Painful Love

Chapter Four (Part I)

When Alexei got back to the penthouse, Zarah was the first one to notice him and her heart stopped when she saw the bloodstain on his neck. She jumped up and ran to him, and pulled him into a room. "Take off your shirt," she said.

"We have been here before," Alexei said with a smug look. Zarah walked up to him and ripped his shirt off, and when she finally was able to take it all off, she showed him the bloodstain. Alexei looked at the bloodstain on the shirt like it was something foreign. "I'm usually clean," he said, and Zarah's heart sped up. 'He is a f*****g murder,' she thought to herself. Avoiding him now would only raise suspicions. She took a deep breath and pulled him to the bathroom. Standing in front of the mirror, she stood behind him and tilted his head to the side so he could see the rest of the blood on the side of his neck. Alexei looked at her through the mirror, and he didn't like the eyes that he met. It wasn't judgment, nor was it fear. It was almost as if she was disappointed in him, but he wasn't quite sure. "I can explain," he said, still looking at her through the mirror. She faked a smile and said, "you are Alexei Popov. You never explain yourself."

When she opened the door, it was deja vu all over again. Everyone was pretending to straighten up. "I'm leaving," she announced. When she stepped forward to step out of the room, Alexei emerged outside the bathroom shirtless. "f*****g slut!" Suzy said, but Zarah didn't stop and continued to walk to the door. "Zarah, please!" Alexei ran after her, and everyone followed suit. When she opened the door, she turned around and looked at him and then at Ha-Neul, and with a sad look, she smiled as tears streamed down her face. She ran for the elevator. Ha-Neul tried to run after her, but Marce stopped him.

"Well, aren't you going to go after her?" Alexei shouted at Marce.

"You want me to run after another woman while my woman is right here?" He asked with a serious tone but seeing her face, he knew she needed to be alone. He learned about her nonverbal cues. She never says anything when she is upset or sad. He has known her for three years now, and she never once leaned on his shoulder when she cried, she always wanted him to see the good, but she pushed him away when it came to the bad. There were times that he considered himself a bad friend, but she would assure him that he was not and that everyone was different, that everyone dealt with their problems differently, and that he shouldn't feel guilty because of her decisions. He pulled Sofi inside, and he poured shots. The two men refused to drink, but the rest did shots and laughed and had fun.

Getting back at her apartment, she took a shower, lay on the bed, and started crying. The one that raised her was not quite a loving person. The woman was never home, and the men that went in and out of the house had sick, sick fantasies that they experimented on a 5-year-old girl. Her nightmares were starting to make sense. Growing up, she had never had friends, people who stuck around for a long time, and that's why she decided to become a writer and made a very good living for herself, but with every book she wrote, she never put her real name on the book. She was too ashamed of her past and feared that they would find out about her past once people knew who she was. She used to hate her scars, but she came to embrace them. Some days it was a struggle, but she was a work in progress. She was going to spend the rest of her life with the body she had. She might as well learn to love it no matter how hard it was. She got up and pulled out her computer, and for the first time, she got the password right. It was the name of the airport that she met Ha-Neul. Reading the books that she wrote, she was impressed by herself. She laughed and cried as she read book after book, and before she knew it, the birds were chirping, and the sun had already risen.

Looking at the clock, it was almost 8:30. She had turned the cellphone off when she got home, and as she looked at it, she didn't feel like turning it back on. She had a feeling that she would hear a door knock if she stayed in all day, so she got off the bed, went and got ready, and out of the apartment she went. She called Lyft and went to rent a car, and drove to the mountains. She went and saw a waterfall, did cross bowing, and even rode a horse. When she got home, it was extremely late, the clock was hitting 3am, and she was so tired. When she opened the door, she had a feeling that someone was in the apartment already, but the lights were still off. After the incident, she put a baseball bat by the door and at each corner of the apartment because although it has been just about two years since she heard anything or saw anything suspicious, she wanted to be prepared. Closing the door very slowly, she picked up the baseball bat, and she started swinging it and PAH! she heard. She turned on the lights, and Ha-Neul was on the floor, bleeding at the corner of his eye. She was frozen in place for a second, and when her senses came back, she walked up to him, "up! Up! Up! We are going to the hospital." They rode to the hospital in silence as she drove like a crazy woman. She drove Ha-Neul's car. When they got to the hospital, Ha-Neul was bleeding severely, and the towel Zarah asked him to put against the wound was soaked with blood. "It's a good thing that you brought him when you did, or else, he would have a blood clot and an inch closer, and he would've lost his vision. He has had a concussion. He is resting for now," the doctor said. "Don't worry, he's going to be okay. You can go see him," the doctor continued when he saw the look of concern on her face. She couldn't stop crying. Walking into the room, she found him sleeping with the soft beeping sound in the background. His left eye had swollen up so bad that it got completely shut, and it was blueish, blackish, and purple. Her heart sunk a little at the sight before her. "I'm so sorry," she whispered, and tears started streaming down her face. She stayed with him throughout the night, holding his hand as she sat beside the bed. She couldn't sleep. The only thing she did was watch him. "You need to go home and get some rest," the nurse that was attending to him told her, and she just sat there like a statue. "Get your filthy hands off him," Suzy shouted as she walked into the quiet hospital room the next evening and went straight for Zarah and pushed her off the chair. The nurse was already out of the room for her to witness anything. Zarah got off the floor and went to sit in the corner of the room. "Get out and go away!" Suzy shouted, but Zarah sat in place. The nurse came inside at the loud noise. "Ma'am, please lower your voice. There are other patients," the nurse said to Suzy, who in turn scoffed. "Well, then you can tell that b***h to leave," she said, pointing at Zarah. The nurse turned around to look at Zarah and back at Suzy, "she can't leave," she said as a matter of fact.

"Why not?" this time, Suzy had put her hands on her waist.

"Because she's his wife."

"What?!!! Wife!!!" Suzy screamed.

"Ma'am, I'm going to ask you to leave," the nurse said and went closer to her to assist her out of the room. "Get your hands off me," Suzy pulled her hand away from the nurse. She looked at Zarah, and she shook her head. She looked like a zombie as she stared at Ha-Neul. Later at night, Ha-Neul woke up, and Zarah watched as the doctors and nurses rushed to check on him. She hadn't moved a muscle. When everyone left, Ha-Neul looked around the room, and when he finally saw Zarah sitting at the corner of the room, he got off the bed and went to sit next to her on the couch. "Zarah!" he said and reached for her hands. She started to cry. "I could've killed you," she whispered. "I'm no different from him."

"Different from who?" Ha-Neul tried to ask, but he didn't get a response. She was crying hysterically. "I'm so so sorry, Ha-Neul. I never meant to hurt you, if I knew...." she went on saying.

"I know! I know Zarah. You were only trying to protect yourself. I'm okay."

"How can you be okay when you can't see out of one eye?" Zarah asked, still crying.

"Temporarily, please stop crying," Ha-Neul said with a begging voice as he brought her to his chest. Marce was standing at the door, and he couldn't help but feel jealous. She had never done that with him, and he had seen her cry more than he could count, and at times, she wouldn't know that he was watching. He felt cheated on. He pushed the door and walked into the room. He gave Ha-Neul a head nod as a greeting, and he got the same in return. Pulling a side table and a chair closer to them, he set the food on top. Zarah looked at Marce and smiled, she mouthed a soft thank you, and they started eating in silence. A couple of days later, when Ha-Neul was discharged from the hospital, he requested to stay at Zarah's apartment, claiming that a hotel was not the most comfortable place to recover.

Of course, he fought with Suzy, and although Suzy was not happy about it, he won. For the next week, everyone came by her apartment, some used it as an excuse to see her, and some just wanted to hang out. Either way, people were in and out of the apartment every day, and she didn't seem to like it. She didn't mind; however, she felt like her privacy was taken away. When someone asked what happened, the two would look at each other and say nothing. Ha-Neul wanted to protect her because he knew that if Suzy found out, she would definitely press charges, she has her way of doing things, and given the situation that he had put her in, she was trying everything to get rid of Zarah.

"We have to go back home," Suzy said one night when everyone was gathered together. "You said we would be here for a week." His eye was healing very well. You could still see some discoloration, but other than that, it was back to normal.

"There was never we, I did you the courtesy of telling you to which you book a ticket. I never asked you to come with me," Ha-Neul said with a rude tone.

"You are being a bit harsh," Marce spoke up. "But it's sexy, though," Sofi chimed in.

"You really need to stop calling my friend that. It's starting to get uncomfortable," Marce said, turning to Sofi.

"You never had a problem with me expressing..." Sofi said with a frown.

"I know I haven't, and I'm not asking you to change yourself." Marce tried to explain, but how did he explain that he was feeling jealous.

"Come on, get up. There's something wrong, and I need to know about it. Excuse us," Sofi said when she noticed a look of distress. She had always been told that she wasn't wife material, but Marce was the only man she had ever met that treated her like a woman, even when she was acting otherwise and good people don't come by very often, so it's best to hold onto them for dear life. She met Zarah's eyes, and she smiled at the approval smile as she watched them get up together. Zarah was the other person in her life that she was growing to like. She never showed any jealousy or resentment towards her for no reason. If anything, she encouraged and made her feel good about herself, but she didn't even know that she was doing so. The first time she met her at the club, she had heard a lot about her from Marce before then, but when she met her, she instantly knew why Marce liked her so much. She was such a diamond. She always shined. It would be a lie if she said she wasn't a tad bit jealous of her.

"Well, you are feeling better now. Perhaps Suzy is right," Zarah spoke. She didn't want him to go but spending time together in such proximity made her feelings for him grow more and more. Whenever she saw him sit next to Suzy, it reminded her how far apart they were. He belonged to someone else, and she could only hope that one day she would find someone that would love her as much as she loved him, and she would be able to return the love. She felt someone looking at her, and she turned to be met with dark eyes. Alexei was looking at her. She smiled at him involuntarily, and he looked dazed. She noticed that he was quiet for the past few weeks, he would be there, but he wouldn't say much. Given what he does for a living, she often wondered what he was doing hanging out with the rest of them.

It was Monday morning, and everyone was gathered at some five-star restaurant for breakfast. Sofi said that she wanted to cheer up Marce and since his favorite meal was breakfast, he requested everyone to be there at 9am. Zarah was actually surprised to see Suzy there; when Ha-Neul went to the hospital, she was the first person she called; however, she didn't show up till late evening the next day. There was tension around the table, but she was more worried about Marce. It was his favorite restaurant, and yet he was barely touching the food, let alone talking. He seemed off, and she watched painfully as Sofi tried everything to seduce him and make him feel good, but to no avail. Zarah got off her chair, which captured everyone's attention except Marce's, and walked to where he was sitting.

"I am so so sorry, Sofi," she said and proceeded to pull Marce's chair from the table, and when it was out enough, she placed her legs on either side of his and sat on his lap. "You said you'd tell me anything if I ever sit on your lap in public. I am extremely uncomfortable, so I'm really going to need you to keep the end of your bargain." Putting her hands on either side of his face, she lifted his head up. She nodded her head to encourage him when he opened his mouth. "They canceled the deal. I know how hard you worked on it, and I tried to find a solution," sadly he responded. It took Zarah a minute to realize that he was talking about the real estate deal she had canceled with the people she had been working with for 8 months. She had gotten another deal with Mr. Smoke, an old man looking to extend his business. Getting off his lap, she went back to her seat and took her bag before heading outside as Marce called her name. She came back inside a moment later, looking extremely angry.

"Give me your keys," she said to Alexei.

"But you don't have a license," Alexei said hesitantly.

"What?! She doesn't..." Ha-Neul spoke up, shocked.

"Give me the f*****g keys, Popov," she said more firmly, and Alexei slowly pulled the keys out of his pocket. She snatched them out of his hand and headed outside.

"What are you doing sitting there?!" Marce shouted as he followed behind. Suzy rolled her eyes as she watched the three men go after her. When she opened the car doors, all three of them got in. Turning the ignition on, everyone jerked forward because she slammed on the gas so hard. "Zarah slow down, for f**k's sake!" Marce, sitting at the front seat, said as he was hanging on to the grab handle for dear life. "Where are we going?" Alexei shouted from the back. "I have no f*****g clue. All I know is she's pissed!" Marce shouted back. After 10 minutes, the car came to a halting stop, and everyone let out a deep breath, but they couldn't rest for long because before they realized it, she was out of the car and into the building. Going up the 21st floor, she went through the elevator when the double doors opened. "Ma'am, you can't go in..." the petite lady at the reception couldn't finish before she pushed through the double doors, the three men still behind her only to find a man standing in front of the desk with his pants down and a woman sucking on his c**k with her naked back facing Zarah. She turned to the petite lady and asked, "where is Mr. Smoke?!"

"I am Mr. Smoke," the man replied, and when she turned back at him, he had his hand on the back of the woman's head, holding her still and making what she assumed to be a cumming face. She watched as he pulled his pants up and went behind his desk. She looked calmed and collected, but Marce knew that she was a ticking bomb.

"I was expecting you. It's a shame you brought company," he said as if he knew who she was.

"Why did you cancel the deal?" Zarah asked.

"How about this, you go out on a date with me, and the deal is back on," the man spoke. Ha-Neul took one step forward, and to his surprise, Alexei stopped him.

"I need to talk to Mr. Smoke, the old man."

"No can do, unbeknownst to the world, the old man's time is ticking," the man said casually.

"And I assume that you are the bastard son," Zarah said with a sarcastic smile.

"We had a deal, Mr. Smoke. It would be wise to cancel at least three months in advance, not a week before the project is supposed to start."Marce spoke.

"That's not my problem, and the way I see it, I am doing you a favor. Very simple, one date, and the deal is back on." The man said, leaning back while putting his feet on the huge desk. Zarah c****d her head to the side and studied him. His face was familiar. She bit her lip as she was trying to think where she knew him from, and with a lightbulb on top of her head, she remembered. He was the guy from outside the club. She smiled.

"See, that wasn't so bad, was it now," the man said upon seeing the smile on her face. Marce walked up to Zarah to see the smile on her face, and he got chills. "You are dead, my friend. DEAD!" Marce said to the man emphasizing the last word as he crossed his hand across his neck. Zarah pulled her phone out, and a second later, a phone ringing was heard in the room.

"Oh, Zarah! Long time," came a raspy old voice through the speakerphone.

"Mr. Walker, how are you this morning?"

"Absolute delighted. How are you, dear?"

"I bring you bad news," shuffle was heard through the phone before Zarah continued. "It's about the merger."

"Yes, what about it?" his tone was more serious now.

"Unbeknownst to the world and according to Mr. Smoke's son, the news is that the old man is on a countdown, and the young Smoke is running the company," Zarah said, looking at the man who has now sat up.

"It must have been sudden. This is news indeed."

"The young Mr. Smoke has canceled the Yin deal," She said, and there was silence for more than 10 seconds.

"That is indeed bad news. It's a shame really, Smoke worked so hard to revive the company. Thank you for letting me know. I'll go ahead and cancel the merger."

"I have already sent you the file with the list of other clients that would be beneficial for you. And as always, I appreciate you."

"You too, dear, and thank you." and the call got disconnected. Zarah walked up to the man's desk and placed both hands on the desk with a smile. Leaning forward and with a seductive voice, she said, "It's never a good idea to mix personal with business, and people are watching you now that you are at the top which means, so much depends on reputation, guard it. With your life." She knew that she had not only ruined a man's reputation, she might just as well ruin a company, but first, she needed to go apologies to the man who built it all.

She took a step back and shook her head no. Reaching for the driver's door, all three men slid in between her and the car shaking their heads. They put their hand out and said in sync, "I'll drive."

"I nearly passed out. I can't go through that again," Alexei spoke.

"You don't have a license. You'll go to jail," Ha-Neul followed.

"I just don't want to die!" Marce finished. Zarah went to open her mouth, but they all shook their head. She looked down, and sliding her tongue across her lips, she looked up at the three men. She nodded her head to agree and handed the car keys to Alexei. She pulled out her phone, but Alexei snatched it off her hands.

"You don't need to call a ride. I can drive you there."

"You don't even know where it is!" Zarah said a little too loud.

"You can give me the directions," Alexei replied.

"I don't have the address."

"Well, then how the hell were you planning on getting there," this time, Ha-Neul chimed in.

"I know how to get there from here."

"Fine! You can direct me." Alexei spoke again.

"Nope, that's a terrible idea. She couldn't be a GPS if her life depended on it," Marce spoke, shaking his head.

"But I thought she said....." Alexei didn't finish the sentence, and he didn't need to.

"She said she knows how to get there, not to direct you there," Marce replied to the unfinished question.

"Come on, it can't be that bad," Alexei said as he placed his hand on Zarah's lower back, guiding her to the passenger seat. When everyone was in and buckled up, he started the car. Zarah said it would take 30 minutes to get there, and they were now two hours in and no sign of getting there. Alexei kept on missing a turn or turning on the wrong way. Zarah would shout at him when he would miss a turn or try to hold the wheel when the turn was near. They nearly crushed. It was so hectic that everyone was sweating balls, and the driver was so focused on trying to follow the directions that he completely forgot that the AC existed. When they finally arrived, everyone was exhausted. They never knew driving could be so tiring. Getting off the car, she asked them to wait and that she would be right out. An hour later, she came out of the big house with an envelope in her hand. When she got in the car, she handed it to Marce.

"What's this?" He asked.

"Open it. He said it was his apology," Zarah said, and she turned back to look at Marce as he was opening it. She hadn't opened it, so she didn't know what was in it. When Marce took out what looked to be a check, his eyes went wide, and his lips hung so low that you could fit an enter mouse in his mouth. She took the piece of paper from Marce's hand and looked at it. "Holy f**k! Motherfucker what the actual f**k!!!" She squealed. She looked up at Marce and shook her head. "We can't accept this, we, I gotta take it back," she reached for the door, but Marce held her hand. "Why do you think he gave it to you in an envelope? Come on, Zarah, you know him better than anyone. He ain't going to take it back." She pounded over the words Marce said, although he was right, she couldn't help but feel bad. She looked at Marce and shook her head. She handed the piece of paper back to Marce and sat up straight on the front seat, and buckled up. Ha-Neul watched the two so did Alexei. It was as if it was just the two of them in the car while they were talking. They didn't know, nor were they informed on what was on the piece of paper, and they didn't ask. Alexei stopped the car at a local restaurant since they didn't get to eat their breakfast, and all four of them hopped out of the car and found their seat by the window. Out of nowhere, Zarah saw a hand reach for her drink, which was a glass of water, and SPLASH! She had water all over her. Looking up, she was met with Suzy with her hands on her waist. She was glad that it wasn't cold water. By now, everyone was looking at their table.

"I am so sick and tired of your fake innocence. He belongs to me! Me! Next time I will do more than splash water on you." Suzy said with a high-pitched voice. Suzy reached for Ha-Neul's hand, but Zarah beat her to it and placed her hands on his. She looked up at Suzy and smiled. "There won't be a next time. You know fully well that I am not doing anything to seduce him, your problem is with him, but you insist on putting me in the middle. Well, I can entertain you in your own circus." She put one of her legs on top of Ha-Neul's and leaned towards him. She put her hand beside his ear, and with her mouth close to his ear, she traced her tongue on his helix, which caused Ha-Neul to take a deep breath as he closed his eyes. Looking at Suzy, she wiggled her eyebrows once and said, "mmhhh, he liked it. Maybe you should try it sometimes." Suzy was livid. She was a bit uncomfortable because she was wearing quite a tight dress, and keeping her leg like that wasn't the most comfortable position, but if it's dirty that needs to be played, she can at least try. "GET YOUR f*****g HANDS OFF, MY MAN!!!" Suzy shouted.

"You still don't get it, do you?!" Zarah said, retrieving her leg and sitting up. "It's not me you should be fighting with because I guarantee you, if it wasn't me, it would be someone else, another woman. It's him," she finished as she turned to Ha-Neul, who was looking at her. Zarah took one last bite and stood from the chair. She extended her hand to Alexei, who in turn gave her his keys.

"What are you doing, man?!" Marce nudged him. As if retraced back to reality, Alexei looked alert. They followed her outside, and they watched as she opened the passenger door. Alexei and Marce frowned, and a couple of minutes later, she reopened the door and stepped out of the car with a sports bra on and short tights on that stopped just above her belly button. She walked past the two men and went to sit back at her table. Suzy was still standing by the table speaking Hangul to Ha-Neul. She called the waiter and ordered another food since the one on the table was covered with water. Alexei and Marce joined the three on the table. Pretending like Suzy wasn't there, Zarah sparked a conversation. Suzy left after a short while.

Zarah wondered how she knew where they were. When they dropped her off at her apartment, she had a package at her front door while walking up the stairs. Picking it up, it was wrapped in a gift box. She opened the door and went inside the apartment. She went into the kitchen and opened the fridge. She pulled a popsicle out of a box before closing the refrigerator. She headed to her room, took off her clothes, and took a shower. When she was done taking a shower, she came out of the bathroom and looked at the gift box sitting on her desk. She didn't order anything, and she couldn't think of anyone that would want to give her a gift. A thought crossed her mind that maybe just maybe, it was a bomb because someone wanted her dead. She really believed that someone still did, although there hadn't been ruckus for a while. She shook her head and lay her body on the bed.