Courting The Champion

16 - Bittersweet

I look at shorty fast asleep. I never thought I'd ever have such a girl wake up next to me in my bed. I can only thank that nigga Trevor for getting me beat up. Ha! Little does he know that his little stunt became the best blessing of my life. I got my cutie thanks to him.

She groans next to me and for some reason that little sound does something weird to my insides and I chuckle when she struggles to peel her eyes open.

“Hey,” I say softly.

“Hmm.” That's all she manages to say then falls back asleep. I snort then look up in thought. It's incredible how all this stuff has happened in life less than a month. I can already tell that this ain't the end.

Trevor and Smith must hate us a lot. We aided Wayne in his investigation and I'm thankful they don't know about Arabelle having concrete evidence against them.

I decide I'd keep a watchful eye on her regardless, until they are all under police custody. A lot of people went off the grid last night, all those who are in partnership with Linear Impact Co.

————

I put on my disguise and follow Arabelle's cab closely behind while I'm in another cab. I'll keep this up as long as I have to. She closes the door and starts walking on campus. I blend in with the other students and follow her from a distance.

I keep it up for the rest of the day and nothing serious happens. She returns home to my place and is surprised when I'm behind her as she knocks on my door.

I tell her I'd gone out to talk to Wayne and she buys it. She give me the biggest smile and a passionate kiss on my lips. Everything is back to normal for her. She's so clueless and oblivious to everything.

The camera that's on our front porch that ain't never existed til this morning when we left. I don't speak on it, but I pay attention to every small detail. Like how this one girl kept tailing shorty from class to class. Even to the extent of following shorty to the bathroom.

She tells me she wants to make some paella for dinner and I nod at her. “Anything you want shorty, say it and it'll be done for you,” I say holding her gaze. Her smile wavers for a second, not expecting such a response from me. I pull her close into a hug and she signs in contempt.

“Thank you Andrew,” she says and I smile.

Don't thank me just yet.

Arabelle's phone goes off and she pulls away to take it out of her side bag which now has something tiny and red on the zipper of the lowest pocket. She takes a look at the caller ID.

Sarah

“Hello?” she answers and places the phone on speaker.

“OH MY GOSH B. IT'S GONE. E-EVERYTHING!” her voice is frantic and she sounds like she's crying.

“What? What do you mean it's gone?” Arabelle asks sitting on the couch in shock.

“The box. The papers under the bed. All of it. Everything is gone. The place is a mess, everything is upside down. There's nothing under my bed. They broke in!” Sarah explains in a hurry. Arabelle stands up in shock and looks at me with wide eyes.

“Are you okay? Are you with someone? Don't stay alone it's not saf—” she cuts Arabelle off.

“—I'm okay I'm fine. I'm with Eric and the police are here investigating,” she responds and Arabelle's shoulders visibly relaxes. She really cares for her cousin evidently.

“Okay. Okay. That's good. I'm fine too I'm with Andrew,” she says and Sarah sighs too. “Okay. That's good too. Stay with Andrew,” she says and somehow that makes me glad that shorty's family member actually trusts me with her.

I'm not surprised that Trevor found out about the information. There was a serious missing link that kept bothering me. How Frank acted last night when Arabelle went to him. He went straight into defense mode the moment he saw her. She didn't actually specify what she meant when she asked “Did you know?”

He just quickly started changing the subject and that triggered my alarm bells. That kid was part of it and now my suspicions were proved correct, he had said something to Smith about the box of information that he had unknowingly gave to her.

She breaks down and starts crying, her shoulders shaking. I pull her closer and squeeze tightly. “Shh it's okay you're safe with me shorty, nothing will happen to you,” I say and she starts shaking her head. She pulls herself away from me and that scares me for a moment. “I trust you. It's not about me. It's— We lost important evidence. That means a lot of innocent women will continue to suffer because of that vile man's filthy businesses!” she says bitterly, tears and the sight breaks my heart. In that moment I want to tell her something to make her feel better but I don't. I just pull her back into another embrace.

“They'll find more. He won't stay away for much longer,” I say softly, half in hope and half in fear.

He wouldn't stay hidden is good news.
He'll come out of hiding just for us is bad news. And I can feel he's already out of hiding in less than a day.

I can't say much, I can't do much. I just brace myself knowing I'm willing to stand between Arabelle and any bullet. Trevor is now a creep, hiding in the shadows. Waiting to attack his prey at its weakest.

I get a bittersweet feeling everytime I look at Arabelle. I want to be happy with her and give her the same kind of energy and love she's giving me but I'm scared that I'll be lying to myself if I believe that we've been left alone.

I didn't need to upset Smith. I didn't need to collect dirt on his business. I didn't have to go to Wayne and give him all the information I got from Arabelle. I could've walked away from this. Arabelle could've walked away with me.

So could've Wayne. So could've Sarah. We had nothing to do with it. But we decided to be judges and we messed with another man's money. We destroyed his legacy.

Everything he worked for, all that he's believed in. His family, his company. And he wouldn't let us be. He'd go out like lightning. We'd remember him after he left.