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I gasped and my eyes flew open. But I could still see him, hear him, taste him. I pushed my head off the headrest, slanting forward with my arms folded on the desk. I took a hand to my head, pressing my fingers against my temple and rubbing a spot gently. An attempt to dissolve the images in my head.Please, go away.
He was everywhere; in my thoughts during the day and my dreams at night. I couldn’t get rid of him, no matter how hard or long I tried. It was two weeks since the engagement party and since I’d last set my eyes on him, but memories of himstayed vividly and freshly imprinted in my mind like it was only yesterday. My hands dropped and I hung my head, eyeing the brown wood beneath my arms like it had inscriptions hidden on it.
It was time to admit it. Time to recognize that thorn in my flesh that pricked like a bitch and refused to come off. My heart ached so much; I thought it bled. I missed him. I missed him badly, and it hurt a lot worse than ripping off a band-aid from a fresh wound.
I grabbed my phone, the bunch of silver keys beside it, and snatched my small brownShantel Parisbucket bag, rising from the chair.
What was it those optimists said?Forward ever, backward never?Maybe they were right. I had to look forward now and that meantI had to move on.Like move on, move on. The real one and not what I already tried to do.That didn’t work, by the way. The past two torturous weeks proved it.
Leaving was the best decision, I had to remind myself. He belonged to another, and I would rather chew on my fingernails than accept a man that belonged to someone else. I neared the door of my office and flicked the switch on the wall, turning the lights off. Cautiously, I shut the door and forced myself to trudge through the lit hallways. I twisted the dinky beige printed scarf knotted on the bag strap as I walked past the portrait black and white paintings on the wall, the small blossoming flowers in the cute plant pots, and through the maze-like pillars, until I got to a corner, just before the glass doors upfront.
I reached towards the row of switches up on the white wall and pulled the main lever down, turning off all the lights in the main building.
The moonlight and streetlights flooded through the windows, casting shadows of the window panes against the walls and the floor. I threw the bunch of keys up in the air, the tinkling of steel andthuddingof my black knee-high boots on the tiles echoing across the empty hall.
I got to the glass doors and opened them. The night breeze had a real bite at my skin. It brushed against my face, swooshed past my ears, and ruffled my hair as I curved to insert a key into the keyhole. It entered and I locked it.
Then, I pulled out and, from behind me, came the sound of keys jingling in the air. Keys that werenotmine. The hairs at the back of my neck rose and I had the sick feeling in the pit of my stomach that I was not alone.
Eyes wide and fists balled, I spun swiftly.
Sophia’s dark eyes twinkled under the bright gleam emitting from the tall streetlight poles surrounding the small parking lot. “Have I ever told you, you look uglier in person?”
I pressed my bag even tighter against my side and narrowed my eyes.
“Just my thought, but I think when you look at me, you see a mirror instead.” I tried to sound tough, I really did. But it was hard to concentrate on my inner toughness when the scowling she-devil had a group of fifteen to twenty brawny men standing behind her with their guns and shiny knives glinting under the light.
“You’re a low-life bitch.”
“And you are a high-class bitch; and from what I’ve heard, they are stuck-up, clumsy, snobs. That’s way worse, don’t you agree?” I cocked my head to the side and flashed her a cold smile.
“Fuck you.” Her orderly white teeth bared in an ugly snarl and she tucked a hand in the pocket of her ripped baggy jeans. “I wonder what he sees in you.”
Time for another jab. “Whatever it is, it’s way more than he sees in you, obviously.”
Mariana, tread carefully.
That was the voice of reason and I should have probably listened to it. But no. I sealed the disembodied mouth with a silver tape, tied it on an electric chair, and zapped the motherfucker.
To hell with the bloody reason. If any one of us was the bitch, it was her. The crazy one wearing the jeans and the short top baring a sliver of her midriff. She had a long thing coming if she thought I was going to let her walk all over me.
But again, she had a mini army behind her, while I had a building I couldn’t even run into. So maybe, I should have thought twice before calling her out on her shit.
Her gaze darkened and her hand flew forward.
Before I could duck and take cover, her fingers wound up in my hair. She pulled back,roughly. My jaw dropped and a whimper left my lips as my neck snapped backwards, twisting into an uncomfortable arch. A jolt of pain shot through my skull and down my spine when she yankedhardand pulled me forward. I staggered, my legs clumsily going ahead, one in front of the other, on their own accord and my purse hung limply in my grasp.
She threw me forward, plunging me deeper into the center of blood-thirsty, angry men. I fell to the ground, grazing my palm against the asphalt.
“Pick her up!” Sophia ordered and rough hands bundled my arms, harshly jacking me up to my feet.
Against my will, hot teardrops rolled out of my eyes and stained my cheeks. Of course, the raving bitch saw it.
“Oh no, did I make the whore cry?” Her eyes twinkled in glee and her shrill voice grated my nerves. Angrily, I sniffled, wiped my nose, and dusted my palms against each other.
I gritted my teeth, feeling fury burn its way up my chest, and I lurched forward. I was quick, but her building block bodyguards were quicker. They held me back and I screamed, “I’m going to fucking kill you, Sophia.”
She bent her head backwards and gazed at the starry sky. Then, she laughed. It was loud, dark, shallow, and pure evil. The sound rang out, across the empty parking lot and dissipated into thin air.
