Chapter 3

Money Isn't The Reason

I awoke to the sound of the door slamming close and it kept doing that. Deciding after a while, I got up to see what was making the noise. Entering the main room, Andrew was sitting there with a blanket around him and messy bed head.

"Andrew? What is that noise?" I walk over to join him and he gives me part of the blanket to go under.

"They are working on our pipes. I guess we have a leak or something, but it's too damn early for that." Andrew's face is a bright red, which means he has a killer headache, which means a hangover.

"Well, it wouldn't be that bad if you could continue your drinking. Look at me. One shot and goodnight." The banging slows down and I ease myself into the blanket. Andrew rubbed his temple.

After a while the banging completely stops. I went back to my room and finish up my sleep. Waking up to the door bell ringing on and on, I slipped out of the warm bed and felt the chill on my naked legs. I ran to the door and opened it to see a smiling face.

"Do you wake up beautiful?" Theo was at my door looking me up and down. With no pants on and a crop top, I bet there was a lot to see.

"How'd you find my apartment?" I stood in the doorway shivering a little.

"Well, my sister came here yesterday, and we still live together, so I asked her. Now go inside and get dressed. I'm going to take you somewhere." He walked in pushing me a little.

"What makes you think I want to go somewhere with you?" I crossed my arms and give him a face while he proceeds to my sofa to sit on it.

"Well, I sent you texts saying I was and you never said no to them, so I guessed you wanted to. Plus, I am a sex god. You said it yourself." He smirked and I mentally slapped myself. This guy had some kind of ego that is way too big.

"Well, I could have been ignoring you, you know." I turned away from him, flipping my ponytail. Behind me I could hear a laugh.

"Gosh, Vanilla. You could just say you want the D, and I'll gladly give it to you." His voice made me laugh. This year was going to be fun. He was a funny guy all-in-all. I started walking to my room when Andrew's door opened. I turned towards Theo and he gave me a questionable look.

"Keep your voices down. I have a killer hangover." Andrew walked back into his room and closed the door. I burst into laughter. I walked into my room and Theo followed.

"Who was that?" He stood in the doorway as I turned towards him.

"Andrew, my roommate, why? Are you jealous?" I smirk rose on my lips.

"Nah, any guy would make sure that they slept in your room." I walked into my closet and searched for something to wear.

"Where are we going to? And what are we doing afterwards?" I kept searching. I had very few clothing because I didn't have time to shop for Washington's weather.

"Well, I wanted to go to the park that's opening, well more like I have to, and honestly it'd be boring without someone." I looked through my clothing. I decided to pick a flora dress because well, why not?

"Are we going to have sex?" I heard him laugh.

"Sex God has to do something." I took that as a yes and picked good underwear. I walked into the bathroom and changed.

~~~

"Damn, you look hot." Theo wrapped his arms around me and kissed me. I pulled away and slipped my hand into his as we walked out of the apartment. I clicked the elevator button and it opens up and we enter. "Are you going to be able to handle today?"

"What do you mean? We are just going to a park opening." I looked over at him as he grabbed both of my hands.

"Well, since I kind of am the president's son, all of America will be talking about you because technically we are going together and they'd think we're a couple." His face turned red and I laughed.

"That's cute, but I don't care. I just want to be with you." I kissed his lips and he smirked.

"What happened to teasing me?" His lips brushed mine and kissed me again. I felt his lips lock with mine and the elevator became VERY hot. He let go of my hands and wrapped them around my waist. Responding to that I wrapped mine around his neck. I playfully bit his bottom lip. He moaned. The elevator bell dinged and he let go. A smirk raised in his face. "Good Morning."

~~~

The park was crowded, to say the least. Right when Theo and I walked near the park, everyone was around us. Cameras flashing and lots of pushing. When we made it to the big ribbon connected between two trees, Theo pulled me really close to him and whispered in my ear. "If we walk out of here alive, then I'll take you somewhere fancy for dinner."

I laughed at his remark and I looked at him in the eyes. They were really beautiful, they shined perfectly which made me really jealous because brown eyes aren't the most attractive. Theo pulled me close again and whispered again. "Stop checking me out. You can do that later in bed." He nibbled my ear and I laughed. Cameras flash all around us and I knew I was going to be in the newspaper tomorrow and my boss was going to see it, and he was going to smile.

After about an hour of camera flashing and people walking up to Theo and I, the opening started.

"Jameson Park is in Honor of Leonardo Jameson, who died the summer of 2011. We honor him for his act of braveness, loyalty, and kindness. Without people like him, where would we be? This park was all funded from each and everyone of you. We and Leonardo's family thank you for that. Here today for the rope cutting we have Mr. Times, our president, son, Theodore Times, to cut the ribbon to open the park." The announcer walks over to Theo and I and hands a huge pair of scissors to Theo. Theo follows the announcer to the ribbon.

Theo smiles as cameras flash on him. I look around the crowd and people are staring at me. It's kind of annoying, but I just smile, doing what Theo is. Everyone's attention goes to Theo again and he simply cuts the ribbon and steps out of the way. Everyone starts running in and I just move out of the crowd.

I stand there awkwardly then some people start walking over to me. "Are you Theodore Times' girlfriend?" I turn around to see a crowd of girls behind me looking very angry. I turn back around to see mics all around me and cameras. I didn't answer because I wasn't sure if Theo was okay with it.

I feel a tug at the end of my dress. I look down to see a little girl. I bend down to her to see what she's doing. She takes my hand and starts moving away from the crowd. I follow her and the crowd moves with me. The little girl starts running and I follow. Soon the crowd is gone and I look back to see Theo with them all.

After the little girl drags me deep into the woods behind the park she turns towards me. "You killed my daddy." She starts tearing up and I look at her in question.

"Sweetheart, who is your daddy?" She grabs my hand and points at my ring. I freeze. The man at the hotel was her dad. I didn't know what to do. "Sweetie, this is a ring from Theodore, my boyfriend." She grabbed the ring off me and pointed to the jewel. It had a picture of a woman that I'd never seen before.

"That's my mommy. You killed my daddy." I didn't know what to do. Does she want me to say sorry or something?

"I'm sorry Sweetie, but what do you want?"

"I want the ring to give to my mommy." She tugged my dress and I didn't know what to do. I handed her the ring.

"Don't tell anyone who killed your daddy, you understand?" She nods and I start walking away. I hear some noise behind me and I turn and see several people. At least a group of 4 with all guns pointing at me. That 'OH SHIT' moment just happened.

"Ash, we meet again." The voice creeps in my ear and I look him in the eyes. Mr. Times is standing there with a smile on his face.

"What do you want?" I bend over and pull my knife out of my shoe.

"Ha. Ash, 4 vs. 1, I know you won't win. You never do. You will end up like your sister.  Dead." He walked over to me and pushed me into a tree. Pinning my arms to the tree, he took my knife from me. "Ash, you are so cute. just like your sister."

"Stop touching me. I'm not that defenseless. I can sure as hell kick hard." I tried struggling and he just laughed. after a while a felt something cold against my skin. I froze. "Please."

"Ah. Hopeless little Ash. Just like your sister. Maybe you will end like her too." He laughed and I felt the metal sign into my skin. I wanted to scream, but who would save me? No one was around me at least half a mile and even if I could scream, they'd still escape and I'd probably still be killed.

“If you kill me now, then where's the fun for later? Going to kill a poor innocent little girl?” I felt the metal leave my skin and I smiled. But just as fast as the metal left, it enter my arm. Cutting it down the side. I had so much pain that I couldn't yell. I let out a sad yelp. He chucked.

“I'm not going to kill you, but I'm going to make it where you'll wish you did.” He stabbed the knife into my stomach and my legs gave way. I tasted iron in my mouth and the coughing started. I looked down to try to pull the knife out because if I fell to the floor then the knife would go deeper. I grabbed it and started pulling it out. The sound of flesh ripping made me sick. I coughed more, and this time blood came up.

“Vanilla!” Theo's voice was off in the distance and I saw Mr. Times start walking away. With the last of my strength, I pulled out the knife and threw it to the ground. The pain became numb and I felt my eyelids get very heavy. Leaves around me were falling and I just hoped Theo would find me before I lose too much blood.

~ ~ ~

I could hear people's voices. I couldn't make out what they were saying, but I knew it was something bad because I could hear men's strong voices booming. I tried to open my eyes, but I couldn't seem to. After trying for a while I managed to get them enough to see light. It burned them, so I closed them once more.

“Is she okay?” I could hear Andrew's voice. I sighed in relief. Someone I knew, knew about this.

“They said she should be waking up. It's only been an hour since the attack, so it could be weeks before she does.” The unknown voice seemed familiar.

“Dad, is she alive?” Theo's voice was comforting, but made me sad. 'Dad' meant the man who did this to me, and I didn't want to have to make up lies right now. I felt an arm on my cut from the knife first and I bolted up. My eyes opened to see everyone surprised, even Mr. Times. I looked straight at Mr. Times and he smirked at me. I layed back down and looked over at Theo and Andrew. "Vanilla?"

"That's the name." I rudely turned away from them. I didn't want to be in the same room as Mr. Times. He was my worst enemy and I didn't want to share the same breath with him. I looked over because no one spoke. "I just want to talk to Andrew." Theo and Mr. Times looked at me. Theo had the surprise look going on, and Mr. Times had the smirk still on. Soon after my request they walked out.

"Vanilla, did he do that?" He sat at the edge of my bed and I just curled more in my blankets.

"Who else? He walks in her all Innocent like he wasn't part of anything. What was the story about me?" I let out a puff of anger.

"Theo was looking for you and found you covered in blood. He brought you here and his dad felt he needed to come as well."

"Well, he didn't need to. The damn man did this to me. So what did the doc say about me?" I let my eyes close slowly.

"Nothing was damaged, but it will leave bad scars. They want to keep you here for a while. I have a date with Alice." I open my eyes to see Andrew gazing out the window.

"How do you like her?" I lean up and lay on Andrew.

"She demanding. Didn't let me have much dominance last night." I laughed.

"We were raised the same. The leader. That's why we could never have sex together, we'd be fighting the whole time." We shared a laugh and fell into silence. I wondered why Mr. Times had come. He didn't have to, and he probably didn't want to. He hated me and I hated him. That's why we're trying to kill each other. I don't understand that man.

I knock on the door scared Andrew and I. "Can I come in?" The voice behind the door was Theo.

"Come in, I was just leaving." Theo opens the door. "Bye Vanilla." Andrew kisses the top of my head and walks out. Theo awkwardly comes to sit beside me.

"Hello sexy." I give him a smirk and he laughs.

"How's the pain?" He grabs my hand and I feel the warmth.

"A bitch, but I should be okay. So what was it like seeing me all away from you?" We share a laugh.

"I was actually worried, so do remember what happened?" I grunted.

"It was someone who hates me, but I'm fine. I've been cut up worse than this before." Theo looks at me in shock.

"Vanilla I can get you people to protect you from him." I laugh.

"It's not that easy. Plus, it'll all end soon, so it's fine."

"But Vanilla, you could have died."

"He didn't mean to. There is a day where he will try to kill me, so I'm not scared till then." I kiss his lips to reassure him.

"I'll give money to let me get rid of him." Theo shocked me from that. I simply laughed at it.

"Money isn't the reason, money can't get him off me, plus it's kind of fun this way." The nurse comes in and sends Theo away while she checks up on me. I look towards the door to see Mr. Times smiling. And I smiled back.