“Hello, my beautiful girl,” she greeted, her warm smile making me smile too.
“Hello, Mama N-Nadine,” I struggled to manage from under Zeraiah’s grip.
“Zer.” Her tone was firm but warm, and Zeraiah finally released me, messing up my ponytail and raising his hands in mock surrender before heading off towards his dad, kissing his mother’s cheek on the way.
Mama Nadine sighed, smoothing my hair. “Will you and Tsabinu come to dinner at ours later, darling? I’m making dim sum. Zeraiah’s been begging for it all week—”
Her words trailed off as Uncle Bakti and his colleagues approached. A hand touched my shoulder, and I turned to find Zioh fixing my hair.
Uncle Bakti gestured towards him. “This is my middle son, Zioh,” he introduced, pride glinting in his eyes. “He’s gifted, my blessed son. Brilliant in math, physics, chemistry, and he’s even a national champion in drawing. The perfect mix of his parents.” Uncle Bakti shifted his gaze to his firstborn. “My eldest, Zaeem, is also extremely talented. They’ll both carry INDTV forward with ease.”
The men gave polite laughs, and I couldn’t stop glancing at Zeraiah. Ignored, as he had been when he approached earlier.
Mama Nadine looked like she wanted to say something, but Zioh spoke first. “Zeraiah got a perfect score in France. Something neither Mas Zaeem nor I could ever do.” His tonewas light as he gestured toward his younger brother, who stood behind their mother. “Do you know Zeraiah won France’s national championship?” He went on. “And he speaks a bunch of languages, Japanese, for example, and now he’s learning German. Even Zaeem and I can’t do that.” Zioh gave a small shrug, but his tone went firm. “If anyone deserves to be called exceptional, it’s Zeraiah, Dad.” His words silenced everyone, and I turned to Zeraiah, seeing the tremor in his gaze.
Without another word, Zioh grabbed my hand and pulled me away.
« -- * -- »
Present
My mind kept replaying past memories, digging them up and spinning them, as if the reality I faced mocked me for how warm our past had been.
It was as if I were looking at a different person.
As if I no longer recognized the one above me.
The soft smile, the warm, sparkling gaze, allgone.Replaced with… with…
Cold, empty, sharp eyes.
“You disgust me, Sophie.” Zioh’s voice echoed after he had broken our connection seconds ago. His gaze stabbed into me, and his body was taut. He kept shaking his head, as if regretting what he had done.
Kissing me.
His breath was ragged, and his large frame hovered over me, pressing me down, and I was frozen beneath him, even though my mind screamed at me to do something.
Replaying every word he said, I kept searching for the right feeling, and there was something so deep inside me that made me want to scream, collapse, but I couldn’t name it, whether it wasbecause of himorfor him.
One thing was for sure, it rose to my eyes at last, making them burn with unshed tears.
When he’d kissed me, the heat surging through me tangled. I couldn’t focus on the intoxicating longing, the warmth of our reuniting lips after the beautiful night years ago, because at the same time, my brain kept screaming that this was wrong.
But…
But this was Zioh.
In the past, I never told myself to be careful around him. I never even thought there would come a time when my brain would warn me to walk away from him. I’d always run to him for relief, never the other way around. Now I keptlookingat him, because I kept waiting for the old warm gaze to come back. It didn’t.
His elbows braced beside my head, his eyes locked into mine, fusing into one. Silence stretched long, and our breath filled the air.
Zioh moved, brushing away the smudged lipstick at the corner of my lips. His eyes drilled into mine, voice low and rough. “Even when I heard someone utter your name... it feels like hell.”It already felt like hell to me, too. Hearing you say that…
I forced them back, the ache in my chest, the tightness in my throat. The sobs were rising, demanding escape, but I caged them inside until my jaw hurt from clenching.
His whisper rasped against me.
“Everything…” His eyes grew colder, sharper, full of loathing. “I can’t standeverythingabout you, Sophie.” His words shredded me. “You’re like a disease in my body that can never be cured.” He fell silent, his body shaking. “That’s what you are to me.”
