When Night Falls (Complete)

13

IDRIS

He can't sleep. He's in bed with three other women from his list, and even after a long night of lust, he still couldn't find it himself to rest. Now he just lays there, thinking. That's how things have been the past couple days. He just sits and thinks about Josi. He thought inviting those women into his bed would level things out. Make him forget. But all this has done is make him yearn for Josi even more.

Idris leaves the bed and heads out onto the terrace. Maybe the fresh air can calm him down. He lights a cigarette up and peers up at the sky. The clouds can still be seen through the darkness, though much of the moon has disappeared behind that thick blanket. Idris leans against the railing, eyes down at the sleeping city. The wind feels good. It's calm. But it only relieves his body. His mind is the thing that needs emancipation.

Idris's frustration triples. Why must he feel this restless? It's all Josi's fault. She's the root of all his problems. If it weren't for her, he'd still be sane. If it weren't for her, he would have his mind to himself. Instead he's been forced to share it with her, because that's all his mind has been able to think about. Josita Cade. Josita fucking Cade. Perhaps she plotted this all along. And now he's been lured right into her trap.

This wasn't supposed to happen. A game was all it really was. Entertainment was all he was looking for. Yet there he is in the middle of the night, struggling to get himself past that surge of helplessness. Restlessness. Maybe this was all a mistake. Who would have thought that in the very game Idris deviced himself, he would come out the loser?

Idris begins to chuckle. There's nothing funny about the situation. Even he's not sure what he's laughing at. Perhaps it's at the fact that everything has taken such a sharp turn. He's the one in charge. He has her life in his hands. He's the one in the driver's seat. But why does it feel like he's under more torment than she is?

The cloudy sky soon turns to drizzle. Idris doesn't leave and instead, allows the light drops soak his skin. He won't sit back and allow things carry on this way. That's not how the story's supposed to go. He has to do something about it. In fact, he's already begun digging up a plot. He has to cement his role as leader. Because he's the one in charge.

~《¤》~

JOSI

Josi finishes her dinner reluctantly that late afternoon. There's been no calls from Idris the entire week. No distressing text messages either. Nothing alarming. She had even begun growing hopeful, as if hope has ever been on her side.

But as the universe has had it since her first encounter with Idris, things will never be that easy.

The text came a couple minutes before dinner with Bradley. Now she's seated at the table fidgeting, eyes casted down, throat so dry, not even the glass of water has been able to quell it. She hasn't touched much of her dinner, neither has she said a word. All because of that damned text.

Yet again, Idris Verdonni seeks her presence. And yet again, Josi has to oblige. She's gone so stiff, Bradley hasn't been able to keep his eyes off her. He simply watches her, his dinner just as untouched as hers.

"You've stopped laughing."

Josi looks at him, and immediately the guilt sinks in. Bradley has gotten caught up in this game between her and Idris. In her attempt to cheer him up, Josi exchanges the anxiousness for a smile, which soon turns into strained laughter.

"I still laugh, just not as loud as I used to."

Bradley doesn't respond. Josi's attempt fell flat.

After dinner is done, Josi helps Bradley move the dishes to the kitchen. They clean them all down, still shrouded in that same strained silence. Josi doesn't even sing off-key the way she usually does. No jokes about Bradley's terrible attempts at karaoke either, or the usual talks about how intelligent her students are. Just a cloud of silence.