CHAPTER 5

Plonking down into her bed, a tired Alexandra pulled off her heels tossing them across the room. Slowly, her back touched the comforting spread of her bed. Her eyeballs rolled in their sockets as they stared endlessly at the ceiling.

She had just returned from her date with Steven and honestly, it was going just fine not until Vandana called. Alexandra remembered how she had creased her forehead in annoyance the moment Steven picked up his phone and the first word that flew out of his mouth was Dana.

Her nose had even flared when she listened to how they had joked on the phone and how his smiles were non stop. And to think that just a single phone call had stolen over twenty minutes of their time had angered Alexandra even more.

There and then, she had resolved that she was going to do everything in her power to erase Vandana totally out of the picture and leave only herself and Steven.

Dragging herself off from the bed, she took a stride towards the dressing mirror which leant against the wall and stared at her reflection.

She was beautiful and she knew it. With long black hair which settled on her head right down to a great part of her back, green eyes, a straight nose, thin lips, small waist and wide hips, she knew she could pass for a model.

But her major problem was why Steven wasn't seeing all of those. Or was he the "I-don't-go-for-looks" kind of guy? As she drummed her index and middle finger on her lower lip, she made up her mind that she was gonna intensify being nice to Steven.

•

"You know, I'm really grateful Steven, that you proved that Chase Motors was worth the trial. My car arrived a week to the stipulated date it was meant to arrive. And guess what?" Vandana asked with glee in her voice

She was on a lunch date which she had fixed at a Chinese restaurant, with Steven. Chop Suey with its chopsticks, a bottle of champagne and flutes, water as well as other food aides laid neatly arranged on the table.

"Steven?" She called out slowly

"Ahan? You were saying?" Steven blinked his eyelashes as his reverie had been interrupted

"You zoned out. I hate it when people zone out on me" Vandana pouted her lips, feigning annoyance

"Come on Dana, I'm sorry" Steven reached out across the table and stroked her fingers.

He inwardly cursed himself for zoning out. His eyes had strayed to the jutting swell of her breasts, courtesy of the V neckline of her dress, and had lingered there for a while, his mind taking him back to how they had first met.

Next, they strayed to her face and finally settled on her lips. He didn't know what it was, but there was something distracting about her which he couldn't place a finger on. She had been messing with his head of late and no matter how hard he tried to push her image out and focus, it kept coming back.

"Trust me, I'm really sorry" He intensified his apologies, stroking her fingers the more

"It's fine. I'm not mad at you. But don't do that again"

"Yes ma'am" He replied and both of them chuckled

"So, as I was saying, a friend of mine was with me when my car arrived at my home and when she asked me about the car, I gave her the whole gist and she asked that I drop her own petition. She wants her own car!"

"Oh wow! That's really great. Thanks for the publicity, Dana. I'm grateful"

"It's nothing. Besides, you're doing a great job at Chase Motors. You deserve accolades, Steven"

"Thanks again, Dana"

"My pleasure. So, about my friend's car, how are we gonna go about it? Which day will I be able to fit into your schedule 'cause she won't be meeting you in person. You'll be seeing her in proxy, which is me. She's out of the country at the moment. She had some business meetings to attend at one of her company's branches in Spain. You'll likely get to see her when she returns"

"Okay then, no problem. Friday will be fine. I'll be less busy on that day. Let's meet up from around 09:00am"

"No problem then"

"So tell me, how does it feel cruising around town in your new ride?" Steven said, grabbing his chopsticks

"Boy, the feeling is so damn lit. Me be feeling so fly whenever I get behind the wheels" Dana said, sipping her champagne

"Courtesy of Chase Motors" Steven smiled

"Yeah, yeah. You know, when the car first arrived, I made some rounds around it. The exterior was so beautiful. But when I got to the interior, I had fucking screamed my lungs out"

"Oh yeah. Tell me more" Steven beamed

"The interior is sleek. I love the way the car is built. There's this comfort the car provides that I just can't explain"

"I'm so glad you love the car, Dana. It means a lot to me"

"I should even be the one thanking you for manufacturing such an asset and delivering it on time when an order was made. Thanks again, Steven"

"It's nothing, Dana. Come on, let's dig in before the food gets cold"

•

Carefully placing the cue stick behind the ball, Baron tipped the ball with the cue stick and watched keenly as the ball rolled to the other end of the table and fell into the hole.

He grabbed other balls of similar size and repeated the same action. Whenever he needed to do some deep thinking, he played billiards.

Reaching out to the tumbler which contained Tequila Slammer, Baron chugged down the liquid and slightly scrunched his nose when it burned the back of his throat.

Dropping the cue stick on the table, he slid his left hand into the pocket of his knee length pants while his right hand twirled the tumbler. He was shirtless and a part of his tattoos which were colored gleamed under the lights. He downed the liquor again as he stared into oblivion.

Different thoughts rummaged through his mind. The past few months in X-habit had been bloody. Some unknown gunmen of an unknown rival gang had attacked them twice and they had lost a few of their men.

Moreover, Baron believed that the proceeds that had been made from the sale of crack had not been shared equally amongst The Big Four. The former believed that Steven had taken the lion's share. The latter had only taken his share as the sole leader of the conglomerate, which was right because it had always been that way from the scratch.

But Baron begged to differ. He felt that asides him, Iphan and Kane were more of slaves than partners to Steven. He felt that each of them deserved to be their own bosses and not some workers under an arrogant boss.

Besides, Baron had always harbored this slight envy against Steven. Although they were best friends, he felt that Steven was way too lucky.

Back in Elementary School where they had met, Steven had always been the brightest student, getting good grades and topping his class while Baron had always been the backward one.

It had been that way till they got into High School where they met Iphan, Kane and Alexandra. All five had formed a great bond and had been friends till date. Baron, Alexandra and Steven formed a trio while Iphan and Kane formed a duo.

Back then, Alexandra had helped Baron with his assignments and tests, hence the latter began to earn good grades but still, the latter wasn't satisfied and still envied Steven.

Steven was still at the spotlight and with his good looks, had many girls flocking around him, something Baron didn't have. And even an Alexandra whom Baron had the hots for, followed Steven around like a fly.

Baron felt that the Universe favored Steven and was against him since luck was always shining on the latter.

But it seemed Baron was suddenly forgetting something. He forgot how Steven's Mom ran away to be with another man and how his Dad died of brain cancer, leaving him all by himself, hence making the latter live a hard life and forming X-habit in the end.

Anger and rage consumed Baron as he poured more tequila from its bottle into the tumbler. He didn't know how, but that feeling of envy on the inside of him against Steven tripled effortlessly.

He didn't understand how he had reached a point where Steven was now bossing over him. He suddenly hated himself for stooping so low and becoming a member of X-habit.

He gritted his teeth and flung the tumbler across the room, the sound of the glasses shattering into pieces drowning in his ear drums as the thought of Alexandra in Steven's arms crossed his mind. That was another ballgame. He had to get Alexandra as she was his and no one else's.

He let out a sly smile and applauded himself inwardly as he made a final decision in his head.