Fire And Desire

A BRUSH WITH DEATH

Of all the times to go to another event, it had to be the night of her mother leaving the rehabilitation center. Rhian had called Gia to accompany her to a charity event taking place at the opulent side of town.

Her first reaction was reluctance to go, preferring to stay the night in with her little sister and her mum who was now clean after years of substance use. But her best friend had called, and she couldn’t find it in her to say ‘No.’

Right from the time of their meeting when they were just ten years olds in a parking lot, Gia owed most of what she had now to Rhian. From the Hult family footing her education expenses, to providing her a stable job, Rhian and her family had been Gia’s lifeline.

Now she couldn’t possibly refuse just a simple favor from her best friend.

So she had dolled herself up, picked a chic dress for the night and left for the charity event in a cab, promising her family she would be back as soon as possible.

Although that was not the case, because she was at present stuck on the highway, running late as she tried to get an uber or another cab.

Yet it seemed impossible because all the forces in the universe were against her at that moment.

And when she was about to give up, her phone rang in her hand. “Hey, where are you?” Rhian’s exasperated voice came from the other end of the call, asking her whereabouts.

Gia looked around for an indication of where she was stuck at—a street name or something that could help. But there was nothing, “I honestly don’t know where I am.”

“What do you mean?”

“The cab I hailed broke down, and we’re stuck in the middle of the highway,” she replied, trying not to panic but failing at the attempt. “Okay, here’s what we’ll do. I have your location, just hold on, I’ll send Luca to you now.”

Gianna let out a sigh of relief, her heart rate returning to normal “thank you!” She said, then the call went dead. For minutes, she sat in the passenger seat of the cab, with the driver beside her.

According to him, he was waiting for toll service and apparently, didn’t care if she got to her location or not.

They waited together for another extra thirty minutes before she saw a black Jeep pull up to the opposite side of the road. She had seen that Jeep enough times to know who it belonged to, the Hult’s family.

So, without wasting time she didn’t have, Gia quickly alighted the stagnant cab, the cab driver made a snide remark about her which she ignored, and proceeded to a waiting Luca.

He was one of the men who had seized her at the supermarket lot Sixteen years ago, and even after she became close friends with his boss, he didn’t soften towards her a bit.

If she was being honest, none of it bothered her, as long as they stayed out of each other's way, she was good.

Gia was putting her phone into the small clutch in her grip, absentmindedly crossing the empty road which she had checked beforehand.

But she had missed an oncoming car which was going at a decent speed. It was the blaring horn that jolted her from her thoughts, her head snapped to the headlights of the vehicle, somehow making her stay rooted in the spot.

She held her body, bowing her head as she waited for the impact.

While she stood there waiting, Gia slowly accepted that this was it, the night her mother got back to normal, she was going to die. And strangely, it didn’t matter much.

Because she had fulfilled her purpose, saved enough money to get her sister through college and she was almost certain that there’d be more left to cater for her mum.

This little feat made her happy, and if death came, she would gladly follow.

As she waited for her imminent demise in the form of the hard impact of a car crushing her small body, it never came. Only bright lights shining ahead that temporarily blinded her vision.

Gianna raised her head, using her hand to shield her eyes from the light, though it did little to help. She turned to her side, and saw something— someone, standing there and glaring at her with hard eyes.

The intensity of his gaze made her stumble back a bit, as well as the harshness in his voice when he asked. “Are you trying to get yourself killed?”

She was partially in shock, and temporarily lost in his overwhelming aura.

While it was dark, and he was backing the bright light of his car, Gia wasn’t able to see much of him, except how tall and muscular he stood compared to her.

“I—I didn’t see it,” she stammered, as the Jeep she was supposed to be in blasted its horn in annoyance. Damn Luca!

“Clearly,” the man said with a sharp voice before retreating to his car. Gia watched his muscular back, the way he carried himself around like he owned the highway.

After staring the stranger down until he disappeared into the backseat of the car, she didn’t need to be horned at once more.

So she crossed the distance between where she stood in the middle of the road and the black Jeep waiting for her. Exhaling shakily, while trying to regain her composure as the black car sped past her in the direction she was headed to.

From where she stood on the pavement, she saw the cab driver, smirking at her from across the road. The sight of him made her cheek heat up, from embarrassment, anger, fear, she didn’t know which and didn’t wait around to find out.

Gia climbed into the passenger seat of the Jeep, settling into the thick leather interior of the vehicle. “Miss Hult sent me to get you and surely not deliver you in pieces,” Luca said with a clipped tone, after a few minutes of tense silence.

She was annoyed at his words, but bit back a sharp retort and decided to focus on the Charity event she didn’t know much about. And the fact that she had welcomed the idea of death and being so comfortable with it.