Chapter 40 Chapter 39:
Alisha:
Arya is already getting suspicious that I am following her. The other day at the coffee shop, I could swear she wanted to walk up to me and confirm, but I hurriedly disappeared. Jasper, my husband can’t find out that I am stalking my crush’s girlfriend or whatever, because that isn’t the point.
The point is to eliminate Arya out of the world.
Now, as I stare down at the text an unknown number sent me, I can’t help but think that someone else already knows what I am doing.
I turn towards Roy, his brows are pinched together, he does that when he has a lot going through his mind. “Do you think the person knows?” I ask, biting at my nails. We are at my house, Jasper is expected to come back home in less than an hour. At all cause, Jasper must not know about Roy.
“Read it out loud,” Roy says, snapping open a can of beer.
“Hey, I didn’t say you could come to my house and drink my beer.” I glare at him, and he chuckles, raising up his can.
“Your husband doesn’t drink beer, it’s just sitting there. That’s where I come in.” He smirks. Roy is the only closest thing I can call a sibling, even though we are no way related. We banter like real siblings, and maybe if I came to this world a second time, we could have been real siblings.
“Just read out the text already,” he gulps a portion of the beer, before opening the pizza box.
Sighing, I stare at the phone, reading out the text.
“The text says, ‘You want to get rid of Arya? We can do it together.’”
“Wow,” He doesn’t seem the least bit surprised. “Maybe the person saw you stalking Arya and the person is a potential enemy of Arya’s. So, why don’t you both destroy Arya together?”
Roy thinks smart; maybe that’s what the world teaches you if you have spent your early life surviving in the streets.
“I have no idea who this person is, I texted the number asking how, but I haven’t gotten a reply!” I yell in frustration, but Roy just watches me with a smile. “Are you really laughing at my condition?”
“You are the one who has a sickly obsession with a rich billionaire dude who has no absolute interest in you. Not me,” he grins stupidly, and I badly want to smack his head with the can.
My phone dings with a text from Jasper, and I widen my eyes.
“Oh gosh!” I yell, running my hands through my hair. “Get up, hurry! Jasper is pulling over, he’s here!”
Roy widens his eyes, “Why can’t your husband meet me?”
“We have been over this.” I say, because he’s still not getting the point. Jasper can’t know I have this type of dude around, to everyone, I am a reserved woman in Hollywood, and it has to remain that way.
“Just get out of my house!” I snap angrily, and he drops his can on the table, clearly taken aback. I don’t think I have ever raised my voice to Roy before.
“You are ashamed of your husband meeting a mafia kid, someone who grew up in the streets with a wasted life,” there’s hurt in his voice but I don’t have the time to apologize, silently I watch as he takes the back door, not even sparing me a glance.
Hurriedly, I drop my phone on the dining table, before dumping the can of beer and pizza in the trash can. Jasper must not see this lying about.
“I am home!” Jasper says and I fix my smile before walking towards the living room where I see him wearing a suit and holding his briefcase. He drops the keys of his car on the coffee table, grinning at me.
“Hey, baby,” I say as he drops his briefcase on the floor before kissing me. I pull back almost immediately, “How was work?”
“Normal.” He tugs at his tie, “So, I was thinking why don’t we go out to eat? We could go to that restaurant that has that fancy caviar?” He suggests.
I sigh, picking at the wool of my cardigan.
“You don’t want to go, do you?” He sounds disappointed and it breaks my heart to see him like this, but it doesn’t matter. We could go on countless dates, on countless honeymoon trips but he will never be the man I love. Any woman will be lucky to have Jasper, he’s caring, trustworthy and let’s not forget sexy, but I am not that woman for him.
“Sorry, Jasper. I have just been busy these days, besides I am rehearsing the lines for that new film we are shooting.”
He stands still, nodding his head. “I get that, but I just feel like we are drifting apart.”
“We are not drifting apart.” Lying to Jasper is something I hate doing but the point is that we were never even together in the first place.
“I love you and I don’t want to lose you.” He looks so vulnerable just standing there, begging me with those light eyes, strands of copper brown hair fall over his face and I have the urge to brush them away.
“You won’t lose me,” I am standing in front of him, sputtering lies at him, “And I love you too. We are in this together.”
“I am just scared.” He takes my hand, before leaning in to embrace me “You are the most amazing thing that has ever happened to me. Every minute with you is like a gift that I hope never runs out. You are not just my love, you are my home, my heart, my everything. Please don’t ever leave me.” His voice trembles, as I hug him back more tightly.
My eyes brim with tears because I know that I will leave him. He deserves someone who will stay, not me.
“You know what? Why don’t we go out to eat?” I say when he pulls away, his lips curl into a bright smile and my heart aches for him. So timid. So stupid.
“Really?”
“Yes,” I grin in return, trying to show my fake excitement for a date I have no interest in.
“Alright, love. I am going to freshen up and change, and then we can go.” He kisses my forehead, before running up the stairs.
Rolling my eyes, I go back to the dining room, grabbing my phone. Two messages are already waiting for me in my inbox, the first one is from Roy saying he officially hates me with a bunch of angry emojis, he will get over it, he always does.
I don’t have time to reply to him because the next text catches my attention. It’s from the unknown sender. The person replied to my text!
Unknown: You want to know? Let’s meet and discuss. I will text you the address and time whenever I am free. Good day.
Anger curls up inside me. What kind of arrogant person is this? But what if this person really knows how to destroy Arya? Is this some kind of test, or perhaps someone is messing with me like it’s some sort of joke? Only one way to find out, I have to wait for the unknown number’s next text.
\--
Devon:
The weight of the days presses hard on me as I unlock the door of my house, holding two nylons of Thai take out, I figured out that Arya will be very exhausted to make dinner, so I texted her and asked if it was okay to grab take out on my way from work, and she replied with okay.
When I step into the room, I am greeted by the gentle hum of SpongeBob theme song. My daughter, Vera lies on the couch, intensely focused, however the moment she sees me, she hurls herself from the couch and runs towards me, outstretching her hands.
“Daddy!” She squeals in delight as I lift her up in the air, “I miss you!”
It aches because growing up, rare people told me that, and it feels so good having my own daughter say those words to me.
“Have you had dinner yet?” I ask her, craning my head in case I catch any glimpse of Arya.
“She had mini chicken meatballs with mashed potatoes,” Arya says, striding towards me. Her raven hair is tied into a bun above her head; she’s wearing an oversized T-shirt over stretchy leggings.
“Why don’t we put Vera to bed and then we can eat?” It seems like a great idea to me, together. We bathe Vera, wrap her up in her pajamas and read her a bedtime story, by the time we are done; I can tell that Arya looks stressed out.
I set up the Thai food in the living room. I am already dressed in casual lounge pants and Henley shirt, settling into the couch while I wait for Arya, she’s making a call upstairs.
“Sorry I was late.” She settles right next to me, grinning. “So, we get to eat take out and watch a movie? Damn.”
Handing her the chopsticks, she mutters a thank you, while I put on a comedy movie. We begin digging through the Pad Thai while Arya laughs whenever someone on the screen says something funny.
“This is crazy,” Arya voices out, making me halt while holding my chopsticks.
“What is?” I ask.
“This...Years ago, I never would have imagined eating Pad Thai while laughing like a maniac with Devon Brookes. Do you realize how many people obsess over you? Bunch of fan pages are dedicated to you on the internet.” She says, staring at me with those glossy gray-blue eyes.
“Really?” I never would have thought. What do people want to see in my life anyways?
“Anyways, I feel thankful having dinner with a billionaire.”
Sighing, I drop my chopsticks. “Arya, I am not a billionaire to you. Please don’t ever look at me like that; I am just a regular man. I am someone trying my best, and I don’t want you to feel like you can keep secrets away from me.” Wanda’s words about Arya acting weird the other day comes back to me, however I don’t plan on asking her that.
If she’s comfortable, I am sure she will say it.
She stares at me, her mouth agape. “You are so serious all the time! We have been watching this comedy for almost thirty minutes now, and I haven’t heard you laugh.” She laughs. “Live a little.”
“I am trying,” I reply honestly, “It’s just that I don’t see the appeal in mindless humour. I prefer movies that focus with more depth, a movie that challenges the-” Before I can finish, she reaches out and shoves a spring roll into my mouth.
I try to swallow, clearly not expecting that.
“Loosen up!” Her laughter rings through the room, her cheeks flushed with amusement.
It starts as a quiet chuckle, my laughter rumbling out as I swallow the spring roll. “You are impossible,” I say, between bursts of laughter.
“It’s good to see you like this- laughing, just being the real you.” She comments, staring into my eyes. The comedy movie already ended, but neither of us moves to switch off the television.
“You look pretty damn good when you laugh. I think I prefer this over your usual cold stare.” She says, shifting closer.
“Is that a compliment?” I ask, my heart stilling for a brief moment.
“Yes! Come on, think of this as a lecture, I am teaching you how to pay people compliments.”
“I can compliment,” I say.
“Yeah right.” She rolls her eyes. “Say one.”
“I would rather not.”
She looks into my eyes, challenging me. “Come on, Devon.”
“Fine. I don’t know which is hotter- the curry or you.”
Her cheeks redden immediately as she sucks it in, “Fuck. I didn’t know you had it in you.”
She has no idea how mesmerizing she looks right now. I don’t think I have ever been drawn to someone like this before, but there’s just something about her that just pulls me in.
Her head slowly drops to my shoulders as she raises her feet to the couch, “thank you for making me feel relaxed, Devon.” Sighing, she shuts her eyes.
We remain quiet for a bit and before long; I can hear her slow exhale and inhale, indicating she’s asleep.
“You have no idea what you are doing to me, Arya. I thought I had control over everything- my life, my emotions, but you just stumbled into my life, crashing every wall I created. And, here you are asleep, unaware of the chaos you have created in me.”
I rest my head on the couch, closing my eyes, falling asleep next to her.