"Darius!"
He was gone. It was like he hadn’t heard me. I faltered, biting my lip. Should I turn back? Just as I was about to turn around and go, he stepped back out. He turned to face me, his eyebrows knotted and having the same look he had before. I didn’t realise how intimidating that look was, especially when you were the one receiving it instead of some file.
I looked away from his bright eyes, the colour seeming even stronger than when I saw them before.
I cleared my throat. You can do this. “H-hi.”
"Oh yea, Aluminium, was it?" he asked.
What?
My eyes widened as I looked at him. Aluminium? Did he just call me Aluminium, like Aluminium foil?
And at that moment when I realised he couldn’t even remember my name, my respect for him seeped out of my body.
"Ivory," I muttered, my fist clenching. Even I remembered his name.
"Oh yes, some metal it was," he said, his eyebrows knotting even further as he waved a hand. Metal? Ivory was not a metal. Was this guy stupid? Mentally retarded?
Ivory and Aluminium weren’t even close to each other. Did he even do science in school?
"What did you want?" he asked, taking me out of my mental rage as he crossed his arms across his chest, another intimidating move.
"Um-" I said. What did I want? Maybe I should start by telling you that my name was nothing to do with a metal. But what did?I?want? ? That question threw me off guard. What did I want? Even I didn’t know that and somehow the feeling of sitting down and sharing our feelings, likes and dislikes, didn’t seem like something this person would do.
And I didn’t want to think that he didn’t even know my name.
"Look, me coming back doesn't change anything. Just carry on like you were before and I won't be in? your way. We'll just act like the couple in social events. Alright?" he said.
My mouth just opened, not sure what to say and how to reply to that. But he didn’t give me the chance because he turned around and disappeared into the bedroom.
"Incorrigible jerk," I mumbled in frustration as I walked toward the end of the long corridor, where my room was. I passed the master bedroom, the room that neither of us seemed to choose. He made his point clear. He didn’t want anything to do with me. Good, because now I didn’t want anything to do with him, whose name I was going to replace with a metal and I’ll teach him what metals sounded like.
“Aluminium,” I scoffed. If he couldn’t even remember a name, his wife’s name, how on earth was he managing a multi billionaire company?
Chapter Three
6 Months ago
I couldn't even remember how I got home but I had never been happier to see the large double oak doors at the top of marble stairs. Rushing up as fast as I could, I pushed them open and was greeted by the warm air.
"I see you have gotten wet in the rain," said my mother, walking down the large steps. I nodded. Of course only my mother couldn't tell the difference between rain and tears.
"Well, get ready. I need to talk to you," she said. I walked up my room ignoring her, not because I wanted to but because my body acted like a robot taking me to my haven of safety, my room.
I could feel my phone vibrating in my pocket as I shut the door softly and slid down it till I was sitting down. I stared at the window.
Did I want to see the message? Was it from Rose or from him? Against my better judgment, I opened my message.
It's not what you think
I scoffed, throwing the phone on the bed and laying down on the floor. Haven’t I heard that before?
I looked at my bed and rolled over, pulling the blanket to the floor and wrapping it around me.
My blanket was warm and cozy and instantly provided the comfort my mother would never be able to give. So it had been true, he really was cheating on me.
I was upset. Tears were gone, replaced by insecurities and doubt inside.
For how long would this go on?
She said she was his girlfriend; not a fling, not a one night stand. A girlfriend.
Did he even go on those business trips like he said he did or was he just hiding in his house making out with that stupid dumb bimbo! Wrapping myself into the blanket, I closed my eyes before tears could come back out. No, I didn’t want to waste them over him.
The past four years I had given my heart to him with much caution, and it was sad that I had been so careful and somehow still got deceived. Like people say, Love is blind.
What I think now is Love is just an illusion, something that could never exist in my life and I wasn’t going to let anyone try making me feel that way. Even if there were happier moments, heartbreak outweighed them.
Present Time
I woke up. I couldn't sleep but the moment the sun hit my face through the windows, I sat up and got ready for today.