Nora's P.O.V

The lingering pressure from Elijah's lips had me touching mine in remembrance of what had happened yesterday. The way his arm had strongly protected me from people's eyes as my dress was tugged back into position. How his eyes bore into mine with a desperation one would see in a starving lion and that expression on his face all foretelling a million different things whilst at the same time, hiding everything.

Those thoughts kept me awake the entire night. They were pestering me in a persistent manner and no matter how much I tossed and turned in bed, or how much I distracted myself with movies and TV shows on my laptop, Elijah was always there in my mind. He had kissed me, granted it was a perfect kiss, but there was no explanation behind it. 'What had influenced him to do that? How had it led from him zipping up my dress to locking lips with mine? Why did he do it?' Those thoughts plagued my mind incessantly.

I had practically run out of the building that night before hailing a passing cab and fleeing from the party, no number of messages from Elian, or Mark or even Elijah could prevent me from bolting back to my room and hiding in my pyjamas. In an effort to leave everything behind, I had switched my phone off, ignoring their futile attempts to contact me. A shower had done little to hone my body from the residual powers of Elijah's touch and not even the haven of my blanket, some Ben and Jerry's ice cream, and plenty of chocolate could protect me.

People like Elijah were playboys in disguise, their emotions were frail, and their dicks were in control of their actions. They had no awareness of real love, of trust, of loyalty, and most importantly of respect.

No.

Like chewing gum, they kept us around till they lost taste and became bored, then they spit us out like trash with no second thought. To them we were expendable, replaceable, nothing but meat on legs. That was all that Elijah knew when it came to women.

'I regret going to that party, I knew it would go terribly and what happened? It went disastrously!' I was lamenting to the point where a headache was starting to form, and the light was starting to hurt my eyes, 'I was his assistant, his PERSONAL assistant and yet he had treated me like I was nothing more than a harlot.'

The remainder of the night passed on torturingly slow and it wasn't until the sun rays penetrated my curtains that I realised I had evaded sleep this entire time. Those memories of yesterday were so embarrassing that I avoided going to work the next day. No sane person would actually have wanted to show up in an office where the boss that kissed you passionately worked at. The dawning thought of my contract at the company crashed my migraine-filled head and I held onto it tightly, knowing that tomorrow I would be forced to show up.

I'd say Elijah didn't even care about the development between us, kissing to him was nothing but a measly sexual pleasure but to me, kissing was a big deal. It would be impossible to act like nothing massive had occurred and that's what frustrated me. He would show up at the office and act like he always did whereas I would stutter and stammer with the intent to question his actions and the reasons behind them.

'Maybe, he'd done it on purpose', I tried before scowling at the sunlight and turning away from it, still in my bed, 'He made me out to be a fool, well done Nora! Round of applause for me!' I sarcastically insulted myself until I heaved up from the bed and picked up my phone. Turning it on I was bombarded by the multitude of notifications from missed calls and infuriating messages. All of them were hastily ignored as the need to consult someone overrode my need to read the messages. I needed a second opinion; from a person I could trust and a person that would give me advice. I called Jane. It took a few rings before she picked up, but when she did her voice seemed off. 'Could have been sleeping', I theorised.

"Hello from the other side!" Jane sang off-key in an Adele impression.

"Ha Ha Ha, very funny", I sarcastically replied, rolling my eyes with a small smile revealing itself already. 'This was the power of my best friend, with just one sentence she could brighten my life', I mused.

"Oh, guess what? Tomorrow I'll be going to watch Landon's first ever official game!" Jane excitedly informed me, a small silence stretching as I could hear the subtle thudding her feet made as I assumed she was bouncing around her room in a giddy manner.

"That's great Jane. Tell him I said, 'Good luck', okay?" I asked her.

"Will do, so why'd you call me so early in the morning?" Jane questioned suspiciously and I shifted in my bed, the sudden desire to end the call rising as a small blush graced my cheeks.

"Okay, well, I have something to talk about but please don't judge me", I begged her desperately.

"Huh, it depends on what you end up sharing", she dealt and waited for my response.

"Um... Elijah Cooper kissed me yesterday when we were at the party and I think he was just playing with me", I rapidly fired at her before catching deep gulps of air, my nerves threatening to spill.

"Wait, what?" Jane fuddled, finding a difficulty to understand my words before she hissed in a sharp breath and commented, "Oh, wow. You got lucky last night then. Such a dream, Elijah's so fucking hot. I wish I could get him."

"Jane! This is serious, Elijah's arrogant and he's always irritated with the world. He hates me too, so why on earth would he kiss me?" I asked her, hoping that the one time I needed my best friend's rational thinking and realistic answers, she would actually give it to me.

"Maybe he genuinely likes you and that's why he kissed you", she drawled before adding, "Or maybe he's just a playboy and thought you were his toy."

I gasped at her crudeness before shaking it off. 'I'd asked for honesty, and honesty was what I got', I countered. Deciding I'd had enough of my bed, I stepped out and walked to my desk, swivelling into my office chair, and facing the papers scattered there as I fiddled with them absentmindedly.

"You know, the second options probably true. He could never find me attractive. I'm so embarrassed!" I whined as the phone clattered to the desk and my hands clasped in front of my face hiding the cringe I'd acquired as the flashbacks came rolling back again.

"Oh, shut up Nora. You're stunning but too stupid to admit it. This is Elijah we're talking about remember?" Jane asked and I cocked my head at that before sighing and straightening my back, "Elijah's rich, rich people are massive players; therefore, you should just ignore him."

I gave a dirty look to the wall as I wondered how in hell, I could possibly do that before speaking my thoughts out, "Er, Jane? I'm his assistant, how can I possibly ignore him?"

"Let's see, you could try acting like you're paying attention to him when in reality anything he says or tells you to do, you just do the opposite. It might teach him a lesson", Jane theorised before I shook my head in disapproval.

"No way. He's dangerous and he could do anything to me. What if he finds out I'm not doing my job properly?" I asked her as I tidied up the papers now and placed them in a neat pile next to my lamp on the right.

"Don't get me wrong, but you've got nothing to lose. Think about it, how can your boss kiss you? That's sexual harassment within a work environment", Jane rationed with me, and I tilted my head back to stare at the ceiling. 'This was way more confusing than I thought it was going to be', I realised.

"Technically it wasn't sexual harassment, I returned the kiss. Hell, I even liked the way he kissed me. Plus, it wasn't even at work, it was at a party", I admitted before I closed my eyes and confessed, "I liked it so much it took my nerves to wake me up and make me pull away from him, now I'm utterly embarrassed."

"Oh... Then in that case, just wait and see what happens, let things progress in their own time. You like him, right?" Jane asked me and it took me a few minutes to ponder over that before I hesitantly agreed.

"Yeah, I think I do."

"Nora and Elijah, sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G, first comes love, second comes marriage, third comes th-."

"I swear to God, if you finish that I'll chop your hair off", I measly threatened.

"Pfft, yeah sure, whatever."

"I know you're just trying to tease me, but if I can like Elijah then you can like Landon too, just imagine the double dates", I retorted in a suggesting playful manner, one which skimmed over Jane's head and was lost somewhere in a trashcan.

"No", she sharply replied before her voice quivered and she stammered,
"You've crossed the line there. As much as double dates sound cute and all Landon and I are just friends."

I sighed heavily at that, depressed that this conversation hadn't brought to fruition enough advice as I had hoped for but at the same time I was confused as to why Jane kept denying Landon. 'They were such a cute couple and she's being so difficult!' I complained to myself, shaking my head in disgrace.

A shrill voice echoed into the phone as Maria shouted from somewhere far away, "Jane Smith, this is your last chance to walk down these stairs before I come up there myself and drag you down to the kitchen by your ear! Do not make me repeat myself!"
I chuckled at that before Jane responded defeatedly, "Anyways, I have to go now, mom's about to murder me. If you notice me missing, it was my mother, she's a psychopath. See you later", she whispered the last part before the call ended and I laughed loudly.

Mulling over Jane's words, I decided that she was mostly right, 'I should try to ignore him whenever I can, that way if I show him less interest, he'll stay away from me and eventually stop playing with me.' It was probably a dangerous decision to do such a thing, but he was the worst when it came to treating his assistants. He boasted about how he treats them like royalty, even his company had mentioned his amazing treatment, but he actually treated them worse than everyone assumed.

Glancing outside the window, the dark clouds smouldered through the remaining of the blue sky, its power dominating the last of the sun. I could feel tingles in the air. A sense of apprehension and foreboding at the sudden change in weather. 'I hope it rains, seems like it will', I thought to myself as an almighty gust of wind bellowed against my panes. I wrapped my arms around myself, intimidated and feeling cold. Gradually, thunder rolled around, its groaning strikes illuminating my garden and frightening my eyes. I gasped, eerily comforted by the thunder that raged on, almost like Elijah's eyes which raged a storm within themselves.
'Stop thinking about him', I chided myself turning away from the dark and gloomy clouds till I had crept back to my bed and huddled into the covers. My blanket surrounded my knees, and I took my laptop and decided to pass the time with some movies, comedy ones that could make me feel normal, like everything was under control and not falling apart right before me.

I hadn't even realised when my eyes had casually shut, and sleep had taken over. It must have been a long rest, since the moment my eyes looked around the room and my ears strained for any noise, I could tell that it had stopped raining. The room was entrapped in a peaceful state and the silence from the window made me sigh in satisfaction. I shifted in the bed, regaining some feeling back into my muscles. Taking a hold of my phone from the nightstand I scrolled through all the notifications I had evaded from last night. A bunch from Elijah, Elian, Mark, and an unknown number. 'Could it be? Maybe it's the same number that called me before', I wondered as I impatiently pressed on the message and glanced at the words, a frown etching on my face as it read:

I see the questions in your mind, you want to find the truth. So, let's play a little game. I'll send you a hint and if you're smart enough, you'll solve the puzzle on your own.

'What the hell is this? A cryptic riddle or a serial killer? What kind of puzzle is it on about? Who even is this random number?' Thoughts fired through my mind, and I quickly replied to the message, hoping to get a response:

Who are you? What puzzle are you talking about?

A few seconds later a response popped back, so fast was the reply that I was pretty sure this person had been waiting and enjoying the sick twisted game that was unfolding. If it was a prank, it wasn't funny. This was scaring me and sending me into a frenzy of paranoia all over again, but they were right. I was curious to find the answers to all those questions I'd accumulated, 'I want to know the truth', I finalised.

The reply was just as cryptic as the first one but at least it was leading me somewhere in a general direction that might assist me:

I've sent you some photographs as hints, little mouse. Check them out and hopefully you'll learn to understand SOMETHING from the big bad wolves lurking in your shadows.

I made a disgusted face at the stranger's weird play on words, their creative writing skills making me shudder. There were four attachments added under the message and as I clicked on them with worry, I noticed the same guy from yesterday at the party. 'It's that guy that had made moves on me, Ben, was his name', I recognised as my eyes widened and I leaned closer to the phone, trying to understand the scenario in the photos.

The first photo showed the white-haired male with Elian Cooper. Their venue was a skyscraper restaurant with floor to ceiling glass, the photo seemed to be taken during the evening when the skies were turning purple and the lights surrounding the city were illuminating below them. In between the tables and seats were vibrant green trees, lit up by evening fairy lights. I could see Ben and Elian sitting at one of the tables in the corner. As they ate their meals and drank their alcohol, I could see the two of them laughing and getting on with each other. It seemed to me that they were close, so close that I'd assume they were friends rather than associates or business accomplices.

The second photo involved Ben with Elijah Cooper and Anna Brown. They were standing in front of an old-looking building, huddled close to one another, and talking while surveying the area around them with suspicious glances. It seemed they were listening to Anna who was standing tall with a bossy expression on her face when the photo was taken. The building's architecture reminded me of the Victorian era. Whilst it was white with barred glass panes and was decorated with massive gargoyles on its rooftops, I could tell it was historical and one of the few rare places that were overlooked by the tall modern skyscrapers surrounding NYC.

I was confused with this second photo, 'Was Ben their family? Why would the unknown number show me a photo of these three together? It wasn't really anything interesting or revealing as a photo to be honest', I decided. This entire photo set seemed pointless, so Ben knew the Cooper's and hung around them, so what?

The third photo however had the hair on the back of my neck standing and a small gasp leaving my lips. In front of a small rural cafeteria my father was cradling Ben in a tight embrace as they smiled to each other. They must have either just arrived at the location or were ready to leave the cafeteria, hugging in a bid of goodbye. It wasn't the fact that they were at a cafeteria that shocked me, no, it was the tight fatherly embrace that they shared that had my stomach twisting in envy and hate. 'What? Did Ben know my dad? What's the connection between Ben, my dad, and the Coopers?' I asked frustratedly.

It was when I looked again at the photo that my eyebrows furrowed, and I demanded to myself that I get answers because these photos were just piling more questions up. 'If there's something between Ben and my dad then why hadn't my father revealed to us anything about him?' I lastly questioned. I started to formulate a plan that would work in interrogating my mother and father about these issues. Maybe I'd have better luck questioning mom since I was closer to her, and I got along with her unlike my father.

One last photo waited to be opened and as my finger hovered over the button, I mustered up the courage to open it. I waited as the image pixelated on my screen before realising that the photo was simply Ben's face. There was a white background behind him, most likely a passport photo that he had taken however, when I analysed his face, I saw the eerily similar facial features we shared. The same eye colour, the same eyebrow shape and nose design. There was a familiarity in our cupid's bow line and jaw features. We were too alike and that scared me.
My mind was swirling in light-headedness, and I could feel my body getting weaker, stars appeared before my eyes and bile crept up my throat making me nauseous. If it wasn't for the fact I was sitting, I was pretty sure I'd have fainted right there on the spot. A text connected to my phone yet again and when I exited the photo to read the message, all the symptoms came back twice as forcefully, and I had to close my eyes and take a few deep breaths.

~Ben William Jones (1992).

Funny. The man that had tried to hit on me at a party, who seemed to know my father really well and was tied to the Coopers, was the same man that had my middle name as well. 'What a coincidence', I deemed sarcastically.

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