Apollo's 11

by Anna Collins

  I started to tug on my hair in frustration. I even made a fake relationship with Freya just to prove him that I was worthy enough to run his company. But what went wrong? He seemed very pleased with me the last time I had seen him.

  I leaned my head against the wall, I can't lose it, I said to myself, I am not a loser. The reflection on the sliding glass window frame reflected my glassy pair of eyes that was filled with determination and maybe a bit of sadness.

  The intercom buzzed, breaking my intrusion with my alter ego "What is it?" I snapped.

  "Sir, Freya Lawrence is here, she wants to see you. I tried to avoid her, but she says that it's something important" informed Riley from the reception desk.

  Freya? What the hell was she doing here? I hope she didn't get any ideas in her head about our steamy night at Wyatt's farmhouse. That was really hot, but it was a one-time thing. I needed to clear it out to her "send her in" I demanded.

  Running my hand over my unruly brown hair, come on Robert act cool, I said to myself.

  "Can I come in?" that followed by a knock on the door.

  "Yes," I answered.

  Pushing the brown door, Freya Lawrence entered into my office, she was wearing a pink colored jumpsuit, which really complimented her skin color. Her long black hair was gathered in a low ponytail. Her cheeks looked flushed and the way she was licking her lower lip was making it almost impossible for me to just sit and watch her. A part of me wanted to dominate her tiny frame and take her right there on my office table.

  The idea of having her full bosom pressed against my torso was waking up my man part. I was actually hearing her sweet sounds of moaning. It wasn’t like she used to wear very revealing clothes on the contrary, her body language and clothes were always very conservative. Then why was I not able to control myself the other night? It seemed like a trance of need had overtaken my senses. My actions were all involuntary and that's the reason I was regretting them now. Freya wasn’t the one-night stand type of girl, nor was I that kind of guy; then what happened? We don't even like each other. She hated me and I..somehowcouldn’t stand her.

  Gulping down my thoughts I shifted my attention to the bowl of natural sweetness that was standing across my table. She was staring at her feet. She looked a bit shaky, not in the actual I-am-ready -to-fight-you-attitude, that I liked.

  "Are you just going to stare at my expensive wooden flooring like that and waste my time?" I asked with my pricy, proud tone.

  She immediately looked at me, her eyes were squinted, the kind of look she made when she was annoyed. Yes, that's what I was talking about, nervousness didn't suit you, babe, you look hot when you are mad at me.

  "I don't have the free time to stare at anything that has your name associated with it. Here, take the papers and the key of the apartment and I also don't want to take my job back as a piece of offering from you, so feel free to tell Kent that I don't want the job with the recommendation of a monster like you. I am capable enough to earn it" She said without a pause in a high pitched voice and I kept looking at the burning rage in her eyes. Her eyes told me that she hated me more than ever!

  I smirked, got up from my chair and while walking to her I said "cool down, little girl and about that piece of offering that you are speaking about..." I paused on reaching next to her and taking my time to stare at her sweetness "Robert Hudson is not generous enough to offer something to someone for free, you worked for me it's a payment term that we agreed upon" I spoke.

  Freya took a few steps backward, indicating that the closeness was too much for her. Well, not something new to me.

  "Umm...I know, but...it just doesn't feel right" she stammered looking away from me.

  Oh, now I got it, it was hurting her self-respect as she slept with me. God! Her thoughts were so tangled. I shook my head and closed the distance between us.

  Tracing the shape of her cheek with my finger, I bent down to speak in her ear "sweetheart, then take it as a gift for spending the night with me".

  Freya jerked my hand from her face and pushed me away with her both hands.

  Her eyes reflected some hint of pain, but it got overshadowed by the burning anger "I was so wrong about you, you don't have any softness in you. You are a dirty and disgusting person. Are you trying to say that I'm a whore? " She stomped.

  I laughed, rubbing my chin and that made her angrier.

  She struggled with her white handbag to take out a file and key.

  Then she took a deep breath "you know what, this is my piece of offering to you for sleeping with me. Now think what you are!" she spoke rudely. Then kept that file and the key in my hand and stormed out. It was the documents and keys of the apartment that I had given her.

  My first instinct was to be angry at her for misbehaving with me, but instead, I burst into laughter by seeing her audacity. That little girl had it in her to pay me for sleeping with her. She treated me like a hooker!

  Chapter Fourteen

  Freya

  "He is a nightmare, wrapped in a catastrophe and covered in sexyness. I get it, are you done now? Seriously girl, we have met after so long and instead of celebrating your new job you are complaining about that Hudson guy and the funny thing is that he is not even your boyfriend with whom you had a dramatic break-up" Danny made a face at me while sipping his bottle of beer.

  He was my college friend, it was a co-incidence when I met him at a job interview and now we were working for the same company. Yes, I had finally managed to get a job as a copywriter. Well, not exactly what I had dreamed about, but the salary was good. So I put my dreams of becoming a celebrity journalist at rest, but only for the moment. This job was only for the time being when the situations would cool down a bit I would apply for a job to be a Tv reporter. I know it was a tough time, but I would wait for my golden chance.

  Though I and Danny studied in the same college, we were in different departments he was studying Marketing and I was continuing my love affair with journalism. Well, he hadn't changed a lot since then, he was still the young good looking fellow with a white skin and blonde hair, God! I could still remember how the girls used to fight for him. And he was a total player. Maybe that was the reason I never asked him out in spite of having a little bit of a crush on him. I was so silly, I even used to count up our height difference, he was 5'9 and I used to think that we would make a nice couple. But I know why he only used to see me as a friend, I used to be very chubby back then.

  Danny's light green eyes sparkled at me as he waved his hand in front of my sad face.

  "Aww look at you, you are so cute, Freya you just need to forget about him and relax" he wrapped his arm around my shoulder.

  "Jeez! Freya you have changed so much, you used to be so fun back in college" Danny made a you-are-so-lame face at me, removing his hand from my shoulder.

  "You just didn’t say that, I am super fun to be around, everyone loves me," I said while gulping down my glass of cocktail.

  Danny rubbed his clean-shaven cheek and his expression told me that he wasn’t buying my words "I should have gone out with my gym buddies" he stated.

  "What? You can't take me for granted, I can do anything that those hot muscular guys can do, okay...except for taking my shirt off, that will be too much" I bit my lip.

  He looked at me with a challenge in his eyes and scooted closer to me "oh really, this big girl can do anything?... then what about playing shot and score?"

  "Yes, I can do that; umm wait...what is that?" I bit my lip in hesitation.

  "Haha Gotcha! you are not so cool as you claim to be, Miss little Bo beep" he smirked.

  I hit him on his chest, "I'm not a Bo peep, and I am going to prove that to you, lets play shot and ...whatever that is called" I raised my head.

  He laughed mischievously "okay, here is the thing. As you can see we are in a pub and are surrounded by hot singles. So I will pick one guy for you and you will pick a girl for me. Then we will take a vodka shot and will score on that person, let me dumb it up f
or you I mean make out with that person" he winked.

  "Are you kidding me? that's your idea of fun? making out with random strangers?" I rolled my eyes at him.

  He squinted his eyes at me "Ah! just tell me you can't do it loser. You can't make any stranger fall for you" and he made that L sign on his forehead with his fingers.

  "I didn't say that..." I took a pause and gulped down a vodka shot.

  "Hey, Frey take it slow, aren't you drinking too much?" Danny said while snatching away the shot but it was of no use I had already drunk it.

  "Uhuuu! let's play shot and score" I winked.

  Danny swallowed "okay, cheers then".

  We scanned the bar to find out the proper match for each other. Damn! The vodka shot was too strong for me, I was already getting a blurred vision. But I couldn't tell that to Danny, I needed to prove that I was the fun stuff.

  "Okay, let me see, let me see, hmm okay that tall guy, black shirt, blue jeans, brown hair...hmm seems like quite a stud I pick him for you" Danny pinched me.

  I gazed at that guy, but only could see his back and his back as he was turning around and talking to someone. Oh God! What was I really doing? Planning to make out with a stranger? only to show how cool I am? but I can't let that stupid Danny win. Oh, I got it, I would pick a hotty for him and he would surely win her over with his sexy looks and witty charm. He would not even notice when I would sneak out of the bar. And the next day I would tell him that I had a sleepover with that black shirt guy. Way to go Freya! I patted my shoulder.

  "....And that's how it will end...wait...why are you smiling? are you even listening to me?" Danny shook me.

  "Ya, ya totally. Game on Bro!" we hi-fived.

  "Now, game on! Chose a girl for me" he demanded.

  "Oh, I forgot," I said and looked around, Arghhh! None of the girls seemed hot enough to match my hot blond friend with six pack abs and the ones who seemed a bit okay types were already taken.

  Damn! Whom should I pick, whom should I pick. Then I saw a hot girl in peach colored mini-skirt hmm she would be nice. Crap! It was Emily! Well, Danny could try his hands on her, she and Robert weren't actually dating, or were they? Whatever, why would I care?

  "Danny, I pick that girl in a peach colored skirt" I pointed. Yes, I was mean.

  "Cool Freya! She seems hot. Thanks, Girly" he hugged me happily.

  Well someone was surely going to turn red hot with anger. Take it Robert Hudson! yay me!

  "No! Oh Hell No, this is the reason you called me back from my date? Do you even know how much effort I had to put in to impress that Italian beauty?" Rick complained.

  "I know I'm selfish wait …Italian beauty? I thought you were dating Kate" I asked , shockingly.

  "Huh! Learn to catch up sissy, Kate and I are old story actually it was more of a one-time thing like you and Robert" he winked.

  "Shut up! I don't know why I told you about that in the 1st place" I frowned at my own stupidity.

  "Ahh its, not a big deal, everyone makes mistakes and I have to admit he is kind of hot just look at him move" he pointed.

  "Freaking Hell! What is the monster doing here?" I covered my face with my hands in panic.

  "What? You did n't know he was here? I thought we were going to do something with him, like teaching a lesson. Damn, I thought it would be fun than that boring date. I hopped in here for nothing?" he frowned.

  "Hey, I don't always call you for Hudson related things" Rick rolled his eyes at me, I looked down, "okay, maybe I do but my dear friend you have not missed the fun. I asked Danny to shot and score Emily and later she would stood upRobert or even better, this could also turn down the Wyat's deal" my voice was beaming with excitement.

  "Confusion…Robert is sexy as hell and he is super rich, then why would Emily leave him for that muscle shop Danny?" Rick crooked his forehead.

  "That's a good point, but nothing that I can break. Look Robert has everything but Danny will do something to Emily that Robert won't he will sleep with her and Mr.Hudson is a bit reluctant to sleep with Emily" I winked

  Rick rubbed his hand on his faded jeans as we sat on the counter chairs in the bar keeping our eyes fixed at Emily and Danny who were sitting at a table which was almost 2 feet away from us. And Robert was sitting at the far corner of the bar with his scotch, but most of the time he was busy with his phone. Why did he even come here if he had to keep his eyes fixed on his phone? No wonder Emily was sitting with Danny. Best plan ever!

  "Worst plan ever, look Emily is walking away, Danny couldn'timpress her" Rick whispered, breaking my bubble of cheerfulness.

  "Noooo! My plan flopped, that idiot Danny is all talks and no charm" I stomped my feet.

  "What else can we do? Let's go home" Rick suggested.

  "No way! Not going to lose this time" I clenched my fists .

  Danny joined us at the liquor station of the bar, he had disappointment written all over his face "Damn it Freya, I was this close to winning the game, Emily was totally flirting with me, but the problem is that she has a boyfriend" Danny said in a voice filled with frustration.

  "Oh, the great womanizer Danny can't even snatch a girlfriend! And you call yourself ‘I'm the dude' huh" Rick mocked, laughing and threw a hi-five at me.

  "shut up! This is not a hi five moment, Danny you are useless" I growled.

  "oh really, at least I got the girl flirting with me, you don't even have it in you to approach the guy" he exclaimed, making the you-are-so-useless face at me.

  "Ahh, I can totally make any guy fall for me" I pouted splatting my eyebrows.

  "Ya….totally" Rick added nervously and got an angry glare from me in return.

  Danny laughed "great then go ahead and try on that guy."

  "By the way, who's the guy?" Rick and I asked in unison.

  Danny pointed towards the guy in black shirt "him"

  After gazing him silently for a few brief seconds, "Oh shucks! He's the monster himself" Rick panicked.

  O-M-G! It was him, standing right in the lounge, talking to someone on his cell phone. He was wearing a black shirt which tightened across his expanded chest and the way he was running his hands through his properly settled hair was making him look like a Greek God. That's when I realized that God was so unfair, how could He make someone so gorgeous and yet fill so many bad things in him? I swallowed "umm…can't we go with another guy" shit! I was totally drowned. Stupid game, stupid Danny! Why did I agree to play it in the 1st place?

  "Hey, no exchange offer. Play it or accept your defeat" he said meanly.

  I gritted my teeth "what defeat? You couldn’t make out with Emily either" I pounced.

  Danny took few steps backward "oww oww relax what's with the angry tigress thingy. I'm almost scared" he looked away.

  "Hey if we see in that way, Danny won the game, Emily at least showed some interest in him" Rick calculated.

  In return, Rick got a kick on his leg from me, combined with an I-am-going-to-kill-you-look from me.

  "You are right bro, Freya, your anger can't make you win" he shrugged, fixing the creases on his blazer.

  "I'm not a loser okay, and He is not a big deal" I pouted.

  "You said not to let you go to him under any circumstances" Rick held back my arm, as I tried to walk.

  I turned and grabbed the collar of Rick's shirt, throwing him a bunch of angry glares. Danny leaned closer, his mouth was slightly ajar.

  Rick shook a bit and stammered "okay, ma..y be this is the circum…stance where I let you go."

  "What are you going to do?" Danny asked.

  "Something that the alcohol rising up in my head is asking me to do and something which I am so going to regret," I said while taking a deep breath.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Robert

  The melody of ‘one last night' by Vaults was floating in the air. Ya, most people found the melody soulful, me? Umm...no clue, I never listened to it properly.

  Looking around I realized, the pub wasn’t so bad after a
ll; correction only the area that I chose seemed a bit tolerable because it was away from the pathetic colorful disco lights, damn, I hated to see those animalistic dancing of the people who were happily dancing under it. Was that even a life? Loud music, lots of booze and random hook ups I guess that was the definition of happiness to them. At least they were free from all the care of the world.

  The lounge area was cool and dark; it was separated from the disco and the liquor counter by a thin transparent glass. I liked the blue hanging lights on the wall; they offered pleasant light while keeping the essence of the darkness intact. The black leather couches were comfortable and offered me a lot of room to scoot away from the ever disturbing Emily.

  Seriously, how could someone even tolerate her chirping voice? Oh right, I was doing it, but only to get my hands on Wyatt's business. I was glad that she bought my words, she believed that nothing was going on between me and Freya, thank Goodness.

  "It has been almost an hour since we got here and all you are doing is staring at your phone. You didn't even notice that the muscular guy around the corner has asked me out. Seriously Robert, now I am beginning to think like you are texting your girlfriend" Emily whined in her fake seductive voice. Jeez! My head was paining by hearing her useless rumblings. But thank goodness for her brainlessness otherwise she would have found out that I had zero interest in coming here with her.

  I was doing my favorite thing, getting myself busy with work.

  Again I was back to square one. Again I had no choice but to roam around with this bimbo, half naked daughter of Mr. Wyatt. And I wasn’t even sure if roaming around with her would get me the deal, but a part of me wasn’t ready to lose this bit of 'straw'.

  And there I was wasting my Saturday night in a pathetic bar with a clingy girl. Damn, I so wished I could escape it because I was in no mood to sleep with Wyatt's daughter wasn't it enough that Freya had already thrown the word 'hooker' on my face? And now when I was moving around with Emily I was actually feeling that I might be on the way to becoming one. Crap! that girl had the capacity to invade my thoughts.