by S. S. Sahoo
“I won’t touch you but just answer the damn question,” he said and I rolled my eyes at him and turned around to leave but stopped when all of a sudden he moved in front of me blocking my way. I glared at him and took a side step but he mimicked my actions and finally, I gave up after three attempts and took a step back as I rolled the loose strands of my hair using my finger and put it behind my ear.
“Why are we here?” I asked once we stood silently.
“We are here because you will answer my qu-” I cut him off in the middle “I means why are we here in this place?” I asked circling my hands in the air gesturing the place.
“For family picnic?” he answered more like a question.
“Right, for a picnic. And what exactly is a family picnic?” I questioned to which he gave me a look which clearly told me that he didn’t get anything.
“Forget it! Nevermind! Look we are for fun and to cradle up some memorable days of our life, I have been through worse from these past few days and don’t spoil my mood now,” I said and I knew I was being a bitch but then he didn’t even react. I hoped to see anger resurfacing his features or him lashing out at me but nothing, which totally surprised me.
“So you are here for fun and happy memories?” he asked and I watched when he shoved his hand back into his pant pockets and pulled out his phone. I didn’t answer his question but looked the other way looking at the boat in which a kid and whom I guessed as the kid’s father were happily enjoying their day fishing and boating.
“Well, then I guess you are not the only who want happy memories,” he said and my head turned towards his direction in a jerk when he encircled his arm around my waist and pulled me close.
“What are doing?” I tried to push him and struggled against him. He raised his other hand in the air and I looked at it, to find him holding his phone up in camera mode.
“Taking a picture,” he said and as I turned to look at him to speak, I heard a click sound and I looked at his phone to find a picture in which he was looking at camera with me looking at his face.
“Give me that,” I ordered him and tried to snatch the phone from him. He raised his hands over his head. His height taunting and mocking my failed attempts of getting the phone. I raise my arm up in order to snatch his phone but then he pulled me closer. Closer to the point, where our face was only inches apart. His minty breath fanned my face causing a pure emotion taking birth inside my heart. All of a sudden, my heart raced against my chest and I felt my cheeks burning.
“What are you doing?” I jerked out of the little moment as I realized what was going on, I took a step backward and he let me go freeing me from his grasp. I turned around and took a step forward to leave but stopped when he asked ” Will you not answer my question?” he asked. I shook head negatively letting him know that I won’t but even though I wanted to tell him, I wanted to come forward by himself and tell me.
“Find it out by yourself!” I exclaimed and glanced over my shoulder at him before turning around and leaving.
“How did you two kiss? On the boat? Under the tree? Among the row of flowers? on the dock?” Kiara shot the number of questions at me once I reached back to her.
“Shut up Kiara!” I said and leaned against the tree and looked at Loana who sat on the carpet displaying her right leg and was busy texting something on her phone.
“Where is Zachary?” she asked looking here and there and then her eyes fell on me.
“Where is he?” she asked me.
“He is - oh there he is!” I said pointing towards the way from where I saw Zachary walking towards us.
“What was doing there? Alone?” she asked and I raised my eyebrows at her and heaved a sigh. She gave me a headache. How is it even her concern where Zachary went and what he did?
“Who told you that he was alone?” Kiara butted in and I looked at her signaling her not to open her stupid mouth and say something stupid but being the stubborn woman she was she rolled her eyes at me and said: “Juliette was with him.”
“What?” Loana questioned looking confused.
“What were you doing with him there and that also alone?” she crossed her arms over her chest and looked at me giving me a nasty look as if she was accusing me of committing a crime.
“Duh! What can’t she be with him” Kiara air quoted the word “alone?”
“She is his wife after all and why are you asking so many things about Zachary. Your date is there,” Kiara pointed towards Kristian who was talking to Jace near the lake “Ask things about him and your concern should only be him not a married man, Mr. Zachary Sullivan,” Kiara taunted her and I watched as the colour faded away from Loana’s face and anger marred her face. Her jaws clenched and unclenched and she had her palms in a tight fist.
“Watch what you say! You are in no position to talk to me like that! Do you even know who I am?” she snarled at Kiara.
“Who are you? Enlighten me!” Kiara mocked her.
“You bitch! I am Zackie’s girlfriend!” she said in pride and that immediately blocked the air in my lungs as I looked at her stunned by her words. Her revelation caught me off guard but most importantly, her words like were a sharp knife which went past my heart making it bleed.
“Ha! Have you seen your face bitch? This woman,” Kiara pointed her finger at me “Is his woman, his wife! You are nobody!” Kiara said and Loana stood up from her place and Kiara held my arm and pulled me up with her.
“Wife? Are you kidding me? My Zackie loves me not her. I know he is married because of family pressure but soon he will be getting rid of this bitch. Do you want to see the signs of how much he loves me?” she asked smirking at us and then she took her her hand up and pulled her neckline baring her right breast to us. A gasp escaped my mouth as I saw the love bites on her skin that instantly clenched my heart.
“Firstly don’t show us your sagging boob. My eyes will bleed now!” Kiara said closing her eyes as if her eyes were hurting her seeing the feminine of part of the woman who stood before us.
“Secondly, keep your dirty tricks to yourself. Juliette don’t believe a slut like her have the number of men in their bed you can’t even imagine. She is just trying to get to you and create misunderstanding between you two!” Kiara warned me but it seemed as if the words were not reaching my mind. Loana’s voice in the background when Zachary called me echoed my mind and my mind began to think about the impossibilities. But then my heart broke and shattered into pieces when I thought about it.
My eyes stung as the tears threatened to stream down but I refused to let it flow. I took in deep breaths and closed my eyes telling my mind that it wasn’t true. The woman before me was just lying on my face and it was only because of the fact that I liked Zachary, her words were getting to me. Even if her words like a slap to the feelings that I felt for Zachary, I managed to control my emotions and opened my eyes glaring at her.
“Your wish!” I said and crossed my arms over my chest.
“It’s not my wish darling it’s his wish,” she smirked at me. The patience in me was reaching its limit and I knew I would not let her go that easily with this.
“Control your filthy mouth and leave me and my husband alone!” I said as politely as I could.
“Oh so desperate you are! You are the only one who calls him that else let me clarify this to you! You mean nothing to him. I am the only one who he truly loves ad likes and I felt it when we slept the night,” she smirked and closed her eyes as if she was reminiscing the experience “naked, wrapped up in each other’s arms and every time he made love to me-” she couldn’t even finish because I lunged at her and slapped her hard on her face.
“You bitch!” her face contoured anger and she raised her manicured nail trying to scratch my face, but I held it and slapped once again on her face and this time it was, even more, louder and harder. The skinny model didn’t even have the power and strength to fight me but she managed to grip my braid and she pulled it painfully. I grab her hair and pulled her and
using my filed nails I scratch her arms and face.
“Oh my goodness! Juliette!” I heard Zachary’s mother but I didn’t stop because she didn’t let me go and neither did I let her go as we continued swearing and cursing at each other pulling hair and scratching each other.
How dare she, lying on my face?
She raised her hand to punch me but I got hold of it and turned it in the opposite direction painfully and a cry left her mouth when I did that.
“What’s going on?′ I heard Gale and pretty soon my whole family surrounded us as they circled us and I felt arms encircling my waist as I was roughly pulled backward. I grip around Loana’s hair loosened and she made an attempt to punch me but like me, she was also pulled back by none other but Kristian.
“Stop it!” Zachary snapped at me when I struggled against his hold wanting to kill Loana. My hands and legs wagged in the air when Zachary picked me up from my back but then I was again placed down when I didn’t stop struggling against it.
“I said stop it!” he snapped and that made me instantly stop. I looked at him with wide eyes and exhaled and inhaled breath through my mouth. Anger was still building up from inside me. Loana’s words kept rotating around my head and that made me even more anger.
“No! Let me go!” I argued.
“Look, Zachary, what she did to me,” we looked back at Loana who sobbed pointing towards the scratches on her arms and face.
“Oh, you will get even more of those, you bitc-” Zachary cut me off as he turned me around to face him. His eyes filled up with anger, as he looked into my eyes.
“Enough!” he snapped at me.
“But Zachary she starte-” he didn’t even let me finish as he yelled on my face, “I said enough!” which made me instantly close my mouth.
“I have just enough of your drama. You will not speak a word now, do you hear me?” he said pointing his finger at me.
“Drama?” I asked inhaling air.
“Yes, drama! I let every stupid action of you insulting me thinking it as your innocence and naivety but now it’s just too much for even me to handle. I can’t believe this!” he said and looked at Loana who kept her head on kristian’s shoulder and wept dramatically.
“Whatever it is, say sorry to Ms. Ularu right now!” he said and my eyes widened hearing his words.
“No! Why should-”
“Juliette!” he raised his hand in the air as if he was going to slap me. His words didn’t hurt as his action did. He blamed me and he raised his hand on me. Gasps were heard when he rasied his hands.
“Zachary!” I heard Julia.
“Udolf!” even grandfather snapped at him for his action. But the damage was done. His lack of support, faith on me made me believe that he had not even an inch of respect and likeness for me. Why blame the other for your miserable fate? He didn’t even hear me, he didn’t even let me explain the side of my story, he had no faith on me, and he everything I did was like a drama to him. Not a single ounce of likeness for me but everything for Loana. Does this mean he loved Loana? Was Loana speaking the truth? Then it’s totally my mistake in here. I am the one who came in between them. i kept on thinking that Loana was trying to create misunderstanding in between us but I was totally wrong. In fact, I was the one who was playing the gooseberry in between them.
Guilt washed up his feature as he lowered his hand and before he could speak I turned towards Laona and pursed my lips.
“I am sorry. Please forgive me!” I said and Kiara interrupted “But Juliett-” I stopped her by showing my hand in the sir asking her to stop. Thankfully she got the point and closed her mouth else, she would have made the situation even more thick if she opened her mouth. I would have felt even more guilty then I was already feeling.
Of course! I should remember that why I was with Zachary. It wasn’t a normal and love relation but a marriage deal where he was bound to save me in order to get the person in his grasp who killed and destroyed his family member.
“Zachary, are you kidding me? You are taking this woman’s side over your wife?” Julia asked his son and before he could answer I walked towards Kiara and held her hand and pulled her with me towards the lake.
“Juliette, come back here!” came bellowed voice of Zachary but I ignored him as I walked towards the dock holding Kiara’s hand.
As we were near, I left her hand and walked towards the end of the dock. All the while, tears streaming down my face.
“Juliette,” Kiara called me from behind softly but I didn’t even turn to look at her.
“Juliette!” she made me turn to face her and when she witnessed my tears she gasped and I saw the sympathy in her eyes but then she pulled me into a hug.
“Oh, Juliette! Please don’t cry!” she patted my back and I wrapped my hands and sobbed on her shoulders.
“That slut! Wait for me! I will just go and tell Zachary everything that she tol-” I cut her off “No! You won’t!” I said with a determined look holding her arms.
“What but why?” she asked in confusion.
“Because,” I put my forehead on her shoulder “They are in love,” I cried feeling my heart hurt thinking about it.
“Nonsense! She was lyi-”
“They are in love Kiara. Everything she said was true. Don’t you get it?” I pulled back and looked at her “He was forced to be with him. It wasn’t his choice to marry but it was a deal. It all makes sense!” I said and put the knuckle in my mouth.
“It all makes sense!” I sobbed and Kiara pulled me into a hug.
“I am so sorry Juliette. It all happened because of me, I shouldn’t have charged her,” she said sympathetically apologizing for a mistake which wasn’t even hers.
“Not your fault!” I said in a low tone and repeated it multiple times until my words turned into sobs as I cried being despair.
Several days past by to that incident and it was certainly not the memorable day of my life. Zachary hardly came back home in the night. I even changed my room and slept with Kiara. Julia apologized to me multiple times on the behalf of her son but that made it even worse because every time she apologized I felt the guilt rising up. Because…it was my fault after all. I should be the one who should apologize because I was acting like a fool behaving and acting like a stubborn teenager.
Zachary didn’t talk to me nor did I make any attempts to talk to him. In all this, my father was happy. He was very happy because he told me that he was getting hints of me liking Zachary but thankfully the incident back then proved him that he was wrong, and there is nothing in between me and Zachary except hatred.
But I don’t hate Zachary. Still, after all this, I didn’t hate him. I just couldn’t hate him because I knew he was just pulled into my life. It’s not his fault and that is why I don’t hate him.
It was the day where very one were going back to Zachary’s house. Zachary’s including mine were going with them to visit Julia’s and Gale’s house. I walked up to the door to bid them farewell as I was the only one who wasn’t going. I wasn’t feeling well and that is why I denied politely for going with them. My family would return in the night while Julia’s family will stay back in their house.
“Are you sure you don’t want to come, my dear?” Zachary’s grandpa asked me as he kept his hand on my head. I smiled and shook my head no at him.
“I will come some other time, for sure,” I told him and he nodded.
“Okay and dear,” he said but stopped in mid-sentence. I nodded at me asking him to continue.
“Please forgive my Udolf, I will talk to him! Believe it wasn’t what I taught to hi-”
“Grandpa,” I stopped him and smiled.
“It’s okay! Everything is sorted out now,” I said and watched as the sadness in his eyes didn’t leave instead it grew even more. I guess he saw behind my facade of smiling face. He was the ‘General’ after all.