The atmosphere turned cold, and the music lost its magic. Asher took a seat opposite us, graciously, with both of his hands broadly stretched on the couch, wearing a smirk just to irk us more. Edgar was glaring at Asher, which didn't have any effect on him. The party had just begun, and I wanted to run to my safe cocoon, which was Reece's place. I couldn't help but chuckle at the thought.
"He is definitely up to something." I rolled my eyes. "Doesn't he always?" I responded to Edgar's statement. "That's right, but look at him; the air is different around him, especially his confidence. Something is definitely up." I couldn't help but scowl at the statement. Once again, I faced Asher, whose confidence was indeed overflowing, with no ounce of hesitation.
Edgar was whispering something else when Asher cleared his throat. We both faced Asher simultaneously, who gave a broad smile in return. Something was off with that smile, too. For the first time, I felt wary. Asher had cornered me so many times that even the guards couldn't do anything about it, but this feels different despite being surrounded by so many people and even my friends. My heart was thumping hard. Maybe he changed his tactics of approaching, nothing else. I tried to reassure myself, but I still couldn't help but sprint from the place.
"How are you, Ralph? It's been a few days since our last meeting." As I am trying to stay a step ahead in avoiding him, but I am not entirely successful. I am sure I could never win over his mastermind brain. "It's none of your business. Ralph made it clear so many times. I wonder when his rejection will register in your thick brain." Edgar, who is trying his best to control himself from doing any harm. Asher's smirk grew wider in return. "Hello Edgar, I didn't notice your presence as I was completely captivated by the love of my life." At a time, scoffs left from our mouths, and Edgar couldn't help adding his snicker. "Right, love of your bloody life, where you can't help yourself but cheat and also claim without any fucking remorse." Edgar was reaching the boiling point, but I was holding him back.
I pulled back Egar until his back hit the couch. By refilling his glass, I gave it to him, who in return started sipping by flaring through his nostrils. I was calm the whole time, while an odd feeling ran all over. I wanted to be done with this conversation, enjoy myself with my friends, and get back to the apartment as early as possible. This is very odd; I never felt an urge to get back to the apartment, nor did it feel like a safe place to run. My mind drifted to Reece, who would still be at the company, barking at someone or scheming something to reach the next level. Once again, I couldn't help but compare these two bastards who don't let go of any chance nor try to make any effort to keep what they want.
At least, Reece is not a cheater compared to the person who has become a pro in that line, and he wouldn't dare to think of anyone else when he was dating me, at present, either. I chuckled at the thought of where it was leading me, and my whole posture was rigid when the realization hit me. My breathing was heavy. No, no, no, don't tell me I am considering the fleeing bastard as my safe cocoon and where I want to be in the present situation. No, I shouldn't come to any conclusion very soon; these two cause disasters one way or another in my life, but I could survive any disaster if I were with Reece. My hands started shaking, and I placed my glass on the table with a thud, which drew the attention of both Edgar and Asher, who were giving me a questioning gaze. Shakily, I started pushing back my hair, which was falling on my forehead. "Are you ok?" Edgar, with a concerned look. I gave him a nod and closed my eyes to get control of this turmoil.
"Edgar, I need to speak with Ralph. Can you give us space?" Asher, with the same authoritative tone. "In your dream." By rolling his eyes. "It wasn't a request, and I don't want to drain my energy in getting Ralph alone." "Listen, you….' I placed a hand on Edgar to drag him back once again. The sooner the better; I want to just go from here. "Let me speak with him. I will join you guys later." Edgar protested immediately, but my firm decision made him give up, and he left us alone.
We were alone with loud music, screaming, and whatnot. I started staring intensely at Asher, who was giving equal competition. I have been cornered on various occasions by him, but now, there are so many people around me, including my friends, and I am still not feeling safe. This was not the person I usually bumped into.
What the heck does he have planned this time?
Asher smiled broadly with the same intense eye contact, which I didn't return. "Hello, baby, how are you doing?" I couldn't help but chuckle. He was the only daring person I met till now who could question this way without any guilt trip. "Can we come to the bloody point and get over with it? I want to enjoy myself with my friends." "Of course, FYI, I never liked your friends, and I am done with acting like I like them. Speaking of which, I am not the only person who hates them. When we are at the point, how is the bloody stalker doing? How many more days is this going to continue? This is not going anywhere, Ralph, and by this time, you should know that I would never give up when it comes to you."
We were silent, and I don't think he was actually expecting any kind of answers for any of his questions. He ushered the waiter and ordered his drinks, while I was seeing anything but him. Asher took a deep sigh and leaned back leisurely with the same intense stare that started building a tinge of fear in me. His drink arrived after placing the same order, and the waiter left the area. Asher picked up the glass and slowly started swirling. "Ralph, this is not going anywhere." I took a deep breath and leaned back on the couch. "I don't want anything going anywhere." He smiled at that. "You want something to go on with the guy who thinks of taking a step with you and not to forget the pros and cons that run through his mind when it comes to you." His eyes started shining with a smile when my face dropped a little. "He doesn't even know what to do with you. He can't even decide whether to date you or not, whether you are worthy to take a risk in his life." Asher leaned forward. "You are fucking gambling me, with that thing, who fucking doesn't know whether to build a life with you or not?"
That hit me like a rock. I tried not to give him satisfaction by showing any emotions, but I failed at that attempt. Every word that left his mouth was right, even when he barely knew what was going on between me and Reece. Asher has met Reece on a few occasions, most of the time for threatening, and he could read Reece like a fucking open book.
"Am I right? Oh, sorry, let me rephrase it. I am definitely right." Followed by a satisfying smile. "On the other hand, I won't give up on you, Ralph, no matter what. As your friend said, I am going to claim you, and this time I wouldn't dream of letting you go. I will do everything to keep you in my life as my life partner forever. I may go to the extent of locking my dick. Give me one last chance, Ralph, please. Let's start fresh with a new me." Same old, same old with a new coating of words, thank God for not having any effect on me like before. I sighed in relief when someone got the upper hand for the first time. A crooked smile appeared on my face after everything was said, which was indeed true, when I felt who was leading my heart.
"What's so funny?" I averted my eyes from the table and faced Asher with a new me, not old, crawling, easily melting Ralph. "I am done, Asher, and I am done with repeating myself." With a determined gaze. "I am not able to decide what I want, but I know where I am led to, and it's definitely not toward you." I exhaled a breath through my nostrils in order to get my emotions in control. "I am done gambling my life with you. I poured all my effort, and I tried my best with you twice. A chuckle escaped at that. Nothing could tie you down to me, Asher, for a period, yes, but forever, no. No matter what I do, we are not meant for each other. To come to this conclusion, I had to gamble with my heart twice. How stupid of me, right?" I took a long sigh. "Enough is enough. I am done, and I fucking mean it this time. We are over it; get over it. Move on, as I have already moved on from you. Good luck with everything, and I want this to be our final goodbye. We are over." I finished my glass in one go and was on the dance floor in no time, leaving the stunned Asher on the spot, who was speechless.
I am fucking tired, and I hate this bloody scheming, formulating strategies. I thought I reached the fucking peak when I got the CEO position. No, I need to do more shit to keep this position. All this stress will vanish at the end of the month when I see the digits that are credited to my account. I sighed in content when I stretched my leg after sitting on the couch and started undoing my tie.
I relaxed my body, my head on the couch, watching Sealing. This is the life I always dreamt of; I gave up so many things to reach this level, and I am content but not happy when my personal life sucks. The ball is in my court, and I don't know how to keep that ball in my court before it crawls back. No matter what, no amount of strategies works on my fucking personal life, and oh boy, I hate it. I won't let the ball crawl back from my court, that's for sure. What the hell am I supposed to do? I swear I hate the day when I laid my eyes on that bastard. Even more when I pursue, even after knowing how thoroughly he was committed to that betrayer. Frustration started gawking, and I threw the tie harshly on the floor, as it was a good medium to remove the built-up frustration without reducing my bank balance.
How pathetic.
I huffed when I remembered my last conversation with Ralph and how cowardly it ended from my side. From that day, things have been unsettled within me. I thought things were on track; I was doing damn good at masking my past doings; I presumed that was enough; everything was ok, and suddenly some bullshit of his ex was thrown on me. How bloody unfair?
He is stuck, and I am stuck.
When I planned my future, I should have included my personal life, and again, planning the future doesn't automatically include one's personal life. How the hell are mine so different from one another? I am at my best in my career but losing my personal life. I am doing my best so that things move smoothly between us, but some shit should always intervene and ruin whatever was going on.
I should bloody move on, only if that was that easy peasy.
I sighed once again. Why do the verbal words matter? Why the hell do I need to answer questions that should be thrown to your ex? The relief is a different thing; still, why the hell throw me on the spot? When I am fucking trying and doing my best. I am getting somewhere in a nonexistent relationship; you can't just randomly throw something and expect something. I am not your bloody ex.
Why the hell am I babbling in the empty apartment? Ralph is clearly enjoying himself with his pets. I wish to get rid of those things from his life sooner. I checked my cell, still no notification from Ralph. It's already past midnight. I clenched my cell in irritation.
I made my way toward the room. I stopped in front of Ralph's room, couldn't help but peek once just to confirm its emptiness, and indeed it was. I closed the door of my room and got into the shower to charge my battery, but it drained further when the last conversation was peaking and Ralph was still not back.
I am not getting who is the person responsible for my misery. I, or Ralph, or Asher. In some way, the wrongdoings of Asher have been adding to my misery, which is unfair, and again, Ralph, targeting me, seeking answers in the place of his ex, is completely unfair. Point to be noted, my lord, and my concluding point, the world is unfair to me. I am done getting targeted, and I am bloody going to voice out first thing in the morning. Please thoroughly check my good doing and give me some credit that I deserve. I didn't voice out anything; everything was formulated in my head, but still, my throat felt dry.
Geez, what is wrong with me? I snatched the bottle from the stand and gulped it in one go. I checked the cell, and there was no notification; it was 3 am. It's not like Ralph to party till this time. I didn't try to dwell on the matter when I remembered his company.
I suddenly jerked from the bed and was panting. I tried to steady my breath and checked my surroundings, and I was in my room. By yanking my sheets, I made my way toward Ralph's room, and it was empty. I went back to my room and grabbed my cell. Frustration started to bubble up when there was no update from Ralph. I sat on the bed with uneasiness. It's not like Ralph, who would update me on even the small things. He was a grown-up guy; am I unnecessarily worrying? No, it's not like Ralph; he would definitely inform me, or at least he would drop a single text. Without a second thought, I started dialing Ralph's number, which was switched off, just the pinch I needed.
I pinched the bridge of my nose to keep myself sane and to think rationally. I groaned when I dialed the last person I thought of ever contacting. The call was received with a yawn, just the thing I needed to add for whatever was building in me. "Is Ralph staying with you?" The line went silent, probably checking the caller ID. "Oh, hey stalker." "Answer the damn question, where is Ralph?" "What do you mean? Didn't he come home last night?" I groaned in irritation. "Why the fuck would I call you this early? That's the last thing I would ever do." "Hold down; don't bite as soon as I receive the bloody call. He was speaking with Asher, and when I last saw him, he was on the dance floor." I was in a rage; I couldn't help but hold my cell even more tightly just to keep myself in check.
"You fucking didn't think of informing me?" He chuckled at that. "Ralph was meeting Asher now and then, right? What's the big deal?" "Ok, where the hell is he now?" "How the hell do I know? I was watching him for some time, but I got held up with something." I closed my eyes in frustration and clenched my hand. "Wow, why don't you guys give me more and more reasons just to increase my hate towards you, and you are bloody doing a good job at that." "You are worrying unnecessarily; he will be back. Maybe he went to his home." I sighed, maybe, but he would inform me, that's for sure. "His cell is switched off." "It's not a big deal; it was a late-night party. He was tired and slept without charging his battery." I rolled my eyes at that. "Keep your damn theory with you, bloody moron. First thing you should have done is call when that asshole showed up." "It's not a big deal; we were there." "Shut the hell up! I shouted at the top of my lungs. You fucking guys are not allowed in my apartment anymore." I disconnected the call without hearing his reply.
I collapsed on the couch in desperation to reach him. Ralph had met Asher before, but he would always come back to me. Now, I am not able to contact him, plus the uneasiness that I was feeling from yesterday. God, I covered my face with my hands and shouted loudly. Sure, he was a mature guy, but it's not like him.
Once again, I grabbed my cell, contemplated for a few seconds, and with a heavy heart, I dialed Asher's number. I want to be wrong. Yes, Ralph wouldn't do that to me again. We were not on the same path, but I was sure we were getting there. Whether we were in a relationship or not, Ralph would never dare to stab me twice.
"Well, hello. I was about to call you; great timing." I clutch my phone harder; every nerve is telling me to cut the bloody call, but I couldn't, not until, I am sure. "Ralph." He chuckled in return. "Of course, always Ralph, Ralph, Ralph. Can't you take a fucking break? Well, definitely not, so I am going to make sure to give you a permanent break from him." My breathing was heavy, dreading to hear what was coming. "Where is he?" "Where he rightfully belongs, with me on my bed, resting because of tiredness."
I was numb on the spot, and my breathing was shaky. Ralph wouldn't do that to me, not after everything that happened between us. He wouldn't crawl back to this bastard. There was no name for what was going on between us, but we were finding one, or was I the only person who was desperate? Was I the only person who was expecting something to build up? I was a coward; I would accept that, but I never thought of anyone else other than Ralph in my life to spend my life with. I wouldn't dare to think of anyone else other than him, but now he fucking crawled back to that bastard again.
A betrayer won over my cowardice. I was fucking getting there; I was taking my time, but I was getting over every obstacle of mine. He couldn't wait and give me a bloody chance. Didn't I deserve one? Now, it's too late for everything. No, he couldn't just do that to me, not after everything. There was something between us, tiny, but there was something. He can't throw me like I am nothing and patch up with a betrayer.
"Hello, are you fucking there?"
"Where is Ralph?" His laughter erupted. "I hate to repeat myself but let me make this easy. I am going to share the location; why won't you check it out personally and get lost forever? Sounds good? I want you to be here at the earliest, as I hate waiting." The cell was disconnected, and I collapsed on the ground.