Happy New Year! 2018 be good to us!!!

(You can play the music if you want to, and you should want to, but you don't have to replay it. XD Enjoy❤)

Lara gently closed the door behind her, balancing a tray filled with a glass of water, a glass of apple juice and a fruit salad, with toast.

She didn't want to come to his room. She didn't want to see his face.

He had denied everything. He had not accepted any one of them and he had feigned sadness.

He could have been telling the truth but why would Brie lie?

Lara had gone to ask Tess right after Brie and the other girls had told her those things about Jayden, and Tess had confirmed.

Tess talked about how he had always tried to make a move on her whenever she came to his room and how she always put him in his place.

But when Lara had asked Jayden, he had said a different thing.

The girls wouldn't lie to her. They wanted to protect her. Jayden was the liar. The sick pervert.

Lara walked to his bedside table and put the tray of food on it, then marched to the bathroom.

She said she would be professional, but she didn't want to greet him. She didn't want to have even the shortest conversation with him.

The bathroom didn't need any cleaning. She only had to take his clothes to the laundry, which she planned on doing when she was done mopping his balcony.

But before leaving the bathroom, she picked up his shirt, and hated herself for what she did next.

She inhaled it. Savoured his scent which brought back memories of his hands around her. In her.

She was mad. She was mad she wanted him so bad. She was mad she would miss being in his strong but gentle arms, in his cozy bed, staring at his warm smile, his eyes that shone when he looked at her, pulling his dark messy hair, being kissed by him, slowly, passionately and savagely, depending on the mood. She would miss him.

But it was for the best. For her sake. She couldn't afford to end up like his previous maids just for a couple of moments in bliss.

She walked out of the bathroom and approached the balcony, where he was facing, with a mop and a mop bucket in her hands.

She reached the glass doors and pushed the curtains to the sides, bright light illuminating the gloomy room.

She paused. She wanted to turn to see his face. If he was staring at her or whatever, cuz her back felt heavy. And she didn't want him to.

She breathed in and out and turned, only to lay eyes on the back of his head.

He had turned to face the other side.

Lara felt a twist in her stomach, but also felt relieved he wasn't staring.

Just then, there was a knock on the door.

Lara let go of the mop and walked towards the door, but it had already swung open when she had reached halfway.

Mr. Benson stood at the door, his eyes on Jayden, who had slowly opened his eyes.

"Sir, good morning." Lara greeted Mr. Benson immediately.

"Morning, Lara," He said to her and turned back to his son. "Are you alright?"

Lara shifted her gaze to Jayden who simply nodded. He was still lying down.

Mr. Benson glanced at the food on the bedside table and questioned,

"Not planning on eating?"

"I just got it," Jayden replied.

"You just got breakfast?" Mr. Benson asked and turned to Lara who didn't see it coming. "Why's he getting breakfast just now?"

Lara hesitated. She couldn't think properly with Mr. Benson staring at her with those questioning eyes.

"I- I'm sorry." She stammered.

"You haven't answered my question." Mr. Benson said and Lara immediately saw herself being fired.

She tried to make something up, but it seemed her ideas were more terrified than she was of what Mr. Benson could do as none had surfaced to aid her.

But she had to say something, anything.

"Sir, I'm so sorry. I promise it will never happen again. I got delayed. It will never happen again, I promise."

Mr. Benson then shifted his gaze to Jayden, who began to sit up. "Lunch with the Italians. They want you present. They admire your intelligence and vigour and want you to learn more. Get ready."

Lara turned to look at Jayden who looked like a mess. His hair was dishevelled, his eyes were barely open and he looked as if he hadn't slept for a week.

"Sure, dad." He sounded tired.

He proceeded to get out of bed when his father asked again, "Jayden, are you alright?"

There was concern written all over his face.

"I'm fine. Don't worry."

Jayden walked to his father and informed, "But I'll have a visitor later in the day. Around 6."

"We'll definitely be back before then. Get ready then." Mr. Benson patted Jayden's shoulder and left, closing the door behind him.

Jayden paused at the door for some seconds, then walked to the bathroom whilst removing his grey shirt, revealing very defined abs.

Lara immediately retreated to the balcony to finish working.

In about ten minutes of showering and getting lost in thought, Jayden stepped out of the bathroom with a white towel around his waist.

Lara was making his bed when he came out, but the longest he had had his eyes on her was a simple glance.

He got dressed in a plain white shirt, a pair of black jeans, and wore a pair of black leather Louis Vuitton sneakers.

He sat on his bed and scrolled through some messages. A lot of them. Texting back was always a problem. It was hardwork.

He glanced at his breakfast, and just as he was about to pick up the glass of water because he was thirsty, Lara had picked up the tray and proceeded to walk towards the door.

He stopped her, "What are you doing?"

He hadn't wanted to say a word, but her insolence was starting to perplex him.

"I'm taking the food away." She didn't turn to face him.

"Because?"

"Because it's waste."

"Says?"

She turned to face him. He was looking up at her. He looked refreshed. The shower had done him good. And it was the first time they made eye contact after her outburst.

"Says me." She simply said.

He stared at her, baffled by her attitude, and she added,

"Besides, don't you have a lunch meeting to get to? You can't stomach down this."

He picked the glass of water off the tray and gulped down the water, and she stared at how his Adam's apple moved.

She dragged her eyes to his chest and arms, how ripped he looked in that white shirt, and quickly shifted it back to his face when he put the glass back on the tray saying,

"If I even had an appetite, I've lost it."

"Let's celebrate." Sarcasm filled her voice.

He took his handkerchief from the table and got to his feet, towering her.

Not even her pretty face could stop him from saying, "You aren't worth my time."

He walked past her towards the door while stuffing the handkerchief in his back pocket when she turned around swiftly.

"Oh I'm not? But when I was willing to get beneath the sheets with you, I was worth all your time is that right?"

He stopped at the door, his hand on the knob. "Lara, when you start regretting everything you've said- from last night to this morning- don't come to me."

"I will never ever regret anything I've said. And I will never come back to you, you sick cougar-minded rapist."

Jayden's grip on the door knob tightened, and he clenched his jaw.

He was angry. Lara was making him very angry.

He turned to face her. "If you want to know how much of a rapist I am, I can show you."

"But," She feigned shock, "I am not 23 years older than you. I'm younger. Too bad." She shrugged.

Jayden was surprised. At her, but more at himself.

"I actually can't believe I'm tolerating this shit."

"I tolerated enough shit from you." She frowned.

Jayden stared at her for a couple of seconds then left his room.

Talking with Lara drastically became unhealthy.

****

The discussion with the Italian gentlemen at the restaurant on the ground floor of their hotel was quite involving. Well, for Mr. Benson and the Italian men, who couldn't stop cracking jokes and enjoying their meals.

Jayden on the other hand, was finding it very difficult to pay even the slightest attention.

His mind was a mess. He couldn't get Lara out of his head. Her attitude. The names she had called him.

Berto, one of the Italian men, had cracked a joke, and Mr. Benson with Hugo, the other Italian man, had laughed.

When Jayden hadn't laughed, Mr. Benson had turned to him and realized his mind had been occupied by something else.

The Italian men had noticed it too.

Mr. Benson called out, "Jayden."

Jayden was still in memory lane.

"Jayden." Mr. Benson called again and tapped Jayden's knee three times.

Jayden immediately jumped back into reality, a little embarrassed.

"Dad."

His father didn't want to ask what the matter was in front of the Italians, but he noticed something was off about Jayden. He had noticed it in the morning, but Jayden had insisted he was fine.

Berto decided to lighten the mood, "Girl trouble, Jayden?"

He liked Jayden for his determination, contributions, and his eagerness. So, if Jayden was being awfully quiet, he knew something was bothering the young man.

"Uh, no." Jayden chuckled and Hugo did as well, saying in his heavy Italian accent, which was light in tonation as compared to Berto's,

"Girls have always been my number one problema. My last girl, she said she couldn't put up with me."

"I think we all can understand her," Mr. Benson mentioned, which generated an uproar of laughter from Berto and Hugo and a chuckle from Jayden, who put a fork of salad in his mouth.

"You're not right, Jared." Hugo shook his head, "She couldn't stand that my mother was my number one and she was numero two."

Berto contributed, "Mothers are always number one for Italian men."

"Yeah," Hugo continued, "She was Moroccan." He referred to the girl, "And she left my ass. But I didn't waste time over heartbreak. She didn't deserve it. I jumped back in the sea of many fishes and whooped some asses."

The men laughed out loud, Jayden inclusive, but things took a different, wrong turn when suddenly, the images of Florence whooping his younger self's naked butt flooded his mind and made him shudder.

He immediately drank some wine and took a fork full of salad, but he couldn't put it in his mouth. The memories had trapped him and had invaded his mind.

He fixed his gaze on Berto, who had enthusiastically been saying something Jayden couldn't comprehend, even though it was clearly in English.

Mr. Benson then laughed and responded to what Berto had said, but Jayden couldn't fathom it either. It was also in English but he couldn't think straight.

His mind was twirling. His insides were churning.

He looked away from Berto, so it wouldn't look like he had anxiously been staring at him, and lowered his head.

"Fuck just get out of my head." Jayden muttered when he heard roaring laughter from the men, but the memories were stubborn.

They kept replaying, and replaying, and replaying, the worst parts.

Jayden was losing it. His right leg wouldn't stop shaking. His heart was beating faster. He just didn't know what to do to stop the memories from replaying. He just needed it to stop.

But it got worse. One specific memory played.

He had run into the kitchen and had hidden behind the freezer, wishing Aunt Florence would not find him. But she was a devil in a woman's body.

She had strolled right into the kitchen and had slowly walked round, calling out his name. And when she had found him, she had spanked his naked butt with a wooden spoon and had given him the butthole punishment.

"No." Jayden immediately voiced out and simultaneously jerked his left leg into the table, causing some of his wine to pour onto the table, Mr. Benson's wine to pour onto his slacks and his fork to fall onto his plate, resulting in a loud 'cling-cling' sound, which drew the attention of others.

Jayden immediately gaped at the three men staring at him in shock and wonder.

"I'm sorry." He really was, and he didn't know how to explain it to them. "Excuse me." He got out of his chair and headed for the washroom.

Mr. Benson wiped his light brown slacks with a napkin and got out of his chair saying, "Excuse me."

Jayden washed his face several times as if the memories had clothed his face. He wiped it, but still felt terrible.

He had ruined his father's lunch meeting, and had probably tarnished his own image. Still, the memories wouldn't go away.

"Just think of something." He told himself as he paced the washroom and pushed back his hair, "Anything dammit!"

'Lara... Lara,' he thought and wondered why she was the first thing that came to his mind, 'No, worse. That's worse. She's worse.'

His back was against the wall, and he rubbed his palms on his face.

'Kira... Kira,'

Mr. Benson suddenly barged into the washroom, face twisted in worry.

"Jayden, tell me. What is wrong with you?"

Jayden was taller than his dad by a few inches. He looked away from his dad, his hands now on his head.

He couldn't tell him. He couldn't put his father through the hell his father had gone through years back; The worry, anxiety, hopelessness, the therapists. He just couldn't.

"Jayden?" Mr. Benson shook his son by the shoulders.

"Dad, I can't!"

"You can and you will. We will get through it. Just tell me."

"I can't," Jayden shook his head, "I can't. Don't ask me."

"Jayden, I'm your father. I will move heaven and earth to make sure whatever is bothering you will be taken care of. Tell me."

Jayden hesitated. He didn't know if telling his dad was the right thing to do. He didn't deserve to remember that horrible time in their lives. It would crush him to know that the memories were back.

"Jayden," His father urged on, his worry heightening.

Jayden hesitated, then said, "Just promise you won't tell mom. Promise me, dad. She'll just worry too much."

"Jayden..." His dad loosened his grip on his shoulders, "What is it?"

Mr. Benson had a hunch. He prayed he was wrong.

Jayden hesitated once more, heightening his dad's fear.

"Jayden?"

"It's back. Everything..."

Mr. Benson didn't need further explanation to know exactly what he was talking about.

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