24. twenty four
twenty four
LYSANDRA
The executives of my publishing house loved the first few chapters I presented to them. It made my day pleasant; it was such a good day that I was looking forward to seeing Aldair. We hadn’t spoken much since our intense discussion at White Waves last week.
But… my interactions with Ezra at the park and at his house only made me understand that I had to let go of the rollercoaster ride he was for me. Stability was better for me. I’m not great with emotional chaos. Aldair was the better option.
There was this nagging voice in my conscience that warned me that I could lose one of my best friends if I neglected him for any longer. And by nagging voice, I meant Ezra’s.
After that debacle on Saturday, I realized that I had to start over with Aldair. Yes, I had to admit that my relationship with him had been quite loveless recently, but I wished to attempt to love him truly, the same way he loved me.
I knew I had to speak to Ezra sooner or later, especially if we were going to be making this movie happen, but the embarrassment from the other night only multiplied after having a sober mind. I had been doing everything in my power to make sure I didn’t bump into him during script readings.
“I’m so excited for you!” Cami squealed.
“It’s not that big of a deal,” I said.
“How is it not?” she began. “You start filming next week!”
“You’re right. I can’t believe it myself either,” I chuckled.
Camille embraced me, tightly holding onto me before she rubbed my back. “I’m so proud of how far you’ve come and how far you’ll go.”
I smiled, wrapping my arms around her and taking in her hibiscus scent.
Truly, God sent her to me. She’s been the one person who had stuck with me through almost every important stage of my life.
She was there for my high school graduation, my college graduation, my first book deal, and now she’d be here through the filming process for my best-selling novel.
“This calls for a celebration. I’m going to talk with the head of the publishing house so that we can all host a party for you.”
“You sure they’re gonna want to attend the American girls’ party?”
She slapped my arm as she pulled away. “Don’t be like that.”
“I’m just saying.” I shrugged.
She walked back to the desk in the conference room and picked up her case, which was most certainly filled with contracts and manuscripts. Camille was probably the least organized person I knew. How she kept everything in that bag of hers, I didn’t understand.
“Okay, I have a meeting with the production company. This one was just to go over more details of the contract since filming is starting soon. You can sit this one out, go out with your fiancé, and spend some time with him.” I noticed the emphasis on the last part of her sentence.
So, she was thinking the same as me… great.
Camille’s black hair swayed with each heeled step. She passed by me and set a quick kiss on my cheek.
“Are you sure?” I asked. “I can go with you. Honestly, after giving it a bit more consideration, it’s best if I—”
“Nope. Go see Aldair. Take the rest of the day off. You’ve been working nonstop since this deal began.”
I sighed. She was right. Maybe I needed to stop working so much before I collapsed.
“I’ll see you tomorrow,” she said with warmth before the doors of the elevator closed.
Once she disappeared, I grabbed my purse from the meeting room and headed toward the elevator. I clicked on the button and waited as it made its way back up. I brought out my phone to text Aldair that I was heading over to his place.
But then I decided to call him to see what we could eat for tonight.
I could pick up some takeaway and head to his place.
The phone rang until the line dropped. No response.
I found it odd. According to the calendar that he shared with me, he had the rest of the afternoon free.
Coincidentally, it was one of those days when both of our schedules aligned.
Since he became resident and I became a best-seller, it had become difficult for us to spend more time together, yet he claimed that it would change once we got married.
We mostly saw each other without interruptions during the weekend, yet regularly, I’d wanted to spend a rest day by myself or with Cami.
But as I mentioned before, there was this weird desire to bond with him more.
After all, he was my friend before he was my partner.
I couldn’t let go of that friendship. I had to water the plant that was our connection.
I reminded myself of the caring doctor he was when I was in that hospital bed after having one too many drinks.
I called Aldair once again. No reply.
Since he hadn’t responded, I continued my walk to his apartment. Perhaps once I arrived, we would be able to decide on what to order for dinner, or whether he wanted me to cook him a meal.
Once I arrived at his complex, I reached for the spare key under his doormat and unlocked the door.
When I walked in, there was a certain feminine scent I’d never come across. His loft usually smelled of wood and forest due to his obsession with The Lord of the Rings. Aldair said that he felt like he was walking in the mountains with The Fellowship.
I left my bag on the hanger by the door.
But this new scent… it was strong. Different. Did he have family over?
There had been vases that were knocked over. His socks and shoes were scattered across the floorboards. He was usually a tidy person. But that’s when I noticed a bra lying on the couch’s arm.
My heart dropped to my stomach. All the scarlet in my face withdrew. My legs trembled with every step I took. As I walked deeper into his flat, I was more and more disappointed with what I saw.
There’d been a small crack by his door that allowed me a view of him with another girl in his bed.
Her blonde curly hair lay across his silk cream blankets.
Netted stockings were discovered on the rug under his bed frame, a ripped black corset nearby.
Her back had been turned to him as she remained fast asleep. Aldair had his arm around her waist.
I didn’t love him.
I admitted it to myself when I finally saw how he had broken our promise. I pushed myself into the room and grabbed the ring on my left finger, throwing it at him. The rock jumped on his back, causing him to jolt from his sleep.
“How dare you?” I questioned. I gasped as I finally understood. “Oh my god. All those work trips. They were all lies.”
His emerald gaze bulged when he noticed me. I scoffed and marched away from him.
“Lysandra, I can explain!” he yelled, pulling the sheets with him as he left his bed. I rushed out of his room with a glimpse of the girl waking from her slumber. Her big blue eyes showed nothing but confusion.
Aldair grabbed my arm, pulling me back. “Lysandra, I’m so sorry. It was a mistake. I didn’t mean—”
He began a rant about how much he had necessities as a man, but I wasn’t about to listen to a cheater’s excuse for his infidelity.
I couldn’t help but think of my parents.
Years before my mom left me with Mario, she explained to me why my father was not a part of our lives. He was a cheater and a drunk.
At first, he portrayed himself as a saint. He painted an amazing picture of a happy family for my mom. That was why she decided to have me, because that had always been her dream. Oh, how I wished she hadn’t believed his lies. Perhaps I wouldn’t have been born, but to me that seemed far better.
The life my mother lived was passed on to me like a curse. A chain that refused to be broken.
No.
I would not live my life as my mother did. I would not continue with this anathema. But that didn’t mean I couldn’t stop Aldair’s discourse. So, my right hand left its mark on his cheek.
“Shut up,” I said. “You don’t get to apologize, and you don’t get to explain.”
As I turned to get my purse, he grabbed my arm again, much harder this time. I looked back at him. “Let go of me.”
“Please, listen to me. It was a mistake.”
The supposed remorse in his eyes did not match the force with which he held onto me. Bile almost ran up my throat as I thought of Mario.
My stepfather was in the past, I reminded myself. Fighting with my own heart, trying to calm down the rough pulse in my throat.
“A mistake was accepting your miserable proposal for a marriage,” I spat.
“Lysandra, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean for this to happen.” His grip only tightened around my wrist. I looked down at my arm wrapped around his grip. I breathed heavily as I prepared to fight for myself, if needed be.
“I said, let go of me,” I muttered.
Aldair’s gaze darkened. “You have to listen to me. You owe me at least that. You have no idea how much you’ve been putting me through.”
I swirled my wrist, enough for me to hold onto his forearm, and pushed him against the wall beside his door. His grasp around my arm loosened, allowing me to twist his own. He groaned. “How dare you put your hands on me, knowing what I went through? Bastard.”
When I arrived in Scotland, five years ago, and when I got my heart broken by Ezra, I promised myself that no man would ever hurt me again. Whether it would be physically or emotionally, which is why I made sure to always be prepared for any situation.
“I don’t want to hear from you ever again. If you call me, if you text me, if you reach out, I will make you regret it.” I slammed his cheek into the wall again, before reaching for my bag by the door and running the hell out of there.
“Lys? What the hell is wrong with you?” I heard him yell after me as I rushed through the hallways.
If only he truly understood where I came from.
I knew he had cheated on me, I knew I should have been heartbroken. Instead, I felt a sense of freedom I hadn’t felt in years. It was as if the chains around my ribcage had been broken and my heart could beat again.
I wanted to make it work. I was willing to learn to love Aldair. Why? Because I thought he was the best thing that could have ever happened to me.
However, he was the type of guy who loved me in his own way and not in the way that I wanted.
I thought that I could’ve found a worse partner.
I saw the way girls my age struggled to find love, and I thought love had found me through Aldair.
He respected my dreams and was always my cheerleader.
Not once did he leave my side. At times, he would console me even when he didn’t fully comprehend what was going on inside my mind.
But that was what friends did, didn’t they?
He did not know who I truly was.
Only one person knew who I truly was.
And that was Ezra.