1. BLACKOUT

"You're fired!"

She felt her heart sink deeper into her ribcage. She felt her hearing capacity reduce, so much so that all she could hear were distant echoes of the words that had been uttered to her. She felt her mouth go dry.

She lifted her hazel brown eyes to meet her boss. He looked angry. She had deduced that from the way his brows knitted together, causing the fair skin around the area to wrinkle as well. From the way his breathing had become harsher and from the way he looked at her. His arms were folded together, causing the blue shirt he wore to form creases. His dark pants did the same. It was probably the effect of his anger.

"Mr Mark maybe I should come back when you're calm and no longer angry," she suggested but in a low voice. She heard her own panic in her voice even though she was trying to hide it.

Mr Mark glared at the little woman standing before him in anger. Even if the white shirt and dark pants she wore made her look innocent, he knew she would be exactly the same as her father. After all, the man had birthed her and would have surely raised her to be like him.

"You heard what I said. You are fired!" Mr Mark repeated this time slowly so that she would register every word.

She let out a shaky breath and tried her luck again. "You cannot fire me for no reason. Which is why I am suggesting again that I come back when you're calmer," she protested.

"Zara Lawman! I don't ever want to see you here again!" Mr Mark exclaimed.

This caught Zara off-guard so much so that she flinched at his tone. Her eyes were wide open as she glared at him in shock. Zara could not afford to be fired at the moment. She, along with the rest of her family needed all the money they could get their hands on. She could not just accept being fired like that.

"Mr Mark, at least tell me why and give me a chance to defend myself. Please," Zara begged.

"Your father was caught stealing today!" Mark exclaimed.

For a moment, all sounds seemed to stop as what Mark told her registered into her head. Then slowly, the sounds came back.

"What?" Zara asked in a low and confused voice.

"That's right! The truth about your family has been revealed. Your father is a thief and what more would a thief produce as his offspring? A thief as well!" Mark accused.

Zara felt a migraine beginning to form in her head. Everything was becoming too much to process. Her father was no thief. He was the nicest man she had ever met. What was her boss talking about?

"My Dad is no thief. He could never even steal the smallest of things," Zara defended in a weakening voice. Her eyes started to water the more she thought of the situation.

"You cannot fool me with that voice and those teary eyes. I'm sure you were waiting for the perfect moment to grab all my money and disappear! Your game is up!" Mark yelled.

Zara stared at her boss like he was an alien. She could not believe he was the one saying this to her. Countless times, he had left his money unguarded and she had helped him take care of his belongings but today, he had turned his back on her. He had forgotten all her good deeds.

Zara let out a pathetic but painful laugh. "It's funny how I used to work myself up just to make your store run smoothly. Today you stand here and accuse me of being a thief. I'm afraid I will not even dream of continuing to work with an ungrateful man like you. Goodbye Mr Mark. Sorry for troubling you," Zara concluded and dropped her shop attendant's tag hard on the counter. Then she turned around and walked out of the gift shop without another word.

Mark only stared at her in anger. Her words had struck a chord within him. He wanted to say something but his tongue had gotten tied. He only gritted his teeth in anger as he watched her leave.

The unshed tears in Zara's eyes only added up as she walked towards her house. People passed her without caring about the expression on her face. She was almost invincible to them. Zara wondered what would become of her father. Had he been arrested? Was he okay?

Zara was sure it was all a misunderstanding. She knew that her father could never steal. But why did it happen to him? Why did he have to suffer?

Zara had gotten so lost in her thoughts that she did not notice a van coming in fast towards her. When she noticed it, it was already too late and she got frozen in fear. Her heart stopped and she immediately knew it was over for her.

Suddenly, a hand pulled her out of the way at the eleventh hour and enveloped her in a tight hug.

"Fool!" The driver yelled as he drove off without stopping once.

Zara did not pay attention to the driver or whatever he had to say. All she could focus on was the hug. She felt warmth. It was the first thing that hit her and it was the first thing her brain thought of registering. Then followed comfort and safety. All this she got from that one hug. Zara immediate recognised the person who had saved her without looking into his face. She recognized him from the way he smelt and the warmth that he was offering her. It was only when she was with him that she felt all those feelings radiating from him and towards her.

It was Kelvin.

He pulled her away from his chest and looked into her eyes."Zara where had you gotten yourself lost to? What were you thinking about? You could have died there? Are you trying to get yourself killed?" He questioned her. His worry was evident in his voice.

Instead, Zara was lost in the sea of deep blue that rested in his eyes. She watched the fair skin wrinkle each time he blinked.

Suddenly, Kelvin gasped. "You've been crying! What happened? Who hurt you? Did they—" he stopped exclaiming halfway as understanding bestowed itself upon him. "You heard about what happened to Paul, didn't you?" He finally asked in a low tone.

Zara widened her eyes as she found out that he also knew about it. "So it is true? He was caught?" Zara asked as a new panic started to build itself within her.

"You do not need to worry about that. Rita called me and I sorted it all out. Your father is fine," Kelvin tried to assure her.

Zara was somewhat happy that her mother had thought of calling him but she also wondered why she had not called her too. Her mother did not even inform her about the situation.

"My father can never steal. He's not a thief. You know that right?"  Zara tried to convince Kelvin.

"I do but that is not what the entire city thinks right now. There's also nothing I can do to clarify or prove his innocence," Kelvin informed her allowing his hands to fall freely by his sides. The gesture made his hands hit his denim pants as well as the white t-shirt he wore over the pants.

This only made Zara more upset than she already was. "What is going to become of my Dad?" She asked.

"He's fine. They won't press charges. I was able to talk them out of it but I guess it did not stop people from spreading rumors," Kelvin assured.

"But at what cost?" Zara asked for she knew what he had to do in return. He would have had to buy them off with some money. She did not want Kelvin spending more money on her. It only made her feel more indebted to her.

Kelvin understood the look on her face. "Zara, the money is nothing. I would do anything for you. I care about you more than you can imagine. I'm sure you know that," Kelvin told as her as he placed his palm on her cheeks.

Kelvin further pulled her away from where they stood and led her into a park that was close by. He knew that among other things, Zara loved walking in the park.

He found a tree and and led Zara to it. The tree was tall and had large branches that spread into thousands of leaves. It had a good shade. Kelvin thought it was the perfect spot to take Zara.  He came to a stop under the tree and took his time to stare at the woman he had been in love with even before he knew what love meant. He watched her as she stared at the enormous tree. It was no new tree. He had brought her here countless times but each time, it had its own magic and made the time spent beautiful.

He smiled and looked away. If he was ever told to define beauty, then Zara would be his definition of beauty. She was everything he ever wanted yet he was not sure she realised it.

"W— why did you smile?" she asked him.

"No, it's nothing," he waved it away.

Zara was suddenly filled with the urge to find out what had made him smile. At that moment, she had forgotten her pain.

"Tell me. What is it? Is there perhaps something on my face? Are you making fun of me?" She demanded with a frown and a pout.

"Why will I make fun of you? I would never. I have no reason to. It's just that sometimes I find it hard to believe that you are mine. You have no idea how I see you. Your beauty is on another level!" Kelvin exclaimed.

Since she wanted to know so badly, Kelvin saw it as a good way to distract her from her pain. If he could only keep her attention on him.

The statement made Zara blush. She shut her eyes in the process. "Stop it! You're making me shy!" Zara whined.

Kelvin only laughed. He waited for her to look up again before hitting her with his next blow. "Can I get a kiss?" he requested.

Zara widened her eyes and peered around to see if anyone was listening.

"We're still in public! People are watching!" Zara exclaimed.

Kelvin only laughed harder. Sometimes, Zara behaved as if they were still in high school. She was already twenty four and he was twenty six.  He decided to do the dirty job himself.

Without giving her a heads up, he grabbed her by her small waist and pulled her towards himself. She was about to protest when he shut her up with his lips.

As expected, her lips were soft and warm against his. It gave him a kind of warmth in the depth of his stomach. It made his heart flutter and he wanted more of her.

Suddenly, a strong pang hit his chest. He grunted in pain and broke away from the kiss.

"Are you okay?" Zara asked alarmed.

"I'm fine, you don't need to wo—" he began and stopped halfway as another pang hit him. He grunted in pain.

Kelvin's fingers started vibrating and he suddenly found it hard to stand. He lost his balance but Zara was quick to catch him. She sat him down on the floor slowly.

"Kelvin? What is wrong?" she asked in a shaky voice.

"I'm okay. You don't need t—" Kelvin began but was interrupted with a series of coughs. He brought his fingers to his lips to cover his mouth and that was when he felt liquid that was too thick to be his saliva.

He shakily took his hand away and saw that it was stained with crimson liquid. He was coughing up blood. Zara stared at him with wide eyes. He also looked back up at her and as if on cue, another pang hit him hard. This time he doubled over in pain as he could not bear him.

"Help! Somebody call the ambulance!" Zara screamed in shock.

Kelvin started coughing again until suddenly, his body went limp.  Zara's shock only increased as she tried her possible best not to let her panic get to her.

"Kelvin?"

There was no response. He was not moving.