Possessive Rich Bully

Chapter 14

Playlist - Here by Alessia Cara

Astoria

My phone dinged for the nth time. No wonder it was flooded with notifications. I was officially running late to board the flight for washington. I woke up in the morning to find my alarm hadn't rang on time and my grandma pounding on my bedroom door, telling me to get my ass up and running.

Shit.

On top of it all, I had missed the school provided bus that was the student accommodation to the airport. That was the time when I started receiving frantic text messages from Peter. I had assured him that I'll reach on time.

Guess, I was wrong. The check-in took time and I had officially missed the final boarding call to the flight. I fished my phone out and checked the messages.

They're doing the final boarding call. Where r u??

I had a talk with the authorities and they're willing to stall for ten minutes. Get here quick.

Where r u?

I am not going if you're not going.

Ms. Pissed off is threatening to deduct my marks if I act accommodative.

They're making me go.

Astoria...

Switching off the phone. This was not how it was supposed to go.

Deflated and annoyed with myself, I picked on my suitcase and dropped to the airport bench. I took off the bucket hat off my head, letting my damp brown hair fall down my back.

If I had done my packing the night before, I would've still made it to flight on time. My eyes welled up and there was nothing I could do other than ponder on tge things I could've, probably should've done.

One thing. I wanted this one thing for myself and my stupid self found a way to thwart my own plans. I took off my spectacles and dried my watering eyes.

This is the boarding call for Ms. Astoria Emerson for flight to Washington, DC. Please report to gate nine immediately. The doors to the aircraft are scheduled to close in fifteen minutes. I repeat, Ms. Astoria Emerson, please proceed to gate nine immediately.

My head snapped up at the mention of my name. What the... Was it possible that the boarding call was directed for a different Astoria, but what are the chances that she's travelling to Washington? I don't waste my time contemplating and strode to gate nine.

My eyes scanned for gate nine, when I couldn't find it, I asked one of the security personnel to guide me to the direction of gate nine. I rode in the buggy all the way to gate nine.

Once dropped off, I rushed to the gate only to come to a screeching halt. I came face to face with the person I was hellbent on avoiding. Axel Trent.

Tall, dark and handsome— those words were an understatement to describe him. He was flawless. He stood at 6'2, the thick mass of copper hair were styled in such a way that made him look more like a sophisticated aristocrat than a high school student, striking waves of ocean in his eyes, his perfectly sculpted nose and lips, and a jawline which was more sharp than a knife. On top of it, an athletic body and a personality that reeked of arrogance, he was a near perfect male.

The early hour of the morning didn't dampen an inch off him. He had worn a navy cashmere sweater with a designer overcoat and dark blue jeans.

He was flawless. And terrible.

It was the face, the persona that made girls fall for his charm. He came from money and that played out to be an important asset for him, because no one would've gotten away with the things he had done, if wasn't rich.

Rich boys with their daddies money were invincible.

For so long, I had always exempted Axel from the likes of the superficial rich boys. But, I was wrong to believe in him, that he was not like the others. In fact, he was worse. He had no remorse for using me to keep himself entertained, then breaking my heart once he got bored.

"What are you doing here?" I asked, my tone harsh.

He flexed his jaw. "I should ask the same to you," he snapped.

With an accusatory tone, I said,"This looks like your doing." I placed my hand on my hip and stared daggers at him. "I told you to stay away from me. Which part of the statement don't you get?"

He opened his mouth to bite back at me, but paused when a whiny voice called his name.

"Baby, they're making us fly coach. My daddy will have a word with the school authorities. This is so gross."

Jenna's voice drew both our attention. My face paled at the sound of her voice while Axel smirked at me. No doubt, the silent victory of power play did wonders to stroke his male ego.

"See," he pointed. "You give me way too much credit."

Axel stepped away from me once Jenna came to our view. I saw him visibly stiffened and rolled his eyes. His girlfriend wrapped her hands around his neck and peppered chaste kisses on his lips.

I averted my gaze away from them. It was one thing to hear and know about his relationships, and another to see him get all touchy with his girlfriend. Even though it was Jenna who had her paws all over him, still he didn't mind the attention she showered at him.

With an exasperated sigh, I tapped my foot, eager for them to end their nonsense. As much as I longed to be away from their presence, it seemed like they were also signed up for the Washington trip and had too missed their flight. If anything, they were my only help to understand what was going on.

"Astrid." The hint of taunt was evident in her voice. "You are... going on this trip?" She eyed me as if I was a nuisance to her.

I was not a stranger to the fact that she hated me and the only reason she chose to be my friend back in elementary school was to get close to Axel. Why did she have to be so rude when she had what she wanted?

Well, If she can be a b***h to me, then I can at least act to be a b***h.

I crossed my arms and gave her a once-over. "Uhm... I am sorry, but do I know you? You seem to know me."

A male figure behind us bursted out in fits of laughter, but was quick to cover it up with a cough when Jenna glared at him. The eavesdropper quickly scattered, suddenly worried for his life.

"You-"

"That's enough." A stern warning from Axel stopped her from spitting out venom.

Momentarily, I felt grateful that he intervened in what could have escalated to a potential cat fight, the feeling quickly left my body when I saw the scowl on his face. He looked visibly annoyed and all his annoyance was directed at him.

My face was pressed in confusion, when the realization dawned on me. He had warned me to back off. Not her, me. I couldn't believe his audacity to bloody demand anything from me.

I couldn't for a second stand under his presence. I broke off our eye contact and gathered my things. I could damn well find my own way.

Gate nine, right.

Who cared if I hadn't ever traveled alone in my life, or seen an airport before, or even understood the semantics of getting on a stupid car with wings that could fly? It's always a first for everything.

The terminal confused me, but I was on a deadline. The doors to the aircraft will close if I don't make it on time. My legs froze when I got near the walkway. I had a strange fear of getting on escalators, more like falling off them so I avoided using them. The walkway should be different, shouldn't it?

Before I could bunch up my nerves to move forward, suddenly a strong hand snaked around the duffel bag that contained my belongings, snatching it out of my hold. I hastily turned my head to come face to face with Axel.

He closed the gap between us and slid his free hand down my lower hips, lifting me up ever so gently. I was too stunned to speak. My heartbeat thundered as he stepped onto the walkway.

My legs dangled just above the surface. I was lifted up to his chest, our face on the same level. His impassive blues stared into mine. I felt conflicted, a number of emotions running through me. He frightened me to no extent, because I am numb to his hate, hated his indifference yet the thing that scared me the most when he showed the signs of the boy I had once fallen head over heels in love with.

It wasn't long after we had become friends when I first caved and told him that I was scared to use escalators because of my fear of falling off of it. He had laughed back then, but always made sure to hold my hand and ease up my nerves whenever we had to use escalators.

That was long ago.

Presently, we were not on speaking terms or even on the terms to be civil with each other. The little things that he did out of blue made my heart yearn for the boy he no longer was.

Not realizing that we were back on stable ground, I was put back on my feet. I opened my mouth to what, berate him for helping me? I wasn't so sure what I wanted to say.

His hand pulled the hair tie from my dampened hair and pushed my hair off my shoulders.

"You want to get sick?" His jaw flexed and his plum lips were set in a hard line. "Keep your hair down and let it dry." He stared at me for longer than what is deemed appropriate for a man with a girlfriend.

My eyes caught the sight of Jenna, strutting and looking for, undoubtedly, him.

"Go to your girlfriend and stay away from me." I took my duffel bag out of his grip. "And don't tell me how I should keep my head." To make a show of it, I tied back my hair.

I broke off the eye contact and walked away from him. I should've known I wouldn't get far, because I was pulled back.

"No thank you? That's ungrateful." He whispered in my ears from behind.

I jabbed my elbow at his side. "No one asked for your help." I shrugged my arm away and he let go.

I ignored the sound of my racing pulse and tried to remain calm. I sprinted the rest of the, finally made it to gate nine on time.

The boarding agent offered me a bright smile and asked to see my boarding pass. I showed it to her, she frowned and tapped on my pass.

"Ma'am, your flight has already taken off. You can't board this flight with this boarding pass."

"But, I had heard my name being called for this flight. Astoria Emerson."

She offered me a polite smile. "I'll have to check with the authorities. Give me a moment."

My palms started to sweat. God, I really wanted to go to Washington, but my chances were getting slim at every passing moment. I moved to the side, and stood there with my head down.

I didn't lift my head when I heard Jenna's grumble on travelling through coach rather than her usual business class. They both checked in and I was painfully aware of the fact that Jenna was going to be very thrilled to not see me on the trip.

"Sorry, Ms. Emerson, but it looks like you forgot to change your boarding pass so there's nothing we can do to get you on this flight."

I nodded, understanding. "That's fine." She handed the boarding pass back to me. I held the pass in my hand. I willed myself not to cry.

"But, I can get you rebooked on a different flight. It leaves in two hours."

Hope flared within me. "Please do it." I rubbed my sweaty palms together and placed them on my cheeks.

"Yes, please wait. I'll be back with your flight details."

I went to sit on the bench. Maybe, I could get myself on a possible flight. It was a blessing already. I'll thankfully miss all of Axel's PDA action. Wow, things were turning in my favour.

The gate closed and leaned back on the bench. Instead of watching the flight take off, I decided to go to a washroom trip. I spent plenty of time fixing my hair which was still very wet. Applying a little gloss on lips and a blush on my cheeks, I went back to the waiting area.

In my own world of thoughts, I marshal my thoughts. I frowned when goosebumps erupted on my skin.

"Why the f**k are you still here?" I came to a standstill, my heart skipped a beat when I saw a very pissed Axel with hands in pockets and eyes firmly rooted on me. "Did you know I had to leave my girlfriend in hysterics to see what had you so occupied?"

"Axel, what's wrong with you?"

"You." He didn't miss a beat. "You. It's f*****g you."

I spot the two boarding agents sprint towards Axel. I don't understand what he's looking to achieve by pulling off a stunt.

"Sir, you must get back to your seat."

Axel stayed rooted at his spot. He was crazy.

"Go back to the flight, Axel." I shook my head at him, my eyes welling up for the nth time, but for a different reason. "Don't make this all difficult for me."

"You'll be mine again. Mark my words.

***