50 Shades of Drake 1 and 2

50SOD II: Chapter Eighty-Six

    When Destiny woke up the next morning, there was a note under her bedroom door. The note contained an instruction for her to take the day off. And do what? she wondered, glancing around the bedroom while scratching her head. I was kind of looking forward to work. It was going to be a chance for me to get my mind off of all of the craziness happening in my life right now. She set the note down on the nightstand and sat on the edge of the bed. A part of me was also kind of hoping to see Aubrey. I can't really run up to him and kiss him the way I would want to, but even a wave to him at this point would be something. I miss his face already.

    She was also staying in Brian's house, a house that she still didn't feel completely comfortable in. What made matters worse was, she couldn't have any communication with Carlos. Aubrey was concerned that Carlos's phone was tapped and that her location could be discovered. His concern was definitely valid with how Palmer seemed, but Destiny felt that if Palmer really wanted to know her location, he could easily find a way to get that information. All it would take is following her from work. Still, she would honor Aubrey's wishes. She didn't have much to say to Carlos at this point, anyway. She could no longer fully trust him. But on a day like this when I have absolutely nothing to do, it would be nice to be able to joke around with him, talk to him.

    Since that wasn't an option, she showered and dressed in a t-shirt and jeans. Her first attempt was at watching daytime television. That was a fail - she wound up checking in on her parents and her friend Candace Patterson instead. Daytime television rarely ever held her attention for long. She tried watching a movie, but it felt strange sitting on a couch watching a movie during the day.

    She jogged upstairs and grabbed her laptop bag, then returned back to the living room and sat on the couch Indian-style. As her computer booted up, she changed channels on the television from a talk show to the news. Half of her attention was focused on listening to the news reports, while the other half was focused on wishing that one of Brian's neighbors had password-free Wi-Fi. She hadn't thought to ask him for his Wi-Fi password, because she'd been under the impression she would be at work today. If he'd warned me last night that he's just as bossy as Aubrey is and would make me stay home, I would have asked him for the password last night.

    "Matters just keep getting worse and worse for Graham Enterprises," a blonde female news reporter on the television screen said, introducing the next story.

    Destiny's brows furrowed and she lifted her eyes from her computer monitor to the television screen. With her heart slamming in her chest, she grabbed the remote control and increased the volume.

"That's right, Tracy," a dark-haired male news reported chimed in. "Graham Enterprises has recently come under attack. The allegations brought against them is that unethical accounting practices have been used. Documents surfaced, proving that these allegations have some truth to them, and now, the CEO and founder of Graham Enterprises has been hit with a little bit of controversy.

    "Late last night, a video was submitted to our news station and several others. The footage is graphic, so we cannot air it. But the video does feature a man who resembles Aubrey Graham engaged in sexual activity in a club setting with a crowd of onlookers watching."

    "Oh no. Oh my God." Destiny covered her mouth with her hands.

    "With the company's ethics already being called into question, the discovery of this video does not bode well for Aubrey Graham or Graham Enterprises." The male reported shuffled a stack of papers on the news desk in front of him and glanced over at his female counterpart.

    The female reporter, Tracy, picked up where he left off. "Although we cannot show you the footage from the video, the video is already circulating on the web. There are sites where the video already has more than five hundred thousand hits - and remember, this video only surfaced last night. Will Graham Enterprises survive after all of the recent attacks? Stay tuned."

    Destiny clicked off the television and sat staring into blank space. Who had leaked the video? Palmer? Had Aubrey already heard about this? Was he freaking out? Was he regretting ever having met her? She wrapped her arms around herself and rested her chin between her knees. Why is it that no matter what they did, things always seemed to get worse?