The Faustian Love Bargain (COMPLETED)

Chapter 17

The Kwans had a gigantic villa in the centre of the city. Located next to Kwan Clubhouse, it was situated next to a golf course and the villa had an Olympic sized private swimming pool. Kaela Parker had planned a twenty-four hour party for a week. With an exclusive guest list of a hundred prominent people, a line of the most famous deejays in the world, a series of exciting events set up, Kaela was pleased to be the host of the biggest party of the year. She had thirty private rooms set up for her guests in the villa and had ordered three thousand bottles of various types of alcohol. 

The villa was newly built and was five stories high, spanning almost one acre. It was the most luxurious villa in the country and the Kwans thought that the party would be the best way as branding for their hotels and club house. Decked in a shimmering halter maroon dress with a high leg cut, Kaela sauntered around superciliously to greet her guests. 

When Stella entered the villa, she first saw the swimming pool and was shocked to see that it was filled with a yellowish liquid. She felt many eyes fall on her as Nick walked in with her. She recognised some of them as major celebrities and some others were famous socialites. There were many people in voluptuous bikinis kissing publicly in the pool while there were waitresses walking around dressed in barely there shorts and a bra. Surrounding the pool was the villa with glass walls and doors. There was loud music coming from the inside. It was dark but there were some disco lights and there was a long bar counter and a dance floor.

Nick took her arm and they walked over to a guy who was sitting on a reclined wooden beach chair. Many people were looking at him, as if they knew who Nick Smith was. A few very sexy and pretty girls in bikinis or transparent tops said hi to him. Some asked why he had not replied their messages while others asked if he was free to hang out someday. He merely smiled and told them briefly he would text them when he was free. Stella felt that they had cast dirty looks at her and they had completely ignored her presence. 

“Hey!” the guy on the seat waved to Nick and grinned, “Kaela’s got some good stuff in the pool. Champagne! Who would have thought of that!”

“Yeah I noticed that. You could drink to your heart’s content, Isaac,” he took a seat next to his friend after pulling out a chair for Stella.

Isaac looked at Stella curiously and said enthusiastically, “Hey Stella, I’m Isaac. Nick must have told you he loves me.”

She thought that Isaac was probably a funny and outgoing sort of guy. He had a few tattoos on his arm and he wore a leather leopard printed cap with a colourful printed tank top. 

“Hello, nice to meet you. How do you know my name?” she asked.

“Hmm, I’m telepathic. Nah, I’m joking. Of course Nick told me you’re his new obsession,” he laughed. Nick ordered five glasses of martini and whispered to Stella, “Don’t believe a word he says.”

“I heard that,” Isaac laughed and then asked Nick, “Kaela says she ordered a few strippers for me. She said there isn’t any for you. Are you jealous? She told me not to worry because they are all at least D-cups and have maximum twenty-two inch waists. I’m not even sure if that is true.”

Stella did not know what to say. His friend seemed a little crazy and was drinking a bottle of Baileys by himself. Another guy came over. He was more decently dressed like Nick. He wore a pair of jeans and a casual short-sleeved shirt. 

“Brandon, you’ve come! Of course you did because you heard that Nick was bringing Stella here!” Isaac exclaimed and pat Brandon on the back as he sat opposite Stella and Nick. He was very good looking like Nick but only more muscular and he had smaller but deeper eyes. 

“I’ve told her not to believe a word he says,” Nick said while sipping his glass of lychee martini. Brandon looked at Stella in an unfriendly manner and said pointedly, “So you’re Stella Robbs.”

“Yeah,” she replied, quite unnerved by his cold remark.

Two other girls approached their small group and she recognised her as Kaela Parker and Celine Bishop. Celine was dressed in a short sleeveless red satin dress and she looked as glamorous and sexy as Kaela. She saw that both of them had their judging eyes on her and she looked away.

“Well, well, who do we have here?” Celine smiled.

“Celine and Kaela, this is Stella. Stella, this is Celine and Kaela,” Nick passed one martini to Celine. 

“Ah, I think Isaac had told me about her,” Celine smiled even more widely, knowing clearly that Kaela did not know about this girl’s presence. She wanted to see Kaela’s response when Nick was giving more attention to a lowly human than her.

“She wasn’t invited here,” Kaela snapped and looked at Nick angrily, who replied dismissively, “What’s the problem? I’ll just pay for her invitation.” 

“There isn’t a price for it,” she snarled. Suddenly, Brandon got up and pulled Stella away. 

They went into the villa and he pushed past some people before they went into a private room. “I have things to talk to you about,” he said and sat down. She sat down as well and before she could speak, he continued at length, “Could you tell Nick to stop all his nonsense with you? Discontinue the contract if you need to. I will compensate you. How about twenty million? Does that solve it? I don’t think you should be near him and neither should he be near you.”

“I’ll need a justifiable reason at least,” she replied.

“He told me he had almost hurt you that night. He is uncontrollable. You saw the drugs he took, am I right? I’m not sure how much he is overdosing on but it is dangerous.”

“Is he sick?” she asked worriedly.

Brandon paused for a while and said, “No, he isn’t but he is hurting a lot. I’m not sure why this doesn’t happen to the rest of us. If you continue to be close to him, I don’t know how long he will tolerate the pain.” She did not know why the words of Micheal suddenly appeared in her head and she asked, without thinking, “Does he want to kill me?”

Brandon glared at her and demanded what she meant. She said she did not know how to explain herself. He asked again if Nick had told her anything and she denied it. 

“If he could kill anyone and everyone, the last person he would kill is you. At this rate, he would kill himself first,” he said with anger in his voice, “I wish I could kill you now to save him but it would devastate him and he shall never forgive me.” She feared for her life but she could not find any words.

He calmed down and said slowly, “Consider this as my plea to you. Hide yourself somewhere he shall never find you. I will give you all the money you want. If he offers you more, I shall offer you double the amount.”

She shook her head inadvertently and he looked at her before crying out, “For God’s sake, unlove him if you need to! Did he never warn you not to like him? Human love is worldly and obsolete. You can worship us like Gods but we will never return your love. Crush your heart into pieces now! Suffer from the pain of a heartbreak now! It is better than if you continue to drink from poison that tastes like honey!”

“It gladdens me even if I see him,” was all she could mutter. Tears were flowing down her eyes and she could not and would not bear to leave him. Even if their time should last only two months, a month or even a week, she begged, she could not bear to rip her heart from loving him now when the inextricable bud had just formed. Brandon took out a cheque and put it in her shaking hand. How pathetic she looked! He despised the stupidity of humans. He despised everything about her. He left the room angrily and left Stella crying alone. 

After collecting herself, Stella walked unsteadily out of the room. She left a message to Nick, telling him that she was going to go home now. Everywhere was dark and all she could see was glimpses of people drinking, laughing and dancing. She threw the torn up cheque of twenty million into the bin. 

She caught sight of Nick from afar. He was with Kaela and they were drinking. She felt afraid to approach him now and she turned away. When she turned back, they were kissing.