LOST ROSE

6

-2 years later, Bella's POV-

"That's what friends do for each other, right?"

"That hurt, y'know. It still hurts, you jerk." I mumbled, crossing my arms after wiping my tears away.

Since then, I never saw him again. Neither heard of him. It's been 2 years. I wonder if he forgot about me. About that one stupid and curious Bella.

I had only one request. And it was him to help me with my new steps. With my new start. I needed some money to graduate.

I may sound so ridiculous and like those gold-diggers. I swear I am not. I never really paid attention who exactly he was, how rich he was. Only Antonio could help me. And he told me that he'd help me after I leave his side.

In the end...I only had him.

A new beginning? New start? He told me to forget about him. How, when I still can smell his roses scent? Even now I do. And it's irritating me.

I always felt him near. Near me. Sometimes behind me. And gosh, I was even feeling him in my room at night. Was he really there? Or did I want him to be? How badly I wanted him to be there.

Gosh, how badly I wanted it. But I am a no one, right? I bet he forgot about me and continued with his life. He probably moved on. He clearly did.

I just miss him. I miss him so much that it hurts.

After all the time that has passed, I still find myself missing him every minute of each hour, each hour in a day, every single day of each week, every week of the month, and every month of the year.

I close my eyes and see him there. But when I open them and see nothing there, I start crying. My heart starts bleeding. And it becomes hard to breathe. I'm screaming his name. I'm freezing. All alone.

I miss him so much that I am jealous of the people that get the chance to see him every day. I wonder if he misses me as much as I miss him. I miss his voice. I miss his touch. I miss his face and I miss-

Do you see? That's how much I miss him. I could talk for hours about him. About someone, I knew for such a short time. He changed my life. He was my angel and ...friend. But more. He was the one, who showed me how it feels to fall in love. I never, really never was in love with someone.

I hated being around people. Yes, a poor waitress can really hate her customers. It ...it's not their fault for being hated. It's mine. I never could accept people so easily. I just suck at it.

Knowing that he told me to leave with no intent ever to return had come over me in tiny droplets of realization spread over the 2 years. And each droplet of comprehension brought its own small measure of hurt. He had wished me well in finding my own fate to follow, and I never doubted his sincerity.

But I knew. It was my fault. I was too curious and too stupid. Why? Why couldn't I just listen to him? Why couldn't I take it seriously? Was it hard? It was supposed to be easy. It was...but it wasn't.

Maybe he told me to leave for my safety. Maybe it was because of his gang...no, I mean his family. They would hate me for breaking that rule. For not listening and behaving. Maybe they would have killed me.

Or maybe it was Antonio himself, who couldn't look into my eyes anymore. I disappointed him too many times. He warned me. He did. He told me that he won't be able to forgive me if I break another rule. And I broke the biggest one. Great!

Anyway.

I graduated and started a business. A big business. With my fire-

"Bella, my love~" A soft voice sang after entering inside my office. I turned around and immediately smiled.

"Jay~" I chuckled and he hugged me, I hugged him back. We pulled back and he put his hands inside his pockets, tilting his head to the side.

"You cried?" He asked me and I laughed.

"Again?" He pursed his lips and sighed.

"I didn't cry. Not...this time. But Jay, when is that party you talked about?" I asked, sounding quite uninterested about it.

He hummed and sat on my desk...right in front of my face. Since I was already sitting on my chair, he decided to sit right in front of me. Damn.

"Tomorrow at 10 pm. Did you buy a dress? Because if you didn't, don't worry. I have one for you." He suddenly waved a box...a very big box in front of my face. I took it and glared at him.

That one party, it was Jay, who planned it. All important people from all over the world will come he said. And he told me that he had a special surprise for me.

First, let me introduce you, my fiancé:

Jay Wilson was my friend. Just my friend. We graduated together and he offered me something. He wanted me to act as his girlfriend in front of his family and I didn't have a choice. He was just too good at the rock-paper-scissors game. It was only for one dinner and he wanted to prove to his parents that he was straight.

He wasn't...straight.

And then we were playing the 'truth or dare' game. I, of course, chose dare since I wanted to look y'know...cool and not afraid of doing the craziest or ridiculous thing in the world.

But I did.

We both got engaged. Of course, he offered me more. It was a give and take.

Jay was born on May 2, 1995. He has one younger sister and his step-father is the CEO of an IT company that deals with semiconductors. His sister is really kind and knows that her brother is into males. In fact, she's covering him.

I opened the box and looked at the dress. I stood up and took the dress in my hands, tried to see how it looks like. But there was no end. Is he crazy?! It must've cost like seriously a lot!

"Jay! How am I supposed to wear this dress? What if someone steps on it and ...it'll be a waste! I told you to use your poor parent's money like a good son! You're not in your right mind!" I quickly put the dress back in the box and smacked his head. He groaned and let out a whimper, looking with his so cute puppy eyes at me.

"Bella..." He tried to touch me, but I avoided it.

"And why a red one after all?! Why a red dress?! RED DRESS!" I raised my voice, feeling like vomiting only by looking at the color.

"Because of red suits you the best. I want you to show everyone there what a goddess you are, Ms. soon-to-be Bella Wilson. And that dress really cost me a lot. I won't send it back." He said in a serious tone and walked to me. I was literally running from him.

"You know that I hate red!"

"I know. And I know that you hate roses. I know it all. I know everything about it. Really. Everything."

Ugh... yeah. He knows about Antonio. And he knows that I still have feelings for him. That's why maybe he was so overprotective sometimes.

"Just try the dress. For me." He whined, pouting. He took the box and handed it to me, making me roll my eyes.

"f**k you." I took the box and he giggled, kissing my cheek excitingly.

-Antonio's POV, 2 years ago-

I was sitting. Just sitting, having a bottle of whiskey in my hand. It was the 2nd bottle. I finished the other one. I wondered when they'll arrive. It's been 2 days since she left. They are supposed to arrive today. My ...family.

My chair was right in the middle, waiting for the door to open. It was dark. So dark.

I was waiting for them to enter inside and ask what happened and why Sara didn't greet them today.

She broke Sara. She broke her voice. My mom's voice. I put so much effort to create her voice. I wanted to still listen to her voice. To my mom's voice.

I started to laugh. I didn't stop. And just then, the door opened. I bet they noticed. That's why they pressed the code instead.

And when they entered inside, I started to laugh louder.

"Noah! A demon!" Tedi screamed, jumping on his back. Probably scared. Because who wouldn't get scared when they hear my maniac-like laugh in the darkness? I would. Seriously.

"Ted, stop. I told you to quit watching those demon videos. For me, it sounds like a witch." Noah slapped him. I couldn't see their faces, but moves. Their form. Shadow.

One of them walked closer to me, taking the bottled whiskey from my hand. He tried. He couldn't. I was holding tightly the bottle and drank more.

I wanted to make the pain disappear. I wanted it to hurt lesser. With the help of alcohol.

"Antonio." It was David.

"Let go," I warned him after he pulled the bottle from my mouth.

"Stop drinking. You need to take a shower. When was the last time you showered, Vera?" David asked me, rubbing his nose with one hand while his other one was holding my bottle.

"I said ...LET GO!" I pulled the bottle and hit it against my chair, breaking it. With the mission of hurting David. And I did.

"Someone turn the lights on for god's sake!" I heard George yelling. Aiden was whimpering. And when Noah turned the lights on, we saw David.

David's face covered with blood. His nose and cheek were bleeding. And the scar I left behind was big. It ruined his face. But I didn't feel guilty or sorry. I smirked and started laughing again.

Andreas ran to David and carried him in a bridal way, laying him on the couch. David was literally screaming in pain. The blood wouldn't stop.David was covering his face, crying loudly as the pain got stronger and more painful. Almost unbearable.

"It hurts!" David cried and I saw Gabriel dialing a number. Probably an ambulance.

And yet, I didn't feel anything.

-

We all were in hospital. Waiting for the doctor to arrive. I was sitting now on the floor, hugging my knees. They all were glaring at me.

"What the f**k just happened, Vera? Why...why did you?" George asked, looked sternly at me.

"And where's Bella?" He asked and I tilted my head to the back, looking at the ceiling. Did he have to mention her name?

"Leave. All of you. I don't need you anymore. I can deal with things alone. Or you know what? I'll just leave!" I said coldly, ready to stand up and leave.

"No, you can't. You can't do anything without us. You sick bastard. We f*****g raised you. We were like a family. You hurt David. And now, you're hurting us with your words. How far do you want to go?" Ronaldo asked and Gabriel scoffed.

"David was right. Bella ruined everything. She changed you, Vera. Just look at what is happening. All because of that stupid whore." Gabriel pointed out and I chuckled, gritting my teeth.

"Don't call her that!" I said in a brittle voice, furrowing my eyebrows. Gabriel looked at me and took a deep breath.

"BUT THAT'S EXACTLY WHAT SHE IS!" He raised his voice and I stood up walking to him and punching him hard. He landed on the floor and I got above him, pulling him from his collar. George was trying to pull me away from him. But it was impossible. Not in the state I was right now.

"She's not a w***e! She was so much more! So much more!" I barked at him.

My heart was hurting. Hurting like hell. I could swear I was hearing her voice and giggles. I was seeing her beautiful green eyes and a cute smile.

"Kd..." Gabriel's lip started bleeding, he looked up at me with an amused smirk.

"What was she to you? You..." His eyes turning dark. "There's no way you've fallen for that slut. You can't end up being weak." He laughed.

This is not me.

I am not weak.

I would never.

I shook my head and moved from Gabriel, covering my face and starting to cry. What was happening to me? With me? I hurt David. I punched Gabriel. I raised my voice to them. I hurt them.

Just because of her.

I hate her for changing me to what I am now. I want to forget her. To erase her. I hope I'll never see her again in my life. Because I won't be able to stop myself. I won't be able to control myself.

Bella...we better don't cross paths again.

-2 years later-

'An invitation for JJK from JS'

"Sounds interesting." I scoffed, throwing the invitation somewhere in my car and heading to a suit store.

"How can u refuse to your lips?"

Again, her voice. I let out a whimper.

"Get out of my head!" I shouted, my grip on the steering wheel tightening as I drove faster. But she was still there.

It's just that a part of me missed her.