Her Fire

A gorgeous brunette wearing stilettos and a form-fitting black dress slides gracefully inside a parked luxury car in front of her house. As the driver closes the door and begins to drive away, she gives the handsome man inside a million-dollar smile and whispers in a sensuous voice. “Well, well… don’t you look dashing?” The blond man grins, his eyes hazy with desire as he looks at her from head to toe. “I may be starting my dinner early… as in right now, please…” He starts kissing her long neck where a strand of pearls nestles elegantly. She laughs. “At least offer me something to drink first, Mark.” “Tease.” He groans, adjusting his pants before turning to get their drinks. She licks her tongue provocatively. “You know I’ll make it worth your while.” “Oh baby, I know you will.” He hands her a glass of pink champagne, her favorite, unable to stop himself from caressing her thigh, intentionally exposed from the high slit on one side of the dress. “Cheers!” She moans at the sweet taste. “So, where are you taking me today?” She asks excitedly, glancing at the road outside, trying to guess the direction where they’re heading. He laughs. “You know that fancy new restaurant at the top of—” Her phone suddenly pings notification after notification as voice messages begin to flood in. She frowns. “Who could it be… oh.” She pales and almost drops her champagne flute when she reads the name of the sender. “What? Who is it?” She blinks, furiously trying to calm herself. She knew what she was getting into when she started this affair but the flutters in her stomach still bother her. She swallows as she puts the phone on the loudspeaker and plays the audio. "Hey, Jane? I'm Darago…Mark's… Darago, that is... You know who I am.” The man beside turns pale as well and he tries to grab her phone but she slaps his hand and glares at him. “I want to hear what she has to say.” She says firmly and Mark groans, cursing the other woman. “Listen, I'm not looking for a fight, I just wanted to… say a few things.” “Come on, Jane, just ignore her…I'll just make something up later to calm her down---she'll eat it all up, like always.” “I said, I want to listen!” She snaps and he sighs, turning away, sulking, like a sullen child. Jane presses the play button again. “Um, I saw your chats the other day… and um…I was just worried because…You see, his words were so familiar…I've heard them before… Those were the same ones he used to say to me…and I... I guess all I can say is wow.” The woman talking on the audio takes a deep breath. “I mean…Wow… I admit I did not see that coming.” Jane snorts. For someone supposedly so smart, having built a business empire from scratch and is now one of the thriving young entrepreneurs in the world, she can’t believe the woman can still be so naive. Mark is handsome and a born flirt. And Darago was often busy building their fortune. “Anyway…I guess you're wondering why I called…or, left a message…I wasn’t sure if you were going to take my call and frankly, I don’t really want to hear your voice. But then again, I suppose you're probably expecting this confrontation, perhaps later rather than so soon but uhm… maybe it's hardly a surprise for you since you've known all along that he's already with someone…and from what I've read, it doesn't seem to bother you so…I'm just going to cut to the chase.” The woman clears her throat. “You see, 'your sweet pie'...used to promise me the world too. Before we got where we are now, we were two young romantics... living in a studio apartment…barely making ends meet but still full of hopes and dreams. We were in love…or at least I thought so... It had seemed like we were destined to be together…and that made me brave…so I worked my a$$ off day and night and made our dreams come true.” Mark sneers. “What does she want, an applause!? She was never around anymore.” Jane rolls her eyes at his sorry attempt to save face, being arrogant and angry rather than ashamed and guilty. Typical narcissist. She shushes him and plays the next vocal message to listen, intrigued and rather fascinated at how the woman on the other side seems to be handling the situation. For a long time, Mark has always told her that his live-in partner is quiet and boring. Well, tonight, quiet-and-boring is proving him wrong. “Oh, I saw that he bought you expensive gifts and took you to exclusive places…I was impressed too, actually… all those romantic gestures…didn't know he had it in him, to be honest… I think the most spontaneous I ever got was a bunch of wildflowers he picked on the side of the road the day after Valentine's day.” She chuckles dryly. Mark huffs, looking ruffled and offended. “She said she liked it! That it’s better and more romantic than those from the shop! And she was on a business trip the day before so what did she expect!?” “Anyway, he probably forgot to tell you…the car you're riding with him tonight, it's mine. I bought it for him as a surprise so it's registered in my name. The gifts and out-of-town dates were paid with my money too, not that I knew about them. The promises of a luxurious and glamorous life?” Darago laughs quietly. “I've heard them all before, so I suggest you don't keep your hopes up too much. I hope for your sake he's at least decent in bed as you wrote coz…I gotta tell you…I always had to…self-serve afterward. There's only so much fake orga$m one can do to soothe his ego. I'm sorry, I'm getting distracted.” While Mark lashes on about how frigid Darago is and how s€x with her is so unsatisfying, Jane tunes him out and presses the next audio. “See, what I really want to tell you is that I thought I knew him. I thought he was the one. I thought…destiny couldn't possibly fvck up and fail me. I am a good person, I never hurt anybody…I work hard and respect other people. Well, that was naive of me. Being good to others doesn't always guarantee the world will return the favor. So…I thought about this really hard because this time I don't want to do anything stupid again like shacking up with a charming man of empty pockets and even emptier promises. And I have decided that no, I don't want him anymore. You said you love him, you claimed that many times so… He's all yours.” Well, that’s mighty generous of her. Jane thought wryly, already dreading the next messages but unable to stop listening. It’s like one of those things…an accident happening in slow-motion you can’t help but watch. Darago clears her throat, her voice remaining calm and seemingly detached, but Jane knows better. Jane can tell the woman is furious and has reached her limit. It’s over. There's no more getting her back. God, she hopes Mark has a backup plan! She'd barely started to bleed him dry...and being this physically perfect is expensive. Maintaining her lifestyle is not easy and Jane's not getting any younger. She was hoping for an early retirement from working a nine to five job and Mark had seemed the perfect stepping stone to that. So full of himself he doesn't even realize he's being manipulated. Although, as of that moment, Jane is starting to doubt her own skills as it is revealed how much Mark has lied to her too. She had thought it was going to be easy. “I know you're together right now, I followed him and watched him pick you up, a few cars away. I have his suitcases in my trunk, I just left them at your doorstep. I...I hope you can make him a better person than I was able to..." There was a little pause and Mark goes quiet as well. "I'm sure you'll appreciate my gesture, he's absolutely free now. Thank god I wasn't marriage material like he told you, this would have been a little more complicated otherwise. You seem to be the one, since he was willing to throw away years of memories, of everything I've done for us… to get in your bed. Someday, I'd like to learn how to have that kind of...magical pvssy. That is what he calls it, right? That actually made me laugh... Although, maybe not. Maybe I just need to find a better man. Or just get myself one of those s€x dolls that look so authentic... might as well get my money's worth, minus the headaches of keeping a man child.” Darago laughs again. “Oh, and before I forget, just one more thing…” With trembling hands, Jane presses the next audio. Darago has been sending bits and pieces of audio messages on purpose. It’s more dramatic and she’s making her work her way from one ugly message to an even worse one. “My dear Jane, you are fired so don't even bother coming back to the office tomorrow. I bought the company you're working for just this afternoon while you were busy pampering yourself and getting ready for the date with MY man. I paid a nice sum too, and one of the conditions I set was to make sure you don't get to enjoy anything of mine anymore. You don't get to step even one foot in any of my properties anymore. It's petty, I know. But a girl's gotta take small pleasures where she can, surely you can understand that. So you see, it's a new start for both of you, isn't that nice? A new beginning together, just like he promised you. Just as he had promised me before too. Now he's just as penniless, bearing no gifts and oh, I doubt he can afford that trip to the Maldives this summer anymore so… Good luck with that and…please tell him…" As Mark continues to be an angry ass blaming Darago for every single thing, Jane stares at the last unopened audio message, dreading to hear more but unable to stop listening and knowing the full damage that the woman has done. She presses play. "Please tell him…the driver he hired to drive you tonight has been paid, the poor man has nothing to do with any of this and there’s no need for him to suffer… But do tell Mark his cards are useless now... so you might need to pay for dinner. Bye."