Young Writers Society

Naya threw the towel that she had been using to wipe off the shaving cream on top of him before running a shower. She needed to get this crap off her before it made her start to lose hair in all the wrong places.

As the hot water sprayed down to her skin she began to rub her body and face vigorously. She almost cried at the thought of the cream on her hair. When she was convinced she was completely clean, she stepped out and wrapped herself in a towel before looking at her reflection in the small mirror just above the basin.

All was well again. Smiling with relief, she headed back out into the room and perched herself on the edge of her bed, throwing Julian death stares as she envisioned all the brilliant ways she could get even with him like shoving a tampon up his nose while he slept...oh yes, that would be brilliant...

"You should count yourself lucky that my hair and eyebrows are still where they should be," she said to him as she dried her hair.

"

Julian looked a little taken back, when she had hurled that threat, it wasn't a real face though. "I consider myself very lucky. Only now I smell like flowers. I'm never going to look at you the same ever again." He joked.

She glared. "I don't know what I did to deserve a husband like yourself."

He felt the corners of his mouth tilt upward. "That goes double for you, baby." He finally got up and started to pull jacket and got on the phone, ordering for a taxi.

"Where are you going?" She sounded annoyed.

He looked at her. "I'm going to the store. I think I'm getting a cold, get some medican, then get some food." He shrugged.

She looked around. Her hair was now dried and very curly. "I'm staying here.

He gave her a dangerous look. "I don't think so, Naya, with my luck someone will break in and find you. Like I said, I don't do that chasing around the world shit. Get ready." It was an order. He turned around and grabbed the room key.

"No." One word, and it annoyed Julian so so much.

He turned to face her. "Don't make me tell you again, you won't like the outcome." She really wouldn't.

Naya just glared at him. “Is that a threat?”

“Maybe,” Julian replied standing by the door.

Rolling her eyes in annoyance, she got up off the bed and began to get changed. Once she was ready, she wrapped a warm scarf around her neck several times and passed him.

“Just so you know...” Naya stopped suddenly to make eye-contact with Julian. “You don’t scare me anymore...” she said matter-of-factly. This was half-true, but satisfying to say nonetheless...

And with that, she turned her nose up at him and walked out of the room.

Julian grinded his teeth together, popping his jaw. There was an uncertain confidence. He knew all together it wasn't true. He felt the corner of his mouth twitch upward.

"Yeah, and you don't annoy me anymore." He said, there was thick sarcasam in the air. He closed the door behind himself. The taxi was waiting for them. They both got inside and he told the driver to go. He was certainly getting a cold. He hated knowing he was so mortal, in the Marines they told them that they were invinscible. All over none of that was true but after a couple shots of whiskey, it was.

The driver first took them to a pharmacy where Julian picked up some medicine, before taking them to a nearby bistro for brunch. On the way there Naya couldn’t help but feel sorry for the man who annoyed her more than anyone. Julian looked ill and he was shivering as they entered inside the small restaurant.

“Are you okay?” she asked him, as she took a seat opposite him.

“I will be,” Julian responded, popping a few pills into his mouth with the help of a glass of water, before pulling out the menu and looking inside. “Now, what are we having?”

Naya wasn’t really in the mood to eat. Her mind was still on the kidnapping. In the end she settled for a salad. When the waiter left with their orders, she addressed her concerns to Julian.

“Last night,” Naya began, uncertain how to word her sentence. “I was thinking...”

Julian shrugged. “About?”

Naya looked around her before lowering her voice. “The kidnapping,” she responded. “I remembered reading this article about a girl...Jennifer said that you’re family knew her...Stacie May Harper...”

“The ginger,” Julian nodded. “What about her?”

“Her body was found on the Harper family yacht...”

Naya could see Julian’s face fall slightly. “What?”

“The paper said that she’d been taken by Mexican kidnappers from Miami and that they didn’t do it for a ransom, they wanted something else, something her parents weren’t willing to give up and when the kidnappers realised this, they killed her.”

“Why are you telling me this?” Julian asked.

Naya sighed and rubbed her temples wearily. “I dunno, maybe it’s just a coincidence but...I can’t help but think that maybe the Mexicans that kidnapped Stacie, were the ones that tried to kidnap us...”

Julian looked a little uneasy.

“Think about it, if they are the same guys, it means that they’re working for the same person and maybe this person wants something from our parents...it could be a possibility, right?”

Julian wanted to care, he really did but, he couldn't keep his mind on one certain thing. He just wanted things to go back to normal. He wanted to be angry at Jace and Naya, but he some how couldn't. He drank his coffee and when the waitress brought them the food she smiled at Julian.

"Let me know if there is anything else I can get you. Really, anything at all." She winked and then walked away.

Julian felt the hot coffee sizzle down his throat, when the waitress was out of ear-shot he smiled. "Very nice girl." He started at his plate, not watching Naya's reaction. He could tell out of the corner of his eye that she was very very annoyed.

"Are you listening to anything I'm saying?" She squeaked. Yes, squeaked like a chipmunk.

Julian stuffed his mouth full of eggs and looked up at her. He chewed, then, swallowed. "No." He said in a leave-me-alone-I'm-eating way.

"Julian, we could be next!" She yelled in a whisper so no one else could hear them.

He forked another bite, noticing she wasn't eatting. "You better eat, you're going to be hungry later."

She looked at him. "You're right, you are sick. Julian, I'm serious here, what if they come back? What if they kill our families and... Oh, God, anything but that." She brought her nails up to her mouth.

Julian looked at her. "You're right, but they can't get to my family, we pretty much have a built in army. I'm sure your dad does too, in fact I know he does."

Within four more monsterous bites, Julian was done with his food, but he really didn't feel like going back to the hotel...

Naya watched Julian wolf down his food. She couldn’t understand how he could be in the right mind to eat. Her mind was racing so much that she’d barely touched her salad.

“I need my phone,” she said suddenly, just as Julian finished his food.

He raised a brow in a questioning manner. “Why?”

“I need to make an important call.”

“To..?” he continued ask.

Naya rolled her eyes impatiently. “There’s this guy...Eric...”

Julian leaned his back to the chair. “Let me guess, another ex-boyfriend?”

Naya glared at him, visibly hurt. “He’s a friend actually, a lawyer, last I heard he was working out here in Washington...I thought I could give him a call, see if he’s still here and ask if he can help us...”

Julian looked sceptical. “How can a lawyer help us?”

“Eric used to work as an intern for my father’s lawyer. While he was there, he handled most of my family’s personal files including our private documents. If there is something that my family have that the kidnappers could want, Eric would know about it.”

“And why would he be willing to give up all that classified information to you? Wouldn’t that get him into trouble?”

Naya shrugged. “Maybe, but he owes me...”

Julian looked intrigued. “Yeah? How exactly...”

Naya swallowed before changing the subject. “Are you gonna give me my phone or not?”

Julian looked at her for several seconds before reaching into the pocket of his jacket and pulling out his own cell phone.

“That’s yours,” she said with an annoyed look on her face.

Julian smiled. “Just in case you cooked up this little story just so you could give your sister a call...can't be too careful, can we?”

Before Naya could protest, the waitress that had brought them their food suddenly returned to their table.

“Is there anything else I can get you?” she asked Julian sweetly, completely ignoring Naya. "Anything at all?"

“Ah, we’re good, thank you,” Julian smiled all-charming.

Naya just glared at the two of them, before grabbing Julian’s phone and purposely making as much noise as she could to push her chair back and get up. As she passed them, she threw the waitress a death stare, one that she hoped said something a little bit like ‘stay away from my husband’ – but it was very discrete. The last thing Naya wanted was for Julian to think that she was jealous. Which she wasn’t of course...or maybe was...

She headed inside the women’s restroom and checked that all the cubicles were clear before locking the door and dialling the number. It took her a while to get it right - she hadn’t seen or spoken to Eric since her high school days. Finally, after a few attempts, she finally connected. It took several rings before someone picked up.

“Hello?” answered the deep voice of a male.

Naya smiled inwardly. It was strange to hear his voice after so long. This was going to be one very interesting conversation. “Eric, it’s me, Naya...”

“What?” she could hear Eric splutter in shock. “What the-but...” Eric was hysterical. “You were on the news...they...the Police...they said that you were missing! They called you Mrs Anderson – when the hell did you become an Anderson?” he said the last part like it was some kinda disease.

“Listen, I’ll explain everything when I see you. You’re still living in Washington right?”

“Yeah, why?”

“I was hoping I could come over and get your help with all this. There’s no one else I can trust.”

“Sure,” Eric breathed, he sounded half-relieved and half-worried at the same time. “I’m just dropping off a briefing to the office, so I’ll be home in about half an hour and then we can talk. My apartment is on Massachusetts Avenue...”

“Okay, great. I’ll see you there.”

Naya cut the line and breathed a sigh of relief. She was taking a huge gamble and she knew it. So many things could go wrong, Eric could refuse to reveal any information, he could contact her parents to tell them she just called...but this was the only real lead they had. Julian wasn’t exactly brimming with any other solutions to get them out of this mess.

Naya unlocked the door and stepped back out into the restaurant. She was glad to see the waitress was back behind the counter, though her eyes still fell on Julian every few seconds. Past the point of caring at this particular moment in time, Naya returned to her seat and finally picked up her fork to eat. Now that she had something to work from, her appetite seemed to return.

“So?” Julian asked. “What happened?”

Naya swallowed her food before answering. “Eric said he’ll meet us at his apartment in about half an hour.”

Julian almost felt his jaw drop. "What?" It was a whisper. "No, no, no, no, no... I didn't say we were going anywhere. He can come to us."

Her face was squeezed as if she had sucked on a lemon. "But Julian-"

He shook his head. "No, Naya he can come to us, you can just call him back and-"

She looked at him, and used her eyebrows to make the conversation a little more interesting. "Julian, please, I am begging you here. Please, lets just go and see how this all pans out."

"What if he doesn't tell us anything? What then? What if he calls our family? Hmm?"

She sank in her chair, as if she hadn't thought about that. Yeah, well he had.

"Julian... Please." She said, sounding like a wounded animal.

Julian glared. In his mind he was throwing darts at her. He grabbed his coat and slammed a five dollar bill on the counter top. "Fine, lets go." He growled.

She better know what she was doing, because Julian wouldn't stop short to say "I told you so."

Julian had a frown plastered on his face for the entire journey. It angered Naya, here she was trying to show some initiative and instead of helping her, Julian was sulking. As they entered the large apartment complex, they progressed through the ground floor and entered the lift which took them up to the top floor. As the doors opened, Naya and Julian stepped out and knocked on the first door they passed.

Naya had to admit, she was nervous. The last time she saw Eric was after their high school prom and it wasn’t a pretty sight. Here she was standing on his doorway almost seven years later.

Suddenly noises could be heard from behind the door until it opened.

“Hey, Eric...” Naya smiled sheepishly as her friend peered through the door.

Eric let out a sigh of relief. “Naya!” he pulled her into an immediate hug which lasted for a good few seconds before the sound of Julian pointedly clearing his throat made Eric release his hold.

Rubbing his jaw tensely, Eric stepped aside. “Come in,” he said to them both, before leading them through the spacious apartment. He pointed to a couple of couches facing the large window that looked out into the city. “Take a seat...”

“I prefer to stand,” said Julian rudely, facing the window intensely.

“Why?” asked Naya, annoyed by Julian’s behaviour.

“Just in case your friend here decided to call up our family to give them the heads up..."

Naya rolled her eyes and gave Eric an apologetic look.

“I wouldn’t do that,” Eric assured her, throwing Julian a death stare. “You saved my life...”

He’d said that part quietly, but Julian had heard, for at that moment he turned away from the window and looked at Naya questioningly. “You what?” he asked, intrigued.

Naya quickly changed the subject. “Look, Eric, I’m sorry for showing up like this,” she began in a serious tone. “It’s just...I didn’t know who else to call-”

“No, don’t be silly, I’m glad that you did,” Eric interrupted. “It’s just a lot to take in, y’know, you being married and all...” his eyes fell on Julian again distastefully.

You know, if personalities could kill... Julian hated the d-bag already. It wasn't his fault he was married to her. The point was their marriage was not up for discussion. At least not to Eric. So Naya had saved his life? Another story for another time. Julian pressed his hip against the wall. This apartment may be expensive, but it was the ugliest damn thing he had ever seen.

"So you two have already been missing for five days. And, you didn't call your families why?" He asked.

Julian was bored, but he figured since Naya wasn't talking he would. "So we don't endanger them. We are still 'missing' and the kidnapers don't think we've headed home. They think they still have a chance at getting us, we want to know why they want to kidnap us."

Eric nodded, slowly as if trying to understand the entire situation. "Okay. What do you think I can do for you, then?" he asked...

Naya stepped in. “I think that the kidnappers who came after us were the same ones that came after Stacie May Harper.”

“The murdered socialite?” Eric asked.

“Yes. And if that’s the case, then it means that my family and Julian’s family have something to do with our kidnapping, just like Stacie’s family had something to do with hers...maybe they have, like, I dunno, a secret, or an object, or some kind of special document...something that the kidnappers need from our families...something that our families might not want to hand over.”

Naya noticed that Eric’s face had paled by the minute.

“And if anyone can tell us what that ‘something’ is, it’s you,” Naya concluded. “You’ve been working as an intern for my family’s lawyer for years, they’ve trusted you, I mean, you probably know more about my family than I do...we need your help Eric.”

Eric rubbed his temples wearily. Naya noticed something like a guilty look on his face.

“Naya, I can’t tell you anything, I’m sorry,” he said.

Naya’s heart sank. “That means there really is something, isn’t there...” she didn’t want to believe it, but seeing the look on Eric’s face said it all, her parents, possibly even her grandparents were involved in something and that had led to Naya almost being kidnapped.

Eric tried to explain. “Naya, you have to understand-”

“Tell me, Eric!” Naya’s voice quivered. “What were my parents involved in? Do they owe people money, what is it?” she was desperate.

“I can’t, Naya!” Eric pressed. “After I left the intern job, I was made to sign a gag order by your grandfather so that I couldn’t reveal any information about your family to anyone...even you...if I break it I could be put in jail!”

“No one’s going to know about it!” Naya exclaimed. “I won’t tell anyone you were the one who told me!”

Eric struggled. “I-”

“Shh!” Julian interrupted suddenly.

Naya looked up at him and saw that he was staring at the television screen hung up on the wall opposite where they were all sitting. It appeared to be on the news channel.

Eric turned the volume up and all three of them listened.

“...now we cross over live to our correspondent John Burns who is outside the Anderson family manor. John; tell us what’s the latest?”

“...well, Susan, in a shocking turn of events reports have just emerged that Jason Anderson, the youngest son of hard-line businessman Sergi Anderson, CEO of Anderson Industries – was arrested just a few short hours ago on suspicion of murder and embezzlement after local Police received an anonymous tip off in the early hours of this morning – all this just barely a day after the Anderson family’s eldest son Julian, was reported missing while out with his wife...”

For one speck of time everything seemed fine. Julian then felt his neck muscles bunch up. Could anything else go possibly wrong right now. They were running out of time. Julian turned to face the two of them. Naya was clearly in shock, her eyes were big and staring at the tv as if she were going to die any second. Eric was still pale, and he seemed a little more weaker.

Julian shook his head. "No." He shook his head again. "No, that is not possible. Jace wouldn't do that. It wouldn't surprise me if Sergi did but Jace wouldn't kill anyone."

Naya turned her neck to look at Julian. "You don't know that. Jace doesn't care about anyone but himself."

Julian glared at her. "Maybe that's why you two were together. Your good for each other."

She looked stunned. Yeah, well when their lives were in serious danger he didn't give a damn about anyones feelings. He wanted to get home safely and help his little brother. He didn't care how stupid he was. Julian stood up straight as a board. He looked at Eric, Julian was a good couple inches taller.

"Eric, you need to tell us what is going on. I don't give a damn what you signed, no one is ever going to know that we were in Washington so you are safe."

"You really don't get it, do you? I can't!" Eric shook his head. "I would, I really would but I made a promise."

Julian glared. "It's not a matter of can't. It's a matter of wont. Your damn promise don't hold a candle to our lives! I am not just going to sit here and watch you keep your tail between your legs. I want the truth and I want it now!" Julian growled. He was serious...

Naya couldn’t believe her ears. It was as if time had stopped for a moment, it was like she was in some sort of nightmare that she couldn’t wake up from.

Jace had been arrested for murder? Embezzlement she could understand, Jace had been making bad business decisions since he was old enough to join the family business, but murder?

Almost instantly her mind brought her back to the night Jace had asked to meet her in their hotel room. He was drunk and had blood all over his clothes...

The memory shocked Naya to her core. She brought a hand to her mouth as her mind automatically began putting two and two together. And then she heard Julian defend Jace, Naya couldn’t help but tell him that he was wrong, that Jace was capable of doing something like that...hell, Jace was capable of doing anything if it meant getting what he wanted. But Julian was adamant that it wasn’t possible, even going so far as to say that Naya deserved him. Hearing those words, even in such a desperate situation like the one they were in now, still managed to hurt Naya badly.

How dare he say such a thing to her?

Julian was now in Eric’s face, his chest heaving in anger. Naya could see Eric begin to cower under the pressure, because he turned to face her pleadingly.

“Naya, I’m begging you...” he breathed. “You have to understand...something like this could ruin me!”

Naya swallowed hard, fighting back the tears Julian’s words had brought. “I saved your life, Eric,” her voice was expressionless. “You owe me...”

Eric’s face fell in horror. “That’s not fair!” he protested in outrage. “You can’t use that against me!”

“I can, and I will,” Naya responded. She knew she was being unfair, but right now she couldn’t care less. Facts were facts. “Tell me what you know, and I promise I’ll make sure you’re name doesn’t get dragged into any this...”

Eric looked like he was about to faint. Howling in frustration, he rubbed the side of his neck desperately before facing Naya.

“Both your grandparents...” Eric began, his voice just a centimetre above a whisper. Each word that came out of his mouth looked like it was causing his great pain. “Your grandfathers and grandmothers, they were all involved in the drug-trafficking business.”

“What?” Julian spluttered. “That’s ridiculous!”

“It was big during their time, loads of upper-class kids got involved in it, including the Harper family...” Eric continued, more to Naya than to Julian. Naya just stared at Eric, her eyes glazed with a mixture of shock and horror. “It was how they all became so rich in such a short space of time...”

“Anyway, the main supplier to these families was a Russian jeweller. What he’d do was split the profits equally between him and your grandparents. But as more money started coming in, the Russian started to get greedy, he decided that since he was organising the trades he should get a bigger profit. Quentin Du Maurier- Naya’s grandfather, decided to let the man have his profit, but Bart Anderson, you’re grandfather,” Eric glared at Julian, “decided he’d take a more drastic action, so he killed the Russian.”

Eric rubbed his temples wearily. “This obviously angered the Russian mob. They came out looking for Bart Anderson for revenge, but instead they found Quentin Du Maurier’s eldest son Francis. They shot and killed him, thinking it was Bart Anderson’s eldest son, Sergi ... and that’s how the family feud began. Quentin Du Maurier’s never forgave Bart Anderson for what he caused...anyway, after the funeral, Quentin decided to use his new power and influence to have the members of the Russian mob arrested and imprisoned. What must’ve happened now, is that all of those members have been released and have regrouped. No one knows who’s leading them now, but their obviously back and after revenge.”

“What the hell do they want?” Julian’s voice shook slightly.

“The Anderson, Du Maurier and Harper businesses. All of it.”

Julian felt a unhappy ringing in his ears. Why this? Why now? Why didn't they kill him when he was a child? Why didn't they go after the family then? It was now Julian's advantage. He wanted to press Eric for more info, but the poor guy was shaking. He was more fragile than Naya. Eric had sort of a pencil neck, like a giraffe. Julian now pictured the man as a giraffe so he had to stiffle a smile.

"Why?" Julian asked, stupidly. Still staring at Eric.

Eric shrugged. "Umm... I think it's because both families were in sad place. You know economy wise-they were probably both poor. Did you ever ask Sergi or your mother about their past?" Eric asked, he obviously didn't know the Anderson family.

Julian felt his face wrinkle. His eyes dark, he thought of a normal conversation with Sergi. What would it have been like? Only in a parell universe would a normal conversation between father and son. Or at least Sergi and Jace. "No." A single word escaped Julian's lips. Everything made sense, everything. Julian wished he had seen this before. He really had. "Thank you, Eric. We honestly will try to keep you out of this." Julian turned, and walked out of the apartment. At this moment in time he didn't notice if Naya was with him or not...

Naya couldn’t move from her seat. It was as if the information her ears had just registered made her every limb turn numb. She barely noticed Eric come up to her and grab her by the shoulders.

“Naya...” he said softly, trying to shake her out of her daze. “Naya, I’m so sorry you had to hear it like this. I-” he struggled.

Naya blinked weakly and rubbed her head. “I should go...” she said, getting to her feet.

“Why don’t you stay here,” Eric offered. “I don’t want you to stay with him...” his eyes focused on Julian as he left the apartment without her.

“I have to,” was the only response Naya could muster. Clearly still dazed, she thanked Eric for his help before following Julian out, Eric's words still charging through her head...