Vow of Convenience

Ch. 10

LEVI DEL CAMPA

I stayed at the hospital for about an hour with Louryn before telling her I would leave. I’d barely slept last night, and I was exhausted. But before leaving, I gave her some money just in case something came up. By the time I got home, it surprised me to hear laughter and grunts coming from the living room. I opened the front door and entered the house, shutting the door before me. I froze for a moment at the sight before me.

The living room was a mess, with caviar on the white couch and on the color, two bottles of champagne on the floor and one on the table, half of its content drunk. What was more shocking for me was Zesa, who was sprawled out on the floor with Finn, trying to lift her up. He, too, was drunk, but not as much as she was. Wasn’t he supposed to be at work? Today was a Friday.

“What’s going on here?”

Their eyes snapped to me. Finn hurried to his feet and adjusted his tie that was already a mess. There was a stain on his white button-up shirt. I lowered my eyes to Zesa, who groaned as she tried getting up from the floor. She sat up and turned to me.

“Look who’s here?” She reached for the bottle of champagne on the table and drank right out of it.

She was absolutely wasted.

“You can leave.” I told Finn, going to snatch the bottle from Zesa.

“I don’t think she’ll be happy if I left her with you after everything she told me. I think I’ll stay.”

“Leave.” I repeated, firmer. “I am her husband. I can take care of her.”

He laughed mockingly at me. In a split second, his expression turned into one of anger. He stood in between me and Zesa, stopping me from going to her. “Her husband?” the corner of his lips rose. “Don’t make me laugh.”

“Know your place.”

“I know my place, which is to stay by her and support her in any way I can as her friend. Which is why it pains me to the bones to see her hurting because of you.”

“She’s your boss.” I reminded him, “You have no business meddling in her personal life.”

“She’s my friend before being my boss.” He dusted nonexistent dirt off my shoulder. “Don’t make her cry again, Levi. I don’t care if you’re a billionaire or Elon Musk. I couldn’t care less.” He gripped my biceps. “If she as much as sheds a tear because of you ever again, I won’t go easy on you.”

He walked around me and left. With a sigh, I crouched in front of Zesa. Her eyes were glossy and drifted around the room as her gaze floated about her surroundings, as though she was trying to make sense of where she was.

“I’ll help you up.” I informed her before trying to carry her up.

She shoved me back, sending me to the floor. “Get away from me.”

I was still, watching as she got to her feet, her footsteps irregular as she tried going up the stairs using the furniture around to support her intoxicated self. Afraid she’d trip and fall down the stairs, I quietly followed her up, making sure to keep my distance to not anger her more. Once she was in front of the room we shared, she spun around and stared at me for the longest time. I remained silent, waiting for her to say something or just go into the room.

“You,” she began. “You make me so angry.” When I looked down at her fists, they were clenched. “And at the same time, you make me happy.” She frowned. “I hate it.”

I said nothing until she began trying to undress herself, claiming the house was hot as she fanned herself with her hand.

I held her hand to stop her. “What are you doing?”

She forced her hand out of mine. “It’s hot.”

“Don’t take your clothes off in front of me.” I reached for the doorknob and twisted it, opening the door. “Go in and do that. I’ll sleep in another room.”

When I turned around to go down the stairs, she held my shirt. I turned to her. “What? Should I have said something else?”

She took a step closer, forcing me to take one back. She was too close. It seemed she noticed because she kept advancing forward until I was at the edge of the staircase. She wanted to see if I would take another one backward.

“You’ll fall.” She pointed out, pulling me close by the collar of my shirt so that our faces were only centimeters apart. “I don’t think you remember this, but you kissed me.” I swallowed. She was over the incident, I thought. I guess not. She held my face in her hands. “That night, you spoke to me thinking I was that woman. You kissed me, thinking I was her.” I tried removing her hand from my face. She shook her head at me. “I’m going to do the same now and I hope I forget it like you did.”

She lowered her lips to mine in a lingering kiss. Her kiss was sweet and soft, and made me forget what I had been through because of her. It made me want to forget I wasn’t supposed to kiss her. I kissed her back, submitting myself to her, and allowed her to lead in the kiss. I had nothing to lose, even if she remembered it tomorrow morning. She pulled away and rested her forehead against mine.

“If I don’t remember this moment, please don’t tell me about it and don’t resent me for it.” She inhaled deeply before distancing herself from me. “Good night, Levi.”

Good night? It was 3.p.m in broad daylight and here she was, staggering and telling me good night. With a sigh, I led her into the room, trying to avoid possible injuries. If she were to get hurt because I failed to take care of her, who knows what she would suggest next? Although she said I didn’t have to be nice, I felt the need to only because she’d done the same for me when I came back wasted. I didn’t want to give her a reason to make me feel guilty.

She halted and scanned the room. “Is the A.C on?”

“Yes, it is.”

“Why is it so hot in here?” She came to stand in front of me after moving my hands away that were meant to guide her. “Unzip my dress for me, please.”

“No.”

She spun around, eyes narrowed. “Why not? It’s hot in here and I don’t like it. I need to shower, you know.”

“You? Shower in this condition?” I shook my head. “Not a good idea. You could slip and fall in there. It’s dangerous.”

“Then…” she inched closer, eyes glinting with mischief, her smile suggestive. “Shower with me.”

Lord have mercy. I really ought to get rid of the drinks in this house if all they could do was make her like this. She was so different from sober Zesa. Unless these were the thoughts she’d buried while sober. “Go to bed. You’ll regret this in the morning.”

“I don’t think so. As long as it’s with you, I don’t think I’ll regret anything.”

“You’re only saying that because you’re drunk.”

“I’m drunk?” she sniffled. “I don’t think so. It’s just that the room is hot. Let’s go have a drink.” She made to go past me, but I blocked her path. “What? You don’t want to?”

“You’re already wasted. Go to sleep.”

She hugged me, hands wrapped tightly around my waist. “Sleep with me.” I swallowed hard. I understood what she meant by asking me to sleep with her, but the way it came out sounded wrong. She moved even closer, as if she wanted to disappear into my body. “Please?”

One of my arms went under her legs and the other supported her back, allowing me to lift her up as though she were a bride. While trying to ignore her stare, I moved to the bed and laid her down before covering her with the blanket. She threw it off.

“It’s hot.” She reminded me.

“Sleep.”

She turned on her side, but not after calling me a meanie. I stood still, watching as her breathing became much steadier, showing she’d fallen asleep. I tiptoed out of the room and shut the door. Thanks to her and Finn, I had a mess to clean up. Why couldn’t the cleaners come in today? I picked up the jewelry box on the table. Judging by the gems on it, they were quite expensive. Did Finn get them for her?

I closed the box and began cleaning. It took me about fifteen minutes to clean the mess they made. I hated dirty places, so it was relaxing to do it. After I was done, I went into one of the free rooms and took a shower. Thankfully, there were some clothes in the closet I could wear. I’d decided to take a nap when a text from Nina came in.

“Let’s meet up. I have something to tell you.”

I ignored it. How dare she ask to meet up after tossing me away for money? I placed the phone on the nightstand and laid down on the bed, one hand under my head. Text after text came in, forcing me to turn off my phone.

_

When I woke up, it was 8.p.m. I went into the room Zesa was in. She was no longer there. I searched the house for her. She was nowhere to be found. Maybe she stepped out for a bit. Where though? I opened the front door to get some answers from the guards outside. I walked up to one. He was tall and had the build of a soldier.

“Where did she go?” I queried.

“She did not tell us where she was headed. But she left about an hour ago.”

I went back in, found my phone, and dialed her number. While it rang, I wondered why I was calling her. If she wanted to go somewhere, she was at liberty to do so. Why would I call her? I ended the call before she answered and tossed my phone on the bed. The low grumble of my stomach reminded me that I had yet to eat since I came back. As I went down the stairs, my phone rang. It was Zesa. She must have seen my call.

“It was a mistake.” I said as soon as I put the phone to my ear.

“I’m at a friend’s place.” There was a shuffle in the background, followed by a child’s laughter. “Don’t worry about me.”

“I told you. It was a mistake. I wasn’t worried about you.”

“Okay.” She hung up.

I placed my phone on the island and opened the fridge. There was ground beef, potato and salty green olives and ice wine in the fridge. Ice wine was a favorite. I liked sweet stuff. I’d gotten it when I went to Canada for a business meeting. Zesa never touched it. She wasn’t a fan of sweet stuff. Simply staring at the ingredients in the fridge, I knew what I was going to prepare. Beef picadillo. While readying the ingredients, I got a call. I wiped my hands clean before going to check my phone. Nina Meyer. Again. This time, though, I answered to avoid further distractions.

“What do you want?”

“I’m outside the gate. The security won’t let me in.”

Zesa must have told them to not allow her to come in. “It’s better that way. Leave. I don’t want to see you.”

“Don’t be like that. I’m traveling abroad tomorrow and I wanted to see you before leaving.”

“Check your bank balance. You’ll see what you replaced me with. Look at it instead.”

“Levi, I—”

I hung up. She was the one who let go of my hand. Because of her, my mother would not take my call since the restaurant incident. Despite that, I wanted to hold on to her like a fool. Even when I knew I was going to lose some things, I wanted her. How dare she try to call me after using my feelings for her against me? I could never forgive her. I would never forgive her.