Thorns and Petals

Chapter-40

Parallel lines

At the office earlier. . .

"Boss?"

I heard a few knocks on the door. Sensing it must be something urgent, I leaned back on the chair and quickly cleared my throat.

"Come in."

Ben entered, panting, worry looming over his eyes.

"Ms. Amelia's here and wishes to speak to you at the moment." He stated, taking quick glances from behind him, "Also, she's here on-

"Oh, you don't have to report to him about my arrival, Benjamin."

The expected female made her way in, gently patting Ben's shoulder as she swayed from side to side. Shiny black stilettos clicked against the tiles, her fury coat moving in the direction of the aircon whilst she seated herself right in front of me.

Taking off her glasses, she eyed me with a look I knew all too well. I gestured for Ben to leave the room, knowing exactly what she intended to do by visiting me at such odd hours. However, he ignored my sign and stayed.

"What do you want, Amelia?"

"Oh darling, you know exactly what's on my mind, don't you?" She cooed and if pissed was a person, it'd be me.

Ben took a seat further away, deciding to watch us from a distance. I noticed the scowl and his twitching eyebrow from where I sat.

I sighed, "I'm afraid I don't."

"What say we get back together?"

There was pin drop silence.

My eyes, probably burning from fury now, met hers. I balled my fist, the incidents of the past flashing before my eyes as I watched the woman seated infront of me. Her cunning smile remained the same even after so many years, and I was a fool to fall for it then.

I lost all that youth because of her. I lost myself because of her. I lost the trust from everyone that I had tried so hard to build. Blinded by affection, manipulated by sweet talks, I didn't realize I was chasing a disaster in the making. The consequences dawned upon me at last, but it was too late.

"Why?"

"Oh, why? I was expecting-

"After all that happened between us, you still decided to show up again in my life," I bitterly said, the sight of her starting to disgust me.

She let out a menacing laugh, "Zayden, that was in the past. I'm sure no one remembers it anymore. And, have you forgotten the way we loved each other before?"

"Amelia, leave."

"I won't."

Crossing her arms against her visible cleavage, she leaned back and adamantly watched over me. Her vicious gaze never seemed to falter.

I exhaled a firy breath, "I'm not interested in you anymore. Not after the filthy measures you took against me and the nonsenical articles you managed to put up to ruin my reputation."

There was a moment of silence and I didn't fail to notice her expressions changing. Her arrogant red lip twitched and she looked everywhere else in my cabin except for me.

"You have some nerve." I felt my voice deepening out of sheer rage, "Sitting here and-

"I'm sorry."

Ben's head zapped towards the woman and back at me. I could tell he hadn't seen an apology coming.

"I've troubled you a lot in the past and I've reflected on it," Lie, Lie, Lie, "I'll treat you right this time."

"I don't give second chances and I no longer see you as anything more than a client." I stated, matter of factly. I wasn't in the slightest affected by her apologetic façade.

If there was any woman in this world that mattered to me the most, it was Melina. She was the reason I started believing in love again and I had no plans of letting go of her. Not in this lifetime.

Thinking about my wife who was waiting for me back at home was enough to put me at ease amidst my current predicament. Her adorable eyes that always had a glint of mischief, her bashful movements everytime we kissed, the maturity with which she approached situations were everything to me.

"Well," She stood up, sighing, and I knew there was more to come for me, "Looks like you're adamant today. But for how long? I always win in the end."

With that, she eyed me head to toe before a nasty smirk etched across her face. The fierceness in her green orbs never dimmed, watching me with the same intensity as a predator would to it's prey.

"Oh," She halted in her track and turned around, speaking as if just remembering something, "It didn't occur to me. You're still single, aren't you?"

I decided to answer her question with silence instead. I was well aware that I was only but a ticking bomb, and if she weren't a woman, I'd have pounced on her like a hungry wolf.

Ben continued to watch us from a distance, but this time with a cloud of confusion hovering over him.

"Well, I'll take your silence for a yes then," She said, unlocking the door to head out, but before that, "And even if you weren't, how long would it take for me to get rid of her?"

The thing I feared the most had come true.

I let her walk out the door without uttering a word to any of her statements.

As soon as she was out, Ben frantically approached me, "Why didn't you say anything?" He exclaimed, apprehensively and his eyes widened in bafflement.

"Melina."

"What?"

"I can't lose her, Ben," Staring down at the floor, her sweet face flashed before my eyes, "I need to find a way to talk things out with Melina and tell her. . . about my past."

Been a while. . Sorry, and thank you to those whoever are still reading this. 💖  This semester has drained me totally.