The First Omega Lawyer

Chapter- 02

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At Present

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Garian should have died during his school life. No, he shouldn’t have even been born. He should have been erased from this world before he even had the chance to be born.

He regretted ever being born in this cruel world.

He didn’t want to live this life and go through these pain-filled days and nights. Every day was becoming worse than the previous day, and it seemed like there would be no hope for him.

It felt like he would never be able to get up from this.

A painful life that had drained so much from him.

Garian clenched the railings and looked out at the city.

The city had a charm on its own, and it was beautiful today too, even more than how it was during the daytime. There is something in the night that makes the city a lot more breathtaking than it would be on a day.

Garian took a deep breath, trying to relax, at least for today, but it was no use. Standing on his balcony and looking at the city wasn’t helping him much.

He tried to get lost in the various lights emitted from the buildings of the streets he could see. The air was cooler today, and the drizzling wasn’t helping the matter with how cold it was.

Garian watched the people caught under the surprise rain and running for cover. Some smart persons had thought ahead to bring umbrellas and remained safe under the rain.

Garian wasn’t complaining about the weather, though. The moist scent in the air was as much addictive as the bottle of alcohol in his hand.

The rain sound was drowned by the traffic, along with the occasional sound of dogs barking around. The crowd seemed to be decreasing in number quickly with the way it rained. None wanted to be caught in the rain and spend the next few days with cold or fever.

The kids, who might have been coming from their tuitions, for none of the parents will let them stay till this late otherwise, were huddling around under the bus stop. Garian’s flat was on the fourth floor, and it was easy to see the street and the roads this way.

This balcony had become like a sanctuary to him. Garian nowadays spent most of the nights here when he could not sleep with the pain clawing at his chest.

What caught his attention was a group of three kids who had decided to ignore everything and play in the rain.

One kid among them took a note from his bag and started making small paper boats and making them float on the nearby puddle.

The other two kids near him were trying to pull him up as they finally had enough with playing in the rain, but the kid with paper boats pulled them to play more.

Garian’s heart clenched, looking at that scene.

He turned away from the beautiful view of the city and leaned against the railing as the raindrops slowly soaked his back.

He closed his eyes, remembering the days Izetta forced him and Isandro to play with her in the rain.

She had loved rain as a child, and with the strict rules in the Verbena family restricting her of many things, she loved to play in the rain secretly.

Their school had been very near their homes, just a walk of fifteen minutes. Isandro had been going to school in the car, and Izetta walked to school while the servant accompanied her. But when he came into their lives, the three of them decided to go to school together and had agreed to buy a bicycle.

Even though he couldn’t afford even a bicycle at that time, not wanting to be a burden to his uncle, who had been taking care of him that time, Garian did all sorts of chores around the Verbena Mansion to buy a second-handed cycle at least.

He knew it wouldn’t be enough but had done everything he could to buy that. In the end, Isandro had brought him a cycle for his birthday. He had been embarrassed that his friends had to buy him a cycle. But Isandro had whacked his head, saying it was a gift and just to appreciate it.

After that, they went to school together for five years. And if it rained, Izetta sometimes stayed under the rain, pulling Isandro and him, making them to play with her.

They both didn’t know how to make paper boats, and it had been Garian who had taught them how to make paper boats and make them float for a while in the puddles. The look on Izetta’s face when he made the paper boat for the first time still stuck in his mind.

Her eyes were alight with happiness that it glowed under the rain.

His greatest happiness had been to make Izetta and Isaandro happy.

How simple and beautiful life had been!

Garian shook his head from the past memories, opened his eyes, and looked at his messy room.

Everything was lost….

His happiness, his meaning to live, his love, his child…

Everything had been taken away by her when she left him.

Two years had passed since that painful day, the day she had broken ties with him. Leaving him like it didn’t even matter.

He was twenty-seven now…

He had lost his entire life in these two years, hitting rock bottom sooner than he reached the top in this music industry.

Nothing was going right in his life.

The accident still haunted his nightmares.

He had been in the hospital for two months, recovering from the injuries and the surgery he had, to stitch where the glass pieces tore his neck a little and on his hands which he used to cover his face that night.

Everything happened so fast during the accident that he hadn’t known much details as he fainted due to blood loss. He has been in a coma for a few weeks because of his head injury and spent more weeks in recovery.

His accident news had made his fans sad and had also given him a long gap in the music field, making it easy for many people to forget him. He had been in such a complete mess that he couldn’t write any kind of song without thinking about her.

Isandro had been a wonderful manager and had managed to grab a side role in a movie named ‘Pain.’ That was the last he had done while being under the contract of CC.

CC had evicted him as he didn’t fetch any kind of income for the Clyde Company for over a year, and according to the contract he signed with them, they can make him quit.

He had done so without arguing with them about the unfairness, not wanting to waste any more energy on it. And they hadn’t charged him for anything with how he didn’t create any problems for them.

After leaving the apartment provided by CC, he had decided to buy a small house somewhere private to rest and then make a comeback. But imagine his shock and betrayal when he found his account almost empty.

Izetta….

Even now, Garian could feel laughter bubbling inside him at how ignorant and naïve he had been to trust her enough that he had given his cards and passwords to her.

~~“Do you not trust me with your money, Garian?”

“No, Iza. Whatever is mine belongs to you.”~~

She had smiled at him that day and had kissed him on his cheeks, giggling at the way his beard scratched her skin.

Trust? What trust?

In love, everything might seem nice, but when reality comes knocking on your door, you will find the actual value of money.

She had been spending his money from the start, it seemed.

Was that why she had wanted his account details and his card’s passwords? Garian really had been a fool to entrust everything to her.

Garian could have gone to her, but he doubted whether the security guards and media would leave him alone as she was one of the top singers in the world now, and her fan base was a hundred times bigger than him.

He cannot go and confront her, nor does he want to see her in the first place after realizing how she had betrayed him.

Isandro Jenkin, his other best friend who had been the manager to him, had also quit the Clyde Company without Garian knowing anything about it and had followed him to be his personal manager even though he could not give him any salary.

Garian had yelled and argued with Isandro for wanting to be in a sinking ship willingly. Isandro had yelled right back, saying that he could not leave his friend when he was not in good condition and questioning Garian if he would have left Isandro if their situation was reversed.

Garian couldn’t win with Isandro when he was in an arguing mood.

Yes, he wanted Isandro to be with him just like before but not to quit his well-earning job and follow him out of the company.

He had broken down knowing that Isandro had not only quit the job but had paid his medical bills, which were quite frankly very expensive with the surgery and the days he had stayed in the hospital.

Garian, fortunately, had a secondary account, which he had only opened due to the insistence on Isandro years back to divide his money and keep at least some of it in his secondary account for emergency purposes if his primary account was inaccessible in the future for some reason.

Garian had called the bank to delete his first account even though there wasn’t anything in it. He had then collected every money in the secondary account along with some he had kept as savings and paid back Isandro.

Isandro refused to accept at first, but Garian said that he could not face Isandro if he didn’t accept the medical bills he paid for him. Isandro had reluctantly accepted it.

The only thing left was the small flat he had brought to meet with her in secret years ago. He had relocated to this flat, even though it had a lot of painful memories. He didn’t want to come here but being on the road was worse than this.

The only thing that was positive in his life was his best friend Isandro, who was his neighbor, living in the adjacent flat.

Isandro had worked harder than any manager and had managed to grab three commercials for him over the year. And Garian had done his best, not wanting to waste the efforts of Isandro. He was the only one Garian had in his life, and he didn’t want to disappoint him when Isandro had sacrificed his job to be with him.

The salaries from the three commercials were what kept the bills paid. If not for them, he would have to look for another job.

Garian had even thought of looking for another job, but his face was well recognized, so it was impossible to get a job without media attention. Garian wished he had done some of the computer courses; if he had done that, he would have at least done some online jobs. But unfortunately, he didn’t have any talent other than singing and composing music.

Garian moved away from the railings, not wanting to look at the city anymore, and removed his shirt, which got soaked under the rain. He put his shirt on the clothesline to dry and picked one of the dried shirts from the clothesline and wore it, not wanting to catch a cold with the state he was in.

Garian slid the glass door of the balcony, not wanting anyone to see him even though it was nighttime. Not many knew he stayed here, and he liked the privacy.

Garian took a sip of alcohol, addicted to the burn in his throat, and sat on the small bed he had squeezed on one side of the balcony. He stayed here on this balcony most of the time, not wanting to go to the bedroom where he had spent many days with Izetta, had fun with her, had spent nights talking about things, and made love to her in the very room. He couldn’t go there without being assaulted by painful memories.

And when it seemed he slept at least a little better in the balcony, he brought a small bed and made a space for it here where he can watch the outside, and none can see the inside when the glass door is closed.

He closed his eyes as he sipped more and more alcohol from the bottle.

The streets descended slowly into silence with the disappearing traffic and people going to their homes.

He could hear the sound of rain clearly, unlike before.

The gentle pattering of raindrops was music to Garian’s ears, and his hands itched to play his piano.

Izetta twirled around when he tried to catch up with her dance moves when they were alone in the dance studio, practicing the dance for their movie, A beautiful Love. Her twinkling laughter, her sparkling eyes, and reddening cheeks mesmerized him too much that he leaned in for a kiss. She twirled away with a smirk, her eyes challenging him to catch up with her.

Garian opened his eyes and emptied the bottle in his hand, coughing when he drank too much in one go. It was the third bottle this night, and he hated the alcoholic he had become.

“I love you, Garian. Only ever you.”

Fuck…

Her words echoed in his mind, making it hard for him to breathe.

Why can’t she leave him alone?

Why the hell she can’t leave him alone?

Her memories were haunting him every second, not giving him a moment of peace.

It has been two years, and he cannot still forget about her.

Garian tried to concentrate on the sound of rain which had inspired him to compose a piece of music on the piano. The thought of piano was like an arrow to his heart. He had to sell it to pay Isandro back. He had sold his piano and guitar to get the money he needed.

Now he cannot compose any music, not because he lacks musical instruments but because he cannot think of anything related to music without thinking about her.

His constant intake of alcohol and his addiction to it had made him a little fat, making him lose his six-packs and loosening his muscles. Granted, he had gone to Gym and followed diet only because CC had insisted on it to attract fans. But he loved maintaining his body and remaining healthy.

His recovery time had also kept him in bed, not giving him any time to work out or anything. He had failed in maintaining his body and now couldn’t write any songs, let alone sing anything. Who would want a singer like him when there were hundreds of talented people in this music industry?

It was no wonder he had reached the bottom sooner than other people.

Many of them had forgotten him; his fans had moved onto other new famous singers, not that he blamed any of them. He didn’t like whom he had become then how could he expect anyone to like him?

He had deleted all his social media accounts after reading too many hate comments and how some described his body, calling him fat and all, going so far as to criticize his songs and voice.

Garian cursed himself, wanting to smash his head for becoming like this.

It was not as if he didn’t recognize how he had become. He realized the state he was in. He doesn’t want to stay like this too.

He wanted to forget about Izetta, who didn’t even have the decency to come and look at him once, at least to know how he was after the accident. It was not as if she wouldn’t have known with how it was all over the media two years back.

She hadn’t even texted him once, asking how he was or how his injuries were.

Yes, they had broken up, but they weren’t just lovers. They had been best friends since childhood. He didn’t know how she could just not care about him like this.

He didn’t want to ruin his life for a woman like her. He wanted to forget everything and move on.

Yes, he wanted to change, but his heart was chained by the chains of pain and betrayal, rooting his feet on the ground, not letting him fly freely.

He wanted to move on, but his entire life, almost twenty years, was spent with her, and she was in his every memory that he could not just throw her away.

To think Izetta of all people had betrayed him hurt Garian the most.

Garian laughed all of a sudden at the thought of memories.

What memories?

The memories that were hazy in his mind except for the things that happened a few years back.

Yes, his memory was not alright. His mind was in a hazy state most of the time. It was not because of the alcohol.

All his earlier memories were a blur in his mind.

Why?

Because there had been drugs in his blood for many months.

It was diagnosed when he was admitted to the hospital after the accident. Thankfully, the doctor didn’t release this information out due to the patient’s confidentiality contract Isandro had made him sign before treating him.

The news was very shocking to both him and Isandro. How was it possible for harmful drugs to be present in his body?

He had taken alcohol on many occasions before his accident but had never once entertained even the thought of taking drugs in his entire life.

The doctor had told him about the harmfulness of taking that Drug X regularly. It had begun to disintegrate his memories slowly.

At first, he didn’t believe it, but Garian couldn’t remember most of his childhood memories and only a few of them. But what was more alarming was how he could not recognize many people when Isandor questioned Garian.

It was scary to come to terms with the fact that his memory was not as it is. And the doctor had informed them that the drug had been taken regularly, and the only person he had been in close contact with, other than Isandro, was Izetta.

To think she would drug him has been unbelievable to come to terms with, but eventually, he had accepted the truth of what had happened to him.

She had been manipulating him and had used him then thrown him away as she finally got bored with him and had become more popular now that she didn’t need him anymore.

The one good thing in this was that they had found that drug X was in his body and had started the treatment to remove the traces of it from his body. Some of the memories had come back to him like flashbacks in movies, just as the doctor had told him about.

Doctor Hambet was an elderly beta who had helped a lot in his recovery. He had told Garian not to worry about the sudden onslaught of memories as it was normal, and his brain was gaining his memories back. It was hard at first, but eventually, he has gotten used to the memory episodes his mind goes through on occasions.

Isandro had been livid and wanted to meet Izetta and fight with her for him, but Garian had stopped him, not wanting even to meet her. Let her go.

He was done with her in his life.

Doctor Hambet had advised him to meet a psychiatrist and deal with his painful memories. Garian can barely afford to buy the expensive medicines he must take daily to erase the traces of drugs in his body; he doesn’t have that much money to find a decent psychiatrist. Even if he did, the chance of his private life and painful memories being leaked in media kept him from going to a psychiatrist.

His body might be used to that drug, it seemed, as it was craving alcohol now to fill the absence of the drug, and he was weak to give in to that addiction.

His money was running out, and he could not be a burden to Isandro anymore.

He has gotten an invitation to attend the party held in a Cassino by CC. It was sort of a meetup with former members who were all worked under CC at one point and a chance to mingle and find contacts if possible.

Usually, Garian hated parties, but he could not think about his comfort and insecurity about his appearance.

Garian found nothing wrong with being fat or anything, but he was not healthy, and he didn’t want to risk getting any kind of disease with the way his body was gaining weight quickly and his addiction to alcohol. So he had grown insecure with his body over the months of what a person he had become.

But he cannot hide in this flat forever and watch the people on the street to pass the time.

Isandro, his dear friend, trusted him and his music a lot that he had quit his job. He cannot disappoint Isandro.

The party was his one and only chance to get any kind of work and to start a new journey in his life.