The Lost And Forgotten Memories

      Two more days are gone fast. It’s somewhere two thirty. Raquelle is sitting at home, drinking some delicious drinks, and spending time with Blair and Benjamin, who sometimes comes here to visit his girlfriend.       “By the way, when is Terrence gonna leave the hospital?” Blair asks, knocking on her glass with her fingers. “Or journalists are gonna have pain in their fingers after writing so many false articles about his condition.”       “I think, in the nearest time,” Raquelle replies thoughtfully with a glass in her hands. “The doctor says he’s getting well fast and gonna leave the hospital in one or two days. But nobody talks about his release.”       “Oh, how much Chris, Kevin, and I were scared when you and your friends told us about the men,” Benjamin confesses, putting his arm on the back of the sofa. “We wanted to visit him on the same day but weren’t allowed to go and told he was in a very hard condition.”       “Yeah, Edward talked to Chris and heard about your visit from him.”       “Thank God, Terrence is fine,” Blair says quietly. “We all were terribly scared and thought we could lose him.”       “Terrence survived for Raquelle,” Benjamin assumes with a slight smile. “We all know how much she means to him.”       “And it would’ve been really unfair if he had died in that case,” Blair adds with sadness in her eyes. “Terrence suffered for a good reason. For saving Edward.”       “You’re right,” Raquelle agrees with a slight smile. “Although MacClife scared me to death, I’m truly proud of him and appreciate the wonderful way he treats his close people.”       “Terrence can love and be loyal, my darling,” Benjamin says confidently. “Of course, he loves playing on our nerves, but family and friends will always be the most important things to him.”       “I think it’s one of the reasons why he overcame the test of fame and didn’t end it badly as well as many celebrities.”       “And you did it, too,” Blair notices. “Fame hasn’t changed your character. Family and friends have always been important to you.”       “No, Blair, it wasn’t always true.” Raquelle glances at her hands. “I used to care about my career much more. Now my priorities have changed. So much that I’d sacrifice my modeling career if Terrence told me to leave it.”       “Oh, no, friend, I don’t think he wants you to,” Benjamin shakes his head with a slight smile. “Terrence always admires photos of all of your photoshoots, posting them on Instagram, saying about his pride for you, and admitting your commercials and walks on a runway.”       “Sometimes he photographs her,” Blair adds. “I saw Terrence with a camera in his hands, with which he was taking photos of Raquelle on the back of the sofa.”       “And while he doesn’t hear it, I must confess that he’s doing it well,” Raquelle smiles slightly. “I really like the way he photographs me. MacClife is definitely my favorite photographer.”       “Anyway, don’t hope to hear his idea of leaving a modeling career,” Benjamin says confidently. “Terrence won’t let you do that.”       “I know, Ben. And I must confess that it gives me a greater motivation to keep working.”       “The important thing is that you like your job,” Blair notices with a shy smile.       “I think if Raquelle left her modeling career, Terrence would take photos of her to keep admiring his beloved fiancée and letting everyone know how much he’s lucky to have her,” Benjamin adds confidently.       “Still, a career is a career, but you don’t need to forget about a family,” Blair notices with a slight smile.       Raquelle starts to think of her lost baby, whom she would be holding in her arms, with sadness in her eyes.       “Yes, Raquelle, are you gonna make your family bigger after getting married?” Benjamin asks. “Such awesome genes must be used!”       “Sure,” Raquelle cracks a smile, putting her glass aside. “When Terrence and I get married, we will start working on this thing.”       “That’s good… Terrence has lately talked a lot about his wish to become a father. As if he can’t wait to take his little diamond similar to him in his arms.”       “Why him?” Blair wonders with a slight smile. “Maybe, their baby is gonna be similar to Raquelle?”       “Maybe, a girl is gonna be similar to Raquelle, but a boy is surely gonna be Terrence’s image. Just like my buddy is the image of his father.”       “Maybe, they’re gonna have a girl? Maybe, she’s gonna be similar to both of her parents?”       “Time will show, guys,” Raquelle says with a slight smile. “Anyway, we’re gonna have babies. And I wouldn’t like to stop after one baby. I want at least two babies. A boy and a girl. A full completion, so to say.”       “Oh, Terrence’s gonna be terribly happy to have one baby and gonna die of happiness if he has two ones,” Benjamin laughs shyly.       “You aren’t gonna have problems because you have many helpers,” Blair notices confidently. “You’re madly lucky in this case. It’s gonna be easy to educate your children, build your career, and spend time with each other.”       “Agree, we’re really lucky,” Raquelle replies thoughtfully. “Really…”       Raquelle looks into the distance and thinks about something with sad eyes for two seconds, while Benjamin and Blair frown slightly and look at each other.       “Hey, Raquelle, are you okay?” Benjamin shows anxiety. “Why are you kind of sad?”       “Erm, yeah, sorry…” Raquelle pronounces hesitantly, clearing her throat. “I just thought a little…”       “You know, I think you’ve lately been thinking too much. And Terrence is worried because of it. He told me about it a long time ago. Are you afraid to say something to him?”       “Actually, there’s something…” Raquelle confesses hesitantly, locking her fingers. “But I promised I’d tell Terrence about it when he left the hospital.”       “Maybe, we could help you somehow? Just let us know! We’ll try to find a way.”       “No, Ben, don’t. I… Will explain everything… But at first, I want to talk to Terrence. It’s gonna be hard, but I should… I can’t be silent anymore…”       “Is everything so terrible?” Blair asks with sadness in her eyes.       “I could say so…”       “Just hint at what happened to you, so we know how to help you.”       “Guys, I promise I’ll tell you everything, but a little later.”       “Oh, Raquelle, you’re scaring and intriguing,” Benjamin shakes his head. “I’m even afraid to imagine what Terrence should know.”       “It’s something shocking… Shocking…”       With these words, Raquelle looks into the distance with sad eyes and thinks about something, while Benjamin hugging Blair around the shoulders and pressing her to himself looks questioningly at his girlfriend, who just shakes her head.       “Oh, listen, guys…” Raquelle pronounces thoughtfully with sadness in her eyes and tucks a strand of hair behind her ear. “I’d be happy to spend more time with you, but I need to go to my room. I’m meeting Natalia and Helene soon. We’ll go to the wedding salon. To try on dresses.”       “Choose the most beautiful dresses,” Benjamin says cheerfully. “So, the grooms lose their jaws!”       “Trust me, buddy, they don’t know what’s waiting for them.”       “But don’t overdo it, so we don’t have to wake them up,” Blair says funnily. “They may lose consciousness from too many feelings.”       “Okay, lovebirds,” Raquelle smiles shyly and gets up from the sofa. “And yeah, call me when Violetta and Christiana are back. I wanna ask them something.”       “Yes, sure,” Blair promises confidently.       Raquelle claps Benjamin on the shoulder and caresses Blair’s shoulder with a sad smile. Then she slowly gets upstairs to the second floor, thinking about something, while the lovers watch her questioningly.       “Something’s happening to her,” Benjamin frowns slightly. “She doesn’t already deny it anymore.”       “It seems like her problem is serious if she hasn’t told Terrence about it,” Blair assumes with sadness in her eyes and sighs quietly. “But it’s been so much time…”       “It’s all weird… I thought those two trusted each other and hid nothing… I mean… Terrence hides nothing and tries to be honest with Raquelle. But she doesn’t wanna answer back.”       “Maybe, she is shy or afraid? There must be a real reason that has made her keep silent since the trial of Terrence’s uncle. Moreover, we know that your friend may sometimes be intemperate.”       “No, Blair, I think the case is about fear and mistrust. At least, Terrence is sure that Raquelle is afraid to call the reason why she’s worried. And the fact that she doesn’t trust him makes him really sad. MacClife wants her to be happy with him, but he doesn’t see happiness in her eyes.”       “By the way, she has lately cried much more than ever. Literally at nights… She does even have red eyes from tears. Their friends have talked about it and tried to find out what was wrong many times. But Raquelle says nothing to anyone and keeps crying.”       “I’ve noticed it… And I’m starting to worry about her. If Raquelle doesn’t reveal her secret and keeps torturing herself, she won’t avoid the terrible consequences.”       “I think even her friends didn’t cry as much as Raquelle is crying now.”       “Damn, and the story of beating Anna… If it’s the truth, the poor girl must be saved immediately.”       “Yeah, she got in touch with the stinker…”       “Listen, does Anna look so terrible that everybody talks about her bad condition?”       “You won’t recognize her if you see her,” Blair replies with sadness in her eyes. “Nothing left from the former, positive Anna… That’s not the girl we all know…”       “Oh, these problems…” Benjamin sighs tiredly, running his hand over his face. “That’s good Daniel has remembered everything, and Wainwright died.”       “Thank God! The girls can exhale with relief!”       “That’s fair. If he could, he would’ve killed many more people and ruined the lives of many girls.”       “If only the situation of Anna was also solved. My heart squeezes at the thought that someone could mock her…”       “I think a way to help Anna will be found early or late. And Raquelle won’t keep silent about her secret forever.”       “I’d like to believe it…”       “Hey, I was in the hospital in Terrence’s room one day,” Benjamin frowns slightly. “There were Edward, Daniel, and Peter. And Chris and Kevin joined later…”       “Any problems?” Blair wonders.       “You see, Blair… I kind of thought Edward wasn’t himself… He weirdly reacted to talks about Raquelle’s secrets.”       “Why do you think so?”       “Well… When the guys and I were reflecting on that, Edward was far away from us in his mind and was even a little nervous. I didn’t ask the lads if they noticed those weird things, but I did see them.”       “Everyone knows Edward has his own demons.”       “I think the fact that he insists that Terrence talks to Raquelle and asks him to be tender and accept anything she’d say is suspicious.”       “And what? He just wants his brother to find out everything soon. He warns that he should keep himself under control.”       “Sometimes I believe Edward suspects something, but doesn’t meddle in their business openly.”       “No, Ben, he hardly knows something and can’t have to do with Raquelle’s secret. Edward gets on well with her, and she accepted him as a soon-to-be member of her family.”       “Well, I dunno…” Benjamin sighs quietly. “That guy can make us reflect on his acts. Edward is a good guy but very unpredictable.”       “Maybe, you will try to talk to him or tell Terrence about your suspicions? He would bite him through quickly if that guy knew something.”       “No, I won’t meddle in it now. Raquelle promised to tell Terrence everything personally. But if nothing changes, I’ll be softly pushing Edward or Terrence to take some actions. I shall try to bite MacClife, Jr., through. Not unobtrusively but persistently.”       “That’s right. Let Terrence and Raquelle solve everything. Anyway, everything’s gonna get clear soon ‘cause she’s sick of keeping silent, as I think. And even if Edward knows something, he’s doing the right thing by being silent. Raquelle and Terrence should solve all the questions by themselves.”       “I mean the same.”       Blair says nothing and smiles slightly, while Benjamin cutely kisses the girl on the cheek, hugging her, pressing her to himself, and holding her hand. The lovers enjoy each other’s company and do not hear how the sound of the opening door rings at some moment. Then Terrence enters the house with a sports bag over his shoulder. After closing the door, MacClife, Sr., looks around and comes to the living room, hoping to meet someone. And then he notices Benjamin and Blair, who are talking about something sweetly. This scene makes Terrence smile and then chuckle kindly.       “What people, what a scene…” Terrence pronounces, standing not far from the sofa.       Being a little scared, Blair and Benjamin step away from each other sharply and turn on Terrence.       “You got so busy with each other that you couldn’t move your eyes aside and look around.”       “Terrence?” Blair rounds her eyes.       “Ola-la-la, MacClife!” Benjamin chuckles kindly. “Is that you?”       “Huh!” Terrence shakes his head with a grin. “No, it’s my mirage! You probably missed me so much that you saw my image before your eyes. You didn’t think of me for hundreds of years, but now you did.”       “Oh, I see someone has gotten well,” Benjamin laughs shyly. “If you’re joking, everything isn’t so bad.”       “Everything is wonderful!”       Terrence puts his bag on the sofa and greets Benjamin after he gets up, sharing a homie handshake, hugging him amicably, and clapping him on the back.       “Welcome back, Terrence!” Benjamin pronounces amicably and steps back from Terrence. “I’m not gonna hide that I’m madly glad you’re fine.”       “Thank you, my dear friend,” Terrence replies amicably.       Blair also comes to Terrence, who greets her by hugging her with a slight smile and sharing an amicable kiss on the cheek.       “Thank God, you’re fine,” Blair says with a slight smile. “You made us very nervous. We were really worried.”       “My blame, Blair,” Terrence slightly inclines his head. “But thanks for the kind words.”       “Hey, Terrence…” Benjamin pronounces and claps Terrence on the shoulder. “Aren’t you supposed to be in the hospital? What are you actually doing here?”       “It’s easy, Ben,” Terrence shrugs with a slight smile. “I was released. The doctor came to me this morning and said I could leave the hospital after lunchtime. And after signing a couple of documents, I took my stuff quickly and literally ran away from there.”       “Okay, I believe you. I thought you decided to run away, as you did it a couple of times when you were a teenager.”       “No, you won’t betray me this time, ‘cause I was really released from the hospital and finally came back to my sweet home.”       “Sorry. I would’ve had the pleasure to fulfill my duty to bring you back to the hospital and tell your doctor that you insolently violated the rules.”       “Yeah, you don’t change, Parker…” Terrence shakes his head with a sly smile. “You were a donkey, and you still are.”       “I’m doing this for your best.”       “Oh, thank you!”       “By the way, why didn’t you say you were going to be released?” Blair asks amicably. “Nobody talked about it.”       “I thought a little and decided to make a sudden surprise.” Terrence smiles slyly, putting his hands on his hips. “As nobody visited me this morning.”       “Huh, would it be fine if your friends or family went to the hospital?” Benjamin resents.       “Someone hardly had this thought on their minds, as I see.”       “Maybe, you need something?” Blair asks, locking her fingers tightly. “I could give you coffee or something to eat.”       “No, Blair, thanks. I already had lunch in the hospital.”       “As you wish…”       “Ah, guys…” Terrence comes to the sofa, sits down, and leans back with a slight smile. “How it’s good… I haven’t sat on something soft and comfortable for ages.”       “Don’t start whining about your bed being uncomfortable and hard again,” Benjamin moans tiredly.       “What can I do if it’s true?”       “Oh, c’mon! You had a good bed!”       “My whole body hurts after lying on that bed. And the food that I had to eat was madly tasteless.”       “A glutton like you would eat anything!”       “Not food at the hospital! It’s terrible! Ugh…” Terrence exhales sharply, running his hands over his face. “I hate hospitals… I do hate. But I especially hate being at them as a patient.”       “Oh, MacClife…” Benjamin moans quietly.       “It’s okay! I’m finally back home and can enjoy freedom.” Terrence looks around the whole living room quickly. “Yeah… Where’s Raquelle? She’s at home?”       “Yup, she is,” Blair confirms. “Ben and I had talked to her before you came. But she went to her room two minutes ago.”       “Aha, if you’d come earlier, you would’ve seen her,” Benjamin adds.       “I’m truly grateful to her for being with me in the hospital almost every day,” Terrence confesses. “Otherwise, I would’ve gone crazy. I had nothing to do! But the pretense of my beauty made the time more interesting. When Raquelle told me something, I already felt good.”       “She was just worried and wanted to take care of you, buddy. You can’t only kiss passionately and squeeze each other in the corner.”       “Oh, oh, you do know everything!” Terrence rolls his eyes. “I also take care of Raquelle like a little child.”       “God shall help you get yours,” Blair expresses hope with a slight smile. “I’m sure you will be a wonderful father, and Raquelle will be a perfect mother.”       “I hope so… But now we have so many problems that we have no time to think of a baby and the wedding.”       “Seeing how cutely you were playing with Mrs. Middleton’s daughter, I’m sure you’re gonna be a cool daddy,” Benjamin replies confidently. “I did see how you got tender when seeing the daughter of your fiancée’s aunt.”       “What can I do if I like that girl?” Terrence throws his hands up. “You know that I love children. Besides, Amanda is kind of similar to Raquelle.”       “Is she eight years old?” Blair specifies. “Right?”       “I think so…” Terrence replies thoughtfully.       “I don’t know what you think, but I thought I could introduce her to my brother someday.”       “Wow!” Terrence smiles shyly. “Good idea! I think those guys would get on well.”       “That boy wouldn’t hurt girls ‘cause he’s educated too well,” Benjamin says confidently. “Mrs. Stewart will make Harold a real man.”       “Blair, feel free to come here with your brother. Raquelle and I will talk to Alicia and suggest that she visits us with Amanda.”       “Alright, Terrence, I’ll come here with Harry someday,” Blair promises with a slight smile. “Moreover, he’s wanted to go here for a long time and wants to see at your house.”       “Or I can bring him here,” Benjamin adds. “Walk with him somewhere, and then Harry will go to the work of his sis at this gorgeous house.”       “Wonderful then!” Terrence smiles much wider.       Silence settles in the air for a few seconds, after which Terrence looks around the living room, gets up slowly, and runs his hand over his hair when saying:       “So… If you say Raquelle is upstairs, I’ll better come to her. And give you a chance to stay alone and flirt for a little longer.”       “She’s supposed to be in her room,” Blair says quietly.       “Thanks, Blair.”       “Hey, MacClife, I almost forgot!” Benjamin clicks his fingers. “Don’t you wanna spend time with me and the men? We agreed to come together in nature and eat something tasty! Everybody will be there: Edward, Daniel, Peter, Kevin, and Chris. Pete wanna take Sammy with him, and Ed promised to take his guitar.”       “You dare to ask!” Terrence chuckles kindly. “Of course, I’ll join you! How you could have a hangout without Terrence MacClife!”       “Yeah, come to annoy everybody. Your brother is fretting and fuming too hard and can’t wait to kick your ass again.”       “Don’t worry about him, buddy, I’ll deal with Edward somehow. Besides, I lost sight of him for a while.”       “Use the moment, then!” Benjamin chuckles kindly. “If you don’t get your ass kicked.”       “Anyway, I’ll come.” Terrence points at Benjamin with a shy smile. “But you’ll say nothing to the lads about my release?”       “What?” Benjamin frowns slightly. “What do you mean?”       “Nobody should know I’ll come and was released from the hospital.”       “And how should I do this?”       “I’ll come a little later… But if the men wanna go to the hospital, play time.”       “Can’t you just tell everybody about your plans and come?” Benjamin puts his hands on his hips. “Or do you wanna shower in your friends’ love?”       “Yeah, I’m looking forward to hearing your words about being worried,” Terrence says confidently.       “That’s why!”       “You’d also puff your tail if you heard something like that.”       “Yeah, it’s hard to deny it,” Benjamin agrees, stroking his hair down.       “So, my sweet friend, do me a favor and don’t tell the guys that I left the hospital before you see me there.”       “Oh…” Benjamin exhales sharply. “Okay, little star, you’ll get your piece of love.”       “Won’t you really say anything?”       “I won’t, don’t worry,” Benjamin points at Terrence. “But you’re gonna owe me? Got it?”       “I think I’ve been owing you for ages,” Terrence chuckles kindly. “Listen, pity me! I won’t have the strength and time to pay all my debts!”       “It’s not my problem.”       “Okay, okay, Parker, deal,” Terrence raises his hands up. “I agree.”       “Great! Then join us after five in the afternoon.”       “Great!”       “We’re meeting in the country. In short…” Benjamin quickly explains to Terrence how to get to the right place.       “Okay, I got it. I’ll come after five hours.”       “We’ll be waiting for your epic return.”       “I will be happy to kick your asses.”       Benjamin says nothing and just laughs shyly. Then Terrence comes to his black bag lying on the sofa and puts it above his shoulder.       “But now, excuse me, lovebirds, I have to leave you,” Terrence says with a slight smile. “To spend the rest of the time with very nice people.”       “Yes, yes, MacClife, get out!” Benjamin chuckles kindly, claps Terrence on the shoulder, and pushes him in the back. “Your beloved one is waiting for you.”       “Okay, okay, I’m no longer here,” Terrence replies with a sly smile. “See you soon, Benny.”       Terrence turns around slowly and goes to the stairs to get up to the second floor, while Blair and Benjamin watch him with a shy smile.       “Oh, yeah, I wanted to go,” Benjamin exhales sharply, putting his hands on his hips.       “I hope he will tell the lads about it in time,” Blair notices with a slight smile.       “Don’t worry, sweetie, if he doesn’t, I’ll kindly do it.”       “You promised to be silent.”       “I’m giving your boss a chance to make a sudden surprise for everybody. And get his piece of attention.”       “Oh, you’re incorrigible, Benjamin Parker,” Blair shakes her head with a slight smile.       “Sometimes Terrence must be brought back from heaven to earth and hear that he’s the same human as all of us are.”       “Maybe, Terrence loves showing off, but he’s a very good and fair man. And responsible.”       “Well, it’s hard to deny it.”       While Benjamin and Blair keep talking about something cutely, Terrence gets up to the second floor and goes to his room, looking around with a slight smile and realizing more and more that he has madly missed his sweet home. After coming to the door, Terrence opens it quietly and enters it, but he is surprised truly because he does not see Raquelle.       “She’s not here…” Terrence frowns slightly. “Maybe, she left?”       Terrence comes to the bed and puts his bag on it. After looking around the room again, the man notices that the door leading to the balcony is slightly opened, and Raquelle is now standing there, leaning on the railing with both hands, and looking at everything she sees, while the warm wind is blowing her face nicely. MacClife, Sr., can admire the slim, feminine body and notice how good she looks in her leather skinny pants, a simple black, slim tight sleeveless shirt, and black shoes with a high heel made of suede. The man cracks a smile and lets his eyes stop on the girl’s tough buttocks, on which she definitely worked long and hard, and her thin, long legs. However, Terrence does not admire Raquelle’s back for a long time because she returns to her room at some moment, closing the door after her. And he is surprised truly that the girl does not see him, being too busy with her thoughts. She quietly comes to the table, on which her cosmetics are put, and starts looking for something, not noticing her fiancé even in the mirror.       At first, Terrence frowns slightly and just stands in the same place. But then he gets sick of being invisible and comes to the girl from behind quietly but confidently. When Raquelle does not look in the mirror, holding her mascara, MacClife, Sr., sharply closes her mouth with a hand and presses her to himself. That’s why she shakes sharply, letting her mascara go and starting to get out automatically.       “Sh-h-h, quiet, quiet, cat,” Terrence pronounces in a low, quiet voice. “Don’t move.”       After hearing the familiar voice, Raquelle relaxes a little and turns on Terrence sharply.       “Terrence?” Raquelle opens her eyes widely and closes her mouth with both hands. “Oh, my gosh…”       “I’m back, honey,” Terrence throws his hands up with a slight smile. “Greet me!”       “Idiot, you scared me!” Raquelle puts a hand on her heart and exhales sharply. “I almost died of fear!”       “But you’re finally awake and seen me. I was standing here, but you didn’t see me.”       “I just thought about something…”       “Okay, sorry, I didn’t wanna scare you.”       “It’s okay.”       “Greet me then!” Terrence puts his hands aside. “Attack!”       Raquelle hangs on Terrence’s neck with a wide smile and hugs him tightly, while he answers her hug with pleasure, having his arms around the girl’s waist but later lifting her up from the floor for a while, placing her on her feet, and caressing her back and head. A few seconds later, the girl steps back from the man and looks at him with a slight smile, keeping her hands on his shoulders.       “I can’t believe it!” Raquelle exclaims happily. “Finally!”       “How happy I am to finally be back home,” Terrence replies cheerfully with a slight smile. “I couldn’t wait for me to leave the hospital.”       “But… Why didn’t you say you were gonna be released? I would’ve met you in my car!”       “I didn’t also think I would leave today. But in the early morning, the doctor came and said I could be released after lunchtime. When the time came, I signed some paper, took what I had, and left. I got the freedom that I missed so much.”       “So, are you now healthy?”       “Absolutely. My tests are fantastic, and the doctor said that I have amazing health.”       “Wow!” Raquelle claps her hands happily. “I’m so happy!”       “And I’m finally home…” Terrence caresses Raquelle’s cheek tenderly. “With my beloved girl, who I terribly missed…”       “Welcome home, sweetie,” Raquelle replies, brushing Terrence’s hair away with a slight smile.       “That incredible feeling when you’re back to where you belong.”       “Sorry, I didn’t get ready. But if you’d warned me, I would’ve done something.”       “Just in case, I ate at the hospital.”       “You didn’t like what they cooked.”       “Yeah, but today they decided to make me happy and offered something delicious. Not tasteless.”       “Okay, I got it.”       “Ah, Raquelle, my sweetheart…” Terrence hugs Raquelle touchingly with a wide smile, putting his hands on her back and nuzzling his nose in her shoulder, while she caresses tenderly the back of his head and the nape of his neck. “How I missed you…”       “Me too, honey,” Raquelle pronounces with a slight smile. “And now I won’t feel so lonely when I'm home and fall asleep alone. Honestly, I’m tired of spending nights without my beloved man.”       “I was impatiently waiting for the moment when I could spend time with you.”       “Promise that you’ll never make me spend nights alone. I’m so used to falling asleep and waking up next to you.”       “I promise, sweetie, I do.” Terrence cutely kisses Raquelle on the top of her head. “Today, I’ll sleep next to you.”       Raquelle smiles much wider and hugs Terrence much tighter, pressing herself as close to his chest as possible and keeping her eyes closed, while she enjoys the warmth that his body spreads. And a few seconds later, the spouses step away slowly, caress each other’s face or head, and sit on the bed together.       “Aw, my bed…” Terrence pronounces with enjoyment, lies down two moments later, and closes his eyes. “It’s so good… Lying on this bed is amazing…”       “You missed?” Raquelle smiles shyly, watching Terrence.       “I did! Home… Sweet home, how I missed you…” Terrence puts his hands aside. “Damn! I can finally throw my hands and legs aside on the entire bed.”       “I get it. I always have this feeling when I’m back home after a long departure. Sometimes you get tired of sitting at home to death, but sometimes this place seems like a paradise.”       “Right…” Terrence raises himself on an elbow and smiles shyly. “But any place would be my paradise if you were there. If you hadn’t been in the hospital, I would’ve gone crazy from boredom.”       “Actually, everybody came to you: your friends and your family.”       “I know. That’s what saved me from boredom. But even all my friends and relatives wouldn’t have made me have a good mood if you hadn’t been by my side. I’ll always say you’re my everything. What is so important to me.”       “Thank God, I could be with you as much as I wanted. Even a whole day. And nobody would’ve kicked me out!”       “I guess this is the reason why I got well so fast.”       Terrence sits up and kisses Raquelle tenderly on the cheek, while she gets a natural blush on her face.       “I have a reason to live and fight for what I want,” Terrence adds in a lower voice.       “Nice to hear it,” Raquelle replies with a slight smile and softly caresses Terrence’s cheek with one and two hands. “These words definitely make me feel pride.”       “As I’ve said, my happiness is your happiness, and your grief is my grief.”       “Well, as you’re absolutely healthy, I can be quiet and exhale with relief. But I’ll take care of you and watch your condition anyway.”       “I’ll accept your care with pleasure. And I shall obey any of your orders.”       With these words, Terrence tickles the curve of Raquelle’s neck with the tip of his nose, making her laugh shyly. Then the man hugs the girl tightly, leaves a few short kisses on her cheeks, and buries his face in the curve of the lady’s neck, on which he leaves a couple of kisses. It relaxes her enough and makes her feel how her heart trembles nicely. But a few seconds later, MacClife, Sr., steps back from his fiancée and, still embracing her, rubs the tip of his nose against her nose.       “Wow, you’re so playful,” Raquelle laughs with a slight smile.       “I just missed you too much,” Terrence purrs quietly.       “Aw, sweetheart…”       Raquelle covers Terrence’s face, which she grabs, with short kisses. A few seconds later, they lie down and press themselves to each other as closely as possible, sharing tender gazes and wide smiles.       “Hey, have you seen Ben and Blair?” Raquelle asks, caressing Terrence’s cheek with the back of her hand and having her arm wrapped around his waist.       “Yup, I talked to them,” Terrence nods and chuckles quietly. “You imagine, those lovebirds didn’t even notice how I came ‘cause they were too busy with each other. If a tank came there, none of them would probably react.”       “They’re living the best moments of their lives.”       “Parker is changing! It’s been a few months since the beginning of his relationship with Blair, but he still doesn’t leave her.”       “As it turned out, Benjamin Parker can be very caring and careful.”       “That guy has become much more serious since he started to date Blair. Of course, he ain’t ready to get married. As well as Blair… But the progress is clear.”       “At least, he loves playing with her brother. Blair somehow said her brother loved Ben so much that he wanted to see nobody but your friend next to her.”       “Ben is happy, too. He wanted to play with a boy – he does! Blair’s brother stood in his way.”       “If he took care of a newborn baby so well, we would say that the birth of his child wouldn’t make Parker shocked.”       “I don’t think he’ll marry a girl if she gets pregnant from him. He won’t reject the child, but he won’t go to register a marriage.”       “Who knows, sweetie…” Raquelle pronounces thoughtfully, running her fingers through Terrence’s hair.       “Hey, I thought a little and decided that we could introduce Blair’s brother to Amanda? I believe they could get on well.”       “Ben, Blair, and I talked about it and decided it was a good idea. I told Blair that I’d suggest that Aunt Alicia visits us with Amanda.”       “I’d be happy. There is enough space here, and they could run and play.”       “That’s great.”       Terrence kisses Raquelle on the cheek with a slight smile and strokes her hair, which smells like hairspray, while she presses herself to him as closely as possible.       “Hey, Ben said the lads would come together by five o'clock,” Terrence says thoughtfully.       “Yeah, I know,” Raquelle nods. “There will be Daniel, Edward, Peter, Chris and Kevin. Rose is also gonna take Sammy with him.”       “As I understand, is Helene working?”       “No, Natalia, Mrs. Rochester, she, and I will meet soon. We wanna check out dresses at the wedding store.”       “That’s how!” Terrence smiles mysteriously.       “It’s time to start. Even despite all of our problems.”       “Sorry… But I won’t make you stay home.”       “If I had known you’d leave the hospital, I would’ve gone on a different day.”       “Anyway, I don’t doubt that Edward and I are gonna be nicely surprised.”       “Don’t doubt, pretty boy,” Raquelle smiles slyly and grabs Terrence’s face, looking into his eyes closely. “You two will forget your names when you see us.”       “Yeah, you can bring us to a heart attack.”       “You don’t know what I’m gonna do to you on our first marriage night.” Raquelle kisses Terrence on the cheek and moves some strands off his eyes. “I don’t even know if you survive it.”       “I can’t wait.”       “We’ll talk about it later. When I’m back from the salon.”       “Are we gonna spend time separately again?”       “Sorry…” Raquelle pronounces with sadness in her eyes.       “Don’t worry, my sunshine. I’m gonna make a surprise for the men and show up on their hangout without an invitation.”       “As I understand, are you gonna tell nobody about your release and your appearance?”       “They’ll know everything when I show up for them.”       “That’s how!”       “And yeah…” Terrence smiles slyly. “I know they wanted to come together before my release.”       “Knew?”       “Aha. I read their messages on WhatsApp this morning. The lads agreed about the meeting, not knowing that I was online in a group chat… And they decided to contact me when they’d be together. To tease me. So, my dearest childhood friend confirmed their plans.”       “Yeah, what if your dearest childhood friend tells them that you left the hospital?” Raquelle chuckles quietly.       “He won’t,” Terrence replies confidently. “I persuaded him to be silent until I showed up. Ben told me where they’d meet, and I’ll go there after five hours.”       “You think your surprise will be good?”       “I truly hope for his loyalty and ability to keep secrets.”       “Anyway, I wish you to have a nice time.”       “Thanks, my love.” Terrence presses Raquelle closer to himself and kisses her temple tenderly. “Of course, I’m sorry that we’ll meet tonight, but since it happened…”       “Don’t worry, we’re gonna have many chances to spend time together,” Raquelle smiles shyly, caressing Terrence’s cheek.       “However…” Terrence pronounces in a quieter, lower voice, slowly running his hand over the curve of Raquelle’s waist and getting his finger underneath her slim tight shirt. “I have some time now… And I wanna spend it with you…”       “First, take a shower and change your clothes.”       “Hey, do you remember you promised to give me pleasure when I left the hospital? Huh, beauty?” Terrence slowly moves his hand to Raquelle’s thigh and runs it over her buttocks. “Short memory or an act?”       “You smell hospital cures,” Raquelle sits up slowly with a sly smile, not moving her eyes off Terrence. “Not quite sexual, you know.”       “And what?” Terrence also sits up, moves Raquelle’s hair aside with one movement, and runs the back of his hand over the curve of her neck. “It doesn’t make me less sexual. I’m still handsome and irresistible.”       “First, take a shower, and then we’ll see it,” Raquelle says confidently, gets up from the bed, takes the mascara from the floor, and puts it on the table.       “Maybe, let’s go together?” Terrence suggests, comes to Raquelle confidently, and runs his hands over the curves of her waist and her thighs. “So, you wash my back…”       “No, MacClife, don’t even dream!” Raquelle sharply turns on Terrence and raises her index finger up. “My hair is done as well as my makeup, and I’m gonna leave soon.”       “Oh, c’mon, cutie! We can do it quickly, and you’ll go then.”       “Should I look like a scarecrow because you wanna fuck me after you barely got up from the hospital bed?”       “Babe, you can’t be a scarecrow.” Terrence presses Raquelle to himself, grabbing her by the waist, squeezes her buttocks with one hand, runs another hand through her shirt, and caresses the naked part of her back. “Such a stunning cutie would drive many people crazy in any look.”       “Stop, pretty boy, get off,” Raquelle says confidently and softly pushes Terrence off herself, putting her hands on his chest. “Come back when you smell like shower gel.”       “M-m-m, my baby is still stubborn and mean…” Terrence notices with a sly smile, putting his hands on his hips. “I thought she’d be obedient after my return home.”       “Huh, why should I become obedient?” Raquelle chuckles kindly, mirroring Terrence's pose.       “So, I have to educate you better.” Terrence presses Raquelle to himself by the waist again with one arm and leaves a couple of kisses on the curve of her neck. “I did promise to start doing it after my release.”       “We’ll see who’s gonna educate!” Raquelle goes two steps back from Terrence with a sly smile. “You should be kicked for making me so nervous.”       “So, don’t ya wanna give me pleasure at your wish?” Terrence wants to come to Raquelle, but she starts to go backward. “At least a little…”       “I don’t get excited by the smell of hospital drugs you’re spreading so hard.”       “You should get excited by just one look of mine,” Terrence says in a low voice with his head proudly raised.       “Get off, Terrence.”       At this moment, Raquelle leans on the wall with her back, which she does not see because she goes backward. And when she wants to turn aside, Terrence closes the way, putting his hands on the wall and pressing himself as closely to the girl as possible.       “So, do you still wanna run away from me?” Terrence asks with a sly smile and slowly runs his lips over all the parts of Raquelle’s face, breathing in the smell that she spreads. “M-m-m, damn… That’s what I missed all this time… Your smell… Your skin… Everything about you…”       “Okay, let it happen,” Raquelle exhales sharply and unconsciously makes a quiet moan with closed eyes. “You can kiss me. But only after you take a shower and change your clothes.”       “I shall go, I promise.” Terrence runs his lips over the curve of Raquelle’s neck, while his hands slide underneath her shirt and caress her naked sides and belly. “But first, I need to tell you… Your pretense… I wanna make sure you’re real…”       “You can feel it,” Raquelle smiles shyly. “But just a little. Just a couple of kisses. And no sex!”       “Ar-r-r, come here, babe!”       Terrence caresses the curves of Raquelle’s neck and runs his hands over the curves of her waist for some time. Then the girl looks into his eyes with a wider smile for two seconds, puts her arm around his neck, puts her hand on his cheek, and gives him a short, very tender kiss on the lips. Then she gives another, another, and another. Until MacClife, Sr., presses his beloved girl tightly to himself and gives her a more continuous kiss on the lips, holding the back of her head with his hand. When they break up a kiss for some time, Raquelle grabs Terrence by the collar with a sly smile, brings him to the bed, on which she sits, and keeps kissing him tenderly. The man quickly ends up in a lying position, and the girl raises herself above him for some time, caressing his head, face, shoulders, and whole torso, while his hands slide over her back, the curves of her waist, thighs, and buttocks.       But at some moment, MacClife, Sr., takes the situation under his control, still kissing and caressing the lips of his fiancée and reaching for her neck and collarbones, which he covers with tender kisses to drive her crazy. Seeing that the girl is shaking slightly and making quiet moans, he smiles smugly and continues to please himself, getting downer and downer and having the pleasure of caressing her breasts and belly with his hands and lips.       

***

      Some time later, Raquelle and Natalia went to one of the wedding salons. Not alone but with Letitia and Helene. There is nobody here, and many gorgeous dresses for any taste, age, and body are represented in the spacious and light room. Eyes are running from one side to another! The furniture, interior, mirrors, and chandelier were definitely bought in an expensive store or were actually made on special order.       And while Natalia and Raquelle are trying on some dresses, Letitia and Helene are sitting on a comfortable, spacious white sofa and talking with a nice-to-look woman, who is working here.       “Gosh, I never thought picking up a wedding dress would be so hard,” Helene notices with a slight smile. “There are so many beautiful dresses here!”       “Natalia would buy all the dresses here,” Letitia assumes shyly with the same smile. “Yes, she has some ideas of what she wants, but it seems like my daughter likes everything.”       “And Raquelle got definitely confused when she came here.”       “Any dress from our collection would fit the girls,” the woman working in the salon replies confidently. “Both brides have a perfect body and appearance, and any dress would look nice on them.”       “Say, are you accepting individual orders?”       “Yes, sure, we can create any dress to our clients’ wishes.”       “What about correcting, adding, or removing something?” Helene asks, looking at one of the wedding catalogs.”       “Naturally. If the brides want to change something or say their dresses should be fitted, we will do everything.”       “But how long does this work take?” Letitia asks.       “Everything depends on how many changes a dress needs. But actually, our masters are very good, and they could do their job quickly. Somehow, we had to change literally the whole dress three days before the wedding. But our masters did it in time.”       “I think you’re going to have a lot of work because the brides want to make everything perfect,” Helene assumes with a slight smile.       “It’s alright, Miss, it does not scare us. The wish of a client is important to us. This is the politic of any good store.”       “Our brides want to be queens on their wedding day.”       “Don’t worry, these girls are not our first clients,” the woman laughs shyly. “We have had a hundred ones. And they are different. There were tears, hysterics, shouts, and happiness. But we take it with understanding. Any bride wants to be a queen on such a memorable day and look stunning. I’m sure you will also love to look special on your wedding day.”       “Me?” Helene looks down for a second shyly, while a slight blush shows up on her face. “Come on… What wedding… It will hardly happen in the nearest time.”       “Anything may happen, honey,” Letitia notices with a slight smile, putting a hand on Helene’s shoulder. “Since you’ve been dating the good man, you can think of the wedding.”       “All in time, Mrs. Rochester,” Helene replies shyly. “But now we have two brides, who are going to get married soon.”       “I can clearly see that the brides are thrilled to marry,” the woman notices, folding her hands in front of herself. “They have such a bright gloss in their eyes.”       “Oh, you are right!” Letitia exclaims. “My daughter wanted to get married for a long time, but nobody proposed. And now she met a wonderful man, who did that.”       “My gosh… I thought such a beautiful girl got tons of proposals of marrying.”       “Nobody just treated her seriously. They thought she was just a beautiful girl. Or men didn’t want to get married. Though, my girl is beautiful, very responsible, and caring. She is not sloppy, cooks well, and can feel sorry and listen…”       “They will spend a lot of strength deciding on a dress, makeup, hair, and jewelry.”       “I don’t think it would be hard for Natalia and Raquelle,” Letitia assumes thoughtfully. “They have many advisers, who would tell them what’s good or bad.”       “And as a mother, you want your daughter to be the most beautiful at her wedding.”       “Obviously! She is a very beautiful girl, but I want my daughter to look more gorgeous on her wedding day.”       “One year ago, my daughter also got married, and I helped her with everything. And that girl got the groom and visitors delighted by her beauty. Everybody was overwhelmed!”       “Don’t worry, Natalia’s fiancé and Raquelle’s fiancée will be thrilled anyway,” Helene replies confidently. “For them, they’re always beautiful and beloved. In a gorgeous dress or a home robe.”       “The only thing I can say is their wedding day is their day. Let them listen to their feelings and pick up what they like. But feel free to show your opinion because a bride should know that other people like her and make her feel special.”       “Of course, nobody is going to ban them from what they want,” Letitia replies. “We will accept any of their decisions and be by her side, despite nothing.”       “But the brides have said many times that they’re a little nervous because of what's going to happen,” Helene notices confidently. “They’re afraid that something might go wrong.”       “It’s fine for any bride, don’t worry,” the seller says amicably. “We often run into brides, who are so nervous that they can’t pick up a dress or doubt what they want.”       “Oh, my daughter is quite enough now,” Letitia waves a hand. “A few days ago, I barely convinced her not to go to try on dresses because she was too excited.”       “I’m going to tell you something: when the girls find their dresses, they will immediately feel it and want nothing more.”       “We can’t exclude that the brides will have to visit many salons before they pick up a dress,” Helene says thoughtfully. “I think they are going to be very persnickety and think of every detail.”       “Anyway, we listen to all the wishes of our clients and try to find the dress of their dreams. But if we can’t help them, I’m sure that you’re going to get help in a different salon.”       “If we find just something, it will be great,” Letitia says thoughtfully. “Or we will have to order an exclusive dress specially for my daughter and her friend.”       “Anyway, I hope they will like something from our dresses.”       Helene and Letitia say nothing and shrug with a slight smile. And a few seconds later, someone moves off a big curtain not far from them. Everybody hears quiet sounds of heels knocking on the white tile floor that are getting closer and louder. Two moments later, Raquelle and Natalia enter the spacious room of the wedding salon in fantastic wedding dresses, the trains of which are held by two more workers of the salon. The girls brushed their hair up beautifully, did not forget about makeup, and even took shoes with high heels. The edges of the big skirt of Natalia’s dress are framed with beautiful patterns, the lace bodice is covered with lots of diamonds, and the sassy décolleté and open shoulders get attention immediately. And the long sleeves of Raquelle’s dress are made of transparent material with flower patterns that can be seen on the top, and the deep décolleté shows up her attractive collarbones… The big two-layer skirt is made of transparent chiffon fabric and a much denser one, and the naked back makes her look much more sexual.       Helene and Helene turn on them and open their mouths when they see the girls, who look stunning because of the gloss in their eyes, not dresses.       “Oh, my God!” Letitia exclaims, getting up from the sofa slowly, and smiling much wider. “Natalia! Raquelle!”       “Girls, you look so beautiful!” Helene gets delighted with a slight smile.       “You like it?” Natalia smiles shyly.       “Very much!” Letitia replies with delight, looking and touching the skirt of the dress. “You’re a beauty, sweetie!”       “And mine?” Raquelle asks.       “This model is for you,” Helene notices. “I really love it.”       “I feel like a princess,” Natalia replies, looking at her dress from all sides with a slight smile.       “And I’m delighted by mine,” Raquelle confesses, looking at the skirt of her dress.       Meanwhile, the sellers beautifully put the train of Raquelle and Natalia’s dresses and fix the lace on their sleeves.       “You walk a little, turn around yourself, look in the mirror, sit…” the seller, who was talking to Helene and Letitia, suggests. “Do you feel comfortable?”       Having a slight brush and a shy smile on their faces, Natalia and Raquelle raise the skirts of their dresses and come to the full-length mirror slowly but confidently. Then the girls look at the dresses from all sides for a few seconds and examine every single detail to know what is missing.       “I think these models fit you very well,” another seller says confidently. “The dresses fit your wonderful body perfectly, and the open shoulders and the décolleté express your attractiveness.”       “Agree,” Letitia agrees with a slight smile. “The fiancés are going to love it.”       “And yeah, remember that a groom should feel comfortable next to a bride. So, he hugs her, carries her in his arms, and performs a wedding dance with her. Nothing should slow them down.”       “But I personally feel comfortable in this dress,” Natalia confesses, moving some strands of hair behind her ear.       “Try to go round,” one of the sellers suggests. “Feel free.”       The seller helps Natalia and Raquelle get down from a small hill, holding the skirt of their dresses. Then the girls walk down the wedding salon and go around themselves several times, while their skirts blow beautifully and move, depending on what the future brides are doing.       “Ah, how beautiful you are, girls!” Letitia admires with a slight smile. “I imagined how my daughter would look at her wedding many times, but I couldn’t think she would be so gorgeous.”       “They don’t have makeup and hairstyle yet,” Helene recalls. “If their looks are completed, they are going to be incredible.”       “By the way, if the brides want, they can choose two dresses: a big one for the ceremony and a more modest one for the celebration,” one of the sellers notices.       “Listen, I think this dress is too long,” Raquelle says thoughtfully. “I have a feeling that the dress is about to get caught in my heels and tear apart. Even if I’m tall. As if it was made for much taller girls.”       “It’s not a problem, we can make it shorter,” another seller replies confidently. “And if you want to add something or get something fitted, we will do everything.”       “Maybe, we add a small belt?” Natalia specifies. “I think something is missing here…”       “I think we have something. Second…”       The seller turns around on the heels, comes to one of the mannequins, takes a small careful satin belt with an amazingly beautiful silver rose made of small diamonds, comes back to Natalia, and puts it on.       “It really looks better,” Helene nods in approval.       “I like it, too,” Natalia smiles shyly, looking at herself in the mirror. “That’s what I need.”       “Listen, girls, let’s also put on a veil and some jewelry?” another seller suggests. “I’m absolutely sure that it will be a perfect addition and make your looks much more fantastic.”       The encouraged sellers go on other sides: one of them goes to find a veil, and another goes to look for jewelry that is kept in the glass case.       “God, I don’t know what to do!” Natalia confesses excitedly. “I’m confused!”       “Me too,” Raquelle confesses. “All the dresses are amazing!”       “I would pick up these,” Helene replies thoughtfully. “Or try on something else, but take a note about them. Though, with such gorgeous appearances like yours, you could put on any dress.”       “Oh, I don’t know…” Natalia sighs quietly. “I really like this dress, but something is missing. Something sparkling…”       “There’s measure in everything, darling,” Letitia notices confidently. “Do you remember the important rule I’ve always taught you? Don’t put on everything. If you want a dress with sparkles or diamonds, don’t use sparkle jewelry. You need to express just one thing. Just like in the case of makeup.”       “We know, Mrs. Rochester…” Raquelle smiles shyly.       “But, Mom, you know that I adore sparkle stuff…” Natalia confesses. “Though, I understand I’d look like a Christmas tree if I put on everything that got sparkles.”       “Then, decide what should have sparkles: a dress or jewelry. But Helene is absolutely right: I would also pick up this dress. It’s incredible. And Raquelle’s dress is stunning.”       “In my mind, my dress has a sparkly top and a big skirt with light fabric. So, it blows beautifully when I go around… But if a skirt is too big, it will be hard for me to sit and move. And my dress should fit my body, have a décolleté, and either open shoulders or no sleeves.”       “I want something the same,” Raquelle adds.       “Listen, daughter, I guess this dress fits what you want,” Letitia notices thoughtfully.       “Edward and Terrence would love these dresses,” Helene adds. “They wouldn’t move their eyes off you.”       “Yeah, but something is missing…” Natalia notices confidently. “We need to add something, so this dress is my perfection…”       “Aw, darling…”       Some time later, the sellers come back to Letitia, Helene, Raquelle, and Natalia. One of them is holding two fantastic veils, the edges of which are bordered with beautiful lace flowers, and the other is bringing a couple of lovely necklaces and two pairs of small earrings covered with sparkles. The women put the veil and the necklace on the soon-to-be brides, who put on the earrings by herself. After looking at the brides better, one of the sellers decides to replace the belt on Natalia’s waist with a similar one that does not have sparkles on a flower.       “That’s it!” Letitia exclaims. “Nothing excess!”       “The grooms are surely going to like such beautiful brides,” one of the sellers replies confidently with a slight smile. “In these dresses, with this appearance…”       “Oh, trust me, the grooms will like them anyway,” Helene says with a slight smile. “Their friends will have to wake the men up.”       “Right,” Letitia laughs shyly.       “By the way, do you know the color of the grooms’ suits?” another seller asks.       “I think, black or gray…” Helene replies thoughtfully. “No surprises… Just a classic.”       “Then the looks of the brides and the grooms will fit together.”       “I think the men haven’t thought of suits,” Natalia assumes shyly.       “But I think they won’t really love to experiment,” Raquelle adds.       “Though, I don’t care about a suit's color. I just like men wearing suits.”       “You know, many girls love men in suits,” one of the sellers laughs shyly. “And they really fit these. They get so serious and confident.”       “Yeah, I’ve always loved men wearing suits… And my beloved man in a suit will surely be my weakness. Though, I am not sure if it’s going to be easy to put a suit on the man, who doesn’t like them.”       “Well, as we know, men love what they see,” another seller says with a slight smile.       “You’re right,” Raquelle agrees. “Absolutely…”       Raquelle moves her eyes to her reflection in the mirror, looking at the wedding dress, the veil on her head, the earrings in her ears, and the necklace on her neck.       “Say, is it possible to cover the top of the dress with sparkles and get rid of the lace sleeves?” Natalia asks. “Or, maybe, you have a similar dress with a sparkle top?”       “Yes, there is the one,” one of the sellers nods. “But it is sleeveless.”       “Do you have some non-ordinary dresses?” Raquelle asks.       “We do! I can offer you one fantastic dress that is supposed to look good on you.”       “I want to try it on. But I’m taking a note of this dress.”       “And I’m in love with this one,” Natalia confesses. “Don’t put it aside, please.”       “Alright, let’s go to a dressing room,” one of the sellers suggests. “We will bring you the dresses and help put them on.”       The sellers take Natalia and Raquelle away, while they, holding the edge of the skirt, follow them and hide behind the curtain that the women close.       “Their eyes are so sparkly,” Helene notices with a slight smile, sitting on the sofa as well as Letitia. “But they’re a little nervous.”       “Getting ready for a wedding seems easy, but it’s actually a hard case,” Letitia replies with a slight smile. “Even if you want to have a modest wedding.”       “What kind of wedding did you have?”       “We had a luxury wedding, to which we invited very many people. We spent a lot of money, but it was worth it. Anthony and I still remember that day.”       “I guess your dress was also awesome?”       “Expensive for the times when I lived thirty years ago. But I ordered it at the atelier and changed something many times.”       “I guess Natalia wants the same wedding as yours.”       “She’s always said it. It’s not a secret for us.”       “That’s right!”       “But Raquelle takes it all absolutely quietly.”       “Right. She says she would be happy to get married to Terrence, even in simple clothes.”       “You know, Helene…” Letitia glances aside. “Some time ago, the guys had rejected any help and tried to do everything by themselves. But some time ago, Natalia and Edward told Anthony and me that they needed help. They said they couldn’t do that alone.”       “We knew they’d change their mind early or late.”       “Yeah, they realized it when they started to argue.”       “Now Natalia understands that Edward was right about many things and agreed to give up on him or find compromises.”       “Yeah, my daughter has always wanted literally a royal wedding.” Letitia sighs with a slight smile. “The girl still believes in princes and princesses and has always been very romantic. When she was a child, Natalia adored tales… She read them many times and watched animated movies about princesses all day long.”       “She wouldn’t probably refuse to watch a tale about a prince and a princess.”       “Although my daughter is an adult, she’s a child deep inside.”       “I think Edward and she found each other,” Helene replies with a slight smile. “He is also sentimental and romantic.”       “But he’s an amazing protector and fighter. When he has to, Edward becomes very brave and can’t be stopped by anything.”       “They’re a wonderful couple.”       “Sometimes Edward may be a little weird, but he is a perfect partner for my daughter. Natalia wanted someone to fight for her – he was fighting.”       “The girls are actually so lucky to get married to Edward and Terrence. They’re wonderful men that adore Natalia and Raquelle.”       “Agree. Mr. Cameron and Mrs. Middleton are also thrilled that Raquelle is going to have such a good husband like Terrence.”       “Are you and Mr. Rochester happy that Edward is going to be Natalia’s husband?”       “Obviously. I can quietly trust my Natalia to Edward. I trust him and believe he could give her the love, protection, and care that she got from Anthony and me.”       Letitia and Helene talk about the upcoming weddings of Natalia and Edward and Raquelle and Terrence for some time. But then, the girls come back to them in different dresses but with the same jewelry. The sleeveless dress, which expresses the fragility, sexuality, and confidence of Natalia, has a deep décolleté and open collarbones. The top is covered with sparkles and beautiful patterns, and a big skirt has many layers of thin air fabric on different sides. Raquelle is wearing a dress that looks much better than the previous one. It perfectly fits her body and expresses all of her attractive curves. The attractive décolleté that shows her expressed collarbones, the top that is covered with lace patterns, long and big sleeves with cuts that are made of the air fabric… One of the two layers is made of a simple, thin material, and the second one is made of much denser fabric and also covered with lace patterns.       “Wow, amazing dresses!” Helene gets truly thrilled, getting up from the sofa slowly. “You look gorgeous, friends! You are beauties!”       “I think you should let your hair down one shoulder,” one of the sellers replies thoughtfully.       While one seller fixes the skirt of the dress and fixes the belt that is bent on the side, and another takes the veil off Natalia’s head, the girl takes off her hairpin and lets down her hair, waves of which fall on her shoulders. The seller moves her golden hair to one shoulder, gets it done beautifully, and puts on the veil again.       “Very beautiful,” Letitia says with a wide smile. “If you choose this dress, you should let your hair down.”       “Yeah, you can make beautiful curls and move them to one side,” the seller suggests. “Think of a Greece-style hairstyle or something like that.”       “I think we could pick up a different veil or do it without it and put on a tiara or a headband,” another seller adds.       “And Raquelle can wear no necklace,” Letitia says thoughtfully. “It’s unnecessary, as I think. And the earrings could be too small.”       “Maybe, I should put a different veil?” Raquelle asks. “Something like a thin line that falls down?”       “Yeah…” one of the sellers nods. “And I think we have what you want. Let’s look.”       The seller quickly finds what she needs, takes off the veil that Raquelle is wearing, and puts on what she has found.       “Really beautiful,” Natalia notices thoughtfully. “I love it.’       “Or should I actually wear no veil?” Raquelle frowns slightly. “This dress is so gorgeous that it doesn’t need any jewelry.”       “And you can do many hairstyles if you wear this dress,” the seller says with a slight smile, experimenting with Natalia’s hair.       “Wait for a second…” another seller pronounces thoughtfully. “I will bring you something…”       Being interested in something, the seller leaves quickly but returns a few seconds later, holding a small silver headgear bordered with a flower pattern, carefully puts it on Natalia’s head, and fixes beautifully her gold strands of hair on her shoulders.       “It looks amazing!” Helene exclaims with delight. “I really love it!”       “Listen, it really looks good without a veil,” Letitia notices after one of the sellers takes the veil off Raquelle’s head. “Nothing more is needed.”       “Oh, God, I’m so confused,” Natalia replies, closing half of her face. “Everything is so beautiful! I don’t know what’s better.”       “Yeah, I feel I won’t be able to choose anything,” Raquelle assumes. “Everything’s so beautiful! My eyes are running!”       “Don’t worry, sweeties, you have a lot of time,” Letitia says confidently. “Don’t rush to buy something now. Today, we will check out everything here and go to another salon later.”       “Yes, girls, you can put on a few more dresses,” one of the sellers suggests. “Maybe, you’re going to love another dress more than these two.”       “At least, I really like the top and skirt of this dress,” Natalia confesses. “That’s what I wanted.”       “And I feel much sexier in this one,” Raquelle smiles shyly. “Terrence would lose his mind if he saw me in this one.”       “Try on a couple of more dresses, girls,” Letitia advises softly. “Look there's so much interesting here.”       “Oh, gosh…” Natalia exhales sharply. “It’s a too difficult choice…”       “Listen, ladies, let’s pick up a couple of dresses and look at all the possible jewelry?” one of the sellers suggests confidently. “We really have a great choice of dresses of different types.”       “Try to check out something like a mermaid dress or a simple dress,” Helene suggests. “We could also look at something with an open back or sides.”       “Let’s take a look,” another seller says amicably. “We have a few exclusive models of this type.”       “By the way, I saw gorgeous dresses in a Greek style,” Raquelle says thoughtfully. “I would be happy to try them on.”       “Yeah, we can pay attention to some modest models,” Natalia shrugs with a shy smile.       “We’ll look at all the dresses you like,” the seller promises.       Natalia and Raquelle spend a lot of time trying on a few more wedding dresses. They show off in front of the mirror with pleasure and walk down the salon like models, with their heads proudly up, amusing themselves and those, who went with them, and not thinking about anything bad.       

***

      Edward, Daniel, Peter, Benjamin, Kevin, and Christopher came together in the country by five in the afternoon to spend time in the company of men. The men are comfortably sitting on the ground in a quiet place, getting warm under the shoots of the sun, and having the pleasure of playing with Sammy, who does not refuse to get some love and attention.       “Listen, what a wonderful dog,” Christopher says confidently, scratching Sammy’s stomach. “And how much Sammy loves caresses!”       “It’s true,” Peter confirms, bending his leg at the knee and letting his hand down from it. “He adores being in the spotlight. And he gets very sad when he’s alone.”       “Oh, I knew one dog that you couldn’t actually come to,” Kevin says, leaning on the ground with both hands. “That dog could only eat and lie somewhere aside all day long.”       “Everything’s otherwise in Sammy’s case,” Daniel notices confidently. “If he starts running, you won’t stop him.”       “But he loves eating more,” Peter replies with a quiet sneer. “He’d sell his soul for something delicious.”       “Well, as he’s already stolen something from my food, I ain’t surprised,” Benjamin replies thoughtfully.       “You shouldn’t have taken sandwiches with meat. And chicken!”       “Yeah, I didn’t think…” Benjamin scratches the back of his head. “I should’ve taken something from the fish.”       “Oh, he would eat something from fish!” Peter chuckles kindly. “He’d eat anything that looks eatable.”       “Do you wanna say I have to eat lettuce because of this glutton?”       “Trust me, dude, if Helene and I let him eat anything, Samuel wouldn’t get into a double door. But the vet tells us to watch his food closely and make the doggy keep a diet.”       “It’s like a girl?” Christopher chuckles kindly.       “Sorta. But sometimes we give him something tasty. For example, these things. He does adore them.” Peter takes a small packet from a pocket on his short pants, opens it, and winces slightly. “But they’re so stinking… Ugh…”       After taking one tasty thing, Peter starts to wave it in front of Sammy with a slight smile when he says:       “Hey, Sammy… Look what I have…”       Sammy barks confidently and, wagging his tail energetically, comes closer to Peter to take the tasty food from his hand. At first, the blond teases the dog for some time, but later he lets him eat this treat from his hand.       “Good, buddy.” Peter pets Sammy’s head with a slight smile. “Good.”       “Hey, lads, who do you think’s the harshest owner of Sammy: Peter or Helene?” Edward asks thoughtfully, bending his legs under himself, twisting his arms around, and leaning on the ground with both hands.       “I guess it’s Peter,” Daniel assumes, frowning slightly. “Helene could close her eyes to many things.”       “Ha, you didn’t guess!” Peter exclaims. “I can close my eyes to many things and pretend that nothing happens, but Helene is a harsh enough, but very loving owner.”       “So, is this fluffy tying you into knots?” Christopher chuckles kindly.       “Come on? I can also kick his ass and keep him on a short leash. Not worse than the MacClife brothers do it to each other.”       “Aha, you scare him that you’d leave the doggy with your friend, Jessica,” Daniel says with a quiet chuckle.       “And I deprive him of all the toys and treats and feed him at the right time.”       “Oh, yeah, how harsh it is!” Edward laughs shyly.       “Hey, what’s wrong with Peter’s friend?” Benjamin wonders.       “Look, you’ll see everything now,” Edward smiles slyly, moves his eyes to Sammy, and scratches his neck for some time. “Sammy… What about a visit to Peter’s friend? What’s her name? Jessica! Let’s go right now?”       Sammy immediately makes a weird sound, closing his nose with a paw and making the men laugh shyly.       “Hey, boy, what’s wrong?” Kevin wonders. “Are you afraid?”       Sammy makes a quiet sound and barks loudly.       “C’mon, Sammy, maybe, she’s good!”       “Jessica is very good,” Peter exclaims, petting Sammy’s head. “She may just be rude and doesn’t know what ‘tenderness’ and ‘showing of love normally’ is.”       “She literally chokes Sammy with her love?” Benjamin specifies. “Just like girls do it to boys?”       “I would also add an inability to be tender. That girl doesn’t wanna seem a little weak and tender. That’s why men don’t find her a girl, and pets… Run away from her like fire.”       “Yeah, hard case…” Christopher pronounces thoughtfully, scratching the back of his head.       “C’mon, guys!” Edward waves a hand. “She’ll change!”       “Aha, she can scare any guy with her behavior,” Peter chuckles kindly. “And Jess doesn’t wanna hear anything about it. My attempts to change her mind didn’t lead to success.”       “Anyway, she’s a good and kind girl,” Daniel notices confidently. “And tenderness is a matter of time. Maybe, Jessica will love someone and won’t notice how she’ll be tender.”       “Maybe, she will. But the question is whether Sammy stops being afraid of her if she is tender and softer to him.”       Sammy barks confidently.       “Let’s think he agrees to change his point of view,” Benjamin says with a slight smile.       “Listen, let’s ask the girls to help her?” Benjamin suggests. “Raquelle, Helene, or Natalia… They’re very tender and feminine and would make any tomboy a real girl.”       “I’m afraid they have so much to do now,” Edward replies with a sly smile. “Raquelle and Natalia went to try on wedding dresses and took Mrs. Rochester and Helene.”       “Yes, yes, Raquelle said,” Benjamin explains. “She talked to me and Blair a little and then went to get ready.”       “So, are we getting closer to the moment when we see those stunning beauties in dresses?” Kevin smiles mysteriously.       “Sort of!”       “Cool!” Christopher exclaims. “I’m sure that the girls will be imitable.”       “As always,” Benjamin says confidently with a slight smile. “I can’t wait to see how Raquelle and Natalia will look on such an important day.”       “We’ll see it just on the wedding day…” Daniel shrugs.       “Sorry. But I guess it’s gonna be worth it. You know how all the guests were delighted when they saw Raquelle in her gorgeous dress. All the men lost their jaws. And the women admired aloud, but some of them were quietly jealous.”       “My blonde Natalia won’t leave anyone indifferent,” Edward replies with his head proudly raised. “So, men, get ready to bite your elbows ‘cause you won’t get that beauty.”       “So, Ed, you can’t wait to see Natalia in a wedding dress,” Kevin assumes with a sly smile.       “Huh, he can’t wait to see her in anything,” Daniel chuckles kindly. “Natalia’s gonna be attractive to him anyway. In a robe, a pajama, or actually naked.”       “Yeah, she gets him so attractive that MacClife turns himself off from the world and gets obsessed with his gorgeous cutie,” Peter adds with a sly smile.       “Yeah, you better see yourself when you’re with Helene,” Edward chuckles kindly. “Only Sammy can bring you back from heaven to earth by starting to bite your ass.”       “We agreed on everything, and he won’t bother me when I spend time with Helene.” Peter moves his eyes to Sammy with a sly smile. “Yeah, fluffy?”       Sammy does not make a sound and just looks at Peter questioningly as if he does not understand what he wants from him.       “Hey…” Peter resents. “What kind of look? You and I did agree about everything! Are you fucking showing off again?”       Again, Sammy does not make sounds and looks at Peter with his tongue out.       “Yeah, blond…” Christopher laughs shyly. “I think Sammy doesn’t wanna give Helene to you… He says she only belongs to him.”       “No, Helene is mine!” Peter exclaims. “And this eared guy will have to remember that.”       “He’s just gonna be mean.”       “It’s okay, Chris, I have tons of his favorite food. If he really wants, he’ll sell his soul for them.”       “What if you’re deceived when someone takes the food but doesn’t keep his promises?” Kevin asks with a sly smile.       “Then…” Peter rolls his eyes for two seconds. “Then he’ll stay with Jessica for a whole day and won’t get treats from me for a whole week.”       Sammy barks loudly, then runs aside, attacks Peter from behind, and ruffles his hair with his nose.       “Hey, monkey, get off me right now!” Peter jabs. “You hear what I say? Sammy! Samuel! Stop! I shall tell Helene about your behavior, and she’ll punish you.”       After torturing Peter for a little time, Sammy leaves him alone at last and gets off the man’s back, while the others chuckle quietly, and the blond fixes his hair.       “Yeah, Rose…” Daniel chuckles quietly. “It seems like he’s gonna do something to you if you mention Jessica again.”       “Okay, I’ll save a visit to Jessica for the worst case,” Peter raises his hands up. “If he’s too insolent and thinks he could do anything. But I swear if he does something I don’t like, he’ll not get his tasty treats several times per day.”       Sammy starts to whine with pity, looks at Peter with sadness in his eyes, nuzzles in his face, and licks his nose.       “Oh, you’re making up again…” Peter moans tiredly. “Sammy… Samuel, no! Stop!”       But Sammy refuses to do what Peter wants and keeps annoying him along with the men’s chuckles.       “Okay, okay, stop, get off me,” Peter says tiredly. “Get off me now… Sammy! Sammy, who am I talking to? Did you forget your name? Sammy!”       Sammy barks quietly two times and keeps nuzzling Peter’s face.       “Sorry, buddy, sometimes even beloved pets must be punished,” Peter says confidently. “But if you’re a good boy, you’ll get your favorite treat. As always.”       This answer makes Sammy happy, and he finally steps back from Peter, lies down, and puts his face on his laps.       “Here’s the bandit!” Peter exhales sharply, scratching Sammy's hair and yanking his ears softly. “Bandit with ears!”       “I wonder, does he make up to Helene in the same way?” Benjamin asks.       “He’d make up to anyone. Not just Helene or me. At first, he does a bad thing and then tries to apologize and pretends to be a good boy.”       “Oh, he’s a monkey,” Kevin chuckles quietly and moves his eyes to Sammy, who sits up. “Anyway, he’s just a gem.”       By this time, Sammy comes to Kevin, who pets his head with pleasure, while the dog brings his face to him and wags his tail happily. All the men say nothing for a few seconds as they eat the food that all of them took for themselves and each other. And then Christopher breaks it, holding a sandwich with a pork cutlet:       “Hey, guys, when is Terrence gonna leave the hospital?”       “Hard to say,” Daniel shrugs. “The doctors don’t wanna set our imitable birdie free yet.”       “Oh, that birdie annoyed us,” Benjamin moans tiredly. “Every time we come, he always whines that he wanna go home. That he’s got a hard and uncomfortable bed… That his food is terrible… And that he has nothing to do…”       “C’mon, guys, why you attack the man!” Kevin exclaims. “He is a prince of blue blood. A self-pronounced one, of course, but he is the PRINCE!”       “Yeah, the princess took the throne that nobody gave her,” Peter laughs shyly. “And he thinks he’s irresistible.”       “I can’t wait for him to be released!” Benjamin exclaims. “It’s okay that he always talks about his awesomeness. But his permanent whining about feeling bad in the hospital starts to get me tense.”       “Moreover, the condition in the hospital isn’t so bad,” Edward notices confidently. “The bed is not so hard, and the food is tasty enough. It’s boring, I don’t deny it, but not everything’s so bad.”       “You explain it to your brother,” Kevin chuckles.       “No explanations are worthless. He needs hard kicks. So, his ass is burning. And I shall surely work on this when he’s released.”       “I’m sure he also wants to kick your ass,” Christopher replies cheerfully.       “It’s okay!” Edward smiles innocently. “I would be happy to dirt Terrence’s face in the mud.”       “One of the reasons why I want MacClife to leave the hospital is his toes with his brother,” Kevin confesses.       “I guess we all can’t wait to see them fight again,” Peter laughs quietly.       “Anyway, Edward is doing everything right,” Benjamin replies confidently. “Terrence must often be brought to reality. Sometimes he gets so arrogant that he notices nothing around. He’s used to good things and forgot how he lived in poverty in a small apartment with his mother.”       “I think life in a small, terrible apartment would be torture to him,” Daniel assumes.       “Oh, yeah! He won’t take it! Never!”       “People are right when they say someone quickly gets used to good things,” Christopher notices confidently.       “That’s right. When he was a teenager, he went a little crazy from the fame that he suddenly got.”       “Yeah, when so many girls around the world praise him and call him literally God!”       “At least his character isn’t so terrible. Terrence is actually a good man, but he is a terrible braggart, who always needs to hear that he’s irresistible, imitable, and beloved by everyone.”       “But we must confess that all of us would like to live like him,” Edward says confidently. “A lot of money, a perfect house, cool cars, and all the benefits… Girls admire you and literally fight for a chance to talk to you.”       “Well, I’m personally living well,” Daniel replies thoughtfully. “I have money, my house is good, and my car is cool enough.”       “Edward, Peter, and you live perfectly thanks to our star named Terrence MacClife,” Benjamin replies. “You three have nothing to complain about.”       “Did one of us three complain?” Peter throws his hands up. “Maybe, I’m now living in a small apartment with a neighbor, who has three cats. But that’s my property.”       “Well, now it’s time to move,” Edward says confidently. “We’ve persuaded you to find a better place to live and sell the hell where you’re living so many times. If you don’t move, it will get worse.”       “I know, but I have no time to look for a place to live.”       “Listen, Rose, I could agree with one dude, who is selling an apartment,” Christopher replies confidently. “It’s small but very good.”       “Really? That’s your buddy?”       “No, a familiar. A young guy. A friend of my neighbor. He is selling the apartment. I somehow saw the photos and really liked it.”       “Interesting…” Peter strokes his chin. “And how much money does he want?”       “I dunno. I didn’t ask ‘cause I ain’t gonna move. But I can introduce him to you through my neighbor. He’d show you the apartment, and you’d examine it and ask everything you want.”       “Okay, I’ll take a note.”       “But hurry up! There are many people, who want that apartment. That guy has been answering a few calls per day for six months and often shows it to people. But nobody has agreed to buy it yet. Someone doesn’t like a price, a place, or something else.”       “I got it,” Peter cracks a smile. “Thanks, Chris, I will mean it.”       “I’d be glad to help,” Christopher shrugs. “Why can’t I help my friend? Moreover, we’ve all heard enough about your neighbor, the lover of a cat army that checks trash and eat some shit.”       “By the way, Raquelle’s aunt is also looking for an apartment or house,” Edward confesses thoughtfully.       “Raquelle’s aunt?” Benjamin specifies. “That’s… Alicia?”       “Yup. She says she wanna move to New York. She asked Mr. Cameron if he could offer her something, but he said he couldn’t help.”       “Listen, Ed, try to propose to her that she look at that apartment,” Christopher suggests confidently. “If she has a daughter, it’s a very good variant. There are two rooms in that spacious apartment. It’s good for a mother and a daughter.”       “Okay, I’ll ask. I think Alicia is gonna be interested in your offer.”       “Don’t worry, that man is trustworthy and wouldn’t deceive. Anyway, it’s possible to agree and make the price lower.”       “Oh, sometimes people may be selling apartments for years, even if the price is good, and these places are amazing,” Kevin notices confidently. “There are just people, who are too capricious about everything. Well, or they’re too greedy: they want to get gold for a small amount of money and are sure that they won’t get fake or gilt.”       “A buyer will be found early or late,” Edward expresses hope. “I’m sure about it.”       “Anyway, he doesn’t rush…” Christopher confesses, scratching the back of his head. “If he sells, that’ll be good, if he doesn’t, damn it. He has no goal of selling the apartment immediately.”       “That’s good,” Peter pronounces thoughtfully.       Sammy barks quietly, as he lies next to Peter on the bright green grass. Then silence settles in the air for a few seconds, during which all the men drink or eat something they have, enjoying a slight wind blowing outside.       “Hey, guys, did anyone visit Terrence in the hospital today?” Benjamin asks a little hesitantly.       “I didn’t!” Peter exclaims. “I’ve been watching Sammy all day long, while Helene, Raquelle, and Natalia went to check out wedding dresses.”       “Actually, I wanted to visit him closer to the evening,” Edward confesses thoughtfully. “I’ll have nothing to do after we say goodbye. So, I’ll go to visit Terrence in the hospital and tease him a little. Tell him that we had a good time… Maybe, I’ll lie a little…”       “Ah, if MacClife knew that we’d be here, he’d be jealous,” Daniel chuckles shyly after he eats a couple of chips from the pack that he is holding. “He’s stuck in the hospital, but we’re having fun here.”       “Listen, let’s send him a couple of photos on WhatsApp?” Edward suggests with a slight smile. “Text that we’re having a lot of fun, but we always keep our beloved Terry in our mind.”       “That’s the idea!” Benjamin clicks his fingers. “We should encourage our friend! He’s there, we’re here! So, let’s send him a greeting and record a short video.”       “And take a couple of photos of our food,” Peter adds confidently. “So, he drools over it.”       “Oh, yeah!” Christopher exclaims cheerfully. “Let him see what delicious food we’re eating! And look at his oatmeal or mashed potatoes on his plate.”       “Oh, if my bro was here, nothing would be left of this food,” Edward assumes with a shy chuckle. “Terrence is our biggest glutton. A vacuum cleaner that sucks everything in.”       “Listen, is there just something in the food that he can’t take?” Kevin asks.       “No. He eats everything.”       “Yeah, he eats like an elephant, but he hasn’t gotten fat yet,” Benjamin laughs shyly. “It would be his greatest punishment. If he’s fat, girls will find another idol.”       “Well, he’s sure it doesn’t threaten him,” Daniel confesses. “He’s kind of got incredible genes. And he makes an example out of his father, who keeps a wonderful sharp at his age.”       “I’ve gotta confess that’s the truth,” Christopher says confidently. “Mr. MacClife keeps himself in good sharp.”       “But Father isn’t such a bragger as my bro,” Edward notices confidently. “Though, he sometimes talks about love for himself.”       “Calm down, guys, if MacClife lives with a food limit for a few days, nothing will happen to him,” Benjamin raises a hand. “Vice versa! Starving won’t harm him.”       “But keep yourself far from him, ‘cause he’ll definitely be mad,” Edward laughs shyly. “Terrence is by far not the quietest man, but if he isn’t fed, you better run.”       “Oh, we’d definitely make him mad if we let him know we’re having fun here, while he’s stuck in the hospital,” Daniel assumes.       “He already knows, Daniel.”       “What?” Christopher wonders. “What do ya mean?”       “Terrence knows we decided to come together.”       “But how?” Kevin wonders. “Someone told him?”       “Nope, he read all of our messages on WhatsApp, in which we agreed on the meeting. There was a line that said he saw them. And I checked his account and saw he was online this morning.”       “So, did MacClife give himself caught?” Peter chuckles kindly, twisting his arms around and leaning on the grass with both hands.       “Sorta,” Edward smiles innocently.       “Oh, listen, I’m imagining how he is biting his elbows. We did talk about the wish to visit him and tease him a little.”       “Yeah, the rooster king probably wanna kill us,” Benjamin assumes confidently. “He’s like, what the fuck? Those idiots didn’t invite the all-famous star named Terrence MacClife to join their company!”       “We won’t be waiting for His Highness to be released from the hospital!” Kevin throws his hands up. “We wanna have fun!”       “Exactly!” Daniel exclaims. “He should thank us for actually thinking of him.”       “Listen, men, let’s go to him all together?” Christopher suggests with a sly smile. “So to say, show our care. Buy something tasty on the way… And eat it before his eyes.”       “Well, as Terrence is alone now, we’ll have the pleasure of making him stop feeling lonely,” Edward replies and slyly smiles. “And tease a little.”       “Deal!” Peter clicks his fingers. “Then when will we go?”       “We’ll sit for some time and go!” Daniel exclaims. “Why do we hurry? Home to watch TV?”       “Exactly!” Christopher agrees. “We’ve got a lot of time!”       “We will do it later,” Benjamin adds and eats a little piece of a sandwich that he is holding. “We’ll eat well and go slowly.”       “Oh, yeah, eating is a holy thing!”       “Okay, but there’s a problem… What do we do to Sammy?”       All the men move their eyes to Sammy looking at them amicably with his tongue out.       “We won’t be allowed to go in with the doggy,” Benjamin adds. “Someone will have to stay with him.”       “Why do we guess?” Daniel throws his hands up. “We’ll leave Sammy with Edward and go to visit Terrence.”       “Aha, keep dreaming!” Edward scoffs loudly. “Why do I have to stay with Sammy?”       “You’ll wait outside. Breathe in some air and look at birdies…”       “Actually, I do have the right to visit him out of the line because Terrence is my brother.”       “C’mon, MacClife, you’ve been in his room along with Raquelle and amused your brother a hundred times!”       “I am his relative and can stay in his room as long as I want.”       “Nothing will happen to you if you wait for a half hour near the hospital and watch Sammy.” Daniel rolls his eyes for two seconds. “And then we’ll probably give you two minutes to visit your brother.”       “Don’t dream, Perkins, I will go anyway!” Edward threatens with a finger. “You stay with Sammy if you’re so talkative!”       “Oh, no, kid, don’t throw me off the board!”       “Actually, guys, this is Rose’s dog.” Edward moves his eyes to Peter sitting next to him. “So, let the blond stay.”       “Hey, is that okay I wanna visit my friend?” Peter resents.       “Listen, Ed, Daniel is right,” Christopher notices with a sly smile. “You’ve visited Terrence literally a million times. But Ben, Kev, and I have been there only two or three times.”       “Exactly!” Kevin exclaims and points at Edward, Daniel, and Peter. “But your trio literally spends nights with him!”       “We don’t!” Daniel protests.       “Hey, Kev, Chris, let’s leave Ed, Dan, and Pete with Sammy and go to Terrence?” Benjamin suggests confidently. “What? While they amuse the doggy, we will visit my childhood friend.”       “Huh, you haven’t lately thought of your childhood friend,” Edward recalls. “Even if you go to Terrence’s home, you only spend time with Blair.”       “Yeah, I don’t deny that MacClife and I have spoken rarely. But it doesn’t mean he stopped being my friend. Your bro is one of those, who means a lot to me.”       “I believe you won’t have time for your friends if you get married,” Daniel replies confidently. “And when you’re a daddy, you’ll forget about us.”       “No, lads, I won’t forget any one of you and will be happy to speak to you.”       “Of course, that’s awesome, but who’s gonna stay with Sammy?” Edward asks.       “Who, who, you, obviously!” Peter jabs.       “Maybe, you?” Kevin smiles slyly.       “No, men, let the fluffy decide. The one he will come to will stay behind.” Peter moves his eyes to Sammy and pets his head. “Hey, Sammy… We wanna visit Terrence at the hospital, but you’re sadly not allowed. So, we wanna know who you wanna stay with. Come to the one you choose? You got it?”       Sammy barks confidently and watches closely the men looking at him with a slight smile for a few seconds. But then the dog comes to Edward slowly but confidently, sniffs him for some time, and lies in front of him with his stomach up. While his friends chuckle loudly or clap their hands.       “What?” Edward opens his mouth. “What the fuck…”       “Okay!” Christopher claps his hands happily. “The problem is solved! Edward will stay with Sammy, and we’ll go to Terrence.”       “Good job, buddy, good boy,” Peter encourages, petting Sammy’s head and yanking his ears softly. “Good boy.”       “Yeah, Sammy, I thought we were friends,” Edward exhales sharply. “Why couldn’t you choose one of these boneheads? Morgan, Spencer, Parker, Perkins, Rose… Choose anyone!”       “He’s just for justice,” Daniel replies confidently. “Sammy is our smart boy and understands everything.”       “No, that’s unfair! Terrence is my sibling!”       “Listen, Edward, we all know how much you love your bro and take care of him,” Benjamin says confidently. “But let the others visit Terrence. You’ll talk to him enough. And kick his ass.”       “C’mon, men, don’t listen to him!” Kevin waves his hand. “As Sammy said he wanted to stay with Ed, he doesn’t have a choice.”       “And he’ll walk with Sammy,” Peter says thoughtfully. “Find a place from afar near the hospital and walk two or three kilometers with him.”       “Don’t you wanna warm up?” Edward wonders.       “No, I’m kind of lazy…” Peter stretches himself up slowly and shakes his head to warm his neck up. “But don’t worry, I will give you the leash and even show you how to stick and unstick it.”       “Don’t worry, bro, the lads and I will give Terrence a warm greeting from his beloved bro,” Daniel promises confidently. “But if you ask us well, we can give him a couple of strong hits on the back of his head.”       All the men laugh quickly, and Daniel and Peter clap Edward on the shoulders at a different time. And then they get a slight clap on the back of their heads from MacClife, Jr., sitting between them.       “Hey!” Peter and Daniel make a squeak, rubbing the back of their heads and fixing their hair. “We joked!”       “Be careful with jokes, guys,” Edward smiles slyly. “It would be easy for me to kick your asses enough.”       “I’ve always known you and your brother are worth each other,” Benjamin chuckles kindly. “If you think up something, we better run away as far as possible.”       “That’s right!” Kevin agrees.       “One MacClife is fire, but two are actually a hellish bomb!” Christopher exclaims.       “Fuck up, idiots,” Edward chuckles quietly. “I’m sick of you!”       “You know, buddy, you irritate us at times, too,” Peter notices confidently and drinks some drinks from an iron jar. “You do tons of stupid things, and then we have to deal with that shit.”       “When I do stupid, as you say, things, I do it for my close people.”       “Hey, Edward, I’d advise you to watch your guitar,” Kevin says thoughtfully, glancing aside. “Sammy is stuck to it like gum to a table.”       All the men move their eyes aside and see Sammy examining the case of the guitar, which the dog opened slightly by putting his nose in it.       “Hey, Sammy!” Edward exclaims and softly tries to move Sammy’s nose off his guitar. “Sammy, get off my guitar! You hear me, long-eared? Get back! Hear me?”       “Yeah, Sammy is indifferent to guitars,” Peter laughs shyly. “When he sees them, you can’t take him aside.”       “Maybe, he is just hinting at a short performance?” Benjamin assumes.       Sammy finally distracts himself from what’s inside the case with the guitar, takes its strap with his teeth, pulls it closer to the men, places it next to Edward, Peter, and Daniel, and just looks at them, barking quietly two times.       “So, boy, wanna hear a song?” Kevin smiles slyly.       “Or you wanna show us your talents?” Benjamin asks.       “Trust me, guys, he has something to show,” Peter says confidently. Sammy always keeps an amazingly right rhythm and doesn’t make a song worse by howling.”       “C’mon?” Christopher wonders.       “Yeah! The guys and I believe he could replace Terrence in the band and even put him in second place. Nobody would resist such a charming doggy that immediately steals the hearts of people.”       “Well, good idea!” Kevin exclaims. “There would be many people among the band’s fans, who would love Sammy.”       “Everyone would like this sweet creature,” Benjamin says confidently and pets Sammy’s head. “I don’t doubt it.”       “Listen, if you say Sammy is so talented, let him prove it?”       “Yes, yes, c’mon!” Christopher asks cheerfully. “Have a music break and sing something!”       “Oh, Chris, let’s do it without you, okay?” Edward chuckles kindly, taking his guitar and starting to tune something on. “You’re voiceless! You can’t even follow the rhythm and sing as if you’re tone-deaf.”       “What? I’m voiceless?”       “If you don’t hear you, I can clearly hear you sing.”       “Huh, not everyone has such a high-pitched voice like yours. I sing the way I can.”       “Better don’t. It’s not for you.”       “Oh, MacClife, stop praising you,” Daniel moans tiredly. “There is one rooster in our party. Having two roosters would be too much.”       “He’s just replacing his brother!” Benjamin laughs shyly. “So, we feel his pretense, so to say.”       “I’m gonna reveal a little secret: you need to work your voice out,” Edward replies confidently. “Regularly. It’s workouts at a gym: you won’t get strong muscles and a six-pack if you’re lazy. So, the same about your voice. Terrence and I used to make mistakes sometimes, but now we have people, who help us fix them.”       “Okay, professor MacClife, we got it,” Christopher waves his hand. “But now shut up and play something for us with your bandmates.”       “Yes, let’s go, you three,” Kevin adds and points at Edward, Daniel, and Peter. “Music! Music! Music!”       Two seconds later, Kevin, Benjamin, and Christopher start saying, “Music! Music!” as if they agreed, and Sammy supports them by barking loudly. It continues for a few seconds until Daniel, Edward, and Peter look at each other and roll their eyes.       “Okay, okay, shut up,” Daniel jabs, raising his hands up. “You’re gonna hear music.”       “MacClife, what are you doing there?” Peter resents, pushing Edward on a hip. “C’mon, slowpoke! The people ask for a song!”       “Now!” Edward exclaims, tuning the strings of his guitar on. “I need to deal with the last string!”       “And while Ed is working on his guitar, you two can warm up a little,” Kevin suggests. “Sing something, for example…”       “Oh, guys, if Pete and I sing one song, Edward’s gonna kill us,” Daniel expresses anxiety.       “Hey, hey, get these things outta your mind!” Edward jabs loudly. “Don’t even dare to sing that song!”       “You see!” Peter throws his hands up. “We haven’t even started it, but the kid already gets excited.”       “You sang it the fuck constantly!” Edward exclaims irritably. “Con-stant-ly! The lyrics of that fucking song were stuck in my head for more than two weeks. You sang it anywhere. Everywhere!”       “What song?” Christopher asks. “Maybe, I know it?”       After looking at each other with a sly smile, Daniel and Peter want to start to sing, while Edward looks at these two and shakes his head.       “No, Peter, don’t even dare,” Edward says confidently. “Don’t dare! I swear I shall kill you and Daniel if one of you starts to sing it.”       But the threat does not scare Peter, and he starts to sing the song with a slight smile, clicking his fingers, and Daniel joins him two seconds later. Benjamin, Kevin, and Christopher believe this song is familiar to them and try to sing along somehow. Sammy starts to howl along with the others at some moments. And Edward keeping to tune his guitar on, growls quietly with rolled eyes up.       “Oh, no!” Edward moans irritably. “Did you all the fuck kinda agree? Hey! Stop it now! Who I am saying, idiots! Ar-r-r… Fuck! If Terrence was here, he’d quickly kick all of your asses.”       At some moment, Edward tries to close Daniel and Peter’s mouths with both hands, but they move it off and keep singing much louder and funnier. And a few seconds later, all the men finish singing the song with a loud laugh and give a five to each other and Sammy, who barks confidently.       “Listen, men, it was cool!” Kevin exclaims cheerfully. “I love this song!”       “It’s incredible!” Peter notices with a wide smile.       “Okay… Now I know how I’ll annoy Edward if he wanna do a dirty trick on me.”       “Ah, if I knew he disliked this song, I’d play it at my home when Ed is next to me all the time,” Christopher chuckles kindly.       “Terrence and he literally exploded when we started to sing it,” Daniel confesses confidently.       “Guys, thank you so much! You told me a good way to mock MacClife, Jr.”       “Aha, now I know another way to annoy the older one,” Benjamin confesses. “He’s used to mine and doesn’t react to them, but you’ve got much cooler tricks.”       “Feel free to ask, guys!” Peter exclaims with his head proudly raised. “We’ll tell you all the tricks that we use to mock them.”       “There’s nothing hard,” Daniel adds. “You’d do it easily and have a lot of fun.”       All the men except Edward laugh shyly, and Sammy barks quietly. And MacClife, Jr., exhales sharply with closed eyes and looks at his friends gloomily.       “You’re idiots…” Edward throws gloomily. “Idiots that I hate!”       “You will express your hatred later!” Peter exclaims with a slight smile. “You better start to play.”       “Aha, now! I’m refusing to play!”       “Move your ass!” Kevin exclaims. “We’re bored!”       “If you are, have fun on your own. I’m not a clone!”       “Faster, buddy…” Daniel smiles slyly. “Or the blond and I will be singing your ‘favorite’ song.”       “Don’t dare! Otherwise, I’ll cut your head! Of you both!”       “Dude, don’t make us wait,” Christopher says confidently. “Tune your instrument on and start to play something cool.”       “I did say I refused to play!”       “Go to play!” Daniel, Peter, Benjamin, Christopher, and Kevin exclaim at the same time.       “Go to the fuck, idiots!”       Sammy barks loudly, nuzzles Edward’s face sharply, and licks his nose.       “Sammy…” Edward moans. “Sammy, get off me! Hear me! Stop, stop, I say!”       “Go, Sammy, go!” Christopher encourages, clapping his hands. “Don’t get off him!”       “Hey, move your nose off my guitar.” Edward softly moves Sammy’s nose off his guitar when the dog nuzzles it. “Move it, I say, you, long-eared piggy.”       “In short, men, here’s my plan: we take his guitar from him and play by ourselves,” Benjamin says confidently. “I see Edward decided to replace Terrence for some time and be an annoying ass.”       “No, Parker, don’t even dream, I won’t give my guitar to anyone,” Edward cuts off sharply and presses his guitar to himself. “This baby is mine.”       “Then you have five seconds to start playing just something,” Daniel says confidently.       “You have one to shut up.”       “Guys…” Peter pronounces confidently, clapping his hands. “Kick MacClife’s ass a little.”       The men immediately understand this hint and start to clap their hands along with Peter, and Sammy barks non-stop in unison. A few seconds later, it eventually makes MacClife, Jr., give up, and he raises his hands up.       “Okay, okay, settle down,” Edward jabs. “Calm down, I say! You’re gonna have a musical pause, okay. You wanted, you get it.”       Edward thinks about what he would like to play for two seconds and starts to play a melody on his guitar. Shaking his head sometimes and cracking a smile, the man confidently plucks strings and changes chords in time. And after playing a short intro, he starts singing something, falling into the music slowly. While the others shake their heads, Peter creates the rhythm with claps and clicks and later performs a few solo lines, and Daniel joins them for the chorus. All of them are in a good mood and decide to forget about any problems and trouble at least for a while.       While the friends have the pleasure of singing the song and laughing at Sammy, who is barking or howling at some moments, none of them guesses that Terrence shows up not far from them. The man finds them quickly enough but does not rush to show himself, hiding behind the thick tree and starting to watch the men. He also likes the song, shakes his head, and sings along with his friends and brother in a whisper. But he is more interested in their actions, which make him laugh. Despite not knowing the lyrics, Kevin, Benjamin, and Christopher try to sing along, shake with the rhythm, and play the fool with each other. And Daniel, Edward, and Peter sing solo and as a duo or trio and do not miss a chance to laugh at each other or their friends.       By the end of the last chorus, everybody starts to sing. To be clear, Benjamin, Kevin, and Christopher try to do it because they do not know the lyrics. And Terrence watches what’s happening with a slight smile on his face, being happy to see everybody happy at least now. And some time later, the song ends with the lyrics that Edward performs, as he plucks the strings of the guitar with a shy smile on his face. Then all the men applaud for each other and Sammy, who barks confidently, wagging his tail energetically.       “Good performance, guys!” Kevin exclaims with a wide smile.       “Well done, little stars!” Benjamin claps his hands. “You’re getting better and better.”       “I’m making sure that people love your talents for a reason,” Christopher adds confidently.       “Listen, you did it well without Terrence!” Benjamin adds with a sly smile. “I didn’t even feel the lack of him!”       “Thanks to Sammy,” Daniel says confidently and pets Sammy sitting next to him on the head. “He helped us a lot and replaced MacClife, Sr.,”       “Sammy is actually a future star!” Christopher exclaims cheerfully. “This boy is gonna get an army of fans! I’d bet my arm!”       “Army of beautiful doggies,” Peter laughs quietly.       Sammy barks happily and loudly and starts to run to one and another man.       “So, buddy, can’t you wait to make a female dog lucky?” Edward asks.       Again, Sammy barks, wagging his tail energetically.       “It’s okay, you will do it!” Edward assures, petting Sammy’s head. “You’re our charming folk.”       “And very talented,” Benjamin notices. “This is the first time I've met a dog with such an amazing ear.”       “Oh, yeah, he hit the bullseye!” Kevin exclaims.       “Listen, men, I suggest we invite Sammy to the band and introduce him as the replacement for my bro,” Edward suggests with a chuckle. “I’m sure it’s gonna be awesome!”       “People are gonna be delighted!” Peter says confidently.       “I bet that the long-eared one gets much more fans than Terrence. Look how cute he is!” Edward yanks Sammy by the ears. “Who could resist such a cute creature?”       “None of us could!” Christopher says confidently. “I liked this dog shortly after I saw him.”       “Yeah, the one to be imitable and irresistible is Sammy,” Daniel notices and smiles slyly. “Terrence has to work hard to be so charming. He doesn’t have such a great charm to get as many fans as Sammy, who could easily steal anyone’s heart.”       All the men laugh, but Terrence still hiding not far from them shakes his head with both arms crossed over his chest.       “So, don’t I have a charm?” Terrence whispers and chuckles quietly. “No, Perkins, you are wrong. Terrence MacClife is unique! You won’t find someone to be better than me! Even the most charming doggy couldn’t outstand me because I’m perfection.”       “Yay, if MacClife heard something like this, he’d kill us immediately,” Benjamin laughs shyly.       “He started to dream of it when he read our messages,” Peter assumes confidently. “He’s now probably lying on the bed and resenting that those cads are eating and getting warm under the sun, but he’s stuck in the hospital room and getting choked with oatmeal.”       “It’s okay, let him suffer a little!” Edward exclaims. “Sometimes Terrence must be brought back to earth and held by the leash.”       “Oh, yeah, who would say!” Terrence chuckles quietly. “You are a more brainless psycho than I am!”       “MacClife thinks everyone must bow at him,” Christopher notices. “Pray to him as God.”       “C’mon, Chris!” Daniel exclaims. “He’s our attractive and incomparable one! Our beloved Terry would be really disappointed if someone dared to say there was someone to be better than him.”       “I’m still sure that the role of Mason from ‘American Love Affair’ was made especially for him,” Benjamin says confidently. “That donkey also loved putting his nose up and showing off for girls, who were lined up at him and openly had a crush on him.”       “No, Ben, not only do girls admire Terrence,” Edward notices confidently. “Even pets understand that my beloved bro is a star. And think about how to pee on his expensive snickers.”       While all the men laugh shyly, Sammy barks and sits up.       “But I’ve gotta confess that MacClife has great authority,” Kevin confesses. “He looks like someone, the opinion of who you must respect.”       “Agree,” Benjamin nods. “Although he loves praising himself and has a hard character, you should listen to Terrence. Because he’s a smart and wise enough man.”       “So, while he’s now, so to say, out, I suggest you think of replacing him with Sammy temporarily,” Christopher replies confidently.       “Yeah!” Kevin exclaims. “You must invite the doggy to the band! All your fans will fall in love with him, for sure! You won’t regret it!”       “Sammy’s already agreed,” Peter replies confidently. “He loves being with people, and a crowd of screaming fans will give him pleasure.”       “Moreover, we don’t have performances at the moment,” Daniel adds. “We could rehearse with Sammy a little.”       “I’m afraid MacClife will be released from the hospital soon,” Benjamin says thoughtfully. “So, Sammy won’t get his piece of fame.”       “Why wouldn’t he?” Edward smiles slyly. “We can leave Terrence somewhere, go on stage, say that the lead vocalist can’t come, and invite Sammy to join us. Say that he’ll replace him. So to say, a temporary member of the band.”       “Well, as you suggested it, do this crime by yourself,” Peter smiles innocently. “Dan and I know and heard nothing.”       “Yeah, we don’t have to do with it!” Daniel exclaims. “Unlike you, we adore Terrence. Our older, wise brother, who takes care of us like his children.”       “It’s a lie!” Edward protests. “I love Terrence more than all of you! And the one, who dares to hurt my bro, will regret it.”       “Yeah, we see how much you love him,” Benjamin laughs shyly. “You dip him into shit every time you’ve got a chance!”       “Oh, how bad Eddy is,” Christopher shakes his head with a quiet chuckle. “He’s mocking his older bro.”       “Aha, when you want to mock him, you think it’s fine!” Edward resents.       “We respect older people,” Peter smiles innocently.       “Remember, men, I am the only one, who can kick Terrence’s ass. Because he’s my brother. And I have the right to do anything I want to him: hang his balls or call him the unbearable psycho that irritates me even when he’s not beside me.”       “Yeah, the kid is getting more insolent,” Benjamin notices with a sly smile. “Getting more similar to his brother.”       “Wait, bros, Edward is gonna say that he’s kind of unique and imitable soon,” Christopher says confidently. “That there is nobody to be more handsome and charming than he is.”       “I’ve never doubted it,” Edward smiles slyly with his head proudly raised. “Girls have always had a crush on me. I’ve never lacked attention and could easily seduce any cutie. Any girl was ready to suck me enough.”       “Oh, what words you learned!” Kevin exclaims.       “As if you really needed just to have a pretty face to fuck anyone, who smiled at you,” Benjamin chuckles kindly.       “They liked me not only because of that,” Edward says confidently. “Girls liked my whole body. And they’ve got fantastic taste, ‘cause it’s incredible. And I’m gonna work hard on it by the wedding day.”       “We don’t doubt that your blonde is gonna be delighted,” Peter laughs shyly.       “MacClife would be mad if he was here,” Daniel chuckles. “He would put your guitar in your ass!”       “I always say a pretty folk is better than a beautiful one,” Edward says with pride. “I am pretty. Even too pretty.”       “Oh, you’re not Terrence, but you irritate us more than he does,” Christopher replies thoughtfully.       “The girls hardly understand who they’re gonna get married to,” Kevin assumes.       “Oh, thank you! That’s cool I’ve got such good friends!”       The men start to laugh quietly, and Sammy barks quietly and jumps slightly. Terrence decides to show himself and, stroking his hair down and pulling down his t-shirt, goes to his friends confidently.       “Okay, guys, I think we can go to the hospital,” Daniel says thoughtfully. “It’s time to save Terrence from boredom!”       “C’mon, let’s not rush!” Benjamin exclaims and glances at the food that the men have not eaten yet. “We need to eat so much!”       “Huh, learn from my brother!” Edward chuckles kindly. “He’d eat it all at once!”       “Of course, I love eating well, but my stomach isn’t endless,” Christopher says confidently.       “C’mon, we could eat something on the way,” Kevin notices. “And we’ll come to the hospital, being fed up and happy.”       “Oh, Terrence is gonna wait!” Daniel waves a hand. “He’ll not run!”       “Yeah, MacClife, wait for a while,” Peter adds with a chuckle. “If we have time, we’ll come to you!”       “That’s right!” Benjamin exclaims through a laugh. “To get pleasure from food, you should eat it slowly.”       The men laugh and keep eating what they have, and Sammy does not refuse to help them. And at this moment, Terrence comes to them, shakes his head with a quiet chuckle, and lets them know about him loudly and cheerfully:       “Hey! Won’t ya invite me to join you?”       The friends turn on the voice sharply and fall into a stupor when they see Terrence, while Sammy moves his questioning look to the man and makes a sound.       “Terrence?” Edward pronounces surprisingly.       “I didn’t get?!” Daniel frowns strongly. “MacClife? Is that you?”       “You doubt it?” Terrence rounds his eyes and puts his hands aside. “Touch me if you want!”       “Thanks, but your suggestion didn’t make us interested,” Peter says thoughtfully.       Meanwhile, Sammy comes to Terrence and starts to run around him, wagging his tail and barking quietly.       “Listen, I see you’re getting on so well without me,” Terrence chuckles quietly, putting his hands on his hips. “Singing songs, eating well… Warming up under the sun…”       “With the thoughts of you,” Christopher says with a slight smile.       “I didn’t doubt it!”       “That’s MacClife!” Benjamin exclaims happily. “He’s here, lads! Here!”       “Yeah!” all the men whoop.       Everybody gets up quickly and runs to Terrence to greet him, hugging him amicably, clapping him on the back or the shoulder, and sharing a homie handshake. Edward does it first, then Peter and Daniel join him, and then Christopher, Kevin, and Benjamin do it.       “Hey, guys, hey, I’m happy to see you all,” Terrence expresses happiness, moves his eyes to Sammy, and pets his head with a slight smile. “You, too, Sammy.”       Sammy barks quietly and allows Terrence to pet him and yank him by the ears with pleasure.       “Hey, Terrence, whatcha doing here?” Kevin frowns slightly.       “Yes, dude, you’re supposed to be in the hospital!” Christopher exclaims.       “Did ya run away?” Daniel chuckles kindly.       “If it’s so, we’ll immediately bring you back!” Peter adds. “We need you healthy!”       “No, I didn’t run, I was released,” Terrence laughs amicably.       “Released?” Daniel wonders.       “Aha. I got out of the hospital after lunch and went home to change my clothes, eat, and take a shower.”       “Huh, excellent!” Edward scoffs loudly, putting his hands on his hips. “But why were you as silent as a partisan?”       “Nobody came to me today! So, as I was released, I decided to make a little surprise for you.”       “Yeah, is that okay we wanted to go to the hospital? We would’ve come and found out that you had gotten out!”       “You won’t have to go there anymore, ‘cause I was released with the conclusion that I was absolutely healthy.” Terrence smiles slyly. “So, here I am again!”       “If it’s so, welcome back, Terrence,” Benjamin says amicably, throwing his hands aside. “We’re glad you’re with us again.”       “Yeah, how did you know where we decided to come?” Peter frowns slightly. “It seems like everything was planned.”       “Maybe…” Terrence glances at Benjamin and winks at him. “Thanks for your help, Ben!”       “What?” Christopher wonders. “Help? I didn’t get!”       “Second, Ben, did you know about Terrence’s release?” Peter wonders. “You were at the house of him and Raquelle and talked to her, Blair, and him?”       “Sort of,” Benjamin shrugs.       “We got everything!” Kevin waves a hand.       “Erm… I had to agree…” Benjamin points at Terrence. “He blackmailed me and gave me no choice!”       “I blackmailed?” Terrence points at himself with his fingers. “I didn’t even have to persuade you! And bribe you with food or money!”       “You can do anything to get what you want,” Daniel notices.       “I just kindly asked Parker not to tell you that I was released until my appearance.”       “So, does Raquelle know it?” Edward asks. “As well as Blair?”       “That’s correct.”       “So, did Ben tell you about our meeting?” Daniel guesses.       “That’s right! And I scrolled down to your group chat on WhatsApp. And my beloved childhood friend confirmed everything and told me when and where to go.”       “And you got caught, dude!” Christopher chuckles kindly. “I mean, Edward caught you when you were online.”       “I didn’t try to hide,” Terrence shrugs with an innocent smile. “But I didn’t think I’d finally leave the hospital.”       “Oh, yeah!” Benjamin raises his hands up. “You’ll finally stop whining that you liked nothing in that place: starting from your bed and the wall color and ending with food and something like that.”       “Hey, Parker, I’d look at you if you had pins and needles in your body after lying on a hard bed,” Terrence crosses his arms over his chest.       “When you were a child, you didn’t act like a prince of blue blood. You silently ate what you were given… And you slept on what you had.”       “That time is in the past. I don’t wanna think about it.”       “Bad!” Edward exclaims. “Such selfish idiots like you must often dip into the dirt. So, they don’t get lost.”       “And such brainless donkeys like you must often get clicks on their noses. Though, I can’t guarantee that it could give you more brains.”       “I’ve accepted the fact that you’ll never be a shy, decent boy.” Edward shakes his head to move a couple of hair off his eyes. “And yeah. The bed in the hospital wasn’t too hard. And the food was fine enough. It wasn’t expired dog’s food.”       By this moment, all the men start sitting down where they had been sitting before Terrence came. And MacClife, Sr., frowns slightly and glances at Sammy sitting next to him and looking at him with his tongue out.       “Am I not right, Sammy?” Terrence throws his hands up. “Everyone wanna live in comfort! Those, who live in poverty, aim for the best things. They aim to have everything.”       Sammy confidently barks two times.       “Those idiots can’t judge me for a wish to live well. I wanted to get out of the poverty I lived in all my life, and I can’t lose everything now.”       Sammy barks again quietly, and Terrence exhales sharply, squats down with a slight smile, and scratches the dog’s hair.       “Hey, boy, you really have a musical talent,” Terrence says softly. “You and the lads sang great! And you helped well.”       Sammy makes no sounds and just looks at Terrence amicably with his tongue out.       “The guys and I will surely think of taking you to one of our shows. You love the attention that you will have. You agree, buddy?”       Sammy barks confidently again and puts his paw on Terrence’s hand, while the man keeps scratching and petting him.       “That’s good!” Terrence exclaims.       “MacClife, where are you?” Kevin asks loudly. “How long are ya gonna pet Sammy?”       “C’mon, bring your ass here!” Edward adds, making a calling gesture.       When Terrence gets up, Sammy grabs the wristband on the man’s hand with his teeth and pulls him after. And after coming to the men, MacClife, Sr., sits on the ground and bends one leg at his knee.       “Yeah, I heard someone wanted to kick me outta the band,” Terrence smiles shyly.       “Not truth!” Peter protests. “We just wanted to replace you, while you were in the hospital. We were sure that Sammy would be a star and make everyone talk about him.”       “Me? Replace with the dog?” Terrence chuckles kindly. “C’mon, guys! How could you replace Terrence MacClife with the dog? What were you thinking of?”       “Anyway, Sammy could be our special guest. He’d get the attention of lovers of dogs.”       “No, boneheads, you won’t get off me easily. Come on! You wanted to kick me outta the band!”       “MacClife, how could you actually think such bad things about us?” Daniel resents. “We were worried about you and wanted you to be released… But you’re doing this to us!”       “I did get it!”       “Listen, the one, who tries to do something, is your little brother.” Daniel smiles innocently. “Pete and I don’t have to do with it!”       “Oh, yeah!” Terrence chuckles kindly. “You wouldn’t also mind kicking me and doing your best to get more fans.”       “What? I didn’t say it!”       “Don’t find excuses, tough guy!” Terrence pushes Daniel on the shoulder and glances at Peter. “It has to do with you, too, blond.”       “Relax, bro, nobody’s gonna kick you out,” Edward says confidently. “We can’t do without the rooster kind!”       “I see you weren’t bored without me. You were singing songs, laughing, and mocking me…”       “Ben, Chris, and Kev started it! They did persuade us to replace you with Sammy.”       “What?” Christopher resents. “I said nothing!”       “Me too!” Benjamin and Kevin say at the different time.       “In short, you agreed against me!” Terrence waves a hand.       “Not truth!” Edward protests.       “Oh, you better be silent!” Terrence slaps Edward on the back of his head and ruffles his hair slightly. “I see you through, rutrag!”       “As well as I see you!”       “Okay, I’ll talk to you later.” Terrence points at Daniel and Peter. “You two are gonna have a special talk with me, as well.”       “Okay, dude, relax,” Daniel raises his hands up. “We joked.”       “Aha, nobody’s gonna kick you out,” Peter adds. “Your fans won’t forgive us for this.”       “I think I hear some good thoughts,” Terrence says thoughtfully.       While the men laugh quietly, Terrence glances at the food that they have not eaten yet.       “Oh, you left me food,” Terrence smiles widely, takes one of the meat sandwiches, and eats a piece. “M-m-m, it’s so delicious! Thanks, guys. You made me happy…”       “Actually, nobody said it was for you,” Benjamin chuckles quietly, crossing his arms over his chest.       “But would you kindly share your tasty food with me?”       “So, should we feed you and stay hungry?” Daniel wonders.       “To your information, I ate nothing for a few days!”       “Yeah, nothing!” Benjamin scoffs loudly. “If you eat nothing like this, we actually eat as little as birdies.”       “I always say he’s the same glutton as Sammy is,” Peter says confidently and pets Sammy’s head when the dog moves his eyes to him. “If you don’t stop him, he’ll eat everything that looks delicious.”       “C’mon, Pete, you better shut up!” Terrence exclaims. “If you see a big plate of chicken nuggets, you’ll eat all of them alone.”       “What? Not truth! I always share everything with my friends!”       “Yeah, you’ve never shared nuggets with me,” Daniel crosses his arms over his chest. “And always steals them from my packet!”       “Huh, I am silent when you steal my spicy food!” Peter says confidently.       “And notice that Sammy definitely loves chicken,” Christopher notices. “A bigger part of what he ate was made of chicken. So, as Peter is like the owner to him, the phrase ‘the dog is the same as its owner’ perfectly fits this situation.”       “Save the chickens from Sammy and Peter!” Edward exclaims funnily.       All the men start to laugh loudly, and Peter glances at Sammy, who barks in disapproval.       “Oh, go to the fuck, you, idiots!” Peter exclaims loudly.       Sammy barks loudly and quickly changes the lying position to the sitting one.       “Okay, men, settle down,” Terrence says through a laugh. “Or the blond’s gonna do something to us.”       “Yes, yes, enough,” Daniel raises his hand.       The men need a few seconds to calm down a little and wet their throats with the drinks that they have.       “So, as I believe, life is getting better,” Kevin notices thoughtfully. “With a snail’s pace, but still.”       “Definitely,” Terrence nods with a shy smile. “Soon, we’re gonna be hanging out at the double wedding. I’ll marry my stunning cutie, and my little bro will become the hubby of his sweet blonde.”       “Do you know that the brides are now choosing dresses?” Christopher asks.       “Sure, I do. Raquelle said.”       “I don’t doubt that Natalia and Raquelle will find the dresses that will make them irresistible,” Benjamin says confidently.       “And knowing our beloved girls, they’ll surely treat this business very responsibly,” Peter adds.       “But they will strike Terrence and Edward down anyway,” Daniel says confidently with a slight smile.       “Whatever they wear, the MacClifes are gonna be conquered,” Kevin replies confidently.       “Hey, what kind of dress do you think the brides are gonna have?” Christopher asks. “Any guesses?”       “I believe Natalia’s gonna have the princess dress: long, big, and too expensive,” Edward assumes. “The color dress is gonna be white. I don’t exclude that it’s gonna have sparkles, ‘cause Natalia loves sparkle things.”       “And Raquelle’s one hundred percent gonna have something sexy and a little explicit,” Terrence assumes. “With a deep décolleté… The dress that would perfectly fit her body. The color is gonna be white. She’s our passionate girl and won’t pretend to be an innocent, shy virgin.”       “Anyway, the girls are gonna pick up gorgeous dresses,” Benjamin says confidently. “Natalia and Raquelle have great taste in clothes.”       “And their friends are gonna advise them the best thing,” Daniel adds. “They know everything about clothes, jewelry, and other girls’ things.”       “C’mon, men, don’t worry about their dresses!” Kevin exclaims cheerfully. “I’m sure that the brides are gonna be chic. Chic dollies that would make everybody overwhelmed.”       “So, while the brides’ team is choosing dresses, the grooms’ team is gonna care about suits for them,” Benjamin replies confidently. “Just in case, I know an atelier where they could make an amazing suit. I’ve ordered a couple of suits and was happy with the quality and the result.”       “No, guys, the most important thing is not a suit,” Peter laughs shyly. “The most important thing is that Ed is finally gonna have good hair.”       “Yes, yes!” Christopher exclaims. “Finally, Edward’s gonna brush his haystack. He looks like a scarecrow with this hair.”       With these words, Christopher ruffles Edward’s hair strongly, and the guy sharply moves his hand off it, saying irritably:       “Hey, Morgan, you are a scarecrow!”       “Yeah, nothing changes,” Kevin chuckles. “A few years ago and now – your hair has always been disheveled, and you don’t know what a hairbrush is.”       “Don’t worry, I was told about a hairbrush. And I even saw it. I’ve used it. Many times.”       “Well, looking at your bird’s nest, I kind of doubt it,” Peter says thoughtfully.       “You don’t understand, Rose.” Edward fixes his hair with pride. “I have a gorgeous, luxuriant fullness that looks perfect even without a styling. And how thick is it! Girls are gonna be jealous!”       “I have the same one!” Terrence says confidently and runs his hand over his hair. “But mine is more wonderful and fabulous.”       “I see nothing special.”       “Shut up, monkey!”       “Look at yourself, scarecrow!”       “Yay, guys…” Daniel laughs shyly, bending his leg at the knee. “The battle for the title of the most irresistible and sexiest man in the world is still on!”       “We can stop it,” Edward smiles innocently. “Because I am the winner!”       “Nobody would even give one vote for you, despite your pretty face,” Terrence chuckles kindly.       “Nobody says you’re a pretty boy.”       “Not truth! Everyone says it!”       “Everyone will give a fuck about your Apollo body soon.”       “Don’t be jealous of me still being hot and sexy even many years later after my debut in the acting career.”       “Somehow, Raquelle showed you what you were.”       “Don’t argue with me, kid! I am older, and you must obey me!”       “Oh, yeah! I run and do!”       Terrence gives Edward a slight slap on the back of his head and gets the same one from him. After sharing some more, the brothers push each other strongly and then start to fight hand in hand, ruffle each other’s hair, and thrill with a laugh.       “Ola-la-la, brothers’ fight!” Peter rubs his hands with a sly smile slyly.       “The MacClife caught their wave,” Daniel laughs.       “Listen, we haven’t been witnesses of them arguing for ages.”       “I always wanted to watch MacClife, Jr., kicking the ass of MacClife, Sr.,” Benjamin chuckles kindly.       “Actually, the older brother must kick the younger one’s ass,” Kevin says confidently. “Ed went outta control and needs a little kick.”       “You noticed it right!” Peter exclaims.       “Listen, maybe, we’ll help them a little?” Christopher asks with a sly smile.       “Why?” Daniel chuckles kindly. “They feel so good! They’re in their element! You just look at the idyll these bros have!”       Everybody moves their eyes to Edward and Terrence thrilling with a laugh and still fighting with each other, while Sammy walks around them and barks constantly.       “Guys, save me!” Edward exclaims, while Terrence ruffles his hair strongly.       “No, me!” Terrence squeaks loudly, while Edward tries to use the chokehold toward him. “A-a-a! Get this rugrat off me!”       “C’mon, you two feel good!” Kevin replies confidently. “Why we’d break your idyll!”       “That’s right!” Daniel agrees. “Kicking each other’s asses and finding out who’s more handsome is your favorite thing to do.”       “If the kid was a good boy and listened to me, I wouldn’t educate him,” Terrence replies with a little heavy breath, while Edward ruffles his hair.       “You must be kept on a leash!” Edward says and hits Terrence in the hip after getting a clap on the back of the head. “If I don’t pull you down, you’ll go too far!”       “Who would say! Smart people run away from fire, but you run to the one with a naked ass!”       “Here’s the harsh daddy!”       “Don’t dare to act like an angel!”       “Listen, guys, thank God, these two didn’t grow up together,” Benjamin laughs. “Seriously, they would’ve killed each other if their father hadn’t taken Edward with him. Moreover, the two are stubborn, insolent, and self-confident. Every day would’ve been like a bomb.”       “Definitely…” Terrence agrees loudly. “This little tomboy would’ve stolen all of my toys and clothes. And he wouldn’t have been punished because Mother would’ve said I was older and must haven’t been greedy.”       “And this donkey would’ve been doing dirty tricks every single day and doing his best for me to be guilty,” Edward adds confidently. “Just like it happened to my half-brothers. Those two idiots, who could only do that.”       “They did the right thing by kicking you! Because you understand something when you get a hit on your head.”       “It has to do with you, too, bro!”       As Terrence and Edward do not want to stop fighting, and Daniel, Peter, Christopher, Kevin, and Benjamin do not rush to meddle and laugh non-stop, Sammy decides to take control of the situation. The dog barks confidently two times, runs to Terrence, and pushes him on the chest so that he falls to the ground along with the men's laughter.       “Oh, Sammy, thank you so much,” Edward thanks confidently, strokes his hair down with a sly smile, and scratches Sammy’s hair with both hands. “Thanks for saving me from this rooster…”       “I thought Sammy would do this to you,” Peter confesses.       “But the fluffy made the right choice and struck Terry down.” Edward pets Sammy’s head and yanks his ears softly. “Good doggy, good. You’re gonna be my protector now.”       Meanwhile, Terrence gets up lazily and fixes his hair along with the laugh of the other men, while Edward hugs Sammy tightly and presses him to himself, and the dog looks at him amicably with his tongue out.       “You’re a rag…” Terrence chuckles kindly. “Just a rag.”       “You’re a ducky, too, dear brother,” Edward says confidently.       “Shit, we should’ve photographed or recorded them on a video,” Kevin claps his hands.       “C’mon, dude!” Peter waves a hand. “Dan and I have a collection of videos and photos.”       “Right!” Daniel nods with a sly smile. “We haven’t even posted half of what we have on the Internet, but we can do it at any time. I think the fans would be happy to watch the MacClife bros fighting.”       “Is that something like discrediting evidence for Terrence and me?” Edward asks.       “No, just a way to cheer people up,” Daniel smiles innocently.       “Oh, Perkins, you’re gonna be surprised when I reveal half of what I have,” Terrence says confidently. “You’ve probably forgotten you did something like that, but I have photo and video proof.”       “Oh, I do know what you can reveal! Nothing special that would make people, Pete, or someone else surprised.”       “But many of your crimes toward your bro could be finally revealed,” Peter adds confidently. “Just like his crimes.”       “What are you hinting at?” Edward frowns slightly.       “Nothing. Just remember that you and your brother should be careful. Because every one of your steps might be photographed.”       “Yeah, in short, you’re all on the hook for each other!” Christopher concludes cheerfully.       “So, I advise you to be careful, guys,” Kevin adds confidently. “Or your friends will reveal all of your secrets. Which aren’t always nice.”       “I have nothing to hide, Spenser,” Edward says confidently. “And nothing to be shy of.”       “Oh, yeah!” Benjamin laughs quietly. “You’re no longer a dark horse!”       “Aha, you don’t hide your tricks and call yourself by a different name,” Christopher adds with a kind chuckle.       “Oh, are ya gonna remind me of that ‘till the end of my life?” Edward moans tiredly.       “I just state the fact.”       Sammy barks quietly, and Daniel scratches his hair when he says:       “Don’t worry, fluffy, nobody dares to doubt your honesty.       Silence settles in the air for a few seconds, during which some men drink or eat something from the food, and the others look at each other, around, or at Sammy, who does not refuse something that Peter gives him.       “Erm, listen, don’t you think it’s getting a little colder?” Benjamin asks, rubbing his hands.       “It is…” Kevin replies thoughtfully. “But it’s gonna be an evening soon… It’s almost six hours…”       “So, in this case…” Daniel pronounces thoughtfully. “I suggest we go to my home and keep hanging out there. Drink a beer, watch a movie… Play something…”       “Cool idea, but wouldn’t we bother your sister?” Terrence asks.       “Cassidy’s gonna spend a few more days in the hospital. So… I could surely have hangouts with my friends.”       “All alone?” Benjamin specifies carefully.       “Yup…” Daniel falls into silence for two seconds and thinks of something, trying not to betray his emotions. “I think I could pronounce myself a single man. It’s gonna be hard to accept it, but it seems like I have to.”       “So, you’re sure everything’s over?”       “I’m just trying to think soberly and… I understand I have a small chance.”       “Maybe, not everything is lost?” Christopher asks.       “I doubt, Chris.”       “You don’t know it exactly!” Kevin notices. “Anna didn’t tell you that you were over personally.”       “No, Kev, she actually did,” Daniel starts laughing nervously. “Speaking rudely, Anna fucked me up and told me not to come to her anymore.”       “Wait, did you talk to her?” Edward frowns slightly.       “Somehow, I caught her and talked to her. But the talk led to nothing good and… It ended with a strong slap in the face…”       “A slap?” Kevin rounds his eyes.       “Anna slapped me in the face.”       Everybody moves their shocked eyes to Daniel trying to keep his emotions inside so hard.       “C’mon?” Terrence wonders.       “Anna slapped you?” Edward cannot believe what he heard.       “She did,” Daniel nods with sadness in his eyes.       “But why?” Benjamin wonders. “Girls don’t give slaps to everyone for nothing.”       “For my honest confession of cheating and attempt to kiss her.”       “Wow!” Kevin pronounces with widely open eyes. “What passions…”       “But Anna couldn’t do that,” Terrence protests confidently. “She can’t even hurt a fly.”       “I don’t believe it, either,” Edward agrees. “Anna’s so quiet, calm, and educated. She’s never raised a hand on anyone.”       “Still, it’s true,” Daniel replies without emotions. “And her slap was strong enough… And… It became a shock to me. I… Didn’t expect that from her.”       “Wow…” Christopher pronounces thoughtfully.       “I didn’t also believe it when I found it out,” Peter confesses.       “You knew it?” Edward frowns slightly.       “I did.”       “You saw it?” Terrence wonders.       “Nope, Daniel told me. We met a couple of days ago when I was walking with Sammy. We talked a little and decided to go to his home. So, he told me that.”       “It happened on the day when we saw her the last time,” Daniel confesses. “I mean, when Terrence woke up. I was with Cassidy, my sister, for some time, but later I decided to come back to the others. But I met Anna on my way and stopped her. I told her I really cheated on her and tried to apologize. It made her madder. Well… Word by word, and I eventually kissed her. And I got a strong slap in the face and heard tons of bad things.”       “Oh, dude…” Edward pronounces with pity in his eyes and claps Daniel on the shoulder. “I’m so sorry…”       “Me too, buddy,” Terrence says confidently. “I know what you feel.”       “Me too,” Benjamin, Christopher, and Kevin pronounce at a different time.       “It’s okay, guys,” Daniel replies quietly. “I’ll take it. But I’m grateful to you for the support.”       “By the way, Anna went to the hospital once,” Terrence confesses thoughtfully.       “What?” Daniel frowns slightly. “She was in the hospital?”       “Yup, Raquelle and I talked to her two days ago.”       “You and Raquelle talked to Anna?”       “I’m gonna be honest, I was shocked when I saw her. Anna has changed a lot. She was such a positive girl full of strength and energy, but now she’s become a senseless doll. She doesn’t care about anything, her eyes are red, wet, and puffy, and she is white, exhausted, and terrified.”       “Is everything so bad?” Benjamin rounds his eyes.       “Terrible.”       “Did Anna say something?” Daniel asks hesitantly. “About me, for example?”       “That you’re a betrayal, who doesn’t deserve forgiveness. Raquelle and I tried to make her softer and make her sure that it happened by chance, but Anna was stubborn.”       “No, don’t tell her anything,” Daniel shakes his head. “Nothing will be changed.”       “By the way, Raquelle and I also tried to talk to Anna about the man, who is mocking her.”       “That asshole?” Edward asks. “She said something about him?”       “As we thought, she is covering him and denies that he’s mocking her. Anna said that man allegedly loved her, and she wanted to love him back and literally marry him.”       “What?” Daniel resents. “No, it won’t happen! I will not let her! Anna will not get married to that bastard! Only over my dead body!”       “By the way, Anna says her father allegedly approves of their affair. She kind of minded it at first because she couldn’t accept your betrayer, but later realized she’d feel better with that man. He kind of loves her and wanna make her happy.”       “It’s a lie! I talked to her father two days ago. He personally asked me for help. Peter and Helene can confirm it! They were at my home when Maximilian went to my home.”       “We know, Daniel,” Edward says quietly. “Anna is covering him not because she wanna hurt you. But because that man terrified her. She’s afraid of him and does anything he tells her.”       “No, I’m sure that she decided to use the fact that the bastard came into her life to prove to me that she could be happy without me. But everything went absolutely wrong.”       “By the way, Anna tried to make Peter a liar,” Terrence confesses.       “Me?” Peter points at himself with widely open eyes.       “When Raquelle and I told Anna that you saw her with that man, she said it was a lie. You lied to all of us and wanted to slander Julian, that bastard. She’s sure you can’t accept her breakup with Daniel and are mad because of that.”       “I can’t believe it…”       “Did that bastard terrify the poor girl so much that she’s ready to lie and slander her friends?” Christopher gets horrified.       “I think so,” Terrence nods.       “That’s not the truth, lads, I swear!” Peter exclaims. “I did really see her with that man, who was pretending to be her boyfriend. I heard all his insults toward her and saw him beating the poor girl.”       “Calm down, Peter,” Daniel replies quietly, putting his hand on Peter’s shoulder. “We know you didn’t lie.”       “Yes, I’m really upset by your conflict with her and don’t want you to break up. But I say it about Julian, or what’s his name, just because that’s really a bastard, who’s dangerous to Anna. Who she must keep herself far from.”       “It’s like Helene was right when she said a victim of violence would make them good from fear,” Terrence says quietly. “We really have a business with a deadbeat, who doesn’t respect girls.”       “Hey, what does her father think of that man?” Benjamin asks. “A good father won’t like that his daughter got in touch with a crazy man, who is beating her and treating her like some shit.”       “He said he hated Julian,” Daniel confesses. “At first, Mr. Seymour believed that the man was good ‘cause he played his role well enough. But at some moment, Potter got sick of the show and revealed himself. Let him know he was ready to destroy his daughter.”       “But why?” Edward wonders. “What did Anna do to him?”       “His father definitely has to do with it. He’s in a fight with her parents and presses on the Seymours' greatest weakness. Anna’s parents somehow did something that was the reason why the Potters almost lost their business. They pretended that everything was kind of fine, but they’ve actually been trying to get revenge on them for a long time. And they’re using the innocent girl, who doesn’t have to do with their tricks.”       “Wow…” Christopher pronounces thoughtfully.       “Yeah, there’s something else.”       “Speak out,” Kevin frowns slightly.       “As it turned out, Julian Potter is the older brother of the man, to whom Anna was supposed to get married.”       “Older brother?” Peter wonders.       “Yes. Originally, Anna’s grandparents wanted her to get married to Julian. But her mother magically agreed to her daughter’s wedding with the younger brother of that bastard. And she explained it by the fact that she disliked that man, but didn’t wanna ruin the relationship with the Potters and make her daughter’s life terrible.”       “Wow!” Edward wonders. “So, has Anna known that man and his family for ages?”       “Anna said she had known her potential fiancé since a young age, and her parents and grandparents known Potter’s parents for much longer.”       “And is the one, to whom she was supposed to marry, the same bastard as that man?” Christopher asks.       “No, Anna’s father said Ryan was good. Moreover, he doesn’t have a very good relationship with his brother and father. So, he’s hardly a part of his family’s tricks. As Mr. Seymour said, Ryan studies constantly and is now getting a second education. He has no time to deal with Julian and his father.”       “And how does Ryan treat Anna?” Peter frowns slightly.       “Anna always said she got along well with him but considered him just a friend.”       “I dunno,” Christopher pronounces confidently. “Who knows what that man has in his mind. Maybe, he’s quiet but does some things, as well.”       “At least, that’s what Anna and her father said. Moreover, Ryan warned Anna’s mother that she and Mr. Seymour needed to save their daughter. But Maximilian didn’t believe it at first and even fought with her. But as I’ve said, he made sure that his daughter and ex-wife were right when Julian started to threaten him and insult Anna.”       “And I guess, did your appearance in Anna’s life ruin that family’s plans?” Kevin assumes. “They know about you?”       “Yeah, they know about me. And Anna’s father said the Potters were furious when Anna moved into my house.”       “I wouldn’t be surprised if those people reached for you,” Benjamin says thoughtfully.       “It’s okay. I do wanna look at that bastard, who believed that he could control Anna’s life and tell her what to do. That asshole is nobody to her! He has no right to make her give him reports and limit her freedom. He can’t ban her from going somewhere and speaking to people. And she doesn’t have to serve his fucking ass.”       “It seems like those people really use Anna to hurt her parents,” Edward assumes.       “But I don’t exclude that Julian could have personal offenses on her,” Terrence adds. “Maybe, Anna said something wrong to him, and he remembers that.”       “Anyway, she must be saved,” Daniel replies confidently. “I don’t know, but she must not suffer because of the sick bastard. But we can’t also risk. Mr. Seymour said if he and his ex-wife told him nothing about what their daughter did and especially went to the police, they all would be killed.”       “Oh, fuck, what a story…” Terrence exhales slowly. “It seems like the situation is much harder than we thought. But I’m glad Anna’s mother and father know everything and aren’t indifferent to the mockeries at her.”       “Her father regrets being so blind and pushing his daughter to the edge. He believed Julian was an angel, who was supposed to help Anna come to herself after… Breaking up with me… But her mother has always known what he’s made of and wanted to save her daughter from marriage with that beast by persuading Norman Potter to agree to the wedding of Anna and Ryan. But it wouldn’t have made her life better. First, the life with the one she didn’t love. And second, the connection with the Potters.”       “Yeah, that ‘angel’ mocked the girl and turned her into nobody knows what,” Peter says gloomily, crossing his arms over his chest. “And I’m not sure if she would’ve been saved if she hadn’t found out about how you cheated. Early or late, those people would’ve dealt with her, you, and her parents.”       “I know. But if Anna had stayed with me, I could’ve protected her and her parents. I wouldn’t have let that bastard get closer to her. But now I don’t know how to help her ‘cause she doesn’t wanna see me. And I told her father about it when he begged me to save her.”       “But even if those men threaten them, the Seymours should go to the police anyway,” Edward says confidently. “They can’t do anything! Or those scumbags will defeat Anna and her parents.”       “Anna’s parents have gone there, using the fact that Julian and his daddy got outta the city.”       “So, aren’t they in the city now?” Kevin frowns.       “Nope. And nobody knows when they’ll be back.”       “What about going to the police?” Christopher specifies.       “Nothing. Their application wasn’t accepted ‘cause there was no proof of the Potters’ fault. The police can only charge someone in case there is real proof, not someone’s words.”       “Couldn’t that policeman agree with those two?” Benjamin frowns slightly. “It’s so, he’ll surely tell the Potters everything. And Anna and her parents will run into the terrible consequences.”       “I can’t say anything,” Daniel shakes his head.       “Okay,” Peter pronounces thoughtfully. “Then if we assume that those men got out a long time ago, Anna could definitely use the chance and speak to us quietly. And she couldn’t be afraid of doing something wrong.”       “It’s true, Mr. Seymour confirmed it. And she told him that I recalled everything, and Terrence ended up in the hospital. It became the reason why he went to my home.”       “Listen, as it turns out, Anna’s parents aren’t so bad,” Terrence notices thoughtfully. “They’re definitely good people, with whom we could agree. I believe Anna and her parents didn’t just understand each other and wanted different things. But now her mother and father have realized what they wanted for their daughter. And they understand they would’ve made the greatest mistake if they’d given her to that family.”       “They just got rid of their parents’ influence after their death and realized that they wasted all those years. They got married because of those people but divorced when they died.”       “Do they speak well now?” Christopher asks.       “Yup, Anna’s father and mother still speak well and work together. And now they stay together to save Anna and themselves. I mean, saving their daughter is more important to them. Mr. Seymour says if the Potters wanna deal with them, they can do it. Without hurting Anna.”       Sammy whines quietly, closely listening to the story that made everybody’s mood worse.       “Oh, how everything’s complicated…” Christopher moans tiredly, running his hands over his face and hair. “It seems like there’s no way out… Even if they go to the police, it will probably change nothing. That man will become an angel for the cops but turn into a demon for Anna and her parents. And he’ll also use the help of his father.”       “Yup, Chris…” Daniel pronounces thoughtfully. “I do mean it… Neither Anna’s father nor I see the solution to this problem. And I’m personally afraid to imagine what’s gonna happen when he’s back in the city. I won’t be surprised if someday the Potters wish to kidnap her and hide nobody the fuck knows where. Or actually, kill her!”       “Maybe, you should talk to Mr. Johnson?” Benjamin suggests. “You can count on him! Remember what kind of operation he organized when he was helping Mr. MacClife! Moreover, that man found such a cool lawyer for the MacClife, who put Michael MacClife and his gang to prison, got punishment for Wainwright, and saved Edward from a threat of going to prison.”       You’re right!” Edward clicks the fingers of his hand. “We’ve talked to him about Anna’s problem, and he could advise nothing. But there was no way out then. We counted on Daniel, who was the only one to be able to tell us how to contact Anna’s parents.”       “But we don’t have proof anyway!” Daniel throws his hands up. “Mr. Johnson has nothing to reflect on! Neither the words of Anna’s mother and father! Nor Peter’s words! And Anna wouldn’t tell anything by herself!”       “I think we should catch him in the act,” Terrence says thoughtfully. “That’s the only way to save Anna from that sick family.”       “No, that asshole may get away from it,” Edward replies gloomily. “The police can catch him, ask him who he is, ask him and Anna something, and check out his documents. And what? The two will be lying and pretending! So, the policemen will let him go quietly!”       “Fuck, I don’t know what to do!” Daniel exhales sharply, running his hands over his face and hair and putting his hands together. “Mr. Seymour is begging me to save his daughter, but I can do nothing. Neither alone nor with someone’s help. We don’t have anything, against which that bastard wouldn’t mind.”       “Listen, men, Peter saw Anna and the man, who mocked her,” Kevin says thoughtfully. “At the shopping center? Right?”       “Yeah…” Daniel pronounces hesitantly.       “Have you ever thought of cameras?”       “Cameras?”       “There are cameras in any store. I’m working as a security guard at a supermarket and know how it goes. I constantly watch the translation from every single camera. And when something happens, I call the police. I question and check any suspicious person.”       “So, do you wanna say their conflict could be caught by the cameras at the shopping center?” Benjamin frowns slightly.       “I’m sure that cameras have caught them many times. And if the police know which shopping center the conflict happened at, they’ll immediately check it out. They’ll question the staff and ask the security to show videos from cameras.”       “But if there were cameras, why did none of the security stop the fight?”       “There are three ways,” Terrence assumes. “Boneheads that give a fuck about everything are working there. There were no cameras at the shopping center. Or that man found the place where cameras weren’t set up. That bastard knows if he gets caught by someone, people may meddle and save the victim or ask for help.”       “Or he wasn’t gonna hide,” Kevin shrugs. “Violators may be different. Some act like spies, but some give a fuck about what people think of them.”       “Anyway, it’s a good thing for the police and Mr. Johnson,” Christopher replies confidently. “Maybe, that man is a suspect in some case and did something else alongside his daddy.”       “Even if they find him thanks to the cameras, Julian may keep denying everything,” Daniel assumes. “He may wash the brains of the police, so that they easily believe in his innocence.”       “But the police are gonna check it out,” Edward says confidently. “I’m not also sure it will help, but there would be a better chance to catch that man if the police got him caught thanks to cameras. He probably got caught in one more store.”       While Terrence, Daniel, Edward, Christopher, Kevin, and Benjamin talk about this version, Peter starts to replay the memories of the day when he met Anna and saw Julian beating her. After hearing about the cameras, his heart starts beating faster, and he recalls how he recorded the video of almost all the mockeries toward the girl.       “Oh, fuck, that video…” Peter thinks with horror in his rounded eyes, getting a little white. “I recorded a video when that man was mocking Anna! But I forgot about it ‘cause I was too shocked! I didn’t tell the guys about it…”       Peter looks at the others a little scarily, while they talk about cameras in stores, and Sammy is just sitting near them and watching everybody closely.       “Do I actually have the one? Could I delete it? If I didn’t, there’s a chance to move the case off the dead point and give it to Anna’s parents! I give a fuck about being judged for my cowardice. I’ve gotta find the record!”       Breathing a little heavily, Peter checks out all the pockets of his short pants.       “Fuck, where’s my phone? It seems like I forgot it… I left in Daniel’s car… Right, it’s somewhere there. I thought I’d take it later… But I need my phone immediately!”       At some moment, Sammy notices that Peter is thinking about something too hard and not participating in the talk. To get the blond’ attention, the dog barks quietly and touches his knee with a paw. While the other men stop the talk, look at each other, and move their suspicious looks to their friend.       “Hey, Peter, are you okay?” Terrence frowns slightly.       “Why are you so nervous?” Edward wonders.       “Listen, dude, you got so white,” Kevin notices.       Peter answers two seconds later, shaking his head sharply and looking into the distance:       “Fuck… Fuck… How could I forget that?”       “Forget what?” Benjamin wonders.       “Don’t waste time!” Christopher exclaims. “Speak!”       Peter looks into the distance for two seconds and moves his eyes sharply to Daniel.       “Daniel, give me the keys to your car!” Peter jabs.       “Keys to my car?” Daniel wonders. “Why do you need them?”       “It’s very important!”       “What’s wrong, bro? Why are you so nervous?”       “I promise I will explain everything now. Just give me the keys.”       Daniel looks at Peter with suspicion for two seconds and glances at the others. But then he takes the keys from the pocket of his short pants and gives them to the blond.       “I’ll be back now, guys!” Peter jabs.       Peter gets up sharply and runs to where Daniel’s car is parked as fast as a bullet, while the others watch him with suspicion. And two seconds later, Sammy barks loudly two times and rushes to catch Rose.       “Hey, what happened to him?” Benjamin frowns slightly.       “He’s so weird,” Kevin notices thoughtfully. “And he definitely got nervous…”       “Who knows…” Daniel pronounces quietly. “But it seems like he wanna say something…”       “Listen, guys, why do you all quietly accept the fact that Peter didn’t even try to protect Anna?” Christopher wonders. “He did see that the man mocking her, but he stood aside and watched it quietly.”       “I think he was just shocked,” Terrence assumes. “Got confused… Anything happens…”       “Daniel, you’re supposed to be furious,” Kevin notices. “Your friend saw a certain bastard beating your girlfriend but did nothing. And you take it absolutely quietly. I don’t get it…”       “Of course, I was mad when Rose confessed everything,” Daniel confesses. “And I still think he acted like a coward. To some extent, I’m disappointed in him. But now it’s too late to talk about it. Furthermore, we talked and decided not to come back to that again. Not to make our relationship worse.”       “No, Perkins, I can’t believe you forgot it so easily,” Christopher says confidently.       “I didn’t forget, but I see no meaning in being mad. First, Pete confessed everything honestly and denied nothing when he was pressed against the wall. Second, that guy used to be afraid of getting into a fight with bad people. Even if he was stronger psychically. And third, I just don’t wanna fight with anyone. I’m sick, to be honest. I thought about it for two days and realized that I should’ve taken it like something that happened.”       “Moreover, Rose said that man threatened to smash him against the wall if he stood for Anna,” Edward adds. “Potter got furious when he saw the blond and Seymour together. And Rose’s attempt to do something could’ve led to something bad.”       “So, aren’t you blaming him?” Kevin wonders.       “I am not now…” Daniel pronounces quietly. “Moreover, I don’t exclude that Potter could beat her more than once. Maybe, Peter’s help wouldn’t have saved her. Nobody knows how many times he beat her before and after that meeting.”       “So, is that not the only case?” Benjamin concludes.       “There’s something that makes me suspicious…” Daniel frowns slightly and glances aside. “Did you notice that Anna was only wearing turtlenecks or shapeless sweaters when she was in the hospital?”       “Do you think that man is beating Anna, and she’s hiding bruises and abrasions?” Edward frowns slightly.       “She was wearing turtlenecks even in hot weather. Agree, it’s kind of suspicious. It’s summer! Warm! But she wears turtlenecks! That Anna, by the way, has always hated.”       “Yeah, it causes some questions…” Benjamin replies thoughtfully.       “I’d be okay if she always felt cold. There are those, who wear tons of clothes but still feel cold. But Anna doesn’t have any problems with it.”       “And something else…” Terrence frowns slightly. “Raquelle somehow said that Anna had a too thick layer of foundation.”       “Ah, I know it!” Christopher exclaims. “It’s for hiding acne and scars! And hickeys on the neck.”       “I believe Anna tries to hide the tracks of beatings by wearing turtlenecks or shapeless clothes and putting on a lot of cosmetics.”       “Yes, yes, Natalia said all the same!” Edward exclaims. “She found it suspicious ‘cause Anna never put on so many cosmetics. She kind of loved minimalism in her makeup. And a thick layer of foundation looks unnatural.”       “And it seems like she’s hiding all of those bruises from her father,” Daniel assumes thoughtfully. “Mr. Seymour said nothing about it, but he suspects that Potter could beat her many times.”       “No, no, lads, she must be saved immediately,” Kevin says confidently. “Or it might get much worse later. Regular hits, threats with a gun and words, and blackmail at first. And then, a kidnapping or a murder.”       “No, no, I don’t even wanna think about it!” Daniel jabs with his hands raised up. “I don’t!”       “Anything might happen, Daniel,” Benjamin replies quietly. “Those scumbags may go too far.”       “It scares me… Suspense scares me… Helplessness… I understand I must do something. But I don’t know what. Though, time is going fast! And nobody can help!”       All the men look at each other with sadness in their eyes, reflecting on what to do in this hard situation. Meanwhile, Peter runs to Daniel’s car, unlocks the auto on the way, opens the passenger’s door, and starts searching the car to find his phone. After finding it quickly on the floor mat, he sits in the passenger’s seat, unlocks his phone, and searches for what he needs. And at some moment, Sammy runs to him fast and barks loudly.       “I have the proof, Sammy,” Peter glances at Sammy, still searching for something in his phone. “I can prove the rightness of my words if someone doesn’t believe me. I can help the police catch that bastard! We’ve got a chance to save Anna!”       Sammy barks confidently two more times, and Peter finally finds the video and exhales with relief.       “Yes!” Peter smiles widely. “This video! I didn’t delete it, I just forgot about it! If it’s so, there’s a chance to do just something to move the case off the dead point.”       Sammy comes closer to Peter, who plays the video and watches it with pain in his soul from start to end, feeling that his heart squeezes and silently apologizing to the girl for not helping her on that day. The dog whines with pity when hearing and seeing Julian scream at poor Anna and beat her with no shame.       “I’m afraid to imagine what’s gonna happen to her father when he sees this record,” Peter says with sadness in his eyes. “He’s gonna have a heart attack!”       A few seconds later, the video ends, and Peter silently looks into the distance for two moments, wrapping his mobile phone in his hands nervously and feeling how tense and excited he is.       “Ah, buddy, if only you knew how much I don’t wanna get the guys much more shocked…” Peter sighs quietly, falls into silence for two seconds, and moves his eyes to Sammy. “But I have to do it. I’ll do a bad thing if I hide that I have proof of the fault of that bastard.”       Sammy barks quietly again and brings his face to Peter to get it petted, and he does it with a false smile, thinking about something…       “Okay, c’mon, buddy,” Peter says quietly. “Get ready for anything.”       Peter sits in the passenger seat for two seconds, exhales sharply, gets out of the car, locks it with the key, and goes to the others with his phone in his hand, while Sammy follows him obediently. The blond returns to the men quickly, while they talk about something but move their eyes to him.       “Hey, Pete, are you gonna explain what bit you?” Benjamin asks.       “Yes, dude, why are you so nervous?” Christopher wonders.       “Calm down, guys, I’ll explain everything now,” Peter replies confidently, sits next to Daniel again, and gives him the keys from his car. “Terrence, Edward, do you remember how I told you and the girls about Julian beating Anna at the store?”       “We’re kind of talking about it,” Terrence shrugs.       “So, I didn’t tell you everything.”       “What do you mean?” Edward frowns slightly.       “I forgot something. About the proof.”       “What kind of proof?” Daniel wonders.       “The proof of my words about beating Anna. I can prove that it really happened. That I didn’t dream it up, as that girl says.”       “Okay, Peter, don’t waste time and start to speak.”       “Erm…” Peter squeezes his phone in his hands and looks at Daniel hesitantly. “But promise that you won’t kill me here.”       “Could something be worse than the fact that you stood aside and didn’t try to help the poor girl?” Daniel wonders, crossing his arms over his chest.       “Maybe… I… Not only did I stand and… Watch…”       “Fuck, speak out…” Daniel moans tiredly. “What did you do?”       “Erm… I think…” Peter finds the video on his smartphone and points it to Daniel. “I think you just better watch this.”       Daniel, frowning strongly and looking at Peter suspiciously, takes the smartphone and plays the video hesitantly. After hearing quiet sounds, Edward, Terrence, Benjamin, Christopher, and Kevin get up quickly and surround the men from all sides. They immediately hear the voice of the unfamiliar man and see that he is pressing the red-haired girl to the front of the car, squeezing her throat, and swearing at her shamelessly.       “Is that Anna?” Kevin gets horrified with widely open eyes. “And who’s that man? Is that the bastard?”       “Fuck, she’s changed a lot!” Benjamin shakes his head with horror in his eyes. “Anna is no longer a sanguine and smiling girl…”       “Seriously?” Christopher sneers loudly, “Who is screaming at you? And who the fuck annoys you? Is the girl nothing to you?”       “Yeah, guys, it seems like he’s out of his mind,” Edward replies thoughtfully. “Only a sick bastard would say he’d treat a girl like a street dog, making her wear rags, eat scraps of food, and tolerate humiliations, and threatening to give her slaps…”       “Huh, who are you to respect you?” Benjamin wonders. “Your name means nothing to me!”       “Huh, his father taught him the right things!” Kevin sneers evilly. “I’d like to look at the bastard, who raised such a nasty sonny.”       “Thank God, Anna didn’t become the wife of that bastard!” Christopher says confidently. “Otherwise, those scumbags would’ve destroyed her. She would’ve ended up in a clinic.”       “Wow, her father really didn’t believe that the man was terrible and didn’t hear Anna when she begged him for help,” Terrence notices thoughtfully.       “Yeah, that girl definitely knows people better than her father…” Edward assumes. “And I’m starting to understand why she resisted the wedding with a member of that family.”       All the men’s hearts literally stop, and they open their eyes widely when Julian hits Anna in the stomach, throws her on the asphalt, against which she hits her head, and starts beating her on everything he sees with no regret, while she cries quietly and begs him to stop.       “Bastard…” Daniel hisses through his teeth, breathing heavily enough. “Asshole… I swear if I see him, I’ll castrate him!”       “Fuck, he’s gonna kill her!” Benjamin gets horrified. “He hit her on the head and started to beat her strongly.”       “Bastard…” Terrence exhales sharply, putting his hand on his forehead. “Sick bastard that needs to get therapy! How much could someone hate women if they mocked them like this?”       “Damn, my heart really hurts, while I see this horror,” Christopher puts his hand on his heart. “I dunno what to say, guys… What that bastard is doing to the innocent girl, who can’t answer him and looks terrible! Look, she’s all in blood and tears!”       “Hey, Peter, does he mean you when talking about the blond four-eyed one?” Edward specifies.       “Me,” Peter nods.       “Do you wear glasses?” Terrence frowns slightly. “I can’t remember seeing you wear them.”       “Only when I need to read something far away.”       “He’s definitely serious when talking about killing the blond,” Benjamin notices. “He’d kill anyone, who’d love to help the girl.”       “Oh, yeah, perfect couple!” Edward snuffs with both arms crossed over his chest. “Why do you the fuck need a girl? Do you need her to serve your ass and educate your children? You want to humiliate her regularly and say she’s nobody without a name?”       “Aha, he’d make believe!” Kevin exclaims. “We could just look at Anna to see everything clearly!”       “Burn in hell, fucking asshole,” Edward hisses through his teeth. “If you did something like that with Natalia, I’d bury you alive. And nobody would stop me!”       “Huh, am I kind of a deadbeat?” Daniel smirks evilly. “That nasty bastard thinks he could defeat me? Huh! I shall break his fucking guts and eyes!”       “Oh, that asshole is talking about the police,” Christopher notices confidently.       “He will educate! You must be educated, dick! You must be beaten the way you beat her!”       “Ha, is Anna a doggy to take her for a walk?” Terrence wonders. “Does she have to leave home only with his permission?”       “Fuck, what the hell!” Benjamin resents. “Does that man live in the current century? At the current time? A woman became an independent persona a long time ago and got almost the same rights as a man.”       “Oh, you want to check out her computer and phone!” Edward rolls his eyes. “Is she your wife to control her? You’re nobody to her, bitch! No-bo-dy! Slavery was abolished nobody the hell knows how long ago. A girl doesn’t have to stay home all day long, cook, clean, and get pregnant every year! And feel pain when a man only thinks of his pleasure and doesn’t care when she feels bad.”       “I will break your neck soon, motherfucker!” Daniel almost shouts and growls irritably. “You’ll be whining with pain so loudly that you’ll regret being born!”       “How long is he gonna beat her?” Kevin resents. “She says a word, he beats her! She says nothing and gets a hit! She screams, he beats! She cries, he beats! What does that motherfucker want?”       When Julian pushes Anna into his car, gets into it himself, and leaves sharply nobody knows where, the video ends.       “Nothing to say…” Edward exhales quietly, running his hand through his hair. “I’ve got nothing to say…”       “I’m shocked, guys,” Terrence says, putting his hand to his forehead. “I’ve never seen such horrible violence toward a weak girl.”       “At least we looked at the face, which is going to be beaten well soon,” Daniel pronounces in a lower voice.       “How could someone trust a man with this face?” Christopher wonders. “I would not even come to him! Why did Anna the fuck get in touch with him?”       “By the way, there wasn’t the full talk in the video,” Peter confesses with sadness in his eyes.       “They talked about something?” Kevin asks.       “That man got jealous of Anna and me and screamed at her because she just talked to me. He said she wasn’t allowed to talk to her friends and especially men. He said he owned her. She must obey him silently. He insulted and humiliated her… He said she was a creature with no rights… Anna could only command her children. Make boys men and make girls women.”       “Aha, make boys nasty bastards and force girls to be afraid of men,” Daniel says gloomily.       “He said she knew what’d happen to her and her parents if she ran away, just like she ran to you. And he called you a beggar.”       “I’m a beggar?” Daniel sneers quietly. “Oh, shit! If only he knew how much my parents paid for the house I moved into!”       “Anna tried to resist and remind Julian that he was nobody to her, but she got slaps in the face and heard she’d always belong to him. Her father allegedly approved of their relationship and wouldn’t believe Julian was so bad. And he said no matter how much she wanted to avoid the wedding, she’d get married to him, as her parents and grandparents wanted.”       “But now her father has finally woken up and realized who he wanted to give his daughter to,” Benjamin replies quietly.       “Yeah, at first, he almost pushed her to the edge, but now he feels sorry,” Kevin throws gloomily, crossing his arms over his chest. “Good father, I’m gonna say!”       “I don’t also understand how he could be so blind and never see that his child was suffering!” Christopher wonders. “I do always worry about my godchildren when they’re sick. I love them like my own children.”       “I guess everything was otherwise in this case: Anna’s mother was worried about her daughter and wished her the best, but her father, saying rudely, gave a fuck,” Benjamin assumes.       “But she’s always said her mother was cold to her!” Peter exclaims. “And she’s close to her father!”       “I’ve asked her many times who she loves more, and Anna’s answer was the same: I love both of my parents but got on well with my father better,” Daniel notices.       “And her mother wasn’t indifferent to her daughter,” Terrence adds confidently. “She did her best not to let the wedding of Anna and Julian happen. She did her best for his family to agree to the wedding of Seymour and the younger brother of that bastard. So, that woman suspected something and didn’t want her daughter to suffer.”       “But her father woke up too late!” Edward exclaims. “Because if something happens, Anna’s gonna be dead. If we do nothing!”       “Anyway, he’s really regretting it,” Daniel notices thoughtfully.       “If she wears turtlenecks and puts on thick layers of cosmetics, there is a reason for that. And I’m actually afraid to imagine what we may see on her body after getting such cruel hits.”       “Ugh, I don’t even wanna think about it…”       “By the way, she wears a turtleneck in the video, as well…” Christopher frowns. “Or did it seem to me?”       “No, didn’t seem,” Terrence shakes his head. “And she wore the same one in the hospital. I remember that exactly.”       “But there were days when she wore a big, shapeless sweater,” Peter adds. “And I found it weird. Anna is not cold-sensitive.”       “Wore or not, she must be saved immediately!” Kevin says confidently. “If you don’t help her in time, it’s gonna be hard for Anna to become the same. It will leave a bright print in her memory, and she’ll spend a lot of time coming to herself. I don’t exclude that she’ll have to go to a doctor.”       “You’re right, Kev,” Edward pronounces. “The sooner we take measures to defend her, the fewer consequences there will be. Yes, there will be a trauma. But if we save her in time, we’re gonna have a chance to help her come back to a normal life.”       “Poor Anna…” Christopher shakes his head. “I’m so sorry about her… I’ve got nothing to say…”       “We’re all shocked, Chris,” Terrence notices thoughtfully.       “That’s bad we can’t help her,” Benjamin adds. “But the worst thing is that the bastard may stay unpunished, mocking the poor girl shamelessly.”       “No, Ben…” Daniel pronounces confidently, shaking his head. “He won’t stay…”       “What?” Kevin wonders.       “Now, we have a chance! A very good one!”       “I believe you think of the same thing I’m thinking of?” Edward smiles slyly, glancing at the phone in Daniel’s hands.       “Maybe. Thanks to Rose.” Daniel moves his eyes to Peter. “Pete, you’re an asshole, but I love you anyway. If my plan works, I’ll forget that you didn’t help Anna forever.”       “Right!” Benjamin clicks his fingers. “Guys! The video! Here’s the proof!”       “Exactly! We can see the faces of that man and Anna’s very well in this video. No cameras in stores would show his face so clearly. So, we’ve got good proof of the fault of that bastard.”       “Do you wanna show this video to the police?” Peter specifies.       “The police needed proof – they’re gonna get it! And they won’t dare to say it’s not proof of the fault of that sick motherfucker!”       “Or we better give this record to Mr. Johnson and introduce him to the Seymours,” Edward replies confidently.       “I will! Obviously! But at first, I wanna show this video to Maximilian and make him sure that Julian is too dangerous for Anna!”       “It’s gonna be a shock to him,” Christopher notices with sadness in his eyes.       “I know, but I have no choice. He asked me to do anything to save his daughter, and this record is just something.”       “Of course, it would be better to find out something about that stinker’s daddy, but I think it’s good now,” Terrence replies thoughtfully.       “I’ll try to talk to Anna’s father about it. He had a conflict with him. So, he knows him well and could tell us more about Norman. But it’s gonna happen later, and now I’ll show him the video. Now we must find a way to protect his daughter.”       “I think it’s a good idea,” Benjamin agrees. “Though, this record will make his hair stand.”       Sammy barks confidently.       “Listen, Peter…” Daniel pronounces thoughtfully, moving his eyes to Peter. “Lend me your phone for two hours. I’ll show the video and give it to you.”       “Sure, take it,” Peter shrugs. “You know the password.”       “Hey, Pete, maybe, Dan and you go to Anna’s father together?” Kevin suggests. “At least, you could personally tell everything you saw on that day. I think her father must listen to the witness of that event.”       “Yes, yes, the blond must go,” Benjamin agrees. “Maybe, Anna’s father will resent that Rose didn’t help her, but you need to tell him the truth.”       “Actually, we’ve wanted to talk to her father for a long time,” Peter confesses. “But we didn’t know how to contact him. Dan was the only one to help us.”       “Go with him, then!” Christopher exclaims.       “In order to have more witnesses, we could go all together,” Edward says confidently. “Yes, we aren’t witnesses of that horror, but we could let him know he could trust Pete ‘cause he’s an honest man.”       “Listen, guys, let me talk to Anna’s father and try to agree on a meeting first,” Daniel says confidently. “If he agrees, we’ll probably go to my home.”       Daniel takes his mobile phone, unlocks it, and quickly types the number with shaking hands, while the other men watch him or look at each other, and Sammy keeps whining quietly from time to time. The man gets an answer very quickly and starts to speak, trying to keep calm so hard to explain everything clearly.       “Hello, Mr. Seymour?” Daniel specifies hesitantly.       “Yes, this is me,” Maximilian pronounces quietly.       “Hello. It’s Daniel.”       “Ah, Daniel, hello!”       “Can you speak now? Or do I call you later?”       “Yes, sure, speak. What’s wrong?”       “Mr. Seymour, you asked me to help you and find a way to defend Anna. Sadly, I haven’t made up anything, but I have something important that may be good proof of the fault of the man, who is mocking her.”       “Really? Can we prove his fault?”       “We can, Mr. Seymour. And I want to talk to you about it and show you what I have. And if you don’t mind, I will bring you the person, who saw Julian mocking Anna. He can tell you what he saw, so you make sure your daughter must be far from that stinker.”       “Sure, I want to look at what you have immediately,” Maximilian says excitedly. “And listen to that man.”       “Great! When could you meet me?”       “Somewhere in one or one and a half hours. It’s good?”       “Yes, it’s good. Then go to my home. But if you want, let’s meet somewhere else!”       “Go to my home. I am now working on some papers.”       “Your home?” Daniel rounds his eyes. “What if I meet Anna?”       “Don’t worry, Daniel, she is not home. Anna left a couple of minutes ago. So, nobody is going to bother us.”       “Oh…” Daniel bites his lip slightly. “Alright… I will go to your home then…”       “Listen, maybe, I should ask Anna’s mother to come to me, so we can see what you have together? And you could meet her!”       “Sure, she can come. She must see what I should show you.”       “Alright, I will call her right now. And wait for you to come.”       “Yeah, tell me, please, where to go. I don’t know where you are living.”       Maximilian quickly tells Daniel to come.       “Yes, yes, I know where it is,” Daniel says confidently. “The way is going to be long, but I shall come.”       “Alright, we agreed, then,” Maximilian replies quietly. “But if Anna is back home before you come, I will call you.”       “I will try to come as soon as possible.”       “Great, see you soon.”       “Yeah, see you soon.”       Daniel turns off the call, blocks the phone, puts it in his pocket, and looks at all the men and Sammy hesitantly with little sad eyes.       “Okay, I should be at his home in one hour,” Daniel says quietly. “He also wants to invite his ex-wife and Anna’s mother. It means… I’m gonna meet her… For the first time in a while.”       “Be careful and don’t meet Anna,” Benjamin warns. “She’d hardly be happy if she saw you. And she’d be scared by the fact that you and her parents are trying to do something.”       “Honestly, I don’t care if she sees me. I’m not going to give up on my plans. I must do it, despite all of her protests, offenses, and something like that.”       “I think Anna would be happy to get saved, but she’s terribly afraid of that man and his father,” Christopher assumes.       “She probably tried to resist him, as we saw it on the video, but that man is much stronger and took her strength and wish to fight,” Kevin adds. “So, I’m afraid that Anna may let him mock her and won’t resist it.”       “And she does know about the threats for her parents,” Peter notices confidently. “I think she tolerates this hell not only because of fear but also for them. Anna believes it will save them, but the effect is gonna be the opposite…”       “Anna knows all the plans of that man and his father,” Terrence says quietly. “But she can do nothing to avoid the worst things.”       “It’s okay, it all will be over soon,” Daniel replies confidently. “That motherfucker and his father will pay for what they’ve done to her. And I’m sure Anna’s parents will go to the police, despite the blackmail and fear of losing their daughter. They’d probably sacrifice themselves than let them mock her.”       “And now thanks to this video, the police are gonna have a reason to put that bastard in prison,” Edward adds no less confidently. “We only need to show this record to Anna’s parents and Mr. Johnson. He will surely help us and won’t piss us off.”       “Right… Anyway, we’ll talk about it later, and now we have to go to Anna’s father. And we better hurry up… The way from here to his home is not very short.”       Sammy barks loudly, as he is sitting next to Peter.       “Erm, you know, I think we don’t need to go all together…” Christopher says hesitantly. “It will be better if only Daniel or he and two or three more people go.”       “Let’s do something…” Daniel says thoughtfully. “Peter, you must obviously go because Anna’s father is interested in what you could tell him. And you, Terrence, Edward, could go to confirm his words.”       “Would it be okay if we came all together?” Peter frowns slightly.       “For saving his daughter, he’d listen to ten people.”       “Alright, let’s go to her father four together,” Terrence suggests confidently.       “Yeah, go, lads,” Kevin agrees. “The more witnesses, the better.”       “I’m ready,” Peter nods.       “Me too,” Edward cracks a smile.       Sammy barks confidently, as if he is letting know that he is ready to go.       “Good luck to you, then,” Kevin says amicably.       “Let us know if you find out something,” Benjamin adds.       “We’re always on the line!” Christopher exclaims. “And we’re worried about Anna.”       “Thanks, guys,” Daniel thanks. “We’ll tell you everything after we talk to Anna’s parents.”       The men look at each other with hope, and Sammy whines quietly. But a few seconds later, Daniel, Peter, Edward, and Terrence say goodbye to Benjamin, Christopher, and Kevin by shaking them by the hand and hugging them, take the dog, and leave their friends, while the others watch them and silently wish them to save the innocent girl as soon as possible.       

***

      A few days that Anna has spent without insults and hits from Julian are the reason why she feels a little better and is now able to exhale with a little relief. Though, she is anxious at the thought that everything will start over again when the man is back in the city alongside his brother and keeps mocking her. And even while she is quietly walking in the city and breathing the fresh air, the girl is always tense and cannot be happy with something. While people are happy with the warm sun, hot weather, and a wonderful day, nothing can make her smile. Sadly, meetings with her friends have not also given her great relief. All of her positive emotions are fake.       She has already lost hope of seeing the light at the end of the tunnel and almost accepted her unhappy fate. She has accepted the fact that she has to tolerate all the tortures of the tyrant. At first, the girl could resist it somehow, but now she gives up and just cries quietly and keeps the pain inside, while it’s tearing her apart. Tears appear in the puffy eyes of the girl, who tries to hold them down somehow, slowly walking on the wide bridge with both arms crossed over her chest, feeling absolutely insecure and thinking she does not deserve something good. At some moment, she stops, leans on the railing of the bridge with both hands, and watches the rebel sea and breathtaking views that do not make her feel anything. The light, warm light wind nicely blows the face and closed clothes of the girl, who is walking here all alone.       After watching the gorgeous views of the city for some time, Anna slowly continues her way to nowhere, walking by two or three people, who look so thrilled while talking and laughing quietly, and suddenly asking herself what it is like to be happy. If she did not have the people, who needed her, she would probably leave far away. She would jump from the bridge, against which she just stood. She would not resist the water that would take her far away and would not let her get up. The girl is obsessed with these thoughts, while she walks quietly on a long, wide bridge. And she is so busy with them that she does not notice how someone painfully grabs her by the hair from behind and puts a knife against her throat. Anna sharply gets white from horror and shakes strongly with the feeling that her heart jumped out of her chest. And when she hears the voice of the one to stand behind her, her legs literally get weak.       “What a nice meeting,” the rude and low voice pronounces. “Freak…”       Anna sharply turns on the one, who put the knife to her throat, and is surprised when she recognizes him as Julian.       “J-julian?” Anna says scarily in a shaking voice.       “Hello, Anna,” Julian replies with disgust. “It’s been a while.”       “A-are you… Back?”       “Yesterday,” Julian smirks evilly. “And honestly, I was waiting for this moment.”       “That’s how…” Anna pronounces in a little shaking voice, while she is shaking from fear of Julian and putting her head on her shoulders. “And… H-how are y-you d-doing? Did you and your father… Solve your problems?”       “We solved them literally for two days. And wanted to come back earlier. But we decided to watch you and your mother and father secretly. To know how well your brain works.”       “Erm…” Anna swallows up nervously, while her eyes run from one side to another, and Julian makes her feel fear and coldness with his burning gaze. “M-my parents… Were w-working all days long…”       “Worked?” Julian nods and sneers slyly. “Alright, let’s assume I would believe it. Your beloved mommy and daddy were stuck at the office all day and went to meetings. Now, I want to hear what you were doing, Anna.”       “Me… Erm… I…”       “Bite your tongue? Or became deaf? Did you forget how you were the fuck NAMED?”       “I-I was s-sitting at home… Doing my business…”       “M-m-m…” Julian puts his knife in the pocket of his light coat and looks at Anna with greater contempt. “You were at home…”       “Yeah… I was…”       “Are you not ashamed? Not ashamed of saying it to me?”       “What?” Anna rounds her eyes.       “You are lying to me,” Julian, looking at the shaking Anna with greater contempt, crosses his arms over his chest. “Insolently lying.”       “N-no, Julian, I swear, I’m not lying,” Anna protests, literally curling in a bull from fear and breathing heavily enough. “I was really at home.”       “Lie!” Julian throws loudly. “You were not sitting home. You were hanging around somewhere. And your beloved mommy and daddy were not only working, but also doing other things.”       “Not truth!” Anna replies in a shaking voice with wet eyes. “I was at home with my father when he came back home from work. And sometimes Mother went to visit us.”       “What an insolence… You’re lying and not getting blushed…”       “Julian…”       “SHUT UP, BITCH!” Julian strongly slaps Anna in the face, making her shout loudly and stop holding her tears down. “STUPID, BRAINLESS CHICKEN! YOU MUST NOT STAY ALONE! YOU DO NOT HEAR WHAT YOU ARE TOLD!”       “No, Julian, p-please…” Anna pronounces with horror in widely open eyes.       “I THINK I SAID YOU MUST HAVE BEEN DOING ALL OF MY ORDERS! AND ASK FOR PERMISSION FOR ANYTHING! AND I CLEARLY REMEMBER THAT I DID NOT GIVE YOU THE RIGHT TO GO OUTSIDE!”       “You’re unfair to me…”       “It’s easier to teach a donkey to speak and read than to make you remember that a woman is an empty shell. A WORTHLESS CREATURE THAT MUST ONLY DO WHAT A MAN TELLS HER!”       “You’re not right… No…”       “YOU DARE TO OPEN YOUR FUCKING MOUTH, BITCH?” Julian screams and slaps Anna in the face again.       “No, Julian!” Anna makes a loud squeak.       “STUPID FREAK! YOU DO NOT HEAR WHAT YOU ARE TOLD! YOU KEEP THE FUCK FLYING IN HEAVEN! AND YOUR MOTHER AND FATHER ARE BRAINLESS! YOU ALL DID NOT HEAR ME!”       “Please, stop doing this to me,” Anna begs with tears in her eyes full of horror. “I didn’t deserve to be treated like this.”       “I BANNED YOU FROM MEETING YOUR FRIENDS, AND YOUR PARENTS FROM GOING TO THE POLICE!”       “I met nobody… I swear…”       “I THINK MY CLAIMS WERE EXPLAINED QUITE CLEARLY! I DID SAY WHAT ANYONE WOULD REALIZE! YOU ARE THE ONLY ONE NOT TO UNDERSTAND ANYTHING!”       “Don’t scream, Julian, please!”       “CLOSE YOUR MOUTH, CHICKEN!” Julian strongly beats Anna in the face with an irritated growl. “DO NOT TELL ME WHAT THE FUCK TO DO!”       “I’m hurt, don’t do it…” Anna pronounces in a strongly shaking voice.       “UNTIL YOU LEARN TO LISTEN TO BEHAVE WELL AND OBEY A MAN’S WORD, I WILL KEEP BEATING YOU STRONGLY!”       “Julian, for the Christ…”       Julian sharply grabs Anna by the elbows, presses her to the railing of the bridge, and leans her back, as if he is trying to let her fly down from it and scaring the girl, who gasps loudly and starts to cry much more bitterly.       “I SEE YOU WENT OUT OF CONTROL WHILE I WAS NOT HERE,” Julian throws rudely. “YOU FORGOT THAT A WOMAN HAD NO OTHER OBLIGATIONS BUT LISTEN TO A MAN, COOK FOOD, AND SERVE.”       “J-j-julian, please, stop,” Anna begs with despair. “Don’t do s-stupid things…”       “So, bitch, you thought you got off me? You thought I would never come back? NO! FROM NOW, I SHALL BE BEATING YOU MUCH MORE BECAUSE YOU WERE BORN AS A STUPID, WORTHLESS FREAK!”       “No, don’t beat me! I don’t want!”       “CLOSE YOUR MOUTH, SHORTY!”       Julian sharply turns Anna on the side and slaps her in the face so that she barely keeps her balance and doubles over, holding the burning cheek and crying bitterly because there is nobody around, who would save her from this hell.       “Yeah, I thought you would be a good girl,” Julian says rudely. “But you do not want to defend your mommy and daddy too much. You give a fuck about them.”       “Not truth!” Anna protests. “I love them!”       “Your actions do not show it. You are doing what you want. You are pleasing your ass. You give a fuck about the others.”       “Julian…”       “You violated all my rules about talking to other people and walking in the city.”       “I did not talk to anyone but Mother and Father.”       “Stop the fuck LYING!” Julian demands rudely. “A couple of our common familiars saw you wandering around.”       “What familiars?”       “It does not matter. The important thing is that they saw you walk outside and go to the hospital several times.”       “Me?” Anna shows a surprise. “The hospital?”       “So, will you say it wasn’t you? They saw a similar girl?”       “Listen, Julian…”       “And what were you doing there?” Julian crosses his arms over his chest. “You did not get examined after I beat you for a REASON! Instead, you spent many hours in the room of a man.”       “Me? In the room?”       “I wonder who it was? One of your pals? Did someone beat the blond four-eyed one, who you talked to at the shop with? Or did the poor deadbeat, whom you ran away from, become a victim? When he ended up in the hospital, you ran to him shortly!”       Anna opens her eyes widely, guessing that the talk is about Terrence.       “So, you have nothing to say?” Julian smiles slyly. “Alright, do not do! You would seem smarter! It would be MUCH better if you did not open your fucking mouth. I do know everything you were doing. And I know what your father and mother were actually doing.”       “They worked!” Anna exclaims.       “Not only, Seymour, not only. It seems like they also give a fuck about you if they were not afraid of losing you and went to the police.”       “What?” Anna rounds her eyes. “The police? My parents?”       “M-m-m, I see you do not know… So, you heard it! Your parents were at the police station and went to the familiar of my father. He listened to them, reminded them that they could not prove my fault, turned them around, and told them to go home. Then that man contacted my father and explained everything. And I found out then.”       “It’s a lie, lie! My parents weren’t in the police!”       “They were, baby, they were. They wanted to report me to the police and blame me for mocking you. But they forgot that they could prove nothing. Words mean nothing, and they do not have real proof. And they will not have. Never.”       “Mom and Dad would not risk like that!”       “But they did,” Julian replies coldly. “They met a failure. And they realized they could not count on anyone’s help. No place to run. No someone to help. And nobody can prove anything.”       “You’re lying. Lying to scare me!”       “And to be honest, my father and I knew those stupid people would really do it.”       “Father did not believe me. He was always sure that you were good and innocent. And he didn’t believe you could be a nasty stinker. Who helps his father kill for revenge.”       “He did not believe you because he was too stupid. And I’m actually surprised that your father actually holds such a good post and is a wonderful worker. Though, his stupidity and inattention would bankrupt any firm.” Julian looks at Anna with a contemptuous look. “And his daughter took after him. The same brainless and worthless chicken that can do NOTHING.”       “Don’t dare to insult my father, Julian!” Anna threatens with a finger.       “I insult nobody,” Julian throws his hands up. “I am just telling the truth. The truth about who the person is. Who else would open your eyes to some things? I do not have my head in the clouds!”       “You’d hardly love to hear me say something like this about your father.”       “If you said one bad word about my father, I would kill you, bitch. I shall let nobody insult him. Especially a fucking chicken that was not lucky to be born as a woman. Who should better sew her mouth, incline her head, and always say, ‘yes, my lord.’”       “Gosh, what did my parents do to make you and your father hate them so much? They did nothing bad, at least to you, and you can’t say these things about them!”       “Yeah… It’s so bad not to know what your beloved parents are doing…” Julian shakes his head. “Not to know why someone revenges on you for…”       “Explain it then!”       “A woman should not know what she does not have to do with. What her chicken brain cannot understand. She must care only about keeping her house clean and comfortable, having tasty food on the table in time, and making her man happy. And not washing his brains with her stupid talks and doing all of his orders.”       “Anyway, leave my parents alone and stop threatening them,” Anna says as confidently as possible. “I don’t want anything to happen to them.”       “As for your mother and father, my father will choose their fate.”       “If you want it, I will get married to you and give birth to a child with you. But I’m begging you, don’t hurt my parents.”       “My gosh…” Julian laughs evilly with both arms crossed over her chest and shakes his head, watching Anna with contempt. “Did you really lose the hope of getting help? Are you ready to accept the fate that you tried to run from?”       “If it was done because of the canceled wedding, I will agree to it. For the life of my parents, I can do anything. I’d even sacrifice my freedom. Maybe, even my life.”       “Oh, do you want to be sweet and obedient now?” Julian slowly starts to walk around Anna. “You lived with that poor deadbeat for some time and realized that you did not want that life? You do not want to live without money?”       “Money doesn’t have to do with it,” Anna says coldly. “Your love and respect are measured by money.”       “Money is needed to shut a woman up. If you buy her something, she will be madly happy. Especially if this is the first thing in the past few years. Or her life.”       “We speak different languages.”       “There is only one language – a language of a real man. Which you must know fluently.”       “Do you really like humiliating girls like this?” Anna asks quietly. “Why do you treat them like a doormat? Did your father treat your late mother like this? Why are you so aggressive?”       “I do not have to explain anything to a freak without rights,” Julian says rudely. “It is my business! And a woman does not have to do with it!”       “Julian…”       “Remember, Seymour, if you want to live in peace with me, do what I say, and do not ask questions.”       “Everything you’re doing is wrong! Decent men don’t behave like this!”       “Yeah, you have always loved those, who would easily bend under women. Someone like that deadbeat. It’s clear you are used to the fact that he danced attendance upon you and did everything you wanted. Not being afraid that real men would laugh at him.”       “How could you know what he is?”       “I do not need to know to understand how that bastard bent under you. How he forgot who he was born as. You did choose the one! Because you wanted to command! You got sick of being a good girl and listening to your mother and father.”       “Not truth! This is your guess!”       “But it will not work with me. I have never listened to a woman and will not do this. I have a dignity! And any bitch will not take it away from me!”       “A real man always listens to the wishes and opinions of the woman and respects her.”       “Yeah, you tried to avoid what was destined for you by running away with your deadbeat, who I want to die,” Julian recalls coldly. “But since they run, you cannot run away from your fate. Since your grandparents told you to get married to me, it must have happened.”       “I ran because I wanted to choose my fate. I wanted to decide who to live with. Because this is my life. And other people have no right to decide how I should live and with.”       “You have no rights at all! You are nobody! Just a fucking kid, who was eventually back to where she ran away from. You finally got some brains and realized that you would not run away from my father and me.”       “If your father has claims against my parents, let him tell them about it. I have nothing to do with their business. But if you have something to tell me, I’m ready to listen.”       “So, I see you kind of got out of control,” Julian, standing behind Anna’s back, sharply grabs her by the hair and pulls it on himself painfully. “YOU WENT WILD, BITCH!”       “You don’t allegedly understand why I am afraid of you and don’t want to speak to you. You can’t be tender! You think you could get everything by force. That mocking a girl is fine.”       “If a woman gets loose and refuses to obey a man’s word, she MUST get a strong kick,” Julian says rudely. “My wife will silently do what I tell her. I will decide how she will look, what she will wear, and how many children she should give birth.”       “That’s violence! Violence of a woman!”       “It seems like your mother has the same opinion. That’s why she persuaded my father to organize the wedding of you and my stupid brother, Ryan. Though, you would not live with him for a long time and would get married to me.”       “I don’t know why Mother wanted the wedding of Ryan and me, but I would’ve been happy if I’d gotten married to him. Yes, I never loved him. But with him, I would feel quiet.”       “Alas, Seymour, that freak could only read his books and will never be a good husband, who can keep his wife and children on a short leash.”       “Ryan is not this type!” Anna protests. “He’s a wonderful man, who I’ve always been good with. Your brother is not as rotten as you and your father. Maybe, he is not as strong and brave as the man of my dreams. But I would never feel humiliated.”       Julian gives a strong slap on Anna’s temple, striking her down, and hits her in the stomach with a leg with a loud growl. That’s why she makes a squeak from the strong pain that she gets through her body immediately.       “You better close your mouth you, stupid ugly,” Julian hisses through his teeth. “WHO THE FUCK ARE YOU TO SAY IT? YOU LOST YOUR BRAINS, BITCH?”       “I told the truth!” Anna says with despair.       “CLOSE YOUR MOUTH, BITCH!” Julian slaps Anna strongly in the face. “And remember! If you dare to insult my father again, I will bury you somewhere in a wood alive. DID YOU GET IT? UGLY FREAK!”       “That’s bad nobody explained to you and your father that these things would not make you real men.”       “Do not compare REAL men with those, who only have a penis,” Julian replies rudely. “With those, who became the joke when they let women control everything. Who forgot that the only place where she could feel like a queen is a kitchen and a child’s room!”       “The times when women were men’s property were gone many centuries ago.”       “You and your family are no match for him. Unlike you, he is a very honorable man with good contacts and money. If you hadn’t had his help, you would’ve lived like fucking rats in the trash.”       “So, do we have to kiss your legs?”       “Yes! Your mother and father must kiss my father’s legs, and you must kiss the legs of him and me! And you, kid, must be especially grateful to us. You have always been provided for by your parents, and they spent a lot of money to make you someone like a girl from a high society, in which their family thinks is. But alas… They did not make you an aristocrat. You are still worthless and ugly. You make decent people ashamed of just one look of yours.”       “I don’t want to be the one!” Anna protests. “I want to be me! The one, who I am!”       “I did not ask you what you wanted.” Julian painfully grabs Anna by the elbows, places her on her legs, and grabs her hair, moving his hateful look to the widely open eyes of the shaking girl, who seems to be short and entirely unprotected. “I give a fuck! Everybody gives a fuck! Because you are a woman. And I, asshole, will repeat it all the time. So, you finally accept it and stop saying something.”       “I will never accept it! Hear me! And I will not be the wife you’re dreaming about!”       “You know, I do not wish to marry you,” Julian says rudely. “Showing you to my familiar people, contacts with whom I do appreciate so much, would be a humiliation to me. If they see that my wife is so ugly and cannot do the easiest things, I will be ashamed. Everyone will be laughing at me. But I will not stand the humiliation. I will not accept the fact that the WOMAN without rights is doing this!”       “Do you want to humiliate me, not marry me?” Anna concludes. “The case is not about a marriage?”       “Yes, I want to humiliate you. I want you to suffer. Because I hate you to the death. I thought you and I would get on, but I was deceived. You have never been the aristocratic lady, who your parents and grandparents tried to make you. They brought the non-educated rebel, not the obedient slave.”       “What do you need this show?” Anna asks quietly. “Why, Julian? You wanted to get this? What you’re seeing now?”       “You humiliated me somehow. But you will not do this again. I SHALL SHOW YOU WHERE YOU BELONG!”       “So, if you really wanted to get me exhausted, congratulations, you did it!” Anna turns on Julian sharply, not holding her bitter tears down. “Look! Look what I’ve become! Look what you’ve done to me! What I look like!”       “I treat you the way you deserve it. If you were a good girl and did my orders with no questions, I would beat you less. But since I have to deal with a stupid chicken, I have to educate you cruelly and always remind you who is the leader and has a greater power.”       “Do you want me to hate myself? Wish to break the mirror every time I go by the one? That was your goal? You literally wanted to make me think of killing myself?”       “I want just one thing – to sew your dirty mouth and do any of my orders. So, you wean yourself away from the freedom that you had when you lived with that poor bastard.”       “And why do you need it? Why? You are nobody to behave like I am your property!”       “I am just fixing the mistakes in your education that your father and mother made,” Julian sneers evilly. “And I am teaching you what you must know! And you MUST thank me for that. Because I am sorry for the time that I could spend on myself or my work.”       “How do you have so much anger, Julian? Why are you so mad? Why do you behave like a stinker? Stop! Enough! What you’ve done is enough!”       Before deciding to say something, the furious Julian slaps Anna on both of her cheeks again and beats her on the back of her head when she doubles over with sobs and closes her face with both hands.       “Trying to be sassy?” Julian asks rudely. “Do you think you could defeat me? No, Seymour, you are wrong! And if you keep making me mad, I shall beat you black and blue.”       “I do feel like an alive corpse!” Anna shouts with despair. “My whole body does hurt after your hits! And my skin gets acne because I use too many cosmetics to cover all my bruises!”       “And my brains are boiling!” Julian screams irritably. “Because you make me furious! You are guilty of walking beaten!”       “Confess your fault at least once! Stop blaming someone else for everything at least once!”       “So, am I guilty of everything? Am I guilty of you being born as a brainless idiot, who can only work her tongue with the same worthless women!”       “Julian…”       “You could be sassy with your friends or that deadbeat, who would not raise his hand on you even after being beaten by you. I do know those cowardly bastards and despise them! My brother Ryan is one of them!”       “A real man never raises a hand on a woman.”       “Forget about those weak folks, deary! I am not used to bending under every single woman and do remember that I was born as a man. To me, it sounds incredibly proud. And I shall not let a bitch like you humiliate me, even before my own eyes.”       “Respecting women is not a humiliation. It’s a sign of the man’s true power and the fact that he learned the lessons that his parents gave him.”       “Stop snapping, Seymour! You annoyed me to death! ANNOYED!” Julian gives Anna another slap in the face, which is much stronger than the previous ones. “I swear I will beat you much more cruelly every time you are rude, sassy, and not obedient. I SHALL TEACH YOU, BITCH, TO OBEY A MAN!”       “Listen, Julian…”       “I SAID, SHUT THE FUCK UP!”       Julian sharply grabs Anna under the elbows and throws her strongly on the side of the railing so that she hits her head against the iron fence and falls to the ground, crying from pain in her whole body or despair and helplessness.       “No, stop, please…” Anna begs in a strongly shaking voice with tears.       “You are very ‘lucky’ I caught you in such a good place where nobody is here,” Julian smiles evilly. “Nobody could find us for sure and do something to save you.”       “No…” Anna sharply shakes her head. “No, don’t do… Julian, stop… Please…”       “If only you knew how I want to deal with you. Beat you, so you die. Even if my father doesn’t plan to kill you. But you, the fuck, annoyed me so much that I am ready to give a fuck about his bans. I AM FURIOUS BECAUSE OF YOU! YOU MADE ME THE ONE!”       Julian strongly hits Anna on the head with a fist, while she closes her face with both hands and cries in pain and despair.       “NO!” Anna shouts. “STOP! JULIAN!”       “Shut up, chicken!” Julian hisses through his teeth and gives Anna a strong slap. “DO NOT MAKE ME MUCH MORE FURIOUS!”       “Stop… It hurts…”       “DO NOT TELL ME WHAT TO DO, POWERLESS CREATURE!” Julian screams irritably. “YOU ARE A WOMAN! A WOMAN MUST SHUT UP AND HEAR WHAT A MAN SAYS!”       Julian hits Anna on her legs with his foot, while she curls up in a ball and cries quietly, trying to close some vulnerable places and shaking with fear of this horrible man.       “IF I COULD, I WOULD HAVE KILLED YOU A FEW YEARS AGO WHEN YOU STARTED TO THINK YOU COULD DO ANYTHING,” Julian bellows with bloodshot eyes, clenching his hands into fists tightly. “OR JUST EDUCATED YOU! I WOULD HAVE QUICKLY MADE YOU OBEDIENT!”       “What do you want?” Anna makes a loud sob and sniffs quietly. “Just tell me what you want from me?”       “I did say I want to see you suffer! If you are happy, I will be mad. Because you do not deserve it. I would not give you just one gram of gold and a cent for clothes or plastic surgery, Shit will always be shit, no matter how hard you try to make it brilliant.”       “You are cruel, Julian… Very cruel…”       “Listen, ugly, stop crying and whining!” Julian demands rudely. “I cannot stand all these tears and chickens, who whine, ‘Please, please, pity me!’ Ugh, the fuck! I want to kill those whipping people!”       “Julian…”       “Close your fucking mouth,” Julian slaps Anna in the face and grabs her by the collar, making her feel cold with his burning look. “DO NOT MAKE ME MAD, BITCH! OR YOU WILL DIE! I SWEAR I SHALL THROW YOU FROM THIS BRIDGE! Nobody will find your corpse, seeing how strong the flow is. It will be taken far, far away.”       “Stop, please…”       “I will do this, Seymour, and nobody will stop me,” Julian says rudely. “YOU WILL MAKE ME DO THIS!”       “No…” Anna begs in a shaking voice. “Don’t do this…”       “Why do you live, Seymour? Your life is as worthless as you are! You do nothing good and can only waste your parents' money. Without a job, unmarried, without children… And you are stupid and non-educated… Who the fuck would look at you?”       “I’m just twenty-four!”       “And what?” Julian screams. “At your age, women have a husband and two or three children! But you only go to some clubs where only sluts go and waste time at stores. You read romance books and DREAM OF PRINCES, CASTLES, AND COACHES!”       “Any girl dreams of something beautiful!”       “But you are no longer a fucking girl! YOU ARE AN ADULT WOMAN! Who should ALREADY cook delicious dinners for her husband, get her children ready for school, and educate them! But you are doing the fuck nothing and are stuck in the age when children confront their parents. You pronounce yourself an adult and think a woman can decide how to live.”       “Any person has a right to choose their life.”       “A woman decides NOTHING. A FATHER, A BROTHER, OR A HUSBAND decides everything for her.”       “God, how much a woman hurt you… One gave you pain, but you thought everybody was guilty.”       “If you say one more word, I shall DROWN YOU!”       “Better stab. With your knife. Come on, Potter, don’t waste time! Kill me! And live with it!”       “You think I would feel sorry?” Julian sneers evilly. “HA! NEVER! I WILL NOT BE GRIEVING! The only people, who will want to die from grief, are your mother and father. That fucking deadbeat will not also take it if he did not forget you. And I almost forgot about your friends. For example, the blond four-eyed.       “You will not do away easily!”       “I will do! Nobody will prove that I am beating you for a reason and want to kill you.”       “You’re crazy, Julian. Just crazy.”       “You are guilty of that. You can make even a healthy man look like crazy.”       “I did nothing!”       “And you know…” Julian squeezes Anna’s yawl as strongly as he can with an evil smirk. “Before you die, I want to do something.”       “W-what?” Anna rounds her eyes full of horror. “What d-do you mean?”       “I haven’t fucked a woman for nobody the fuck knows how long. So, no matter if you want it or not, but you will make all my fantasies come true.”       With these words, Julian slowly unbuttons a fastener on his light jacket, takes it off, and carefully hangs it on the fence of the bridge, making Anna horrified at the thought that this man wants to rape her.       “J-julian…” Anna pronounces in a shaking voice with a heavy breath. “Julian, c’mon? W-w-what are you doing?”       “Maybe, you annoy me, but my penis is always erected when I feel your smell,” Julian says in a low voice with a sly smile. “Since you began to turn from a baby to a girl… I wanted to throw the naked you on the bed, spread your legs, and get into you deeply.”       “No…” Anna starts to creep aside with widely open eyes. “No, please, don’t do this…”       “I will not kill you and bury your corpse in the wood before you make all my wishes come true,” Julian says confidently, coming to Anna sharply and squeezing her yawl tightly. “At least, I would distract myself from my fucking job for a while and get rid of tension.”       “You went insane?” Anna gets horrified loudly with a heavy breath. “No! Get back!”       “If I had a lot of girls, I wouldn’t waste my time on an ugly gal like you,” Julian smiles slyly, looking at Anna with his filthy look. “But since I don’t have the best thing, I have to be happy with the worst one.”       With these words, Julian runs his dry fingertips over the curve of the neck of Anna, who feels how an unpleasant coldness spreads all over her body and makes her squeeze and step back sharply.       “Julian, please, stop…” Anna begs excitedly and sniffs quietly. “No… I don’t want it…”       “By the way, how was the deadbeat at sex: a fucking log or a sexy beast?” Julian sneers evilly, running his fingertips over the front of Anna’s neck and moving his hand to her collarbones. “You probably sucked his penis enough to make him happy. You got it deeply into your mouth… And you screamed at the whole neighborhood when he put it into you…”       “None of your business!”       “Your mommy and daddy would pull their hair out if they knew their daughter fucks a man before a wedding. Even if they give her to someone, she is going to be the used material.”       “You better think of your life, not meddle in people’s ones.”       “And you close your mouth and use it for the better things. Or if that bastard taught you nothing, just obey my orders.”       “No, don’t get closer to me…” Anna creeps sharply off Julian, who she looks at with great horror in her eyes. “Don’t touch… No…”       “Shut up, chicken!” Julian squats down in front of Anna sitting and crying quietly and runs his hands over her knees, not paying attention to the girl’s resistance. “You will do anything I say.”       “No, Julian, STOP!”       “Don’t be afraid, everything will be over soon,” Julian assures coldly, moving one hand to the inside of Anna’s thigh. “I will quickly get an orgasm and kill you. Do not worry, it will be like a click of fingers.”       With these words, Julian moves Anna’s hair aside with a sly smile and confidently runs his hand over her breast, which he also squeezes rudely.       “I feel pain…” Anna winces strongly.       “Take it!” Julian throws rudely and painfully sinks his teeth into the curve of Anna’s neck, while she squeaks quietly from pain. “If you were born as a woman, only one rule exists for you – being silent and taking! And doing what a man says!”       “You’re crazy, Julian!” Anna exclaims with despair and sharply creeps off Julian with horror in her dumbfounded eyes. “Please, stop!”       “Better shut up and lie quietly!”       “Someone!” Anna starts to scream, throwing a scared, tear-stained look on different sides. “Please! Help! HELP ME!”       “DO NOT SCREAM, IDIOT!” Julian gets up sharply and slaps Anna in the face strongly. “Nobody will hear you! Nobody will come here: neither your father nor your mother, not the poor deadbeat, nor your friends.”       “NO! STOP!”       “I am sorry if you did not say goodbye to someone, but it’s your time to pay for your deafness, stupidity, and inability to keep your mouth shut.”       Julian gets closer to Anna to take off her clothes. But she creeps back sharply and finds the strength to get up and go farther, breathing heavily enough and watching the man with dumbfounded eyes.       “No!” Anna exclaims heartbreakingly with tears. “You will not come to me! Never!”       “Shut up and obey, brainless bitch!” Julian bellows, clenching his hands into fists tightly.       “I don’t want! I DON’T! NO!”       “I GIVE A FUCK ABOUT YOUR WISHES AND ANY WISHES OF A WOMAN! When I DO want, I DO GET it! IMMEDIATELY!”       Julian runs to Anna sharply, grabs her under the elbows, presses her against himself very rudely, pulls the neck of her turtleneck, and sinks his teeth into the girl’s neck. She tries to resist so hard, shouting from a strong pain and trying to push the man off when he rudely starts to touch and squeeze her breasts, thighs, and buttocks.       “No, Julian, no, NO!” Anna tries to resist so hard. “A-A-A! STOP!”       “SHUT UP, BITCH!” Julian roars, getting his hands underneath Anna’s turtleneck, running them over her naked belly, and not caring that she shakes strongly from fear and coldness of the dry, male hands. “I shall make you spread your legs! I WILL!”       “LET ME GO! LET GO! NO! JULIAN! LET ME GO! PLEASE! LET ME-M-M-M!”       Julian sharply makes Anna fall into silence with a rude, assertive kiss on the lips that makes her feel a stronger fear and disgust. The girl, who can only whine something, feels so little and helpless next to this man, who treats her like she has belonged to him for ages. And she is ready to cry bitterly because she understands she cannot fight and protect herself.       “Julian p-p-please…” Anna begs with despair in a strongly shaking voice, while Julian leaves kisses on the curve of her neck with his rough lips and keeps running his cold hands over the curves of her waist and her belly underneath the turtleneck. “Don’t do this… Let me go… Please…”       “I was waiting for this moment for so long,” Julian pronounces with a wide, sly smile, breathing in the smell of Anna’s skin deeply. “I dreamed of the day it would happen…”       “I don’t want, I don’t…” Anna slightly beats Julian on his arms and makes a quiet sob. “No…”       “You better stop resisting.” Julian tightly grabs Anna by the throat and sets his cold look into her widely open, puffy from tears eyes. “Or you, scumbag, will regret it.”       Julian kisses Anna on the lips by force again, not paying attention to her resistance and quiet moans and wishing to start to take her clothes off. But at some moment, the girl magically gets out of the strong grip of the man, pushes him off, and starts running where her eyes look.       “WHERE, BITCH?” Julian gets much more furious, clenching his hands into fists tightly. “STOP! WHO I AM TELLING, YOU, BRAINLESS CHICKEN! STOP!”       Julian growls irritably, puts on his coat hanging on the fence of the bridge, and runs after Anna immediately.       “COME HERE, UGLY!” Julian roars at the top of his lungs. “ARE YOU STUPID OR DEAF? STOP, THE FUCK!”       A few seconds later, Julian manages to catch Anna and throw her on the ground as rudely as possible. That’s why she screams at the top of her lungs with horror in her eyes, starting to panic as if an aggressive animal is about to tear her apart.       “SCUMBAG!” Julian screams at the top of his lungs. “YOU THOUGHT YOU WOULD RUN AWAY! YOU DID NOT!”       Roaring loudly, Julian hits Anna with his foot, getting right into her chest and making her scream from a strong pain and double over.       “IT’S TIME TO END THIS!” Julian says rudely and hits Anna in the abdomen.       “STOP!” Anna screams loudly, wincing strongly from pain. “I FEEL PAIN! STOP!”       “DIE, MOTHERFUCKER, DIE!”       Julian gives Anna a few hits with a leg, getting into different parts of her body, while she is crying bitterly and screaming heartbreakingly.       “I feel pain…” Anna pronounces with tears in a shaking voice. “Stop… Please…”       “BUT I DO LOVE SEEING YOU SUFFER FROM PAIN!” Julian roars with both hands clenched into fists. “SEEING YOU UNPROTECTED! YOU WERE LIVING A CARELESS LIFE FOR TOO LONG! NOW IT IS TIME TO FACE THE REALITY!”       With bloodshot eyes, Julian hits Anna in the face with a fist so that a little flow of blood gets out of her nose.       “I didn’t deserve it…” Anna says with despair and sniffs quietly. “I didn’t deserve…”       “IF YOU CANNOT DO WHAT YOU ARE TOLD, GIVE YOUR LIFE FOR IT!” Julian roars loudly and gives Anna another slap in the face. “YOU ARE DEAD, UGLY! I CURSE YOU! DIE! BURN IN HELL!”       Julian feels a special pleasure from beating Anna with both hands and feet for a long time. And her pleas and tears make the man much more enraged and give her much more cruel hits.       “Oh, God, give me help,” Anna begs silently with tears in her eyes and bites her lips strongly not to lose her voice from shouts that want to get out. “May anyone help me… Even Daniel… I don’t care! I just want to stop experiencing this hell. I feel so bad… I won't bear it…”       Meanwhile, Julian grabs Anna by the collar and strongly hits her head against the ground two times. That’s why she feels a strong dizziness and headache, while literally her whole face is covered with bright red blood.       “You asked for trouble, bitch!” Julian hisses through his teeth, pushes Anna off himself sharply, and gives her a hit on every cheek. “ASKED!”       By this moment, Anna has no strength to resist what Julian is doing to her and does not try to get up and run, silently letting him mock her in any way. Even when she understands that the man gets her turtleneck up and literally tears it apart because of the wish to run his hands over her naked belly covered with bruises, she does not resist and just cries non-stop. By the way, she has many bruises on her stomach.       “Alright, I do not want to deal with you here,” Julian throws rudely and presses Anna’s face to the ground. “We should change the location and go where nobody would find you. And then I will show you where you belong.”       “W-where?” Anna tries to ask in a quiet, shaking voice and sniffs quietly. “W-where do you wanna take me?”       “CLOSE YOUR MOUTH, BITCH!” Julian hits Anna in her stomach with his knee, making her scream loudly. “A WOMAN MUST NOT ASK QUESTIONS! SHE MUST DO WHAT SHE IS TOLD!”       Anna says nothing and just makes a heartbreaking sob, losing any hope of salvation and protection.       “GET UP, MOTHERFUCKER!” Julian roars, getting up sharply, makes Anna get up rudely, and pulls her after him. “GO! GO, I SAY!”       Anna does not resist Julian taking her somewhere against her wish, being barely able to walk due to the burning pain in every muscle of her body. A few moments later, the man brings the crying girl to his car, unlocks it with a key, opens the back door, and pushes the girl into the salon.       “IN THE CAR, BITCH!” Julian demands very loudly. “GET IN THE CAR, I SAID!”       Anna lies in the backseat with wet, puffy eyes, hides her face in her arms, and starts to cry much more bitterly, looking very white and exhausted and shaking at the thought that Julian may do something terrible to her if nobody stops him.       “STOP THE FUCK CRYING!” Julian roars hysterically. “IF YOU DO NOT STOP HYSTERIA, I WILL KILL YOU EARLIER! I WILL NOT TOLERATE YOUR TRICKS, FUCKING UGLY GAL!”       Julian sharply slams the door of the backseat, gets into the car, starts the motor, and presses the gas pedal as strongly as possible. Then the automobile goes on the road with an unpleasant, loud squeak and drives to the place that he needs at a high speed, leaving some slow drivers behind.