Twenty-six

I was taken suddenly formerly again at what Mark said. It isn't like I didn't have dreams, intentions, expedients, or prayers to get better in my professional experience. I had a lot of them and I believe we all do and are entitled to our veritably own dreams. But the thing is, I had no way really allowed of moving from New York. Not that I didn't want to visit other places, explore another corridor of the United States and eventually pick where I wanted to start a family and grow old.

The verity is this was an unforeseen move that Mark was making and he wanted to bring me into it. I wanted us to be together but I actually admired our individual workstations.

“ So Laura and you decided all this and didn't suppose of asking me?”

Mark signed and smelled his lower lip and the only thing I could do was for him to stop being cute because I was trying my style to be as suggestive as I could be in our relationship.

“ Ellen it isn't a big deal, we were just talking about careers and we allowed it would be nice if you and i moved and started anew nearly differently, to get more serious about our relationship.”

“ I understand Mark.”

“ Also why are you upset? Remember Laura is aged than us, she knows better for what could work for us.”

So this was about what Laura allowed was stylish for us? Not about what he allowed was stylish for him, what I allowed was stylish for me? This was about what she allowed was stylish for us to work, to last longer and not what we allowed was stylish? As far as i knew connections weren't meant to be like that, the whole thing of having a third person oversee what you did and tell you to want to do as a couple. I admired his family a lot. I allowed her to be great and amazing but I didn't appreciate her poking her nose in our relationship when she didn't have one herself.

“ I've to go back to work, excuse me.”

I sluggishly made my way out of Mark's office with him calling my name before but I didn't look back. I slammed the door and went off to Cole's office.

***********

When I returned to the office, Cole was busy as usual on his laptop. He also went from phone calls to further work on his laptop. He'd transferred some lines to my computer to clean data about a canvas company, it had nothing affiliated with the media house in New York. As a particular adjunct, I guess I just had to do what he wanted for all his deals, indeed those not related to the media. After all, he was a businessman, with other gambles he pursued.

“ Ellen, get ready hereafter. We're going for a trades exhibition as a media house.”

“ What time will it be held joe and where?”

“ It's the whole across this road. It starts around 9 o clock and should take like the whole day for anyone to enough much have a chance to come and look around.”

“ Well noted Sir, is there a certain dress law to this?”

. Cole smiled, “ Supposedly yes, elegant rainfall was what they picked as a theme.”

“ Also I'll have to go home and look through my closet for commodity nice.”

“ That's fine by me, you can leave beforehand, perhaps join the others as well in medications.”

Whatever this art thing was about, I hope I would not lament buying a new dress for it.

****

I was walking in the hallway, pulling out my phone trying to call Edith so that we could head to my house, check if I had commodity elegant to wear and if not, go shopping.

“ Elle!” She hugged me from behind causing me to nearly drop my phone. I turned to find Steph, Oli, and Ryan all soliciting me, I guess it had been each set, we were going shopping because I didn't want all these guys in my bitsy apartment looking at my wardrobe.

“ I guess we're going shopping for hereafter's event.” Steph smiled.

*****

That was it, I was ready to strangle Steph and Oil for rejecting every single piece. The two of them couldn't feel to set their minds on one goddamn thing so that we could go our individual ways to our homes. Edith, Ryan, and I had formerly picked what we wanted and the prices weren't so inflated. I had picked black stress that had stripless hands, it was tight, majestic and I go it would look sexy as hell on me. Edith and Ryan had decided to pick analogous outfits which just proved how important they were to each other. She had picked out a blue dress while Ryan had picked out a light blue shirt to add to his suit for the following Sunday.

But as for Steph and Oli, I was losing was tolerance. Steph said she wanted a commodity that would make advertise her presence, one noticed, leave a mark and have people talking.

“ I need to look red-carpet good, I've to,” Steph screamed running the alphabet into the changing area.

I rolled my eyes at how Oli went on about how he wanted a cultural piece.

“ Ellen you just don't get it, the outfit needs to be cultural.”

So I watched them continue to ram through the store looking for some perfect piece. On the other hand, Edith and Ryan didn't feel bothered at all or indeed feel frustrated at how Steph and Oli were keeping us longer in the store. The two of them were busy drooling about arbitrary effects like their favorite colors, favorite food, favorite season of the time, or which countries they really wanted to visit. They were in the “ Get to know each other” phase and so far, they both sounded content and unbothered.

“ Ellen!!” Steph called loudly for me. I got up from the seats we had been offered by the ladies and walked to the dressing area she was in. There were piles of clothes that Steph had tried on but hadn't liked any. There was a big outspread glass where she stood gaping at herself. She had her hands over her stomach area also ran them down to her angles. Steph looked stunning in the meron dress, which had a sexy tear to the leftism that exposed her indefectible legs. She looked like a goddess.

"Steph, just decide one formerly. I am empty" I whined looking at my phone and the time said it was 4p20 pm.

"Bella, I can not choose. None of them are good enough" Steph said. I rolled my eyes at that, she had a great-looking figure, she rocked everything that she wore every single time.

"Are you kidding me? This shop is full of great elegant dresses and all the dresses are beautiful, just accelerate up and set your mind on one dress please."I said my voice was easily bothered.

“ I know you and Mr.Anderson were kissing that day.” Steph suddenly said. Huh? I looked at her, she had a crooked smile over her face.

“ Steph, what are you talking about?’I asked, I could feel my eyes nearly popping out from the clear vexation that she and Oli put me through and now she was rambling about Cole.

Steph folded her arms against her casket looking at me directly in the eye. The girl knew what she was talking about or trying to talk about.

“ There was no coffee in his eyes, it was your lips on his and his on yours.”

So Steph had seen it all? She had easily seen that Cole and I were kissing and that a lot more was going on than the coffee story being in his eyes we had told. So also why did not she say anything at the table when we joked about it? It isn't that I wanted her to tell Ryan, Oli, and Edith or anyone differently that she had walked in on Cole and I kissed in his office. I didn't want that, but it was intriguing to know how she just knew and kept it to herself.

“ Steph, it isn't what you suppose is okay,” I said, trying to assure her that there was a logical explanation to what she saw that morning.

She smiled, leaning near to my face. “ I know a lot further about you Elle, then what you suppose.”

Those words set me, I remembered the weird strange number that had transferred me the images of me with Mark, Cole, and Dylan easily showing that they had been shot through a window where someone took time to capture them. Could that have been Steph each on? Was she the one stalking me all this while? If so, why?

. “ I can't believe that you have been stalking me.” I nearly yelled. I wanted to bang her head against the glass. I wanted to strangle her as I felt the rage palpitation through me.

“ I don't know what you're talking about.” She smiled, turning to look back at the glass where she looked happy.

“ You're actually right Ellen, I'm getting this dress.”

“ I don't know what game you're playing.” I shook my head repulsed by her. I walked out of the changing room where I met Ryan, Oli, and Edith. Oli had finished with his pick and they sounded ready or headed back but only staying for Steph and me. Steph, that little witch, I should have known all along.

“ Did Steph find a perfect fit for the event?” Oli innocently asked. I looked over at him also at Edith and Ryan.

“ She sure did.” My voice was gravestone deep freeze, I was so enraged. I walked out of the store without saying anything to anyone.

Chapter twenty-six

I was fuming, from the time I sat in the hack that drove me to my apartment to when I saw Edith's name flash on my phone screen. I stormed into my apartment, slamming the door behind me. I saw my ouch with my head in my head and let gashes fall.

Still, how was I to stop her? I allowed about what I was supposed to do If Steph was the one behind the filmland. I couldn't tell Mark because he was being a gumshoe at this point. I couldn't tell Cole he'd be so disappointed to know I slept with Dylan. So that left me with Dylan as the bone I could reach out and plus Dylan was an operative, he should be suitable to use water coffers or tools they use during work to track the person that transferred the filmland to me and hopefully, expose them for blackmail. So that was settled, I was going to tell Dylan about everything, indeed about Cole and I, and show him the filmland. I was sure he'd be frenetic to know that there was Cole as well in the picture and not just him and Mark but he has to know the verity and besides we had agreed that our hassles were purely each about feeling good and having some great coitus together.

I pushed myself to get off the settee. To get to work on commodity before anything differently came up. If Steph was the one also she knew what she was doing. I decided to change out of my office shirt and put some comfortable slate sweatpants on with a blue t-shirt.

I walked as presto as I could downward to snare a hack. I was panicked. I felt wrathfulness, fear, and anxiety marshland over me. There was a tight knot in my stomach and I actually felt sick to the hole. I felt as if I was contending and contending Steph in this game she was playing.

I got into a hack and as I waited for the man to arrive at Dylan's house, I couldn't help but suppose what would be to my life if this filmland were released onto the internet. There was Mark's character as an editor, there was Cole's character as the principal editor, and Dylan's character as an operative in the megacity. I mean not everyone knew their names as benign big names but it would not be fair to have their lives destroyed like that. It wasn't fair.

The man pulled over and I snappily gave him the hack chow and walked presto to Dylan's house. I knocked as hard as I could but there was no response from outside. I suddenly got a bad feeling that perhaps commodity bad could have happed to him because of me. What if he'd been abducted and was being held in some backcountry area outside New York? But I shook it off and realized I hadn't communicated.

I know I hadn't called or texted him to let him know I was coming. Utmost of the people I knew didn't like surprise visits, I actually didn't as well and one of the reasons for that's because my apartment was noway ever looking neat.

I plant his name in my contact list and hit the call icon. His phone was ringing on the other end. I tried to hold my jitters, at this point I was easily shaking and felt as if I would pee myself. Dylan didn't pick up but rather, his door swung open and it was standing in front of me. He didn't have a shirt on, he'd a blue jeans on that hung approximately over his midriff revealing his black-colored prizefighter. On his basis, he only had socks on. I felt a pinch of relief marshland over me. I ran to him, wrapped my arms around him, and hugged him tightly. We had to get out of this.

“ Ellen, I heard someone knock. I allowed it was my neighbor's little sons who do utmost of the time. Sorry I didn't open the door before.” Dylan said and at this point, I was still hanging onto his altitudinous frame in a clinch.

“ Is everything okay? Please come by.”

I eventually pulled back and tried my style to take in deep breaths to calm my now heavy breathing. I was dead spooked, I felt the fear churn in my stomach and commodity was about to come out. I ran off from the corridor where Dylan and I stood and off to where there was a lawn. I let it out. I gagged.

Dylan ran over to me, shirtless and without shoes in his socks, and began to stroke my reverse.

“ Oh my goodness Ellen, breath, breath, please, calm down.” he encouraged. I tried to hold my breathing and to control it by taking in deep, sharp breaths but I kept on breathing so heavily that my casket hurt. I was so consumed by fear that the gashes began to roll down my cheeks at their own will. I put my hand to where my heart was and I felt as if it was beating to beat. I was spooked, was this how I would die? Well, also it was going to be painful.

“ Ellen breathes, remember to breathe please, come on do not do this to me.”

I tasted fear in Dylan's voice, he was easily scarifying as well. Imagine a woman who showed up at your door, had trouble breathing also failed in your hands.

But I kept trying to breathe and with time, my breathing returned to normal.

“Dy.Dy.Dylan.” I forced myself to call his name. My throat was sore, I felt exhausted and my mouth tasted so bitter.

“ Yes Ellen, I'm then, right beside you.” He was holding me from falling with his hands. My legs and bases were still on the ground but it was him who was keeping me standing. He realized I was too weak to move worse off to walk so he dipped me up like I was paperweight and carried me in his arms.

I heard doors opening, tykes barking and people talking.

“ Is she alright?” It was a man's voice, he sounded aged like he was in his off youth days.

“ She's going to be alright, I'll make sure.” I felt Dylan's casket joggle as he answered the man, from also on, I saw pitch blank and everything went quiet.

****

I felt commodity damp and soft sitting on my forepart. I sluggishly opened my eyes. They felt heavy, painful, and blown from all the crying that I had done.

“ Take it easy Ellen.” I heard Dylan say. I was laying on the bed and he was sitting by the point with a blue receptacle on the counter. I looked up at him and noticed he'd put on a shirt. He looked tense, upset sick to the core, but he was yet to be in torture formerly I told him each about Steph and the filmland.

“ Hey. hey, hey easy.”

I felt a quick rush of pain from the base of my head to my forepart. It was a slight headache and I was certain it would go down.

I forced myself to sit up and was now extensively awake.

“ Dylan.” I managed, my throat was still sore but I could speak. He shifted in his seat and moved closer to me.

“ How are you feeling?” I wanted to laugh at how he looked. He was the one who looked as if he'd been in torture and demanded bed rest for days.

“ I feel alright, I can breathe now.”

“Mr. Phil said you presumably had an anxiety attack.”

I heard about those, several times but no way in my continuance suppose it would be to me at any point.

“ I, I had no idea, I allowed I was just too nervous.”

“ I'm sorry for what happened to you, I allowed I was going to lose you there, I was so spooked.” He admitted it, he was hysterical of losing me. He was hysterical of meditating. I was hysterical too, is as important as effects like work, connections may get so inviting time and again. I didn't want to die yet, I presumably wanted and was always looking for an escape but not dying.

“ I was so spooked too,” I said, holding his hands in mine. He squeezed mine and also leaned in to give me a kiss on my forepart.

“ I'm not sure if you're ready to talk about whatever happed that made you come then this evening.”

Oh hell yeah I was ready. I was ready to tell him how piled a lot of effects were because of me.

“ Where is my phone?”

“ OH, it's right then.” He stood to pick it up from the counter also returned to where he sat and handed me the phone.

“ I'm actually so curious for you to tell me, Ellen.”

I went over to my gallery and got the film and that I had entered from the strange figures. I handed the phone to Dylan for him to see.

Dylan's face went into alter shock. He held the phone, looking hard at the filmland on the phone. He put a hand to his mouth, in clear unbelief of what he saw.

“ You, you take filmland of all the men who you have slept with?”

. I wish that was the case darling.

“ I entered that filmland from a strange number many days back and I've been in unbelief since then. To top it up, Steph, the company clerk is my main suspect for all these.

Dylan shook his head still looking at the filmland, I leaned over and realized he was concentrated on where I was celery naked with Cole. I knew this would come, but he'd all the right to know he wasn't the only one.

“ You fucked your master too?” He raised his eyes to meet mine. I saw pain, wrathfulness, and darkness different from what I had seen in them. He was obviously maddened.

“ That isn't the point Dylan of who I've coitus with or not, the point is that someone has been stalking me and taking this filmland and with similar power, they could fluently release them to the internet.” I was feeling myself getting angry as well. The fact that we had agreed that our relationship was easily coitus, feel good, and to know that we were coming back to talk about while a lot of effects were at wedged made me angry.

Dylan closed his eyes, stood up to his bases. He bent over putting his head in his hands and moaning a little.

“ I just can't believe you, Ellen.” He yelled looking at me.

“ You can't believe what Dylan? That I've fucked other people piecemeal from you? You cannot believe that there were others, well please do believe it because we agree with d that our relationship was just sex. So don't yell at me.”

He shook his head, I could feel the wrathfulness radiating off of him. But I wasn't hysterical of him. It was my life, it was my coochie they banged and it was my decision to do it with all of them.

“ Does Mark know about this?” He asked putatively to have calmed down.

I shook my head to indicate a no. How I wish it was that easy, to just get myself out of this.

“ He can't find out Dylan, he's my swain.”

“ Also what's Cole and I to you?”

“ I don't know, fuck musketeers!.” I raised my hands, not sure what to say to him.

“ What the hell Ellen, I allowed you were way more decent than this, three men all brought into your dirty life.”

Those words hurt me but I felt like there was no point in arguing with Dylan, so I tried to see effects from his shoes, to imagine how to hurt he must have felt to know I didn't only have a swain whom I easily had coitus with but I had been having coitus with my master too.

“ I'm sorry Dylan, I didn't mean for all this to unfold like this.”

He began to pace about the room. Clinging his fists and easily trying to take everything in at formerly. I realized it was only fair to give him some space, some time to digest it all, and hopefully, we'd try to come up with a way to check the person who started all this.

“ I could, I could have no way imagined. Do you know how important damage you have caused me?.” He asked in a low tone. I didn't shake my head or say a word. I just watched him.

“ I can't believe you're this selfish.” He was right, now further than ever I looked at some of my life events, my relations with people, my family, and my parents and realized how tone-centered I was. It was always about me, how I felt, what I wanted to do and didn't suppose of others. But that's how I had interpreted life, to be yourself, to express yourself. To look out for yourself but I guess, I wasn't perfect and had gone wrong at all these points. I felt a gash roll down my impertinence but I snappily wiped it off before Dylan turned to look at me.

“ Who's the clerk whom you suspect as being the person behind the filmland?”

I scented and took in a deep breath, glad we were now going nearly.