THE GOODBYES

Focus on the present moment, sweetheart. The past is history and the future is only make-believe.

***

CHAPTER XLIII

*****

I HELPED DANIEL tie his tie with delicate fingers after I had cleaned myself up. I assumed it was the most I could do for him after purposely rumpling up his shirt so he wouldn't have to go.

Once I had stepped away, he walked towards the sofa and picked up his suit jacket. He put it on as I walked towards his desk and picked up his briefcase, ready to hand it to him when he needed it.

He turned around to me, a smirk growing on his face as he took me in from head to toe.

“What?” I asked, feeling uncomfortable.

He only shook his head, not giving me a verbal answer and took the briefcase from me. He placed it down on the table before turninbg back to me, but I turned away because I didn't want him to see my smile slipping.

I really didn't want him to leave.

“Do you want anything?” he asked, but I only shook my head and continued staring at my feet.

I stood there, letting the silence of the room eat me up. I could feel his stare on me, but I didn't look up until he let out a loud sigh and stepped closer to me.

“You won't even miss me.”

You don't know that. I bit back that remark and instead bit hard on my lower lip, willing the lump in my throat to fade. Why did I care so much? It's not like he was dying or something.

He took my chin in his hand and raised my head up so he could finally look into my eyes. He used his thumb to wipe away the single tear that had trickled down my cheek and said, “I'll be back before you notice.”

“Okay.”

I didn't want to drag this on because the longer he stayed, the more upset I was working myself up to be. Before he pulled away, he bent down and placed his lips on mine, making me raise myself onto my toes and wrap my arms around his neck. He tried to pull away, but I pulled him down for another kiss and placed my hand on his jaw as he squeezed my waist in warning.

“Don't give me a reason to drop everything and fuck you again,” he said, his voice coming out low as he pulled me away.

Not heeding any of his warnings because they weren't really warnings to me, I leaned in again and began peppering kisses along his neck, making him groan and grab my ass.

“I'm not joking with you, Lee,” he said, squeezing my ass roughly. “You won't like what I'll do if I take my jacket off.”

He pulled me away again, but this time I didn't fight him and glared at him instead. “Why do you keep calling me that? That's not my name.”

“What is your name?” he asked, taking a step back from me as I narrowed my eyes at him. Was he trying to tell me that he didn't know my name?

“Araceli.”

He looked at me as if I was missing something before rolling his eyes. “What is your name?”

I crossed my arms over my chest. “Ah-rah-ceh-l—oh!”

He shook his head but said nothing and instead pulled me into him by my hips. He placed his hand on either side of my head and held my face, forcing me to look at him and only him.

“Behave while I'm gone.”

Without listening to a thing he said, I reached up to kiss him again but he glared at me and forced me back off my tiptoes as I pouted at him.

“I'm being serious.”

A mischievous smirk fell onto my face. “Shouldn't have a bad bitch if you can't handle one.”

He stared down at me, the tips of his lips quirking upwards slightly at my words.

He suddenly spun me around and pinned me to the wall, using one hand to pin both of my hands above my head and using the other to reach between my legs and rub me.

I pressed myself into his chest, squeezing his hand between my thighs as I moaned softly.

“You think I can't handle you?” he asked, his lips brushing my ear as I tried to regain my composure.

“Daniel, st—”

“Behave.”

I squeezed my eyes shut and nodded vigorously, feeling too sensitive between my legs for this kind of behaviour.

“I will. I promise.”

He pulled away from me finally, making me slump against the wall and regain my breath.

The loss didn't quite sit right with me though, so I spun around to face him and before I could think against it, I said, “I'm still going to fuck a bitch up if she asks for it, though.”

He raised a brow at me, as if daring me to really do it before chuckling and shaking his head and turning to pick up his briefcase. “I never said you shouldn't.”

“Wait... So, I can fight?”

He turned back around to look at me with his briefcase in his hands and smirked. “Why don't you try it and see?”

I bit my lip and looked up at him as he walked up to me until he was directly in front of me. “What if I want to fight you?”

He chuckled and shook his head before leaning down and placing a kiss on my lips. “I'll be late.”

I frowned at his words, but quickly covered it up as if he hadn't seen it and instead smiled at him. We shared one last look before he made his way out the door towards the the stairs.

I waited a couple seconds for his footsteps to fade away before quickly darting out the room and towards the nearest window facing the front yard. I caught him just in time to see the driver open the door for him to sit inside the car as a maid put a small suitcase in the trunk. His head turned around to my window and, as if sensing my gaze on him, his eyes net mine.

The tips of his lips raised upward slightly, but nobody seemed to have noticed except for me. The guard, after slamming the door shut for Daniel, looked up at me and did something that took me completely by surprise.

He bowed his head in a sign of respect.

I stood there, frozen in shock as he walked around to the driver's side as if nothing had happened. Even after I snapped out of my shock, I stood and watched the car drive away until it turned into a tiny speck far, far away from me.

I was going to miss him way more than I was willing to admit.

With my mood significantly dampened after his departure, I decided to make my way over to my room so I could wail in peace. Unfortunately, God had a different plan for me because as I swung the door open, I was immediately bombarded with questions from a curious Anna.

“So was he the one that bought them? Why? Does he expect you to pay him back? Is he willing to spend cash on me too?”

“Woah , woah, woah, tone it down. One question at a time, please,” I said, rolling my eyes at her as I closed the door behind me. “Yes, it was him. Because it's my birthday soon. No he does not expect me to pay him back. And if you want something, Anna, just ask me.”

“You seem... sad. Is everything alright?” she asked, watching me as I began packing all of the gifts away.

“He's gone on a business trip. For two weeks.” I frowned at how needy I sounded. Daniel had always disappeared for months at a time and I never had an issue with it before. I guess I was spending too much time with him. “I'm just going to miss him. That's all.”

The room grew silent and I hated the atmosphere that I had seemed to create. It was like sadness followed me wherever I went.

Looking up I smiled at her. “You're a virgin, right?” she nodded her head confusedly and I laughed. “Good. No matter what, do not get hooked on dick because you're going to start craving it like a heroin addict.”

Sge smiled in response, although it didn't reflect in her eyes like it usually did. “I won't.” She looked down to her hands, the smile now gone and replaced with a deep frown as I stared at her with concern. Her voice was small and fragile as if she could break at any moment.

“I assure you. I won't.”

***

“Are you ashamed of boss?”

I jumped into the air, feeling my heart race in my chest at the unexpected voice that echoed around the garage. I whipped around from the hose I was putting away and turned to face Lola with a bitter glare on my face.

“What are you doing here?”

“Working,” she answered with a sickly sweet smile on her face. She picked up a random red basket and swung it from side to side as if she actually had a purpose for it. “Aren't you going to answer my question? I answered yours.”

“I'm not going to answer anyone's foolish questions,” I hissed, turning back around to finish wrapping the green hose around its wheel thingy so I could get the hell out of there.

My standoffish attitude had no effect on her and instead, she took a couple steps closer to me. I probably would've lashed out and broken her head against the glass window of a nearby car if I hadn't promised Daniel that I would behave two days prior.

“It's only a simple question, dulzura. Yes or no is all I need.” [Sweetheart]

I decided to ignore her, deeming that the best answer to a fool was stone cold silence. Unfortunately, she was a shameless fool.

“I mean, any girl would jump at the opportunity to brag about how she's sleeping with her boss,” she said, her voice coming out calm and confident in the tense air.

“I'm not any girl.”

“Of course you're not,” she agreed, taking me by surprise because I didn't think she would hear it. She walked up to me, getting so close that I could feel her breath on the back of my ear. “You're Daniel's woman.”

“What the fuck do you want?” I asked, whipping around as my temper began deteriorating at an alarming rate.

Her eyes snapped down to the necklace around my neck and I immediately stuffed it back into my dress, only realising that it was out in that moment.

A smirk grew on her face at my actions and her eyes glistened with mischief. “You are ashamed of Daniel.”

I huffed, shoving her out of my way and walking towards the door. Her next words brought me to an abrupt halt.

“Or maybe you're ashamed of yourself.”

I froze in my spot, my rapid heartbeat resonating in my ears as I willed everything to be silent. I knew I wasn't going to like what I heard next, but I knew that it was better I heard it from the source instead of a twisted story from someone else.

“Maybe you're just a poor insecure girl that believes that he's jut going to use you and dump you.” My breath hitched at her words and I squeezed my eyes shut, hating how she had hit the nail right on the head. “And so people don't talk about you when it finally does happen, you're making sure they never know about it as well.”

I remained silent, knowing that it was the point where she expected me to lash out.

She expected me to throw a punch because she believed I felt intimidated and vulnerable. She thought that I felt weak and so to prove that I wasn't, I would lash out and get into a fight and win it. Just to feel like I was strong.

When in actuality, I would just come out weak. Because I was weak.

Mentally.

The worst part about it, and the most biyter pill to swallow was that she was right. I felt vulnerable. I felt weak.

I felt like swinging a fist out into her cheek to punish her for making me feel like this and to prove to her and myself that I wasn't actually weak. But I was and we both knew that.

If we were to go down and razzle dazzle in that moment I wasn't even sure if I would win anymore. Because even if Lola was unconscious on the floor with a bloody, bruised face, nothing could make up for the strength I lacked emotionally.

“Aw, what's wrong? Do my words hit a little too close to home?” she asked in a sing-song voice as I sucked in a breath and tried to calm my beating heart. “Is the strong Araceli - gasp - not actually strong?”

“I'm not going to continue exchanging words with you, Lola,” I said in the most steady voice I could muster.

“What? You're not going to beat me up for speaking the truth?” She laughed bitterly, the sound of her cold, empty chortles bouncing off the stone walls. “You're just an insecure bitch that needs to be in a man's bed to feel worthy. All you are - all you'll ever be - is a bedwarmer to any man you ever meet. You're nothing more than a slut.”

She stormed towards the door, making sure to shove her shoulder into mine as she walked past me. Before she left, she turned around to look at me with a bitter glare.

“As for Carlos, you can have him. I'm done with boys and I've got my eyes on...” she snapped her eyes down to wear the necklace would've been if I didn't hide it. “A man that I feel needs a woman. It's such a shame you aren't one.”

And while she stormed off, I could only stare helplessly after her. Because out of all the times that Lola had tried to pick a fight with me and called me names, I had only seen her as aloof. But now I knew better. Now I knew just how dangerous she could be.

As venomous as words tended to be, hers was on a whole new level. Because while I acted indifferent to what people had to say about me, she knew exactly where to target that made me feel weak and believe every word she said.

Daniel was going to grow tired of me eventually. When the sex became bland and he realised just how much baggage I had, he was going to grow tired if me. And then he was going to leave me in the worst way possible and look for someone better.

Someone who deserved him.

*****

Is the reason behind 'Lee' adequate? Lmao, there's no other bitch, I promise.

Unless...

LMAO YALL NEED TO STOP TRUSTING ME

AND DON'T GIVE ME IDEAS EITHER, I SEE ALL YOUR COMMENTS. I know I said I've finished the book, but best believe I will go back and edit it if something good comes up.

Do not test me.