I froze when he said those words, " we can stop pretending now...let's talk Rhea", his voice was calm as usual but for some reason it made me feel uneasy, my hand unconsciously slipped from the car door, I looked back at him and I saw he was looking at me, my throat went dry, what did he want to say to me?," ten years huh.....", he said resting his back more on his car seat, he looked relaxed , composed while as for me I was internally dying , " how old are we now...twenty eight, twenty nine....", he said , his tone playful , I didn't return such jokes , he was beating around the bush right now, if he didn't want to say his true intentions then I will be the one to speak first, I heaved as I collected my thoughts , I hated the way he saw me today, it was worse than how Ashley and the others looked at me, his was of concern and Pity, I was angry at him, why did he have to hold me that time, " I...."," I wanted us to talk privately since it wasn't possible at the restaurant", he said , eventhough we sat on different seats , he felt closer almost like he could shed off every layer of me, I needed to get out of this situation, " I used my thumb to silently rub my wrist, a type of calming mechanism I had formulated when I wanted to say something that was too heavy for me, " let's just pretend we didn't see each other today, it was good to see you and I am greatful fir what you did for me but....", I looked up at him with a smile on my face, he no longer held a soft expression , no longer looked at me with that warm gaze, he looked confused and almost...frustrated?, I didn't think of it, " let's not see each other again".
He looked at me for a while, he didn't say anything and I couldn't depict what he wanted to say, I reached out and opened the car door as I got out immediately, Denver followed as he also got down from his car, I clenched my purse tightly then I bowed down a little , " thank you for taking me home....., I will get going then.....", I lifted my head up , his hands were tucked away in his pocket, I pressed my lips tightly as I turned around to leave , " why do you live like that?", I stopped at my tracks , his tone shark but calm, it was like he was questioning all my life choices, it stung all of a sudden, I turned to meet his gaze, his thoughts and words never had filter , he always said it as it was which made this situation more annoying.
" Why do I live like what?", I asked trying my best to behave as if I didn't know what he was talking about when I knew exactly what he was saying, he took a step closer but it wasn't near me, his steps slow as if an unconscious movement would frighten me, " you know exactly what I mean Rhea...", he said , his eyes never leaving mine, I couldn't say anything , " I tried to think about what to say to you if I ever saw you again....and all I could ask right now was why you live like this....I didn't ask you how you were you were doing since all these years , how you life had been..., it may be inconsiderate to other people but to you...you are relieved", he took a step closer to me, like always I was like an open book to him, right now he was dangerous , I couldn't show him anymore side if me, revealing my true emotions to him will make me one to lean unto him and it will be harder to leave him if I do that.
" I...", " I know you didn't do it.....", it felt like a stab to my chest, everything I wanted to say vanished like it had never existed , he was the first person to say that to me and it hurt so bad, " you didn't do it Rhea , what ever they are saying you did.....you didn't do it", he was calm and he said it with such assurance like he was sure I didn't do it, I clenched the hand of my purse , I scoffed , I didn't mean to but it just came out, he looked surprised with my sudden scoff, " Rhea....", " you talk like you are so sure that I didn't do it....", I sounded stuck up, I know but ...I wanted to drive him away, "it has been ten years.....people change Denver, I am not an exception to that, a self righteous girl in the past may be a bitch in the present..., I don't hold any ties to you so....just leave while I am asking nicely ", I said hoping to push him away but, " you haven't changed...you are still the same Rhea I knew ten years ago", he sighed as he bent his head down.
" Even if you changed , I won't still believe because I know how much you love writing...",he said as he came closer to me, " in highschool you once told me that your wish was to write your own story and to die while holding a pen...., a person who would want to die while holding a pen won't copy another person's work", he was too confident in me....his eyes, mouth and body....through an unspoken language told me everything no one ever told me, " Rhea.....please , eventhough you don't want to see me, can you.....can you let me cheer you on from a distance, can I still support you even when I am far away, can is still be your number one fan Rhea?", he asked , his voice seemed to waver like he was frustrated but at the same time concerned ,it was warm,almost desperate, " dont do that...I don't need you to do that, I don't have anything going for me and what you heard about me....it's true, everything you heard about me is true, I copied her work, I am a thief and I deserve everything that is happening to me right now".
This time he didn't say anything, it was okay, I didn't want him to say anything in the first place, I clutched my bag as I turned to leave then he spoke again, " why did you smile then?", the question was cold, I turned back at him , he was closer and he was dead serious , his tone was cold presumably laced with a small hint of anger, I looked up at him , I couldn't depict my reaction towards him, " it was obvious they were mocking you but you still smiled ", he sounded frustrated, a hint of disbelief, could I tell him that smiling had become a sort of coping mechanism to me, in that way no one could actually see how broken I was, it sounds insane but there I found myself smiling again, that seemed to annoy him, " I don't understand what you mean...., so if you would excuse me", I wanted to leave but he grabbed me by my arm , it wasn't harsh, it was gentle , restrained , I looked at him he looked frustrated but you could see a hint of concern in his eyes, " Rhea...", he called my name so softly , almost like it was so fragile that applying any slight pressure could break it, even after ten years the way he called my name was always the same , that soft tone that could make one melt, it never changed, I clenched my jaw, why was he doing this to me, he sighed , I didn't know the emotion behind that, he was never easy to read in the first place , he slowly let go of my hand, " it's getting cold ,.....go inside", he said , that brief tension that had been held between us a moment ago was quickly cut, no dramatic flare, just a simple and logical suggestion, it didn't seem awkward , it felt like something I was meant to do ,I nodded as I quickly left, I didn't look back and no words were exchanged between us, just a peaceful and silent farewell with the hopes of not seeing each other again.
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As Rhea entered the elevator she couldn't stop thinking about Denver, she should have thanked him for helping her at the reunion, that situation felt surreal, she sighed as soon as the elevator opened, she stepped out, the lights flickered, the hall of the apartment was empty, only her room was available, it was lonesome but she liked it, there was peace and at least she didn't get to run into unfamiliar faces, they had moved for their own personal reasons which she didn't care to know, she never associated herself with them when they were around, she lived on the second floor of the apartment and she was the only one, the land lady came once in a while for maintenance bulls , rent was automatically sent to her account, she loved living here, it was quiet and cheap but still convenient, moving out of here will make her lose that .
She sighed, today has been very exhausting, she came to the door as she wanted to type in her passcode but...her door was unlocked , a whole level of dread filled her as hand trembled slightly, she looked around if anyone was around but it was silent...as silent as a graveyard, that couldn't be right, she had not told anyone where she was moving to , her hands fumbled into her purse desperately searching for her phone which she found, she quickly put in her password, then she entered the call log but....but the only saved contact she had was " agent", her hands trembled , what was she going to do, was it a robber, if it was she should call the police but before she could dial in the number the door flung open, her hands froze as she came face to face with the person she thought she will never see again, the devil who had ruined her life , she instinctively stepped back, her hands trembled so much that she didn't know when her phone dropped from her hand,the figure closed in on her, bent down and picked up her phone as he dusted it, he was tall, sharo features, tanned skin and deceitful eyes, he grinned as he stretched out his hand to give her back the phone but Rhea looked away, she pressed her thumb on her hand to stop herself from trembling, the man looked so non challant as he dropped the phone on the floor again, " oops...I dropped it...since I call you and you don't pick up, you might as well not have a phone right....", he said with a grin as he stepped closer to Rhea but she quickly backed away.
This fueled his excitement more, seeing how weak she looked, how she couldn't even look him in the eye, it delighted him, " ho...how did you know where I live.....", she asked , he scoffed, " not even a hi or how are you...", " you bastard", Rhea muttered under her breath stopping him from saying anymore, her teeth gritted as she had said that, deep resentment which had been forgotten for a while resurfaced , " me.....tsk bastard...", he said as this time no space was between them, he licked the inside if his mouth then he looked at her, his whole expression changed , he looked wicked , without warning, she didn't even have time to react, she didn't see it coming when all of a sudden he yanked her by her hair holding it a fistful.
Rhea winced in pain as she struggled to get out from his grip but he just held tighter, " you bitch...., you still have the audacity to call me that, even after helping you cover up what your father did, the least you can do is this right.....or do you want me to go to the media and expose it all...", he said , she winced in pain as his grip tightened, Rhea didn't want to shed a tear , he sounded like a psychopath, she could not believe she ever saw this man as a good person, she shook her head in defeat, he smiled as he aggressively removed his hand from her hair, " see...., tsk, I didn't want to resort to this but you keep pushing me, you are just too stubborn", he said as he ruffled his hair in anger, Rheas hair was a mess as she sat down on the floor in defeat, Daniel bent down,a smirk playing on his lips, " you have gotten more prettier Rhea...., that is why I didn't hit you", he said, he wanted to touch her but she flinched making him stop mid air, he nodded as he stood up, " I shouldn't touch you, I am engaged to Diah now", he said as he raised his hand up and showed his ring, he disgusts her, he turned around to leave but then stopped , " ahhh...I almost forgot...", he said as he turned to Rhea, " you have to start writing a new book for Diah....., she's getting impatient,and change your passcode, a creep may break in", he said as he smiled and left, his shoes echoed in a distance till she could no longer hear it, she sat on that bare cold floor, silence reckoning once again, he was gone and now she could cry.