Toxic For Me

Chapter 12: Gone Forever

It was a beautiful winter morning after a tragic experience of being encountered by bad men. The morning was calm as the sun rays gently fell on the ground with a little humidity in the air. The birds were cheerful and the butterflies flew around in the sky, going from flower to flower.

Everything was peaceful except for the ambience at Lavender's house. "Did you pack my laptop, Claire? You know my parents don't have a computer or any such advanced technology." Lavender rushed inside her room with a handful of clothes and stuffed them in her travelling bag. "They still use those flip phones." She said more to herself.

"Yes, I did. Now only if you could calm down Lavender..." Claire said calmly. "I DON'T HAVE TIME!" Lavender growled, carrying all the luggage downstairs by herself. "I need to leave before he gets here." She added. "Before who gets here? Are you talking about Tristen?" Claire asked, following her with her laptop's bag. "Who told you his name?" Lavender stopped and suspiciously glared at her.

"I read it on your lock screen long time ago. I suspected you dating someone and it came to be true." She smiled proudly. "Anyways. Get this to my car." Lavender rolled her eyes. "Why do you want to avoid him so bad? Is he bothering you?" Claire asked, grabbing the bags while Lavender picked up other things. "No, he's not. He's a sweetheart." She replied with a sigh.

"Then? What's the matter?"

"We both can't be a thing."

"It's because of the media, right?"

"No."

"Then perhaps... is he not good looking?" She shrugged.

Lavender dropped the extra baggage heavily in front of her car's trunk and stared at her.  "Claire!" She exclaimed.

"Alright, alright. Whatever it is. What should I do if he rings the bell after you're gone?" Claire asked, while she loaded the luggage. "Just tell him I'm gone." Lavender shut the trunk and spun around dramatically. "Forever."

"What?" Claire gasped, putting her hands on her heart.

"That's what you will tell him. I'll leave now."

"But that'll break his heart!"

"No, he'll be fine. He needs to have a heart to begin with."

"Are you sure? Why don't you think about it again?"

"He will come here today in accurately one hour which is enough time for me to escape. I do not wish to give him an answer to his face because we both know that I can't decline him." She said, getting in her car. Claire stood silently and waved at Lavender, watching her flee to her so called freedom. She knew that her new phase would not last long and that she would eventually return back to her lovely home.

"Okay, it's good to go. Get the samples out." Tristen said to his worker, who went away with a drug sample. He was about to leave when Brendon held him back.

"I need you to look at this, Tristen." He said with a click pen in his hand.

"What is this?"

"A builder wants to start a project on the land we got near Glindale."

"Hm. Here you go. I'll be off now."

"Hang on, what about the dealers?"

"What about them?"

"When do you want to seal the deal?"

"Weekend." Tristen said, trying to escape his HQ. "And what about the weaponry deal? When do we show them the products?" Brendon asked. "Tomorrow." Tristen replied hastily.