his little friend seriously.
"Noel!", the bird called out his name once more, Noel turned his head away from him before finally exhaling deeply.
"Como estas?", the bird asked him how he was doing, Noel smiled at him brightly.
"Yo bien, gracias a dios. Y tú?", Noel replied to him that he was fine, he decided to ask the bird the same question in return. He loved being all by himself most of the time as he was never bothered for anything, he could do anything as he wished, but...sometimes the loneliness gets too overwhelming.
The peace he feels when he's all by himself inside of his home, it's something he's really used to...to the point he isolates constantly from his friends, avoids social situations, and pretty much enjoys being trapped into his own little world. But he has recently realized someone was trying to get in the way of his isolation, Leon.
They were getting along with each other, and have had quite some intimate moments before, which he has no regret, yet he's afraid if he continued getting too close to him, he might get into a dangerous situation. He didn't want anything too serious with anybody, especially someone who was an evil mafia leader whom had the capacity to kill him at any given moment. He had only 4 months left until he could get out of the mafia business, not haunt him any longer. He knew stopping himself wouldn't change anything about their past lustful tension, he knew that, but he was drawn to him. Leon, he was getting drawn to him, he didn't know why, his attitude is unbearable, but everytime his eyes saw him, his strong demeanor slightly lessens.
Considering that Leon is really a difficult person to get along with, they still did, as they had times where they had talked about themselves to each other comfortably.
Noel also took note that Leon is a man who keeps to himself, he never shares his deep feelings to anybody, yet a few hours ago when they were in the library together, he shared his heartbreaking past to him without a problem.
He might gotten his trust, which he didn't want to break so easily, so he should avoid talking to him about their personal lives.
He didn't want him to get too close to him, but he didn't want to push him away like rock being thrown into the deep, dark sea.
He was drawn into him, but he didn't want to let go...why was that?
°~6:49 AM~°
"Good morning, love...you don't seem like you want to wake up, huh?", Parker sat down beside his friend on the comfortable bed, his hand running through his dark, black hair.
"Mhm?", Leon hummed as he slowly opened his eyes, his head moved to gaze as his friend continued playing with his hair while smiling delightfully.
"Go to sleep. I don't think you have to go anywhere, right?", Leon lifted himself into a sitting position before his fingers tugged on his friend's collar to pull him closer, kissing him softly.
As he pulled away, his friend smirked at him as he lowered Leon's hand down, he stood up before walking away towards the door. Leon sighed deeply before stretching his arms, he had a crazy night that finally caught up to him now.
He got off the bed to get himself ready to go over to his home before going back to see Anya, whom sent him an e-mail about her upcoming plans. Meanwhile, Parker went down the long hallway to reach the stairs, he noticed his servant walking from the distance.
"Mr.Klein, a visitor has arrived!", she yelled out before speedwalking towards him with her hand placed on her chest, looking concerned.
"Who is it?", Parker asked her, who would visit at such a time?
"Mr.Castellano", Parker shot her a quizzical look, he was bewildered.
"Tell him to meet me where I am", he responded to her as he passed by, taking a few more steps until he went down the stairs.
He went all the way to the kitchen, where he sat himself on top of the kitchen island as he pulled his phone out.
He received a random message which didn't look like it came from a familiar number, he read it before he frowned in disbelief.
"I'm going to find you", the message read, who dared to send absolute nonsense to him?
"Good morning, Parker. Hey, I want to say that I'm sorry-", Julian walked inside the kitchen suddenly, startling Parker so much it made his phone slip out of his hand, crashing down to the floor.
"Oh my god...", Parker blurted out under his breath as he got off to get his device from the ground before his eyes glanced over to him.
"I apologize, I didn't mean to scare you like that", Parker slowly inhaled and exhaled as to calm his nerves down, he never thought he would get so scared like that.
"It's fine. You're good. About what you said earlier, apology accepted. Just don't do it again", Parker told him as he placed his phone back into his pocket.
"Guess who's with me today?", Julian gazed over his shoulder to see Leon's bodyguard getting closer towards their direction.
"Mr. Rodriguez! Good morning", Parker greeted him politely, Noel smiled at him happily.
"Good morning, Mr. Klein", Noel said as he waved towards him, Leon appeared right behind him as he fixed his sleeve.
"Good morning, everyone", Leon told them as he walked past the both of them.
"You're leaving?", his friend asked him curiously as he grabbed a cold water bottle from the fridge.
"I am in about 10 minutes", he replied to him, placing the bottle down.
"Mr.Cashmere, how are you today?", Julian asked him, Leon shot him a sharp glare, which Parker found quite unexpected.
Parker felt some sort of tension wavering between each other, he went towards his friend before sitting on top of the kitchen island once more before looking at him.
"Seung, I wanted to know if you were going to Adrik's house tonight", Parker asked him while Leon leaned back against the kitchen island where he opened the bottle of water before taking a few sips.
"How do you know about this?", Leon hadn't told him about the family dinner that was going to take place in the evening, so it took him by surprise.
"He told me two days ago in advance, he invited me over. Let's go, Seung", Parker's hand reached out to stroke his hair gently, causing his friend to push his hand away from him.
"Don't call me that", Leon warned him aggressively.
"What? It's literally your middle name", Leon gave him a harsh look that could wilt a fresh red rose, Parker sighed in defeat.
"I don't want to go, it's not like he wants me to see me anyways", he didn't want to cause anymore problems since previously his grandfather told him to not talk to him again since he made an alliance with the Italian mafia without letting him know.
"Come on, just go for the sake of me. Please?", Parker pleaded, wrapping his arms around him before moving closer towards him.
"I'm not going, for fuck's sake!", Leon raised his voice at him, but considering how sympathetic his friend has been lately, he stopped himself from taking it out on him.
"Leon, I know you're mad at me for telling you to go now, so if you're not going, that's fine", Parker leaned his head on his shoulder before closing his eye.
"I'll think about it, how about that?", Leon replied to him, while looking down on his friend who lifted his head up as his question was finally answered.
"Thank you, love", Parker smiled brightly before hugging his friend tightly.
"Let me go, I'm leaving", Leon told him as his friend unwrapped his arms off of him, he walked a few steps to face him, he decided to kiss him again before leaving.
Parker laughed playfully as he watched Leon walking away, his bodyguard behind him.
"That's my man...", he teased jokingly, Julian stared at his friend in a tense way as he crossed his arms.
"Julian, are you jealous of him?", Parker queried him straightforwardly, getting straight to the point.
"What do you mean?", his dark brown eyes locked with his, Parker chuckled under his breath he knew what he was up to.
"So you're not sorry after all, huh? Be grateful you're aren't such an asshole, if you were, you would end up in a ditch", he said, making Julian frown.
"I am sorry, what would I apologize to you if I wasn't feeling guilty?", he defended himself.
"Right...", Parker replied to him, oblivious.
"Well, let's move on. I'm just playing with you, so let's do something fun for now that we're here. Shall we?", Parker continued as he laughed softly, he got off the counter to dig through his refrigerator to get all sorts of different ingredients.
"Before we start though, you know how to cook, right?", Parker started to place a cutting board, he gazed over at him.
"I can be a cook", Julian smiled at him frankly as he came closer before he got some vegetables to wash. Parker knew something was off about him, but he'll enjoy his life while he can survive.
°~8:27 AM~°
"Good morning, Sir Cashmere", one of the employees greeted him respectfully as he walked by inside of the building through the main entrance.
He noticed everyone inside seemed to be usually working as they always do, people walking with different things such as papers and documents of all sorts.
They were talking and laughing along with their coworkers, which is a positive advantage to have good relationships with the people who work with you.
He walked the trail from the main entrance to his office, where people apparently adored to give shot all sorts of looks at him as he passed by unto every hallway, which he didn't mind at all.
He opened the door to realize it was unlocked, which raised his guard up.
"Noel, check my office for me", Leon commanded him as he turned to look at his bodyguard, Noel obeyed his order as he opened the door to examine his inside of his office, he saw three familiar faces inside.
"It's your aunt, Sir Cashmere. You're safe to come in", Noel opened the door wider to let his boss inside as he walked in to look at his aunt sitting in his chair, the other two chairs were occupied by the people he never thought would have to face once more, Vera Blaine along with her business partner, Devito Lombardi.
"Good morning, gentlemen. Leon, please take a seat on that couch that you have over there. Noel, if you may, please stay out by the door. Thank you", Noel turned to look at his boss once more.
"Call me if you need anything", Noel said politely, finally taking his leave and closing the door shut.
"Now, Leon Cashmere...in what state of mind where you in to go barge inside of Mrs. Blaine's building to create a scene that is causing rumors of us being against them?! You know damn well that Vera Blaine does not enjoy your presence around you nor her property of any matter", Anya started complaining ruthlessly as she gave him a death stare that could make someone fall dead in a glimpse.
"And you know why but just because you two do not get along, it doesn't mean I will not get along with her. I adore her and admire her work as a person, if you think you can ruin my reputation and smear my name with dirty, unnecessary scandals like this one, you'll be lucky enough to see yourself alive!", her voice raised in fury while she pointed her finger at him relentlessly.
"Now, as CEO and part of the of the company Gaze, I demand you to apologize to Mrs. Blaine and Mr.Devito", Anya ordered him firmly, he simply gazed back at Vera as her eyes glistened with satisfaction, he wasn't going to let her get her way.
"Why do I need to apologize if I was decided to catch up with a friend who happens to be working with Mrs. Blaine? If she had a problem with that, she could've called for security and taken me out", Leon replied to her, he wasn't planning to apologize, if she's always cold towards him, why does he have to apologize for her attitude?
"I was being considerate towards you by letting you inside my building back in San Francisco when we had crowds of people awaiting for us to answer a previous scandal, which we decided to ignore. You came in, I asked you why were you there. You decided to act tough and not listen to what I had to say. I knew you were there for Carlos, but you could've prevented this rumor by planning to meet up with your friend outside of work. Oh my goodness, you finally know what your solution was if you wanted to meet your friend, instead of making me look bad", Vera intervened with a unpleasant sassy tone.
He never was the one to really put his hands on a women, but now he wished he could bash her head against the desk harshly enough until she lost her sense to speak another word again.
"And you think just because you're scared of me, I have to apologize for that? I don't care what you think of me, nor do I need someone who has a humiliating sense of advice from such a burden like you", Vera gasped audibly as he blatantly insulted her. Her demeanor lessened drastically, Devito glared at him sternly but decided not to get in the way.
"Leon! Compose yourself! Are you seeing this could affect us?!", Anya jumped out of her seat, Leon didn't care what anybody had to say.
"That wouldn't affect you, it would affect her", Leon stated as his eyes grew cold with anger.
"Watch your mouth! You shouldn't be talking to them like this! You're such an immature person with such an high ego that you could never let down since you, little one, think you're always right", Devito stepped in by raising his voice, placing his hands on arms of the red cushion chair.
"Little one? Please don't make yourself a fool, I know when I'm right and when I have crossed a line. You're the man who's immature, I'm not wasting anything with any of you, you are wasting your time trying to fix your image that you already burned, please try fixing that other scandal of yours instead. Did you seriously come all the way from San Francisco to complain to us about a rumor that you started because of your ugly attitudes? And now you want me to fix it, guess what, if this is how things are gonna go, how about you both fuck yourselves", Leon blew up on them furiously, he lost his composure to the point he cursed at them, Anya felt flabbergasted by his nephew's ignorance.
"I'm going to apologize on my part, Mrs. Blaine. Since my pathetic nephew won't do a simple thing such as forgive, I will make-", she gets cut off as Vera stands up before she raised her voice in a bothersome tone.
"You know what? I don't need an apology! I'll just file a lawsuit against this stupid fashion company for defamation once and for all to prove who I am!", Vera stared harshly towards Anya and Leon, she turned around before storming out of the room, alongside Devito who apparently adored following her around like a homeless dog.
"LEON!", Anya screamed his name in fury as she came over his way over, making a fist before swinging directly towards his face.
He felt the unexpected impact of the punch, he covered himself since he couldn't physically push her away or put his hands on her.
"How many fucking times do you have to fuck up like this, huh?! I have tried so hard to make a name for myself and you mess shit up for me in the worst way possible?! What a fucking disgrace you are!", Anya yelled in anger as she kept repeatedly punching his arms that were covering him.
She took off one of her heels before she violently started to hit him with full force.
"I swear I fucking hate you! I hate you! I hate you! I hate you! Why the fuck did I even waste my goddamn time to raise you?!", Anya yelled even more before she could continue, Noel barged through the door as he could hear the commotion from outside.
"Mrs. Cashmere! Please stay back!", Noel exclaimed as he put his entire arm in front of her frantically as he got in the way, Leon was closing his eyes shut before he opened to look at his bodyguard.
"Leave her alone, Noel. It's okay, this is not new to me", Leon signaled with his hand to stop getting in the way.
"It's my job to protect you, Sir Cashmere", Noel hesitated, but Anya put her heel back onto her feet before turning her head to face his nephew once more.
"You're going to the dinner tonight, whether you like it or not. If I have to bring your grandfather's men to get you, I will do that. He wants to talk to you, and I will say all of the shit you did just now. Leon, I fucking wished you were never born and have such a stupid useless piece of shit of a nephew like you", Anya faced her way out of the door, storming away in anger.
"Sir Cashmere, are you okay?", Noel noticed his boss had a hint of guilt in his eyes.
"I'm fine, Noel", Leon rolled up his sleeves to find them painfully bruised. He looked back at the door for a moment, what had just happened? Did he really messed everything up?
Forgiveness is given to the strong, and ignorance is give to the weak, which is what he stood by. There's no way he could've forgave them that easily, aside from that he didn't understand why his aunt was fed up with him all because they were going to file a lawsuit. The solution to that is that they get a good lawyer, and their problem is fixed.
The astotricious words she used without feeling an ounce of remorse stinged his heart to the core.
He knew he was hurt by her words badly since she's his aunt who basically raised him. The thing that her aunt doesn't understand is that he's not a kid anymore, he can make his own decisions, all she has to do is support them, not use him to her advantage.
"Sir Cashmere, do you want something to reduce the swelling in your arms? Look over here, your arm is getting swollen", Noel reached over to gently pass his finger through his bruised skin to point out where he mostly got hit.
"You have a small stratch on your face, Sir Cashmere", Leon looked at him deeply, he exhaled deeply before throwing his head back against the wall.
He didn't want to be pressured into apologizing for a ridiculous scandal of some sort, but after the reaction of his aunt, he might need to go against his wishes like always.
He knew that his aunt forced him into this job and wouldn't fire him since she was gaining success off of him, so he had to do what she wanted. But he will 'apologize' in his own way.
°~9:56 AM~°
"Leon! Goddamn, are you okay?", Leon's secretary, Tori, barged inside the office while he noticed Noel placing an ice pack over his bruised arm.
"I'm taking my leave, Sir Cashmere. I'm outside the door when you need me", Noel told his boss as he looked up to him, he slowly stepped back and turned around to see his secretary.
"Good morning", Noel greeted him politely, Tori simply gave him a little awkward wave in response while smiling slightly.
As Noel closed the door behind him, Tori got near him as placed down a clipboard along with a few files.
"Alright, first of all, what happened?", Tori examined as he saw his wounds carefully.
Leon stayed silent while coldly looking at him.
"Wait...did you get beaten up by your aunt again?", Tori asked him as he grabbed a chair to sit down next to him.
...
No response. Tori felt a hint of worry since his boss wasn't answering him anything, he continued to stare at him sternly.
"Leon, answer me. You know I hate it when you get injured like this", Leon looked away before his eyes became mysterious, not being able to detect the emotion he was feeling.
"I'm fine", Leon casually replied as he averted his gaze, his secretary sighed before he came into a slight realization of what it might be.
"Did you do something to make her mad?", Leon tried to hide the sudden astonishment, how does he know?
"It's none of your business. Leave me alone and go back to work", Tori felt quite offended, bit since his boss is probably mad, he quietly stood up to place the chair back before he got out of his office without another word.
He was used to being beaten like this by her aunt since he was a child, so it wasn't new for him to get scolded even though he was 27 years old.
It was tiring that he has had to leave his passion and desires behind to forcefully walk beside the footsteps that his family wants him to follow.