Pampered Like A Princess

Nelissa was late for her appointment with Penelope.

Not wanting her to know the true reason behind her tardiness, Nelissa lied that she was held up by traffic, when in fact, Edward had tried to bring her home.

After all, Edward was Penelope’s uncle and such information would only entail more complications.

A short while later, the entrée came.ConTEent bel0ngs to Nôv(e)lD/rama(.)Org .

It had been years since they met. They chatted about their schooling days, immersing themselves in nostalgia.

Back then, Nelissa had gone into a month of hiding overseas before returning for high school. She had no friends, and because of the trauma Sean left her with, she had little trust in men.

If it weren’t for Penelope, she would have been bullied through high school.

Even though Zayden could protect her outside, school was out of his reach. Being the class belle, Penelope was envied by her classmates.

Once, her classmates hired some goons to harass them. Penelope asked Nelissa to hide and find someone to save them.

Nelissa was stumped, for she did not know many people. Zayden was the only one she could think of, so she immediately gave him a call.

She started crying once the phone was connected, fear washing over her.

She hid herself behind the door, thinking that she would be doomed if she was captured again.

Eventually, Zayden came. Penelope’s clothes were almost torn to shreds, so Zayden quickly covered her up with his jacket.

Penelope was shivering in fear, traumatized.

“Who are you?” she whispered.

In his search for Nelissa, Penelope’s question was lost on him.

Finally, he pried the broken door open and found Nelissa inside, already a crying mess.

Her face was tainted with dirt, and Zayden wiped the dust away from the tip of her nose. “Nelissa.”

Nelissa immediately leapt into his embrace. “I’m scared, Zay.”

Penelope noticed their affection, and she smiled. “Who is this, Nelly?”

Nelissa stammered. How should she introduce him? Her bodyguard? Or her mother’s assistant? But….

However, Zayden had already blurted out, “I’m her boyfriend, Zayden.”

Nelissa froze, and her heart started racing. She huddled closer to him, but she neither admitted nor denied it. Her silence was a tacit agreement to the start of their relationship.

Penelope smiled. “You guys look good together.”

Nelissa fell into a trance, reminiscing the good old memories.

Penelope lamented, snapping Nelissa back to reality, “We promised that we’d get into the same university, and I’d be your bridesmaid when you and Zayden get married. But you disappeared for five years, and everything changed.”

Nelissa looked at her glass of water, her eyes turning misty.

“Yeah. All the promises went down the drain, didn’t they?”

Penelope put her cutlery down and paid the bill. “Shall we get some soda? The night is still young after all.”

Penelope had her own issues and Nelissa wanted to vent her frustration too, so now they decided to visit one of the most popular soda bars in town.

The ladies arrived in Dusk Soda Bar shortly after. Nelissa took a few sips from her glass as she watched the captivating magic performance on the stage.

Penelope sipped on her drink.

“Hey Nelly, were you the one Susan apologized to yesterday? Did you and Uncle Edward…”

She downed her drink and let the sentence hang.

Nelissa held her glass tightly in an attempt to hide her guilt.

“Yeah, it is, but I didn’t do anything with your uncle. We’re partners in business, that’s all.”

Penelope waved her down. “Of course, of course. It’s all that b*tch’s ploy. She just wants to have Uncle Edward and Zayden all to herself while she continues flirting with other guys. Most popular woman in the city? My foot. Sluttiest woman more like.

Nelissa heaved a sigh of relief. She didn’t mind listening to it so long as she was in the clear.

“Her plan is not going to work. Uncle Edward likes someone else, so he won’t fall for her.”

Penelope toasted Nelissa and downed her soda again. Nelissa finished hers too.

“Who’s the lady?”

“Anna Bailey,” replied Penelope.

Nelissa could feel her hair rise.

“She’s the most beloved daughter of the Bailey Family and she used to be close to my uncle. Her brother is best friends with Uncle Edward, so you’d always see them together. Anna and Uncle Edward eventually got engaged, but then she disappeared. Otherwise, Uncle Edward would have married her by now instead of dating Sophie.”

Edward had yet to propose to Sophie after so many years, so Penelope thought that he was still hung up on Anna. Perhaps, Sophie was just a rebound.

Nelissa took a deep breath. “How did Anna go missing?”

“Someone took her away,” Penelope seldom talked about this, but Nelissa was her good friend, so she didn’t mind.

“We thought she was kidnapped, but things started to seem off after a while. We don’t even know if Anna’s alive right now. We have been searching for her and the guy who took her away. I swear we’ll chuck him into jail and force him to confess once we catch him, and we’ll torture him to death after!”

He’d be crippled once he gets thrown into jail. Penelope did not have to worry about him getting tortured at all.

Nelissa downed her soda to calm herself down.

She knew in her heart that it was Anna who wanted to run away. She was not going to be blamed for this, would she?

Nelissa was frustrated, but she stayed with Penelope in the bar until midnight. Eventually, Penelope got tired and fell asleep.

“Penelope? Wake up, Penelope.”

Nelissa nudged her, but she didn’t budge. She didn’t have the strength to take Penelope home. Hence, she gave Jolene a call to ask her to send them home.

The lighting wasn’t great in the bar, so she squinted at her phone and made the call a few moments later.

Edward tossed and turned in an attempt to ignore his phone’s ringtone, but the caller was persistent. He picked up the call begrudgingly, mentally cursing the annoying caller.

Nelly?

He sat up and closed his eyes for a moment. His hair was unkempt, his face pasty.

Back at the soda bar, Nelissa murmured to the phone, “J-Jolene, I’m at the bar with my friend, and she fell asleep. I can’t take her home myself. Could you come and pick us up?”

“Listen closely and tell me, do I sound like Jolene?” Edward sounded annoyed.

“Ha-” Surprised, Nelissa burped before answering, “Hey, Edward.”

A moment of silence later, Edward grunted.

“Are you with Penelope? How much did you two drink?”

“I-I dunno.” Nelissa started seeing doubles.

“Quite a few, I guess? One, ten?” Edward knew she was getting high, so he asked her where he was.

Setting her location on his navigation system, Edward quickly changed and headed out.

“I’ll be right there, so stay where you are and wait for me.”

“Okay.” She then ended the call.

Edward looked at his phone in frustration.

How dare she hang up on him!

Nelissa wrapped her arms around herself and stared at the podium as she waited for Edward to arrive.

The dancers were starting to remove their clothes one by one, and the customers in the bar were grooving with them.

Nelissa rubbed her eyes in an attempt to see clearer, then a moment later, bouncers stood around their table, stopping anyone from getting near or hitting on them.

The bar’s manager came over quickly and blabbered a lot, but Nelissa didn’t even register a word.

She nodded at him so that he would leave, but the manager seemed indefatigable.

In truth, the manager was nervous. Penelope was one of the famous socialites in Haleston City, but Edward seemed particularly anxious about the other lady. He ought to keep a close eye on them.

When Edward arrived, the manager immediately gave him a warm welcome and blabbered some more to him.

“Shut the f*ck up! My God, you’re noisy!” Edward yelled.

Nelissa was nodding off on her pillow when she felt it being snatched away. Groggily, she looked up to see the culprit.

Edward cupped her chin and turned it from side to side. “You’re really robbing me of my sleep here.”

He helped her up to her feet and brought her into his embrace. She could feel his strong arms around her, and the musky, masculine scent coming from him. “Can you walk?”

Nelissa nodded groggily.

Edward then picked Penelope up. She was his niece; it would be inappropriate to have another man carry her.

After taking a few steps, he noticed the bar staff was looking nervous. Curious, he turned around.

Nelissa was struggling to walk straight. They wanted to help, but Edward’s presence stopped them from doing so.

“Come here, Nelly,” Edward called out to her gently, his attention solely on her.

He held her hand in his arm and told her softly, “Hold my hand and don’t let go, okay?”