Louis~An hour before...I watched her exit the party after excusing herself. I narrowed my eyes at her back as she left. She had sounded distraught after the phone call. What has happened? I wondered. It was not like it was any of my concern, but it was human to be curious.Just then I received a phone call of my own. I retrieved my phone to see that it was Adam Warner. He was the COO of BioGenix Pharma.A lump formed in my throat. We had sent the proposal a month ago, and I was looking forward to a partnership with a pioneer company like BioGenix.I picked up the call. "Hello, good evening," I said into the mouthpiece."Good evening, Mr. Rodriguez," Adam said. "I am calling about your proposal."My heart pounded as I braced myself for the news. "Yes, Adam. What about the proposal?" I tried to keep my voice steady, masking the anxiety creeping in.There was a brief pause on the other end, and I could almost hear Adam's reluctant sigh. "After careful consideration, we've decided to go
Louis~I did not know exactly where she would have gone to take a call. I retrieved my phone again to call and ask when I passed the path leading to the balcony."...in the whole world," someone said. I halted in my tracks. That had been her voice.I took several steps back and looked into the balcony to see her there. She had a perplexed expression on her face, and she was listening intently to the person on the other line.Her eyes were glazed over with tears, and I could tell that a few had already fallen. Who was so important to her on a call that she would look so bothered and almost heartbroken?I thought of the only logical possibility: a lover. That green, ugly feeling reared its head again. And I actually found myself hoping that it was not the truth. Why was I so bothered? Us being a couple was simply pretense for this event. But I could not help but hang on to every expression and action as she listened intently to the person on the other line.There was so much love in her
Zoe's POV “I love you,” I whispered as Louis planted a kiss on my forehead. He rested his forehead on mine and smiled. “I love you too. You are my world.” The memory dissolved, pulling me back to the present and its harsh reality. Louis loomed over me, his face twisted with undiluted loathing. His azure eyes bored into mine as he sneered. “Fucking bitch,” he spat. It felt like being slapped repeatedly. I looked up at him from my wheelchair, unable to rise and cradle his face like I used to, to bring him back to me, to the person who showered me with love just yesterday afternoon. “Answer me!” he growled, taking a step closer. It all felt like a nightmare, yet it was real. My tears slid down my burnt cheek, the salt stinging the wound. “Louis…” I mumbled, my voice breaking. “I don’t know what you are talking about,” I insisted. But my words only agitated him more. “Jennie told me you would deny it.” My eyes widened at the mention of my bully, who had tormented me throughout sch
Zoe's POV Months Before... "Whore!" The students behind me yelled. I knew who they were talking to; I ignored them. They could all go to hell. I picked up my notebook and I felt something hit my head. "You can't be disgusting and deaf at the same time." It was Nessa's nausea-inducing voice. "You'd better answer me." She got no reply from me as I continued reading my notebook and even momentarily looked out the window, just to get on her nerves. "Answer my sister when she is speaking to you!" An unexpected but familiar voice called out to yours truly. Again I refused to turn around and let out an exasperated sigh as I heard approaching footsteps. I turned around to face him. It was Louis Rodriguez, Nessa's older brother. The guy that girls would kill for. From his olive skin to his eyes that held the ocean to the unruly raven curls that adorned his head. With the build of a Greek god, yet he was just like the others. A rich, overbearing asshole. Who loved to see me suffer. I wat
Zoe's POV I wandered a little bit, contemplating my life and everything else. I felt like was being pushed to the brink of insanity. This person didn't understand what it entailed to survive when you are dirt poor. Sure the part my mother took was not the most ideal but... she had three mouths to feed. She never showed affection towards us like she had when I was growing up. But I couldn't blame her, her job took all she had. She would come home exhausted and bruised. Her customers were monsters. I couldn't imagine; a depraved man letting out all his demented lust and violence on a woman beneath him. Sadly that was what my mother had signed up for. I couldn't completely see her as innocent or wise. She threw her life away for a bastard at nineteen. He had been twice her age. She ran away with him just to be used as an object for sex. She ran away again but she was already in deep. She was penniless but no matter how broke a woman was she could always pay in other ways. Luckily
Zoe's POV "We need to talk," I heard the person say. It was Louis! He had a hand on my mouth and my back to his chest. He pulled me into a classroom. The moment we entered the room, before he even closed the door, I knew where we were. The room had the rather choking smell of expensive cologne, and the words written conspicuously on the whiteboard screamed at me: "NO PEASANTS ALLOWED!!!" The words spoke directly to me. It was the place where my humiliation had taken place, the single most embarrassing day of my life that had shown me where I stood in this school. The thought alone made me cringe and grit my teeth. He let me go as he sat on a seat, facing me. He left me standing, and I stood there rigid and quiet. Our eyes never left each other. His voice finally pierced through the odd silence. "You owe me." "Owe you?" "I rescued you, didn't I?" I blinked back at him. I should have thanked him, even though he was being a jerk about it, but my pride spoke first. "Rescued me?
Zoe's POV “Shit!“ I basically yelled at my reflection. On my neck and jaw, were hickeys. Conspicuous hickeys lined the places his mouth had touched. I had already missed a class and I am about to miss lunch. The thought of walking through school with them was enough to drive me crazy. “Ptttts, ptttts Zoe.“ I heard someone call me. I turned to see a student I didn't recognize. She had red hair that reminded me of Andrew. She flashed me a gummy smile and waved at me. I waved back and returned a limp smile. She walked out of her hiding spot. In her hand was a tube of foundation.“You might need this.“ I immediately used my left hand to cover the hickeys which made her giggle. “Don't worry, I already saw it.“ She put the tube into my hand wrapping my fingers around it. “I came to help.““Why? I don't even know you.“ “I am two grades ahead of you, call me Sandra.“ As she put out her hand for a handshake which I took with some trepidation.****I walked back to class. Every step was de
She was joking, she had to be. I turned to her. She had a hopeful, nervous smile forming on her quavering lips."You want to waste my time so bad," I scoffed and watched her smile disappear. "You would make up some shit and expect me to believe it like the idiot you take me for!" "I... but... I," she stumbled over her words as tears welled in her eyes. By now every one had eyes on us. Wondering what two school girls were discussing that led one to cry. "It's probably about a boy," I heard a woman murmur.I almost cringed at her words. A boy indeed! "Ok, ok," I finally said after a moment. "I'll listen." I took her by the hand and led her to the place we were before. Well,l she did help me, I reasoned inwardly.Once we settled, I waited for her to spill her guts."I know it's hard to believe," She whimpered wiping her tears. "Sometimes it feels like a dream even to me." "But how have they not snuffed you out." I was choosing to go along with her story. For now."I had planned it f