k i w i

- 17 -

- arabella -

I paced around the room, biting down on my nail and trying not to loose my shit. Sammy sat behind his chair, chewing at the end of his pen as he read quietly.

With the sound of my heels echoing around, he finally broke. "Damn it, Arabella!"

I jumped a slight bit, turning to him and stopping my pace. He stood from his chair, throwing his pen to the pile of papers and going for the bar.

"Sammy," I sigh, almost running to him and stopping him from dropping ice into the cup. Placing my hands on his, I shook my head at him. "you're beginning to look like dad."

"Fuck off." He hiss, shrugging me off and beginning to pour his alcohol. "I'm being sent off to Mexico in a few months, that shit is stressful as it is." Taking a swing, he looked back at me. "To top it all off, dad wants me to fly over to Colombia to meet with Catalina!"

"Catalina, your ex Catalina?" I wondered out loud, furrowing my eyebrows and moving to follow him. "Why would dad do that?"

Sammy shrugged, "Her dad's business."

Sitting on one of the chairs in front of his desk, I huff and closed my eyes. "Will he make you go back with her?"

"Maybe." He says back, "Their company is one of the biggest one down there, if I get a location with them, I can prove to dad that I can manage the business without him on my back."

Opening them up, I saw him gulping down the rest of his drink. I leaned forwards, taking his glass from him. "Sammy, you gotta slow down."

"Fuck, Bella, what do you want?" He asks, clearly pissed off. "You're just here to distract me."

When he looked at me, I felt my heart fall. At no point in my life has Samuel stared at me the way he was doing so right now. He had always been my big little brother.

"Shit." I laugh through my tears, not even noticing that I had started my waterworks. Maybe it was the hormones exploding inside of me, but my crying was starting to get harder and harder. "Sorry for bothering you, Samuel."

Getting up and taking my purse from the chair besides me, I roll my eyes and walked out. I wiped my tears as I walked, knowing full well that if I was spotted in such a state, everyone will be coming after me.

While hailing a cab, I began to dial Isabella. Part of me felt bad that I was bothering her so much, but if I didn't have anyone else to call.

Regina would be too busy, Olly is an idiot, and Tabitha is in rehab. That was why my best friend was Samuel, the only person who knew how I felt-he shared the same feelings.

"Hello?" She asked, her voice a bit raspy like she had woken up. "Is anything wrong, Bella?"

I finally got a cab, sliding in and quickly muttering the streets to him. "Isa, did I wake you up?"

"Uh, yeah." She cleared her throat, maybe even trying to rub the sleep off. "Is something wrong?"

I shake my head, feeling a bubble beginning to build in my chest. "I-no. Sorry I woke you up."

"Are you sure?" She asked, yawning loudly and then excusing herself. She was clearly exhausted. "Is it the baby?"

"No, Isa." I whisper back, trying to back the tears back up. "We're fine. Go back to sleep, I'll text you, okay?"

She hummed, "Okay, doll."

Hanging up on me, I lean my head back, maybe gravity could help me. My heart was just beating fast, not a million miles per hour, but enough for it to hurt.

Who can I call? What can I do to vent my anger out?

"Ma'am? We're here." The taxi driver announces, I looked over at the meter, taking out a ten and giving it to him. "Have a nice day."

I smile back at him, probably looking crazy with the smile and tears. "Thanks. You too."

I inhale and exhale, trying to steady my breathing as I walk inside the building. Heading straight up to my apartment, I lean against the elevator wall.

Should I call my therapist? Will she contact mom about me?

Mentally doing a checklist and crossing out everyone who would be a bad idea, practically leaving me with no one.

Getting to my floor, I walk out and down the hall, my tears freezing along with my body when I saw him standing in front of my door.

What is he doing here? Should I fun away? What could he want!?

I watch him knock, stepping back and swaying in his heels. His body was no longer clad with a suit, but with casual clothes-if you could call them that.

He wore a black bomber jacket and black skinny jeans, a pair of sneakers to top it off. If his back looked extremely good, I could only imagine what his front looks like.

I back away as slowly as I could, taking out my phone and setting it on the camera to fix my makeup. I didn't looked half bad.

Okay, Bella, he is either lost or actually wants to spend time.

As casually as I could, I took my phone out and began to walk down. I didn't want him to know that I knew he was here.

Scrolling through Instagram and liking a few pictures, I finally bump into his back and gasped. I was a great liar.

"Oh hey." I smile, looking up at his beautiful self and letting my eyes explore him. He had a black tee, it was a little tight and gave me a peak of his abs. "W-What are you doing here?"

He smiled back, his eyes also exploring me making me shrunk a little. "Just wanted to check up on you."

"Oh." I let fall from my lips, "You want to come in?"

He nods, after that, I dug through my purse. Finally finding my keys, I shoved it in and turned the lock, opening the door.

"After you, Mr. Malik."

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