Forbidden Romance

Chapter 8

Her hands started trembling as she thought something serious was about to unfold. She just grabbed that photo frame and turned. Her eyes widened in surprise to find that it was her picture with Rachel. When they both went on the ferry for the first time, Gloria caressed that photo with her fingers. Rachel was smiling in it, there was not a single photo of them where her younger sister was not smiling. Back then, everything was good, the smile. Her younger sister didn’t smile at the likes and views. Rachel never cared about her stupid photos, but everything changed when she moved to California. The tears fell from Gloria’s eyes and dropped on the photo.

"Why did you leave us?" Gloria talked to her picture. She was in deep pain, a pain she could not show to anyone else. She tugged that photo frame to her chest and started sobbing.

The entire road was empty and crickets in the bushes were singing their favorite song. The guard had just opened the gate and a fast, luxurious sports car entered through it. It just stopped at the gate as if it was going to burst inside the living room.

"Had a great time with you guys. See you soon. Keep the car for today." Noah stepped out of the car and waved at his noisy friends who had no other work than spending their parents' money. Noah was one of them.

In that silent midnight, he had just arrived from the club. The car took a reverse and started leaving. He was sunk in alcohol and lit his cigarette before getting in.

"Noah... See you tomorrow...” A young girl blew a kiss to him from the window and pulled the glass up.

“Yo sweetie...” Noah blew a kiss in return and stepped inside.

He was stubborn because he knew no one was going to stop him, no one cared when he came and went. Getting back at three in the night and waking up at twelve in the afternoon, that’s his routine. His aunt Jessica made him even more stubborn instead of taking care of him.

“Lalalala…” Singing the BREAK MY SOUL of Beyoncé, he was heading to the stairs. He was still carrying the club vibes with him. His legs paused when he heard a sobbing voice coming from the living room. He tapered his eyes and followed that sound. It was Gloria, she was crying inside the store room.

"Do you even know how much I missed you?"

Noah heard her speaking to herself. Just listening to her voice was enough to make him crazy. Gloria heard the sound of a car from the window. She quickly wiped away her tears, concealed all her belongings in her jacket, and emerged from the storage room. As soon as she stepped out, she saw Noah standing in front of her. She adjusted her glasses, stealing her eyes from him. Her face was nervous and wanted to escape soon.

"You are in the store room?" Noah asked her suspiciously. She was dumbfounded by his question. It’s the time when everyone in his house was sleeping except both of them, the entire living room was empty and silent. “Looked like you stole something. What’s in your hand?” He stared at her hand that she hid behind.

"Actually, I needed this!" She nodded her head and showed him the pink teddy bear.

“So you want me to believe that you went to the storeroom to get this teddy bear at midnight? Do you think I am a fool?” he got even more doubtful towards her.

"If I had to steal something, I would steal from Mom's room, not from the store room." Saying this, Gloria started to leave. Noah grabbed her hand and stopped her.

Noah's eyes darted over her eyes, it was red and sore after crying. He recalled the last two times he met her, whether it was in the hospital or inside the female washroom. Both times she looked the same. Red, glassy eyes.

"Don't cry like that...” He warned her that it sounded a little bit harsh. Gloria thought perhaps he was emotionally unavailable.

"Does it have anything to do with you?" She asked him because it didn’t look like he even cared about anyone.

"No I don’t care, but it makes me want to…" He pulled her chin up and took a deep breath. His voice was full of air. "Kiss you," Noah stated, and Gloria's eyes widened with shock. He slowly moved his face closer to her, so close that even a single push and their lips would tuck hers.

"I am that scumbag you never wanted to touch," Gloria smirked and pushed his hands away. “Don’t ever try to come in my way. I am not a plaything.” She walked back to the stairs and Noah kept staring at her leaving.

His heart raced and throbbed as if it would break the ribcage and push out of his chest. He couldn't help but wonder what made him so obsessed with her. Perhaps the way she annoyed him, he stared at the store room and was puzzled.

Gloria came to her room and closed the door. Every time he touched her, the butterflies weirdly danced in her stomach. Thinking her relation with him, it just sucks her. She thought it's better if she avoided him as much as she could. She took off her glasses and placed it on the table. She laid on the bed and waited for the next morning.

The sunrays peeked through the curtains and her eyes opened. It was her first day at college, and she wore white jeans and a light blue shirt after taking a bath.

The college was big and beautiful as she heard from Rachel's mouth. She was ready to visit that school, she even noted numbers that were in her slam book. The first number was Rachel's friend Sandy. She heard Rachel talking about her a few times. As her slam book mentioned, the girl was a bookworm, so Rachel entered the library to find her.

The library was her second favorite place where she could find solace, peace and everything. This place takes her to another world, an escape from reality. She was unaffected by the world's sorrow and happiness.

She roamed in the thriller romance section as it's the only thing her mind could grasp now. She grabbed the book TOO LATE by Colleen Hoover and sat on the corner chair. She had just started reading the book and someone had already placed a hand on her shoulder. She was startled and turned back.

A tall beautiful girl was standing behind her, wearing a blue tube top. She was holding a book to her chest. Her blond hair ran down to her back. Gloria adjusted her specs and tried to recall who the person was.

"Are you Rachel's sister?" She asked. It took no time to understand that it was Sandy, Rachel's friend.

"How could you guess that I am...?” Gloria hesitated. There was little difference between her and her sister. She took after her mother whereas Rachel took after her father. No one can ever guess that they both were sisters.

"Rachel showed me your picture," Sandy told her. Gloria nodded and hope built in her eyes as Sandy was quite close to Rachel.

They both went to the college campus to have a talk about it. Even Sandy was in a big shock after the death of her best friend.

"Her suicide was an unfortunate incident." Sandy was upset. “I wish I could help her, but whenever she was upset, she stopped coming to school.” Sandy told her. Everything about Rachel was confusing Gloria even more.

"Do you know anyone whom she loved before? I need to find the reason behind her suicide. I mean I want to know what made her take her life. She wasn’t like that." Gloria told her, even though it was difficult for her to say those things. The postmortem report had already arrived, and it was clear that Rachel had committed suicide.

"No, she never mentioned about anyone before, but I know a person who loved Rachel a lot." She said, Gloria's eyes widened with surprise. Someone who loved Rachel so much, if she had such someone around her, why would she take her life?

"I'll take you there to meet him. But I don’t think he will meet you." Sandy decided to help Gloria for the sake of Rachel.

After college was over, Sandy took Gloria to her home and they both wore a gym suit. They sat in the cab and arrived at the gym, not an ordinary gym but the city's famous unisex gym. Gloria was ready with her plan and she went to the men’s section.

As soon as she entered, Gloria found shirtless men performing their exercise. Everyone stared at her and Sandy as if they were ghosts.

"Is he not here? Should I ask the manager?" Sandy was puzzled when she was unable to find the person she was looking for. Gloria was just staring at the tanned bodies of men who were working hard to build their bodies.

She recalled the picture of Noah's body which she had just seen last morning. Even though he was a growing boy, his body was muscular. He used too much force even when he held her arm last night. A knot in her stomach started growing bigger. She felt so weird and turned back to leave, but she bumped into Noah, her stepbrother.

"You were staring at them? Aren't you?" His face was cold, his body was half naked, and he was sweating on his chest. The more she stared at him, the more he looked way sexier. She was regretting that kiss because it changed the way of looking at her stepbrother.

"Why are you here?" Noah looked around them. Most of the men in the gym paused and stared at them, even though Gloria was simple, she looked quite sexy.

His eyes darted over her chest, she was wearing gym clothes and her curves were clearly visible. Her deep cleavage and her shaped butts were grabbing the attention of those boys.

"Can't I join one?" Gloria went and sat on the dumbbell station. She was frustrated because she found Noah everywhere. Luckily, she wore that gym dress before coming there.

"Alright. Let me see how professional you are." Noah wrapped his hands and smirked at her.