"To live is the rarest thing in the world. Most people exist, that is all." - Oscar Wilde

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Caden's POV

5 hours ago

"Caden! Come here!"

After just leaving my office, I make my way to Sage, who is just outside his office as well.

Stopping in front of him, I give him a puzzled look as it looks like he's hiding something in his hands.

"I understand that you don't have a phone and since you are our PA, we really need to have easy contact to you so..." Taking out his hands from behind him, he reveals a new iPhone, still in its box.

What!!!

"Um, sir, please, it's really no big deal-"

Since I have a laptop, given to me by the office, I really didn't feel it necessary for me to have a phone, since they can just email me.

But, I will say, I can't hide the excitement of regaining a phone.

Mom and dad gifted me my first one at the start of high school, a small iPhone 6, and I cherished that thing with my whole heart. It contained all the pictures of my family, birthday parties, us going out, me modeling mom's dresses, and some pictures where Cole and I would be on the computer, playing Minecraft.

I loved that thing so much, and it was soul crushing to have to sell it away.

I do still have some printed pictures of me and Cole when were a little, stuffed in the in archives of my apartment, but I would give anything to regain those pictures of mom and dad before they died.

"No, no, this is a requirement. All employees must have a phone."

Silencing me with a stern look, something that I've never seen in Sage before, as he usually is the more goofy brother of the three, I shyly accept the phone.

Looking down, I realize that it's a freaking iPhone X!!!

Now as much as I loved my iPhone 6, this is definitely an upgrade.

"Thank you, sir." He gives me a boyish grin as his gray eyes shine back to me. "Anytime, Wilson."

Squealing like a little girl, I make my way to Izzie's desk, and show her my new phone. "Izzie! Sage just gave me a phone!"

Her eyes widen in excitement but then it quickly turns sour. "No fair! They didn't give us free phones!"

"Give me your number!"

Quickly giving her my phone, she dials her number. I then notice my own phone number and look over the digits, trying to memorize each one.

"Send me your address." Texting her through my phone, I send her my address. "Also, I'm putting you in the group chat."

My mind is already on my outfit for what I'm going to wear for tonight.

I'm not really the party type of gal, never actually having been to a club or bar, if you don't count the stripper joint, but one thing I do know is that nothing in my wardrobe will fit the occasion for tonight, and my mood quickly descends

Right now, I really wished my mom designed more than just summer dresses.

Shoot! What do I do!?

Oof, maybe I can ask Izzie?

Do you think she would mind?

I mean she said we were friends?

Friends borrow clothes, right?

"Um, Izzie, I don't really have anything to wear tonight," I mumble quietly, too embarrassed to look her in the face.

I don't see her face but my arms are quickly embraced in a hug. "Don't worry girl, I have tons of party dresses." Picking my chin up, she gives me a wide grin, "Don't be embarrassed, okay? Here, Marcus will take us and Leia to my apartment so we can get ready together." She's quickly back to her happy, perky self, which then put a smile back onto my face.

I go back to my office, my mood brightened up by Izzie's kind words until I hear a bark coming from my boss' office. "Wilson, where's my coffee?!"

Ugh.

+++

After Marcus drops off me, Leia, and Izzie at Izzie's apartment, I am quickly entranced with her home.

With warm brown tones that decorate her walls along with pretty chandeliers and candles accompanying every window, it has such a cozy, cottage aesthetic that I am thoroughly enjoying.

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"Okay, let's get ready!" Izzie squeals behind me.

Making our to her room, Leia ad Izzie work like ninjas, opening their makeup bags, setting out Izzie's wonderous supply of dresses, and plugging in curling wands and irons.

"Leia, what about this green dress?" Izzie suggests, handing her friend a forest green satin dress with a sweetheart neckline.

"No, green is not my color." Leia turns back to me, eyeing me under her intent gaze. "Hm, Caden you wanna try it on?"

"Uh, sure."

After two hours of experimenting with different dresses, Izzie's room has been scattered with dozens of different colored dresses.

However, we finally decided on what we are going to wear for tonight.

My dress was a short, fitted rose-colored dress, with a spaghetti strap neckline. The skirt is twisted around my thighs and butt. Izzie let me borrow some jewelry, and Leia curled my hair into some loose curls, and let it fall off my shoulders.

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Throughout my makeover, Izzie kept commenting how much my skin glowed without makeup, saying she'll go light with the foundation as she doesn't want to make me look "cakey." Whatever that means.

She applied some light brown eyeshadow across my lids and used a dark brown eyeshadow and an angular brush to give my eyes a wing. Soon after, they lined my lips with a lipliner and applied a pinkish nude lipstick shade, topping it over with a clear gloss.

Looking in the mirror, I actually feel quite beautiful. Not that I've thought I always looked ugly or something, but I've never seen myself in this type of dress and with my face all dolled up, highlighting my best features, I can't help but smile at my complexion.

"You look fucking insane," Leia remarks, looking me over with a satisfied grin. I smile back at her.

"Thanks, you too," I reply.

Studying Leia, she's donning a jet black dress, satin dress. Her skirt is slightly longer than mine, flowing just above her knees, and a large slit is cut at the side of the dress, revealing her toned thigh.

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She look stunning! Her tan skin glows with the dark contrast of her dress. Her eyelids are colored with a dark, smoky eye with a hint of gold in the inner corners and her lips pop with a deep ruby red.

"You look beautiful," I view, which she responds with a wink and a slight smirk. I giggle at that.

God, it feels nice to be able to do this; hang out with some friends and do each other's makeup. I never knew how much I longed for something like this. High school was pretty much the only time where I had friends.

I wasn't exactly popular in high school, but I did have some friends throughout it. Mostly people from my computer program but I temporarily befriended a girl from the cheerleading team once.

We hung out for quite some time before she suddenly just stopped talking to me. Never understood why, but I didn't think much of it.

"You really do," Izzie says.

Turning to her, she chose to wear a light pink dress with the same neckline as mine. The dress hugs her curves in all the right places, and the pink shade compliments her fair skin tone.

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Her makeup is just some concealer and highlighter, which I believed was the right choice is it makes her natural facial features stand out even more.

God, they're so beautiful!

How did I end up hanging out with these goddesses!?

Suddenly, I hear a car honk, startling me before a voice rings out. "Hurry the fuck up!!"

"Ooh, that's Marcus. Let's go!"

Grabbing a small clutch that Izzie let me borrow, I place my phone and keys in the pockets and quickly make my way outside, following behind Izzie and Leia.

Marcus's car is quite small, only allowing three people in the back.

Squeezing myself in after Leia and Izzie, I notice someone in the passenger seat.

"Oh hey Ryland," Izzie greets the stranger.

I look at her with a puzzled expression. "Oh yeah, Caden this is Ryland, he's from PR at Sanders Corp. Ryland, Caden, she's the new PA."

"Hi," I mumble.

Silence.

Okayy, that was kind of rude.

I didn't catch his face when going into the car and since his chair is right in front of me, I settle for thinking that he just didn't want to say anything. Again, a little rude. At least I tried to say hi.

Whatever.

Arriving at the club, I open the door, stepping out into the parking lot and meeting the gust of wind, prickling my skin.

Leia and Izzie soon follow. We make our way to the entrance, leaving the rude man and Marcus behind. Hehe.

"Let's get some drinks!" Izzie yells through the music.

My face falls slightly. I've never drank before.

And based on the results from my brother, not really something I'd want to try.

"I don't drink," I respond.

Izzie's face doesn't fall, instead saying, "That's fine, I'll get you a mocktail okay?"

I nod and she quickly strides to the bar.

"Let's dance!" Leia calls out, dragging me to the dance floor.

Shoot!

Leia dances effortlessly, swaying her hips to the music, nodding her head to the beat.

I stand there awkwardly, not knowing what to do.

The uncomfortableness is soon squashed as Izzie soon comes back with our drinks.

Handing me the large glass, I can't make out what it is through the colored lights, but I take a sip.

Mocktails. They're mocktails. No alcohol.

A slight sweet taste meets my taste buds, but I don't feel anything.

Whew, okay.

I drink more of the liquid, feeling a slight burn gliding down my throat but I assume it's just the adrenaline in my blood right now.

Suddenly, a rush of energy seizes me in my bones and without knowing, my hips start to move with music. My head falls back as the music pounds in my ear.

I down the rest of the drink, again, feeling the slight burn down my throat. "Mmm, I like this one!" I exclaim to no one.

Feeling myself, I exert even more energy into my body, feeling a cloud go over my brain. The music is the only thing sound in my head and I don't even know if Izzie and Leia are still with me or not.

Suddenly, hands encase my waist and I spin around.

"Hello," the man says to me, although I can barely hear his words. "HI!"I scream.

He chuckles, putting his finger over his mouth telling me to quiet down.

"I'm sorry." I can't quite tell if I'm actually speaking the words that my brain is thinking but I don't really care.

"I'm Ryland," he responds.

My eyes widen and my mouth parts in surprise. "You're the rude man," I blurt out.

He laughs again, a deep rumble that seems to vibrate through me. "Yes, I am."

Looking at home more closely, I notice that he has light colored loose curls atop his head, with dark brown eyes and really strong hands apparently, by the way he's gripping my waist, pulling me towards him.

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Ryland Adams played by Evan Peters

25 years old

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His hair is quite nice.

"Thank you," another boyish grin as he studies me.

I said that out loud.

Cool.

"How many drinks have you had?" he asks me and I lift up the hand that is still clutching the glass. "One!"

He widens. "You get drunk easily," he states.

What?

I'm not drunk.

"Yes you are." His grin has not left his face as he continues to observe me.

"These are called mocktails," I say, although my words seem slower than usual. "And they are very good."

"Okay," he nods, taking the glass out of my hands.

"I want another one," I demand, surprised at my boldness.

"Are you sure? It looks like you're a lightweight." I begin to dance with the music again, bopping to the song under his grip.

My feet trip over his though and I feel myself falling backward, but he soon catches me. "You're very strong."

He nods again, still gazing at me with a wonder in his eyes. "I want more," I whine, nodding to the empty glass in his hand.

"Okay, I'll get you some more. Just stay right there, okay?" I nod eagerly, excited for another drink.

He soon lets go of me, allowing to drown out in the music again. I incline my head back, liking the way I feel as energy surges through my blood once more.

"Here." I turn to see Ryland again, a glass in hand.

This once looks a little different than the last one but I chug it down my throat, wanting to feel more energized like before.

However, I'm completely disappointed to realize that it's only water. I look at him, a glare across my face as he smiles. "This isn't a mocktail!"

"You need to hydrate. I'll get you that drink later, okay?"

I cross my arms, not responding as I turn away.

He laughs again, close enough for me to hear his voice but I ignore it, moving a little closer to the edge of the dance floor, where the bar is situated.

Chugging the rest of the water down, I sway my hips again, not caring who is seeing or judging me.

This feeling is nothing I've ever experienced before and I love it.

I continue to dance, not noticing the pair of hands on my waist again. I don't think much of it, instead alternating between my feet as my bum hits the stranger's front.

"You liked the water?" he says to me from behind. I recognize the voice as Ryland's who I guess followed behind me. I nod, still immersed into my dance as he begins to dance as well.

Our feet circle around each other and I find myself facing the bar, my eyes closed as I feel a slight throb across my head.

I ignore it though, wrapping my hands around Ryland's neck from behind me as he buries his face in my neck.

All of a sudden, my neck goes bare and my hand is yanked from my side, pulling me toward I don't even know what.

My wrist is tightly held by someone but I can't seem to unblur my eyes. My brain is now throbbing as this stranger continues to haul me out the club until we are outside.

The cold win causes goosebumps to prickle my skin as the stranger now faced me.

I look up, but everything is still incredibly blurry and my eyes burn from the brightness coming from the streetlights.

I squint my eyes, easing the pain before my irises begin to focus once more.

And what I met was a very angry, no, FUMING Silas standing in front of me.

His chest is rising heavily as he looks down at me with murder in his eyes. "W- What?" I utter, absolutely confused.

"What the fuck were you doing in there with that motherfucker??!!" he demands, his eyes crossed with a blazing fire.

"I- I-" My brain can't seem to form a sentence and I look away, trying to get a hold of the situation, as my head still continues to throb and my mouth still aches for that mocktail that made me feel so good.

"God, you're so fucking stupid!"

"I- drink-" What am I saying?

It's like my mouth refuses to cooperate with my brain.

"Are you drunk?" he asks, his gaze going even more intense.

Before I could try to respond, he grabs my wrist again, now dragging me to the parking lot. Hauling me into his car, he quickly speeds out of the club's parking lot.

"I- My head- it hurts." I mumble, my temples beginning to pain with the uneven road. "Ow, it hurts."

"God, how many fucking drinks did you have??' he asks with an irritated tone.

I close my eyes, hoping that that will lesson the pain. It didn't.

"O- One."

"Jesus, and you're this wasted. You're an even bigger idiot than I thought."

My nose scrunches at his rude comment.

Why does he have to be so mean?

He shakes his head, at what, I don't know.

I settle my head against his chair, trying to think of anything other than the pounding of my brain. Mocktails do that?

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Silas's POV

God, what is with this girl?

I look over to my side to see her sleeping, her head against the chair as her eyebrows are scrunched together as if she's having a bad dream.

My mind is currently pre-occupied with that asshole she was dancing with. He looked quite familiar, as if I've seen him from somewhere but my mind could not place him anywhere.

As soon as I saw her dancing with the bastard, I stomped over to them, seeing his face nuzzled in her neck which angered me even more.

I grabbed his shoulder and yanked him off of her, then attaching my palm onto her wrist and pulled her out the club.

My fists clench with the desire to beat that motherfucker but I would need a probable cause, and him dancing with this- with her would likely not sit well with the police.

Admittedly, I do feel quite guilty for leaving Vanessa there; she didn't deserve that and I'll try to make up for it in the future.

However, right now, my concerns are with this annoying fucking girl next to me.

Jesus, it seems like my mind has been filled with this amber-eyed criminal.