"𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘢𝘵 𝘮𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘐 𝘢𝘪𝘯'𝘵 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘴𝘢𝘺 𝘐 𝘢𝘮"

"𝘐 𝘥𝘪𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘯𝘢 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘴𝘢𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘥𝘴 𝘮𝘢'. 𝘠𝘰𝘶'𝘷𝘦 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘥 𝘮𝘺 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘮𝘢𝘥𝘦 𝘮𝘦 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘮𝘺𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧 𝘐 𝘥𝘪𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸. 𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘮𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘺- 𝘣𝘺 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘣𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘣𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘰 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘮𝘺 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦."

Ever been in the wrong place at the wrong time? Yeah... I have. Don't recommend. I'm Lue'elle, by the way, call me Lue. Elle works too, honorable mention to my 'mom' for the name. Now, for the juicier part. Giordano? Definitely not my cup of tea. Let's just say I didn't like him. At all. But life, being the cruel little joke it is, decided to throw me and him into the same orbit. As if fate, or some sadistic writer, was testing how much hell a person can handle before they snap. One night. Wrong place. Wrong time. Turns out, hating him was the easier part. Actually, whatever this is between us might just drag you straight to hell... and back. Elle. Xoxo. Ranking🥇 #1 in Caribbean

What is wrong with him? I hate that he stares. I hate the feeling it gives me. It's unsettling... Blood rushes to my face... my head... It's... nauseating. And inconvenient. If he would just stop staring, I could get on with my life and my time here. So what if we've met before? He can continue to ignore me as he has been. I can do the same with no problem. None at all. I just... I want him to look away. I need him to. So I can breathe.

"Move from in front a mi," I say. But it comes out softer. Weaker. More honest than I intended. I'd be on the first plane out of here tomorrow. Nothing that we've said in the past twenty minutes would matter once I am on that plane. We are tied to each other, and our pasts don't have to intertwine any more than they already have. He doesn't move. I step sideways. He mirrors me, like he's tethered to the same gravity. "Kymani-" "Selah" My name in his mouth feels like a dare. A part of me wants it to feel like a promise. I shake the thought. After what feels like a standoff written in the marrow between us, he finally exhales and steps back. Barely. But enough. I don't waste it. I slip from his hold, my heartbeat pounding in my throat, in my ears, in the soles of my feet as I bolt toward the door. I leave him there. Leave the house. Leave the heat still burning between us. And I run. Fast, desperate, the same way I did the first time I left this place. The same way I survived. I don't look back. Not at him. Not at the house. Not at the version of myself that's still trembling inside those walls. Not anymore.

I've studied psychiatry long enough to know the eyes are the soul. Hers... there's nothing deranged in them, yet something about those eyes makes me question everything I know about control, about obsession, about myself. Who is Aala O'Donelle? And why is she on the psyche ward?

❝Baby I don't need a man, I need Dinero & a tan!❞-Taj Romaé *** "...if yuh nuh name Dinero den mi nuh want yuh,"I say sassily. He chuckles. "Den how you a pree me so?" his husky voice ask as he makes slow strides towards me. "You're in my personal space," I snap and he seems to be impressed by my attitude. I feel my knees weaken as he approaches me with lustful eyes. Then he leans down closing me in as he rest both hands beside me. His hot breath tickles the side of my neck as he whispers, "Nuttn' nuh wrong if we get personal b." *** Get ready for this heated romance, I'm ready. Are you? #1 Caribbean #1 Boujie #1 Youngwitersprize #1 Materialism #1 newwriter #1 jamaicanwriter #1 Fancy #2 Jamaica

Even though I don't look up right away, I feel him. His presence shifts the air, makes it heavier, like the sky right before a storm. A shiver runs down my spine, but I shake it off. I can sense he's here to handle our unfinished business, and I know he won't hold his tongue this time, not without our audience from earlier to keep him in check. "Why yuh really come back Jodie?" He's blunt, as always, and I can tell he's revving up for a fight. Him lucky. "I love Ms. Iva and I respect her for what she does, but dem neva send yuh gah school fi sell yam dung a market...Why'd you leave Kingston?" "I told you already, I'm using my PTO Knox" I dispose of the water into the grass, setting the wash basin up against the tank. He scoffs. "Liad, yuh done tell dah one deh already, betta yuh come up wid a next one." His eyes are daring, challenging me to come clean, but I can't. "Why you cyaa juss believe me? What's so suspicious about me needing time away from work?" I push past him, not yet ready to dive so deep into the unknown. He grabs my wrist, pulling me into his chest and trapping me there. The warmth of him seeps into me, setting off a fire under my skin. He doesn't ease up, but the pressure does something to me that I can't shake. I tell myself to take a step back, create some space, but I don't. I won't. "Because me know yuh, Jodie. Better than I know myself. I know you..." He presses his index fingers to his heart, his breath shallow as it cascades across my collarbone. "I thought we were better than this, I thought we could tell each other anything" I shake my head, my eyes closing as I inhale his scent, it's uniquely him. It's dangerous how familiar it is, how it makes my chest ache. I hate him for making me feel like this, I hate myself for wanting to be even closer than we are now.