MAHIRA
'Mr Thane Leon Carson, we are here on professional terms but since you are so determined to
get your heart broken let me assist you. I do not love you Thane.'
His eyes softened as he looked at me. He smiled even after my declaration and stared at me
like I was something worth looking at.
Stop looking at me like that Thane. You didn't look at me like that when I yearned for it so don't
start now. Not when I'm going to move on. Come to think of it, I have to start looking for a
boyfriend. Someone who will erase whatever feelings I have left for him. Someone who will
choose me from the word go.
In fact, I should accept Ares' offer for dinner tonight. I'm sure I have time at least for that.
'Mahira you loved me at some point. I'm sorry if I took longer to realize that I love you. But
Mahira, you and I can still work.'
Can we actually work? Would it hurt to give it a try? What the hell am I thinking? I should move
on. He doesn't deserve a second chance, even if I love him. But what if he does. Before I could
respond, I was in Thane's arms, locked in a kiss. My first kiss. How could he make my first kiss
so dull and plain? I snapped back to my senses before I could melt into the kiss or respond and
I pushed him away then slapped him.
He looked taken aback by my reaction. What did he expect? He can't just come back after so
many years and suddenly love me out of the blue.
'Mr Carson, I'm asking you politely to leave my office or else I'll throw you out of my company
myself.'
'You loved me once. I understand if you're angry but I won't give up on you, just like you did not
give up on me for nine years. Today I stole your first kiss, one day you will allow me to violate
you. I'll be the only man to steal your innocence. I know you still love me but…'
I took the nearest thing to me without thinking which was a puncture and threw it with all my
strength as hard as I could. Him standing further away from me didn't help his case nor the
impact from the puncture.
'Fuck!' His forehead had a wound, he was bleeding and it looked deep but I couldn't focus on that. I
wanted him out of here, I didn't want him anywhere near me. Not now. Not when I was learning
to take charge of my life.
I grabbed his arm, sinking my nails as deep as they could go into his skin through the fabric of
his shirt. I was hurting him, my nails punctured through his skin, I knew that because I saw the
blood forming around my nails, seeping through his shirt.
My heart clenched, bile rising from my throat. He followed without a fight as I dragged him
downstairs to the employees floor.
'Hey! All of you pay attention. If I fuckin see this bastard near my company I will make sure you
all pay. Not only security but each and every one of you will lose your fuckin job's if he appears
before me. Is that clear!'
Everyone responded, 'Yes Ms Riley.'
I looked around for any sight of the guards and when I saw one I called him over.
'Escort him out. Take a good look at him and make sure he never sets foot here.'
'Yes Madam.'
As the security escorted him out. I headed back to the office and closed the door behind me. As
the doors of the office closed I slowly slid down whilst leaning against the door and started
crying.
Why did he have to come back? When I finally decided to move on he chose to come back,
even worse he loves me. It took me two whole years to forget him and now he is back.
I had everything under control.i was going to be okay, i was going to move on n fact i was doing
a great job at not thinking about him. NO! I won't let him come back into my life.
Thane
Carson Mansion
I went back home with a head injury that stung like a bitch. I didnt think mahira would actually
throw a fuckin puncher at me. Was she crazy, what if that thing had burst my head open, I doubt
it had left small damage because my head was aching now and the heck. Stiletto nails? Of all
the nails she could do, she chose stiletto nails as if she had known I'd be coming and she'd use
them against me.
My arm still stung as if her nails were still dug into my skin even though they weren't. I don't
think I applied for public humiliation either that was so uncalled for. Did I deserve that?
Perhaps I did. Who the hell shows up nine years later after rejecting a girl who loved him and shows up two
years later after she leaves with a pathetic love confession. I mean that makes me seem like a
bad courter.
God I could have come up with a better line than 'I know you love me', that sounds so cringe.
It's like I don't take her seriously. I have courted my ex far better than I have done her. Okay I
mean maybe a little part of me thought she was still the sweet defenseless loving mahira who
would be swept off her feet if i told her that i loved her.
I thought she'd run into my arms and say something like 'you don't know how much those words
mean to me, I've been waiting for this moment my whole life.' Okay, that sounds weird.
The point here is that I never thought she would be anywhere near feisty. Well i had only ever
experienced her sweet innocent gentle side, I never thought there was a side of her that could
actually throw a frickin puncture at me.
Elena was sitting on the sofa when I got to the living room and when her eyes landed on me,
she burst out laughing as if this was something funny to laugh about.
'Did you get beaten up on your way to Mahira's company.'
She burst into laughter, clutching her stomach. It made me feel like a clown. Sure now I was
getting a taste of my own medicine, only it was more embarrassing than the rejections Mahira
endured.
'Elena you are not funny. Why are you making fun of your brother ? Can't you see he's hurt.'
Mom turns to look at me making a sad puppy pouting face. She was still beautiful, her golden
brown hair that had a few strands of grey hair, her face was getting wrinkled but it wasn't that
bad and her eyes stayed the same, the only part of the human body that never aged, it always
remained the same.
'What happened to you? Which animal did this to you?'
I threw myself on the sofa heaving a sigh of relief, although it also felt like a sigh of
embarrassment.
No girl had ever thrown a puncture at my face. And of all the girls that could, Mahira did it.
Mahira. The same mahira who used to say she'd never hurt me in high school. Are they even
they same people? What if she's an imposter? Does she have a twin sister I don't know about?
'Sweet innocent mahira did this to me.' I said sarcastically.
Elena started laughing as soon as I finished talking as if she had guessed who had done this to
me.
'Wait brother. You mean to tell me that fairy did this to you.'
Mom sighed and threw the first aid kit on me as she heard who had done this to me.
'Well then, if Mahira did this to you, tend to your wounds yourself. I think you deserve it.'
'I feel sorry for you. Who knows what you said when you got there? Maybe you said shit and
she got mad. Try again and do it better next time.'
Will I ever forget this day? Nop. I don't think so. If I do, Elena will make fun of me all the time
and that will be my reminder
'If Mahira threw a puncture at you, and hurt you so badly without giving it a second thought then
she has changed, she may not be the gentle girl you know so you have to up your game.
Getting her back is not going to be easy. Especially now that she is a multimillionaire.' grandma
said. I hate that she may be right. She sat down next to me and took the first aid kit that was on my
lap. She took the ointment and cleaned my wound first.
'You might have to visit the hospital, this wound looks deep and I'm not a surgeon who can stitch
you up. A bandage will do for now but you have to go okay.'
She wrapped a bandage around my head, making me look like I had been in a car accident.
Was it that bad?
MAHIRA
I ended up going out with Ares. He took me to a street food corner which isn't what I expected
but the food was to die for. We had cheeseburgers then he took me to an ice cream truck where
we bought massive ice creams. They were the best that I've ever had.
After that we sat on a bench and he gave me his coat. I relaxed onto the bench even though it
wasn't comfortable.
'So, Ms Mahira, how do you feel having so much success within the timeframe of two years? I
mean that's hard to do.'
'I honestly don't know. All these became too quickly, the success, two years is a short time to
succeed in the filmmaking business and I think I expect something to go wrong soon, only then
will I be certain that I have succeeded.'
'True. Two years is a short time to succeed. You sure you aint in the mafia or something.'
I smiled at his comment. Being in the mafia would be cool and bloody. Well, perhaps I'd get
married to some mafia guy, as long as he's handsome and obsessed with me. But all those
stories of mafia are just not real.
Ares stood up and offered to drive me home. I accepted his offer and bought cotton candy
before we left. The drive back was not so quiet, we spoke about a couple of random things that
didn't make sense but were still fun to talk about.
Ares kissed my forehead before leaving. I was fluttered by his gesture and to be honest I was
even beginning to consider trying things out with him so if he asked me to be his girlfriend,
perhaps I'd agree.
When I got to our hotel room, Kaashvi was still awake watching god knows what. I removed my
heels and untied my hair. I looked at the suit jacket I was wearing and smiled as I remembered
Ares putting it on me. I'll give it to him tomorrow or maybe I'll keep it and get him a new one.
'Hi Kaashvi.'
I smiled at Kaashvi, excited to tell her about today's events. She just looked at me then her nose
scrunched. She took the remote and switched off the TV then slammed it against the table, shoved her feet into her slippers and gathered her blanket in her arms ready to leave the sitting
room.
'Don't be like that. What's going on?'
'Ooh I don't know perhaps the fact that it's our first day in America and you came home at
midnight.'
Why is she so mad?
'Kaashvi? I'm running a company here so I'm bound to be late.'
'Really? Ooh, forgive me your highness I didn't notice.'
She walked around the couch and headed for her room, then she turned to look at me before going up the stairs.
'I waited for you, the whole day just so you know. You act like I don't have a life to get back to. In case you forget, today is our friendship's 8th anniversary. We promised 5 years ago that this would be the most important anniversary and it would be a blast, but I bet you forgot that too.'
Shit!
How the hell did I forget that it was our anniversary today. I was so busy focusing on myself I forgot about us.
'I will make it up to you. We can go out tomorrow.'
'Quit acting like I'm desperate to be in your life, I'm not begging for you nor your love and I sure as hell can end this friendship.Remember that.'
'That's not what I meant.'
'Sure. You're on and off when you feel like it Mahira. It's like I ain't important. Cool, that's okay.
What difference will celebrating tomorrow make? You broke our promise.'
She smiled and shook her head, then turned back to the stairs and went upstairs. Before
Kaashvi could get to her room I ran after her and held her hand.
'I'm sorry I forgot…'
'Mahira, when you were just twenty, you were very sweet and positive. No matter what life threw at you, you always smiled. That guy fucked up. He fucked up Mahira and you let him fuck up because of your fuckin love for him. After I helped you with your career, you suddenly forget who you are, huh. What about our dreams? What about our plans? I was the one who helped you with the success and fame you have but you... you are just not the Mahira I befriended eight years ago.'
'This…this isn't about him. I'm happy, I'm grateful I have everything I have now and I know it's all thanks to you. I don't love him anymore.'
'Go lie to someone else.'
I don't love him anymore. I really don't.
'I don't love Thane. In fact I'm seeing someone. His name is Ares.'
Kaashvi rolled her eyes and put her hand on her hip, giving me a questioning look.
'Sure. and I'm getting married to Hyun-jin next week, in fact Ni-Ki is my step brother.'
'Im serious.'
Kaashvi yanked her hand off mine and got into her room slamming the door behind her. Gosh, now I feel guilty. How could I forget our anniversary? It's such an important anniversary and I forgot about it. It's all because of Thane.
Okay smarty pants, don't blame Thane for your mistakes. You messed up big time, my
conscience retorted. Okay fine. Maybe it's now all Thane's fault but he's partly to blame. If he hadn't come to my office and confessed his love, I wouldn't have gone out with Ares and I wouldn't have come home so late.
I need to make it up to her. I have to do something, but what should I do?
'Thane came to my office and he told me that he loved me.'
I spoke out loud hoping she would hear. I thought she would ignore me but I heard the lock of her door clicking and she peeked her head out of her room.
'Thane said what?'
'He said he loves me.'
She seemed to be considering something then she looked at me seemingly lost in thought. She looked so adorable even when she was angry but she was scary when she was angry so I need to fix this.
I'm angry at you. I don't want to talk to you. But save me the tea. Okay, I want to know the full story when I'm no longer angry.'
She closed the door again, leaving me alone with my raging thoughts and sarcastic conscience.
Kaashvi opened the door again.
'I hope you're thinking about how to fix this. If you don't prove yourself worthy tomorrow, I won't talk to you and I will go back to Korea and end our friendship.'
She closed the door again.
Well, the good thing is that I still have a chance.