Breathing while she felt as though her life was taken away from her was the hardest task Anna had ever done in her life. She felt as painful tears rolled vertically down her cheeks and she felt the way they rolled into the openings of her ears. There was pain, physically and mentally that she didn’t even know how she could act or which among these two she was supposed to act upon. She slowly opened her eyes and the first thing she was glad of was the dim light in the room, which ever room she was in.
And when she looked through the light that illuminated into the room, she could see someone, a man with his head on the bed as he slept uncomfortably. Her heart lost a beat, who was this man that slept together with her because she was sick? Or was he the one that brought her to the hospital because she had now realized she was in a hospital. Anna stretched her hand forward and she realized she would be able to touch his hair. Without warning herself not to, Anna ran her slender fingers into his hair and felt it was the softest and silkiest hair of a man she had ever touched in her entire life.
She wanted to know who it was, but at the same time she didn’t want to wake him up. Maybe she got carried away by his hair that she began to massage his head in a weak way she had never imagined she could do to any man. He squirmed in his sleep and she was about to pull her hand away from his hair when he firmly held her hand and when his sleepy eyes looked up at her, she was sure if her blood pressure would be measured then, then certainly she will have a high pressure.
Jack Roberts? Then it occurred to her, she was certain she had seen his face before everything became black. So that wasn’t just a figment of her imaginations? She thought it would never happen, that somehow he was the one she had thought of while she cried bitterly over Nate after she had slipped away from home and wandered alone in the streets of California. But then it was true, Jack was the one that brought her to the hospital, and he was the one that slept next to her? Woah!
He let go of her wrist even though he wondered why she did what she felt he did to her and sat upright as he rubbed his fingers on his palms. “Are you alright?” He said with his sleepy, yet husky voice and Anna stared at him without knowing what she would say to him.
Maybe she was carried away by what he had done to her and what he had said to her the moment he woke up. “I asked you something, Anna, are you fine? Do I need to call the doctor for you?” He was getting irritated, and she knew this was only the mood that crossed their hearts whenever they met with each other. But she wanted to change these feelings for them.
She nodded her head, realizing that taking so long to reply him will even rile him up further. “Yes, I’m fine. It wasn’t something serious that…” he cut her off angrily.
“Don’t even go there, Anna! You freaking ordered for those things knowing so well you’re allergic to them, what the hell is wrong with you? Self-harm, Anna? I thought you were better than this!” Woah! All that softness was before he got a hold of himself after he had woken up, right? Or he wanted to make sure that she was fine before he could ramble all that he had buckled up in his mind.
What he had said brought back her feelings and she felt as the tears she had accumulated in her eyes rolled down her cheeks. “Nate got married to Lancy yesterday.” That was all she said and after realizing this was the first time she had believed this since when Charles told her, she broke into tears. She knew Jack would definitely add more pain to her wounds, but she didn’t mind crying in front of him anymore. Let him think the worst he could about her, right?
He was just staring at her as she palmed her face and cried bitterly and when Anna realized he wasn’t going to reply her, she lifted her face toward him and spoke, “Aren’t you going to insult me this time? Aren’t you going to remind me of the horrible person I am? I thought you’ll mock me, won’t you?” Anger was evident on his face, but she didn’t know whether it was for her or something he was thinking about. “We’re fighting, aren’t we?” Her voice broke as she asked, and tears rolled down her cheeks unchecked.
“The hell that we’re fighting!” He thundered and she just sat there on the end with her back propped with the pillow, tears rolling down her cheeks as she stared at him. “Don’t let whatever is going to happen today to make you think that we aren’t fighting anymore, Anna, because we definitely are! Like I promised, I’m going to hurt you and what I say or how I react today will never stop me from doing that, okay?!” There were things she had noticed about him; he was controlling himself. And this time, not from anger, from something she was yet to fathom. He stood up and began facing in the room.
“I know that we’re always going to fight, but isn’t this the right time for you to hurt me like you’ve promised to? Just like you did the last time Nate broke me and you made sure I crumpled to pieces?” The bitterness of the pain he gave her was palpable on her tone and they were now staring into each other’s eyes, under the illuminating light that gleamed through the window.
“Anna…” he began softly, but she was the one being angry now. She didn’t deserve his sympathy nor any soft words from him because she was certain just like he had promised not to hurt her, he will. And having a shoulder to lean on a thorn that was Jack, that was the last thing she wanted in her life.
“No, you listen to me now.” She cleared her tears and looked deeper into his eyes. She didn’t care what he made her felt whenever he stared deeply into her eyes, she was going to get everything out of her chest today. “Do you know who made it worst on me when Nate broke me, you did, Jack! I know that we were fighting and that was an opportunity for you to avenge on what I did for you, but I’ll never forget and just like you’ve promised to hurt me; I dare you to do that! And what I’d do to you next will be the most painful thing someone will ever do to you!” She was furious and the tears were no more getting out of her eyes as she remembered all that he had said to her.
“And guess what? I’m sure that you want to mock me about him getting married, right? I’m so glad that I haven’t married a toxic man like Nate, Jack. And just like you said I’d never get someone that will love me enough to marry me, and also I’d be the worse Mom alive. Today I’d tell you this, I’ve gotten a man that will give me all the love that I deserve and if by chance I got married to someone like you, I’d rather commit suicide than live with such a horrible person as you are!”
He was about to speak when she stopped him, “Get out!” He didn’t move an inch, just staring at her with anger brewing in his eyes, “And you thought I was better than someone that will self-harm herself? I’m certain whoever has you in his or her life will do worse than just self-harming himself. You’re a terrible person, Jack.”
“What the…” he began but she cut him off yet again.
“What the what? Can you get the freak out of my room before I call the police on you?” She watched the way he had curled his fist and forced himself to turn back toward the door. He was about to turn the doorknob when she coughed and he immediately turned, “Oh, I forgot, my offer of you being my bodyguard doesn’t apply anymore. So, it’ll be better if you make sure we never cross paths again because I’m certain if we do, that will be the end of your job and you might be jobless for a while.” Jack walked out of the room and banged the door so hard that she had to flinch even though she knew he was the one.
She saw her phone beside her and the tears that had rumbled through her as though an avalanche forced her to call Maya because she couldn’t keep everything within her and also stay calm. She didn’t care about the time difference they had, all she wanted was someone that she could speak with. “Maya…” she broke into tears when she heard the sleepy voice of Maya called her.
“Oh my god, what’s wrong, Anna? Are you alright?” A devastated Maya asked, and Anna shook her head as though she could see her.
“I’m not fine, Maya. It feels as though I’ve broken up with him, as if we’ve been in love with each other for so long. And Nate got married yesterday, I’m certain you’ve seen the pictures but didn’t speak to me about it. I also think I’m falling in love with Charles, he kissed me today in my office. Maya, I’m losing my sanity.” She cried even harder, knowing that what she had just said didn’t just confuse Maya but herself included.
Maya sighed and Anna heard the shuffles, which was a better way of telling her that Maya had sat upright. “I don’t get you Anna, can you talk about one person at a time? Because if I clearly understand you, it’s three men, right?”
“Maya…” she whimpered and cried; her heart felt as though there was a volcano that burnt every angle she had in there.
“Please stop crying, Anna. You are stronger than this, okay? Let’s talk, because if you’re crying I’ll never get the chance to be calm enough to give you the best advices I could muster. Please stop your tears, okay?” Maya had to wait for more than five minutes as Anna cried her chest out and after she did, she began speaking in a slow voice that was filled with her tears.
“Jack, I’m sure you haven’t forgotten about him…” How could she? Because Anna knew that she spoke to her about him numerously.
“I haven’t forgotten about him, you had him suspended, right?” Maya asked.
“Yes, and we fought again today. This is the first time I’ve seen him after out encounter in their company, and he brought me to the hospital. He rushed me here, held me in his arms, slept with me on the chair…but do you know what I did?” She broke into tears now, it hurt to even remember, maybe she was really a bad bitch as him and Nate tagged her.
“What have you done, Anna?”
“I initiated a fight between us, even though all I’ve said was right but Maya…” her lips trembled and the ache in her heart worsen. “I’m sure if I acted upon to what my heart told me to, I would’ve done something I might regret later. Because he promised me that he’ll hurt me, making us fight is the best thing but then it hurts me a lot. It feels as though we’ve broken up. Why didn’t I thank you? This is the second time he’s saving my life.”
Maya listened as she cried bitterly, and it wasn’t until she was certain that Anna felt a little better did she speak again. “Anna, you were wrong this time. You shouldn’t have said all those things to him. Because at least, he had forgotten about your fight when he saved you, he didn’t let you in that restaurant. It wouldn’t hurt to just say ‘Thank you for saving my life, Jack.’ Would it?”
Anna shook her head yet again as though Maya was there together with her, “I’m afraid that if we act soft towards each other, I won’t be able to control myself whenever I’m together with him, Maya. He makes my heart loose beats, I get sweaty palms because of him, I want to protect my heart from him at all cost.”