VEGAS

Damien snatched his lips, almost pushing her away. She was embarrassed. 

"What the hell was that? How could you kiss me without my consent?"

Damien scolded, ignoring her signals for him to stop. 

"It's not as if you even know how to kiss. What the hell, chewing my lips as though she found some cow hide."

He stomped off. While the lady tried to speak to the dignitaries, 

"I'm-- I -"

She decided to walk away, too, covering her face. Dead stares!

"How dare she do that? Who the fuck does she think she is? She must have so much guts to think she could casually do that and get away with it."

Damien had walked out and was climbing the stairs, which led to the deck of the yacht. 

"If it was the other way round, and we were in Vegas, they'd be a myriad of critiques trying to have my throat. But now that I did it, I'd be called cruel and bad."

He grunted again. 

"Fucked up society. I just want to punch everybody."

He shut his eyes gritting his teeth.  

"If it wasn't because of that crazy bitch that randomly sent me here, why would this have happened? The last thing on my mind is kissing some girl who -"

He shut his eyes and allowed the soothing breeze of the ocean to tease his face. 

Then slowly, he spread his arms out, his head tossed highly.

"I wish this yacht took me back to the island. So I could make those rich dumbasses pay once and for all."

He sighed. 

"Or at least take me back to Vegas. I can't believe that I want to see Jada so badly."

 Suddenly, he raised his voice. 

"YOU CRAZY BITCH, I'M DONE WITH YOUR SHITTY TASK!!!"

He yelled like the lady from the hall would hear him. 

"Oh, you are from Vegas."

He turned to see Marie. 

OH SHIT, NOT THIS GIRL AGAIN. 

"I had no idea. I thought you were from the other side. I mean, the ocean is connected to so many geographical settings."

NOBODY ASKED YOU, GIRL. CAN YOU PLEASE GO AWAY? 

"I'm sorry that I was a little pushy out there. I shouldn't have done that. I was wrong. I'm sorry."

The lady apologised.  

DID SHE JUST APOLOGISE? OH GOOD LORD, MY WHOLE LIFE HAS BEEN A LIE. DO GIRLS REALLY SAY SORRY? HOW I WISH ABOUT FOUR OF THE NINE GIRLS WERE HERE TO HEAR SOMEONE WHO BELONGS TO THEIR GENDER SAY THE WORD. 

After admiring her for a while, he looked away.

"So... uhmm..."

He heard Marie mumbling. 

"How about I give you a ride to Vegas? I mean, that's the least I could do. You are a stranger I never knew. I felt an impule to come outside in the middle of the media chaos. And there you were. You see, it was really weird that something like this could happen and we -"

"Hold on. Hold on."

Damien interrupted, 

"Huh? Did something happen? What happened?"

Marie was a little confused by the manner at which Damien had just cut in. 

"Rewind a little."

He said to her, staring her deep in the eyes. Her cheeks turned red by his strong masculine stare. 

"I never thought you could help me even though it made no sense that a stranger could -"

"Not that... go back again... keep going..." 

"I couldn't think of any other thing that -"

"No... not that, you F --- something about Vegas."

Damien decided to make up for the error he almost made out of rage. 

"You mean, my offer to take you back to Vegas?"

Marie asked with so much innocence. She looked so fickle, soft, and innocent. Which further amplified the overload of her cuteness. 

"Yes, that. Is there Vegas around here?"

Damien's eyes were shone in excitement. 

"Of course there is."

She chuckled. 

Suddenly, Damien rushed to her and pulled her into his chest, hugging her so fiercely and roughly. 

"Oh... ow..."

She was stunned and struggling. 

"Let's go now, please. Let's go."

He pulled away from her and grabbed her wrist. He started to pull her with himself...

HOLD ON, JADA, I WILL BE HOME SOON. 

He was intoxicated by the excitement. But when he realised that Marie wasn't walking as fast as he wanted her to, he halted, turned to her, and scooped her into his arms. 

"Wow...."

Marie couldn't believe her eyes... Damien didn't care. He had his reasons...

Marie's eyes were glued to the side of his face... her cheeks turning red again. 

-------

"So if I may ask, what were you doing out there on your own? Was that some sort of sport that I don't know about? I mean, it's quite strange to be on such a thing in the middle of such a large ocean. I mean, it must take much bravery. And to think that you didn't even have a yacht or a boat. How did you plan on returning to Vegas if you are really from there?"

Damien was exhausted, even though he wasn't the one who was talking.

"You must be a man who doesn't like to talk much. Unlike me. I guess I am the opposite of the kinda person you are. Some people say I can't even go a minute without talking. I bet I talk too when I'm sleeping."

Marie chuckled. Damien shot a glance at her.

"You don't have a boyfriend, do you?"

Damien asked out of the blue. The yacht was going at full speed.

"Well, this might sound a little lame."

Marie started. 

"But I always told the media that I have a boyfriend and was keeping it away from them. They all believed me. They must be gullible."

She took a quick pause.

"The media pretend to be wise, but at the end of the day, they are just clueless and dumb. Only unless they are being manipulated by the elites."

Damien's eyes squinted when she said the last words. 

SHE KNOWS ABOUT THE ELITES TOO? SHE ISN'T DUMB AFTER ALL. 

"When the CEOs finally requested that they have my boyfriend read the message, I was breathless. I almost choked. I thought I was going to pass out at once. I listened to the voice in my head, and here we are."

She turned fully to him,

"You are like an angel sent from heaven to me. And I will stop at nothing to pay you in kind."

She smacked her lips,

"I don't care whichever way this may sound to you, but I don't mind if you want to hit... I'll willingly let you have your way?"

Damien wasn't really shocked by her last words. 

"You have no idea how much what you did means to me."

Her face suddenly was dull yet emotional. 

"Well, like I said earlier..."

Damien started,

"You are not my type. And I mean, the last thing on my mind is having sex. I have businesses to tend to. The best thing you could do was tell me that we are headed to Vegas. Which you already did. So, no, I don't want to hit."

As soon as Damien stopped talking, Marie looked defeated. As though her ego had been crushed to a pulp. 

"How will you keep convincing the media that you have a boyfriend? I mean, you won't see me ever again."

Damien asked. Marie lifted her gaze to look at him. Her eyes were dead red, and a deep glare ate up every corner of her face. 

"It's none of your business."

She gritted her teeth.  

WELL, I GUESS I DID A GOOD JOB GETTING HER TO KEEP SHUT. 

Damien threw his face to the side and stole a smile. 

The yacht came to a stop finally. Damien turned to the lady,

"Well, this is where we say goodbye."

"Just go!"

She snapped at him, rolling her eyes. Damien picked no offence. Those attitudes were familiar. He climbed out of the yacht. 

"Proud Cork..."

He heard her cuss, but he didn't care. He jumped off the yacht. 

"Oh my God! It's Vegas for real!"

His excitement had just scaled another altitude. He just couldn't believe his eyes. 

"This is the same dock. But why is it empty, though? That fool is usually here."

He walked out of the dock and hailed at a cab. When he got to his destination, he realised that he had no cash. 

"Oh shit, I don't have anything on -"

Vroom! When he lifted his head, the taxi had left and was zooming away. 

"Hey! You didn't even take money?!"

He called on top of his voice. 

"Whatever! It's your loss."

 He walked towards the big gate of the magnificent estate. As soon as he saw one of the security guards,

"Heyy!"

He called. 

"Boss, welcome."

The security officer jumped up and bowed to him. Damien nodded. 

I'M TRULY HOME. FUCK THAT BITCH FROM THE HALL. SHE REALLY THOUGHT I WOULD RETURN TO HER? WHO DID SHE THINK SHE WAS, LILITH OR MEDUSA?

He smiled at the thought. 

"Is Jada in her apartment, or is she with Elisa?"

He asked the gaurd.

"Both of them drove in a few days ago."

A FEW DAYS AGO?

"Okay."

He walked towards the pink duplex and pushed the doorbell. 

"Jada, open up. It's me. Your baby daddy."

He called and then rang the bell again. Suddenly, the door opened. He stepped in at once. The door opened by itself. 

"Jada."

He called, but there was no one in sight. The living room was empty and everywhere, unusually silent. 

"Where did she go? Jada?"

He called again. 

"You could have been a little nice to her. I mean, not every girl could be bold enough to offer herself so casually."

A random voice came out nowhere. But immediately Damien heard the voice. He knew who it was. The lady from the hall. 

"Fuck this. Fuck this!"

Damien lost it. 

"What the hell are you doing in my property?!"

"You should sit down, Damien."

"You know what? It's because I condone you. Fuck you! I'm not listening to shit."

He turned to walk away. 

"You would only give me a task if I was listening to you. But not today, bitch! You wish!"

He cussed and started to walk to the door. When he got to the door,

"Before you leave, look at your left..."

The voice called at him again. At first, he didn't want to listen, but somehow, he arced his head in the direction of the instruction,

There was a window pop-up. Like the pop-up that appeared when he was made to choose one of the three options back in the hall. 

"Not again. Not this time! I'm not having it!"

Damien was determined to walk away. And while he was trying to look away, the details in the pop-up unfolded,

Ping!

[A - Embrace the condition and the reason for being transported here.]

[B - Walk through the door and return to where it all started. As the secretary of the BMX girl's group. A loser!]