🏁

serenity couldn’t imagine what he was going through, her parents had always supported her with what she wanted to do and never forced her into doing anything she didn’t want to. she was lucky in that sense. “you should because in the end you’ll just be burnt out and that’s not good for anyone, especially you.” she encourages with a light smile. “yeah, can’t say that about many people can you?” rising a brow at the other, a smile forms across her lips knowing that she can be pretty feisty if she needs to. 

Caine reached for his mobile phone and fished through his pockets until he felt it in his grasp. The dark-haired boy wrapped his hand around it and pulled it out of his jacket. He looked through his calendar and glanced towards Beth. “Is early next week good for you, or do I need to give him notice than that? Any Monday morning or afternoon is good for me. I can fit anyone in over the next few Mondays.”

“Can you be in the meeting, or is that not allowed?” Caine didn’t know Beth all that well but he trusted her at the moment. “I can get a letter sorted and all that information written down, but am I allowed someone else in the meeting, or does it have to be me, the one whose taking my money, and something to do with him? Am I allowed a witness?” He asked. He knew this was going to be hard work, but Caine wasn’t going to let someone work for him who was taking money off him. His parents did enough of that.

“everyone deserves a break… this is why people have mental health issues,” serenity mutters the last part more to herself, not wanting to offend the other. it was a sad thought, how his parents push him into working continuously. “i maybe tiny, but i could still beat your ass.” she says, tone teasing a slight smile appears across her lips. 

“he won’t even let you take a break?” she asks, with a shake of her head. it was selfish of his parents to force him to continue doing something he clearly lost interest at. moments like these she didn’t understand how parents don’t put their kids happiness first. “of course you’ll win at racing, you trained your whole life for it.” she playfully rolls her eyes, “i’m not that tiny. you’re just really tall.” 

The dark-haired boy glanced at the bar as he felt her hand rest against his shoulder. “How do I go about getting him out of my business? Am I allowed to fire him on the spot, or do I have to go a way around it to get him out by law?” Caine didn’t understand all the business side of his life. He left it in someone else’s hands, who had clearly wronged him.

“why don’t you take a break and do exactly that?” serenity inquires the other, eyebrow slightly rose in question. “so, no career paths, but just a break. i’m sure everyone would understand why you need a break after working so hard.” licking her lips, she rolls her eyes in a playful manner. “we can also slip and crash in the snow,” she pointed out, “but i have no doubt you’ll beat me at racing.” 

Caine looked at Beth’s and could see that she wasn’t lying. Caine hated that he was always around people who were constantly putting him down or using him for his hard earned money. If it wasn’t family, it was people he trusted with his life. “How can I not get into my head about it?” Caine asked. “That guy is like family to me..” He didn’t mean to get upset in front of Beth.

listening to him, a slight frown appears across her lips, letting out a small sigh as she shakes her head. “if you don’t love it like you used to, then is that what you really want to do?” she asks curiously, nibbling on her bottom lip, “i feel that you should do something that you want, not just because it pays well,” she counters. tilting her head to the side slightly, she laughs as they both got their little pity stuffed animal. “there has to be something that you can beat me at.” 

Caine watched as Beth placed her hand on top of his own and raised his eyebrows as she talked about when the two of them first met one another. He was shocked to hear the blonde admit that his lawyer had been laundering his money elsewhere. He couldn’t believe it. He didn’t want to believe it. He laughed, thinking she was fooling him around. “Your kidding right?” He laughed again. Not taking her seriously.

eyes flicker towards the other, listening to his words rising a brow slightly, hearing that his father been tough on him. “damn, don’t you get tired of it all sometimes though? if you’re winning all the time doesn’t it get boring?” she asks curiously. eyes flicker towards the taller man playing the game, seeing how it was handing by a thread. a small laughter falls from her lips as she nodded her head. “i’d count that.” 

Caine covered his mouth with his hand as she told him not to smirk. “I can’t help it. I like getting compliments, can you blame me?” He chuckled. Caine’s smirk change into a narrow line as Beth said that she needed to tell him something. He messed with his rings as he suddenly become nervous about it all of a sudden. “What’s the matter?” He asked, assuming it was serious. “I promise I won’t let it get into my head.”

“have you always been super competitive?” serenity inquires curiously, knowing that she had. she blames her older brother for that, especially whenever they play mario kart or super smash bros. “then you should be able to get all your rings in.” she encourages with a smile as they walked towards the booth. this time, she does go first, knowing that she was particular bad at this game. she grab hold of the ten little rings and began tossing it one by one, only getting five out of the time in, most of them bounced off the bottles. letting out a huff, she steps aside for the other to go. 

“My feelings for Kalani were real at the time when I was with her,” he admitted honestly. “I still care about her, but I wouldn’t call it love anymore.” Caine turned his head to look at Beth and smirked as she mentioned that he was attractive but she didn’t want to ruin anything because he didn’t see her as a monster. “I don’t want to ruin our friendship either, so we’re all good,” he answered. “It’s nice to actually get along with someone for once..”

a laughter falls from her lips as she rolls her eyes at him. “anything to discredit my win, huh?” she rises a brow in a slight teasing tone, a small smile curving at the corner of her lips to reflect that she was just joking with him and wasn’t hurt by his words. eyes scanned the festival before nodding her head, “let’s do ring toss!” 

“I mean if I’m not with someone, I’m not technically breaking their hearts. I confess that I let Kalani down and that one haunts me and makes me feel guilty, but the rest I don’t care about.” He looked down at Beth’s hands that move from his knees to her own knees. He chuckled at her reaction. “Damn, that bad am I?” He scoffed. “Your hand was on my knee. What did you expect me to assume what kind of fun you meant?”

as she was declared the winner, she beams up at him cockily. “not so cocky now, hm? might be beginners luck, but i still won.” she teases, taking hold of the prize she won before handing it over towards him. “a little memory to reflect that i am matter in fact better at darts than you are. don’t worry though, you have the rest of the night to redeem yourself.”