Drawing the Line

Chapter 23

The silence was unbearable. It was as if someone hit pause and was frozen, unable to move. Unlike the movies, there was no skip or rewind button.

"What's going on?!" Cameron yelled out as he couldn't believe what he was looking at.

Joel and Rylie untangled their arms and could only look downwards at the floor. They couldn't bring themselves to make eye contact with Cameron. They tried opening their mouths to speak, but nothing came out.

He stepped forward, pushing them for an answer. They could've given him any reason, any excuse, something he could work with, but they remained silent.

"Why aren't you guys saying anything? I can't believe...when did you...uggghhh!"

Cameron didn't know what he wanted. It was a mix of emotions and he had so many questions. He wanted to tell them off and vent his frustration. He wanted to ask when they started seeing each other and if it was the reason him and Rylie didn't work out. But he felt that knowing Joel, he would never do something like that and anything that developed would've been after. But there was a tiny seed of doubt.

He threw his hands up into the air in frustration. He needed to get out of there to cool down. He turned to leave and seeing this, Joel finally snapped to his senses and ran forward to block his path.

"Wait, Cam!"

"What?" Cameron mumbled while avoiding eye contact.

"I'm sorry you had to find out like this but it's not what you think. Me and Rylie fully intended to tell you today. We were trying to find the right time. Nothing happened while you two were hanging out. All of this came after, just recently. We swear!"

"You shouldn't have waited this long to tell me. Why do all of you treat me like a child..."

"It's not that Cam, you mean a lot to us and..."

"Stop! I don't want to hear anymore!" He turned around and dashed out of Joel's unit.

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"Our boss is Charles Kim."

"I don't know anyone by that name..." Emilia responded with a confused look.

"You, of all people, should," said one of the men in black.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"You'll know when we get there."

Emilia clutched her bag tightly to her side and kept her eyes on the men in front. She had heard the car doors click after she got in and she was sure it couldn't be opened from the inside. Her internal alarms were going off in her head.

'What have I gotten myself into...'

They stopped at the back entrance of a large corporate building, approximately 20 storeys high. She couldn't see the name of the company but felt a wave of dread.

She followed the men inside down a long and quiet hallway towards a single elevator. Instead of pushing a button, they pulled out a key card and tapped it on a sensor.

The ride up was silent, Emilia was too scared to breathe. Whoever this man was, he was important. Important enough to have an elevator that goes straight to his office on the top floor.

As the doors opened, she stepped into a waiting area that connected to another hallway that led to a set of large mahogany double doors. One of the men knocked on the door to signal they had arrived.

"Let her in," said a muffled voice on the other side.

The men each opened a door for her and motioned Emilia to head inside. Once she did, they shut the door, and she assumed they were standing guard outside.