PRESENT DAY

Carol walked through the door at the end of the dark walkway, feeling less afraid. It was lit like a runway with blue lights, and there was some mixture of scents in there that had a calming effect on her. Someone had gone to great lengths to try to make her as comfortable as possible, and she was curious who it was. She still had no idea what had happened to Caris, but she needed to stay alive if she was ever to find out. Maybe this person would know.

The door shut behind her as soon as she walked in, and there was no way to tell which part of the wall had the doorway anymore. The room was dark, so it would be hard to tell anyway. She took another step forward, and then a purple light came on, which made her see the glass wall blocking her from the rest of the room, which was very wide. The panic started to set in again, but then she heard footsteps and a sound like what she’d heard when the doorway rolled closed behind her.

At first, she couldn’t see anything. Then a blue light came on on the other side and what it revealed set her heart on fire.

He looked leaner, he looked much more sculpted, but that was definitely the love of her life on the other side of the glass. He was wearing a speedo, which was so not him, but they’d discuss that later.

She was so excited and so relieved and looking for a way to reach him, and her wish was granted. There was a clicking sound, which drew her attention to the door which was opening in the glass.

Both she and he rushed in, and their embrace was filled with pure emotion.

*****

Karla and Stella walked into the warehouse compound and knew immediately that something was wrong. The guard at the main gate was nowhere to be found, and it was way too quiet.

The entire island was a quiet area, but this was the loudest part of it. It was unusual to get to what was the most populated part of the island on account of the guards, and have the wind be the only audible sound. They walked in, wary of their surroundings, and slowly made their way to the warehouse.

Once they got to the main door, their fears came true.

They found a pool of dried blood on the floor and a note on the door: ‘Uno Reverse.’

*****

“Motherfucker! What the hell happened to you? I thought you were dead! Oh my God!”

“Easy, Carol. You’re going to squeeze the life out of me.”

“I don’t care, you crazy boy. It’s my life to squeeze after all. God am I happy you’re okay.”

“Me too, Carol. I was sure you were dead. I can’t believe you survived.”

“How did you make it out? When did you get out? Where the hell are we?”

As they held each other for dear life, they heard a sound and saw a bed rising up from the floor. There was more of the same sound, and they looked around and saw stands rising up at each corner of the room, close to the glass on each side.

The sound stopped, and then the lights went off. Carol held on to Caris as he looked around for anything that would make sense of this, and then a song started to play. The corners where the stands rose out of the floor came alive with candlelight, which revealed the red rose petals laid out in a heart shape on the bed. As the melody of ‘The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face’ soaked the atmosphere, they finally realized what the point of all this was. 

“Caris, do you know anything about this?”

“No, do you?”

“No.”

They looked around to see if there were any cameras or recording devices, but there were none. They went to each corner to look for some form of surveillance, but it was a clean room. As they walked back to each other, Carol said, “Caris, I know I’m as crazy as they come but this is all creepy as all hell.”

Caris took her hands and finally noticed her attire. He slowly spun her around, taking in the view, and his speedo suddenly got significantly tighter. Carol noticed and started laughing.

“I see I still got it.” Caris held her waist and looked at her. “It’s creepy alright, but it seems like the idea was romance.”

She smiled, feeling completely safe in his arms, and gave him the look of trouble he’d missed for so long. Then she turned around and leaned back, her bottom rubbing up against his loins while she took his hands up to her bust. He responded by leaning down and kissing her on the neck.

She turned to him and whispered, “Let’s give them the romance they want.”

*****

FIFTEEN YEARS AGO

Stella walked into Karla’s room and found her was asleep. She checked the pill bottle on the side of the bed, and found it had enough in there. This was definitely sleep, not an overdose.

She turned to leave when Karla stirred and her eyes opened. “Are you trying to see if I killed myself, you traitor? What the fuck do you want from me?”

“I’m sorry, Karla, I just wanted to check on you.”

She turned again to leave and then Karla stopped her. “Lock the door and sit down.”

“I really was just checking-”

“Lock the motherfuckin door and sit your ass down.”

Stella sat down and Karla sat up, wearing a nightgown that was struggling to stay on her body. “Why did you set me up that night? Why did you put me through all of this?”

Stella sighed. She’d prayed for this moment, and she was a full bag of nerves now that it had arrived. Still, she spoke up like she’d promised herself she would.

“My father and I ran into Malcolm by accident in the mall one time. This is before he’d become famous. My dad was starting up an import/export business and had no money. But his plan was sound and it had a chance of succeeding, so Malcolm decided to invest. At the time, everything worked great. It took off, and Malcolm’s contacts made it number one.

“But then he found out that my dad was gambling away the profits to try to make more. I tried to get my dad to stop, but he was winning and he thought he’d never lose. But you and I know that luck turns, and it did for him, in the worst possible way.”

Karla’s face had gone from disdain to irritation. “How bad?”

“Malcolm had to bail the company out because my dad had gone deep into the operating expenses budget.”

“Continue.”

“Malcolm bailed them out, but he wanted his money back and my dad couldn’t afford to pay. He was going to have him killed, but then I volunteered to take his place. I would do whatever Malcolm wanted so we could all be free. So I went from his friend to his secretary for nine months.

“Then one day, he came to me with a one-time opportunity to wipe the slate clean. He was worried that his sister was on a bad path, but he had nothing on her. He needed me to get something on her that he could use to take away her freedom and keep an eye on her. My task was to come up with anything that would make the threat of jail very real for her, so she’d seek his help. But you were clean and he refused to accept that. So he came up with another plan.”

“Get me to start using drugs.”

“Yes. And he gave them to me to give to you.”

“So when we met for the first time at your office, you already had this assignment?”

“Yes.”

“And you knew how much this would mess me up, and you still did it?”

“It was either you or my father. And I have done everything I know how to do to try to make this right ever since.”

Tears rolled down Karla’s face as she thought of the last few months. It had been absolute hell being in drug withdrawal, and it didn’t help that the person assigned to her was the same person who did this to her. It was like she’d been shot in the heart on purpose, and her assailant was the doctor who was to operate on her to save her life. She could understand Stella’s position but she still felt betrayed. “You can go.”

Stella got up to leave, and then she said, “I will have to live with everything I’ve done to you for the rest of my life. I just hope you can find some way to forgive me for it.”

Then she left.

Hm! Kane really is a heartless dude. Setting up your own sister like that? Smh.

By the way, who’s behind this reconciliation of the Benton couple? This has gotten too interesting for it to end, but let’s see what’s next…