First three chapters of my second ever story. I'll release the rest chapter by chapter, wanted to post the first three at once since the first two are build-up. Didn't want to tease y'all too much

Chapter 1 - Out of PlaceAmber and Ben didn’t seem like a likely couple at first glance. Amber sat comfortably at the lower end of the middle class, holding a steady, if unremarkable, job—one that covered the bills and left just enough for the occasional indulgence. She lived in a modest apartment on the outskirts of the city. Her life was good, but she had worked hard to earn that privilege.
Ben’s life experiences couldn’t have been more different. She’d been surprised to learn that the bank her mother had worked at for twenty years was owned by Ben’s father. Not the branch, nor the building it was housed in—the bank itself. Amber had almost spat out her drink when she first learned how much the man was worth—and how much Ben stood to inherit from him.
Despite his privilege, Ben was surprisingly down-to-earth. Far from the entitled, pretentious rich kid Amber had imagined when she first found out about his family’s vast fortune, she’d found him to be kind, considerate, and shockingly humble for a man who could have bought her entire apartment on a whim. (He’d offered to do so, and she’d politely declined.) He could be a little out of touch with what he jokingly referred to as “the peasantry,” but Amber found him pleasant company overall, and a caring and attentive boyfriend.
When he’d invited her to a gala, Amber had had to ask him what one was. Ben had described it as basically being a big party. This particular event was held every year at the house of some politician she’d never heard of. Many business owners, politicians, and other influential individuals would be there. Ben had talked about it like it was a networking event—a chance for the rich to schmooze with the even richer. She hadn’t exactly been listening at the time; she didn’t really understand the politics of Ben’s peers.
When they first arrived at the gala, her jaw had dropped. The only kinds of parties she’d ever been to had consisted of around thirty people crammed into the tiny kitchen of someone’s rented terraced house, drinking the cheapest booze a bunch of broke students could find and picking at bowls of off-brand snacks on the counter. Technically, this event was the same thing—just swap the shitty rented house for a mansion, the cheap booze for an array of wines older than her great-grandparents, and the off-brand snacks for a buffet table that seemed to stretch on forever.
After being dropped off by Ben’s chauffeur, it had taken them a full ten minutes to cross the garden. They’d passed through a foyer large enough to fit Amber’s entire apartment twice over, and entered a grandiose sitting room. Guests milled about, sipping wine and making polite conversation. Others sat on velvet sofas, discussing business and politics over polished mahogany coffee tables. The walls were adorned with large, expensive-looking paintings, giant bay windows draped in velvet curtains, and, along one wall, a crackling fireplace. In the corner, a man in a tuxedo played a gentle melody on a grand piano.
Amber found the whole experience overwhelming; she couldn’t have been more out of her element. Ben wasted no time—he immediately started networking, greeting people he knew and introducing himself to those he didn’t. Amber mostly kept to the sidelines, offering a polite hello whenever Ben introduced her but otherwise leaving the talking to him. Most of the people who engaged Ben seemed content to let her fade into the background. After a while, Ben left to fetch drinks for them both.
Amber stood against the wall, hoping to be ignored. She tugged at her dress, conscious that it wasn’t sitting quite right. Ben had bought her an undeniably gorgeous new outfit for the occasion—a jet-black, backless dress with a deep V-neck and a thigh-high slit that exposed one shapely leg. The fabric clung tightly to her strong frame, accentuating her considerable curves. The stylist Ben had hired had spent hours meticulously styling her back-length brown hair—one side draped over her shoulder, the other left to hang freely down her back. The dangling earrings Ben had surprised her with on the ride over apparently contained real sapphires that complemented the blue of her eyes. Her black, open-toed heels added a good six inches to her height and showed off her red-painted toes.
Before the party, she’d spent hours admiring herself in the mirror; the outfit undeniably made her look sexy as hell. Now, standing among these people, it just made her feel uncomfortable. The heels made her feet ache, her hair kept falling into her face, and she constantly felt the need to readjust the dress to make it sit better on her body.
For ten minutes, she endured, silently willing Ben to return. Occasionally, a guest approached her, attempting to strike up a conversation, but they soon moved on when she proved unreceptive. Another five minutes passed. It occurred to her that it might actually take that long to walk between rooms in a house this size.
After another five minutes, she’d had enough. She made her way to the door, skirting around the edges of the room to avoid the centre. As she passed through the doorway in a hurry, she collided with someone coming the other way. Wine sloshed over the sides of the glass in the other guest’s hand as they both came to an abrupt stop.
“Oh, I’m so so—” Amber began, but the words died in her throat.
Glancing up at the woman in the doorway, she recognised her immediately.
Oh shit, she thought.
This is going to be interesting.Chapter 2 - Unexpected EncounterAmber and Hazel had met in their first year at university; they’d lived in the same halls and initially hit it off. They shared many of the same interests and became friends quickly. When the time came to decide who to live with in their second year, the choice had been obvious—they settled on a small, cheap house close to campus, just the two of them. Given how close they had become, it felt like a no-brainer.
The problems started early. Small differences in their habits and lifestyles clashed, causing tensions to rise. The housemates bickered over fairly minor things—unfinished chores, noise, bathroom time. As the year wore on, things only worsened. Their arguments grew in both frequency and intensity as they continued to get on each other’s nerves. Soon, they evolved from polite disagreements to full-on arguments. By the time they were halfway through their tenancy, the two were getting into full-blown shouting matches almost every night.
It all came to a head one night, about a month before their tenancy ended. They had gotten into an argument over a chore that had gone undone, each insisting it had been the other’s responsibility. What started as a few passive-aggressive remarks escalated into a heated row, which then exploded into an all-out shouting match. Finally, eleven months of anger and resentment erupted into an all-out brawl. Punches were thrown, hair was pulled, and clothes were torn as the two former friends fought out their frustrations. The battle was brutal; with no one to stop them, they kept going until they were too exhausted to continue. Bloody, bruised, and breathless, they finally retreated to their respective rooms to stew.
Amber spent the remainder of their tenancy staying at a friend’s place; it didn’t seem wise for the two of them to continue sharing a roof. When moving day arrived, both women brought along groups of friends to help carry boxes, and to prevent another fight from breaking out. The atmosphere was tense, with more than a few close calls, but their friends managed to break up each argument before it turned violent.
In the three years since, Amber had barely seen the woman she now despised. Their mutual friends were well aware of the animosity between them and knew to keep them apart. On the rare occasions they ran into each other at a club or party, they were wise enough to maintain a wide berth, while their friends kept a watchful eye.
About a year ago, though, they had met again in a nightclub bathroom. Drunk and uninterrupted by their usual mediators, they had gotten into their second fight, tussling in the dingy space before tumbling onto the grimy floor, wrestling as a small crowd of clubgoers cheered them on. The brawl came to an abrupt stop when a couple of their friends finally intervened and pulled them apart—to the disappointment of the growing audience. That incident had been the last time they’d seen each other.
Now, Amber and Hazel stood face to face in the unlikeliest of places.
Like Amber, Hazel was dressed for the occasion. She wore a red, off-the-shoulder dress that stopped at her knees, showcasing her toned legs. A pair of black, pointed-toe stilettos added height, and her wavy blonde hair had been styled back behind her bare shoulders. Hanging from her ears were earrings that might have contained real emeralds.
Amber couldn’t help but feel a pang of rage at how stunning her former housemate looked.
It was clear that time apart had done nothing to dull their animosity. The anger that surged in Amber at the sight of Hazel was mirrored in the other woman’s green eyes.
“Watch where you’re going!” Hazel spat.
“
You watch where
you’re going!” Amber shot back, all thoughts of apologising vanishing the moment she realised who she was speaking to.
Hazel took a step back, looking Amber up and down before smirking. Amber had to fight the urge to punch the smug expression off her face.
“Amber,” Hazel said, feigning nonchalance. “I’m surprised to run into you here. Doesn’t seem like your kind of scene.”
Amber rankled at the barely veiled insult but kept her expression neutral. “Yes, not where I’d expect us to run into each other either,” she replied, mirroring Hazel’s smirk. “What brings you here? Are you on the catering staff?”
“Actually, I’m here with my boyfriend,” Hazel replied smoothly. “His family are the ones hosting this party.”
“Oh, I’m here with my boyfriend as well! His father owns a bank.”
“That’s nice! My boyfriend’s father is in politics. I think he’s been elected three times in a row now? He’s planning to retire before the next election, though. My boyfriend will probably run in his place.”
“Nice! My boyfriend’s dad has given him a branch of his bank to run so he can learn how to manage a business before he inherits the entire thing. He isn’t just riding on his dad’s coattails like some people.”
“Oh yes, it must have been so nice for him not to have to go through the same hiring process as everyone else. Of course,
my boyfriend will actually have to get elected if he wants to be successful.”
“Yes, well, I’m sure Daddy’s money will help with that.”
“I’m sure it will.”
Their increasingly unsubtle pissing contest petered out, and they stood for a few moments, silent, fake smiles plastered on their faces.
Amber broke the silence first. She reached out and ran her fingers through Hazel’s hair. “Your hair looks so much silkier than I remember! It must have taken your stylists hours to get it this perfect.”
Hazel grinned a sickeningly sweet grin, ignoring the obvious backhanded compliment. She mimicked Amber’s action, pinching the fabric of her dress and rubbing it between her fingers.
“Thank you!” she said with mock sincerity. “Your dress is gorgeous! So brave of you to wear something that shows off so much of
your skin.”
“Yes, and your shoes are amazing! They almost make you as tall as me!”
“Oh, and those earrings are fabulous! They really draw attention away from your eyes.”
For a long moment, they stood in the doorway—Amber with her hand in Hazel’s hair, Hazel with the hem of Amber’s dress between her fingers. Both women tightened their grip slightly as they stared each other down.
Amber didn’t see how this could end well. She knew she should walk away, but she couldn’t bear to back down.
Just as she was wondering if a fight was about to break out, a voice cut through the tension.
“Hey, baby, sorry it took so long!”
Hurriedly, the two women released each other and turned towards the interruption.
Ben was approaching, a wine glass in each hand. He smiled at Amber, then turned towards Hazel. “Who’s this?” he asked, oblivious to what he had just prevented.
“This is Hazel,” Amber replied tersely. “We used to be… housemates.”
Ben grinned. “Wow, small world, I guess. Nice to meet you, Hazel. I’m Ben.”
He leaned in and kissed Hazel once on each cheek in greeting. Amber felt like strangling him.
Ben handed Amber one of the wine glasses and gestured down the hallway in the direction he had just come from. “I was just chatting with someone in the other room,” he said. “I should head back. You want to come with?”
Amber glanced at Hazel, their eyes meeting briefly before she looked back at Ben. She nodded.
“Great!” Ben said. “You coming too, Hazel?”
Hazel shook her head. “No, you two go on. I’ll stay in this room for a while.”
“No worries,” Ben replied. “Maybe we’ll run into you later?”
“Yeah,” Amber said, locking eyes with her rival once more. “Maybe we will.”
Chapter 3 - Table MannersBen led her into a large ballroom, illuminated by an extravagant chandelier. The room was filled with rectangular tables, each draped with a white tablecloth. A few guests sat around them, chatting and sipping wine.
The man Ben had been speaking to was seated at one such table. Ben introduced Amber to his companion, Kyle, then sat down directly across from him. Amber took the seat next to her boyfriend. It wasn’t long before the two men were deep in conversation, apparently picking up where they had left off before Ben had come to get her as if she wasn’t even there. Amber didn’t really understand what they were talking about, nor was she particularly listening. Her mind was elsewhere.
Her mind was on Hazel.
She remembered that fateful night in their shared kitchen over three years ago. Their fight hadn’t been a pretty one; neither woman had been in a physical altercation before. But neither had held anything back. They had punched, slapped, kicked, and bitten. They had pulled at each other’s hair, ripped clothes, and rolled across the kitchen floor until they were too exhausted to continue. Nothing had mattered to Amber at the time except punishing her enemy as much as possible.
Their meeting at the gala had played out much like the last time they had crossed paths, around a year ago in the dark nightclub basement. The setting couldn’t have been more different from their current surroundings, but their animosity had remained unchanged. They had flung insults at each other—less veiled back then, as both had been fairly intoxicated—and gotten in each other’s faces.
One of them had grabbed the other’s hair, and they had stumbled across the bathroom while onlookers cheered, eventually sprawling onto the grimy floor and rolling across the filthy tiles. The only thing that had stopped them was the arrival of their friends, who had pulled them apart as they kicked and hurled curses at one another.
Their first fight had ended with exhaustion. The second, with intervention. Every other time they had encountered each other since their battle in the kitchen, their clashes had been cut short by outside interference before they could escalate into violence. But every time they met, it was inevitable—they started sniping at one another, too stubborn to back down. Their arguments always escalated into all-out fights that raged until someone or something forced them to stop.
Amber wondered how their confrontation tonight would have ended if Ben hadn’t interrupted. Would they have yanked at each other’s beautifully styled hair and torn their expensive dresses? Would they have clawed at each other with perfectly manicured nails and stomped on each other’s feet with six-inch heels? Would they have rolled across the polished hardwood floor the same way they had rolled on the sticky bathroom tiles?
Would the sophisticated gentlemen and elegant ladies around them have applauded politely, just as the drunken nightclub patrons had jeered and egged them on?
And what would Ben have done if he had returned to find his date rolling on the floor with another woman at this exclusive event? She doubted he would have been pleased. Something like that could ruin his reputation. No, she couldn’t let that happen.
She would simply have to avoid Hazel for the rest of the night.
It shouldn’t be too difficult. The house was enormous—it was possible she wouldn’t even see her enemy again. With luck, she wouldn’t have to worry about it at all.
Her thoughts were interrupted when Kyle raised his hand and waved at someone behind her.
“Hey, babe!” he called.
The sharp clack of heels against the hard floor signalled the approach of a woman. She walked around the table and stopped behind the chair next to Kyle, directly across from Amber.
The moment Amber saw her, her heart skipped a beat.
It was Hazel.
Kyle rested a hand on Hazel’s shoulder and turned back to Ben. “This is my girlfriend, Hazel,” he said.
Ben chuckled. “Wow, that’s crazy! These two actually know each other from university. They used to be housemates!”
Kyle laughed. “No way! Small world, huh? Crazy how you can run into someone you know in a completely unexpected place, hey, babe?”
“Yeah. Crazy.” Hazel replied, her gaze locked onto Amber’s.
Apparently oblivious to the tension in the air, Ben and Kyle quickly resumed their conversation, leaving the two women to glare at each other with undisguised hatred. Kyle absentmindedly pulled out the chair next to him, and Hazel sat down. Now she was directly in front of Amber, mere feet away.
So much for avoiding Hazel tonight.
Amber considered getting up and leaving, making some excuse. But she couldn’t bring herself to do it—it felt too much like conceding to Hazel. Instead, she managed to tear her gaze away from the other woman, hoping that avoiding eye contact would calm the rage simmering inside her. Even that felt like surrender, but she forced herself to relax, letting her gaze wander everywhere except in Hazel’s direction.
She sighed and leaned back in her seat, stretching her legs out beneath the table. It was going to be a long night.
She tried to convince herself it would be fine. She could handle this. She could spend an evening in her former friend’s company without devolving into conflict.
They were both adults, after all. Surely they could last one night without brawling like schoolgirls.
Amber felt something brush against her leg beneath the table. Instinctively, she recoiled, already on edge.
Across from her, Hazel flinched too, sitting bolt upright in her chair.
Their eyes locked.
Hazel shot her a look of contempt, and it was immediately obvious what had happened. Both women had stretched their legs out, and their thighs had come into contact.
Amber should have let it go. She could have folded her legs beneath her chair and looked away, keeping her body and her gaze as far from Hazel as possible. She should have.
But she couldn’t.
She couldn’t bring herself to back down. Not from Hazel.
Just like in their kitchen. Just like at the nightclub.
Amber was determined to do battle with Hazel until she was forced to stop.
Slowly, Amber began to slide her feet forward. As they reached the centre of the table, her toes met resistance—Hazel had been doing the same thing. Maintaining eye contact, they pressed their toes together, each attempting to push the other back. The pressure mounted as they shoved harder and harder, neither willing to concede.
Several minutes passed with no movement. Both women were now pushing with their full strength, locked in a stalemate. Then, as if by some unspoken agreement, they simultaneously withdrew their legs, ending the silent battle.
Amber raised her legs and thrust them forward. The soles of her shoes met Hazel’s with a faint click. They each shoved hard, trying to force the other’s legs back towards their respective sides of the table.
The fight was on.
They pushed and pushed, straining against each other’s feet in a contest of sheer will. But they were too evenly matched, neither able to gain more than the smallest advantage. Before long, their heels slipped, the narrow soles providing little grip for this kind of combat. When this happened, they simply pulled their legs back and struck out again, meeting once more in the centre to continue the battle. Occasionally, one of them would misjudge a thrust, missing their opponent’s foot and jabbing the heel of their shoe into the other’s shin or thigh. A brief flicker of rage and pain would cross the wounded combatant’s face before they both pulled back and attacked again, this time with better aim.
After a while, their heels slipped as they had done many times before. This time, however, instead of sliding past one another, the sharp edges became hooked together at a ninety-degree angle. Their shoes locked, and the struggle took on a new dimension. Both women twisted their legs, yanking at each other’s feet while continuing to shove forward.
The constant tussling and twisting soon loosened their heels. Then, with a particularly violent twist from both women, all four shoes came loose at once, clattering onto the hard floor noisily.
The sudden sound jolted them out of their battle. They froze, exchanging quick glances before casting their eyes towards the men, worried they might have noticed.
They hadn’t. Ben and Kyle remained utterly absorbed in their conversation, chatting animatedly about something Amber couldn’t care less about. She had no idea how they could be so oblivious to the silent war raging just feet away, but she was grateful.
She turned back to Hazel, whose gaze had also darted to the men before snapping back to Amber’s.
Their eyes locked.
As if signalled by some unseen cue, they thrust their legs out again—only this time, their bare soles collided instead of their heels. Their skin gave them far better traction than their heels had, and they renewed their efforts, pressing and shoving against each other’s feet. Occasionally, one of them would pull back and strike, the slap of skin against skin barely audible over the murmur of conversation around them.
Then, in the midst of their struggle, one of their kicks missed, and instead of clashing, their legs found themselves side by side.
Neither pulled back.
Instead, they intertwined their thighs and began wrestling their legs beneath the table. Their bodies slid lower in their seats as the struggle intensified, stretching out further and further, each trying to trap the other’s legs between her own. The more they fought, the closer they got.
Amber stretched her legs out far enough that they made contact with Hazel’s chair. Her feet now rested against the wooden seat, right next to her opponent’s butt.
She glanced down. Hazel’s feet had done the same—perched on the chair beside her, shifting slightly as their legs continued to battle.
Hazel’s toes were painted black. A shade strikingly similar to Amber’s dress.
For some reason, the sight made Amber irrationally angry.
Without thinking, she reached out and grasped Hazel’s foot, digging her nails into the bridge.
Hazel’s expression didn’t change. There was no flinch, no flicker of pain—only a cold, furious glare.
Then, Amber felt a sharp sting as nails dug into her own foot.
She gritted her teeth, refusing to let the pain show.
The fight continued.
They sat low in their seats, feet still planted on each other’s chairs. Their hands tugged and clawed at toes, aiming to inflict as much pain as possible. Beneath the table, their legs remained entangled, wrestling softly as they focused on their opponent’s feet.
Amber’s world had narrowed to this single, silent war. The party, her boyfriend, the guests around them—all forgotten.
Nothing existed but Hazel.
A voice shattered her trance.
“You want anything, babe?”
Amber snapped her head up, heart pounding.
Ben stood beside the table, watching her with a raised eyebrow.
“Uh… what?” she asked thickly, still dazed.
“I said, Kyle and I are getting more drinks. Do you want anything?”
Amber glanced at her wine glass—it was still full. She turned back to Ben.
“I’m good. Thanks,” she replied.
Kyle asked Hazel the same question, receiving a similarly terse response.
If either of the men had looked down for even a moment, they would have seen their partners still gripping a pair of bare feet. Yet somehow, neither seemed aware of the battle raging right in front of them.
Amber was almost impressed by how oblivious they were.
“All right then!” Ben said with a grin. “We’ll be back soon. Don't have too much fun without us!”
With that, the men walked off, disappearing into another part of the vast mansion in search of drinks.
Leaving the two women alone at the table.
Chapter 4 - EntangledComing soon...