A few hours ago

Leonardo

I was in the office by six-thirty a.m. Perched in my seat, I scanned my calendar. My schedule was filled with meetings, none of which I had any idea about. I kept harboring a nagging voice in my head, bullying me to confess my disinterest in the company affairs.

Though Antonio's grasp over company matters always came to my rescue, I could never focus on understanding the affairs myself. My mind kept wandering to places and people; one in particular, whenever he rambled about contracts and clients. 

Business enthusiast Antonio carried an affinity for brutal decisions that I hated being part of.

I always regretted my escape from Sofia's reality. My decision led Antonio to stay back. It sucked him into being my replacement. While I assumed he did everything to appease Dad, witnessing Antonio under the light of the Ford deal, it appeared he enjoyed playing the part too.

With an earlier boost of caffeine activating my systems, I geared up for yet another day of faking it.

Around mid-morning, Antonio appeared at my doorstep, leaning against the frame. "I see you're all brightly beautiful today!"

"You must have me confused with Dad. All I'm is brightly bored."

"Ready for this?" He walked in, handing me some color-coded files.

With the Ford merger dates closing in, we had uncountable meetings with their attorneys that Antonio managed alone. However, the one scheduled for today was different. 

Dave Ford was an attendee in the final round of negotiations.

"Yes, I'm ready." An unsettled sigh released from my chest.

"It's your future father-in-law. So be very careful what you say."

Although Antonio knew about the arrangement and its duration with Zemira, he wouldn't let an opportunity pass when he had the upper hand in mocking me.

"I don't have to worry, Anto. Remember, it's not me who pulled a sex stunt." My jab rattled him. His eyebrows bridged, narrowing his eyes for a counter.

"You know..." He began.

"We don't have time, little one," I said, dragging him out by his elbow. "Can't wait to see Grant's reaction, seeing you again."

After a few hours of grueling interaction where all I could do was admire Mr. Ford's way of negotiation, Antonio and I walked back into my office.

"We can't let Grant Ford have the upper hand?" Fuming, my brother fell into a chair, untangling his tie. "Who does he think he is?"

I stood next to him, leaning over. "To be fair, the man's only asking for the same amount of publicity for his company as much as we are getting."

"But I'm the one who came up with the plan and Zem agreed. So why is he getting equal rights to it?"

Antonio's fists tightened around the armrest, turning pale. With the markings of a heartless being, Antonio sat still, eying the ceiling.

"Zemira is also part of this deal, just like me," I said, rubbing over his stooped shoulder. "So the Fords asking for the same kind of publicity shouldn't come as a surprise."

"You're taking their side, Leo?" Antonio tossed the chair backwards, walking in circles around the table. "This was my plan. Not Grant's or Zemira Ford's. Mine."

Even though he stood at a distance from me, the blood rush on his bronze-tinted face was evident. He wanted everything for the Brentons', unwilling to share anything more than scraps.

In a way, I was sucked into a weird dimension created by the publicity deal. Since then, everything with the name Zemira carried the effect of an avalanche for me, crashing through every barrier I built.

"If it was indeed your plan then you should've executed it better, Anto. You shouldn't have let it slip." I said, holding onto my breath to calm the fire raging in me. "Now, it's me who's steering the command and I say let them be equally involved."

Growling in frustration, Antonio walked out. I knew he would come around when the flaming embers in his chest died down. Though it might take a whole day for that process to run its completion.

Towards noon, I had inevitably read up on the next set of meetings, thanks to my diligent assistant's notes. Before I could leave to attend yet another torturous gathering, Haley appeared at my door.

She had recently retired from her official post, handing the reins to someone else but in an unofficial capacity, she was still our publicity head.

"Are you busy?" She asked, walking in and shutting the door behind her. Her gaze traveled everywhere but slipped past me.

Since my announcement to marry Zemira and her move into my apartment, Haley and I maintained our distance. The hurt in her reddened eyes was clear. Clearer was the wall of strength behind her faltering smile that hid every emotion.

"How are you, Hales?" I tossed my files on the desk and moved around the table.

She didn't reply, only stared a hole into the floor. Tending to her fallen arms, I gave it a gentle squeeze.

"I'm fine. It seems you're doing really well too."

"What do you mean?l?"

"I saw the exhibition photos and the dinner dates. You're living the life, Leo."

I was. But I was also living a lie. A lie with a clock attached to it.

"Haley, you knew what I got myself into. I had to play along and do what's required of me."

"Which is fancy dinner, show for the cameras and all, I get that. But what about the truth?" She asked, her nostrils flared, fluttering at the same rate as her chest. The tip of her nose turned red, the same shade as her flushed cheeks.

"Truth about what, Haley?"

"It's too harsh to say." She nodded sidewise, unclasping my arms and moving away. "Zem's my friend too, you know."

"So am I. Hales, please tell me what's bothering you?"

I didn't require imagining what Haley must have suffered every day, seeing my photos splashed across newspapers, hand in hand with a woman who wasn't her. Sure, what we had was merely a physical relationship but I always knew that Haley liked me. Her jealousy was justifiable.

With pursed lips and a crinkled forehead, she moved closer, coiling her hands around my shoulder and into the back of my neck.

"I'm bothered by how both of you look as if it's not a fake relationship but a reality you both are living." When I chuckled, she pressed a finger over my lips. "I'm serious, Leo. I love you. And I can't take this torture."

Before I could process her confession, Haley crashed her lips over mine. 

The familiarity of her touch, her soft features and her moans halted my brain functions. My arms coiled into her back, pressing her over my chest.

Fake fiancé friends forever. 

Like a kid wanting to be found in a game of hide and seek, Zemira's voice called out to me.

Sliding my hands off, I pressed my lips shut to stop what we began.

I couldn't understand the logic of my guilt. It rose not from hurting Haley but from what felt like cheating on Zemira. It grappled my spine and jolted my conscience.

Don't do this to her. It was Zemira, my mind focused on. Only her.

I moved back, escaping Haley's hold when the corner of my eyes registered another entity standing at the entrance.

Zemira moved back before I could get my bearings in order. I rushed towards the door of my office but nobody was present. Only a faint lavender mist lingered. 

Was I dreaming?

"You don't want me now, do you?" Haley accused.

Though I turned to her, my mind held up the photo of Zemira, of her eyes swirling with pain. It wasn't a dream. Zemira saw me with someone else. Unknowingly, I hurt the girl I promised to always protect.

"I'm sorry if I ever made you feel that I love you. I don't. I can't. I'm sorry that I'm doing this to you now but I'm ending this..this.. twisted physical thing we both pretended we needed." I knew I was doing the right thing. "I should have told you this long ago, Hales. I can't do this to my Zemira. I just... can't..."

I had broken up with women in the past but nothing hurt me this bad. It wasn't the breakup but the crack in someone else's trust that ached inside my chest.

"Go," Haley said. "I shouldn't have tried this stunt. I was wrong to come between..." Her head nod in letting me go was her blessing.

I ran to the parking, trying everything from calling Zemira to leaving her voice mails. She didn't respond and rightfully so. At the beginning of our deal, I made her a promise. She wouldn't suffer another betrayal.

With no other option but to go home, I drove. In an attempt to ensure Zemira was fine, I called Kiera, though knowing the repercussions. 

If I had any chance of making up with Zemira it was only through her best friend. I readied myself for repentance, baring my body for Kiera's verbal lashing.

"To what do I owe this call, Leo," Kiera asked, her voice laced with happiness.

"I screwed up." 

I was willing to admit it straight away. There was no time to waste on formalities. I fucked up and I needed help in rectifying it.

"What did you do?" Kiera's sharp voice bounced inside my car, sharper than before, engulfing the sounds of engines revving up.

"Haley. She... she kissed me. I mean, I kissed her too but I stopped but by then-"

"You did it in your office? When Zem came to surprise you?"

"She what?" 

Parking on the side of the street, I leaned over the steering with the lump in my throat pricking me. It was my fault.

"Zem wanted to surprise you, Leo. So I suggested that she should come to your office. Had I known you were fucking your sex buddy..."

"Not fucking."

"Yeah, like kissing's any less of a crime. It's the gateway, Sergeant Brenton."

Every time someone shouted my full name, I was tossed into the fogged world of flying bullets and wailing men, suffering pain and hoping for death.

Not the time. I reminded myself to face reality. The screwed-up reality where Zemira's tears wrenched my insides and ached the deepest corners of my body.

"I'm not justifying what I did, Kiera. But our arrangement..." My head leaned backwards. Enough with the justification. Own it up. "I made a mistake. Please help me. I'm begging you. I mean it when I say I want to make it up to her. Any way possible..."

I wasn't an expert in reading people over the calls but when Kiera's voice dipped below a normal human hearing point, it had me concerned. Turning up the volume, I braced for her wrath.

"You promised me, Leo, you won't hurt her. After everything Zem's been through... after losing the love of-"

"Her life..." It was too familiar a wound I heard being unwrapped. "What happened to him?"

Maybe the reason I felt a connection with her wasn't due to our rich backgrounds but the pain we nested in our hearts. The hurt we suffered to get over it.

"Are you sure you want to hear about it?" Kiera's tone flared gradually. 

"Yes. I want to." I clutched the leather covering on the steering, turning my knuckles pale.

"She loved a boy since her school days. He was everything she could've dreamt of. They were to be engaged but he was deployed in Iran... two years ago."

"Marine?" I asked, awaiting her confirmation.

My breaths hummed low, already knowing how the story must have ended. The soaring temperature outside didn't affect me, it was turning cold with every silent minute from Keira's end.

"No. He was in the Army. Tag Novak... I don't know if you-"

"Tag R. Novak?" My voice faltered, my heartbeats plummeted, and shallow breaths sank into my lungs. I saw darkness around my vision, stemming from the back of my head.

"Yes. You knew him?" She asked, her staggering breaths competing with mine. With the world melting away at her question, I tried answering but only air escaped.

Yes, I knew Specialist Novak. I knew him all too well.

~

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