Chapter 7 A COLD HEART.
In the Fords Clan hotel, one of the biggest hotels and most expensive in town, Finn and some of his friends were gathered for a cocktail party. The chairs were arranged in a cocktail party style. The hall was sophisticated; it had shiny chandeliers hanging down from the ceilings and the walls were made in a classic French style. The floors were extra shiny that the reflections of the light could be seen on them clearly. The hall was booming with soft music and small chit-chats of sophisticated people.
Finn was standing together with Ava and Emma around a round cocktail table, giggling and chit-chatting. When Darla entered the hall. She was dressed in a silver tail gown with a thigh slit, she was wearing heels, and her hair was packed in a loose bun. Her make-up was light; it accentuated her already beautiful face. Finn couldn’t get his eyes off her. ‘Today was the day he gets Darla, if it was the last thing he did.’ He had been courting her for a long time, with no progress. Every time he thinks she likes him, it was always the opposite. So, he decided to look for help from Ava and Emma this time around. Since they were friends. Darla waved at Ava and Emma cheerfully as they were her friends. They gestured for her to come to where they were standing. She walked hurriedly to meet up with them.
Back when they were in the university, almost all the girls were jealous of Mahina’s poise and beauty. Being the heiress of her uncle’s company Lourdes fashion world and the face of his company, she was very popular and had many admirers. Darla was one of those girls who envied Mahina back in the days. She did all she could to make her life difficult back in school. When Mahina and Finn were dating, she loved Finn, and she did all she could within her power to come in between them. While staging as Mahina’s friend. Despite her popularity Mahina was only known as Finn’s girlfriend, although other capable and handsome men had approached her severally. She rejected all their advances and stuck to her boyfriend Finn. He was her world, and she loved him whole heartedly.
Mahina arrived at Fords clan hotel in a taxi. She hurried to the door and introduced herself to the door man, she told him who she was having an acquaintance with first, before she was allowed to enter. When Mahina entered, she was taken aback with the beauty of the hotel. She remembered what life use be like for her before, but soon enough that thought shattered as she remembered what brought her there in the first place. She looked around and saw a hallway, she followed it but somehow winded up in the parking lot. Realizing, she was in the wrong place, she turned to leave, when she heard the voices of a man talking and a woman crying’, she followed the sound by taking silent steps to where it was coming from. Then she saw the duo engaged in a conversation.
“Mr. Alba I really love you!!!” a woman’s shrill voice echoed in the brightly lit parking lot. Mahina’s heart dropped in fear. She covered her mouth with both her hands and wagged her head.
“What did you say?” Alba asked nonchalantly. His voice was devoid of any form of emotion.
“I love you Alba, ... I tried! I told my heart not to love you, but I didn’t even know when I fell in love with you” the lady was emotional, and her voice sounded brittle. Mahina’s heart tightened as she waited for the man’s response it felt to her like she was watching a film opera.
“I told you before, I don’t do love but only friends with benefit and also that the moment you start catching feelings, our friendship will be over.” The man’s voice was blank. Mahina was frightened by him. she looked at the lady pitifully. ‘Fuck men they are losers, don’t worry... he is not worthy of you’ she murmured under her voice. The brittle voice spoke again’.
“I know... but... you can’t tell your heart who to love right?” the lady persisted, Mahina turned to look at him hoping he will accept the lady, who was obviously head over heels for him, but his response shocked her.
“Is that all you wanted” Mahina gasped in disbelieve. Then she noticed the lady’s face very well and realized that it was Helen Garcia. The famous model of Glitz shoes and Bags. She was surprised. ‘Even successful ladies like Helen Garcia gets dumped...I shouldn’t feel bad then, that I got dumped because my family’s business shattered. I am sorry... but I feel consoled... I know it’s wrong for me to feel better at another’s misfortune but... I am sorry’ she thought to herself
“Men! escort Helen back to her condo unit.” Some men dressed in black suit came out of a Mercedes Benz and lead Helen to the car. She was crying as she followed the men to the car.
“If you treasure your career you won’t talk to me about love again Miss Helen... and I don’t ever want to see you again” Alba warned Helen. Mahina was disappointed at Helen. How could she have allowed a ‘no good’ like that man to treat her that way. She was a model for goodness' sake. One of the most well paid and famous models. Mahina gasped in frustration and turned to leave.
Helen got into the car sadly and she was driven away. Mahina made her silent signature move to exit the parking lot when she heard the Menacing voice again’.
“Hey! You! Come out of there, right now!” The blank voice commanded with so much authority. Mahina’s legs grew cold. She trembled. Her cheeks felt warm. ‘Did I just get caught eavesdropping? Fuck! Am I a child?’ She suddenly felt a rush of adrenaline, and she ran out of the Parking lot as fast as she could, without turning back. Alba smiled at her reaction. After Mahina left there, she decided to ask for directions, she wasn’t going to allow herself to get caught in a situation like that twice.
She asked one of the workers for directions and she was directed to her destination. Mahina could hear the soft music from the entrance of the hall. She was happy as she approached there. She was finally going to meet Darla. They became friends at their final year in the university. After graduation Darla moved to Florida, so they were not able to keep in touch, until Mahina got a message from her earlier saying’.
“Hey dear, it’s Darla. I am in town, let’s meet up girl. I have a lot of goss for you.” She was so excited as she entered, but as she lifted her eyes to look around, she saw Finn kneeling down on one knee asking Darla to be his wife. She was confused by the whole scene. ‘Didn’t the fucker say he was dying? Or was I imaging things’ realizing what was going on she wagged her head sadly. Life is really like the four seasons spring, summer, fall and winter. This has to be the winter of my life.
As her presence became noticeable everyone’s eyes got fixated on her and the spotlight was positioned on her. It was as if the whole charade was put up just to see her reaction and for them to mock her misery. ‘What will it profit them to see me down?’ She thought to herself.
Mahina didn’t even know she had any more tears left, until she felt something warm trailing down her cheeks. She wiped it with her fingers and laughed. Everyone was looking at her like she was a clown or something, they all thought she had gone crazy out of heart break. They were wallowing in her misery. The crowd of people there were made up of people she knew, her past colleagues in school. She swallowed hard at her present dilemma as she walked backwards.
Mahina turned and ran away from there hurriedly. Ava, Emma, Finn and Darla followed her, together with some of the crowd. They were all looking at her and laughing at her misery. Her eyes were teary, but she was still smiling. She promised herself not to allow anyone feed on her pain again. As she was about to exit the hall, she bumped into something that felt like a strong wall. No! It wasn’t a wall but a chest, she realized. She looked directly at it; it was strong and dependable. She raised her eyes gradually to see it was the doctor who treated her in Elites Health center:
“Doctor!” She looked at him with teary eyes.