Chapter 34: This Man Must Have A Death Wish
Chapter 34: This Man Must Have A Death Wish
When Crystal arrived at the cell phone store, she saw a nervous boy standing by the door, and as she approached, she was surprised to discover that he was Frank. Crystal took off the headphones and said, “Hey, what are you doing here?”
“Well, I’m waiting... Waiting for you,” Frank replied.
“You’re waiting for me….” Crystal said.
“What’s up?” She looked up and saw that the sign on the store’s door said, “CLOSED.”
Frank: “My friend Reg called me and said that he is hosting a dinner party tonight at a nearby restaurant. He asked me to take you there so that he can give you your phone. He would have called you, but you didn’t leave your number.”
Crystal laughed and said, “Well, that was silly of me. It’s no big deal, though. I don’t want to interrupt your friend’s dinner party. I’ll get the phone tomorrow. “
“Are you sure?” Frank asked. He pointed across the street. “That’s the restaurant. It’s not far from here, and he’s expecting you...” Crystal smiled and said, “Alright, let’s go get my phone.”
Frank led Crystal to the restaurant, and they walked through the door together. The place was busy, and Crystal found the loud laughter and the smell of wine a little overwhelming. Luckily, Reg’s table wasn’t far from the door, and he waved to them as they approached. When they got to the table, Reg looked at his guests and said, “Everyone, this is Crystal. She attends school with Frank at Olman University.”
There were seven men at the table, including Reg. His guests were dressed casually in jeans and t-shirts, and they looked somewhat like ruffians. When they saw Crystal, they smiled, and one of them began to flirt with her. He said, “Nice to meet you, Miss Crystal. You are very pretty. I saw a top-rated movie recently, and you look just like the film’s heroine. Why don’t you and Frank join us?”
“That’s a kind offer,” Crystal said, “But I am here to get my cell phone. Once I have it, I should get going.”
Reg: “Take your time, Crystal. You just came from school. You must be hungry. Why don’t you sit down and have dinner with us?”
Crystal: “No, thank you. I’ll take my phone and go.”
Frank turned to Reg and said, “Reg, just give her the phone.”
Reg glared at him. “No wonder you can’t get a girlfriend,” he said. “You’re such a pussy. Do you know that?!?!?!”
Crystal’s brow furrowed when she heard Reg’s words. “If you don’t give me my phone,” she warned, “I’ll call the police.”
Reg smiled face and took the phone from his shirt pocket. He handed it to her and said, “Well, here you are. Come on. It’s not a big deal. You don’t need to call the police.”
Crystal ignored him. She stuffed her cell phone in her bag and turned to leave. As she turned, though, Reg touched her bare shoulder. How annoying! - she thought I’ll teach him! But when she tried to slap him, her hand refused to move. Her vision began to go hazy, and she started to panic. “What did you do to me?!?!?” she cried.
Reg laughed cruelly and asked, “What do you think?”
Almost as soon as the words were out of Reg’s mouth, Frank pushed him to the ground, and they began to fight, but Crystal couldn’t make out the details of what was happening. She shook her head in an attempt to clear her head, but the more she shook her head, the dizzier she became. Her body’s temperature began to increase until she felt as if she’d been plunged into a natural hot spring.
Reg’s friends stood up and tried to pull Frank and Reg apart.
Dimly, Crystal heard Reg’s voice. He said, “Frank, stop it! I’m helping you, you punk! Why don’t you tell her that you like her? You have pictures of her all over your room, and you even bought her an electric sex toy.”
Crystal gasped when she realized that Frank had sent her the sex toy, and she felt violated. She tried to verbalize her outrage, but when she opened her mouth, the room began to spin, and she forgot what she was going to say.
Frank: “How much of the dr*g did you give her? She can’t take it.”
Reg: “You have nothing to fear. She’ll live,
but I had to give her enough so that she won’t remember anything when she wakes.”
Frank: “Reg! You will get me into big trouble!”
“What the fuck?” Reg exclaimed. “It seems that you genuinely like this girl, but you are too timid and cowardly to make a move. Man up, Frank!”
Frank: “I can’t do what you want me to do. Not like this. Don’t you know that it’s against the law? We will all get into trouble.”
Reg: “Rest assured. No one will find out. about what we are about to do.”
Crystal could no longer make out anything that they were saying, and she lost consciousness as she slowly staggered and fell to the ground.
***
The senior management of The Brilliant Group was holding an important meeting in a luxurious conference room when Nathan’s phone vibrated in his pocket. He had received a text message, and a troubled expression appeared on his face when he read it.
He slammed his phone on the table, startling the senior executives. They all turned to look at Nathan. They could see that something was deeply disturbing him, and they were dumbfounded as to what it could be. After all, he had been fine just a second earlier. There was a moment of silence, and then Nathan grabbed the phone and ran out of the conference room without a word of explanation.
The vice president called after him, shouting, “Boss, will the meeting continue?” But Nathan did not reply. The executives all looked at him with confused looks on their faces. They had been in the middle of some critical business, and usually, their boss never answered his phone during a meeting, nor had he ever walked out on them like that. Not knowing what else to do, the vice president dismissed the executives and told them to return to their workstations.
***
Nathan sprinted all the way to the underground parking lot, jumped into his car, and took off like a bat out of hell. “How dare someone dr*g my woman?” he roared. “This man must have a death wish!”
He used his left hand to steer and his right. hand to dial a number on his cell phone, one that he knew by heart, and when the number’s owner answered, he said, “Look up the address that I am about to give you and eliminate its owner!”
Nathan gave the man the address. Then, just as he was hanging up the phone, he hit a traffic jam. “fuck!” he shouted as his hand slammed on the horn. “fuck! fuck! fuck! fuck!”
Crystal manically tore at her clothes. She felt sick all over. She felt like thousands of ants were eating her. Her whole body itched. It was maddening. She was hot, and her face was sweating. She was dizzy, and the room seemed to be spinning. Her breath was short, her mouth was dry, and she was so weak that she couldn’t move a muscle. Crystal was very thirsty, and she longed for a drink of water.
Crystal was alone in the dark, and the silence was terrifying. But when someone called her name after what seemed like an eternity of quiet nothingness, she had the feeling that she was about to go from the frying pan into the fire.
