Wall Street Seduction

Chapter 3: The Heartbreak

Chapter 3: The Heartbreak

"The heart was made to be broken"

-Oscar Wilde-

***

    It started with a simple "Hi" which she sent as she laid on her bed. She was reading one of her fictional book while writing for him to reply back. An hour had passed since the short message was sent, yet there was no sign from him. She had gone through half of the book when her eyes started to get tired, she marked her book by folding the upper corner and closed it. A slight worry rose inside of her, different kind of thoughts began to swarm in her head, questions about his sincerity started to boggle her mind. What if he was just trying to play her when he gave his number, or maybe it was not his number to begin with, maybe it was a random phone number he wrote down. She did not want to get her hopes too high, mentally she was preparing herself for rejection, he might not reply back to her. She should not be disappointed if he did not, but to her surprise, after nearly two hours, right before she fell asleep, a notification popped up on her screen, and it was from him.

    From that point on, they started talking  to each other, at first their conversations were mostly about random things in life which did not really matter at all, but as time passed by, they started sharing a bit more about themselves, Scarlett discovered a few things about him that she never knew before, like how he wanted to be a doctor or how he disliked taking solo pictures at parties. To her surprise, they had a lot of things in common. Both of them had a preference for animals over people, both loved reading, he mostly read about science books while she read self-help books beside her cheesy romance novels. He was a visionary, so was she.

    Some conversations would continue until late at night, when both of them were tired, and things tend to get deeper at night when the mind is at its most vulnerable state. Scarlett found herself deeper in love with him after knowing more about his life. On the other side Liam himself also enjoyed his conversation with her, at first he was a bit worried because he had heard a few things about her which disturbed him, but he guessed people were just exaggerating things. They always do.

    When they met up in real life, things were not so awkward anymore, he would smile at her and she would smile at him in return. They had a few good conversations at school. Scarlett also had been noticing that he was starting to notice her presence more and more, she would sometimes find him stealing glances at her, when their eyes met, he would not look away, instead he would give her a warm smile, it was her who always looked away to hide her face. she did not know why he paid any attention to her, because at the time she was not as attractive as some of the girls he surrounded himself with.

    During lunch break, although she was still seated alone, she no longer felt terrible about it. She started to look less gloomy, the other kids noticed it too. Some of them started to treat her a bit better, she was also willing to open up to the other kids, she still had a pretty terrible reputation, yet things were getting better. Of course, not all of them acted nicer to her, the rest of them despised her even more, because they were losing their black sheep.

***

    "So, what are your plans after graduation ?" Liam asked her one time as they stood side by side, gazing at the view of the sky scrapers which filled the whole city. Scarlett thought about the question for a moment. She planned on going to college, that was certain, she was debating whether she should take business or graphic design major, since both were subjects she were interested in. Scarlett had always wanted to create. She had several interests in life, such as makeup, product design, finances and occasionally copy writing. Each of them had one thing in common. They produce. She did not like to consume, she wanted to create. Liam found her fascinating because she had a plan for her future. He was not shy to praise her about it.

    "Both are good, I am sure you will become successful in the future" he encouraged her. She smiled sheepishly.

    "What about you ? What are you going to do after graduation ?" It was her turn to ask him. She faced her body toward his direction and rested her elbow on the railing while her palm was touching her face.

    Liam placed both of his arms on the railing, mimicking her gesture, he took a deep breath before answering her question.

    "I'm not sure. I will definitely take a medical major of some sort, I always want to become a doctor, I want to help people" She smiled at his answer and found herself having a higher respect for him.

    "Actually, I already got a scholarship at Stanford Medical School, I made a letter of application, and they accepted it" Her eyes widened in excitement when she heard the news.

    "No way ! That is amazing, congratulations !" She acclaimed. He turned at her and murmured a small thanks.

    "I always knew you are a genius" she accidentally tapped his shoulder and had only realized it when he rolled his eyes toward her hand.

    "Oh, sorry" she was about to retreat it when he grabbed her hand and placed it back there. She was stunned. His eyes were gazing directly at her, she did not know what he had on his mind. His hand felt warm on her own. She was unsure if he could hear heartbeat, and if he could, she was in trouble. Both of them were silent for a brief second, before he opened up his mouth to speak once again.

    "You are an amazing person, Scarlett Heart, I am glad I knew you"

***

    After talking to each other for a month He turned out to be so much more interesting than she previously thought. She learned about his family. She found out he had a younger brother. His father worked at home through his computer while his mother was an office worker. Ever since he was little he was surrounded by medical books which he would buy with his own allowance, Which explained the reason why he was so smart.

    With Liam, she found that he had a certain way of expressing himself which differed him from the other boys, the way he spoke fascinated her, she fell in love with the depth of his mind. He managed to touch on subjects most people their age would try to avoid, he had a curious mind, he lived with plans for his future, but he was not stiff, he had a good sense of humor. Scarlett found herself laughing at his jokes, and she barely laughed at other people's jokes. Sometimes they found themselves talking about deeper topics, such as life, the universe, and human nature.

    She discovered that one of his cousin had suffered from ADHD. Scarlett herself was diagnosed with OCD and occasional anxiety. She showed him her vulnerability, things which bothered her, and he would listen to all of them.

    She had never opened up more to a stranger than she did with him.

    That was exactly her mistake.

    Just like how love came out of nowhere, it disappeared out of nowhere.

    It was a cloudy day at the end of March in New York, they were preparing themselves for Spring. They started to clean up the road to get rid of the snow. People on the street began to remove their winter hats. They were more than ready for spring.

    Most of the kids hated snow because the road would be covered in them as dirt piled up on the street. Whenever a car accidentally passed at the wrong time, some students would get snow on their pants and boots, no one liked the feeling of cold wet snow on their pants.

    Scarlett was walking home on her own like usual, she carried her bag on one of her shoulder, with red winter scarf and coat wrapped tightly around her body. She had her plan of the day, Scarlett thought of having a leisure time of her own when she arrived at home, it was Friday and she had done all of her tasks and assignments. Maybe she would watch TV or read books at home, whatever needed to brighten herself up.

    She was in a good mood when a bike stopped beside her. She turned her head around and saw Liam seated on it. Her heart skipped a beat and she flashed a smile at him. Scarlett did not expect him to approach her after school, he never did it after all.

    Yet something did not seem quite right about him, instead of the usual smile he had on his face, Liam had a cold and stern expression. He looked rather grim. The smile on her face disappeared when she saw him with such serious face. He looked like there was something he wanted to tell her, hints of doubt were visible on him. He took a deep breath and turned at her.

    What he said next was something she would never forget for the rest of her life.

    "I don't think we should talk anymore" He said, his voice was low, it almost sounded like a whisper to her.

    "If you need to talk, go talk with your friends instead" He hesitated at the last part, but she would care less. At this point, whatever he said next were a blur. Her mind could not quite comprehend everything. She froze in silence. Had she looked at his face, perhaps she would find traces of guilt. Sympathy, perhaps? Afterward, he left just like that. No further explanation, nothing. He paused for a moment before driving his bike away from her.

    Liam disappeared from her sight.

    Scarlett was left dumbfounded, she did not know what just happened, but whatever it was, it hurt her. She had never experienced heartbreak before in her life, it felt like somebody poked a million needles through her heart. Her chest felt tight, before she realized it, a drop of tear fell from her face.

    Friends? What friends? Don't you know that I have no friends?

    Her tears were soon masked by the droplets of rain which started pouring over from the sky. She kept on walking and walking, her body was on auto pilot. She felt numb. Her mind was at so many different places at the same time. She began to wonder what had gone wrong.

    Was it something she said?

    None of those mattered any longer. Scarlett was dumped before her relationship even began. When she arrived back at home, she quickly went to her room. She threw her bag on the bed and went straight to the bathroom. She took off her clothes and jumped into the shower, turning on the faucet and set it to the coldest setting possible.

    The water began to drench her hair, soon her whole body was wet, she leaned her palm on the wall, and started crying her eyes out. She should have known it was bound to happen. Having too high of an expectation on someone ended up crushing her. Scarlett found herself in a hopeless position.

    The things she had told him, perhaps they burdened him on an emotional level? Or maybe he thought she was a hindrance for his social life, or it could be he was just bored of her. Why wouldn't he? There were far more interesting women out there for him to spend time with. Still, Scarlett was deeply hurt.

    Perhaps it would be better if he never approached her at all, that way, she would not have to suffer from the delusion he gave her. The sweet delusion which ended in a complete nightmare. That night she canceled all of her plans and headed straight to bed. She skipped dinner that night. All she wanted at the moment was to fall sleep and forget everything. To drown herself in her dreams where no one could hurt her. To run away from reality for a moment. What she did not understand at the moment was the pain she experienced was necessary.

    Pain changes people. For Scarlett, it was for the better.

    That night, was the beginning of her transformation.