𝐍𝐨 𝐓𝐢𝐦𝐞 𝐓𝐨 𝐃𝐢𝐞

𝟏𝟕

["I'm covering my ears like a kid."]

❦

In my kinda dim office, I just sank into the comfy leather chair. The city sounds faded, replaced by memories hanging in the air. Stared at the pic on my desk—a frozen moment from when her smile was the daily life pick-me-up.

Fingers ran over the glass, a gentle touch on the captured moment, mind wandering through memories. The pain of her supposed demise became a permanent mark on my life, not willing to fade with time.

My wife, a love that sticks around even beyond the grave, just a lingering presence in my thoughts.

In the room, lit by a single desk lamp, it was all about thinking. Time didn't care about the clock hands, just regrets flowing like a current.

This was a dive into my own mistakes, a journey through the choices that made my messy present.

The light played with shadows on the walls, reflecting my inner chaos. Let out a heavy sigh, truth hitting hard—I loved her even when she was supposed to be gone, and that love messed up more than just me.

Time kinda lost its way, and my office door stayed shut, a temporary break before the storm of a confrontation.

Then, like the preview of a coming storm, the door creaked open.

Redd walked in, and suddenly, the room got charged with tension. Her eyes, full of blame and pain, met mine in a quiet acknowledgment of the chaos ahead.

"You," I uttered, the word carrying the weight of disbelief at her audacity to breach the sanctity of my refuge.  "What are you doing here? After you know about sanctions and consequences that can befall you if you appear here again. I will repeat it one more time. What the fuck are you doing here?"

Her response, a cunning blend of defiance and vulnerability, echoed in the room. "You fired me and banished me to a world I don't know just because of a little stupid mistake you couldn't accept." She declared, her voice a paradox of defiance. "But we both know I'm not a quitter and I'm here for a reason."

"What the fuck do you want?" I stip the words out, making them sharp as a knife. The hatred that wraps around me tightens my throat, tempting me to do so many things I know I will regret.  "Don't fucking make me call all my troops just for you."

The smile on Calia's face is recognizable. Mischievous, evil, almost murderous.

She looks like shit. Her hair is long and messy I can almost see her skull. The clothes are the same ones she left in when I kicked her out. It is even more dirty and greasy. But that doesn't stop her from giving me one of her punches.

"To scared to have blood on your hands, I see. You've never been a responsible man, even on your best days–if they can even be called best, you've been pretty slack when it's not about your motives."

The room was filled with the weight of her confession, but I remained resolute. She was a reminder of a mistake, a decision I had ended without mercy.

"One minute. You've got one minute to tell me why you're here and what you want. Then you'll go out the door you came in and never appear before me again."

Redd crossed her arms, a devilish smile never leaving her lips. "I came for you." She said firmly. "I came to give you a second chance and let you love and respect me the way I love and respect you."

I let out a forcing, mad laugh that made my face burn. "You give me a second chance?! I'm the one who should be fucking incensed at you!"

Calia remained calm, not moving a muscle in her body. It's like she doesn't hear me like she doesn't care that I could kill her on that spot right now.  But she just put her hands down by her body and walked towards me.

"Alright. Be mad. But I'm the one standing with arms outstretched in front of you, waiting for you to join me in my warmth." Her eye gleamed, hissing softly at every word. "Let me be yours. Let me make your pain go away and I promise you, I will not be even half as your last, dead, wife."

I hissed the chill in my tone cutting through the air. "You don't dare to speak about me or my wife like shit in front of me."

"Would you like it if I was under you? I think you'll prefer it more." Calia pointed out, almost innocently. "Don't play now Aaron. You can't forget our night. Admit it, you feel sparks too. You are just too afraid to say it out loud."  Her smile was a long time gone. "Forget about her. Don't let death whisper in your ear anymore. Let yourself be happy for once." She holds out her hand, her long fingers stretching out. "I can help you with that."

I almost let out a painful laugh. Happiness was never an option. It would never come out no matter what I did. It must have been hidden, maybe even non-existent inside me.

"My wife." I let out a hard breath. "Is alive. So your assumption is not correct. Again."

Calia almost froze. Her face was as rigid as a statue, not moving. But then a big haughty smile spread across her face, and God help me, I think the devil himself came into my room.

"She is alive?" Calia asked excitedly, her voice high. "Oh my, that's wonderful, just beautiful! And I even thought you weren't one of those man, but it seems I was wrong again."

Her laughter suffocated me like a thick fog at dawn, wrapping around my neck like a rope ready to lift me off the floor.  But she didn't stop. It wasn't until she saw the expression on my face that she blurted out. "You cheated. You cheated on your fucking dead-not-dead wife! Ha!"

"No. You're wrong–"

"And I thought this day couldn't get any better! Does she know? Oh my God, she will never forgive you after this."

No. It's true, she won't forgive me no matter what I've done. But what happened with Redd was not cheating.

She was dead. We all thought she was dead. And after our lightning talk, I also think I'm not the last man she's been with.

And she wasn't the last woman I was with.

Calia's face is wrinkled with laughter, and her eyes are almost teary. I can see hiw she's trying to hold herself up and I ask myself, why the fuck I'm I still allowing her to be here?

"I think it's time for you to go, Redd. Don't make me drag you out of here myself."

"No, no, you don't understand. This is good." She is now so close that I could just wrap my fingers around her neck.  "You and I can be happy together now. That bitch won't even look at you after this! But I—I will love you! And I, unlike her, won't have any problem with you sleeping with other women as long as you come back to me."

I feel a fire in my eyes that could melt everything around me. "I don't think you heard me the first time when I said my wife was alive. And I would do anything to bring her back to me." I arched over Redd, watching her now glowing eyes, the same as mine.  "Because I belong to one woman, and that woman is not you."

I jerked away from her, not caring that this would be the last time I saw her.  Without hesitation, I approached my desk, and I wish I didn't.

"You're gonna regret this Hunter! Both you and your bitch!"

Bang.

I don't know where I was shot. I only know that I am somewhere because my body goes limp and in front of me I can see nothing but darkness falling on my eyes.

No matter how much I resisted and fought, it won, and I fell on the hard ground not feeling myself anymore.

Not feeling anything anymore.

❦