10 YEARS AGO
Rhea stood in the rain, everyone was staring at her , her uniform was sticking to every inch of her body, her book was on the ground , torn and mashed up , her hair clung unto her neck and on her damo uniform but she didn't care , all she could see was her ruined book on the wet ground , she clenched her fist, she could clearly hear the snickers and mockery, " what do you think she will do ....will she hit you or will she scream and throw a tantrum?", " should we place bets on her next course of action", they all mummured behind her back , the anger inside her quickly died down as she scanned her surroundings , they all took shelter , some had their umbrella while she stood alone in the pouring rain , all these people were waiting to see her reaction , they all wanted her to make a fool of herself , her fist slowly unclenched , " hah...", she scoffed quietly , she slowly bent down and picked the book up , they were all anticipating, the snickering and mummuring became louder and then she did the unexpected, she walked over to the trash can to everyone's shock and threw the book away, " what is she doing....., why did she throw it away?", " wait.....was that it , geez this was a fucking waste of time ", but Rhea didn't care as she walked away , " Ashley....we didn't get anything from her".
But Ashley had gone , she was heading to Rhea , anger fuming , thatw as humiliating, that wasn't the reaction she had anticipated for, who did she think she was , what the hell. She was reaching towards her , she was going to show this spiteful bitch her worthless place , she will start with the hair, that luscious dark hair that made boys go crazy over , she will rip it off, then that flawless fair porcelain skin, she will scar it , her hand was reaching over to the girl that never noticed her even for a second , she was about to drag her but......her hand was caught mid air, everyone was startled including Ashley as she looked up and saw Denver, " Denver .....what are you....aaahhh", she grunted in pain as Denver tightened his grip on her wrist , his once bright hazel eyes looked distant and cold, everyone knew Denver as someone who remained calm no matter the situation but why was he acting like this all of a sudden , he sighed like he was holding in something , the rain soaking both of them , the look in his eyes was one she had never seen before , " haven't you seen the reaction that you wanted , his tone was cold , this wasn't like Denver , Ashley couldn't speak as Denver gently let go of her hand making her to stumble a little , " if you have nothing to do than to look for unwanted attention .....", he took a step closer to her and you could see Ashley turning away as not to meet his gaze, " I suggest looking for that attention elsewhere ", he said harshly and then he left, in his hand was the delicate pieces of Rheas book.
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PRESENT
It had been over two weeks since Denver and Rhea had become neighbours, Denver had been busy in his resturant which had become a hit and food influencers had been recommending it on all social media platforms , they praised the food and kept on complimenting on how attractive the head chef was , so he had been busy and they barely ran into each other.
Time seemed to pass slowly for Rhea, the day seemed to stretch endlessly, she tried to write but she couldn't , all she did was eat, sleep and wake up , life was boring , she never realized it but maybe because she had a neighbor and she saw how he lived his life , she felt totally useless, it was evening and she didn't accomplish anything again, she didn't even write not like she had any idea of what she was going to write , as her unaccomplished day passed her once more , she suddenly received a message , she slowly opened her dazed eyes, that single ding suddenly made her heart beat faster than normal , she was obviously expecting it to be Daniel but to her surprise it was an unknown number with a simple " hi Rhea" she quickly sat up , who was this?, she wondered as she spoke like he knew her and then he was typing again, " it's Cyrus....can we meet up, I have something to say to you".
Rhea tilted her head , " Cyrus?", where had she heard that name before , her brain clicked all if a sudden but she needed to be sure, " are you Cyrus from Sunrose publishing agency, it was the agency she she had quit a few weeks ago , it took a while for him to reply and Rhea was getting impatient but when he did, " yes.....it's me", she remembered Cyrus as clear as day , he was her number one supporter when her books entered the market and he treated her like his little sister, but now.....how would he see her , he had not spoken to her since the news broke out , why was he suddenly reaching out now , she didn't know whether it was her curiosity or it was just on impulse but she found herself texting back, "I will choose the place to meet".
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CAFE: 9PM
I continued sipping my latte waiting for him to say something , Cyrus was in his early thirties, tall, well groomed hair, his eyes covered in thick rimmed glasses and he was in his usual suit, he hadn't changed the way he looked but I could see that he no longer looked at me the same way, what was I even expecting, " are you going to stop writing!", the first word he said after being silent for a long while and all he could ask was that question,I felt.... disgusted.
I shrugged not looking at him , " I don't know...it's not like I can go back to my glory days can I ?, I said adding some comic relief in my statement and then he sighed in relief, I watched him, how his once tensed face became calm and reserved like he had been holding something in but he finally got the answer, he wasn't here for my well being , he was here to make sure that I never had any thoughts of coming to them again, the one person I had looked up to, the person who I believed was my biggest supporter also wished for my downfall.
All I could do at that moment was to laugh , I could feel people turn to look at me , it was amusing but I didn't stop , it was just so funny how things were going for me , " Rhea.....", he called out my name softly like he was cautioning me like I was doing something naughty, I wanted to take in my fill, I had almost forgotten how to laugh and now that I did it felt frustrating, after a whil I abruptly stopped laughing , I hadn't laughed intentionally in the first place but I had stopped at my own will," Rhea ...what suddenly came over you.....why .....?", " so...how did you get my number ", I asked , I already knew the answer but I wanted to hear it from him, he leaned comfortably on his chair, " I got it from the manager ", he was so non challant , " from the manager?", I said as I leaned closer to the table , " was he the one that told you to speak to me to make sure I had no plans to return", I asked, the way his eyes never met mine, it was confirmed, I leaned back, " it's till the situation dues down... it's only temporary", he said, he sounded arrogant, I scoffed, " temporary?, it's not like I ever planned to return in the first place ", I muttered matching his arrogance, he looked at me almost surprised at my sudden response and then he smirked , excitement glinting in his eyes , " you are still till self centered...despite your downfall you still act pompous", those words pierced so deep in my heart , I could feel it shredding to pieces , when I had been successful they all praised me and was happy for me because they all were benefitting from it but now that I was in the most broken point in my life they all looked down on me.
I wanted to see how far he would go with his taunt, " if I was just a pawn all through then ...why were you so nice to me, why did you support me?", I was hoping he would lie because right now the truth could be very painful, instead he gleamed , his eyes shine of greed , something I had never seen before, he leaned close as his voice came out almost in a whisper , " what else.....you had three best sellers and money was just rolling in.....to all who was there , you were a stroke of luck", and the sword that had pierced my heart ran through , he said the truth and all I could do was sit and listen , to them I had just been a stroke of luck, an ATM, the people I had considered my family saw me as a money maker and when I was in the darkest pits of my life...., they threw me away , many people who betrayed me from the start all lied till they were finally unmasked but he just said it .....he was the bloody devil.
" I see.....", I simply said , I looked out the window , it was snowing contrasting with the starry but moonless night , it was beautiful and in this beautiful night I wanted to drink.
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Denver was sitting on his couch, a bag of food was sitting on his table as he pondered on and on, he had been doing this for the past weeks now, contemplating whether he could just drop the bag at her door , she had warned him but for some reason he wanted to cross the line, " whatever", he didn't care, he will just drop it off at her doorstep and ring the bell, he sighed , he was wearing a loose black hoodie and joggers , he stood up ready to go and drop the food but then he heard someone trying to enter his passcode repeatedly, he looked at the time , it was already twelve midnight , who was at his door at this hour, he tilted his head in almost realization, was it a burglar , he scoffed, he just moved in, they didn't even allow him to settle in, " tsk.....so impatient", he scoffed , he took out his phone ready to call the police as he approached the door and checked his door camera, a wolf cut , flushed cheeks and drowsy eyes.
Denver in surprise dropped his phone on the floor , " Rhea".