Crazy but Sweet, Sweet but Crazy

37: debtors

Too awake to sleep, the three of us tucked ourselves into my bed and binged through episodes of 'Money Heist'.

Soon enough, the ice cream tubs and chips were flatter and lighter.

We chatted animatedly about everything but anything to do with the ''Lockwood-Horan Puzzle".

The one time I'd dared to take a glimpse on social media a few hours ago, I'd seen the clear divide in sentiments.

Some accused Michael of being the mastermind who manipulated the 'two young lovebirds', to, if possible, get back his position as the acting CEO of his company.

Some lauded Michael for his bravery, and pointed to Elliot's support for Michael as evidence that the investigation three years ago in which Richard Lockwood was the hero, was indeed questionable.

Public opinion on Elliot, too, was divided.

On one hand, he was commended as a 'brave and honest' young man who had chosen to 'stand up for the truth' instead of blindly standing with his father.

On the other hand, he was the 'goddamn betrayer' who put in a knife in the backs of family members who'd taken him, a 'completely unrelated stranger', into their home- all because of 'the Horan girl'.

And to almost all, I was the girl who'd, regardless of whether my feelings for Elliot were love or something else, had pushed Elliot Lockwood into an agonizing dilemma and eventually, to betraying his own father.

'Love'.

The word suited Elliot and me just as well as that three-story house suited the dirt roads, just as Richard Lockwood's three-piece suit would look on a child.

"Give this up and sleep properly," said Ester, trying to wrestle a half-eaten bag of chips from Bianca's hands. "You're not standing guard for fortress protection."

Her eyes already closed, Bianca refused, claiming rather incoherently that she wasn't sleepy at all.

After engaging in a few more futile wrestles with Bianca, Clare closed her eyes and settled into bed after muttering a "Good night".

I turned off the main lights and continued watching the series.

Watching series on Netflix late at night had never really been my thing.

But in this dimly lit and silent room, and with my too-silent phone by the bedside, I couldn't fall asleep.

Just as I was rinsing out toothpaste from my mouth at the bathroom sink, my phone buzzed.

There were messages from Ian.

Hey, kid. You doing ok?

I wiped my mouth, and sat on the edge of my bathtub, scrolling through his texts.

It was slightly past one-oh-clock.

Did you see this?

Ian had sent a YouTube link. My pulse seemed to quicken, the moment I saw the link.

I didn't have to open it up to know what it was.

It was a link to a video of Gabriel Nikol's YouTube Channel, JustNikIt.

Donning a green sweater and sitting in the backdrop of a white background, Gabriel Nikol spoke in his distinctive tone and manner of announcing the most important news in the world at that moment.

Looking straight into the camera, he spoke, hands folded on the table before him.

"It's Gabriel Nikol of JustNitIt. Another good day to my subscribers and all viewers. Today, I'm back with very, very exclusive content on the 'Lockwood-Horan Puzzle'.