Chapter 20

Author’s Note: You may have seen that yesterday’s chapter (19) was a repeat of Chapter 18. If you didn’t notice the End Note, Chapter 18 was the one that was incorrectly posted, and has since been updated with the correct chapter. Check it out if you missed it.

“ ... and she should leave the building before they decide to arrest her too,” Mayu translated as Mrs. Gallardo’s lawyer spoke quickly from Mayu’s phone in clipped Tagalog.

We were en route to Tala’s apartment, but it was a ways away and I was making sure Mayu wouldn’t do anything to call the cops’ attention, as much as I also wished she could drive faster.

“Tala, did you hear that?” I asked. I had stayed on the line with her since she called. It hadn’t been going well. Her brother had been arrested for drug possession, and that, it seemed, was very, very bad.

“Yeah...” Tala sobbed, still distraught. “Yeah, I’m ... I’m leaving. Going to the bus stop ... It’s a bit further down the street from the apartment...”

“Okay,” I said. “We’ll pick you up there.”

“You shouldn’t be seen there at all, Edward,” Mayu said. “That’ll only make things worse. The police are jumpy around foreigners, especially when it comes to drug stuff.”

“Maybe we should pick her up farther away?” I asked.

“Probably.” Mayu nodded. “The lawyer’s saying that—”

“No!” Tala screamed.

A man’s voice, muffled, came from the phone. Tala screamed again. The phone was dropped, making the telltale sound of rustle and clatter as it fell to the ground.

“Tala?! Tala, are you okay? Tala!”

Their voices continued, but even Tala’s screams became quieter until nothing could be heard.

“Turn off the phone,” Mayu said quickly. “We don’t want them to know you heard any of that.”

I swore, cutting the connection. Mayu pulled over, then punched the wheel with both hands. The lawyer was asking what happened, and Mayu started explaining the new situation to him. He sighed but said he was headed to the station already and promised she wouldn’t see the inside of a jail cell.

“So, what? We just wait?” I asked even as I tried to crush my phone with my bare hands in anger. “Isn’t there anything else we can do?”

“Yeah...” Mayu said, leaning back against her seat. “Mrs. R’s lawyer is probably as important as she is. He’s doing this as a favor to her personally, so he’ll get them out.”

“He better, for what I’m paying him,” I grumbled. “Fuck!” I brought a fist down onto the dashboard hard, damaging myself more than the car. “Fuck.”

Mayu frowned, then quirked her mouth. She took the wheel again and turned the car back on.

“Where to?” I asked.

“Can’t street park here,” she explained. “I need to find a real spot.”

I grunted and returned to my worried musings. Eventually, the car stopped again, and Mayu activated the electric window-tint, blocking sight from outside the vehicle. Confused, I glanced at the driver’s seat to find her taking off her seatbelt and halfway to climbing on top of me.

“Mayu,” I growled. “Now’s not the time.”

“Now’s exactly the time,” she said, stubbornly releasing my own seatbelt and successfully climbing onto my lap. “You’re not at a hundred percent. You’re stressed and angry. Tala needs you at your best, so take it out on me.”

Her short skirt had hiked itself all the way up by itself as she spread her legs around my lap, revealing her lacy black panties which she rubbed against my crotch. Her top was a thin blouse, and as ever she wasn’t wearing a bra.