Smoke and Mirrors (Smoke #1)

[ 75 ]

"Jordan." I exclaimed as he stopped by me as we both stood awkwardly on the front porch of Vanessa's house. After getting a phonecall from Vanessa, I felt rather reluctant about coming here since I was coping so much for the article scandal and had hardly heard anything about it from either of them which I could only assume that they were probably very angry with me. With a shocked expression on my face, I could feel my nerves slightly fade as Jordan just wore a shy smile and said hi as he walked off probably to training. 

I bit my lip and wondered what that interaction meant. With the little talking and minimal eye contact, it would have been obvious that Jordan was just like majority of his teammates that had hatred towards me except it wasn't with his welcoming smile and slightly kind vibe that I was getting off of him. I shrugged off the thought and knocked on the front as silence was the only thing I could hear for a while until moments later, Vanessa popped her head around the corner of her house. I felt freaked out for a moment but untensed my body as I trailed behind Vanessa to the back way of her house where there sat a dinning area at her backyard. Taking a seat in the white, cold chair I sighed as Vanessa sat in front of me, with an irritated expression on her face. 

"Look Vanessa -"

"No stop Scarlett, you need to hear me out. I know I called you which I was hesitant to do so but honestly the only reason I did was because of Jordan. He seemed convinced that you were unfairly being treated which would have sounded pointless until I took notice of Jordan's arguments and realised that maybe it was time for us to hear your side of the story and since a lot of Jordan's teammates are too arrogant to do so, I thought I should step in and hear it instead." She said as I just slowly nodded my head and began to explain my side of the story and why I shouldn't be the one to blame for the article. 

Vanessa just sat on her seat with her arms folded and lips pouted. She nodded her head as I was finishing up my story when she opened her mouth up slightly making my heart pick up it's pace.

"So you had no idea about the article being published?"

"Of course I had no idea. Vanessa, would I seriously do that to any other person let alone Marcus?" I asked her nervously when she just sighed and looked at me with a blank expression on her face. 

"I guess that Jordan was right about everything."

"Right about what?"

"That I shouldn't be so harsh on you." She added with a smile on her face which I had to admit made me smile too. 

"So, you're not mad at me Vanessa?" 

"Smh, why the hell would I be mad at you when you are literally one of the coolest people I had ever met. Don't tell Jordan but you're probably my favourite person ever." She added as I just chuckled and smiled when she wrapped her hands around me and pulled me in a warming hug.

.....

Cleaning off the papers from my table, I sighed wondering if life was going to ever be the same with everything that had happened in my life. The problems with Derrick, my short term drug problem, the dilemma with Toby, Michael's constant ways and of course, my rollercoaster of a relationship with Marcus. I sighed once more, grabbing a pile of the papers filled with red scribbles of corrections as I noticed there was a loud knock on the door. 

As much as I knew I had people that I had that cared for me, everytime I hear a knock on that door, I am already immediately filled with so much doubt. I couldn't help but feel that it was probably somebody like Michael or Marcus just standing there ready to give me unfair criticism that I knew I didn't deserve. 

I let out an irritated groan as I made my way to the front door and felt my heart sink when I saw Marcus standing right in front of me. Trailing my eyes on him, his hair was combed back and he sported an all black outfit, most especially the leather jacket that shone under the moonlight sky.

Both of us said nothing. Staring at one another in each others' eyes with the kind of intensity that would probably be regrettable for many people. I could hear heaved breaths escaping our lips as the stare intensified when both of us still stared at each others' eyes with myself slowly moving back inside my house. My heart began to pick up its pace as I could heaved breaths escape our breaths, Marcus began to edge forward to me. Still keeping the hungry glare onto my eyes, he closed the door behind him as I unexpectedly found his lips against mine. I wasn't sure what to think as he continued to explore my lips just like he used to. My body began to relax and start to untense when I started to allow myself to take in the kiss. I could feel his delicate hands move along the back of my head and make their way down my hand as my a warm shiver rushed down my back when Marcus tightly grasped my waist. 

Everything was happening too fast as my mind was running with a million questions. Why was Marcus suddenly all over me when the other day he said I was nothing but a regret in his life? Why was he suddenly giving me attention when this whole time I've done nothing but shed tears and feel hopeless? Trying to remove myself from the kiss, I just couldn't bring myself to do it as I felt him bite down on my lip and guide me onto the wall where he continued this steamy embrace. 

"Ma - Marcus." I breathlessly tried to mutter between kisses but could only feel the kiss becoming more and more passionate as the seconds went by before he spoke in between the kisses. 

"Scarlett, this is what I want. This is what I always wanted. You." He breathlessly added as I tried to add in what I wanted to say but felt myself become distracted when I felt his lips leaving kisses lingering against my neck before he began kissing my neck. Letting out a shaky moan, I was doing my best to keep myself calm but couldn't with the way he kept getting me hot under the collar. I was feeling frazzled when I could feel myself warming up the more he constantly kept kissing me. As much as I missed him, this wasn't the way I wanted us to be reunited. This wasn't the way we should see each other after so long. Calling out his name several times to stop, I was becoming frustrated that he was ignoring me. Doing my best to push him off, he gave my neck was last passionate kiss before I could feel my eyes quickly opening up as I shot up and sat on my bed, beads of sweat dripping down my forehead. 

Looking around the room, I had realised that Marcus was never there in the first place. Blinking my eyes several times to make sure I wasn't actually seeing things, I felt my heart sink to know that I was only in a dream and suddenly felt stupid to think that I was actually going to see Marcus when he's made it clear that he doesn't want to have anything to do with me and as much as I had to tell myself that it was because of the article, I couldn't help but feel deep down that his words were more than just an act of anger. 

I sat up on my bed as I wiped my forehead and grabbed my phone off the side of the bedside table. Going through my contacts, I could still see Marcus' name as I could feel tears roll down my cheeks. I knew he was mad, I knew he had said he regretted our relationship but I really did care for him and just wanted to know how he was doing. I wiped the tears from my eyes and began texting him a message. 

Scarlett: I'm sick to death about the way you're acting and as much as it hurts, I still love you and will be everything I can to prove to you that I am not the person you believe I am

I wiped my eyes and turned off my phone soon realising that it was pointless as Marcus is clearly not interested in my pathetic pleads to him but I just couldn't help it. Getting through each day as I was getting more hated by the man I love truly killed me inside. I deleted the text and switched off my phone, shoving it back onto the table near me. Pulling the covers over me, I softly laid my head against the pillow, disappointed with myself about the way things were looking to end up for me.