Sincerely Yours

Chapter 14: Say My Name

Summary:

Zee is devastated that Nhu has left. Nothing could have prepared either for the pain they would feel. Nhu parents in agreement they must do something, something else is on the horizon. Something evil that may tear the two men apart forever.

This cannot be happening. The clock had not even struck noon, and Zee felt he had destroyed his whole life in less than twenty-four hours. All he had to do was be open and honest. He had no clue that his need to close a chapter would destroy his future.

"Stop lying! I needed to meet him. He gave me a type of love that held me through while I waited for Nhu to come back to me. I was selfish. I knew when it all began, it was wrong. I should not have gone to meet him. I would not want Nhu to do this to me. It would have destroyed me if Nhu fell in love with someone else. I should have told Nhu. This cannot happen again," he yelled at himself.

Zee gripped the page in his hand tighter. He refused to let go of the last thing Nhu held in his hand. It broke him to see the tear stains on the paper, and each one shattered his heart. He did this.

He had failed. He did not care about anything anymore. All Zee wanted to do was curl up in a ball and wither away. The wind tugged at the paper, trying to get him to let go.

It made him feel that the paper's deepest desire was to escape him, too. The way the page tried to pull away from him made him ache.

He would never let it go. That paper was his last link to the one his heart yearned for. How dare it want to take away the only thing he had left.

He was determined to make it stay since he failed to keep Nhu by his side. He carefully folded the paper and put it in his breast pocket close to his heart. The paper's fate was determined in an instant. It had stopped its struggle; the dance was over, and it lost.

"I can't do this again; I can't live without Nhu. Three years was already at my limit. I could not have held on any longer if he had not come to me. I need to find him and let him know, to tell him that he is everything. I am nothing without him," Zee cried, laying his head on the floor.

The pain was so intense that he did not know if he could ever get up again. He did not even care when he heard the door open, and Boun and Prem entered the penthouse.

Zee hoped it was someone to put him out of his misery. He could not take the pain pounding with each beat of his heart. Why did this have to hurt so bad?

"Zee, get up. We are here to help. I cannot stand to see you like this again. You are hurting not only yourself but also those who love you. Nhu did not leave you because he did not love you anymore—this is a fact. He left because he loved you so much and could not stand that you would love someone else." Boun hurriedly pulled Zee off the floor and, with Prem's help, placed him on the sofa.

Boun patted his best friend on the shoulder as he sat down, pulling Prem onto his lap. Like Zee, he still had issues giving his fiancée space. He ached for his friend, knowing how bad it had to feel not to have Nhu within arm's reach.

Everyone in the room took a moment to take stock and a deep breath. None expected this to happen, but if anyone could help Zee, it was Prem.

Boun knew that Prem knew Nhu's innermost thoughts about Zee. He could give his friend the hope of winning back his love. However, Boun could tell Prem was still unsure about helping Zee.

Prem was furious that Zee had hurt Nhu. He would have left ZPP to follow his friend and taken his parents if Boun had not gotten on his knees before him, begging him to stay. Overpromising on every point, Boun was determined to keep Prem from running to his friend.