I decided to put away the wedding planning since it could wait. I purposely woke up at such a dreadful hour, just to travel to a undisclosed location. I needed an answer to all these troubles which Collin had told me.
"Don't worry, your fiancé won't tear me apart as you know... we have history together.", funnily enough I never stopped playing the whole conversation in my head. I found myself in a similar situation like Mr. George Smiley of Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy. I supposed I am piecing up information from what I knew about Charlie from Day One till now.
"We are arriving soon, Miss.", said my chauffeur, Mr. Owen. Since I got engaged, Charlie gave me a phone number which directly led me to Mr. Owen. The advantage of having my own chauffeur according to Mr. Owen was every activity I requested from him would be kept a secret, even Charlie did not know.
Finally, I arrived at this beautiful house in the middle of nowhere, out of the city. "Come back in an hour.", I told Mr. Owen which he obediently agreed and took off. I was welcomed by some servants waiting at the doorstep whom I believed were told instructions what to do when I arrived.
The servants led me to a dining room where I was served with a glass of red wine from the year 1881, judging from the smell and taste. "Our master will joined you in just a short while", said one of the servants whom I thanked. After the servants left the dinning room, I patiently waited at my seat observing the environment around me.
"To what I owed you, young lady, a visit?"
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"Ah, so you are Charlie's fiancée I heard about?", said Arnaldo, the master of the "humble" house he called it. "Words spread in our world, Brooke."
"Thank you for the pleasant wine and food. It is such a delicacy.", I told him before taking the last bite. "I am here actually to discuss about my fiancé and his former partner."
"You mean, Charlie and Collin? Ha, they sure were interesting fools.", Arnaldo replied. Charlie was an interesting fool? Wow, thanks Arnaldo. "No disrespect for your fiancé, Brooke. So what part of them do you really want to know?"
"Everything, Arnaldo, everything.", I said without hesitation. Arnaldo gave me a look which he smiled, "Well, Charlie and Collin are not really what you defined them as partners. They were more than just partners..."
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"Charlie and Collin were considered inseparable. I used to work for them, so you could see how much I understood them as partners. Every night, you could hear the loud noise crashing at the upper level."
"Well... you might not want to know what they were doing every night."
"Their relationship could be compared to any loving couple you noticed in public places. They made love like there was no tomorrow. You could just see how loving they were."
"Charlie and Collin shared the same interests in bootlegging. They acted as business and romantic partners. How lovely to be able to worked together as a couple."
"Things soon wore out after some time. One night, I was walking at the upper level when I heard a heated argument between the couple. That night, I believed Charlie found out about these dangerous drugs in the finest alcohol bottles."
"Why the fuck you do that, Collin!", Charlie exclaimed. "Do you know how much these would cause one's life?"
"Come on, my love, they are the finest bottles from Denmark. Can't you see we could sell them and run away?", Collin convinced Charlie. "Maybe we could sail away to Monaco like we always dreamed of..."
"Don't you fucking use our relationship as a leverage to win your way.", Charlie shrugged. "Just get the hell of the house."
"But my love..."
"GET THE FUCK OUT OF THE HOUSE!!"
------
I was in deep shock. Charlie had a relationship with Collin? Wow, that story could blow up the headline news any day. Arnaldo's storytelling was amazing, that was what I needed to hear.
"You heard the story, Brooke.", said Arnaldo. "Funnily, you just took the risk and the story is just the story", he took a sip of his red wine.
Wait, hold up, the story is just the story? Was there a price to pay for what I asked for?
"I will not let you leave without a full payment of $15 million.", said Arnaldo. He gave me a glare, waiting for my response. I was in a deep shit.
"No full payment?", he said. "Your body shall be mine."
It has been a long time since I updated this story. I had a writer's block and also I was busy with my national examinations which ended last month.
Was Charlie and Collin's relationship just simple as that? Was Arnaldo being true to his words? Simply said, would Brooke be as lucky as she thought.
Stay tuned for the next chapter which I am going to rewrite it. In a meantime, I attached a photo of Taron Egerton's Mad Teddy from Legend. He was my inspiration for the character, Collin.
YOU ARE READING
Elevator
Teen Fiction(COMPLETED) Two neighbours stuck in an elevator and were forced to make a conversation. Little did they know this was just a beginning, a beginning which comes with a consequences and dangers ahead.
