DARK FAÏZ Book 1: Every hero has his legend

by Sandra L. Kiss

  During the interview, I hadn't had to stipulate where I lived. I'd vaguely stated Elora's name. No address had been requested directly from me by my supervisor. Only my university was important to her, given my status as an intern.

  Bonny concluded the meeting by asking her team to do everything possible to obtain an appointment within Trac-Word for the next issue. Anyone who succeeded in doing so would get the exclusivity of the article.

  It was already time for lunch. My colleagues got up and picked up their notes and then everyone rushed to the exit. Bonny checked her phone. I looked around the now empty room and decided to take the opportunity to approach her and talk to her.

  "What do you want from me, Reyes?" she asked as unkindly as possible.

  She insisted on calling me by my last name, which was very annoying to me, knowing that I was the only one who received this attention.

  "It's about the article in the next issue," I dared timidly.

  "Hmm."

  That cowhide didn't even bother to look at me, preferring to tidy up her things.

  "I'd like to do the article on Trac-World."

  She turned her head towards me in a split second, incredulous, and then frowned.

  "This is not a playground. Our press review is serious, so please don't bother me for so little. Go back to your copies!"

  Dumbfounded by her contempt, an anger that I tried to contain roared within me. I squeezed my jaw to find the strength not to answer her. As I turned on my heels to get out of the room, a little idea came to my mind. I grabbed my phone in my pocket and dialed the number of the Mattew's villa, taking care to slow down so that Bonny could hear my conversation.

  "Mattew Residence."

  "Hi, this is Zoe. Is Faïz Mattew there, please?"

  I prayed that the answer would be negative. My goal was only to pronounce this first name in order to arouse my boss's curiosity. I felt her heavy look on my back.

  "Yes, he is here," confirmed Miss Arlette, "I'll put him on."

  Fuck! Fuck! He just had to be at the villa today, at this time of day, when he was normally missing most of the time.

  "Is everything all right, Zoe?"

  Faïz's serious and anxious tone on the other end made me lose my temper.

  "Yes... I called you to find out...if...Victoria will be there tonight for dinner?"

  He paused, probably wondering why I was asking him that kind of question.

  "I don't know, Zoe, I have a lot to do. Call her directly. That would be better."

  "Yeah, you’re right, but I haven't been able to get her on the phone since this morning."

  "I'll call her," he concluded before hanging up.

  I pretended to be on the phone with that boor again.

  "Thank you Faïz, see you tonight."

  My foot was about to cross the threshold of the door when I heard Bonny call me from across the room. A triumphant little smile appeared on my face and then I turned around, looking impassive.

  "Zoa, can you come this way, please?"

  "Zoe," I said.

  Her hand stirred in the air.

  "Yeah, well, Zoe, Zoa, it's the same thing."

  No, stupid bitch!

  "You have the project!"

  She sat down crossing her legs and staring straight at me.

  "This is the first time in my career that I have left so much responsibility in the hands of a simple intern. I hope I won't regret it later."

  I wanted to jump on the spot like a child. My internship finally made sense. Bonny added,

  "However, I would like you to collaborate with Agustin."

  My features froze at this announcement. Impossible. Faïz could not bear to talk about his life with a stranger. There was no one more antisocial than him. I was already imagining the surreal scene between the two young men.

  "There's a problem?"

  "Faïz Mattew will never accept to answer questions from a stranger, whatever the interview. He's...how do you explain it? Easily irritable."

  Bonny narrowed her eyes behind her glasses, seeming to think.

  "In this case, he will help you with the proofreading of your article and the layout. I'll talk to him about our agreement after lunch. You can leave, Zoe."

  "Thank you."

  As I was about to leave, she called out to me again.

  "Zoe."

  "Yes?"

  "Well done!"

  I turned around, satisfied and proud of myself. From then on, the most difficult task remained to convince the interested party, Faïz Mattew, to let me write my first article on his multinational inheritance. I couldn't help but pull a face just by thinking about it. That was when my phone started to vibrate. Damn it! It's Faïz.

  I just got off the phone with Victoria. You never tried to reach her. What are you doing?

  Oops?

  I'll explain later. I have to see you tonight. It's important.

  A feeling of panic seized me just at the thought of being alone with him. How was I going to convince him to cooperate with my project? I went to my office to drop off my things, pick up my purse, and finally go out to join my friends. Asarys, Lexy, and David were waiting for me outside the building for lunch. I only had a three quarters of an hour break, but these little moments with them were essential for me to continue my days with my tyrannical boss. When I arrived outside, the girls welcomed me with open arms.

  "The Teagan?" David proposed, talking about the restaurant across the street.

  "Okay. I'm starving," Lexy confided to us.

  We set off toward our favorite lair of the moment. Asarys held me by my arm.

  "How was your morning? Not too hard?"

  "Not worse, anyway. I'm no longer Reyes, but Zoa!"

  "That woman is a real dragon!" David said.

  "I grant you that, but I have some good news. I am in charge of writing one of the articles for the next issue of the magazine."

  My friends shouted with joy.

  "That's great, Zoe!" shouted Lexy, jumping around my neck.

  We pushed open the doors of the restaurant and sat at a table at the back of the room. When the waitress came to take our order, we all opted for the special of the day, saving time to chat. I told them of my morning, full of twists and turns.

  "So you're going to have to work very closely with Faïz," concluded Lexy, crossing her arms on the table and facing me.

  "That's right," I replied, pretending to be enthusiastic.

  "But Will? He's not going to take it the wrong way?" David asked me, sitting beside Lexy.

  Asarys flew to my rescue.

  "It's not as if they're really together, David. They broke up by mutual agreement two weeks ago."

  David was right. I hadn't thought for a second what William would think when he heard this news.

  "Yes, that's right," Lexy admitted. "Moreover, you were in a more platonic relationship."

  Her fingers imitated quotation marks. Our dishes arrived at that moment. My three friends seemed to have a million questions about William, but they restrained asking me...except, of course, for Lexy.

  "Zoe, you should tell us once and for all!"

  "Lexy, let it go. Stop. No one will have an answer today," Asarys said.

  Knowing full well that I would one day have to face the questions of my three sidekicks, I decided to answer them now.

  "No, things didn't go any further with Will, and we didn't get back together, either. One side of me is waiting for that, but on the other side, I don't feel what he feels for me."

  "This has the merit of being clear," David ironically said.

  "I think you're dragging things out, Zoe. Maybe you're giving him false hopes for nothing," Asarys implied.

  Great. I had the impression that the meal was being held in front of my judges. A certain unease settled at the table. I frowned.

  "Right now Will's not asking me for anything. The situation doesn't seem to bother him, and I didn't promise him anything. If today he asked me to try again with him,
I would answer him with a definite no."

  My voice had taken on an offensive tone without meaning to. My three companions looked glanced at each other.

  "It is because of Faïz?" dared to ask Asarys, on her guard.

  "I...I don't know! With Faïz, the chemistry was immediate, and I do not find the same connection with William. I need time. Can we change the subject?"

  At that moment, the waitress picked up our almost empty plates, then came back the next second with our coffees. The service was fast, and therefore appreciable when we had little time.

  "I broke up with Lucas," Lexy announced.

  "I knew it!" Asarys shouted, pointing at her.

  David, apparently aware of it, displayed a crooked smile, while I was in shock. Asarys looked at David.

  "Did you know about this? Why him before me?"

  "David came to join me at my workplace on Friday night. He found me devastated. What more can I say?"

  "Forget it, Lexy," David said. "This girl is just jealous of the bond that unites us."

  He liked to put oil on the fire as soon as he could. I resumed the conversation.

  "Seriously, are you all right? You were pretty attached to him. Why didn't you call us? I would have come right away."

  "I didn't want to talk about it. Saying his name was too difficult, but I know it was the best decision to make. We were not on the same page."

  "I am sorry for both of you," I said sincerely.

  I took her hand in mine.

  We split up on the sidewalk in front of The Teagan. Lexy and David left together while Asarys accompanied me to the entrance of So Home News.

  "It looks chic," she remarked as she glanced at the entrance.

  I noticed from the way she wiggled that she was trying to tell me something.

  "What's wrong, Asarys?"

  "You're gonna think it's stupid, but I feel like you're hiding something from us. For a while now, you've seemed more concerned. So has Will. You seem so secretive. Am I wrong?"

  Asarys took me by surprise. It was true that William couldn't help but be on the reserve with my friends, and it was hard not to notice him.

  "I know Will is very introverted."

  "Okay, so I'm not crazy."

  "No, he's like that. You just have to get to know him, and as far as I'm concerned, my internship is not going as I hoped, hence my concerns and absences when we're together," I lied.

  She seemed relieved by my words. However, I could not explain to her that William was a Sylph, Faïz a Leviathan, and that the world was threatened by a demonic force... Ah, yes, and that I held the powers of a precious stone to fight evil.

  "Well, I'm running away. I have a ton of work to do at the library."

  "Good luck. I'll call you later."

  Asarys was about to leave when she turned back to me again.

  "Will you tell me how Faïz reacts to the announcement of the article you're going to write?"

  "Oh, he'll be delighted!" I said, raising my hands and making big eyes.

  My friend walked away. Asarys was an intern at a major library in Los Angeles. She managed her own working hours and had responsible tasks without being the punching bag of the group, unlike me. The only thing that bothered her was the lack of a network throughout the building, such as in our university library. Fortunately, she could still connect via Wi-Fi to communicate at minimum.

  When I stepped into the office room, I felt all eyes focused on me. The whispers were hardly discreet, and a certain animosity was floating in the air. Shit, what the hell did I do now?

  I sat at my desk, watched by my colleagues since my return from my lunch break, which completely destabilized me. The contact between us should have guaranteed better organization in our work, and therefore top-notch communication. You bet! In front of me, Dillan, a young man of Mexican origin with a rather round appearance and a childlike face, sent me a little smile, obviously uncomfortable with the situation caused by his colleagues. He immediately turned his head to his post to continue his work as if his career depended on it.

  "Well, the little pushy intern finally graces us with her presence," whistled a voice behind me.

  Agustin was standing there, hands in his pockets, impeccably dressed. Surely his hateful behavior destabilized his colleagues, but I was hardly impressionable by people with no authority over me. I agreed that Bonny scared the crap out of me, which seemed normal given that she was my boss and I had to report to her. I was only an intern, so I had to act as such and accept the somewhat irritating remarks of some. After all, I only had a month left to work there.

  "Can I help you with something, Agustin?"

  Maybe you'd like to know how to stop being a real asshole with others.

  "Look at this! Here comes the little trainee offering me her help!" he burst out in a furious voice.

  Everyone was staring at us. I understood that no one would come in to silence this pretentious individual. I sat at the back of my seat and crossed my arms while staring straight into his eyes.

  "I think your bad mood is due to the fact that Bonny entrusted the Trac-Word project to a small hand," I replied without being able to filter the tone of my remarks.

  "You haven't proved anything here yet, Reyes. You may know some good people, but you're like those Louboutin shoes and that expensive handbag. Only artifice to the eyes. I wish you good luck."

  I itched to answer him, but I chose to ignore him by turning to my office to go about my business. Now I was sure of one thing: Agustin was waiting for me to literally fail on this project. I understood that my career in journalism would depend on the I returned to Bonny in a fortnight.

  I left So Home News a little late that evening, and for good reason: my colleagues had given me the most ungrateful chores. I no longer counted the number of times I had been called that afternoon to make more coffee. I suspected Agustin of having orchestrated these small treatments against me. William had insisted on taking me back to Elora and was waiting for me in his sedan. He had his hair tied back as I liked it. His beard of a few days gave him a most seductive look. When he saw me sitting next to him, he immediately understood from the look on my face that my day had been trying.

  "Hey, another bad day today?" he asked me in a soft voice.

  "There has been good."

  "It's okay, you only have a few weeks left. Then you'll never have to see Miss Bugs Bonny again."

  I couldn't help but smile. William was always able to find the words to comfort me.

  "It's Mrs. Bo-nn-y," I said, amused.

  He drove slowly, wanting to spend as much time as possible with me. I then decided to gently start the subject of my future article.

  "I don't have much time left, but I'd like to save a place at So Home News for maybe later."

  "And how are you going to do that, Zoe? For now, they won't let you touch anything but the photocopier."

  Cut to the quick, I hesitated to tell him the news of the day. How was he going to take it? Why did I feel like I was betraying him? I saw myself again in the garden where he had taken me that Christmas Eve. I had almost been conquered at that time, in front of the magic of the elements. Any normal woman would have fallen in love with him after all that. I felt miserable.

  "Tell me what's wrong. I can see there's something else worrying you."

  William's face forced me to tell him the truth. I could not pretend any longer: he read my mind as if it were an open book.

  "Look, I was given an article to write for the February issue. It concerns Faïz and his future position as CEO at Trac-World."

  He raised a hand to interrupt me, scowling.

  "Okay, but why would that bother me? On the Internet you can find all the information you want."

  "Not only that, but I will have to spend a little more time with him. It's a job I have to do in the field."

  William congratulated me, trying to hide his disappointment with this news as best he could. The look on his face betrayed him. The frustratio
n he felt ripped my heart out.

  "It's just for work," I insisted, maybe to convince myself, too.

  "I wish I could tell you that I’m happy for you, and I am, but fate always brings you back to each other. I guess you had a choice as to whether or not to accept this project?"

  "What's your point, Will?"

  We had already arrived in Elora, in the courtyard of the villa. Damn it, the journey had gone by at full speed! There was a heavy silence inside the car. William finally talked to me.

  "I mean, it suits you that it's like that, Zoe. Don't tell me the idea came from your boss. You just jumped at the chance as soon as you heard Faïz's name."

  Now he was staring at me. I was completely amazed by his reaction.

  "Yes. The project could have gone to that little prick Agustin if I hadn't taken this opportunity. It was the only way for me to finally prove myself!"

  William paused and looked over my shoulder, greeting someone a little further away. As I turned around, I saw Victoria coming towards us.

  "I have to distance myself a bit from our relationship, Zoe. You know where to find me if you need me, or...if you want me."

  As I was about to answer him, Victoria opened my door.

  "Hello, you two," she greeted us cheerfully.

  "Hi, Vic," William said to her as naturally as possible.

  "Oh, am I disturbing you?" She apologized when she saw my disconcerted face.

  She looked at me, worried, and waited for my answer.

  "No, not at all," I replied with a forced smile. "We were done."

  I got out of the car and turned around to William, still confused by his last words.

  "We'll talk about this later," I said in a low voice. "I wish you a good evening."

  "See you soon, Zoe. Take care of yourself," he concluded in a hard voice.

  I knew he was hurt. I was in such pain deep down. In this platonic relationship, he had just broken up with me once and for all. It took my brain a few seconds to function normally, just in time to hear the car move away, in time to answer Victoria's question like a distant echo.

  "Yeah, I'm fine, I just need to settle down a little."