Chapter 3 - Playing the Game

Kiara desperately wanted to go upstairs, but she knew that it was wrong. With every passing second, the voice inside her head telling her to follow Laurie upstairs became louder and louder, until she finally whispered - 

“Yes”.

Laurie led the way and Kiara stumbled along behind him. Kiara suddenly felt extremely intoxicated and an unstoppable urge to throw up began to surge from her stomach. She was about to make a run for the bathroom when she heard Laurie yell -

“What the fuck?”

Brianna was caught redhanded in bed with another man. When she saw us, she screamed, “What are you doing up here?” 

“We were looking for you, it’s your fucking party,” Laurie lied. “But I can see that you’re busy, so we’ll just move along.” 

Before anyone could say anything else, Kiara vomited all over Brianna’s bedroom floor. 

“Everyone, GET THE HELL OUT!” Brianna screeched from the top of her lungs. 

—-- the next morning -—-

Kiara woke up with a pounding headache and her mouth felt as dry as the Sahara desert. She vaguely recalled Jasmine tossing her in a car to get home, but cringed when she remembered what had happened before then. She was mortified that she knowingly agreed to hook up with Laurie despite his relationship with Brianna. If she and Laurie had gone upstairs any earlier, the situation would have been in the reverse with Brianna walking in on them. Kiara shuddered at the thought - three days in San Myshuno and what had she become?   

Kiara was beginning to drift off back to sleep when she heard a knock at her door. In a groggy voice she croaked out, “come in”, assuming it was Jasmine. 

“Good morning sleepyhead,” said a man’s voice. 

Kiara bolted up out of bed to find Laurie standing in her room. “What the hell are you doing here?”

“I just came by to take you out for breakfast.”

“What? No, no breakfast, I‘m still half asleep.”

“Just get changed, I’ll be waiting for you downstairs.” And with that, Laurie was gone. 

Kiara grabbed the first jumper she could find and tied her hair up in a bun, muttering angrily to herself in the process. She rushed down to meet Laurie with last night’s makeup smeared all over her eyes. He had a car waiting for them. Kiara got in begrudgingly, wondering if Laurie always got his way.

They arrived at a cafe on the outskirts of the city. “Order anything you like,” Laurie said.

“I’m not hungry,” Kiara said childishly.

“Well, suit yourself,” said Laurie as he proceeded to order half of the items on the menu.

“Look, I shouldn’t have agreed to go upstairs with you last night. I don’t want to blame it on the alcohol but I sure as hell wouldn’t have done that if I was sober,” Kiara said sternly.

“No, I shouldn’t have asked you in the first place and I’m sorry about what happened. As you can tell, Bri and I aren’t in a good place.”

“Then why are you together?” Kiara asked, in a forceful tone.

Laurie sighed. “It’s a long story... Basically, my parents have been forcing us to get together. Kerr Industries has been tied up in a big legal battle for years and my parents think that if I marry Bri and our families become linked, her firm will do anything to protect us...”

“Marry her? Did you witness what happened last night?” Kiara laughed in disbelief. 

“Yeah well, Bri and I haven’t been much of a couple for a long time. It was great in the beginning, but we soon found out that we’re not very compatible... But if I permanently end things with her, my parents are going to give my spot at Kerr Industries to my cousin Eric.” 

“I get that a spot at the big boys’ table might be important, but is it worth being in this fucked up relationship with Brianna?”

“It’s more complicated than that... I probably shouldn’t be telling you this, but no other firm in the city is going to take Kerr Industries because everyone thinks we’ve done something shady. Brianna’s father only took us on because of my relationship with his daughter, and if we break up now, Brianna’s firm is going to drop us and Kerr Industries will be ruined.”

“So did your company do something bad...?”

Laurie paused for a long time. “No! I mean, I don’t know the details. But you just have to promise me and not say a word of what happened last night to anyone, okay?” 

“What? You mean you’re going to pretend like nothing happened?” 

“My hands are tied, Kiara. I just need you to play the game for a little while, alright?” 

What have I walked into, Kiara thought. If she was going to play the game, then she needed a little incentive for herself. 

“I’ll keep your little secret, Laurie,” Kiara began with a mischievous look on her face. “But you have to do something for me.” 

“Go on...”

“Get me a job at Kerr Industries.” 

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