Chapter 20

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Zack's POV:

After what happened in the parking lot, I didn't want to go back to the apartment; I just wanted to stay alone and think about everything without being interrupted by anybody. However, the phone's ring got under my skin since I hadn't even finished my thought and I was already interrupted.

"What?" I answered the phone without checking the caller's ID.

"Hey did you miss me?" A girl's familiar voice replied at me but I couldn't figure out who was she.

"Hein?"

"Hey, I can't believe you forgot me Collins" The girl snapped at me "Maria will probably kill you"

As soon as she spelled Maria's name, I slapped myself mentally for my stupidity, 'how could I forget Maria's cousin?', Anna; she would probably hunt me for days because of it. Therefore, I cleared my throat and acted like nothing happened.

"Hey Anna" I rubbed the back of my head awkwardly "I'm sorry, I haven't checked the caller's ID"

"Ouh, you're with your wife, aren't you?" She started blabbering like usual "You're busy ha"

"No, I'm alone, heading to the penthouse, what about you?" I asked her to divert her attention to something else.

"I'm going there too, I'm twenty minutes far"

"Good, we'll meet there then" I looked at my watch then back at the road "Hey, I have to hang up" I told her since I was sure that Nadia would call me and I had no mood to speak with her.

"Great" She stated before hanging up.

As soon as she hanged up, I turned off my phone because I didn't want to talk to Nadia, since running away like that, only meant that she didn't care about me like I cared about her. Moreover, I decided to go to the penthouse because I needed some space to think and figure things out.

The penthouse belonged to grandpa, my mother's father; we used to stay there during holidays, it has two flours and a beautiful roof garden that mom took care of even when we were in our house in Washington by hiring a gardener to check it every two days for more than five years; then when she died. Sarah decided to take care of it herself.

If we hadn't interacted with Col in the parking lot, I was going to take Nadia to the penthouse; I was willing to show her a part of me that not a lot of people knew, I wanted her to see that I trusted her and hopefully she could open up with me about what happened with Col the night before, but it was too late since nothing went like I planned for.

I didn't want to go to meet Anna immediately since she would blow my cover in a matter of a second and I needed to calm down first and waste a little bit of time, therefore, I stopped in the first coffee shop which came to my sight and bought dark coffee.

I took the farthest table in the coffee shop since I had no mood to engage with people and I wanted to stay alone for few minutes, knowing that Anna wouldn't leave me alone even if I wanted to thus why I had to take advantage of every peaceful minute I could get.

"Ten minutes only" I sighed at my watch, pushing aside the now empty cup of coffee and putting money on the table before I stood up then headed to my car, feeling a serious headache, an ache which wouldn't go even if I took pills.

/*I'd suffer*/

I rarely had headaches but when I did, they managed to get under my nerves, and nothing could help me to ease the pain except a massage, my grandma's; she was an expert and the only one who could help me but I couldn't address her at that moment, not like that. Therefore, I drove in annoyance until I reached the entrance of the apartment complex, thinking of ways to dismiss Anna later.

As soon as I was in the parking lot, I thought I saw Nadia so I basically asked the doorman to park my car as I strode to see if it was actually her. "Could it happen? Did she find out that I had the penthouse?" I questioned myself as I started running to where I thought I saw Nadia, but when I was five feet away, Anna stood in front of me.

/*What a luck*/

"Hey babe" I had to fake an excited expression.

"Hi" She waved at me as she threw her bags on the ground and ran toward me.

"I miss you, I couldn't wait to see you" I embraced her in my arms and she did the same.

I really missed her, she was my childhood friend after all but her timing was the worse because I didn't even check if the girl I saw was Nadia, and just held Anna's bags and escorted her inside the building while she kept talking about how much her aunt would be surprised to see her and stuff that I hadn't even paid attention to.

A part of me kept thinking of the possibility of Nadia being there in the parking lot, and what if she saw me with Anna? She would be probably jealous and would think that I was making a mistake since after knowing her for a while now, I realized that she kept jumping on conclusions without acknowledging reasons. Then again, I snapped myself out of my train of thoughts and reminded myself that she was the same girl who ran away, only to skip explaining and confrontation.

To say that Anna was a bubbly and stubborn girl, it was an underestimation, she could talk for hours without being interrupted and she always managed to speak about whatever bothered her or maybe she thought was wrong, and that's what made her lot of people's favorite person as they liked her more than Maria, who was more shy and cautious of her words.

Back on the lifts of the building, Anna was still talking about her college as I just nodded my head on whatever she was saying, until she stopped speaking and stood in front of me, her hands on her hips and a dreadful look on her face "Am I talking to a wall?"

"I..." I stuttered, running my hand through my hair, nervously.

"What's wrong with you?" She glared at me "It's like you're somewhere else"

"Where else would I be?" I challenged her with my gaze.

"I don't know, let me think" She put one hand on her hip while the other one rested on my shoulder "Maybe with your wife?"

"Nadia?" I stared at her blankly.

"Yeah, where is she? I have to meet her"

"She's staying with her grandpa today" I lied because I honestly had no mood to explain why Nadia didn't go with me.

"You're hiding something, I don't know what it is but I will find out soon" She pointed at me, disbelievingly.

"Okay detective" I messed her hair before pulling her into a hug "I'm glad you haven't changed, Ann"

I could see excitement in Anna's eyes because it had been six months since she last came to see Sarah, due to her studies at Chicago-Kent College of Law at Illinois Institute of Technology, and her visit to her uncle in California during summer.

Looking at her in that state, it gave me a warm feeling in my chest because I was visualizing myself every time I was away from my mother during summer camps, which only lasted a month and I only applied for after Maria's family moved to New York.

Although Anna had the keys of her house, we rang the bell and waited excitedly for Sarah to open the door; Anna looked like a little girl waiting to be given candies, she wore a huge smile on her face, she kept tapping on the floor with her foot as her hands were tightly tugging at the end of her shirt, eagerly.

Suddenly, the door burst open and Sarah stood there wearing an apron and holding a spoonful of chocolate, her face split to a wide grin before she rushed to Anna and gave her a tight hug until Anna started grumbling saying that she was shocking. After all, Sarah raised Anna after her mother, Sarah's sister, died in a car accident.

/*How cute*/

Sarah invited me to have cookies with them but I excused myself immediately even though she insisted and threatened me that she would punish me if refused. However, she knew me too well to know that I was actually drained and needed some rest.

Sarah might have noticed that something was wrong because I promised her to take Nadia to meet her over dinner and there I was, without my wife, tired and desperately in need to sleep. Nevertheless, Sarah acted like nothing was wrong and dismissed me after insisting a little bit.

As I was opening the door of the penthouse, I got flashbacks of the past; how the smell of cookies used to creep through every corner of each room and used to welcome me when I enter, my mother's smile when I kiss her cheek before going to my room, and family gatherings we used to have. Those flashbacks gave me a smile for few seconds but it didn't last since I realized that everything changed and nothing remained the same except... me.

I cast the keys on the little table beside the door then went directly to the master bedroom, threw myself on the bed, and just stared at the ceiling, thinking about everything which had happened that day and how it would affect my future. I stayed like that for a while before drifting to sleep.

'What should I do?' I massaged my head to ease the pain but it didn't help so I just gave up and praised darkness.

***

"Egh" I sighed at myself when the bell kept ringing.

I checked the time in the night stand watch after struggling to open my eyes for few seconds, I only slept an hour and I definitely wished it was more but the bell didn't stop ringing. "Who could it be?" I stared at the ceiling, wishing that whoever was on my doorstep would just go away and leave me alone.

After staring at nowhere for a whole minute, I forced myself to leave bed and check the door, I walked slowly till I reached it and as soon as I opened it, Anna pushed me aside and walked-in, blabbering like usual without acknowledging my existence while I stood beside the door, staring at her back.

"Zack, who are you?" She suddenly turned her head to face me.

"Zack Collins?" I answered her, sarcastically.

"You became boring mate" She glared at me "Now what's up? Tell me"

"Nothing" I replied urgently.

"Spell it out" She walked toward me and closed the door behind her while I stayed quiet, she stared at me for few seconds then she threw her hands in the air, exasperated "Look, to be honest, aunt Sarah sent me here to check up on you, she's worried"

"Tell her I'm totally fine, Anna" I answered her, taking a deep breath.

"Ah-Ah" She pointed at me with her forefinger "She said you'd say that too, that's why I am spending the day here"

"Ok" I sighed at myself because all of my plans were thrown out of the window.

'It was going to be a long day'

Anna walked to the kitchen, opened the fridge then decided that we were ordering pizza; I had no mood to eat nor have a movie 'day' in as she suggested but Anna was persistent and pushed me until I accepted the idea.

Throughout eating and watching the movie, Anna tried to get information from me but I hadn't spelled a word and pushed her attempts away, however, she didn't stop trying until I literally yelled at her to stop, which left her surprised because I had never done such thing.

"Sorry, I guess I better go back home" She put her feat on the ground and attempted to walk away.

"Wait" I was faster to react and held her wrist "I didn't mean to yell at you like that, you just pushed me to my limits"

"I was only trying to help, you always tend to keep everything locked in your heart and for once I wanted to help" She looked away "I guess you just want to stay alone"

"I do want to stay alone, but I don't want you to be mad at me" I admitted, running my hand through my hair.

"I'm not mad, you can relax, I'll just come back later maybe" She turned her head, winked at me then she headed to the door.

I felt bad for snapping at Anna since she was obviously just trying to help; however, I was kind of relieved that I was left alone again. Thus why, I put the leftovers of Pizza aside then I went to sit in the roof garden, and just stare at the sky, doing nothing.

Siting there, made me realize how much I missed my old life, before mom died and dad ran away, before I was obliged to be thrown under the bus by my family, and before I had to lie to my family about my marriage with Nadia. Things were messed up, but I had to figure everything out, sooner or later because I couldn't hide there forever, I had to man up and face everything.

I don't how much time passed but when I went back to the master bedroom, I realized that i spent my entire day, doing nothing, so I stalked to the bathroom, and took a long hot shower to release a bit of the tension that has been building up.

After I finished my shower, I wore grey sweetpants then threw myself on bed. My eyes settled on my phone; I hesitated turning it on again, knowing I would be bombarded with messages from Nadia, but I knew I had to do it anyway because something bad could happen to my grandparents or maybe to the company.

'Keep saying that, you only want to see if Nadia is looking for you' My inner voice snapped at me.

With an exasperated sigh, I turned my phone on, and wasn't surprise to see that Nadia tried to contact me few times and even sent a message. I opened the message and felt myself heat up as I realized that Nadia wasn't the one texting, but it was someone called Abby.

"Hello, I'm Abby Bennett, your neighbor; Nadia is sick and I had to inform you so you can be here with her urgently; I'll be waiting for you" The text said.

Without even realizing, I changed my clothes, grabbed my phone and keys, and headed to the door. As soon as I opened the door, I faced Anna, she looked at me and raised her eyebrows at me, amusingly "Were you waiting for me?"

"I'm heading out, I'm in a rush, we'll talk later" I stated before I stepped in the elevator and pressed the lobby button.

I had no idea what I would say or do when I see Nadia but I was worried, Abby didn't tell me what was wrong with Nadia so I was anxious, and I had to see her to make sure that she would be okay. Hopefully.

The traffic was hectic, it took me an hour to reach the apartment; it was already late so I tried my best to stay quiet when I unlocked the door and stepped inside. It was dark therefore, I assumed that Nadia was probably asleep. Hence, I intended to check her bedroom, but on the way, I noticed that she was on the couch, snuggled in Dillon's arms.

A feeling of jealousy consumed me at the sight of her so peaceful in his arms; a part of me wanted to be in his position while the other one was too convinced to walk away, unnoticed just like I came in.

Her face was pale and she had dark circles around her eyes; I walked closer the couch and kneeled down beside her, fighting the urge to put the strays of hair that fell on her forehead behind her ear because I knew she would wake up and I didn't want to disturb her peaceful sleep.

There was thermometer on the coffee table so I assumed that she had fever, I saw an empty bowl beside her phone and some tablets, so it meant that she took a pill or two after finishing her food. I was thankful that she wasn't alone, she had Dillon with her to take care of her.

I wondered if she knew that Abby sent me that text, she would feel like I didn't care about her which wasn't the case, but in my condition, I just had to leave things as they were, at least until we figured things out.

I lost my restraint and sent my hand to her face and pushed the strays of hair behind her ear, running my fingers on her skin, tenderly; her skin was so soft but she was burning, so hot; I suddenly felt bad that there was nothing I could do except, wishing her the best recovery.

I stood up and stared down at her, I had so many messed up emotions at once. I wanted to wake her up and tell her that everything would be okay again, I wanted to hold her in my arms and take care of her until she would feel better, I wanted to kiss her to show her exactly how I felt about her. But nothing I wanted mattered since I could any of the latter.

Therefore, I brought my lips to her forehead in a tender kiss, caressed her cheeks and left without turning back. I couldn't forget everything just because she was sick. 'She should be fine by tomorrow morning' I convinced myself as I climbed in my car and drove back to the penthouse.

******

I was drained by time I reached the penthouse, all I wanted to do was crawl in bed and sleep. Nevertheless, I couldn't do so because as soon as I stepped inside and was about to head to the bedroom, the intercom started beeping.

'Who would bombard me at this time?' I thought as I walked back to the door and opened it.

Sarah was standing on the doorstep, her hands on her hips, glaring at me. And I knew that I was in deep shit because Sarah always glared at me whenever I did something wrong or really messed up. God help me...

"I know that something is wrong, so start talking, I'm listening"

'What should I tell her now?' I stepped aside and ushered her-in, thinking of a way out.

/*I have an important test tomorrow but I felt like I had to write something for you, so please, don't forget to vote, tell me what you think, thank you and I hope you like this part*/

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