All I Need

Chapter 38 - Too Close

Also I made these aesthetic inspo pictures...they're simple but I kinda like them.

No.

I wished. I prayed. I manifested as hard as I could to avoid this.

But alas, here I was.

There was no amount of preparation I could have done to be ready to see her. It had been too long. There was too much to discuss, no time to explain, and no time to convince her that I deserved to live, although I didn't.

"Bianca, I–"

She began to cough again, her grip slipping from my arms. Bianca covered her mouth with her hand and spun around, scrambling to the nearest garbage.

Once she had a hold of the metal can, she started violently throwing up, making all sorts of noises that had my stomach turning.

This was my chance.

I darted down the hallway, running faster than I ever had before. I left Bianca to vomit alone, feeling the slightest bit of remorse for not making sure that she was okay first.

But honestly, I had no other option. This was one of those moments where I had to choose myself and put my needs first, so that was what I did.

"Wait!" I heard her voice call out behind me, yet I was scared to look back. "Kaia? Is that you?"

When I finally gathered the courage to look back, I saw her chasing me. She moved slowly. Her drunken state impaired her, so it wasn't too difficult to keep distance between us.

How fucking far did I have to run? The hall seemed to be neverending until I eventually encountered a door. It led to the road, where Alexander and Elias were waiting, smoking cigarettes in front of a taxi.

"Kaia?" Elias squinted, trying to recognize me through the darkness. "Is that you?"

"Get in the car." I knocked the cigarette out of his hand, opening the taxi door and ushering him inside. "We need to leave now."

It was a challenge to get him to sit in the backseat, as all his movements seemed to be delayed. Finally, I succeeded, buckling his seatbelt and closing the door, rushing to the other side of the taxi. I got inside and took Alexander with me, sitting between the two men.

Quickly, I muttered the address of our hotel to the driver, and he pulled away from the curb. Glancing out the window, I saw Bianca again. She looked to her left and her right, then in front of her, noticing the taxi.

Her mouth opened and it appeared that she was screaming stop or wait, yet nobody heard it. She stumbled into the road, and I watched her figure disappear as we rounded the corner.

That was close. Too fucking close.

"What's the rush?" Elias questioned, staring at the coat that Gabriela had given to me. "Also why are you wearing this ugly ass jacket?"

"I was cold." I removed the sunglasses from my face. "Some lady let me borrow it."

Taking the coat off, I felt his eyes on me, or more specifically, my dress. Elias hooked his finger under one of the straps, tugging it playfully.

"This dress..." he trailed, the left side of his lips tipping up. "It doesn't leave much to the imagination, does it?"

I laughed, meeting his suggestive gaze. "No, it does not."

***

The rest of the drive was pretty quiet. Elias and Alexander were still very intoxicated, so I had to glance over at them every so often to make sure they didn't pass out.

I helped them out of the car. Elias had to put an arm around my waist to steady his steps as we passed through the foyer and entered the elevator.

The only thing I could think about was Bianca. Would she remember tomorrow? Would she call Elias and expose me?

There weren't enough words in the dictionary to explain how sorry I was. How much guilt I carried around on my back every day. She would never understand, but I wanted her to so badly.

I wished I could start over. Meet Bianca for the first time again, and not to deceive her. To be her friend, a real friend, and build a  relationship. She was one of the best people I had ever met. I loved every part of that girl, the good and the bad.

So many memories filtered through my head, like when we would go to parties and get wasted. We would drink, she would hook up with boys, and then we would both be sick at the end of the night.

When she asked if I had gotten with anyone at the parties, I always told her yes, even though that was another lie. I was a twenty-one-year-old woman watching drunk teenagers dry hump each other on couches. I was too old and extremely uninterested. I had already done all of that when I went to high school.

Or when we would study together. I was never smart when it came to school. I got satisfactory grades and never thought twice about it because I didn't need to, but Bianca was serious. She helped me every day, to make sure I passed all of my classes. She just wanted me to do good.

I missed her.

He ruined it all. My father forced me to go on these missions, assuming that I could just screw these families over without getting to know them or developing genuine feelings.

Like Elias, there weren't enough hours in the day to spend with him. We had a week and a half before Nathaniel came back for everything, and I wasn't ready. I had no plan to protect Mr. Torres, his friends, and his family.

What of Daniel? What would my father do? If he successfully acquired the hotel, then there would be no need for him anymore. He would kill him, and Elias would never know that his brother lived for the past two years.

It hurt. It all hurt so much. I wanted to get out of this life more than anything in the world, but I was in too deep. I couldn't up and leave without there being bloodshed, as my father would make sure to punish me for my actions.

The elevator doors opened. I thought we had reached our floor, but then a man stepped inside. I didn't recognize him at first, but he seemed to know who I was right away.

He had brown skin and short black hair that was cut and styled to perfection. His lean arms were covered by a clean white button-up shirt, with a grey suit jacket hanging off his shoulder. The man stood beside Alex, who paid no mind to the tall figure next to him.

Something was so familiar about this person. It was on the tip of my tongue as he continued to stare. His dark eyes drifted over my body with no shame, like he had done it a hundred times before. Who was this guy?

"Natalie." His deep voice sent chills down my spine, instantly bringing the memories back to me. "Long time no see. You are looking well."

Ian Harrison.

***

Short chapter cause I rewrote it so many times.

Also I know it's probably frustrating that Kaia escaped from Bianca and still hasn't been discovered by Elias or Alexander, but please bare with me. It's important that they don't know yet and I promise the ending will be good :)