by S. S. Sahoo
He took the award and shook hands with the jury before turning up towards the mike.
“Good Evening” I waited and smiled when he looked fondly at the award and then back towards the audience.
“I am really ecstatic to win the award and winning it for the third time just doubles the excitement” he joked to which people laughed and some whistled.
“I worked hard for this and when you work hard sleepless nights only running after a certain ambition and when finally you achieve it, the pleasure and happiness you feel is certainly the best thing in this world. But you need support and in my case, my family gave me the support and here I am today” he said and people clapped.
“I would like to thanks my mom specially for supporting me in each and every stage of my life and without her, I would have never really had reached this far, accomplished the goals in my life. So thanks, mom, dad and my family. Also, there is another person in my life for whom I made it my aim to reach this far, she is my wife” he said and all of a sudden looked my way. My breath hitched and looked at him with wide eyes thinking what is he even saying but then again I realized it.
Acting...
I put a smile on my face when people clapped and people sitting next to me congratulated me.
“My beautiful wife Mrs. Juliette Sullivan, she is here to support me today and share the joy and happiness and I feel really grateful that I have her as my wife,” he said and I wanted to get up and run to escape. What is he saying?
“It’s her first time being in a public gathering as my wife. She is just shy” he looked at my uncomfortable face and that is when the big screen behind him had to screen my face on it making the situation even more awkward than it really was. People laughed at his joke and I tried to maintain my composed behavior when thousands of eyes were on me, thanks to the big screen.
“At the end, I would promise that I would certainly try my best and work even harder for the betterment. Thank you” he said and people clapped and cheered for him when he descended down the staircase and walked back to his seat next to me. He even made me hold his award for the rest of the night until the end until the after party where the chauffeur came and took the award from me to keep it in the car.
I walked around with Zachary and greeted every important people he introduced me to. He introduced them to me and me to them and all I did was smile when someone complicated my looks or when someone complicated our pair. In their eyes, we were just some simple ordinary couple who met, dated, fell in love and married to each other, but only I and Zachary knew the truth.
While Zachary was talking a man I excused myself and walked to the table to sit down. I sat on the chair and asked a waiter to let me have a glass of water. I was tired now. I put my feet under the table and freed them from the terribly pointed heels. As soon as I did that, I felt relaxed and I remember what Elena taught me. She had taught me some foot exercise to instantly provide relaxation to the throbbing feet. I did that while sipping water from my glass and instantly felt a little relieved after doing so.
“Congratulations,” I heard a familiar sound and watched as Cosmina came showing her thousand watt smile and stood before me. Hurriedly, I slipped my heels back on and stood up to greet her. She gave me a side hug and I asked her to sit down.
“Congratulations! Sir won the Businessman of the year for the third time” she chirped and I said a quiet thank you before smiling at her. She looked different today. Unlike the other days when she wore her formal clothes with her hair tied up into a neat ponytail, today she was wearing a navy blue backless gown and she had her hair into loose wavy curls. She looked beautiful. Before I could open my mouth to compliment her looks, she interjected complimenting me.
“You look so beautiful today. I could hardly recognize you. Everyone has got their eyes on you today. They just want to know about you” she said and I looked behind her and surely some people were looking our way. I smiled at her pushed the loose strands of hair behind my ear.
“Well, thanks to you,” I said and watched as she gave me a confused look.
“I mean for appointing the best beautician and the dr-” before I could complete her phone rang stopping me in the middle.
“Oh I’m so sorry” she apologized declining the call.
“its okay” I smiled.
“And Nah it’s not about the makeup but it’s you. You look so good in this dress. Undoubtedly Sir made the right choice choosing this dress for you” she looked dreamily at my dress and then at me.
What?
“Zachary chose this dress..” I muttered to myself but it seems as if she heard me she nodded yes and rubbed her palm.
“Yes, he did. He sat hours choosing and searching for the perfect one. Wait! You don’t know?” she asked all of a sudden looking confused.
“Of course I do know!” I said laughing at the end and gulping the rest of the water from the glass. She seemed to buy my lie as she nodded and smiled back.
“Excuse me!” I said and got up from my seat and walked searching for Zachary.
All of a sudden, it was like I found that needle in the haystack. So, that man brought the dress for me and he even sat hours searching it for me. So why did he lie to me? It was not as if I would have been angry or toss the dress if he did choose it for me. In fact, it would have been the reverse case.
I searched for him and finally found him. I smiled when I saw him still talking to the man when I excused myself beforehand. As I walked towards him in excitement, my excitement soon died and my steps halted when I saw a woman wearing a dress which revealed more than one would ever imagine, walking up to him and tangling her arms with his. He didn’t even seem to mind it when she leaned down and kissed his cheek.
“Hey isn’t that Loana?” I heard a woman from beside me. They didn’t seem to notice me standing next to them.
“You mean Loana Ularu?"
“Yes, isn’t she Loana Ularu? Mr. Zachary’s business previous business partner’s daughter.”
“Yes, she is!”
“What is she doing here? And why is she sticking up to Mr. Sullivan? Isn’t he a married man now?”
“I had have heard that she used to love him.”
“What?”
“Yes. She was really desperate for him. She would follow him everywhere he went in the past.”
“Really?”
“I swear!”
“What about him? Did he love her?”
“No, I don’t thin so! He never really announced his love for her in public. My husband told me that he only tolerated her for the sake of his business and the relation he had with her father.”
“Really? Then why are they clinging to each other now?”
“Moreover, why would he ever announce his relationship status in public. See? he even got married in privacy.”
“These Businessmen I tell you! Very cunning.”
“You can never trust them!”
“Businessmen? You mean to say every man?”
“Yes, that’s right!” another lady said and they laughed.
“So-” she began but stopped when they finally realized I was standing right next to them. Another lady hushed her and they walked away glancing my way. Meanwhile, I stood there looking and processing what I saw and heard.
What is this new drama in my story?
I looked at the woman who had her hand on Zachary’s back and I noticed as she moved her hand slowly on his back as if trying to seduce him. And he was letting her do that...
I shook my head nad walked towards the small counter where they served drinks. It had been so long when I had a drink.
But what is this feeling that I feeling? Why did my heart hurt seeing him with another woman? It’s his life after all. He can do nd be with whoever he wishes. Who am I to think anything about it?
“So? What are you thinking? Enjoy yourself” my brain told me and I obliged.
Every time I heard people behind me talking about the lady and Zachary, I would end up dr
inking a shot from what the bartender served me. Shots by shots, shots by shots it increased where I reached the point where I even lost the count on how much I had gulped down. My throat had the burning sensation and even my chest burned because of the drink or was the burning sensation for something else?
I reached a point where I saw the bartender swaying in his place. Before I could ask him to stop swaying in his place, because I was seeing two faces of him and I felt little dizzy for his action, I felt a hand on my forearm stopping me from having another shot.
Angry for being interrupted from drinking the shot, I turned my head only to find none but Zachary himself.
“What are you doing?” he whispered.
“Oh, you? Come! Sit!” I patted on the seat next to me.
“Serve us drinks!” I told the bartender who nodded.
“No!” Zachary butted in and leaned close to me and sniffed my breath.
“Gosh! Idiot! You are drunk?” he asked and I rolled my eyes at him when he said, Idiot.
“Spoilsport!” I muttered and raised the shot in my hand to drink it but again abruptly stopped by the man next to me.
“Enough! You had enough! Get up now!” he said as he snatched it away from me but like a bolt of electricity, I used my other hand and snatched it back from him and in no time gulped it down my throat before he could stop me.
“Juliette!” he scolded and pulled my arms making me stand up on my feet.
“Aye!” I poked his head.
“Juliette!”
“Let’s dance!” I swayed on my place and he held me by my waist protecting me from collapsing on the ground. My vision was blurry and the world rotated before my eyes.
“What do you say hu?” I asked poking his cheek but confused when I couldn’t feel his skin on my finger when I poked on his head.
“What the -” I was beyond confused.
“I am here!” he took another hand and kept my hand on his shoulder and turned my head towards his direction by my chin.
“Oh! Two Two Zachary’s?” I giggled.
“I can barely tolerate one. Where did you come from? Han?” I asked poking the invisible one.
“God!” I felt his breath on my face.
“Whatever! let’s dance c’mon!” I tugged his arm and leaned on him holding his suit.
“I can’t dance,” he said and he began to walk with me clinging onto him like a monkey.
But he is the monkey. Isn’t he?
“I didn’t ask you! I told you! I said I want to dance and that means we will d-” I hiccupped and then completed it “dance! Do you understand?”
“I don’t know how to dance” he sighed and I stopped in my tracks which made him stop too for he was holding me.
“Don’t know how to dance?” I laughed “So I take it the first ever thing that you told me that you can’t do hu?”
“Yes! Now lets head back home!” he said and pushed me gently and dragged my wobbly steps towards somewhere.
“Listen!” I made him stop again.
“Now what?” he asked sounding kind of irritated.
“I tell you what!”
“What?”
“I don’t know how to dance either,” I said and I was confused whether I saw it or not but from my blurry vision, I saw the two-headed man’s mouth twitched up and he smiled with amusement clear in his eyes.
42
Zachary
The memorable day of my life. I won the award for the third ever time continuously and I couldn’t even ask for anything more. It made me so happy and top to that I had Juliette witnessing the moment when I got the award. I wanted to know how she was feeling about it. Just as I thought, she was happy with my achievements even though she congratulated me after I got the award only for once still, from the smile on her face anybody could decipher that she was happy for me and only by knowing it I was happy too.
The rest of the night went in talking to some of my business investors, meeting new people, people congratulating me and everything was just going great with a person beside me. Juliette...
I knew I made her disappointed when I didn’t acknowledge how she looked but then right before me I saw many people even my business investors complimenting and acknowledging her beauty and she even smiled and then it made me think she must not be disappointed because judging by a number of compliments she got for looks what difference would it even make if I do compliment her? Probably nothing.
So, I ignored the topic and concentrated more on the people before and tried to build contacts for my business. But I could see the discomfort in Juliette’s face on those heels. Finally, she excused herself and I did have an idea that she was going to sit somewhere and would want to rest her feet. After she was gone, I had some discussions with a man who was my teacher when I was in school. His son is also a knowable businessman and for that, together with their family, he was attending the function. I was very happy to see him after a long time. We talked and discussed about his son’s and my business and when I felt somebody’s arms circling my back. I turned around to look at that person but soon regretted even looking at the woman who was Ms. Loana Ularu.
“Zackie” she whispered into my ears which made me shiver in disgust.
“How have you been? I heard that you got married. I know it’s just a rumor right Zackie?” I looked at her right hand to see a glass of wine. And what in the world was she wearing?
“Ms. Loana Ularu. It’s pleasure to meet you. Yes, I did get married. Now, will you please excuse me? I’m an important discussion with this man over here” I pushed her away from me as politely as I could. The woman is really clingy and I just dislike her not only for her inappropriate clothing sense but also for the way she speaks with people.
“What? Oh my goodness! You are really married?” she tangled her arms with mine and clung to me even more. I looked back at my former teacher as he just looked with dislike at the woman and I knew it that currently because of Loana clinging to me, people must be talking about us.
“Yes! I am” I said slowly.
Did she not get the point?
“So where is she? I don’t see her though” she looked every direction searching for Juliette.
“Zackie you are such a liar! Don’t joke with me” she laughed, a throaty laugh.
“It’s Mr. Sullivan for you!” I said as I felt the patient limit of mine decreasing with each and every second she stood beside me. I was only tolerating her because her father was like a mentor to me and my former business partner. I seriously don’t understand how her father who is a disciplined and man of principles man doesn’t oppose to the way she behaves. She purposely clung to me pressing her chest to my arm and rubbing against me and might I add I didn’t like it even for a bit.
Inappropriate way to act with a married man in public.
“Aww c’mon Zackie why the formalities? Everyone knows we had a-” I cut her off.
“Enough!” this time I glared at her and she unwrapped her arms from mine.
“Excuse me! I need to find my wife” I told my teacher to which he nodded smiling at me, understanding what I meant. Without even glancing Loana’s way I walked towards the direction where I last saw Juliette. I wonder what has taken her so long to come back to me. Where is she?