The harsh cold gripped her causing her to shiver violently against her will as she waited for Harry. Deep down, she hoped Jackson would see her, that he'd stop sleeping and run after her, that he'd tell her this was just a joke, a cruel joke. But that didn't happen till Harry pulled over before her. He came rushing out of the car with genuine worry written all over his face. It increased when his eyes met hers, but she didn't care. She felt as though if she talked or looked at him for long, she'd crumble. Maria had barely stopped tearing up before his arrival, now she could feel the dam in her eyes waiting to crack."What happened? Maria?" He lifted her chin to see her face clearly. She fought back tears and couldn't speak, she knew that if she did, he'd see her weak and helpless. Not like he had not already. He took off his jacket and wrapped it around her, Maria had never been more grateful."Where is Jackson? Did he-?" His pity transformed into a rage as he stared intensely at he
She had barely slept a wink last night, all of the scenarios replayed in her head like a tragic nightmare. Maria could already tell it was daybreak, the rays of sunlight seeped through the corners of the room completely illuminating the room, still, she lay, her eyes firmly shut as she drowned in her thoughts. She was more rational, or so she thought. It was hard to think of him without the ache in her chest intensifying, she'd been hurt before, so how did she let it happen again? One word, foolish. She had been foolish to give people the benefit of the doubt, believing a person could be different from others, she had been really foolish. Then Andrew- If Andrew were around, then bad things were bound to happen. Harry knocked on the door, the first time, she'd been too tired to answer, talking felt like a lot of work, but she'd eventually have to do it. He knocked again."It's open," she said in the loudest voice her throat could provide. The door clicked open revealing Ha
"What?" He chuckled slightly, "I've seen the way you look at him."She held back the urge to gasp. Harry knew and there was no use denying it. "What I don't understand is what he had done wrong to make you call me out of fright, my guess? Nothing good."She swallowed hard, not quite knowing what to say to him. Her mind and pride were in shambles. She fiddled with the newspaper that lay lazily on the table, who still reads newspapers? "But he looked like he was going to drop dead...why don't you talk to him, see if you can work things out?" Maria could see his genuineness flicker as he spewed the words uncomfortably. "No, thank you." Her reply was brief. There was no working anything out, she didn't have the energy for that. "I'm sorry, Maria, for whatever happened, this look...the one you have on your face right now, it kills me to see you so sad, so frail. I didn't want to say anything, it's awkward, you know? But I really hate to see you this way." His eyes held a sad res
It wasn't just an article that circulated with those pictures. Jackson couldn't believe his eyes. Why on earth would Natasha do that? There were several pictures of them flying around the internet, his eyes were shut close in the pictures but it revealed enough skin to make people misunderstand, and the worst of it? They were on his bed. Praying that Maria doesn't see it wouldn't stop anything, he knew she was going to, or maybe she already has and was currently cussing at him. He'd do the same too, if he looked at it from her point of view, pictures of your partner with another person whom she knew was interested in him never say anything good, it's only normal she'd doubt him, he needed to talk to her. Comments flew around in swarms, a reasonable amount of them negative, as expected. The ones who knew nothing of his story created their own illusions and conspiracies of how he only married Maria as a font so he could focus on who he truly loved behind the scenes, Natasha. He didn't c
The person's footstep grew louder as his pace increased, and so did hers. She would have been sprinting if her legs weren't declining. The cold air was contrary to the hotness she felt on the inside, like her organs were on fire. Everything burned. She made a quick turn as soon as she got to the front of Harry's house. In the middle of tugging the gate open, she felt the person near. Her muscles stopped working, completely crippled by the fear of what she'd see if she turned. The silence grew louder, between her and the person, even though she was screaming and raging on the inside, her body leaned limply on the gate, a prayer in her eyes that her mouth won't mutter. "Maria..." The voice called out, and to her relief, it was a familiar one. She became powerful enough to turn instantly."Harry? You startled me, what are you doing here? Where's your car?" She ranted, then immediately realized those questions were too much for that man who stood before her. His cheeks were flushed and
"Last night was quite eventful," she raised a brow as she teased, "I got to learn why the moon wasn't red." Maris was sitting on a stool in the kitchen, waiting for the toaster to beep as it provided her the warm comfort of warm bread. His face flushed instantly but he kept dabbing the towel on his wet hair, he had just woken up and taken his bath. "I swear, I'd never drink again. Alcohol is my worst enemy. I wonder what else I said...or did." He walked aimlessly to the other end of the room, "my head fucking hurts, jeez." You begged me to stay, just like your brother did. And I have no intention of doing that in the way you want."Nah, it's fine, sit, I'd make you something to eat." She offered and he shook his head."I just want to go back to bed and feel sorry for myself for a little while. That's how I get back on my feet. By the way, why are you all dressed up? Do you have somewhere you have to be?" "Yeah, I figured I should talk to Sean myself, hopefully, I make up a bet
It was planned by Natasha, that Bitch- what But it happened, and God knows what else went down then too? What does he even mean by that? Are you asking if they had sex?No, it doesn't matter if they did- I mean, I- I don't even care.Are you sure you do not care? Why then are you getting so worked up?"I am not getting worked up!" Maria yelled, a mistake on her part. She should have just left the argument in a mental state, now the Cab driver looked at her as though he'd swerve left and to a psychiatric hospital anytime soon. She has one more shot till she's accused of doing drugs, he had that look on his face.You are worked up, and jealous. You like him that much, it'll do your ego some good to own up to your emotions rather than pretend not to care. That tiny voice had plans to maim her with disgust. "I do not care, okay! Stop bothering me." Another subconscious yell, if she were the Cab driver, she'd be worried too. "You okay, miss?" He asked with his eyes fixed on the rearv
"Let me show you the truth, Maria. I'm in love with you."The words she wanted to hear, he spoke with ease, why then does it feel like torture? Maria took a few steps away from him, retreating uneasily from his touch as readiness rose from the pit of her stomach. His eyes were desperate for an answer, positive. That, she couldn't give. There was nothing positive about the damning pit in her, deep enough to swallow. Maria gulped, desperate for defense as it kept slipping through her cold fingers. Her heart had a voice of its own, it chanted yes, it was desperate to see what he supposedly wanted to show. Her mind, however, was too frail, too broken to admit a little part of her wanted to try again. How damaging.Finally, she spoke. "I'd see what there is to see, by myself...not by your feeble trial. If you don't mind." She walked past him, catching a glimpse of the childish mischievousness in his eyes, along with the shades of happiness his lips couldn't conceal. She hadn't said anythin
*FINAL CHAPTER*"I found the pills, and- and I don't know what to say," she broke down and started to cry. "After all these while, you still take them? I thought you were done! I thought you were clean! God... it's been six months and you kept lying to me! You lied to me!"She watched him wince and he sought the right words to say. He crumbled before her. He looked like the ghost of his former self."Why do you keep going back? After rehab! After the therapy sessions, why do you keep going back!?" She yelled, frantic. Her terror was built up by the moment."Because no one understands!" He yelled back. "No matter how hard I try to be me, no matter how hard I try to stop, I keep finding my way back to it! I was clean! Till I wasn't. I tried! I tried and tried but there was nothing to help me get through it""But I am here-""No, not like that. I know but not that like that, okay?" He threw the cup on the table across the wall and grabbed his head, pulling and thugging at his hair, "Wha
Jackson- Jackson had been hit. She chanted in her head, it replayed over and over. The image of him struggling with Andrew, that was the last thing she remembered before the world fell into a threatening silence. Her eyes slowly opened to a blinding glow of light. She shut them back because they hurt. Maria tried again and opened her eyes slowly this time. It took a while to overpower the headache and realize that she was in a hospital, and next to her was Jackson, fast asleep with half his body on the bed and the lower half on the chair that was next to the bed.She would have shouted if her throat didn't feel clogged. Jackson was next to her. What had happened? It felt as though it's been months till she last saw him. Maria squirmed lightly, shaking the bed a little to wake him up. She needed to know what had happened. Everything felt like a threat."Jackson, Jackson," she called out slowly and when he didn't answer, she could feel her eyes begin to water, "Jackson, please wake up.
On his phone's screen was a picture of Maria unconscious and with a nasty injury on her head. He was still at Harry's when he received the picture. He had been shocked beyond word, and Harry had to squeeze the phone out of his hands to know the reason for his shock. The message came with an instruction of confidentiality and an address he was asked to come discreetly without company, if he did anything out of place, she would be badly hurt. If the shock hadn't been obvious on his face, Jackson would have thought going alone was the best option. He couldn't stand the thought of something bad happening to her. She had been through enough already. It's been long since Jackson experienced such crippling anxiety. It was as though every nerve in his body worked at a faster pace and then took a downward spiral at intervals. This was bad. It was really bad. He never should have left her, clearly, he underestimated Andrew. This has to be his doing, it wasn't traceable to anyone else. "Calm
For the brief moment that her eyes pried open, she felt that she was in transit. A vehicle or whatever mode of transportation it was, after that she drifted into another deep sleep till hours later. Or had it been days? Maria wasn't quite sure. She woke up with a splitting headache and tried to recognize the environs she found herself in. She didn't. And in the process of that, her headache got worse. Had she been hit? There was a banging pain at the side of her head, it hurts so much it could kill and she reached for it, except her hands weren't moving. It took all she had to tilt her head and see that it had been tied to the side of the chair in which she sat. Maria couldn't understand what was going on, she tried to recall and in bits and pieces, her memories began to sum up something more reliable. In violent glimpses, she could remember how foolishly she had opened the door for someone who was supposed to be her pizza delivery guy, when she tried to remember what happened after
Harry left a while after bouncing on and off their discussion, they discussed how factual the situation may be and possible ways of finding out the truth. All of which Maria heard. Was pretending she did not hear all this lying? She had to speak to Jackson about it, but somehow she couldn't find the right way to. She appeared in the living room with her happiest smile and liveliest gaze, it was sickening. The shock, the thoughts. It ate at her at an unbelievable pace."Good morning, sunshine," Jackson said at the sight of her, his smile was faltering, and so was his facade. "I was just about to find you an audition for the sleeping beauty two, did you sleep well?"Of course, he was going to hide all of it behind humor. Was she beginning to get mad at him for not telling her the truth immediately? How long does he plan to hide it? Again, at the back of her mind, she felt as though she had no right to react. "I think I'd be a better Cinderella or Moana." She responded and gave him a b
Things were going well, or they should be considering neither of them has brought up the issue with Andrew. It was due to be handled and Jackson had the perfect plan, but that could wait. Their relationship is what needed fixing. They didn't go back to the penthouse yet and everything was going okay, except for the never-ending apologies Maria offered and her 'do you still love me?" at frequent intervals. After what happened, Jackson was sure he could never stop loving her even when he tried, and her feelings were more obvious now after whatever discussion she'd had with his mother.Everything should be fine. They were back on track, and slowly and steadily, they'd be able to put their differences behind them. And of course, he was going to help her with her career, once the storm was over, he'd assist her in any way he could. She deserved to have her dreams fulfilled. It was morning and the coffee makers around him somehow only listened to Maria, so he has to sit and wait for her to
Strange coincidence. It's not like I knew someone else who lived in Spain and bore the name 'Maria.' Strange coincidence, really. Why did it make me feel so uneasy? I watched her as she unburdened, every word left her mouth as though it took a part of her with it. It wasn't the best sight.She continued. "I didn't have any family members or relatives, and it was impossible to get to the USA, I was under scrutiny at the time. They didn't let me go and Alfred didn't have my best interests at heart. After I had Maria, the evidence grew incriminating and I'd rather know where my child was than have them take her away from me. So I tried to escape, or I did, for a brief moment. The only place I could think of was the orphanage and I dropped her there," her voice cracked and she began to tear up again. "I dropped my daughter inside the orphanage and fled because I was too scared, too ashamed to be seen as the irresponsible mother. It was rainy that night...and I stayed, hoping someone s
*HARRY*It hasn't exactly been the best day for me, especially with the conflicting emotions, especially when I saw Maria this morning, I thought I was over her. I thought it would hurt less but every piece of advice I gave Jackson was half-minded. Being selfless was hard. I was doing the exact opposite of what I had threatened to do, it was funny how in between a split second I dropped from wanting their relationship in ruins into wanting them to work. Emotions were the most unstable thing I know.There was so much paperwork to be attended to and Higgins wasn't exactly helpful, not with the stunt that Jackson had pulled, everywhere and everyone was in chaos, it still seemed as though Sean was shrinking, it must be the stress. Maybe I was too, but how could I tell? Managing a personality such as Jackson's was a six-man work, and I had to handle it all alone.Enough of these thoughts, I cautioned in my head. I was driving and half the time, the road seemed blurry and I've had other dri
He beat her. That son of a bitch. That good for nothing laid in his hands her. The anger that Jackson thought had dissipated was beginning to take form — hard and fast. It sounded like the most absurd thing he has heard all year long. The woman he loves experienced the same thing as his mother whom he had been so naive, too small to lend a helping hand. It was beyond anger—what he felt, it was rage, a good amount of it directed at himself. Why hadn't he noticed? When he saw how shaken up she was by his presence, why didn't he think of all this? He had been bummed when she opened up about everything, it was impossible to voice her struggles adequately but she did a good job at it. It made him wonder what he'd have done if he had woken up and found himself in an orphanage with a couple of other kids, all ordinary. Would he have tried to be different like she did? Even when she fought for her dreams, she still suffered for them at the hands of someone like Andrew. He didn't know