PHOBIA 13

Not you too

As those lines escaped from his mouth, I was stunned, my phone fell from my hands, my throat felt dry, and uninvited tears trickled down my chin.

I gathered myself up and picked up the phone.

I could hear Hunters' voice from the other side " Alicia...."

" Not you too, Hunter." 

Flashback 5 years,

A Cafe in Manhattan, New York..

I had a paper in my hand, a contract, which would finally seal my fate. It was an absolute dream for me to become a supermodel and sign up with the Georgia Modelling House and here I am today.

I was sipping my usual Caffe Mocha and gazing at the paper with black studded ink, when my eyes fell on a boy almost the same as me. He had pure icy tousled hair, most of which swiftly fell on his forehead. He walked like he owned the world. 

As he was approaching, another waiter came carrying two glasses of hot chocolate and a croissant.

and "BAMMM". I heard a noise and closed my eyes, only later to find that the whole chocolate was dripping on me.

" Ahhhhhhhhhh!!!, what the f**k!, my contract paper... my paper" I cried out loud till that time everyone in the cafe was staring at me. Everyone had got their morning dose of amusement.

My grey suit is now covered with dark brown stains all over.

" I... I am so sorry, mate" A heavy Australian accent ran through my ears.

I looked up to find the same icy-haired guy standing in front of me with a distinct look of embarrassment lingering in his eyes.

" Here, lemme help cha" He said.

Anger, exasperation got the best of me, which led me to scream at him at the top of my lungs.

" Are you blind? My contract deal got all wasted because of your stupid behavior"

"Ummm... not sure, but are you talking about these? 

He held the perfectly untouched contract paper in his hands..

"Y... Yes... Thank you". I wished for the ground to pull me down from this embarrassment.

" No drama" he said and walked away.

I sprinted out of the cafe after paying off the cheque as fast as I could.

I hurried out of the cafe and ran to my car. Given my noticeable luck, I struggled with my car keys.

" You need help with that, mate?" It was the same guy from the chocolate catastrophe.

" No ima good" I snapped back at him.

" No worries" he said and walked past me the same way he did back in the restaurant.

He had Oud perfume on him, a specific perfume I was really addicted to.I could not help but inhale a fit of that smell.

I somehow managed to get into the car and drove away.

After an hour, I reached the Georgia Modelling House, the long building that I had only seen pictures of on Google was breathtaking in reality, a high-rise posh building adorned by expensive-looking ceilings and floors. Five black 2+2 seater cars, stunning models coming out of the entrance.

As I stepped in, I reached the reception area.

"Hello, How can I help you, ma'am?"

Someone spoke in a husky voice, with a similar Oud fragrance.

THE NEXT DAY (PRESENT)

I woke up the next day with a terrible headache splitting my thoughts into glass pieces. I managed to pull myself half up with the help of the wooden coffee table standing beside my drunk body. I tried to stand up, putting the entire weight on my legs. After 3 tries, I managed to get up. I slipped on my slippers, tied my robe and went on to check with Zara, even in my drunk condition I wondered if that i***t was okay or not. As I tried to walk, I stumbled over and fell on my face on the freezing floor. I placed my left hand on the wall and my right hand palm on the floor and pushed myself up. I walked to my room and- as usual, Sara was gone. The curtains were wide open, letting the sun peep in through the room and light it up, a beautiful sight indeed because the curtains always remain close, but it was painful for my hungover brain. I closed the curtains at a swift, pulled out my robe and wore a towel to take a shower.

forty minutes later,

I came out of the room, glanced a final time at the clock which signaled 9:00 am.

'Shoot! I am late for my meeting" I said and sprung towards the closet, quickly wore my ironed purple-colored fitted dress, quickly did my hair and makeup, took the car keys and sprang out of the house.

I went to the garage, seeing Mr. Davis, our sixty-year old neighbor, walking by me and giving one of those judgemental glances due to my short dress, I ignored him and ran towards my car and sat inside it.

On usual days, I would listen to some music, grab my coffee from Starbucks and sip it throughout the journey. But today, I will be lucky to have only reached there on time. After pressing the car horns a thousand times, and rapidly speeding my car, I reached the building by 9:30 am.

I ran to the elevator and pressed the down button several times, but as amazing as my fate is, there were tech glitches in the building, so I had to take the staircase to the 15th floor. Yes, sounds impossible, right? But, this work of climbing stairs would seal my fate forever, so I grabbed my bag and strutted upwards at superwoman speed. Halfway through, I felt that my legs were gone, my body was giving up on me when i felt a warm hand holding me up.

"You, what are you doing here?'' I said with spitting disgust all over my face.

"I came to give you the papers you left with me." He said.

''Keep them in my desk. I will check it out later." Trying to slide out of his large frame.

'' Where are you going in such a hurry? He asked me and slicked back his hair that was falling on his face.

"None of your business, please leave me alone."

"Just a reminder, you do know that the meeting was postponed, right?" He said

"What?" I was gobsmacked, all this effort for nothing.

"Yeah, I tried calling you ten times in the morning, but you never picked up."

"Oh shoot! I forgot my phone back at home." I said, slapping my forehead.

After a long silence, he said

"Wanna go grab some coffee? We need to talk."

"About what exactly?" My arms crossed, a visible frown on my forehead. I looked straight into his eyes.

"Mmmhhh..... I will tell you, but first we need to climb down and go across the street to PB&J's."

I am just saying yes cuz I am hungover as f**k.

He slightly chucked and then nodded. We climbed down in silence and I felt my heart thumping against those ribs loudly.

We sat inside PB&J's, typical plush peach interior with a pumped fragrance of fresh made apple pie and cakes.

The waiter came to take our order.

"I will take a think crust apple pie with peanut butter and strawberry whipped cream and a large triple strength coffee please."

The waiter turned towards him.

'And for you, sir?'

He looked at me and said,

"Same"

The waiter left, signaling that we had to address the elephant in the room. We were both as silent as were I could hear my pulses.

I decided to break the ice and said "So, when are you leaving?"

His expression changed into a very emotional sight. "Before that, I need to tell you why I am leaving."

"I am all ears."

"Alicia, we have been friends for years and these last couple of weeks I have been feeling a little disheveled."

"I feel like our friendship is turning into something else."

"Wait is it because of that night?" I asked, almost in the state of panic.

"Y..yes..." He stuttered

"I thought you were okay with it being just a one off."

"I initially was, I promise... But I don't think I can anymore."

I felt my anger rage in my veins and I shouted out

'' Then why the f**k are you leaving?"

He was taken aback by my out-of-character high pitch tone and calmed me down.

"Alicia, I know this is tough for you, it is even for me."

'' Thats why I have decided to leave"

"That was supposed to be our decision."

"No, it's not. You don't understand Alice."

"Ohh really, so its me now, huh?"

"Yes it is" he said calmly.

"Then why the f**k did you have to lie to me all these years"

"You want to know why?"

"Yes, I do"

"Okay, so hear it then- BECAUSE I AM MARRIED"

" You what," my hand grabbed his collar.

"Since how long?"

He fumbled and said lowly.

"A year now."

I took my bag and stood up.

"I am leaving and you were right. You should leave."

"Yeah, right, leave me like you should."

"What do you want me to do, huh? Grab your face and kiss you?"

"You have a wife for god's sake."

"I was forced to marry her, Alice."

"So what? Will you divorce her for me? Take out your ring?"

He didn't say anything except look down at the floor.

"There I got my answer."

"Goodbye Hunter.".. I said and left the cafe.