COMPLICATED – Episode 3

Complicated

Written by Princess Juliet

Episode 3

Could their meeting be fate

It was Monday morning. The sun had risen brightly and its slanting rays shone into the open window and casted a golden glow on Atarah’s face.

She was standing in front of the mirror, humming a tune as she got ready for school. Her first day at college, she wanted to look really smart.

Jeans, sneakers and a white T-shirt made up her attire, her black hair was up in a bun that revealed the delicate cut of her elfin features.

Perfect! She smiled and turned around, admiring herself.

“Let me go please,”
A muffled scream accompanied with a loud bang made her pause. It sounded like people struggling, and was nearby at that.

“Ken, please let me go,” The sound came again, and Atarah cocked her head to the right to listen closely. Someone was crying in the sitting room.

Alarmed, she grabbed her handbag and rushed out of the room and caught her breathe when she saw the appalling sight.

A bald headed man was right there in the sitting room trying to have his way with her mother.

“Mother,” She slowly looked her mother up and down, eyes wide open in shock. Her mother’s gown was ripped nearly in half from the neck down,with one portion hanging near to her knees while she clutched the other about her brea$t. “What is going on here?” Atarah had so lost her breath that she was left almost speechless.

Her mother met her eyes, then closed hers and swallowed hard, fighting back tears. “I’m sorry.”was all she could say.

“Who is she, Maria?” The bald headed man looked confused as he stared from mother and daughter. “Is she your …………”

“Just go away, Luke,” Atarah’s mum burst into furious tears, she was angry with herself for letting things get out of hand.

“Do you really mean that?”The bald headed man, Luke gave her a wary look.

“Yes,”She screamed so loud it spooked Atarah, “ Go away and don’t ever return again,”

“Then be prepared to leave my house,” Luke said angrily and stormed out, his boot heels clicking sharply as he went.

Atarah turned to her mother immediately, “Who is that man?”She stared at her most intently, “Is he your lover? Your landlord? Or your boss?”Gosh! She didn’t know what to think.

Her mother could only blink and stare back at her, she didn’t know her to respond.

“Answer me mum,” Her silence did not only infuriate Atarah, it also made her disgusted, “Are you sleeping with your landlord to avoid paying your rentage ?”

“No… no…no,” Her mum cried, shaking her head vigorously, “it is not what you think?”

“But why mum?” Atarah wasn’t ready to listen to that, “Why?”her voice sank to a whisper and she looked at her mother conflicted, “If living in America was so hard, then why didn’t you just stay with us in the Philippines, why did you abandon me, why did you……”She was unable to control the emotions that ravaged her body and began to cry, her tears muffled and soft… “why didn’t….you….just… stay with me?”

“Oh dear,” Her mother attempted to console her, but she took a step back and gave her a stony glare. “Don’t,” she warned and her mother let out a deep sigh.

“You are too young to understand,”

“Young, you say?” Atarah taunted her, “I am almost twenty-one should incase you’ve forgotten.”Broken hearted and disappointed, she walked out of her mother’s presence and ran all the way to the bus station, crying her eyes out.

~

A shuttle bus was available to take passengers to the Washington state university. Atarah got in and sat down huddled in the corner, her fragile body looking childlike as she trembled.

She was confused, very confused about her mother. She still didn’t understand why she’d chosen to live a careless life.

‘If only I can just get a good part time job,’she sighed sadly and looked out of the window, her nostrils twitching like they always did when she was in deep thought.

Eventually, the bus came to a screeching halt.
Atarah looked up and her countenance changed as she stared in awe at the huge school gate, she was no more sad.

She stood up, like a woman in a trance and got off the bus, clutching her handbag tightly in one hand.

“Wow,” she exclaimed breathlessly at the magnificent building

Her dream school. She had to deal with the pain of rejection twice before she finally got accepted.

It was hard work, perseverance, studying, determination, sacrifice……

“Hi,”
The sudden sound of a voice interrupted her thoughts. She turned around and saw that it was an extremely beautiful girl with a long wavy hair.

Is she a goddess or what? Atarah got lost for a moment admiring her beautiful face.

“Hi,” The girl greeted again, “I’m very sorry if I startled you. My name is Hilary and I’m new here,” she introduced herself, her accent was exotic and complemented her sexy, sultry voice.

“Oh,”Atarah nodded her head and smiled, putting on a serious face. “It’s nice meeting you Hilary but as can you see, I’m also a freshman here.”she mimicked Hilary’s accent.

“Oh my bad,” Hilary’s chuckle was low and soft, “And I was thinking I am the only fresher here,” She said in a joking drawl. “C,mon let’s go look around the lecture halls.”

“Really?” Atarah beamed with delight at her remark, she hadn’t expected to get a friend so easily, a beautiful one at that.

“Yes,” Hilary caught her by surprise when she lowered her hand and took one of hers as they walked towards a fairly crowded building. Atarah glanced down at their interlocked fingers and smiled inwardly.

“You still haven’t told me your name?” Hilary reminded her.

“It’s Atarah,”She replied quickly all in one breathe, “Atarah Jones,”

“And your major?” Hilary glanced briefly at her.

“I haven’t decided that yet.”

“Same with me,” Hilary gave a little giggle,”It seems we have a lot in common.”

Atarah said nothing, but simply nodded.
She and this pretty girl definitely couldn’t have anything in common. Her dressing speaks class, her walking steps, graceful, her voice………

“You’re not American, are you?”Hilary’s question was sharp enough to make her jerk.

“Why did you ask?” she retorted rather too sharply

“Your accent? You know……”Hilary shrugged her shoulders lightly, as if she was being scolded. “And your name?”

“Of course I am,”Atarah laughed softly, sweetly, “but I spent most of my life in the Philippines,”she added, seeing Hilary puzzled expression.

“Meaning you travelled all the way here just to attend this college,”Hilary looked surprised.

“No,” Atarah shook her head sadly, “I also came searching for someone,” She mumbled this words so Hilary wouldn’t hear but unfortunately she did. She gave Atarah a long puzzled stare, then set her gaze straight ahead.

She is definitely crazy, she nodded her head in silent thoughts, Yeah, definitely crazy.

~~The Hobsons mansion~~~

After a thorough workout in the gym, Jayden Hobsons was left breathless and was pouring with sweats.

His dark sleeveless shirt was wet, and it clung to his body, outlining every ripple and cut of his abs.

He was dangerously handsome and he knew it.

He took out a handkerchief to wipe out the cold sweat from his forehead and gulped down a bottled water before heading to the swimming pool.

Swimming was Jayden’s best sport, it helps him elevate his mood, relax and reduce his stress levels.

He stared lost at the water, now shimmering in the hot, mid morning sun for a moment before proceeding to take off his clothes.

His head moved up just then and he saw that Greg was leaning against the balcony watching him, his eyes had a distant far away look, like a sailor staring out of sea.

Jayden could tell he was meditating. “Hey bro,”he raised his voice to greet him, smiled and waved his hand.

Greg didn’t move, he barely even reacted. He just nodded his head at his brother and looked away.

“Crazy,”Jayden scoffed, he dived gracefully into the water and swam down to the deep end, the water felt deliciously cool on his skin.

“I knew I would find you here,” Hearing the familiar voice made him smiled. He turned and began swimming back to the shallow end.

“What brought you here, Nancy?” He let his gaze wander away from her, he was fighting the urge to check her out. Damn! she looked so hot in her short blue gown.

Although she wasn’t all that beautiful, she was really attractive and was his best friend too, how could he forget that!

Nancy smiled a charming smile, her blue eyes sparkling in the bright sunlight. “Do I need a reason to see my best friend?”

“Oh yeah, you don’t.” Jayden held up his hands in mock surrender and Nancy laughed out loudly.

“You going to school today?” He asked her as he climbed out of the pool.

Nancy almost went into a frenzy. She stared, mesmerised at the water dripping down his hard chest and bit her lower lip absentmindedly.

“I’m talking to you, Nancy.”Jayden’s voice snapped her out of her perverted thoughts

“Erm…No, I mean Yes,” She managed to compose herself, her cheeks flushing with embarrassment.

Jayden smirked. “Alright college girl,” He teased and Nancy cuffed his shoulder playfully, laughing out loudly to reduce the awkward tension.

“I’m still at a loss on how you graduated college so early.”

“That is because I’m a genius,” Jayden told her and that was the truth. He sat down at the edge of the pool deck and Nancy pulled off her shoes before joining him, her arms was folded across her chest as she dabbed her feet into the cool water.

“Have your dad told you about the arranged marriage?”Her question made Jayden uncomfortable.

He bent his head slightly to one side and racked his brain for the perfect response

“Yes,” He finally spoke, “Did you give consent to it?”

Nancy nodded her head slowly, “Actually, I was the one who suggested the marriage,”She spoke slowly enough for Jayden to understand.

“What?” His gaze was focused on her and he looked at her genuinely surprised.

“It is not a big deal, is it?” She glanced at him and met his gaze for a brief second. “My marriage is gonna be arranged anyways.”She let out a deep sigh.

“But I can’t marry you,” Jayden blurted out and instantly regretted his choice of words when he saw the hurt look on her face. “No, I meant to say that I ain’t ready.”He quickly changed his words.

Nancy cloaked her disappointment with a smile. “Will you ever be ready?”She pushed him into the water and He fell in with a loud splash.

“Oh! C’mon Nancy, you know I have a modelling sh00t this afternoon,”Jayden came up the water, coughing and spluttering. “ I can’t risk getting too tired.”

Nancy laughed hard at him just like old times and this made him laughed too, her contagious laughter infected him.

“Come here Gal, I’m gonna wet you too.” He swam towards her. Nancy tried to run but it was too late, her sorry a$$ was thrown into the water.

“I hate you Jay,” She screamed piercingly.

In response to her outburst, Jayden flipped water at her and she turned away, swimming strongly to the other side of the pool.

Greg still stood there in the balcony and was watching all of this with a light smile plastered on his face.

~~ Washington state University~~~

The lecture finally ended and Atarah couldn’t be any happier.

Yes, it was her first day in college but the lecturer’s teaching method made it so boring and long.

She put her books into her bag and stood up in a huff.

“Where are you rushing to?” A voice spoke from behind her——Hilary.

Gosh, Tarah! She facepalmed herself, how could you have forgotten about her? She mentally scolded herself, she was a good company to you, right?

She turned around and smiled her sweetest smile. “Job hunting.” She gave Hillary a response to her question.

“Job hunting?” Hilary looked her up and down. “You are looking for a job?”

Atarah nodded. “Then why can’t you try modelling?” Hilary suggested.

“Modelling?” Atarah muttered, confused, she didn’t know what to think.

“Yes,” Hilary rose excitedly to her feet and slung her handbag over her shoulder, “My boyfriend is the manager of Ford models, one of top modelling agencies here in Seattle. He is also a good friend to Jayden Hobsons.” She said this rather proudly, “You have heard about him right?”

“Who is he?”Atarah was curious.

Hilary laughed lightly as they walked out of the lecture hall. “He is the second son of the Hobsons, a born genius who got his medical degree at the age of twenty-one………

Atarah could only nod her head, she didn’t even know who the Hobsons were.

……Jayden is also a brand model and most importantly, super cute.” Hilary gazed up with a dreamy look in her eyes and Atarah was forced to laugh.

“I thought you said you had a boyfriend.”

“Of course I do,” Hilary’s laughter followed them along with the wind as they walked beside a parking lot and stopped in front of a red sport car.

“Is this yours?” Atarah foolishly asked as she pulled the front door open.

“Nah,” Hilary shook her head slightly, “It belongs to my dad. He lent it to me for…………”She suddenly stopped talking and kept her gaze behind Atarah.

Atarah quickly turned around and saw she was looking at a tall girl with hour glass shape who had a phone glued to her ear.

“Nancy.” Hilary whispered and Atarah looked back at her.

“Nancy?” She raised a questioning eyebrow.

“Never mind,” Hilary brushed it aside with a light chuckle and slid into the driver seat.

Atarah mimicked her. She slid into the passenger seat beside her and slammed the door shut.

Hilary started the car. She drove out of the school compound and up the busy highway.

Just as she was about taking a sharp bend, Atarah screamed. “Stop the car please,”

“Why?”Hilary looked at her, alarmed.

“Please stop the car,” She begged, her voice sounding so weak, as if she were faraway.

Hilary slowed the car down and pulled off to the side of the road so that she wouldn’t block traffic.

“What is wrong?” She faced Atarah then.

“There… there……was an hospital here before right?” she pointed to a huge abandoned building down the road.

Hilary looked towards the building, confused.
An hospital? Yeah, she had heard about the place too but thought it was a mere rumour, about a little girl who almost died, then survived and bla bla bla.

But why is she asking? She looked at Atarah and noticed the tears that had formed in her eyes.

“Right?” Atarah blinked back her tears, swallowed the ache in her throat and hugged herself as she whimpered. “That building used to be an hospital before right?” she asked again.

Hilary sighed, “I don’t really………”

“Then how am I going to find him?” Atarah half shouted.

“Find who?” Hilary felt even more confused.

“The boy from the hospital, the boy I like. I don’t even know him, it is like he is two in my head, I am confused, I don’t even understand myself, I keep on seeing him in my dream. I thought……I thought……She broke down and suddenly began to cry. Hilary stared at her helplessly. “……….I thought I could start searching from this hospital but……but……”

“Do you know his name?” Hilary softly asked and Atarah shook her head no

“How then do you intend finding him?“

“He has my neck chain.”Came Atarah’s response.

Hilary scoffed at this, it sounded stupid to her.
“Do you know the current population here in Seattle? It is close to eight hundred thousand.”

“I can still try,” Atarah said in a small voice, “I mean he has a red birthmark somewhere around his face,” She could still remember that.

“That’s even if he still here in Seattle,”Hilary mumbled under her breathe.

“What did you say?”Atarah looked at her.

“Nothing,”She started the car and sped off, a lot of questions was running through her mind.

~~~

After driving for about twenty miles, Hilary finally braked and parked out in front of a building painted white.

“Is this the place?” Atarah asked, she was very quiet all through the drive and that made the atmosphere so tense.

“Yes,” Hilary replied cooly.

They both stepped out of the car and made their way into the building, coming across several semi unclad women on the way.

“Is this a home for porn stars?” Atarah couldn’t hide her disgust.

Hilary laughed heartily. “No Tarah, this is what modelling is all about.” She stepped into a glass room and her eyes lit up when she saw the blonde guy laying on the only sofa in the room with his back facing her.

“Toby,”She whispered softly in his ear and only then did he look at her.

“Hey babe,”He smiled and stretched lazily, leaning forward to kiss her.

Atarah stood still at the entrance, watching them with huge eyes. She longed to be kissed like this by her prince charming someday.

“Who is she?” Toby asked, noticing her for the first time.

“My friend,” Hilary grinned from ear to ear, “ I brought her here to model for you,”

Toby didn’t say anything. He slowly let his gaze roam all over her, his eyes taking in her figure, her full form and her curve. “Beautiful,”He said this a little too loud and the girls looked at him, puzzled.

“You’re gonna be modelling with Jayden Hobsons,”He said after clearing his throat.

“Jayden?” Hilary looked at him with wide eyes, shocked by his word. She couldn’t believe her ears.

Jayden Hobsons walked in right at that moment with his eyes glued to his phone.

“Hey Buddy,” Toby stood up to greet him, “You came at the right time, we were just talking about you.”

“About me?”Jayden looked up from his phone and stared at him.

“Yes,” He moved forward and whispered to him, “I got you a new modelling partner and she is very pretty. Check her out.” He nodded his head towards Atarah.

Jayden moved his head sideways and Atarah eyes grew wide with recognition.

After a moment of suspense silence, both of them said, in unison. “You?” And then Jayden scoffed. “This isn’t gonna happen.”

TBC