While Raquelle and Terrence are going to the hospital and following the ambulance car, they do not talk even once and spend the time in silence. The girl looks through the window of the car with sadness in her eyes, thinking about what happened some time ago again and again. Although her eyes are wet enough, she does not cry bitterly, holding herself down or not being able to do it as she has cried all the tears out.
Terrence sometimes looks in the rear mirror, completely understanding that Raquelle is not fine at all. Despite a wish to support her somehow, the man decides not to annoy the girl with questions, thinking she would hardly love to talk to him right now. Though, her state makes him really worried. Especially now, when the life of her close person is in danger. Terrence knows that Raquelle would not take it if something happened to her grandfather, and he did not survive. The man wants to help her somehow, but he understands he can do nothing with it. And the girl would hardly love to accept any help from the one, who hated her some time ago and thought she was a cheater.
On the contrary, Terrence completely understands Raquelle. He is also shocked by everything that happened today. It’s madly unpleasant for him to call the memories of all those terrible moments. Moreover, the man is not sure the bad luck will stop chasing them after the story of Simon Ringer is over. He has a feeling that this is not the end of all the problems. It’s not a sign that everything will get better and be alright. However, even despite such dark thoughts, Terrence tries not to get stuck on bad things and tries to distract himself by watching the road. The fact that he is driving the car does not let him fall into thoughts of the future, which does not make him happy.
Nobody knows how long this way lasts. But they are coming to a big building of the hospital. The ambulance car stops in front of the entry, near which a few people wearing lab coats are waiting for them. All the doctors and paramedics get out of out as fast as bullets. Not wasting time, they start carrying the gurney, on which Simon Ringer is lying, not stopping to support his life and checking something on the portable apparatus. Together, these people quickly carry the suffered man to the hospital, where there are many people, who are fuming and running somewhere.
Raquelle and Terrence come to the hospital almost at the same time as the doctor did. The man leaves the car in the first place he sees, turns off the motor, and turns on the girl, who is still busy with her dark thoughts and looking through the window with her sad eyes. It seems like she is not ready to think of anything but what almost happened to her some time ago, and what would happen to her grandfather, Frederick.
“We’ve come, Raquelle,” Terrence pronounces softly and quietly. “You can get out.”
Raquelle turns her head immediately to Terrence, looks at him without emotions, and looks around quickly. And then the girl silently gets out of the car and quietly closes the door after her. The man quickly gets the key out of the motor, locks it with the key, and puts it in his pocket. He carefully grabs Raquelle under an arm, takes her to the entrance to the hospital, and ends up in the large hall. A few doctors and a nurse on duty are standing there, and the gurney with Simon lying on it is standing near them. A female doctor carefully examines the criminal and examines what she sees on the paper that she got from one of the paramedics.
“So…” the female doctor pronounces thoughtfully. “Simon Ringer, the age of about forty, a suspicion for many fractures after falling from the fifth floor…”
“The blood pressure and the heartbeat are below average, a breathing is shallow,” another doctor says confidently. “No pupillary response.”
“There is an assumption that many important organs could be hurt,” another doctor adds.
“Get an operating room ready immediately and carry this man there!” the female doctor commands harshly, hurrying the doctors to go where they need with a gesture. “Faster, faster! Do not waste time!”
A few doctors instantly react to the female doctor's words, grab the gurney, on which Simon is lying, from two sides, and carry it down the long hall of the hospital. One of the doctors stays with the woman and fixes his glasses at some moment. And two policemen, who come here, are waiting for some pieces of news.
“Did you come here with that man?” the male doctor, frowns slightly.
“Yes, and we want to warn you and the whole hospital staff that the man may be very dangerous,” one of the policemen replies confidently. “We were told to stay here and get any news about the condition of this man.”
“So, a criminal…” the female doctor pronounces thoughtfully.
“A criminal.”
“He slipped and fell off during the shooting,” another policeman confesses. “He was threatening a girl and refused to let her go and give up at his will for a long time. So, we had to open the fire. But it lead to the moment when she fell off, too. And she magically grabbed something and climbed up to the root.”
“Oh, how awful!” the male doctor exclaims, holding the paper with the patient data. “Alright, thanks for letting us know. We will tell you any news about the condition of that man.”
“Excuse me, what’s your preliminary forecast about his condition?” one of the policemen specifies.
“There is a high risk of dying in this case,” the female doctor replies quietly. “In the best case, he can only become disabled. If you say he fell off from the fifth floor, it’s approximately twenty or thirty meters.”
“We got it, thank you so much,” another policeman nods.
“Now, excuse me, we have to go. The suffered man is taken to the operation room.”
“When the operation is over, we will come to you, tell you about his condition, and answer all your questions,” the male doctor adds.
The two doctors turn around and go where Simon was carried away some time ago, while the policemen stay in the hall to expect news. At some moment, one of them glances at Terrence and Raquelle, who just entered the hospital building.
“Hey, what are those two doing here?” one of the policemen asks, seeing Terrence looks around. “I thought they went home!”
The second policeman also moves his eyes at Raquelle and Terrence.
“I don’t know…” the second policeman pronounces thoughtfully.
“Maybe, something happened to the girl?” the first policeman assumes. “Maybe, she needs some help?”
“So, shouldn’t have she rejected the help when she was tried to wake up after a faint? Something happened during the falling from the roof?”
“Who knows… But she looks terrible.”
The policeman closely looks at Raquelle, who looks exhausted and unhappy and has fallen into her thoughts. By the way, she has never loved hospitals and is even a little afraid of them. The current atmosphere and the smell of medicine make the girl uncomfortable. But she tries to hold on for Frederick since she understands he needs her as much as never ever.
“I’m so sorry for her…” the second policeman confesses thoughtfully. “That stick stinker mocked her so hard that she can’t still come to herself.”
“Yeah…” the other policeman nods with sadness in his eyes. “He got her really exhausted.”
“I agree.”
“But nothing threatens her now. We will work on that stinker even if he becomes disabled.”
“Whitley is a friend of that man. For him, he would do the impossible and the possible for Ringer to pay for everything he has done.”
“I hope so.”
Silence settles in the air for two seconds, after which the policemen look at each other and then decide to come to Terrence and Raquelle and ask them about the reason why they came here.
“Excuse me, were you not supposed to go home?” one of the policemen asks quietly.
“We wanted, but some events made us come here,” Terrence explains quietly.
“Yeah, I was told that my relative was brought here in a hard condition,” Raquelle confesses very quietly, embracing herself with her arms. “A heart attack.”
“Oh, that’s how!” the second policeman pronounces with sadness in his eyes. “Has that person been brought here?”
“We do not know yet,” Terrence shrugs. “I will try to ask about him at reception. Maybe, I manage to find out something.”
Terrence turns around and quickly comes to the counter, behind which a young girl with light hair is sitting, answering some calls and filling out some papers at the same time. Raquelle moves her eyes full of great sadness on him for a moment, but then looks down.
“Does that person mean so much to you that you are worried about them so much?” one of the policemen asks amicably.
“He replaced my parents,” Raquelle replies with sadness in her eyes. “Who died when I was a child. The parents, who were killed by Simon…”
“Yeah, we know.”
“I don’t want to lose him…” Raquelle sighs heavily. “He is my closest person in the world. If that man dies, I will not take it. I need him.”
“We hope that man will get well.”
“I would like to believe it.”
“By the way, you would better put yourself in order. Honestly, the way you look scares me a little.” The policeman looks at Raquelle from head to foot.
“I don’t care about me now…” Raquelle says quietly, embracing herself with arms tightly. “All my thoughts are about my closest person to survive.”
“Anyway, hold on,” one of the policemen replies softly. “Whatever happened to him, he will get over it.”
“Thanks for the support, dear policemen.”
The policemen look at each other and glance at Raquelle with sympathy in their eyes, feeling really sorry for her. And a little later, Terrence comes to them quickly after talking about something to the girl at the reception.
“I was told that man has already been brought here,” Terrence says confidently. “Doctors are working on him. The girl in the reception said we’d have to wait for a while.”
“Alright, I will sit down there…” Raquelle says quietly.
Embracing herself with her arms and inclining her head, Raquelle slowly goes to where a few chairs are placed, sits on one of them, and sighs heavily. Meanwhile, Terrence looks at the policemen and shakes his head.
“That stinker got her too exhausted…” one of the policemen sighs with sadness in his eyes.
“That’s right…” Terrence replies thoughtfully. “Such horrible things happened to her, and her relative ended up in the hospital with a heart attack.”
“You better watch her very closely,” the second policeman says thoughtfully. “And answer doctors’ questions instead of her. It’s clear that she is not able to do it.”
“If my colleagues told me right, you are a boyfriend of hers…” the other policeman assumes.
“Yes, it’s correct,” Terrence nods hesitantly, pursing his lips. “I’m her boyfriend.”
“You know, of course, a heart attack is quite an often thing at the present, but a recovery period is very long and hard…” the same policeman says with regret.
“I know,” Terrence looks at his hands for a moment. “But if that man does not survive, she will hardly accept his death…”
“Believe everything is going to be alright.”
The policeman glances at Raquelle, who doubles over and carefully wipes tears off under her eyes, looking into the distance.
“Yes, Mr. MacClife, do not be upset, please,” the other policeman advises quietly. “I’m sure doctors would do their best to save that man.”
“I would not like the good man to leave this world,” Terrence says with pity in his eyes.
“We get it, but you will have to wait for some time. You will have to stay in a waiting room.”
“I know. But it’s alright, we will wait as much as we have to.”
“And we want to advise you to watch that girl closely again.”
At this moment, the policeman carefully looks at Raquelle, who is sitting on the chair with both hands folded in front of herself and looking at the floor.
“She looks too bad,” the policeman whispers with anxiety in his soul. “It would be great if she ate something, washed her face, brushed her hair, and changed her clothes.”
“Yeah,” the other policeman sighs with sadness in his eyes. “If only she didn’t do any stupid things…”
“Do not worry, dear policemen, I will watch her,” Terrence nods with sadness in his eyes.
“Do not leave her, please. She must not stay alone when she is in a condition like this.”
“And it would be great to talk to her,” one of the policemen advises. “Distract her… To let her stop thinking of what happened, at least for a while. Otherwise, she may go crazy.”
“I will do my best,” Terrence promises quietly.
“Good.”
“Will you let us know if the doctors told you something about Simon?”
“Yes, we will let you know! If you are still here, of course.”
“If you need any help, you can go to the nurse on duty,” one of the policemen adds and points at the reception that Terrence went to before to ask about Frederick.
“Thank you so much, I got you,” Terrence thanks with a slight smile.
“Alright. If you need us, we will be waiting for news about Ringer here. When we know something, one of us will surely tell you everything.”
The policemen turn around, step aside, and start talking about something to shorten the time, waiting for news about Simon.
“Alright, we will be waiting…” Terrence whispers, watching the policemen for a few seconds. “We will…”
Terrence swallows up nervously and quickly looks around, understanding that a long and tedious waiting that always kills even more than anything else is starting now. While Raquelle keeps sitting on the chair and calling the memories of everything that happened some time ago. Not only that… She thinks of all the events that have happened to her in the past two months. The events that the girl would be happy to change somehow if she had a chance to do it. Raquelle feels absolutely exhausted and would be happy to go home and fall asleep. She has no strength to cry, scream, or ask someone for help. She spent it on trying to fight off Simon. If she had had to fight with that man for one or two more hours, she would not have taken it. However… The girl was actually ready to give up because she was madly tired and let her offender do anything he wanted to her.
And Raquelle blames only herself for what’s happening. She is sure nothing would have happened if she had done something different. A sense of shame makes her dream of running away, disappearing, and never standing in the way of someone. She had some hope and grandiose plans before, but now the exhausted girl wants nothing. At least, she thinks so due to her great tiredness. Due to the emptiness. Due to her thoughts about Frederick, whom she does not want to lose. Her heart is squeezing from just thinking her beloved grandfather would leave this world and leave her alone. And, as she thinks, the man ended up in the hospital because of his granddaughter.
Raquelle falls into her thoughts so deeply that she does not notice that Terrence comes to her quietly because he wants to go to a different place. For example, where they could sit on comfortable sofas. Not harsh, uncomfortable chairs.
“Raquelle…” Terrence pronounces in a quiet voice with sadness in his eyes.
Raquelle moves her dead eyes slowly to Terrence and sniffs quietly.
“We will have to wait for some time,” Terrence says hesitantly. “Let’s go to the third floor. There are comfortable sofas there. We’d better sit on them than these chairs.”
Saying no word, Raquelle gets up from the chair and follows Terrence, who grabs her under an arm and takes her with him. The girl does not resist it, she actually, tightly grabs his arm as if she does not want to let it go. As if she seeks the support that she needs so badly, while Alicia, to her surprise, has not come to the hospital as she promised.
After going upstairs to the third floor, turning on the left and going down the hall with white walls for some time, Raquelle and Terrence come to a large room with chairs, tables, coffee tables, apparatus with hot and cold water, and a bunch of plastic glasses placed near it. When he looks around, the man also finds the doors that lead to a women’s and a men’s dressing room. He is surprised there is nobody here, even if people usually spend their time here waiting for some news about their close people, who end up here for one or another reason.
When she comes to the closest sofa, Raquelle falls on it powerlessly and starts to think of all the bad thoughts again, definitely not being ready to talk. Because of the offense against Terrence, which she still has in her heart. Or because of a wish to stay alone and not to be forced to answer someone’s questions. However, she has lately been too thoughtful, even kept to herself, and shares her feelings and emotions with reluctance.
Terrence would be happy to help Raquelle get out of the hole somehow. But unfortunately, he does not know what to do. The man would like at least to try to talk to the girl to let her know that she will always count on his support. But he is stopped by the fact that they hated each other a few days ago and decided to break up to start to live a new life. That’s why Terrence silently sits on the sofa Raquelle is sitting on, leaving some distance between him and the devastated girl. Sometimes he looks at the girl as secretly as possible, feeling that everything turns upside down when he sees her like this.
Raquelle’s current condition does scare Terrence. He is sure the girl might fall into hysteria at any time and do something wrong that would lead to bad consequences. That’s why the man thinks that if Frederick dies, she will withdraw into herself and no longer talk to anyone. Or at least she gets the help of psychologists or psychiatrists. Terrence silently prays that Frederick gets to survive. He does not want anything to happen to that man. Raquelle’s grandfather is so good! Mr. Cameron has never done anything bad to anyone. He has always been literally holy and innocent! But he ended up in the hospital, and his granddaughter has to worry about him and be afraid of his death to the shake in her body. Anyway, Terrence tries not to lose hope and believes that Frederick will surely get over it.
Thinking about all of it, Terrence does not notice that he also falls into thinking. Just like Raquelle does, he feels morally exhausted. Getting ready for the meeting with Simon got him really tired and took away his energy. And the tension between him and the girl makes the situation much worse and makes both of them feel uncomfortable. Yes, the man sees that the girl is not definitely ready to sort the relationship out. But he understands nothing might be changed after helping her save herself, and getting such wanted forgiveness may never become real. The memories are so strong that Terrence believes that he is in the middle of the events that happened to him and Raquelle three hours ago. The way Simon almost raped the girl, confusing her with the other woman… The way he almost shot at her… The way she fell off the root after Ringer dragged her after him… How he thought she was dead for a few minutes… How she lost consciousness in his arms, being powerless and exhausted… All of that makes Terrence sadder and tenser. Even if he tries to keep everything inside with the thought that nobody needs it.
While Terrence reflects on what will happen in the future, Raquelle wakes up after a long trance. When she looks around without emotions, the girl sees the man sitting not far from her and watches him with sadness in her eyes for a few seconds. She understands that she must keep herself far from him because he gave her so much pain. But her heart screams that she must thank him for what he did to her. Something tells her that he could be the one to give her the support and care that she needs so badly.
At the bottom of her heart, Raquelle realizes she needs it. She has to admit that she felt great relief when Terrence came to the meeting of her and Simon and did his best to save her. The girl silently thanked all the Gods for bringing the man and the police there. Yes, maybe, they could do nothing against Simon because he could have killed her at any time. But it was better for her when he was near. Much quieter. If this man had not come here and had preferred staying home, the girl might not have stayed alive, and her close people would have grieved over the death of the one they loved so much.
Moreover, Raquelle comes to the understanding that while Terrence is next to her, it’s much easier for her to get through everything that’s happening now than without him. Even if they do not talk, his pretense gives her calm. With him, she feels like she is behind a brick wall. Fully protected. Safe. This feeling makes her wish to be much closer to this man and hear something good from him for the first time in a while. The brunette does not stop to get his hugs or have an open, quiet heart-to-heart talk. But a couple of good words from Terrence would help her feel much better.
For this wish, Raquelle has been struggling with herself for a long time to talk to Terrence. She tries to make herself forget about the offense against him and her pride, at least for a while, since they do not let her even think of forgiveness. This fight does not last for a long time. Mostly because she does not have the strength to hate and think of the past. She just needs someone to be next to her. Someone to be stronger than her. Moreover, the girl completely understands that she cannot be silent all the time. She would have to start to speak early or late.
So, Raquelle pumps much air into her lungs and decides to break the long silence. Even though she does not know what to say. So, she decides to say the first thing that comes to her mind. Even if it contradicts her real wishes.
“Terrence…” Raquelle pronounces very quietly and hesitantly with a scare in her eyes.
Terrence reacts to his name quickly enough and, putting all his thoughts aside, moves his look to Raquelle, trying to keep calm but getting ready for any reaction from the girl. Who could keep staying quiet or explode and tell him everything she thinks of him again.
“Yes, Raquelle?” Terrence pronounces hesitantly.
“Erm…” Raquelle stutters. “I…”
First, Raquelle nervously squirms around while her eyes are running from one side to another, but then she braces herself, starting to nervously pull down a sleeve of her denim jacket and asking a little hesitantly:
“You… Don’t want to go home?” Raquelle swallows up nervously. “You probably have… Very much to do…”
“I do not have anything to do,” Terrence replies quietly.
“You can go. I do not want to burden you with my problems.”
“I am not going to leave you alone. At such a hard minute.”
“Thank you so much for driving me here, but I can do this on my own without someone’s help.”
“No, I shall stay.”
“Just give me the keys to my car and go. I am not holding you.”
“I will go nowhere.”
“Don’t worry, I can get over it,” Raquelle tries to say as confidently as possible in a little shaking voice, feeling terribly awkward because she has to hold her emotions down so hard.
“I said I’d go nowhere!”
“But…”
“And I would be with you until we know just something about Mr. Cameron.”
“There is no need to do it. I don’t make you be with me.”
“So, are you suggesting that I leave you in such a bad condition and get out quietly?”
“No… But…”
“No!” Terrence shakes his head sharply. “I will not do this.”
“My aunt will come here soon, and I will be waiting for the news with her. I think she’s gonna come here soon… So, you don’t have to be here.”
“When your aunt comes, I will leave. Because I will know she will take care of you.”
“Believe me, you don’t have to be worried about me,” Raquelle replies quietly, feeling like cats are scratching inside her and madly wishing to open her heart to Terrence but banning herself from showing these emotions due to the offense at him. “There is no need to take care of me like a child.
“Don’t pretend that you’re so sure about it, Raquelle.”
“I’m not pretending.”
You should’ve seen yourself from the outside when you had literally been taken hostage by Simon.”
“Yes, I was scared. Anyone would be scared if someone put a gun against their head. If you were standing on the edge of the roof of the five-floor building.”
“The case is not only about it.”
“Nothing terrible happened,” Raquelle lies hesitantly, moving her eyes aside. “I’m just a little tired. When I have some rest, I will be fine.”
“I do know what you felt better.”
“Why?”
“Don’t try to lie to me. I see you through and remember what was happening to you. I remember what became the reason why you passed out.”
“You know nothing about me,” Raquelle throws sharply. “And how could you actually know it if you’ve never tried to get to know me better?”
“What? I have never tried?”
“You’ve always given a damn about me. You’ve never cared what I thought, what I felt, or what I want.”
“So, do you think I am pretending?”
“You love only yourself, MacClife.”
“Do you think I decided to do all of that for my benefit?”
“What else?” Raquelle simpers evilly. “You just want to make amends after you behaved like a disgusting bastard!”
“What?”
“You’re afraid of me. Afraid that I might ruin your life and reputation by saying one word. So, you came out there with the policemen and brilliantly played the role of a jealous man, who was ready to kill the offense of his ex-girlfriend.”
“Damn, I can’t believe I’m hearing it…” Terrence moves his tired look aside.
“Bravo, MacClife, I appreciated your talent!” Raquelle exclaims, clapping her hands. “Of course, you’re a wonderful actor, but you are actually a disgusting man.”
“My gosh, Raquelle, don’t say you’re gonna start a scandal here,” Terrence moans quietly.
“Why did you the fuck come out there? Why? Did you want to play a hero? To get the fucking praise that you have not heard for ages?”
“You went wild…”
“So, did you think I wouldn’t shower you with mud after a breakup if you saved me from Ringer?” Raquelle smirks evilly. “No, shameless scumbag! You will never become a hero for me! And I will never respect you.”
“I did what I should’ve done a long time ago,” Terrence replies quietly, who is not ready to fight and sort out a relationship, unlike Raquelle, who is getting more enraged and calls the memories of all the sins. “And I did my duty. I didn’t let one bastard deprive the innocent girl of life.”
“Ah, so, now I am innocent!” Raquelle hums loudly, rolling her eyes, and crosses her arms over her chest. “But some time ago, I was a bitch, a betrayal, a scumbag, and an evil lady… What did I forget to say?”
“Listen, I’m not going to fight with you. My goal of being here is to stay at least until Alicia comes.”
“Nobody suggested you stay here.”
“No, Cameron! No matter how much you dislike it, I will stay with you! It’s out of the discussion!”
“Thanks, I don’t need help from a pathetic, insolent lord. You can go to hell with your support. And get out of here. So, my eyes do not see you anymore…”
“And leave you in such a horrible condition?” Terrence rolls his eyes wider. “No! I am not so crazy to leave the girl, who feels so bad that she can easily do many stupid things.”
“I already did one stupid thing when I agreed to date you! But thank God, I already fixed it and ended the relationship with you.”
“Do what you want!” Terrence throws coldly. “I don’t care what you’re doing to do! But now I will stay here as long as need.”
“Get out, MacClife, seeing you is disgusting.”
“Come on?” Terrence chuckles quietly. “When you were pulled on the roof, you said different things!”
“And what did I say?”
“As if you don’t remember!”
“I don’t! I remember nothing!”
“You remember everything! You just turned the stubborn idiot mode on.”
“You are crowing like you heard a confession of love.”
“You confessed that you were waiting for my appearance.”
“Not such fucking thing!”
“Oh, I see you’ve come to yourself if you are snapping. Do you no longer feel tiredness? Don’t you wanna faint again?”
“None of your fucking business, asshole!”
“What did you the fuck do to you?” Terrence looks quickly at Raquelle from head to foot. “How could you give a fuck about you for a few days that we didn’t meet?”
“Oh, now do you want to say I look terrible?” Raquelle wonders falsely. “An ugly one? I don’t take care of myself? Yeah? So, do you think I am ugly? Even though you could only talk about my alleged beauty!”
“Yeah…” Terrence stutters and shakes his head sharply. “Erm, I mean, no! No, no, I didn’t mean that… I wanted to say you needed to have some rest and put yourself in order.”
“That's how!” Raquelle smiles falsely. “I did not know I looked so bad.”
“Didn't you?” Terrence asks with a sly smile and crosses his arms over his chest. “But I think you know it very well! You’re just trying to pretend to be a fearless heroine that didn’t get scared by what happened some time ago.”
“Even if I lost some weight, it happened just because of nerves and worrying about what has happened in my life in the last two months,” Raquelle replies coldly.
“Yeah, I could believe it.”
“And yeah, if you want to know it. Yes, I was shocked! I will never forget what happened. I was never as hurt as I was on the days that became a real hell for me.”
“I understand it.”
“And there is your fault for it. I suffered not only because of Ringer but also because of you. The betrayal that did a terrible thing to me.”
“I don’t deny my fault and am really sorry about what happened.”
“Stop pretending to be good and saying you’re sorry, Terrence,” Raquelle throws coldly. “You’re sorry only about yourself. You care only about yourself, your reputation, and your career.”
“Seriously?”
“Listen, maybe, you go to the men’s room? To look in a mirror and fix your gorgeous hair? Your hair has lost its original look and doesn’t look beautiful. So, you don’t look as perfect as the one to have such a great name as yours is supposed to look.”
“Hoping to make me leave by these comments and your attempts to play a joke on me?”
“No, come on! I just see you from the outside and understand you don’t look like Terrence MacClife, who is perfect at everything.”
“Say anything you want, but I will stay here anyway and be watching you not to let you do stupid things.”
“Oh, what a noble side of you!” Raquelle exclaims loudly, rolling her eyes.
“It’s my duty! That I must do!”
“You better go as far as possible, asshole! Get out of here and care about your fucking life! Without meddling in mine!”
“I did say you would be under my view until your aunt came here,” Terrence says confidently.
“Get out, MacClife, get out. Go to keep being happy about our breakup.”
“What?”
“So, did your life get much better and funnier after I got out? Huh?”
“Yeah, better…” Terrence throws gloomily, moving his eyes aside.
“Come on?” Raquelle moves her eyes sharply to Terrence, still keeping her arms crossed over his chest. “Just don’t tell me you’re a poor guy that’s suffering.”
“I have no time to suffer,” Terrence replies in a low voice. “Because I have much to do.”
“Ha, what kind of business could you have? When did you do something the last time?”
“I could ask you the same question.”
“But no, I am wrong.” Raquelle puts a finger on her lip. “There is something. You hooked up with the blonde whore that almost pulled my hair out! The otter that was hanging on your neck before my eyes.”
“What?” Terrence surprises loudly. “No, no! Please, don’t start to talk about my dates with that girl!”
“I will!” Raquelle raises her voice up. “I will! I shall remind you of preferring that prostitute. And believing her when she pretended that she, the poor and unhappy girl, got almost beaten and deprived of her hair.”
“Oh, fuck…” Terrence moans tiredly, not thinking Raquelle and he would start to fight at this moment. “It would be much better if you kept saying nothing. I like you much more when your mouth is closed. And when you’re unconscious.”
“Why don’t you run to that whore? Why are you the fuck sitting here and pretending to be a hero? A fucking noble man!”
“I have never really dated that girl,” Terrence confesses quietly. “I was just playing love with her to make her say nothing about my actions and help me with my musical career.”
“Really?” Raquelle surprises loudly and smirks evilly. “Isn’t what I saw in the club the real proof of the fact that you met someone to replace me?”
“Don’t believe what you see. Because everything might not be what it seems.”
“So, bad memory? Did you forget how you were kissing and hugging that dyed blonde? And then you began to snuggle me! You weren’t shy about feeling me up! After you almost fucked that plucked chicken! Who could’ve easily run naked in front of you if everything had been otherwise!”
“I have never loved that girl! Yes, I thought I could love and stop pretending. But it didn’t happen…” Terrence glances aside. “After meeting with you at the club, I realized I couldn’t love her. And I would’ve been pretending to be in love with her until the end if I hadn’t rejected her forever the next day.”
“Yeah, sure!” Raquelle rolls her eyes. “You don’t have to be upset! You’d meet another slut! Girls have always surrounded you, and you were happy to flirt with them. Especially, now when we decided to break up.”
“What?” Terrence rounds his eyes. “Do you want to say I was cheating on you even when we lived together?”
“So, were you?”
“It’s a lie! I never flirted with other girls when we were in a relationship! Even if I wanted to find someone to comfort me and get what you never gave me, I did not cheat on you.”
“I would not be surprised if you had been seeing that whore at that time! I would not be surprised if you had visited your slut after every single fight between us, and she was pleasing you and telling you tons of compliments.”
“It’s your wild fantasy.”
“Yeah, you’re as loyal as a dog! I am surprised by how ‘well’ you kept your loyalty! You did not even want to wait for some time to be gone after our breakup and went to look for a new lady! It’s clear you wanted to fuck someone too badly! You dreamed of getting your dick into someone’s ass!”
“I’m saying nothing about you standing aside and hugging that policeman, who is in love with you!” Terrence throws rudely.
“What?”
“And you were smiling at him when you heard something from him. When he was caressing your face. When he was LOOKING at you!”
“Do you care? I am a single girl! I have a right to hug and kiss anyone I want.”
“You dared to do this right before my eyes. Before MY EYES! I ALMOST KILLED THAT FUCKING IDIOT! I DREAMED OF BEATING HIS FACE!”
“I’m not surprised by your mental health issues.”
“You needed also to KISS that fucking man! OR FUCK HIM! SHOW HIM YOUR BOOBS!”
“Don’t become a jealous man, ‘cause it doesn’t make sense.”
“Then you do not become the one!”
“I did nothing!”
“Oh, yeah! My relationship with Rachel does bother you much!”
“And you care about my relationship with Hunter too much!”
“You say he’s just a friend of yours?” Terrence resents, breathing heavily. “You say you’ve never been in love with him?”
“If I want, I will love! He would be much better than such a nasty bastard like you! That man would not betray me. He would ALWAYS be by my side.”
“Any girl would be much better than you!”
“Then go to other girls! You should not care about my personal life.”
“I do care!” Terrence explodes. “I do! And I will not tolerate the way you are hugging and literally kissing that fucking policeman with great pleasure.”
“Yeah? So, if I see another blonde whore next to you, she will lose her hair. I swear I shall destroy her!”
“Ar-r-r, fuck!” Terrence growls irritably. “When your mouth was shut, I liked you much more.”
“Just like you seemed much better to me when you said nothing!” Raquelle raises her voice, not hiding her irritation.
“You’re starting to get me more irritated.”
“As well as you’re doing this to me!”
“Don’t make me strangle you.”
“Even if there were no other men but you in the world, I would prefer to stay single. I’d rather die than be with the one, who cheats, insults, humiliates, can’t love, take care, or respect, and dares to raise a hand on the girl.”
“Who would say! You don’t the fuck know what it means to be loyal and take care of people, but you decided to teach others how to love and appreciate those, who mean much to you!”
“I’d rather die alone and childless than live with such a bastard like you!”
“Did you the fuck want to fight? You want to kick someone’s ass! After you got your ass kicked!”
“I see you decided to play a hero!”
“Raquelle!”
“So, MacClife, does your blonde slut give you no reason to become a superman and make you bored?” Raquelle smirks evilly, being too excited because of the jealousy that woke up inside her again. “Did you get sick of fucking only her? Do you want something new? She doesn’t give you anything?”
“Stop this show now!” Terrence demands coldly. “I don’t have a wish to fight with you and listen to your shouts.”
“I do not have a wish to see your insolent face!” Raquelle says loudly. “EVEN A LITTLE ONE!”
“Hey, stop shouting here like a hysterical lady!” Terrence demands loudly and rudely. “Did you forget we came to the hospital, and your grandfather is about to die?”
“No, I didn’t forget about him!” Raquelle throws sharply and turns aside.
“Then shut up and think of him! Pray that everything is alright with him!”
“You make me madly irritated by your pretense! You make me dream of attacking anyone!”
“If you keep behaving like this, you will make me strangle you with my own hands.”
“You better shut up and stay here silently!” Raquelle exhales sharply. “I can’t wait for Aunt Alicia to come here. So, she makes you get out of here and forget that I exist.”
“Listen, Raquelle…” Terrence exhales slowly, trying to keep calm as hard as possible. “We’re here not to fight, sort our relationship out, and get greater anger for each other. You’re here to be next to your grandfather, and I’m here to support you.”
“I don’t need your support! I want just one thing – you to leave me alone.”
“I don’t want to leave you alone at such a hard moment. In such a hard condition, when you’re able to do any stupid thing.”
“I didn’t ask you to help me, MacClife.” Raquelle moves her eyes at Terrence with her arms crossed over his chest. “The idea was all yours. You did that at your wish!”
“Right, I expressed a wish,” Terrence confirms quietly.
“No need. I would have done that without you!”
“Oh, yeah!” Terrence rolls his eyes. “You were nearly killed and raped, but you say you would have done it.”
“I would have done!”
“My gosh, what a headstrong girl you are…” Terrence growls quietly, running his hands over his face. “How much you love doing everything you want. But you have to pay for the consequences of your thoughtless actions.”
“So, MacClife, did you think I would instantly forget everything I had to take from you if you did such a heroic act? Ha! Do not even dream!”
Raquelle sharply gets up from the sofa and starts nervously walking near the sofa from one side to another.
“And I did not ask you to go there alone!” Terrence shouts, also gets up from the sofa sharply, and starts gesticulating actively, losing his patience more and more and his wish to hold himself down and not to start a scandal. “I did not ask!”
“It’s my business!” Raquelle exclaims.
“You knew how it could’ve been over for you! You knew that bastard wanted to kill you! But you went the fuck there alone! You decided to play a heroine! A kind fairy that naively thought she would immediately make a sick, evil man much better!”
“What’s your fucking business?” Raquelle smirks loudly. “If I’d died, you wouldn’t have to suffer. You would’ve been happy at the thought that you could quietly marry that whore, who gave you what I did not give you. And you would fuck her twenty hours per day!”
“No, you’re starting to go insane!” Terrence slaps himself sharply on the forehead.
“The one to go insane is you!” Raquelle throws rudely, pointing at Terrence with a finger.
“Listen, Cameron, wake the fuck up and calm down! Or did you get so bad that you do not understand anything and do say what you have on your mind?”
“You know, I’m starting to understand Simon was absolutely right about you. You’ve always been a sick psycho, but you tried to hide it so hard and denied any charges.”
“Oh, yeah! And you listened to him open-mouthed like a naive, silly girl and believed every single word of him!”
“I know that admitting something like that is always unpleasant. Especially, for you. Because you want everyone to think you are perfect and irresistible. Even now, you wanted to be as good for me so much that you took the police there, shouted, and waved your hands like a hysterical girl, protecting me from Ringer.”
“Yeah, did you forget how you were begging me for help?” Terrence simpers evilly. “How you were begging me not to leave you!”
“What?”
“By the way, I did hear everything clearly! Your scream for help was heard a few miles away from me! You screamed so loudly that you later almost lost your voice!”
“I don’t remember that!” Raquelle lies irritably.
“Ah, you don’t!” Terrence puts his hands on his hips. “Alright, I will quickly bring your memories back. I have enough witnesses, who would confirm everything. I can even ask Ringer himself, and he would remind me of what you forgot so easily.”
“If you wanted to appease me by coming to that place with the police, your plan failed, my sweetheart. You can play a hero as much as you want, but people will know what a scoundrel you really are, and stop believing your play for the public.”
“Raquelle!”
“I promised I’d ruin your life and career! And I will do this!”
“Yeah, why haven’t you still done it? Why don’t you say anything to anyone? You’ve been dreaming to do this literally since the day we met!”
“Don’t worry. I didn’t forget about my promise. I will keep it. Very soon. When Grandfather gets better, I will immediately do what I promised. I swear, Terrence. Along with that, I will be enjoying the time spent on the status of the single girl.”
“Do what you want, but stop acting like a hysterical girl.”
“Ah, am I hysterical?” Raquelle resents loudly.
“And stop the fuck screaming! Calm down! And stop having hysterics before doctors hear you and decide to put you to sleep for a few hours.”
“And you get out to the fucking hell!” Raquelle demands loudly. “And never dare to come to me! Nothing connects you and me anymore! And I’ve thanked God for not letting us get married and not forcing me to wait for us to finally get divorced.”
“I said I would leave when Alicia came here.”
“Do not pretend to be holy, MacClife. I bit you through a long time ago and am not going to believe in your alleged regret. Everything you did some time ago is just a show that makes me really sick.”
“Seriously?” Terrence wonders, getting kind of hurt by the words of Raquelle.
“And hoping to appease me and make me thank you, you did not get it. You made me hate you much more!”
“Cameron!”
“Get out of here!” Raquelle demands loudly. “Asshole! Scumbag! Bastard! Betrayal! Horndog! I hate you! I HATE YOU! CURSE YOU! I CURSE YOU!”
“Alright, I am SICK of all of this!” Terrence shouts, hitting his hands sharply against one of the hospital walls. “I wanted to talk to you in a good way, understood your situation, drove you to the hospital, and decided to stay here not to leave you alone. But I see you are not going to make peace and have decided to start a scandal again. Do your best for the WHOLE HOSPITAL to hear you!”
“If you were a good man and hadn’t acted so disgustingly, nothing would’ve happened!”
“SHUT THE FUCK UP|” Terrence gets enraged. “CLOSE YOUR MOUTH NOW! You have gotten what you wanted and gotten me wild. I did not want to fight with you, but it’s clear you do not like calm. You do not like when you are treated WELL! You love getting trouble all the time! That’s why you rejected all the men. They did not beat you!”
“Ha, you tell me not to scream, but you are screaming at the whole hospital like a psycho!” Raquelle smirks evilly, putting her hands on her hips.
“You know what? I give a fuck whether you are grateful to me! I do not need to be praised and just wanted to do my duty! Yes, I could have given a fuck about you and let you deal with that sick bastard alone. But I did not do that. I did my best for him to get caught. I did it! I got some relief! And now I’m not obsessed with remorse. I can stop being ashamed. I can bravely protest if people tell me I did nothing to help you.”
“You’ve confessed you did it to cover your ass. You were pretending that you did care about me.”
“Do not interpret my words in your way.”
“But I must admit that you can play brilliantly!” Raquelle quietly claps her hands. “Bravo, Terrence, you are proving that you were one of the best actors of your time for a reason. You showed jealousy and evil so well! The policemen barely held you down!”
“Do you think I could easily watch that bastard feeling you up, kissing and licking you right before my eyes?” Terrence wonders loudly. “You were ready to kill Rachel when you saw us kissing! So, I could have beaten that scumbag to a half death when seeing him literally lying over you!”
“I’m sorry that you didn’t get some artificial blood.”
Raquelle comes to the window and starts to look at what’s happening outside.
“You could put it on his face,” Raquelle adds, feeling sorry about fighting with Terrence at such a hard moment, but understanding that she can do nothing with it. “And your face. So, you think you were fighting for death. My ex-boyfriend got really mad because of Simon’s attempts to rape me and was ready to go to prison after killing.”
“What if it REALLY made me mad?” Terrence shouts. “What if I was ready to TEAR that sick psycho apart? Because that man almost killed you? He dared to feel you up and lick you right before my eyes, wanted to take his pants down, and did not do much more horrible things that I do not want to talk about.”
“Don’t play a jealous man.”
“You should've said it to yourself when attacking Rachel with fists! And you shouldn't have pretended that you were kind of jealous of her and me.”
“Ha, I was not jealous of you and that slut,” Raquelle smirks nervously.
“If the police hadn’t come there in time, Ringer would’ve killed you. If he went crazy, he would have raped you at first and then killed you. And he would have called his friends and let them fuck you, too. AND I ALMOST WENT THE FUCK INSANE WHEN THAT BASTARD DRAGGED YOU WITH HIM! I THOUGHT YOU WERE FUCKING DEAD!”
“You should not care about it!”
“I do CARE! CARE! I CARE ABOUT THE IDIOT, WHO LOVES PLAYING ON MY NERVES! And I will not stand any man that would feel you up on everything possible!”
“It’s my business!” Raquelle snaps rudely.
“Tell me what were you thinking of? What happened to your brain when you decided to go there alone? Did you not understand it was an excuse? The excuse to make you go where nobody would’ve stopped him!”
“I should have done that!”
“You should have gone to the police! Instead of naively believing you would change the mind of the sick man!”
“I am an adult and can decide what to do!”
“I am irritated by your stupidity! IRRITATED! I thought you were much smarter, but you do really crazy things.”
“Don’t dare to insult me!”
“I am trying to bring your brains back! Since you turned them off and BECAME A NAIVE, BRAINLESS IDIOT!” Terrence has to fall into silence for two seconds to cough quickly and clear his throat. “You MUST thank me for staying alive and not dying because of that bastard Ringer. But even in this case, you managed to make mistakes!”
“Oh, thank you so much, Mr. MacClife!” Raquelle exclaims loudly, rolling her eyes.
“Look what your actions brought to! LOOK! You brought Mr. Cameron to ending up in the hospital. It's all because of your stubbornness! A wish to become a heroine and prove that you, kind of proud and sassy girl, could deal with one sick bastard and his gang alone!”
Raquelle says nothing and just looks through the window, understanding she has nothing to answer Terrence.
“Thank God, nothing happened to Alicia,” Terrence adds loudly. “Or she could’ve ended up here, too. Because of you. But I would not be surprised if her health got much worse because of worrying. I WOULD NOT BE! I would not be surprised if you brought everybody to ending up in the hospital because of your actions. And then end up there and moan that you feel bad!”
Raquelle swallows up nervously with sadness in her eyes.
“Remember, Raquelle Allison Cameron, if your grandfather doesn’t survive the heart attack and dies, you will be the one to blame for it,” Terrence says confidently. “Everybody will think YOU brought him to the heart attack and did your best for him to end up in the hospital.”
“I am always guilty for everybody…” Raquelle throws in a low, rude voice.
“I am very sorry you do not understand it. Do not understand how you make your close people suffer.”
“Shut up… Just close your mouth…”
“No, sweetie, you close your mouth. And I advise you to pray. Pray that Mr. Cameron stays alive. Or everybody will think you are guilty of his death.”
“I said SHUT UP!” Raquelle shouts, hitting her hand strongly against the windowsill.
“Alright, I am done with it! I am sick of trying to explain and prove something to you! You can say anything you want, but I will sit and say nothing! Wait for Alicia to come, so I can finally get out of here to the fuck. AND STOP STANDING YOUR FUCKING HYSTERICS THAT I AM REALLY FED UP WITH! ENOUGH! DO WHAT YOU WANT! I GIVE A FUCK! AND I WILL ENJOY OUR BREAKUP! BE HAPPY THAT I FINALLY GOT RID OF SUCH A BRAINLESS IDIOT LIKE YOU!”
Breathing heavily enough and feeling a great tension in his whole body, Terrence turns around sharply and goes aside. He tried to hold on and not to take it out on Raquelle until the very end. But her behavior made the man wild and say what could seem very rude and offensive. Terrence really wants to go as far as possible but cannot leave Raquelle alone because he is worried she might do something wrong. That’s why the man just goes to the other side of the hell and turns his face on the wall, crossing his arms over his chest, thinking of something, and deciding to say no more and let the girl scream and be mad until she loses her strength.
Raquelle continues to look through the window for some time, keeping her arms crossed over her chest and barely holding her wish to cry. At heart, the girl completely understands that he is absolutely right and tells the truth. Maybe, it’s bitten, but it’s true. Anyway, she is really guilty for bringing Frederick to the hospital because she made her relatives worry about her with everything she did. If her relatives had not secretly asked Terrence for help, Raquelle would have been killed and found by no one. That’s why she owes this man in one or another way…
Raquelle starts to understand that this is not the best time to think of the past. Even if the young people are exhausted after what happened and ready to tear each other apart. She admits that she was quite rude and mean to Terrence, even if she was not going to fight with him. Yes, this man made her suffer. But it’s clear that he is trying to help her somehow and give her the support that the exhausted girl needs so badly.
The girl spends a few seconds to calm down a little while the tense silence settles in the air. When she understands she can talk quietly enough, Raquelle slowly turns on Terrence, who is standing with his back to her at the other end of the hall with his arms crossed over his chest and an inclined head. Something suddenly clicks inside her and makes her feel guilty of him. For at least not trying to appreciate everything he did. For not wishing to notice how much the man is regretting everything he has done.
So, Raquelle decides to take control of the situation not to make it worse, slowly comes to Terrence, stands behind him, and, inclining her head guiltily and nervously pulling her denim jacket, pronounces very quietly:
“Sorry, Terrence… I couldn’t hold myself down and decided to remind you of all the offenses. Even if I wasn’t gonna fight with you… I understand it’s not the best time to sort our relationship out… It would be bad of me to attack you with charges after what happened… I mean, your act… A wish to help me get off Simon…”
Raquelle falls into silence for two seconds and glances at her hands, which are shaking slightly as the girl is very nervous.
“Everything you just said is the clean truth,” Raquelle says quietly, locking her fingers tightly. “My wish to go to the meeting alone… And the fact that Grandpa ended up in the hospital because of me… It’s true.”
Raquelle swallows up nervously.
“It’s okay, I am not mad,” Raquelle confesses quietly. “You didn’t hurt me with these words. You said everything right. I don’t really know what I was thinking about when I decided to go to the meeting with Simon alone. But at heart, I understood it could be some trap.”
Raquelle sighs heavily.
“It was probably one of the craziest acts in my life…” Raquelle assumes thoughtfully. “But you see, I couldn’t risk so much… I couldn’t let someone suffer! What if Simon had killed one of those I knew if the police had come with me? I know it could be just an excuse. But I wouldn’t live quietly if something happened to one of my close people… Especially, if I was guilty of that…”
Raquelle falls into silence for two seconds with sadness in her eyes, looking at the sleeve of her denim jacket.
“But ‘something’ has already happened…” Raquelle sighs quietly. “Because of worrying too much, Grandpa ended up in the hospital and is in a critical condition, as Aunt said. And… If he dies, I will not take it.”
Raquelle sniffs quietly.
“We both saw he was not fine,” Raquelle confesses. “But when we expressed our anxiety, Grandpa said he was fine. But we did know well how much he was worried about the current situation… Aunt Alicia somehow said he didn’t even sleep at nights and couldn’t stop thinking of my life. The life that turned into real hell for two months… And became some kind of torture. That I could have not survived if it all had continued for some time. If Simon had decided to mock me much longer, I would have… I dunno… I wouldn’t have been able to live…”
Raquelle throws a sad look aside for a second, while Terrence does not react to her words and continues to think about something with a gloomy face, making the girl literally talk to the wall that does not answer her back.
“But do you know what the most terrible thing is?” Raquelle continues hesitantly, bending her arms at her elbows. “The most terrible thing is that we don’t know the result. We don’t know how it all would be over, and how much we would have to get over… But… After any horrible events, you start to get used to what’s happening and think you won't find your happiness again.”
Raquelle shakes her head.
“When I stayed alone and began to get over that nightmare, I really started to get used to that and get ready for the worst,” Raquelle confesses. “I thought I wouldn’t get off Simon, and he would be chasing me until the last day of my life. And… I didn’t care about what would happen to me. Really. I felt so bad that I was ready to sacrifice my life. And end this hell once and forever. But now I got hope. The hope that everything will get much better.”
Raquelle sighs heavily.
“And now I do want to hope for a miracle that would help Grandpa get better and also bring everything back to the right places…” Raquelle says with sadness in her eyes. “But… Reflecting on the current situation soberly, I understand it’s worthless to have illusions and try to believe it’s gonna be okay… It will not get better. After what happened, it’s going to be hard for me to live my former life… Get it back… From now on, many things will never stay the same. Maybe… I will not be the girl I was before. I… Will become different… Who knows…”
After glancing at Terrence, Raquelle starts to think she is talking to herself because he does not probably listen to her and does not care about what she says. It makes the girl a little upset and inclines her head. However, she understands that this reaction could be caused by her behavior towards him.
“You’re silent…” Raquelle pronounces quietly. “You don’t wanna talk to me… Don’t listen to me… Okay… Don’t do it if you don’t want to. I don’t make you.”
Raquelle glances at her hands.
“And I know why…” Raquelle adds. “I understand why it looks like I’m talking to the wall. As if I’m opening my heart to the diary that would never answer me. Maybe… I should start writing something in it again… Write my thoughts down… When I did it, I got much better. So… It’s time to be back to it…”
Raquelle moves her sad eyes to Terrence again.
“You know, you say you don’t need thankfulness…” Raquelle says thoughtfully. “But I see you want to get it. But I didn’t say just a simple ‘thank you’ and began to behave like a thankless pig… So… If it hurts you so much, you can keep saying nothing. Anyway, forgive me for behaving like this… I’m really very sorry…”
Terrence gives no reaction to Raquelle’s words again, while she waits for just one word from him for a few seconds. When she understands she has nothing to say, the girl slowly turns her back on, steps a few steps back from the man, and inclines her head, a little later starting to walk in circles in the hall and embracing herself with her arms. It’s possible to see little tears in her eyes that roll down her cheeks. That she does not care about at all.
The man pretends that he does not have a wish to listen to anything Raquelle says for a few seconds. Terrence actually closely listens to every single word of hers and hears a true regret and a sense of guilt for what’s happening in her quiet, depressed voice. Something starts to jam inside him. Something that makes him feel sympathy for this person. For whom the man feels not only passion but also true love that began either to wake up after a long, deep sleep or to arise somewhere in the bottom of the heart. There is no wish to stay indifferent. There is a wish to do something to calm her down and let her know she is not alone and could count on him.
That’s why Terrence turns around at some moment and watches Raquelle for a few seconds, while she is walking in circles with wet eyes and embracing herself with her arms. Then he comes to her when she has her back turned on him, turns her on himself, and takes her in his strong hug without a word. The girl immediately realizes what’s going on, but she does not reject this hug and does not try to get out of it. Vice versa, she answers it with pleasure, presses herself closely to the man, and hugs him tightly with her arms.
At this moment, Raquelle feels an unexplained, incredible sense of easiness. She found what she had been seeking for a long time. What is so dear to her. What means so much to her. Being in Terrence’s strong but tender and close masculine arms, the girl feels much more protected and quieter than before and is afraid much less. She realizes she has finally found what she has needed so much for such a long time. A tight hug from a strong man. The man, who seems much closer to her than ever. In the strong arms of whom she is ready to spend her whole life. Raquelle realizes how it’s great to get the love and care of a close person, who means so much to her. Much more than she thought. She gets so easy and good that she unconsciously lets her emotions go out and starts crying quietly but hard on the man’s chest and shaking slightly from the excitement. From the fear that she is about to lose the chance to be next to the one that she did not appreciate. And at some moment, she realizes that she could feel so good only next to this man.
Terrence does not feel worse when finding himself in the hug of Raquelle and gets the warmth that nicely burns everything inside and makes the heart beat much faster. This is probably the first time when the man is enjoying the hug of this girl so much. It used to happen very rarely, and it was something like a gesture from good, familiar people or friends, but now it’s something much deeper and more special. Much more tender… More beautiful… Something that is wanted to feel for as long as possible. He likes this feeling so much that he does not want to let Raquelle go. Terrence wants to hold such a close person that he has been missing so much in his arms for as long as possible. The person, whom he did not probably know too well to feel a deep connection with. But who stayed in his heart anyway and made him pay attention to her. Terrence did not use to understand it, but now he realizes how much he is attracted to Raquelle. So much that he does not want to connect his life with any other girl except for her.
Maybe, a long separation helped me wake up these strong feelings and understand that they actually madly missed each other. None of them had ever gotten so much pleasure from just one hug before. They were never as close mentally as they are now. The connection is definitely getting stronger, even if it’s still fragile enough and would be broken if something went wrong. Terrence and Raquelle dream of making this moment longer and staying in the tender, hot, and such desired hug as long as possible. If they could, they would actually never let each other go. Both of them are starting to understand that they feel a mutual attraction and a tender love somewhere at the bottom of their hearts.
Terrence and Raquelle hug each other in absolute silence for a few seconds, just breathing heavily at times, making sobs, after which they bury their noses in each other’s shoulder or neck, and enjoying these minutes that they would like to live forever. The man keeps hugging the girl tightly, who is sobbing quietly and keeping her arms around his neck, and whose face is hidden in his chest, caressing his ex-girlfriend’s head and stroking her hair. But understanding that the silence cannot last forever, he decides to break the silence, saying quietly:
“It’s okay, I understand it. You shouldn't apologize.”
“I’m really very sorry…” Raquelle says in a shaking voice and sniffs quietly. “Don’t be mad at me, please…”
“I’m not mad, don’t worry…” Terrence caresses tenderly the back of Raquelle’s head, moves a couple of strands off her face, and just presses her head close to his chest. “Okay, calm down, please… Calm down…”
“I don’t know what you’re feeling, but I must confess that this is the best hug that I’ve ever had,” Raquelle says quietly and smiles truly and widely for the first time in a while. “Really… I suddenly got much better.”
Terrence steps back from Raquelle with reluctance and looks into the red, puffy eyes of the girl, in which he can see something like happiness, she has a shy smile on her face, and tears are rolling slowly down her cheeks.
“I must confess that I feel all the same,” Terrence confesses with a slight smile. “And maybe… This is the first time in a while when I really want to smile.”
“Me too…” Raquelle smiles much wider and carefully wipes off tears under her red eyes. “I… I got a feeling that I… I could get over anything. Even if it’s gonna be very hard.”
“If I felt something like this every day, I would have great motivation to live and dream of reaching something…” Terrence replies thoughtfully.
“I guess it’s what I need not to go crazy from worrying about what’s happened.”
Terrence says nothing and just smiles shyly, moving his eyes down for a moment.
“Maybe, let’s sit down?” Terrence suggests shyly.
Raquelle nods with a shy smile on her face, comes to the sofa, and sits on it. Terrence sits down next to her but moves much closer, leaving not much space between him and the girl. They say nothing for a few seconds as they feel embarrassed, but then Raquelle decides to break the silence, inclining her head slightly, folding her hands in front of her, and saying shyly:
“You know… I’m really guilty of everything that’s happened.”
“What?” Terrence frowns slightly.
“If not for me, everything would have been really better. Nothing from what happened would have become real.”
“No, Raquelle, you’re guilty of nothing.”
“You did say everybody was suffering because of me.”
“Yeah, I somehow said you were the reason for all the problems. But that’s actually not the truth.”
“Come on, don’t take your words back.”
“Raquelle…”
“I do know I made tons of mistakes and stupid things. If I had been a little smarter, nothing would’ve happened.” Raquelle sniffs quietly. “But I am an idiot. Just an idiot that ruined everything she had.”
“You’re not guilty of Simon wishing to take revenge on you,” Terrence notices quietly. “You’re not guilty of him going insane. Just because his dignity was hurt.”
“No, no, you’re right! All these problems happened to us because of me… Fights, threats, provocations…”
“Don’t take my words seriously. I was just really mad and didn’t watch my mouth.”
“Stop, Terrence, I’m not mad at the truth. You said everything right, and I can’t argue with you.”
“All the problems happened because of Simon. Sadly, we became his victims.”
“I didn’t want everything to happen.”
“That man has always been able to get what he wants from people. He can speak very well… He can talk to you so well that you wouldn’t notice that you’d betray any information he needs.”
“All this time, I asked myself why he chose me as a victim,” Raquelle sniffs quietly. “I did nothing bad to him, and I hadn’t known him before we met for the first time.”
“I didn’t also understand why he hated you so much and dreamed of destroying you.”
“Sometimes I thought the reason was not only about the fact that everyone began to shower him with mud after finding out the truth about me. About his words, which were a lie. Because… There must have been a reason why he began to humiliate me and persuaded his friend to spread the false rumors about me.”
“There’s no need to guess. Ringer told us the reasons why he did all of that. That cad revealed everything. With the pretense of many witnesses, who can confirm it and get the same confession out of him when he is questioned by the police.”
“Ah, yeah, reasons…” Raquelle sighs heavily and slowly leans back in the sofa. “I can't believe he was the one to blame for the car accident, in which my parents died… But getting them to die wasn’t enough for him. And he decided to take revenge on me for my mother leaving him somehow… First, he murdered them and then decided to do this to me.”
“Do you think he told you the truth?” Terrence frowns slightly, glancing aside. “Was he the one to blame for your parents’ death?”
“Simon admitted everything and told me why he provoked that car accident, and how he did that.”
“He really knew your mother?”
“That man lost his mind and was chasing my mother since they met. And when he had to go to Cambridge to take care of his stepfather, she met my father, got married to him, and got pregnant with me.”
“Cambridge?”
“He said he was born and grew up there.”
“Wow… I didn’t know he was an English man.”
“If he wasn’t the one, he would’ve hardly met my mother.”
“But how did he end up in London? Your mother and her family lived there!”
“He came to go to the college. And he saw my mother among the new students.”
“He had only a stepfather?”
“Yup. Simon took care of him for the whole year while my mother was getting ready for the wedding with my dad.”
“And he got wild when he learned it?”
“Exactly! When he was back, my mother was already married and expecting me. It made Ringer enraged. He began to behave like an obsessive man and chase both of them. Simon said he even thought of kidnapping me from my parents when I was a little girl.”
“Didn’t you remember him in childhood? Maybe, you met him before, but you forgot that?”
“No, I don’t remember meeting him. But he said he saw me many times when I was a child. He even said something about the scandal that my parents started when Ringer came to the stroller, in which I was lying, took me in his arms, shook and kissed…”
“Oh, gosh…” Terrence shakes his head. “So, that man had been chasing your family before you were born… He did it because of his crazy love for your mother…”
“Simon threatened them many times and told my father to leave my mother alone. He said he was ready to forgive her for cheating, accept her even with the child, and educate me as his own daughter. But she refused. Because she loved only Dad. She didn’t know how to get off Simon. The trip helped her become free and meet the one that she really liked.”
“But didn’t your parents go to the police and report that scumbag?”
“They did, but nothing changed from that. I mean, it killed them… When the policemen went to his home, he learned about the report to the police and saw the restraining order. Then he decided to kill them. But he got hope and decided to refuse to revenge when their neighbor told him my parents wanted to get divorced.”
“But as I understand, didn’t they get divorced?”
“Nope. As it turned out, they reconciled.”
“It’s weird that your grandfather and aunt knew nothing about it.”
“I’m surprised, too. But maybe, a little time was gone from their reconciliation to their death, and they didn’t manage to tell them they came back together.”
“I’m sorry your parents didn’t know they got caught in the trap earlier.”
“Yeah… Simon provoked the car accident by cutting off the brake line of my father's car. My parents didn’t notice it for a while, but when they understood they could die, it was too late…”
“Yeah, but why did the police not find out the reasons for the car accident and the death of the two? Why did you all think it was just an accidence?”
“I don’t know, Terrence…” Raquelle sighs quietly. “I can’t say anything. Simon probably had some familiar people, who did their best for the case to be quickly closed due to the lack of a crime, and my parents to be blamed for negligence. They were kind of irresponsible or even drank alcohol…”
“Yeah…”
“He said nothing about it but was pretending that he didn’t have to do with the police’s actions… But I can’t be sure it’s the truth.”
“Oh, damn…” Terrence runs his hands over his face with a slow exhale. “I can’t believe he was planning revenge on those people for all the years. I wouldn’t have thought he wanted to do his best to destroy you.”
“And I could not especially assume my mother could be connected with Simon somehow,” Raquelle replies quietly.
“I clearly remember that Simon told me about someone that he wanted to take revenge on. But I didn’t know who was guilty of something. Only when Ringer confessed that he spread the rumors, I understood you were the one.”
“When I met that man on that day, I didn’t think that man would hurt me somehow. I didn’t think the reason for all my problems would be him.”
“I’m sorry about letting him work as my personal driver for so many years. If I had known that man was by far not innocent, I would have never let him get so close to me.”
“At least, you had a choice. I could not get off him. Because I didn’t know Simon would love to ruin my life like that.”
“If your email hadn’t been public, that man wouldn’t have at least sent you those anonymous letters.”
“Somehow, Serena suggested that I create an email for talking to my fans. So, I thought it was a great idea. I thought it would be great to let people get closer to me.”
“Wasn’t having accounts on social networks enough?”
“I don’t know, I didn’t think about it. I just did what my managers told me. Well… They knew better what to do. They knew how to help me get famous and get the love of fans.”
“Anyway, the idea of the public email was not the best one.”
“I wanted to delete it after I began to receive letters from Simon. But I had so many things to do that I forgot it. And I was too lazy to sit down, turn my computer on, and do a few clicks to delete the email.”
“Simon used all the possible ways. He was definitely obsessed with the idea of destroying you. He went crazy!”
“Did you really know it?”
“I did. He always told me about someone he wanted to revenge on and swore someone would be defeated soon and pay for some things.”
“That’s how…”
“I’m sorry I didn’t pay attention to that. I didn’t decide to ask Simon more about who hurt him so much and why.” Terrence falls into silence for two seconds. “It’s hurt… Very hurt…”
“My gosh…” Raquelle shakes her head. “I didn’t even suspect anything all those years.”
Raquelle starts to look at some posters and pictures that are hanging opposite her.
“I couldn’t assume there was the one that would make my life worse and turn everything upside down…” Raquelle adds.
“Gosh, I can’t get it at all!” Terrence exclaims. “To kill two people for the hurt dignity! And as it turned out, he was chasing their child! Thought of kidnapping the one!”
“What would have happened to me if Ringer had really kidnapped me from my parents? Would I have lived until today?”
“Of course, I know many cases when people go insane from love for someone they are chasing. And I’ve had to get through that a couple of times. But to kill…”
“Me too… I was also chased… But nobody threatened to kill me. I usually prevented all the attempts to chase me quickly.”
“And I didn’t waste time and quickly went to the police for protection.”
“I dunno…” Raquelle sighs heavily. “I don’t know if I can accept the fact that my parents died because of that stinker, who almost brought me to another world.”
“Hey, didn’t any one of your close people know anything about Simon and his meetings with your mother?” Terrence wonders, moving his questioning look to Raquelle. “They should’ve done something and defended her from that scumbag!”
“Nope, I don’t think someone knew about Simon. I mean the fact that my mother dated him.” Raquelle inclines her head and tucks a strand of hair behind her ear. “Maybe, she actually told nobody about dating him.”
“Yeah, maybe,” Terrence nods. “Maybe, she thought that her parents wouldn’t like Simon and decided to date him secretly?”
“Most likely…”
“I wonder, why did she actually begin to date him? What did she like about him? He is ugly! A homeless beggar!”
“Hard question… Anyway, one beautiful day, she understood she stood in the way of the wrong man. Maybe, Mother saw he was terrible and began to be afraid of something bad. And she left him when she got a chance. When she met a good man, who was my father…”
“Did they meet thanks to Alicia?”
“Yeah, they went to the USA together, and my dad met them and showed Kingston where he lied. And my father was charmed by my mom. As well as she was charmed by him.”
“And I’m surprised he said nothing about Simon to your grandfather and your relatives on the mother. Your father did know that Ringer was chasing her.”
“Right. I’m sure if Grandpa Frederick, Aunt Alicia, or my late Grandpa Timothy and Grandma Tiffany on the mother had known it, they would’ve tried to save her from him somehow. But I never heard them talking about him. And Aunt and Grandpa didn’t react to Simon’s name when they heard it for the first time.”
“To be honest, knowing how easily Simon could get any information, I’m surprised he wasn’t chasing your relatives and asking them to ruin the marriage of your parents and make Mrs. Cameron sure to marry him.”
“I’m sure they would’ve pissed him off, reported him to the police, and protected Father and Mother from any terrible actions by him.”
“Were they happy when your parents decided to marry?”
“Very much. My family was happy that my parents chose each other. And they got terribly upset when they fought to the hell and decided to file for divorce.”
“I’m sorry they didn’t find out those people decided to stay together.”
“Very sorry.” Raquelle sighs heavily. “Who knows, maybe, my family would’ve helped them avoid marriage issues and saved them from Simon. I’m sure everything would've been otherwise if they had actually run away somewhere far from the USA or UK… Where Ringer could not find them…”
“I think it was one of the solutions… All threats from Simon about finding them at any place in the world would’ve been just words because he didn’t have such good familiars around the world. He has a few people in London and New York, but no more. And he would need money to travel the world, but he was a beggar.”
“My God, why did my mother stand in his way? Why did she agree to date him for some time? Why did she give up after Ringer was trying to run after her?”
“I guess he swore to make her life wonderful…” Terrence assumes thoughtfully. “Or he promised her myriad wealth…”
“Aha, how could that man have wealth?”
“He would’ve stolen it!”
“From whom?”
“Don’t you know what Simon had been doing before he got the job of my personal driver?”
“No. What was he doing?”
“I’ll try to tell you everything shortly.” Terrence clears his throat quickly. “Simon was deciding people and getting money out of them. He introduced himself to his victim as someone from the show business and offered fame and wealth. But he told his victims to pay money allegedly to agree with someone. When Ringer got their money, he ran away like a mean rat and left his victim with nothing.”
“Come on?” Raquelle wonders truly.
“Simon used that scheme for a long enough time and managed to steal very much money from naive people. Nobody could get him caught ‘cause he always introduced himself as different people and easily changed his look. I mean, nobody could say one the same person was getting money outta him.”
“That’s how…”
“And then Ringer decided to change and get another job as his scheme stopped working. People became smarter and pissed him off when he offered someone something like that.”
“I know. Simon told me everything.”
“He did?”
“Yup.”
“But if people hadn’t become smarter. Ringer would’ve kept doing what he was doing.”
“I can’t believe you believed his lie and decided to give him a job.”
“I was just sorry for him. Because I knew how much he needed money. I needed it somehow, as well. I was ready to play any role to get something.”
“I see…” Raquelle says nothing for two seconds and glances aside. “Wow… As it turned out, many people have suffered because of him… Not only my parents and me…”
“Very many people have reported Ringer in the past few years,” Terrence confesses. “Someone reported him a long time ago, but someone just found the courage to do it.”
“Okay.”
“Anyway, he wouldn’t deny it because all the clues prove his fault. The police managed to find out that one the same man was deceiving people.”
“I barely remember Simon mentioning that. But I didn’t memorize almost anything, and it fell on my deaf ears.”
“He decided to make a full confession?”
“Sort of.” Raquelle simpers quietly. “He told me about his crimes without shame. He wasn’t sorry for those naive people and my late parents.”
“Ha, he doesn’t know what ‘shame’ is!” Terrence throws gloomily. “That man thinks only of himself and about how to get much money. He refused to work for pennies and wanted to get much money at once… To live in a gorgeous house closer to the sea, surround himself with servants, drive a BMW Series 5 or Mercedes-Benz, buy everything he wants, and pretend to be an alleged lord…”
“I hope he won’t have houses near the sea or a Mercedes-Benz,” Raquelle expresses hope thoughtfully. “That jerkoff must pay for everything he has done.”
“He will, don’t worry. I cared about it and did my best for the case not to be closed and kept on the back burner. The police have this case under special control. They made me sure that they would be investigating everything he did very closely.”
“What would his sentence be?”
“A long sentence. The fraud, the double murder, threats, meddling in the personal life… He wouldn’t have enough time to serve his sentence.”
“It would be great…”
“Don’t worry, Ringer will not avoid the sentence that’s waiting for him.”
“So, now I understand why I know what the fraud meant…” Raquelle says thoughtfully, glancing aside. “When I talked to him after everything was over.”
“Who were you talking to?” Terrence frowns slightly.
“Hunter. Before he was gonna leave, we talked. And Lynwood told me everything. But I didn’t hear all the details from him.”
“The police were trying to catch him for a long time, but he was a difficult-to-catch man,” Terrence confesses, looking down. “He was doing his best to confuse them and not to let them do it.”
“But now he is in their hands, and the judgment will announce his sentence. And I really hope he’ll be in jail for a long time for the bad things he did.”
“He will be in jail one hundred percent! Now, Mr. Ringer will not run away, and the police will be watching him closely.”
“I wish…”
Raquelle moves her eyes to her hands and thinks for a few seconds while silence settles in the air. And then the girl looks at Terrence looking into the distance with sadness in her eyes.
“Hey, how did you get the number of Hunter?” Raquelle asks a little hesitantly. “I didn’t give it to anyone, and you never asked me about him and asked me to give his contacts.”
“Well…” Terrence pronounces thoughtfully with a slight smile. “Maybe, you’ve got his number on your mobile phone… But you definitely wrote it down in the notebook.”
“The notebook?” Raquelle frowns slightly.
“I found it in our room.”
“That’s how!”
“I was sitting in it and sorting some things out. And later, I stopped my eyes on that notebook. So, I decided to check it. And at some moment, I found the name of Hunter Lynwood on one of the pages. I saw two numbers: his work number and his personal number.”
“How did you get it was him?”
“I heard the name of that policeman from you. So, it wasn’t hard for me to understand who Hunter was.”
“Wow…” Raquelle shakes her head, still looking into the distance.
“Didn’t you talk to him after he promised to help you?”
“Honestly, I forgot about Lynwood after I talked to him the last time. I didn't even try to contact him and find out why he disappeared. But I thought he decided to give a damn about his promise.”
“I managed to call him on the work number,” Terrence says quietly. “I explained the situation and asked him for help. And he agreed and suggested that we talk because he was already in New York. We met at a quiet place, and I told him everything I knew at that moment. And later, I brought him to James, my familiar policeman, who decided to investigate the case of Simon.”
“I’m glad he didn’t refuse to help and did his best to catch Ringer.”
“I did everything I could.”
“And that’s good the police came there in time. Because… If they hadn’t come there and played time, I’m even afraid to imagine what could happen. Their help helped me stay alive…”
First, Terrence looks at Raquelle silently with sadness in his eyes, but then he shakes his head with a slight smile.
“You know, don’t get mad at me for what I’m going to say now,” Terrence says thoughtfully. “But you’re really crazy!”
“Me?” Raquelle rounds her eyes and moves her surprised look to Terrence. “Can I ask you why you think so?”
“Because only a crazy girl would’ve thought of going to the meeting with such a dangerous man like Simon Ringer alone,” Terrence laughs shyly. “Without support and protection.”
“Try to understand me, Terrence, I couldn’t risk so much,” Raquelle replies quietly. “Simon could’ve done something to one of my close people. But I didn’t want it.”
“You did know it was a trap.”
“Yeah, but I was ready to sacrifice myself to protect my close people. I agreed to do anything Simon wanted, and he knew all my weaknesses very well.”
“It would’ve meant nothing.”
“I know…” Raquelle inclines her head and sighs quietly. “But Grandpa got sick without his tricks… I am the one to blame for that… I brought him… I made him worry about me…”
Raquelle inclines her head much more and sniffs quietly, being obsessed with a sense of fault for Frederick. Terrence hesitantly puts his hand on the girl’s shoulder and says softly:
“Mr. Cameron is going to be fine. He is a strong man and knows he should live for you.”
“I’m the one to blame for everything…” Raquelle says in a little shaking voice, shaking her head. “I brought him to such a terrible condition.”
Raquelle closes her face with both hands.
“Don’t blame yourself, Raquelle,” Terrence says quietly. “You’re guilty of nothing.”
“My gosh, if I’d known I’d had to get through so many horrible things, I would’ve preferred dying from a bullet or a falling from the roof. Not to get over the hell I ended up in.”
“No, no, don’t say it!” Terrence rounds his eyes full of horror. “Don’t even dare to think about it!”
“Probably, everybody wanted it… To learn about my death. I should’ve paid because I was guilty of everything.”
“What? No! No, it’s not the truth!”
“Stop, Terrence, I understand it. I understand why everybody turned their backs on me and began to blame me for what happened.”
“Simon washed the brains of all of us. He can do this very well. And we succumbed to him and blamed you for everything. We thought you had mental issues.”
“It’s so hurt…” Raquelle sniffs quietly. “Nobody thought Simon did all of that. Because of him, everybody I loved turned their backs on me. Everybody was afraid to be with me, thinking I was allegedly sick and psycho. But that’s not the truth.”
“Yes, everybody really, blindly believed that stinker. But now they woke up and realized they did a very bad thing to you.”
“And everybody wishes me death. They want me to die. They want Simon to destroy me.”
“Raquelle, stop saying stupid things!” Terrence demands harshly. “Nobody has ever wished you to die!”
“I stayed all alone…” Raquelle sobs quietly. “Nobody needs me… And along with my close people, I lost meaning of living and a wish to reach something.”
“No, don’t say that.”
“I’m sick… I’m sick of all of this… I wanna piss everything off and stop doing something and trying to fix just some mistakes of mine.”
“No…”
“I have no strength to fight. I can’t take this anymore… It’s impossible…”
Raquelle makes a couple of quiet sobs and closes her face with both hands, doubling over. Terrence shakes his head, getting more horrified by the words of the girl, who is so broken and devastated that she is seriously thinking of what her close people, including him, are afraid of as much as fire.
“No, Raquelle, don’t even dare to give up!” Terrence insists confidently. “No! Come on!”
“I can’t take this anymore,” Raquelle pronounces in a very shaking voice. “I can’t…”
“Don’t dare even to think about it, hear me!” Terrence softly takes Raquelle’s hands while she sniffs and looks down. “How do you actually dare to think about it? Did you think of what would happen to your close people if they heard something like that?”
“Who cares about me?” Raquelle moans quietly. “I have nobody, who would listen to me and support me… Nobody!”
“It’s not the truth, you’re not alone.”
“I pushed myself off me. And I’m guilty of the fact that everybody turned their backs on me.”
“Nobody turned their backs on you and gave a damn about your problems. Everybody still loves you and wishes you all the best.”
“Don’t calm me down. Please.”
“I don’t calm you down, I tell you the truth. You’ve always had the people that care about you, despite nothing.”
“No…” Raquelle shakes her head. “Everybody turned their backs on me.”
“Listen, you just don’t understand what you say because you’re very tired and exhausted morally.”
“I understand it. I understand I lost all my close people because of me.”
“I’m sure everything’s gonna get better when you come to yourself and have some rest.”
“No, Terrence, I won’t…” Raquelle sniffs quietly. “I felt that I began to lose an interest in life and fall into depression before this story started.”
“You say it because you’re exhausted.”
“Nope…”
“My gosh, what happened to you that you gave up like this?” Terrence wonders with horror in his eyes. “Why are you literally bringing yourself to a grave?”
“Because I don’t know why I need to keep living,” Raquelle replies in a very shaking voice and sniffs quietly. “I don’t have a wish to do…”
“Please, Raquelle, don’t say that.” Terrence shakes Raquelle by the shoulders slightly, trying to wake and shake her up, while she looks down with her wet eyes. “You have always been a strong girl! Always shown stubbornness and reached for your goal, despite nothing. You’ve done great work. Thanks to that, you’ve become the all-favorite girl and the idol of millions of people around the world.”
“Through tears and pain. Nobody knows how many efforts I made.”
“But you did it! You managed to get over it when it was so hard.”
“It was easier. But now it’s much harder.”
“Oh, gosh…” Terrence shakes his head with a quiet sigh. “What happened to the girl I met somehow? The one, who was confident and knew what she wanted to get. Where is she?”
“Stayed in the past,” Raquelle pronounces in a much lower voice.
“You’re not like the girl that I knew. Now someone different is sitting next to me… Not the proud, confident cutie that has always been able to show herself.”
“Yeah, she’s changed.”
“But I want to see the former you. The Raquelle that I met for the first time. The one I dated for a few months… Please, get her back. Bring back the confident girl, who wasn’t afraid of difficulties.”
“The former Raquelle no longer exists,” Raquelle shakes her head. “She’s changed after everything that happened to her.”
“Yes, I know it’s hard. But please, don’t let anything break you down. Even if something terrible happens to you.”
“Oh, MacClife…” Raquelle sighs tiredly. “If you had to live my life from birth to the present, I don’t think you would be as confident as you are now.”
“Do you think my life has always been perfect?” Terrence wonders. “No, my sweetheart, it’s not the truth. My childhood was hard enough. I lived very cheaply and wasn’t able to buy much of what I dreamed about. There were many moments when I thought my life was over. Just like I thought so after the act of beating that I told you somehow. Difficulties made me much more sure that I shouldn't have given up. Thanks to that, I fear almost nothing and am ready for anything.”
“Your difficulties are nothing, unlike mine,” Raquelle sighs heavily. “You don’t know what it means to be unloved by people. What a person feels when nobody wants to speak to them. When everyone ignores them just because they don’t have money to buy good things and have to wear what neighbors give.”
“What were you unloved by people?”
“I know it’s weird for you to hear it, knowing everyone loves me now. But everything was otherwise. I was all alone for a long time and ran into bullying from my schoolmates, who didn’t like me and didn’t aim to befriend me. It happened until middle school, until I befriended Natalia. She became the only one, who wanted to talk to me.” Raquelle sighs with a greater sadness in her eyes. “A little later, I met Anna. She’s two years younger than me and wasn’t a part of the tricks my schoolmates did. These two girls were the only ones, with whom I could spend time. They made me believe I wasn’t alone. Not as ugly as I was told. Not so terrible. Not so boring.”
“Wait, wait, didn’t your schoolmate like you?” Terrence wonders truly.
“Imagine.”
“But… You’ve never told me that. And I can't remember you talking about it in your interviews.”
“I didn’t talk to anyone about it because I don’t like calling the memories of school,” Raquelle confesses quietly. “It was very hurtful to remember everything I had to take. Thank God, they never beat me, but I had to tolerate moral pressing. Insults, humiliations, mockeries… That hell happened every single day.”
“Wow…” Terrence shakes his head. “What a twist!”
“Besides, you never asked me about it. You didn’t actually want to know something about me, my life, or everything about me. If I had told you my story earlier, it wouldn’t have made you interested. Remember the moment when I told you I wanted to become a writer. You didn’t react to it and asked me something just to support our talk.”
“Yeah…” Terrence pronounces guiltily, looking at his hands. “I confess that I wasn’t really interested in that… But now I understand it was wrong. Too wrong. The indifference became the reason why we didn’t find out anything about each other for a few months.”
“That’s right… We were like strangers all the time… And we knew nothing about each other.”
“I agree…”
Silence settles in the air for two seconds.
“But why did your schoolmates dislike you?” Terrence asks hesitantly. “I don’t think you did something bad to them to make everybody hate you.”
“No, I did nothing bad to anyone,” Raquelle replies quietly. “Actually, I wasn’t lucky to study with the guys from the beginning… Nobody loved me. I became an outlaw on the first day. Because of poverty. They always laughed at me because I wore, as they said, what their grandmothers would have never put on. But what could I do if my grandfather wasn’t able to please me and wasn’t earning enough to buy something else except food? Explaining it was worthless. They humiliated me much more.”
“It happens, sadly. Your case is not unique.”
“Moreover, I was hated because teachers loved me very much, and studying was much easier for me than speaking to my schoolmates. I was even one of the best students in my school and sometimes participated in school events. I was active enough. But a bigger part of my responsibilities involved writing articles, letters, or short stories. Since I was always very literate and loved the literature, they asked me to do something like that.”
“That’s how…”
“All the teachers were proud of my success, but the guys criticized everything I did. And they always wished me all the worst. They laughed at any of my achievements and didn’t calm down even after teachers swore at them and said I did everything wonderful.”
“And you what?”
“I tried not to pay attention to them. I did what Grandfather Frederick told me. He said I shouldn’t have started a conflict with them. And I did it. I was sure it was fine. They would get sick of it and stop bullying me. But no. It didn’t stop. Vice versa, everything was getting much worse.”
“Didn’t your teachers try to help you and calm the guys down?”
“Yeah, they did…” Raquelle sighs heavily. “All the teachers were aware of my problem and tried to help me somehow. But asking them for help did much worse things for me. And at some moment, I stopped saying something to someone. I was taking it all silently. And I kept asking myself why the guys hated me so much.”
“Oh, damn…” Terrence shakes his head.
“And when Natalia and I became friends, everything got much worse.” Raquelle falls into silence for two seconds and pumps a lot of air into her lungs. “She was suffering as much as I was. She was a friend of them, but when she got closer to me, she became an enemy of them. But it was easier for us to ignore them together than alone. We always stood by each other and continued to communicate, despite nothing.”
Raquelle swallows up nervously.
“But by the end of Class 8, I decided it couldn’t be happening anymore,” Raquelle says thoughtfully. “I began to beg my grandfather, my teachers, and the head teacher to let me study at home. And, luckily, they gave up on me. And someone said they wanted to suggest I do that a long time ago.”
“Hey, was your grandfather aware of the situation?” Terrence specifies.
“Yes, he was aware of my situation, but he couldn’t help me anyhow.”
“What about going to another school?”
“Going to another school wasn’t a solution. There was only one school that was near me in the city where I was born. One more school was located on the other end of the city – a trip would’ve taken about one and a half hours… I always got up badly in the early mornings. But I was late only several times.”
“And Natalia?”
“A little later, Natalia also began to study at home. She didn't want to study with them anymore. And her parents agreed and did everything they needed.” Raquelle falls into silence for two seconds and sniffs quietly. “We studied at home until graduation from school. And I think it was the best time because I didn’t go to school and didn’t meet my schoolmates. When I got great scores for all the final exams, I went to the university.”
“Weren’t you loved there, too?”
“No, vice versa. For the one year that I studied at the university, I had no problems communicating, and everybody respected me. Or I just became more beautiful as long as I grew up. Boys never paid attention to me at school, but someone always tried to get to know me at the university.”
“You were lucky, at least in this way.”
“So…” Raquelle shrugs. “Here’s the story… You know everything now.”
After listening to the story from start to end, Terrence shakes his head and looks at Raquelle with sadness in his eyes, while she looks down and sighs quietly.
“Wow…” Terrence pronounces thoughtfully. “I didn’t know you had to run into something like that…”
“So, think better now,” Raquelle replies quietly.
“Wow… They made you a victim because of that…”
“I guess they decided that I was the ugliest one at the school and too smart. So, they began to bully me.”
“It’s terrible…” Terrence caresses Raquelle’s shoulder to comfort her a little. “I’m very sorry about what you had to get through.”
“Oh…” Raquelle shakes her head with tears coming to her eyes and sniffs quietly. “When I think of that hell, I wanna cry.”
“I understand it.” Terrence softly embraces Raquelle, presses her to himself, and tenderly caresses her head. “I know how bad you felt.”
“Damn, when I think Natalia was also a victim, I get much worse,” Raquelle confesses in a little shaking voice. “But I feel much worse because of a sense of guilt. I’m so ashamed of her.” Raquelle sniffs quietly. “I’m ashamed ‘cause she was humiliated after becoming a friend of mine. Natalia didn’t deserve to be one more outsider. I was the only one. So, I should’ve been the only one to bully.”
“I think she saw and understood that they were bullying you for nothing and stood by your side with no fear,” Terrence assumes. “There was a limit they overreached. So, Natalia decided it was time to stop supporting those people.”
“She didn’t support them. She was never a part of the bullying towards me. I remember she was always standing aside and saying nothing while the others were pulling me by the hair, insulting me, humiliating me, trying to steal my stuff, and tearing my books or backpack. She was just afraid to get them mad at her, and she was so distant. She didn’t support them, but she didn’t support me.”
“But then she gave a damn about them and became your friend.”
“Yup.”
“You both did a good thing by deciding to study at home. Studying at that place would’ve been unbearable.”
“I agree.”
“But I don’t understand how you could study well, understand something, and agree to participate in some events. All those mockeries were supposed to get you confused and turn you into a homely girl, who wanted to be as quiet and invisible as a mouse.”
“But they didn’t do…” Raquelle cracks a smile and steps back from Terrence a little. “I would say it was the only way to get distracted and forget about being bullied.”
“Were you active at your wish? Or did someone make you do that?”
“I participated only in those events that seemed interesting to me. And those, who would’ve shown the best of me. However, I wasn’t the only one to be active… Many people often showed a wish. Even Natalia could participate in something with pleasure.”
“Yeah, some school events were very interesting… At least for me…”
Raquelle silently cracks a smile again, moves her sad look aside, and sighs heavily.
“I’m so sorry that I ruined our long-time friendship with the charges that Simon made me believe,” Raquelle confesses with tears in her eyes. “I’m absolutely sure Natalia is guilty of nothing for me. I mean, she is not guilty. And Ringer confirmed it three hours ago. He confessed that he slandered the poor girl on purpose to get me to fight with her.”
“Listen, I understand you were in such despair that you were ready to believe anyone,” Terrence replies thoughtfully. “But why did you succumb to his provocation and believe your friend could betray and take revenge allegedly for what’s never happened?”
“I don’t know, Terrence… I was an idiot… And it hurt that everybody left me at such a hard moment. Everybody suddenly stopped speaking to me.”
“I understand, but you knew that Natalia couldn’t do that. She’s too kind and loyal to betray someone.”
“I know, and I’m madly ashamed of her for all the insults I told her. And I attacked her with fists…” Raquelle sniffs quietly. “My gosh, what an idiot I was… Simon was right when he said I was a sick, hysterical lady… I got nuts and really looked like a psycho bitch…”
“You hurt her very much by what you did… You made her think the words of that bastard Ringer were absolutely true.”
“She’s still mad at me?” Raquelle looks at Terrence with sadness in her eyes.
“Oh, yeah! So much that she still wants to know nothing about you. At least, when we talked the last time.”
“I got it.” Raquelle moves her much sadder eyes aside and sighs heavily. “But I’d like to talk to her so much and apologize for everything she had to take from me.”
“Nevertheless, she’s worried because of what happened between you,” Terrence replies quietly. “Natalia didn’t leave home in the first few days and was crying her eyes out for hours. Of course, her father and friends were by her side and supported her, but I think she hasn’t calmed down yet.”
“I get it…” Raquelle slowly moves her eyes down. “I need her support so badly. Natalia has always known how to support me. To find good words that would impact me well.”
“Maybe, she’s already gotten colder,” Terrence assumes. “It’s been a long time. So, she could agree to meet and talk to you.”
“You said she wanted to hear nothing about me.”
“Many things could be changed now. She would get cold early or late.”
“But I understand her well. Because I wouldn’t forget something like that so easily.” Raquelle quickly wipes off the tears under her eyes. “But damn… I’m madly ashamed of her for my disgusting behavior.”
“Anyway, you will not avoid a talk if you two want to establish your relationship,” Terrence recalls.
“I know, Terrence, but I’m afraid I’d never get the courage to go to her home and apologize…”
“But why? Why don’t you want to go to her home and just talk about what happened to you? I don’t say that you and she will make up immediately and start to say you’re best friends forever. But you two could just talk to each other!”
“I’d be ashamed of looking into her eyes after what I said and did. If you’d seen what I wanted to do to her, you would’ve hardly approved it… And you would’ve made sure of my madness and refused to stay by my side and help me get off Simon.”
“No, Raquelle, I don’t believe it now.”
“He said it so often that I believed it at some moment. I really believed I had mental issues.”
“Believe me, on that meeting, I didn’t tell him very much about what I think of him. If the police hadn’t been there, I would’ve definitely lynched him and destroyed him at all…”
“First, I wanted to do that but then thought nothing would change… I wouldn’t get back my parents and the trust of my close people… So… What’s the tip of being mad and revenging?”
“I know, but you know how much I wanted to beat the face of that bastard, who must pay for everything he has done.”
“Maybe, I still madly hate that scumbag and want him to pay for everything, but I wouldn’t get better.”
Raquelle sighs heavily with tears in her eyes.
“I lost everybody, who was close to me,” Raquelle adds in a much more shaking voice and sniffs quietly. “Just because Simon turned all of you against me…”
“No, Raquelle, don’t dare to say it,” Terrence protests confidently. “Even if Simon managed to turn those you love against you, it didn’t mean everybody’s mad at you. For example, Anna has no reason to be mad at you. You didn’t fight with her and did nothing bad. Did your relatives turn their backs on you? Your fans? Your colleagues and celebrity friends?”
“Ah, fans, celebrities…” Raquelle exhales quietly. “It all doesn’t make sense… The most terrible thing is to lose those you love… Those, who mean very much to you…”
“I can’t deny… But believe me, you are not alone. You never will… You’re surrounded by very many people, who love you and wish you the best.”
“I know, but everybody showed up at the last moment. There was nobody in the beginning.”
“The important thing is that they showed up. You’ve had your grandfather by your side as well as your aunt, who came here from London just to…”
Then Terrence sharply falls into silence and understands he said too much. But Raquelle instantly reacts to the man’s words, rounding her eyes, opening her mouth, and looking at him surprisingly.
“Wait, wait, what?” Raquelle wonders. “How did you know my aunt came here and has lived with me and my grandfather for the past few days?”
“Erm…” Terrence wants to say, stuttering and biting his lip slightly. “Pardon, what?”
“Wait…” Raquelle frowns slightly. “Was she the one to tell you that I was gonna go to the meeting with Simon?”
“Well…”
“Is that why you quietly reacted when I told you that? You knew everything!”
“Erm…”
“That’s why you said something about my relatives when we were at the roof.”
“Erm, well…”
“Terrence!” Raquelle pronounces gloomily, crossing her arms over her chest and staring at Terrence.
“Oh!” Terrence exhales slowly with the thought that there is no need to deny anything. “Yes, you caught me. She told me everything… About the meeting, about the heart attack and everything, everything…”
“Okay…” Raquelle nods. “But how did you find out she arrived in New York? Did Aunt tell you that?”
“No, no, I didn't know she would love to come. Alicia visited me at my home the next day after you and I fought at the club.”
“That’s how!”
“When I was back home, I saw her talking about something with Blair. Who, as it turned out, told your aunt everything that happened here. And I was really surprised because I didn’t expect to see her at my house and actually in New York.”
“So, what did she say?”
“She looked at me as if I was an enemy. She shouted at me. She was very cold to me. But Alicia got a little softer when I confirmed everything Blair said and told her some things.”
“Did you tell everything from the beginning: fighting, raising a hand on me, cheating, and something like that?”
“Yup, I wanted to be quite honest with her. But Mr. Cameron doesn’t know the real reason for our scandal. I mean raising a hand… Alicia also says nothing to him, ‘cause she doesn’t want to hurt him and is afraid he’d defeat me if he knew it.”
“And you two are doing it right…” Raquelle replies thoughtfully. “I don’t want him to know it… Grandpa always asks us about it, but my aunt and I are silent and find any reason to excuse my wish to break up with you.”
“He was so mad when I met him and Alicia at a café to find out everything about you and Simon and asked them to do something for me to help you. I thought Mr. Cameron would’ve easily killed me right there… But, luckily, Alicia held him down. And he didn’t start a scandal before people’s eyes.”
“And did you also tell them about me allegedly dating Hunter secretly from you? Tell them why you actually got nuts and started that scandal!”
“Oh, Raquelle…” Terrence moans tiredly, running his hands over his face. “Please, let’s not talk about it… I already realized it wasn’t true and understood that I did a disgusting thing to you.”
“Yeah, but you didn’t think about it earlier. And you weren’t even pleased to explain the reasons.”
“I know, Raquelle, I know I did the unforgivable thing…” Terrence shakes his head.
“Maybe, I would’ve understood you if you’d had enough brains to tell everything me everything on that day. And I would’ve made you sure I never saw anyone.”
“I would not have done. I was too obsessed with anger caused by the news about you allegedly having an affair with the policeman Lynwood.”
“I thought you got so mad because I asked you about your father.”
“Nope…” Terrence sighs heavily and closes his face with both hands for two seconds, getting less confident and doubling over slightly. “It actually happened not because of my father or your question about him. The reason is different.”
“Let me think…” Raquelle frowns slightly and thinks for two seconds. “Before I came to you and asked that question, had you talked not only to your mother?”
“Yup,” Terrence nods. “When we read the letter that Natalia got from Simon’s accomplice, and she went to her home, I went to my room, and you began just to walk in the whole house and think of something. I was reflecting on what we could do for some time. But then someone called my phone. Not looking at the screen, I answered the call. And as it turned out, it was a call from Simon.”
Terrence, locking the fingers of his hands tightly with sadness in his eyes, tells Raquelle what actually happened on the fateful day when they began to think of a wish to break up more and more.
***
A few weeks ago.
Terrence is nervously walking into his room, trying to think up a way to stop Simon and not to let him do what he planned. They cannot waste time. There must be a way to do something. Or everything may get worse. The letter, which was sent by that man some time ago, said Ringer was not going to give up and wanted to bring his revenge for nobody knows what to an end. A threat is threatening Raquelle and Raquelle and people from their circle that might suffer because of that man… But the man can think up nothing, no matter how hard he tries.
“Bloody hell, Simon decided to threaten Raquelle and me as well as our friends and relatives,” Terrence thinks, looking through the window and moving his hand nervously. “That bastard can’t calm down and stop revenging for what nobody has done. Or did he go insane after the story of the rumors that he decided to blame me for?”
Terrence shakes his head sharply.
“No, no, he can’t stay unpunished after that,” Terrence thinks. “We must do something. We can’t sit with our hands folded and wait for that freak to kill someone.”
Terrence sighs quietly and runs his hand through his hair.
“But I can’t even imagine what we could do…” Terrence thinks. “Even the police wouldn’t help us. Yes, James promised to think about this situation and find a way to catch Ringer… But I’m not quite sure if they would catch that bastard so easily because he’s hiding nobody the hell knows where… They’d have to search the whole city to find out where that asshole hid…
Terrence puts his hand on his forehead and runs it over his face.
“Oh, fuck…” Terrence moans silently. “One more trouble… I do have to stand the indifference of Raquelle, who definitely gives a fuck about me, and have to deal with that bastard. I don’t need that at all! I wanna work on my career, but I have to protect that girl from that bastard, who might come up with anything.”
While Terrence keeps thinking about the current situation, someone suddenly calls on his mobile phone. Although the man does not want to talk to anyone, he decides to answer, taking his smartphone to accept the call, not looking at the screen to find out who needs him so badly.
“Hello,” Terrence pronounces without emotions.
“Hello, MacCli-i-life!” a masculine, happy voice exclaims. “How are you doing in a relationship, my hysterical boy? I hope you regretted that and began to dream of breaking up with the gal, who you didn’t get happy with?”
“Simon?” Terrence frowns slightly, immediately recognizing this disgusting voice that belongs to Simon.
“No other!”
“So, you did show up, bastard!” Terrence clenches his hand tightly into a fist. “We heard nothing about you for a few months, but now you showed up. And you decided to do dirty things and ruin the lives of innocent people again!”
“M-m-m, you are still the same rude, ill-mannered lout,” Simon laughs quietly. “Your mommy did not teach her beloved sonny to respect and be nice. As long as I remember, you have always acted like a prince of blue blood and thought everybody owes you…”
Simon smirks evilly.
“Even your girlfriend did not make you tender,” Simon adds. “And she hardly aims to make you better. Because she cares only about her career and gives a fuck about you.”
“And you will explain everything about her now!” Terrence throws rudely.
“M-m-m, yeah…”
“What do you need from my girlfriend?”
“Very much. My game is not over yet. Humiliating her like that was not enough for me. And I am going to defeat that girl.”
“I already know you caught her in a quiet place and attacked her. Raquelle told me everything. So, Ringer, don’t even dare to deny it.”
“I am not going.” Simon smiles slyly. “I really met that gal somewhere on the street, and I let her know she would be destroyed this time and would not hide from me this time.”
“Why?” Terrence wonders loudly. “Why are you doing all of this?”
“Yeah…” Simon chuckles quietly. “People always say a woman usually shines with her beloved man by her side and dreams of getting married and feeling like a princess all her life. But the all-favorite, irresistible and eligible man did not make Cameron happy. The girl got too exhausted… She looks like a housewife, who got sick of her home life.”
Simon says nothing for a second.
“What are you doing to her, Terrence?” Simon wonders. “Why doesn’t your woman shine from happiness? Why does the relationship definitely weigh on her?”
“Do not avoid the answer, scumbag,” Terrence says coldly. “I am asking you again, what do you need from my girlfriend?”
“I already said my revenge had not come true yet. And Raquelle will pay for everything she has done to me.”
“Was what you did to her not enough for you? Do you want to revenge for the scandal that YOU started, not HER?”
“There is very much that I will never forgive her for. NEVER!”
“Somehow you already ruined her life and made her run away from here! Do you want to do that again?”
“Oh, yeah, I want to take revenge! Revenge cruelly!”
“Leave her alone, Simon! Or I swear I will turn you to dust.”
“Oh, no! I shall not leave her alone. I swear she will never forget all the horrible tortures she is going to get through. Just like those, who surround her.”
“Listen, maybe, you go to a mental hospital and get therapy?” Terrence knocks at his temple. “You did go insane from everything about Raquelle! That girl hadn’t known you before she met you. You’re too obsessed with your revenge.”
“Don’t worry, Terrence, when the time comes, you will know why every one of you must pay me for everything,” Simon promises with a sly smile. “I can say more, my game has already begun.”
“Leave that girl at your wish, Ringer. What you did the last time was enough.”
“Since this minute, your quiet life is over. Maybe, I will actually deprive you of it soon. I don’t know… I haven't decided if I want to kill someone from Cameron’s circle. But if I decide to do this, you will not avoid your death.”
“Remember, nasty bastard,” Terrence growls quietly, clenching a free hand into a fist. “If I know you hurt Raquelle again and attack her with fists or do something much worse to you, you will have to pay a great cost for that. You hear me? I WILL BURY YOU IN THE GROUND ALIVE!”
“Calm down, Terrence, calm down, do not be so aggressive,” Simon says quietly. “I understand you really love beating everyone’s faces and screaming like crazy, your character has always been terrible, and you’ve never been able to control it. But I don’t think you’d love to be by the side of Raquelle after what I am going to tell you.”
“What?”
“M-m-m, you’re going to be very interested to know why your girlfriend treats you so coldly and feels terrible in a relationship with you.”
“Are you out of your mind?” Terrence wonders loudly, putting his finger against his temple. “What are you the fuck going to do to Raquelle? Do you want to bring her to despair and destroy her at all?”
“Very much!”
“You must get therapy, bastard! You are sick! SICK!”
“No, dear, you must get therapy,” Simon protests confidently with a sly smile. “Or you might easily kill someone.”
“Close your fucking mouth!”
“Aw, my poor boy! You lost your humanity after you got famous around the world.” Simon smirks evilly. “If the entire world knew your real character, I would see how many people would love to stay by your side.”
“I did not lose humanity, you do make me mortally irritated!” Terrence throws rudely. “No other stinker made me as wild as you do.”
“M-m-m, do you still deny you have just a disgusting character and wishes like a prince from an aristocratic family?”
“Don’t make me a monster!”
“I’m telling you the truth. But it’s so strange you became like this. Did you forget that you lived in poverty with your mommy before you got an offer to play your first role ever? You are actually supposed to appreciate what you have gotten, but you did not… Fame defeated you and turned you into a bitter bastard. But I thought life taught you to appreciate what you had.”
“I do not care about what you want to say and think about me,” Terrence replies confidently. “I demand only one thing, Ringer. So, you leave Raquelle alone. And I swear you will regret it if you keep mocking the innocent girl.”
“Oh, do not worry, my dear, I will turn only Raquelle’s life to hell as well as yours,” Simon promises confidently with a sly smile.
“Seriously?” Terrence smirks evilly. “Why would you take revenge on me for?”
“I did not forget how you left me to follow the tracks of your beloved girl, passion for who you were obsessed with! I remember you getting me fired with no shame!”
“And I still remember the day I read the article in a magazine that told about what Raquelle did not do and would not have done. I remember how horrified I was! And I was sure she would believe I was the one to do that.”
“You know, I’m still regretting telling you that I had to do with that case. I should’ve kept my mouth shut, but I was so happy about what was happening that I couldn’t hold myself down. Everything was happening as I wanted. Everyone hated and humiliated that girl, and she was sure you decided to take revenge on her for daring to reject you.”
“Yeah, I wouldn’t have found out what a cad had to do with all of that.”
“It could’ve lasted for a very long time. I could’ve enjoyed that show forever and added much more fuel to the fire. But my plans were ruined because of Raquelle’s friends. They did their best to get her good name back, getting the proof of the fact that the girl did not do what I blamed her for.”
“And we are grateful to that photographer, Raquelle’s close friend, and his friend. Who, by the way, hears your talk with Kendrick and recorded it.”
“If not for them, everything would've been fine! Cameron would’ve had to quit her modeling career and get out of here to the fuck to run away from shame.”
“You must get therapy. You’re really sick!”
“If I knew who that girl, who helped Cameron’s pal to prove to everyone that she was slandered, I would turn her life to hell. That pathetic photograph and she would regret deciding to do that!”
“I hope you will have the brains not to hurt those people? Or did you get nuts and decide to destroy all the people, who had to do with Raquelle?”
“Anything might happen, MacClife,” Simon smiles mysteriously. “Anything… But I shall think about it later. Because now my main goal is to destroy your girlfriend, get her exhausted and make her suffer and cry with the thought that her life is just terrible.”
“I have warned you, Ringer: if you dare to hurt her, you will be dead! I swear I would get you out of the ground and make you get through all the tortures that she would have to do! YOU GOT IT, ASSHOLE?”
“Oh, oh, ladies and gentlemen, look at Terrence MacClife!” Simon exclaims loudly with irony. “Look at the man, who is ready to do everything for the love of the girl named Raquelle Cameron! I mean, the passion that he is obsessed with.”
Simon sighs sarcastically.
“Ah, how it’s romantic!” Simon exclaims. “Pooh! I cannot stand all these snooty love stories that you and Raquelle have had… But it’s impossible to call it love because you do not have it. You are together just because every one of you feels a very strong sexual affection.”
“What are you talking about?” Terrence smirks evilly.
“But something tells me you have not had sex for a long time. Both of you have been busy with your career… Raquelle walks on runways and shoots for magazines for some men to look at her from head to feet. And you reportedly want to try to get into the music world.”
“What does it the fuck matter to you?” Terrence asks loudly and irritably. “Our personal life does not have to do with you! We are not going to tell you what we are doing.”
“I do not need to know it! I already know everything I need. Well, if I need something, I can always use the kindness of my familiar people and get any information about you or your girlfriend, Raquelle. Who has never been the innocent angel that she wants to be.”
“Better shut up! You know nothing about that girl! No-th-ing!”
“You know, she is similar to you to some extent. Because you also want to hide your real character and to be an incredibly handsome guy for everyone. A certain prince! A dream of all the young girls… So, Raquelle wants to keep being one of the sexiest women in the world, get admiring looks from men on her, and stay the kindest angel and a role model.”
“Alright, I am sick of listening to you!” Terrence throws sharply. “And I don’t have time! Say what you want to get for you to leave Raquelle, all our familiars, and me alone. And get out of our lives once and forever. And if I know about another attack on my girlfriend, you will be dead. I do promise.”
“Fine! I will tell you what I wanted and will turn off the call.” Simon says nothing for two seconds. “Tell me, do you really think Raquelle loves so much? Have you ever wondered why she has lately aimed to run away from so hard that she even started to work three times more than before?”
“Did you think working as a model is a profession that lets you do nothing and get much money and worldwide fame?” Terrence wonders. “No, my dear! You are wrong! You’ve gotta work! But you will not understand it because you are used to doing nothing and getting everything not in an honest way.”
“Hm, so, are you really sure she loved you?”
“If she did not love me, she would not agree to date me.”
“Yeah? But I personally doubt it! And I can even say she is actually not working as hard as you think. That girl has much more interesting things that she tells you nothing about.”
“What?” Terrence barely holds his anger down, wishing to break his phone with the thought that this is Simon, who makes him obsessed with such a strong hatred that he has never felt before. “What are you doing about, asshole? Did you go crazy?”
“Yes, yes, MacClife, you heard it right.”
“I do know where Raquelle goes, who she talks to, and what she does! She never hides anything from me.”
“No, my dear, unfortunately, you do not know your girlfriend at all,” Simon smiles slyly. “You don’t know what she is doing secretly from you.”
“Listen, bastard, if you say at least one word that would make me doubt Raquelle’s business and feelings, I will turn you to dust,” Terrence threatens crossly. “YOU HAVE SUCKED ENOUGH OF OUR BLOOD OUT OF US!! IT’S TIME TO STOP IT!”
“M-m-m, you are feeling something bad and afraid to hear someone is not as loyal to you as you think…”
“Do not make me wild, Ringer.”
“Sorry, but I have to make you upset. And say that your beloved Raquelle is cheating on you with the man, who is working for the police and has known that girl for ages. As my sources say, that policeman has been in love with that beauty for a long time, and he wants to be with her. So, his dream has finally come true!”
After hearing this statement, Terrence gets enraged and tightly clenches his hand into a fist, feeling every single part of his body gets tense enough. But the man is mad not at Raquelle, who, as Simon says, is cheating on him, he is mad at Ringer, the organs of whom MacClife would get out with pleasure.
“Did you go nuts?” Terrence shouts. “Do you have nothing to do but tell me the absolute lie?”
“It’s not a lie,” Simon protests quietly. “I am well aware of Raquelle’s cheating on you with that policeman.”
“WHAT ARE YOU TALKING THE FUCK ABOUT? DID YOU GO CRAZY?”
“I completely understand your feelings, Terrence. Somehow, I felt something like this when my beloved woman betrayed me by preferring the other man over me. But unfortunately, it’s the truth. Raquelle met another man, even if she was in a relationship with you.”
“I do not believe you!” Terrence shouts irritably. “I DO NOT! IT’S A LIE! You want to slander her again!”
“Ah, Terry, how stupid you are…” Simon shakes his head with a sly smile. “Didn't you notice that your girlfriend got absolutely cold for you? And she would be terribly happy to leave you and be with the policeman, who won her heart?”
“Close your mouth, jerkoff,” Terrence hisses through his teeth. “OR I WILL CUT YOUR TONGUE!”
“I understand a masculine situation is not as good as a feminine one. But you should have felt those things. And you should know that if your girl rejects you and aims to get busy with a lot of work, she wants to find a reason not to see you. Or she lies to you by saying she has very many things to do but runs to her lover and has fun with him. Not because of being afraid of the breakup. Because of the fear of your anger. Cameron probably guesses you are a sick, hysterical man that cannot control himself.”
“Raquelle is not cheating on me, Ringer, SHE DOES NOT!” Terrence shouts, clenching a free hand into a hard fist. “SHE IS LOYAL TO ME!”
“If you do not believe, I can introduce you to someone to confirm seeing your Raquelle in the arms of that man.”
“You can introduce me to one hundred people, but I will believe she is not cheating on me.”
“I am sorry you don’t believe me… But I was told that girl looked at that man so tenderly. M-m-m… She never looked at you in that way. She never looked at you like you were God.”
“Keep washing my brains. There are many people in the world, who would love to make her life worse and slander her.”
“I am not washing your brains.”
“Listen, Simon, stop! I believe my girlfriend much more than the old sick bastard that cannot leave her alone and wants to take revenge on her.”
“Your girlfriend does not love you, MacClife!” Simon pronounces a little louder. “Wake up and get it! That gal has you wrapped around her finger and dreams of the day you break up.”
“Why did she begin to date me if you say that girl is dreaming of a breakup?”
“Raquelle began to date you because you were the first one to stand in her way and propose to her to start an affair. Moreover, she needed to calm her relatives down because they always told her to get married and give birth to children as soon as possible. She felt good without it! But it’s clear her family annoyed her so much that she decided to start an affair with the first man in her way. And you were the one. The guy, who got obsessed with the passion and does not want to see his girlfriend does not need him.”
“It’s a lie! LIE! INSOLENT LIE!”
“Sorry, Terrence,” Simon replies without emotions. “I am sorry that girl is not what the others are. She did not bow at you as well as all your young fans, who were ready for anything to be with you.”
“Yeah? Why does nobody publish anything about it?”
“The one to see their hot hugs and kisses is not going to tell anything to the media. But when they want to do it, the piece of news will spread very fast. People understand that the girl does not need a relationship. She felt very good when being a single girl. She shot in commercials and photoshoots, walked on runways, drove all the men crazy, and could flirt and accept gifts and attention from any man. One of whom was the policeman. That idiot got a crush on her beauty.” Simon laughs evilly. “But he doesn’t know how disappointed he is going to be when he knows that girl is actually a bitch.”
“You are just envying me,” Terrence says rudely with his head proudly raised. “You are jealous because I began to date the young, beautiful girl and have lived with her for a few months. Anyone could’ve been instead of me, but she chose me. Me, Simon, the young and handsome man, who is deeply respected and loved by all the fans around the world.”
“Young and handsome, but selfish and aggressive.”
“And you, being forty-five, have never been married and have no children.”
“I wanted to marry only one woman. But she did not need me. And I did not like any other girl.”
“You know, nobody needs you, too. Old, nasty, greedy, vengeful, and disgusting bastard. And ugly! You’ve always reminded me of a dwarf from a horror movie.”
“M-m-m, we will see what a bastard you will become for everyone when you start to sort out your relationship with Raquelle and want to deprive her of everything. You will surely wish it! Because you will not forgive that pathetic prostitute, who sleeps with men for a career.”
“Close your dirty mouth, bastard…”
“Of course, I do not know what that policeman could give her, but who knows what women have on their minds… Sometimes I get surprised by their choice of men. Anyway, I do not doubt your relationship will no longer exist soon after she cheated on you. Your relationship that is not as perfect as you want to show.”
“Stop getting me enraged!” Terrence hisses through his teeth, tightly clenching a hand into a fist and breathing heavily enough.
“After what you heard, you are going to get really mad by the mentions of your non-loyal girlfriend that you will betray yourself someday and make everyone understand you’ve been lying to them all the time. They will turn their backs on you, stop watching movies, in which you played roles, and get no wish to listen to your stupid songs. If you’ve decided to become a musician…”
“SHUT UP NOW!” Terrence shouts with evil in his eyes. “CLOSE YOUR MOUTH AND STOP SAYING SOME BULLSHIT, YOU, BASTARD!”
“You will remember my words when you decide to break up with that betrayer. The narcissistic queen, who has always given a damn about you.”
“I WILL NOT BELIEVE YOU ANYWAY!”
“I think you are now going to have a hard talk with your girlfriend, who is not loyal to you. So, I’m wishing you luck and advising you to hold on.”
“Curse you, bastard… I wish you burned in hell!”
“If she starts shouting, waving her hands, and denying everything hard, know that Cameron is hiding the truth from you. Remember, aggression is a way to hide some pain or sadness and to hide more terrible secrets.”
“I swear, dirty beast, if you are lying to me, I will turn you to dust shortly after I see you in front of me,” Terrence threatens in a low, rude voice, getting literally kind of green from anger and wishing to grab a gun and kill Simon personally. “Pray that your words are true! Or I will do something so that you will not have enough time to get over the consequences of what’s going to wait for you.”
“Alright, Terrence…” Simon pronounces thoughtfully, glancing at his watch. “I think it’s time to go… I’m going to do great things that cannot wait.”
“I WISH YOU DIED, ASSHOLE!” Terrence screams at the top of his lungs. “I HATE YOU!”
“Now you know everything you should know and must talk to your girlfriend and break up with her immediately.”
“GO TO THE FUCK!”
“Don’t forget that I am watching you and Raquelle as well as those you know. And every day, your life is going to get worse and worse…” Simon smiles slyly. “See you soon, my dear boy! I shall let you know about me later.”
“BASTARD!” Terrence roars at the top of his lungs. “I WILL TURN YOU TO DUST! YOU, SCUMBAG, WILL PAY ME FOR…”
But Terrence does not say everything he wants because Simon ends the talk. Hearing permanent beeps, the man throws his phone on the bed with an irritated growl and grabs his hair with a wish to break something in the room. Although he does not want to believe what Simon told him about Raquelle, that man managed to make him doubt and think about whether the girl’s indifference could be a reason for cheating. Anyway, MacClife understands that it would be very hard for him to see Raquelle after this statement, even if it’s a false one.
“Bloody hell, is that really true?” Terrence asks himself with horror in his eyes, putting a hand on his forehead. “What if Raquelle really met another man? What if she’s cheating on me? The policeman that she talked about yesterday? What if that’s the reason why that girl got so cold to me?”
Terrence shakes his head.
“Raquelle doesn’t really care about me too much and doesn’t show interest in what’s happening to me,” Terrence thinks. “When she asks something, I can’t see her being interested in it. She just supports the talk. Damn… Ringer might really be right! That girl might really be a betrayer.”
Terrence swallows up nervously.
“Fuck, could she really do this to me?” Terrence wonders. “Do I really have to break up with her? I don’t need a betrayer! I will never forgive the one, who's cheating on me. Never! If Cameron really hooks up with that man, she can go to the fuck. I will immediately break up with her and give her freedom if she really wants it! Anyway, there are many girls in the world, who are ready to sell their souls just to be with me. They would be much better than that egoist.”
Terrence thinks about Simon’s words for some time and asks himself whether Raquelle is cheating on him and seeing a lover. But then he decides to save it for later and talk to the girl when he calms down a little and is able to talk quietly. Even though he doubts that he could do this when seeing the potential cheater in front of himself.
Still being excited enough, Terrence decides to think of the safety of his close people and find out if someone could be in danger. At first, he decides to call his mother Rebecca. A few months ago, she met Raquelle and was very happy with the choice of her son, which she accepted with pleasure. But the man is going to talk to her not about his relationship with his girlfriend. He just wants to make sure that Rebecca is fine because he is worried that Simon probably knows the addresses of Raquelle and Terrence’s friends and relatives.
Terrence’s hands are shaking while he is typing the number of his mother. It’s clear he is very nervous and walking from one side to another. And some time later, he finally gets the answer from the woman:
“Hello.”
“Hey, Mom,” Terrence greets. “It's Terrence.”
“Oh, that’s you, Terrence!” Rebecca exclaims happily. “Hello, dear!”
“How are you doing there?”
“Wonderful. And you?”
“Good, as well.”
“By the way, we haven’t talked to each other for a long time. And you visit me at home much rarely.”
“Sorry… I’ve lately been very busy with my work and couldn’t visit you… And I couldn’t also call you…”
“Did you start working like crazy again and barely see your girlfriend?”
“Yeah, I have enough work… But I complain about nothing and am happy with my life…”
“Happy?”
“Yes.”
“Don’t you miss your girlfriend, who you do not almost see?”
“Of course, I do…” Terrence protests hesitantly. “But she is also busy…”
“Listen, do you actually spend time together? Or do you tell each other a couple of words and run to do your business?”
“Sort of…” Terrence bites his lip slightly. “But when we have free time, we try to spend it together.”
“Really?” Rebecca does not believe.
“Yes, Mother.”
“Is everything really alright with you?”
“Of course, it is.”
“You know, judging by your voice, I don’t feel any kind of happiness.”
“Just feel a little tired. That’s all.”
“Yeah?” Rebecca frowns slightly. “So, alright then… If you say everything is alright…”
“Everything is really alright,” Terrence tries to say as confidently as possible. “Don’t doubt.”
“Alright, I shall believe you.”
Rebecca falls into silence for two seconds and thinks of something, feeling the relationship between Terrence and Raquelle is not as good as her son wants to prove.
“So, as far as I understand, did you get free time and call me for the first time in a few weeks?” Rebecca asks thoughtfully.
“Yeah…” Terrence pronounces, being tense enough and calling the memories of his talk with Simon and his words about Raquelle. “I have some free time… So, I decided to call you and… Find out how you’re doing.”
“Everything is fine to me,” Rebecca says quietly, already noticing Terrence’s voice is kind of strange, and he does not want to tell her something.
“Really? Erm…” Terrence thinks for some time and runs his hand through his hair. “That’s good then…”
“Are you alright there?” Rebecca frowns slightly.
“Yes, everything’s alright.”
“It seems to me that you would like to tell me something…” Rebecca notices quietly.
“Me?” Terrence rounds his eyes.
“Yes, you!”
By the way, Rebecca knows her son, Terrence, very well and always understands when something happens to him. When he has some problems, she does feel it. The mother’s heart has never betrayed her and has always let her know if her beloved son is fine. Just like it does now. The woman needs to just listen to the intonation of the man’s voice to understand that he does not say something very important and probably bad.
“And don’t even dare to tell me that everything is okay,” Rebecca says confidently and severely.
“But…” Terrence pronounces hesitantly.
“I know you very well! And I feel when you’re fine or bad.”
“Well… Actually, everything is okay to me…”
“I actually have a feeling that something made you call me.”
“Made me call you?”
“You didn’t need your mother, but now you suddenly decided to call her.”
“Gosh, Mom, how could you actually think so?” Terrence wonders, not wishing to openly tell his mother what Simon wants to do. “You’re hurting me if you think I called you just because I need something from you.”
“Do you need something from me?”
“No, I need nothing.”
“Alright then…” Rebecca exhales slowly. “I understand that you have your life and are busy with it. But it's kind of strange.”
“Why is it strange?” Terrence surprises truly. “Couldn’t I call my mother and ask her how she’s doing? Find out if she needs my help… Maybe, you need money…”
“If I needed something, I would call you shortly.”
“Erm… Okay then.”
“Listen, sonny, if you have problems, better tell me now. I should know about them before something terrible happens to you.”
“I did say I have no problems,” Terrence tries to say quietly, without the excitement, being terribly afraid Simon might know where Rebecca is living, and he would not be able to do something to protect her. “My call was caused by anxiety. A wish to make sure that you’re fine.”
“You did?”
“Yup…”
“Now tell me what happened to you.”
“Mother…”
“Do not lie to me, Terrence. Lie to anyone but me, your own mother.”
“I don’t lie to you,” Terrence lies hesitantly and bites his lip slightly. “Don’t lie.”
“I’m warning, I don't want you to say nothing about your problems, and me to have to find out what kind of problems you got too late,” Rebecca replies confidently. “And not to be able to help you.”
“It's alright, Mom, don’t worry,” Terrence says quietly, feeling awkward because he is lying to his mother because of reluctance to get her excited and shocked by what’s happening now.
“Share your problems, honey. I’d surely help you if I was able to do it. You know I’m ready for anything for you.”
“I know.”
“Then stop finding excuses and tell me the truth.”
“If I had something to tell, you would know everything at once.”
“Don’t wanna tell?”
“I have nothing to say.”
“Oh…”
Rebecca exhales sharply.
“So…” Rebecca pronounces thoughtfully, deciding to stop trying to find out something and making much more sure that Terrence has something to tell. “If you don’t want to talk… We will do this somehow later.”
“Please, Mom…” Terrence pronounces softly.
“If you don't want to talk about your problems, let’s change the subject and talk about something else.”
“Something happened?”
“No, nothing. I just want to say that your father called me some time ago,” Rebecca says quietly.
“Father called?” Terrence strongly frowns, not being happy with the fact that Rebecca started a talk about his father, whom he does not even want to remember, and being sure it would not lead to anything good.
“He asked how you were doing. And he reminded you that his suggestion of meeting him is still up.”
“Wow…” Terrence rolls his eyes. “Daddy hasn’t forgotten that he has the eldest son, not only the children of his new wife.”
“He has never forgotten you!” Rebecca exclaims. “And he cares about what’s happening to you.”
“I wish he did not do. Nobody needs that man anyway. Neither me nor you.”
“Terrence…”
“Does he want to explain why he left us?” Terrence asks loudly, barely holding the anger that is burning him down inside. “Why did he leave you when you needed his support and help so badly!”
“You shouldn't care about it,” Rebecca replies confidently. “You can’t choose your parents! I shall always be your mother, and your father will never be a stranger to you.”
“Yeah, but he can choose a family!”
Terrence starts nervously walking around in a circle in the room again, trying to get rid of the anger that is literally destroying him inside.
“Did you forget how that man exchanged us for his present wife, who gave birth to his children?” Terrence recalls quietly. “Did you forget everything he did to you?”
“What did he do to me?” Rebecca wonders.
“He raised a hand on you!”
“How do you know what happened between us?”
“I’ve known it since childhood!”
“Maybe, you listen to your father and then make any conclusions?”
“I don’t need his explanations! I will never forgive him for what he did. For daring to treat you like that. For leaving you. For giving a damn about me.”
“He did not give a damn about you.”
“My gosh, Mother…” Terrence shakes his head. “How could you defend that man? How could you forgive him so easily and forget everything you tolerated because of him? You should’ve pissed that man off! Told him to go to his new wife and their children! Him to live with them and forget us once and forever!”
“Terrence!” Rebecca exclaims.
“That man treated you like that, but you easily forgot everything and have been asking me to pretend that everything is fine for so many freaking years.”
“If you knew the whole story, you would say different things.”
“I do know everything! And I want to hear nothing more!”
“At least try!”
“Oh, Mom, you are too kind…” Terrence sighs tiredly. “Have at least a little bit of pride. Stop defending that man. Stop defending the one that treated you like that.”
“No matter what, he is your father!”
“I have no father!” Terrence says confidently.
“Terrence, don’t dare to say it!” Rebecca raises a voice.
“Since that man left us, let him live his own life.”
“Yes, he left us. But your father has never forgotten you. He always cares about your business. And that man wants to meet your girlfriend very much.”
“I don’t know what I would’ve done if he had done it.”
“Even if your father has a different family, it doesn’t mean you stopped being his son.”
“I wish he happily lived with his new wife. And did not bother us.”
“Listen, Terrence…”
“I have lived very well with my father my whole life. And I would live much more. I don’t need that man and everything he wants and can give me.”
“Oh, my God…” Rebecca sighs tiredly. “Give me patience…”
“I said everything, Mother.”
“Listen, I completely understand that you feel hurt and try to defend me from something bad,” Rebecca replies with sadness in her eyes. “But I’m asking you, give a chance to your father. Just talk to him!”
“No!” Terrence cuts off. “I don’t even want to see him!”
“Do it for me. For your mother. Would you not be ready to get over it and meet your father, who has dreamed about it for so many years?”
“I say again, I don't even wish to meet him outside!” Terrence replies sharply, definitely dreaming of finishing this talk as soon as possible because he is about to break down. “I want that man to leave you and me alone! May he go to his wife and her children and forget us forever!”
“Sonny, please!”
“May they make a couple of more children and educate them.”
“You could meet those guys. And befriend them.”
“Befriend?” Terrence simpers loudly. “Mom, are you kidding me? How I could befriend those, who my father made with another woman!”
“Those children aren’t strangers to you. They are your younger brothers. Yes, not siblings, but you’ve got the same father. The same blood.”
“They are not my brothers! I have no brothers and sisters! Sadly…”
“But you always dreamed of having a brother,” Rebecca recalls with sadness in her eyes.
“A brother, a mother of who would be you, not a strange woman. I wanted a sibling. A sibling. You understand?”
“My gosh, Terrence, how headstrong you are…” Rebecca sighs tiredly.
“And please, stop persuading me to meet my father,” Terrence says quietly. “I’ve told you a million times that I don't want to see him. He will not come into my life.”
“At least for me…”
“Oh, alright, Mother, stop…” Terrence waves his hand. “I don’t want to talk about it.”
“What I do to you…” Rebecca shakes her head. “I don’t understand…”
“Sorry, but I have to go,” Terrence decides to end the talk. “I have many things to do.”
“Already?”
“I will call you somehow later. When I have some free time.”
“Alright then… If you want…”
“And yeah…”
Terrence bites his lip slightly, deciding to tell Rebecca to be careful, but he does not still want to tell her about what Simon decided to do.
“I would like to ask you something…” Terrence says a little hesitantly.
“What?” Rebecca specifies.
“Please, walk outside very carefully… Look around often, and don’t open the door to everyone.”
“To look around often?” Rebecca asks with her widely open eyes. “To walk outside carefully? What are you talking about?”
“Please, Mom, take care of you. And if something… Bad… Happens to you… Let me know shortly. I would come to you… Help you… Solve your problem…”
“Listen, what’s actually happening to you there?” Rebecca wonders. “Why are you so strange? And don’t want to say anything!”
“Erm… I…” Terrence exhales slowly. “I will explain everything later. Not now.”
“Why not now?” Rebecca wonders.
“Alright, sorry, I have no time to talk. I shall call you later or visit you. Bye, Mom…”
Saying no more, Terrence turns off the call and sharply throws his phone on the bed. Then he sits on the bed with a loud sigh and thinks about something for a few seconds, running his fingers through his hair. The man starts to whisper something under his breath with anger, rubbing his hands and fighting off a wish to throw something against the wall as strongly as possible:
“She’s talking about her wish to make me talk to Father… Ar-r-r… Holy shit! When would she understand that I am not going to do this? I will never forgive that man for hurting us like that… I will never forgive!”
Terrence starts to nervously squirm, definitely being close to breaking down. The unexpected statement by Simon and the talk about his father made the man wild and deprived him of a wish to hold himself down. So, he silently prays that nobody goes to the room because he understands he would not avoid terrible consequences.
“Oh, the statement of Simon…” Terrence sighs tiredly. “That bastard really made me wild! Ar-r-r-r…”
Terrence growls quietly, tightly clenching his hands into fists.
“Fuck, if only anyone didn’t come here,” Terrence begs. “Or I might not be able to control myself… But now I would really want to throw something at anyone or just scream loudly. Even though I don’t wanna fight with anyone…”
But his wish does not come true… Terrence does not suspect that Raquelle is standing from afar, watching him and frowning slightly. Seeing the man being so excited, the girl is not sure if she should come to him and ask something right now. But some time later, curiosity and a wish to find out what makes him hate his father so much get obsessed with her. So, the brunette quietly opens the door and enters the room. Then she comes to Terrence slowly and a little hesitantly, while he is still sitting on the bed, doubling over and slightly pulling his hair with his hands.
“Erm, are you okay?” Raquelle asks quietly, carefully.
Seeing Raquelle in front of himself and hearing her voice, Terrence shakes slightly and then looks at her kind of weirdly. With some kind of contempt… He reflects on whether she could cheat on him. It makes the girl get a little confused and feel kind of awkward. Raquelle shifts her weight from one foot to another for a few seconds and struggles with stuttering, not knowing what to do: trying to find out what happened or getting out and not standing in his way until Terrence puts his mind in order.
“Oh, I didn't notice that you've come,” Terrence says a little coldly in a low voice, silently praying that he does not take it out on Raquelle because of the anger he is obsessed with talking with Simon and Rebecca.
“I was standing near the door,” Raquelle confesses shyly. “I wanted to come but decided to wait for you to stop talking.”
“You overheard my talk?”
“I heard just a little part of it.”
“Hm… Alright…”
Terrence quietly hums, still looking at Raquelle with some contempt and definitely trying to hold his emotions down not to take it out on the girl.
“Sorry, I didn't want to annoy you,” Raquelle says hesitantly.
“It's alright,” Terrence throws coldly.
“Erm…” Raquelle locks her fingers tightly, seeing well that Terrence looks quite tense but is still staying in this room because something does not let her go. “You’ve never told me that you don't love your father… Don’t love him so much…”
My gosh, Raquelle, why are you doing this? That’s what Terrence asks himself, understanding he needs a little to break down. A couple of questions of her.
“I don't want to talk about it,” Terrence throws gloomily, glancing aside.
“By the way, I’ve wanted to ask for a long time… Why do you hate him? Did he do something bad?”
“I said I don’t want to talk about it.”
“Listen, Terrence…” Raquelle comes a little closer to Terrence. “I don't make you talk about it if you don’t want. But I would really like to know it.”
“I’m not going to discuss my relationship with my father with you,” Terrence says confidently.
“Terrence, please…”
“Leave the room!” Terrence throws sharply. “Let me stay here all alone.”
“But…”
“Did I say something unclear? Leave the room!”
“I wonder to know what made your relationship like this.”
Terrence says nothing and just growls quietly and exhales slowly with his eyes closed, barely holding himself down and silently praying that he does not break down.
“Please, Raquelle, leave me alone,” Terrence says as quietly as possible. “I need to stay in the room and think a little.”
“About what?” Raquelle wonders.
“None of your business!”
Meanwhile, Terrence literally begs:
“Go away, Raquelle, go away! Please! If you stay here for a while, I won’t be able to hold myself down and will take it out on you. I don’t want it… I don’t wanna fight with you. Please, leave me alone… Leave…”
“Listen, I don't make you tell me something right now. But…”
“I will sort everything out with my father. Without your fucking pretense.”
“No matter what happened between you, I’m sure your father loves you anyway.”
“I don’t care about your opinion. And I did not actually ask you what you think.”
“What?” Raquelle rounds her eyes, understanding her stubbornness may lead to terrible consequences, but being obsessed with a wish to support this man or just curiosity. “But…”
“Fuck, leave me alone, after all!” Terrence raises his voice a little.
“But I want to help!”
“I don’t understand, are you deaf? Don’t you hear what I say? I said, leave me alone! What’s your problem?”
At this moment, Terrence gets horrified from just thinking about being close to taking it out on Raquelle.
“Fuck, I can’t do it. I’m about to lose my patience! I need to let my aggression go out. In any way, not taking it out on Raquelle… Please, not her…”
“Fuck, what's happening to you?” Raquelle also starts shouting, losing patience but not understanding what got obsessed with Terrence, whose behavior sharply changed. “What’s bitten you?”
“Ar-r-r, how it's hard to have a deal with headstrong and stupid people…” Terrence growls irritably, running his hands over his face.
“Did you get so excited because of the mention of your father? You never raised the voice on me and behaved so weirdly!”
“Do not make me mad, Raquelle…”
Terrence tightly clenches his hands into fists, looking at Raquelle with contempt and hate in his eyes.
“Leave at your wish,” Terrence demands in a lower voice. “Or I will not be responsible for myself.”
“Please, Terrence…” Raquelle pronounces quietly and tries to come closer to Terrence. “Let’s talk.”
“Did I say something inexplicable?” Terrence sharply gets up from the bed, making Raquelle jump back. “Did I ask you for something unclear? Hard? Impossible?”
“I don’t recognize you!” Raquelle exclaims loudly. “What happened to you for the time while you were in the room?”
“I am telling you the last time. If you are so deaf and brainless…”
Terrence starts raising the intonation of his voice more and more and begins shouting at the top of his throat in the end:
“Leave. Me. ALONE. RIGHT NOW!”
When Terrence starts screaming at her, Raquelle rounds her eyes full of scare, looking at the man, who is breathing heavily.
“GET OUT OF HERE!” Terrence screams and sharply points at the door. “I WISH YOU, NASTY GAL, WERE NOT HERE!”
Terrence gets horrified by what he just did but understands that it’s too late to change something.
“Fuck, I did it! I could not hold myself down! Bloody hell! Now Raquelle will not forgive me! Fuck, fuck, fuck! What an idiot you are, MacClife! Just an idiot!”
“Huh!” Raquelle simpers contemptuously. “WITH PLEASURE! I SHALL LEAVE! I wanted to help and support you, but that’s what you did to me!”
“GET OUT OF MY WAY BEFORE YOU REGRET IT!”
“STAY HERE ALONE THEN! PSYCHO SCOUNDREL!”
Raquelle turns around and runs out of the room quickly and sharply, slamming the door loudly and not hiding that she is resented and dumbfounded. Terrence watches her with contempt in his eyes, breathing heavily enough, clenching his hands into fists tightly, and feeling how much every single muscle of his body is tense. But at the same time, he growls quietly and exhales sharply, running his hands over his face.
Terrence is truly sorry for not holding himself down and taking it out on Raquelle, who added some fuel to the fire by starting to talk about what he would never love to talk about. The man did not actually want to do it because she was guilty of nothing. He understands that he should come to the girl and apologize to her for showing unexpected aggression. But he does not want to do this because he thinks she has been cheating on him and spending time with the other man.
But if Raquelle had listened to his plea and left him alone, Terrence would have calmed down, forgotten the talk with Rebecca about his father, whom he hates, and talked about the girl’s possible betrayer.
“Holy shit…” Terrence pronounces quietly, doubling over, running his hands through his hair, and pulling it slightly. “And I also took it out on Raquelle… Even if I didn’t want it… I did because of my father… Because I heard the mention of him again… Oh… If she hadn’t also talked about my father, everything would’ve been fine… Or not…”
Terrence thinks about something for a few seconds, still sitting on the bed. And by the way, he looks gloomier and gloomier every second. As if the man is mad not only because of the mention of the one he has hated all his life.
“Alright…” Terrence pronounces thoughtfully and gets straight sharply. “I’ve gotta go somewhere… Put my mind straight. Or I’m gonna go crazy in these fucking walls. I wanna go out somewhere. And I give a fuck about who will watch me. I am not going to hide from everyone. May Ringer do what he wants. May his pals watch me. I give a fuck. I don’t actually care about what he wants to do. I am not guilty of the fact that he went out of the mind.”
Forgetting everything he said in the morning and giving a damn about his promise to be with Raquelle to make sure that nothing would happen to her, Terrence exhales sharply, gets up from the bed, quickly takes some things from his table, gets out of the room, goes downstairs to the first floor, and leaves the house while Violetta being in the living room glances at him and frowns slightly. The man comes to his car, unlocks it with a key, sits in the driver’s seat, starts a motor, and goes nobody knows where to calm down a little and put his mind in order.
***
“After that event, I decided to leave home,” Terrence says quietly. “Try to forget everything that happened. And I thought of nothing better than going to drink something strong at a bar.”
Terrence exhales sharply.
“I know you wouldn’t solve problems with alcohol,” Terrence adds. “But I thought it was the best way to make my situation better.”
Terrence glances aside.
“After I drank much enough, I went to walk in the night city,” Terrence says. “Walk where there were no people. Well… Although my brain couldn’t take any information, I knew I shouldn’t have run into any one of my friends, especially, the paparazzi or especially the police. It would’ve been a grandiose scandal! Of course, I didn’t drink too much not too little… I felt a strong enough dizzy…”
Terrence chuckles quietly.
“You know, I’m still surprised that you didn’t even guess it,” Terrence confesses. “You didn’t guess I was doing that often enough since that fateful day. I walked on the night streets almost all night and came back home in the early morning…”
Terrence runs his hand over his face with a tired sigh.
“Yeah, I would’ve never thought I’d get so down…” Terrence says thoughtfully. “Drinking and walking at night wasn’t about me… I never even thought about it and never drank too much alcohol to pass out. But I suddenly broke… I was in despair. Upset. Confused. Spitted. I actually felt very bad.”
Terrence falls into silence for two seconds and starts to pull down a sleeve of his jacket, looking into the distance with his dead eyes.
“But it helped me calm down a little,” Terrence notices. “I came to myself and was able to think better. I understood Simon lied about me.”
Terrence swallows up nervously.
“I was even about to come to you and apologize for screaming at you,” Terrence confesses. “I thought you’d understand me… But the next day after I got nuts, Simon called me again. He began mocking me and telling me that he and one of his friends saw you meeting that policeman, whom you were allegedly kissing and hugging.”
Terrence shakes his head.
“When I said I believed you and knew you didn’t betray me, Ringer promised to send me photos that would’ve confirmed the affair,” Terrence adds. “But I didn’t see any photos… Nevertheless, Ringer began to press me much harder, make me sure about your betrayer, and turn me against you with words and quite true arguments… You got cold to me, wanted to run away and break up as soon as possible, began to date me just because of your family that was pressing on you…”
Terrence swallows up nervously and leans back in the sofa.
“Well, I, idiot, succumbed to him,” Terrence confesses with sadness in his eyes. “And every day, I began to believe you cheated on me more and more. But after drinking alcohol, I calmed down again and wanted to talk to you. But Simon called me at the wrong time and told me about you and Lynwood… And somehow, he even called a guy, who told me much about you allegedly kissing and hugging that man with passion before his eyes…”
Terrence falls into silence for two seconds.
“He annoyed me almost every day,” Terrence confesses. “And someday, I really believed all of that. Simon washed my brains so hard that I seriously started to think you were a betrayer. Moreover, I had reasons to suspect you of not being loyal to me. You didn’t almost pay attention to me and were pretending that we were strangers. Even though I already felt you didn’t love me as much as I wanted to believe. And I thought that fact was a bad sign. The sign of the fact that you really saw someone.”
Terrence moves his sad look to his hands.
“I didn’t want to believe it, but Ringer made me sure about it…” Terrence explains.
“And…” Raquelle pronounces hesitantly. “Is that why you were behaving so disgustingly?”
“Yup. That’s why I brought everything to the day when you took your stuff and left the house.”
“Wow…”
“Now I’m really ashamed of my behavior. Ashamed of the naivety that I showed when believing that old bastard. I succumbed to his provocations. I’m really very sorry…”
“My gosh, I can’t believe it…”
All this time, Raquelle closely listens to what Terrence says, gets true sympathy for him, and feels guilty, too. Understanding that she is partly guilty of the fight between Terrence and her. If she had listened to the intuition that told her to run away, there would have been a chance to avoid the worst things.
“My gosh, Terrence…” Raquelle pronounces in a little shaking voice, looking at Terrence with pity in her eyes. “I… I didn’t know… I didn’t know you were so wild.”
“I swear I tried to hold on until the end,” Terrence says quietly. “But I could not. I was too angry. Because of Simon’s statement and my mother’s order to meet my father.”
“I’m so sorry… I’m sorry it happened.” Raquelle puts her hand on Terrence’s shoulder and softly caresses it. “Forgive me for not listening to my intuition. Not leaving. As you asked.”
“I think even if you had left, nothing would’ve changed,” Terrence assumes. “Simon would’ve brought me into a hysteria and forced me to fight with you much later.”
“Yeah, but I’m very sorry about being so headstrong.”
“Simon kept calling me and telling me very much about your affair with the policeman. He put me under a psychological pressure that I could not take.”
“You were holding on for a long time… And the girls believed him shortly after he told them I was allegedly, mentally sick.”
“I swear, I really wanted to come to you and apologize for being a psycho. But Simon felt I calmed down and started a new psychological attack on me.”
“I understand it, Terrence, don’t excuse yourself.”
“I was afraid to come to you in that condition, ‘cause I was sure I could do something terrible that I would regret very much later.”
“I know.”
“Sadly, that bastard made me become a shameless asshole that behaved disgustingly towards the innocent girl.”
“Damn, I didn’t think about it, of course…” Raquelle exhales sharply. “I should’ve guessed Simon wanted to get us to fight and split up. But I realized it too late. When you blamed me for all the sins, and my friends ignored me and thought I had mental issues.”
“Yeah, that scumbag got what he wanted,” Terrence nods. “He turned me against my girlfriend, got you to fight with your friend because of her alleged revenge and betrayer, and made the others sure you were mentally sick…”
“That was his plan. He wanted to do his best for me to stay alone. And became an enemy of everybody.”
“Fucking scumbag… How cruel a human should be to do that and take revenge on someone not to have to do with the fact that one woman rejected him many years ago!”
“I also made tons of mistakes…” Raquelle sighs heavily. “But the situation wouldn’t have been so hard if I had been smarter and more discreet.”
“Simon put you under a strong psychological pressure and used all the possible arguments that would’ve made you sure about what he wanted.”
“Oh, God…” Raquelle leans on her laps with her elbows. “Why didn't I do what my intuition told me to do? I did clearly see you weren’t quite on that day and definitely wanted to stay alone and calm down. Why was I such a headstrong idiot? Why?”
“I don’t blame you for that,” Terrence says quietly. “You just wanted to know why I didn’t get on well with my father. But I screamed at you.”
“Why do I never listen to anyone and do what I want? Everything could’ve been different if I had done something different. Why? Why?”
Raquelle closes her face with both hands and makes a quiet sob, while Terrence shakes his head and says:
“No, no, Raquelle, don’t think about it. You're guilty of nothing.” Terrence puts his hand on Raquelle's shoulder and caresses it softly. “Don't even dare to think about it! Even if you'd left me alone, nothing would've changed. Simon would've made me mad and made me sure about your betrayer, early or late.”
“No, no, Terrence, don't take the blame,” Raquelle shakes her head sharply with eyes that are wet from tears. “I’m guilty, too. And I made too many mistakes that led to this result.”
“No, no, what happened between us is only my fault. I’m guilty of not being able to hold myself down and letting my emotions take control of me. I shouldn't have believed that bastard and thought you weren’t loyal to me… Yes, we didn’t have a perfect relationship, but we could’ve fixed it. If we had tried…”
“I doubt Simon wouldn’t have tried to get us to fight even if nothing hadn’t happened,” Raquelle sniffs quietly. “If he hadn’t gotten us to fight by telling you about my betrayer, he would’ve thought up something else. That man needed to get everybody to leave me alone. And I can congratulate him ‘cause he got it…”
“After the talk with Ringer and my mother, I was praying that anyone, especially you, didn’t go to the room ‘cause I knew I wouldn’t have held myself down. But my pleases weren’t heard. You went to the room and started to ask me about Father…” Terrence sighs heavily, leaning back in the sofa. “I’m really sorry it all happened. I didn’t want to fight with you and treat you like that.”
“Listen, let’s not think we’re guilty of what happened between us,” Raquelle suggests quietly, looking at her hands. “We both know everything happened because of Simon… Maybe, the relationship between you and me was not perfect. But at least, we didn’t fight. We always lived in peace.”
“That’s right…”
“Simon is the only one to blame.” Raquelle sighs heavily. “Who I’ll never forgive for what he did to me and my life… For killing my parents…”
“Not only did he ruin the life of you and your parents,” Terrence says thoughtfully. “He could’ve ruined my life somehow.”
“By the way, how did you meet him?”
“I’ve known Simon for a long time… We met a few years ago thanks to our common friends.”
“That’s how!”
“I was young enough, but already popular.” Terrence falls into silence for a second. “I was surprised by his maniacal wish to find someone. I remember well that he always said he should’ve revenged one girl in almost every talk with me. And I heard several talks of him with some of his friends, whom he told about revenge with pleasure. But when I decided to ask him who ruined his life, Simon didn’t say anything clearly but let me know he was revenging on a girl.”
Terrence falls into silence for two seconds and glances aside.
“After that, I was wondering what that man wanted to do,” Terrence confesses. “And a little later, I decided to ask Simon about it again. But alas, I didn’t manage to get anything out of him.”
“Didn’t you know he was in love with my mother?” Raquelle wonders.
“No, no, I didn’t know. I didn’t actually think he could love someone. I couldn’t even imagine it.”
“Okay. What’s next?”
“Somehow I tried to make Simon sure to give up on his wish for revenge. But it didn’t work. And I decided to say I’d go to the police. After that, Ringer got wild and began to threaten me. He said he’d turn my life to hell and ruin my career if I went to the police.”
“You got scared?”
“Yes, I was scared. I decided to fuck it off.” Terrence shakes his head with a quiet sigh. “I was like, he could do anything he wanted.”
“Didn’t you know he was the one to send me all those letters at my evil?” Raquelle frowns slightly.
“Nope, I knew nothing about it,” Terrence pronounces quietly. “I didn’t actually know he wrote something for you. I found it out thanks to Natalia and Anna, who I met at the café by chance. Who attacked me with charges for spreading the rumors.”
“I see…”
“But I noticed how excited he got when he found out my former manager John and I were going to meet you and Serena. But I didn’t care much about it.”
“That’s how…”
“I assumed he was just excited because he could meet you. And I didn’t think Simon was gonna meet the one, whom he decided to take revenge on.”
“I see…”
“But he decided to wait for me outside while John and I went to the agency.”
“Interesting, couldn’t Simon run into me on purpose to start a talk with me?”
“Maybe, he did it on purpose,” Terrence assumes. “I wouldn’t be surprised if it was the truth.”
“He needed a reason to talk to me. To get closer to me.”
“So, since I always took him with me to the shoots and let him watch the process, Simon used it.”
“Did he really hear you and I fighting?”
“I can’t exclude. Ringer could hide somewhere and watch us fighting.”
“That cad knew what to do when deciding to meet the editor of the magazine and pay him and tell him to publish all those humiliating notes about me.”
“Yes, he definitely needed that you charged me. He was sure you would surely tell the world about it.”
“Yeah…” Raquelle sighs tiredly. “It hurts that everyone believed it. All my fans turned their backs on me and got the hate for me.”
“And he was happy!” Terrence exclaims. “As I understand, Ringer didn’t stop and kept feeding that editor with money to make him publish all those articles.”
“I’m surprised he easily told you what he did.”
“I’m surprised, too. I didn’t even think I’d hear something like that when we were going somewhere for my business and then decided to go to a café and eat.” Terrence swallows up nervously. “Moreover, Ringer wanted to use me and make me confirm his lie. He made me sure that you weren’t what you tried to be. That you were pretending to be sweet and innocent. But I said I would not help him shower you with mud for no reason. He tried to threaten me, but I didn’t care. I decided to get rid of that stinker and fire him. I told Ringer about it. And I added that I was going to find you and tell you the truth about his plans.”
Terrence keeps silent for two seconds.
“And I started to understand more and more that I felt something special for you,” Terrence confesses. “I originally wanted to talk to you about what happened between us. To make amends and try to establish our relationship.”
Terrence cracks a slight smile.
“But the question was where to find you,” Terrence adds. “You ran away somewhere. Nobody could find you. You were swallowed by the ground. And I even began to lose hope that I’d manage to meet you.”
Terrence moves his eyes to his hands folded in front of him.
“But one beautiful day, I went to one place where Natalia was,” Terrence says. “She was with Anna. I saw them but didn’t know they were your friends. I realized it when I accidentally heard their talk, for which I sat at the nearest table.”
Terrence chuckles quietly.
“They wanted to come to me, but I did it earlier and showed up for them. Natalia and Anna attacked me with charges and didn’t wanna listen to my words about being non-guilty. And they refused to betray you. Though, I didn’t need it because I had known where to find you. I knew you were seen at the airport during the landing on the airplane to London.”
“It happened that Natalia and I were on the same airplane,” Terrence says thoughtfully. “And we almost killed each other during the flight…”
“But why didn’t you tell me that before?” Raquelle asks amazingly quietly.
“Sorry, Raquelle, I’m really sorry it happened…” Terrence expresses regret.
Terrence starts nervously pulling the sleeve of his coat, moving his eyes to it.
“But I didn’t really know what he planned to do. And I couldn’t even think that man deceived everyone, killed two innocent people, and wanted to destroy their daughter.” Terrence exhales sharply. “But what you want… I was young enough and knew nothing about people… I was about twenty when I met him… One day, I had lunch at the café with my acquaintance… And later, we met Simon, who was his old friend and was introduced to me. So, that’s how we met… He seemed to be good, but the further, the more I realized I was wrong about him.”
“Could he really have ruined your career if you’d gone against him?”
“I think so… Ringer has been a witness to my behavior that wasn’t too good many times…”
“That’s how!”
“I don’t like to admit it, but I was really a little arrogant and behaving like an egoist, whom everybody owed. There were many people, who could’ve easily betrayed me. Someone contacted the journalists and told them everything. But I denied everything, really wishing to stay good for others.” Terrence moves his sad eyes down for a second. “I was terribly afraid that everyone would know that I wasn’t what I was pretending. It would’ve ruined my reputation and career. But I didn’t want it…”
Terrence swallows up nervously.
“Simon knew about all my hysterics very well,” Terrence says quietly. “He could’ve really told the whole world everything and proved his words with many witnesses. When I threatened to report him to the police due to his wish to take revenge on someone, he said my career would be dead… I was terribly afraid to lose everything I had earned. And I realized I had no choice but to shut up.”
“So, were the rumors about your disgusting behavior true?”
“Partly, yes. But the media has always loved to dramatize. Much of what they published wasn’t true. Yes, I didn’t behave in a good way, but it wasn’t as terrible as the media said.”
“I’m glad you confessed it.”
“But no matter how hard I denied it, those rumors impacted my career badly. Since I met that man and gave him a job, I got problems with the career that I have at the present. Of course, it doesn’t mean I haven’t acted in any movies, but I’ve lately gotten only small roles. Even though I often got offers to play starring and secondary roles in movies and TV shows.”
“Do you think it has to do with those rumors?”
“Most likely. Because there were those, who found the courage to tell the world about my hysterics and terrible behavior… Of course, not many people believed them, and someone thought it was just the rumors, but it wasn’t good for my career.” Terrence sighs tiredly. “After meeting Simon, everything went down… I remember there was an event when I could’ve gotten a starring role in an amazing show. I almost got it and was going to get ready to work. But at the last moment, I got a call from the casting and was told that they found another actor. They found a stupid reason to explain why they did it. And similar things happened many times… And one day, a director actually said he didn’t want to work with me because of my hysterics that he wouldn’t take. Sadly, not many people find the courage to offer me roles. Even if they offer me something, it’s minor and not interesting. In the past few years, movies, in which I play a role, haven’t collected a lot of money in cash of cinemas and haven’t received positive reviews from critics.”
“Did everything really change so much after you met Simon?”
“Exactly. But I can’t blame him for persuading some people that were close to me to ruin my life and reputation.”
“What if he did?”
“No, hardly.”
“But he’s got many familiar people.”
“Not so many to become powerful.”
“I dunno…”
“He couldn’t have to do with the fact that I didn’t manage to start a music career…”
“Wait, but someone wanted to offer you a contract for recording an album,” Raquelle frowns slightly. “Or recording one or two songs… I can’t remember, honestly… You told me that!”
“I didn't lie to you. But that business didn’t move off the dead point as if I got no offer.”
“But why?”
“I don’t know, they didn’t just call me as they promised. But we already agreed about it. They were supposed to call me to ask me about a meeting.”
“Wow…”
“However, it doesn’t make sense now. It’s been a long time since that moment. I already gave a damn about it and stopped expecting something from them.”
“Do you think people from the music business didn’t wanna work with you because of your behavior?”
“I think so. Those rumors impacted my relationship with people negatively. Maybe, everyone smiled at me widely and truly and aimed to be my friends, but everything changed somehow. Many people started to ignore me and stop speaking to me for no reason. But I never gave them a reason to get mad at me, and I was always amicable to them.”
“Wow…”
“It seems like they thought those rumors were true and began to ignore me. And trying to deny everything made celebrities and many fans of mine much angrier. As Simon said, I llegedly did good things for people to show myself as a good man and let them know that they’re wrong. And thus, I slowly turned from the all-favorite man to an arrogant egoist…”
“I get it…”
“However, I think people did quite a fair thing… Because I was really an egoist, who was terribly afraid to lose my career and become an outlaw. So, everything’s fair…” Terrence shrugs. “Everything I’ve gotten in the past few years will be ruined. Because I fought with many people, who got so mad at me that they swore to make me ashamed of the whole world. And tell people who Terrence MacClife actually is. I am sure they will do their best to destroy me…”
“And what are you gonna do if someone makes you ashamed of the whole world?”
“I don't know, Raquelle…” Terrence pronounces quietly, still pulling down a sleeve of his jacket and sometimes looking around or at Raquelle. “If I don’t restore my reputation and solve problems with my career, I won’t get upset.”
“But that means so much to you.”
“Yeah, but I will be able to do nothing. I will have no choice but to start a new life and live like any person in this world…”
“And what are you gonna do?”
“I don’t know. But first of all, I would like to leave as far as possible.”
“Leave?” Raquelle rounds her eyes.
“I wanna forget everything that happened here. This city is associated with many bad memories.”
When Raquelle hears it, something snaps inside her, but she does not show that she gets quite nervous because of this statement. However, she understands she can do nothing to try to make Terrence sure not to leave everything and not to go anywhere.
“But where do you go?” Raquelle asks with sadness in her eyes. “Where would you live?”
“I don’t know, but I will come up with something,” Terrence replies thoughtfully. “Find a place to live. Decide what to do. The important thing is to find a place where nobody would know me and judge me for who I was, what I did, and how I ruined much of what was important to me. I don’t deny it’s gonna be hard to get used to new things, but I’d have to… Sadly, I’d have no choice.”
Raquelle silently looks at Terrence with greater sadness in her eyes and sighs quietly, trying not to betray herself and let him know that she is upset by what she heard. However, the man does not notice it because he is looking into the distance or at his hands.
“You know…” Raquelle pronounces as if nothing happened. “I’d also like to leave. Go away from this place that gave me so many bad memories.”
“Really?” Terrence moves his sad eyes to Raquelle.
“I must admit that the fame got me excited when I just became famous… And… I’ve really disrupted shootings and started scandals for nothing several times…”
“You started scandals?”
“Yeah. Many times. And I was also afraid that people would know everything. However, there is one case that could’ve ended my career forever.”
“What case?”
“One famous enough model had to retire. And I was guilty of it.”
“And what did you do?”
“I pushed her off the stairs. She got serious enough traumas and strong brain damage and had a long recovery. And when that girl decided to come back, she wasn’t able to work in the same way. The consequences of the traumas were too serious.”
“So, did you kind of get rid of your opponent?”
“I swear, I didn’t wanna push her!” Raquelle exclaims. “It happened accidentally! We just started to fight cruelly and went so enraged that we stopped noticing everything around.”
“And what couldn’t you share?”
“We were enemies before and fought every time we met. But on that day, our conflict reached the peck.”
“I see… Just jealousy.”
“Not only.” Raquelle swallows up nervously. “I barely turned eighteen. My business started to get better. I got famous for less than one year. And on that day, I was invited to participate in the fashion show of the famous designer. Just like that model was. I was quietly sitting in my dressing room and waiting for them to call me. But then that girl came to me. She started to humiliate me again. But at some moment, she blamed me for the death of her younger brother.”
“The death of her younger brother?”
“I once rejected him when he confessed his sympathy for me. That guy said he understood everything and agreed to be a friend of mine. But as it turned out, he was super upset. So upset that he… Killed himself… He hung himself in his room.”
“Oh, damn…”
“His sister found a death note, in which that guy literally blamed me for his death. So, she thought that I had destroyed him. Though, I don’t exclude that he wanted to do it earlier. Because her brother suffered from a long-time depression and literally moved into the office of the psychiatrist. However, therapy and drugs didn’t help me.”
“Maybe, it’s true. But the fact that you rejected him could make his condition much worse.”
“I swear, I didn’t think it would go so far. I didn’t think he would love to kill himself because of his one-sided love. But his sister refused to listen to my excuses and threatened to ruin my reputation and career. And in the end, she just attacked me with scissors in her hands. She tried to wound me. And I did my best to protect myself.”
“Did someone see it?”
“Many people did. At first, nobody heard us, even if we were screaming like crazy. But after my attempt to run away from the dressing room, many models, stylists, and the organizers of the show ran to us. They tried to break us up, but we were too excited. Especially me. I was so sick of her humiliations that I stopped holding myself down. I didn’t care about who was watching me, who judged me, or who hated me…”
“Did you push that girl before everybody’s eyes?”
“Yes…” Raquelle pronounces hesitantly. “Everybody saw it and started to say bad things about me. While I was much more worried about myself than her. I was worried that everyone would know it, and I would have to give up on my career. There were many reasons to worry. A lot of witnesses and family ties of that model with a powerful official.”
“Excuse me, what’s the name of that model?”
“Camilla. Camilla Pettigrew.”
“Camilla Pettigrew?” Terrence thinks for two seconds. “Yes, I heard about that model! She has really retired. They say, that girl is now engaged in charity and draws pictures to sell. I heard about her traumas, but nobody explained how she got them. I only heard that she fell off the stairs and hit her head against the wall. And nearly died during the surgery due to the stop of the heart.”
“I was madly lucky that this problem was solved. My managers made a lot of efforts to agree with Camilla and her family. And all the witnesses to that case got a lot of money to be silent. I am madly grateful to them for not letting my terrible secret known to everyone.”
“But it was mentioned many times when Ringer spread the false rumors about you.”
“Yes, he knew about that case. He confessed it. Simon knew someone, who told him everything.”
“I knew it, too.”
“What?” Raquelle moves her widely open eyes to Terrence. “You knew everything?”
“After one of the talks about you cheating with Lynwood, Simon told me about the one, who was really guilty of Camilla’s traumas. He told me how you pushed that girl off the stairs and were praying that your career wasn’t ruined. I’ll even say more, I saw all the photos and videos that he showed me.”
“So, you know everything…” Raquelle glances aside shamelessly.
“It was the only thing that Simon proved. And, to be honest, I was shocked. Of course, you’ve never been sweet and obedient, but I didn’t think… You’d go so far and… Threaten that girl with scissors, beat her, and strangle her.”
“I swear, Terrence, I’m really sorry about it now. I shouldn't have behaved like that. Especially, with so many witnesses, who kind of agreed against me. And they said a lot of bad things to the policemen, who took me to the station. After the organizers announced my suspense from the show.”
“You were arrested?”
“Nope, after two or three hours of questioning, they let me go and made me pay a great penalty for violating the order. I barely got enough money to pay. I didn’t earn so much money at that time.”
“Yeah, Cameron, you surprise me…” Terrence sighs disappointedly. “As it turned out, you’re our dark horse.”
“Will you reveal everything?” Raquelle asks hesitantly. “Will you tell the journalists about the one, who harmed Camilla?”
“At first, I wanted to do it. I wanted to ruin your life and make you suffer. But now I calmed down a little and decided that I didn’t need it.”
“It’s okay, you can speak. Moreover, I’m also thinking about confessing everything. Letting people judge me. I can’t pretend that nothing has happened forever. And early or late, someone will surely publish the proof of my fault for Camilla’s traumas. I’ve gotta apologize publicly. And then, may things happen as they want. If they forgive me, it’s okay. If they don’t, I deserve it.”
“It will hardly be good for your reputation,” Terrence assumes. “You see what the scandals with my hysterics led to. And many of them, by the way, were proved with witnesses, photos, and videos.”
“I guess we both are psyches,” Raquelle cracks a smile.
“Maybe. And I must confess that I constantly confronted one actor. I still see him showering me with mud on social networks. Sometimes I answer him back, but I actually try to ignore his comments.”
“Were you jealous of each other?”
“I could say so. He was also resentful that I became famous for several months and started to get the best roles. While that actor worked like crazy for ages, but he couldn’t get even recurring roles. We’ve even fought on the set multiple times when we had to work together.”
“Really?”
“And one day, our fight was so serious that we harmed each other. I broke his nose and collarbone, and he broke my shoulder and harmed my knee. The case was so serious that I even had to get a surgery.”
“Wow…”
“We were also barely broken up. And everybody blamed me for everything. I allegedly attacked him first. Though, everything was otherwise. The first witnesses just saw me sitting over him and beating his face with a fist.”
“It seems like they talked about it one day. But that actor recovered kind of quickly and kept working as if nothing happened. And he said he’d no longer work with me for any money.”
“I don’t also wish to see him anymore. That idiot sucked a lot of blood out of me. And he was one of those, who ruined my reputation. Sadly, I wasn’t as lucky as you were. People knew everything that I did on the set. Everything I am really sorry about now.”
“Anyway, I wasn’t actually so egoistic and terrible. It happened because I was very nervous and excited. I didn’t know and could not do anything. I felt terribly insecure in front of the camera. That’s why I panicked and took it out of people. And my conflicts with Camilla made me madder. I tried to befriend her, but she rejected my friendship. She chose war.”
“I’m not perfect, either. But it doesn’t mean I’m so terrible. And even if people didn’t believe me when I apologized to that actor publicly, it was true. I was really sorry about it and didn’t wanna harm that guy, even if I hated him so much.”
“Anyway, Ringer used the situation very well by deciding to start a great scandal and using everything he knew to make people sure that I allegedly had mental issues. Which got much worse after I got famous.”
“I think it happens to many famous people,” Terrence replies thoughtfully. “Especially, when you get fame at an early age. When you can’t take what happens adequately.”
“It’s right…” Raquelle nods. “Although I madly liked it, it was hard for me at first… I could do nothing and knew nothing, I had too many experienced rivals and something like that. It was hard when I was criticized too hard. But I tried to listen to them and get much better.”
“Do you regret choosing this way and working in this business for many years?”
“No, I don’t. But I’m starting to understand that I’m getting sick of this job and want maybe not to quit the modeling career, but at least to suspend it. To live just for me. Go somewhere, do something… I don’t know…”
“I get it.”
“Moreover, sometimes I think I’m no longer as loved and popular as I was before. Everyone started forgetting about me. As if people began to admire the young models that come into this business every year to replace those, who have worked in it for ages. I guess people are starting to get sick of me. They’re getting sick of seeing my face everywhere.”
“Anyway, you shouldn’t excuse yourself for something. You can continue to shoot in photoshoots and commercials and walk on runways. Nobody said they didn’t want to see you anymore, and your team isn’t going to stop working with you.”
“Yeah, but I’m not sure if I can get as famous as I was before meeting Simon,” Raquelle sighs heavily. “Meeting him impacted my career, as well… Yes, the scandal was forgotten, but people got some bad feelings. And the way they treated me changed. Now it's not as wonderful as before. And… It confirms the words about the fact that every lie has a little bit of the truth.”
Raquelle moves her sad eyes to her hands.
“So, I think I’ll suspend my career and move somewhere when Grandpa gets better…” Raquelle says thoughtfully. “Of course, if he will…”
“Yeah?” Terrence pronounces with sadness in his eyes.
“I’m thinking of moving to another city and starting my life over again. Living like a common person. And… If I realize I no longer want to be back in the modeling business, I’ll just quit it and forget there was the model named Raquelle Cameron. Who was the all-favorite girl of girls and men…”
“But don’t make decisions in a rush.”
“I’d have to leave early or late ‘cause other, more talented and younger models will come… I wouldn’t make everyone crazy forever. And someday I will get old and not be as beautiful as I am now. So… My time will be gone soon, and I will have to look for a different way to get money for life.”
“You decide it. The important thing is that you are happy and do not regret your decision.”
“I will not.”
Although Terrence pretends that he is not shocked by Raquelle’s statement, something snaps inside him, and he gets much sadder. The man understands he would change nothing, and his affair with the girl is over forever. But the man imagines that she is just checking his reaction and wishing to know if he wants to do something and change her mind somehow. And he would like to believe it’s the truth…
It’s been a lot of time since Raquelle and Terrence came to the hospital and started to wait for the news about Frederick. However, minutes go too fast while having the most honest talk they have had in the past few months. None of them notices it’s getting dark outside, and the clock hanging on the wall lets them know it’s almost nine o'clock. It seems that the former lovers would be sitting here forever. But at some moment, a young female nurse with blonde hair gathered into a tail comes to Raquelle and Terrence to definitely deliver them some pieces of news.
“Excuse me, are you relatives of Frederick William Cameron?” the woman specifies gently. “I talked to one woman, who said you were supposed to be here.”
Hearing the name of her grandfather, Raquelle instantly gets up and comes to the young girl quickly with a wish to hear some news.
“Yes, I am his granddaughter,” Raquelle pronounces in a shaking voice. “Tell me, please, how he is doing.”
“Fortunately, the state of health of your grandfather is stable, but it's too early to say about his absolute recovery,” the nurse replies quietly. “At least, we managed to liquidate all the signs of a heart attack. But we are going to give him some medicines to support his stable state and pressure.”
“Really? Is he alright?”
“Really,” the nurse nods with a slight smile. “The doctors will be keeping him under control for a few days, but I think he will get well soon. Your grandfather is a strong man with a fighting spirit. Having an age like this, Mr. Cameron has incredible health.”
After what she heard, Raquelle exhales sharply with a sense of great relief, feeling like she just got rid of the burden. However, even if she smiles truly, the girl looks terribly exhausted after what has happened to her in the past few hours.
“Oh, gosh, thank you so much!” Raquelle thanks with a slight smile. “You cannot imagine how happy I am to hear it!”
“Do not worry, your grandfather will get well,” the nurse replies softly with a slight smile. “He will spend some time under our view and will go home and keep recovering if everything is fine.”
“Good…”
“The doctor of that man will talk to you later and give you some recommendations. I mean, his diet, his sleep, and something like that… Nothing special. He will just let you know how to help that man get well sooner.”
“I got you.”
“If that man complies with the recommendations and does not get excited and tense, he will be fine. Very soon, he will be able to live the life he has always lived.”
“Say, can I visit him now? At least a couple of minutes. To see him and make sure he’s really fine.”
“Yes, of course,” the nurse nods. “You can.”
“Where’s his room?”
“Go downstairs on the second floor and go down the hall. You will see the door with the number '412.' Your grandfather is now there.”
“Alright, I saw it.”
“But, please, go to him alone. And do not get him too exhausted and especially nervous. Your grandfather needs a full rest and good peace. That’s the order of his doctor.”
“Alright, I will not make him nervous,” Raquelle promises with a slight smile.
“Excellent! But now excuse me, I have to go. I have very many things to do.”
“I will not hold you.”
“If you need something, the doctor of Mr. Cameron will go to the room and talk to you some time later. I will let him know you will be there.”
“Alright, thank you so much again.”
The nurse slowly turns around with a shy smile and goes to do her business, examining something in the papers that she is holding in her hands.
Raquelle feels happier after the nurse calmed her down by saying the worst things are over, and Frederick got much better. This is probably the best piece of news she has heard in the past few weeks! Something good that is able to make her smile widely.
The girl stands in the same place for a few seconds, shaking her head with a wide smile. Terrence watches her with a slight smile on his face, not hiding that he is very happy that the grandfather of Raquelle is fine now. But seeing she is not going to go anywhere, he decides to shake her up a little and comes to her confidently.
“I said everything would be fine with him,” Terrence says with a slight smile, putting a hand on Raquelle’s shoulder.
“I still can’t believe it’s the truth,” Raquelle replies with a wide smile.
“The worst things are over.”
“My God, I’m so happy! So happy!”
Raquelle happily hugs Terrence standing next to her with a wide smile. He answers her sudden hug a little hesitantly but with great pleasure, thinking it’s another reason to hug the girl probably for the last time. The former lovers stand and hold each other for a few seconds before they step away from each other. The girl smiles much wider, carefully wipes tears under her eyes, and tucks a couple of strands behind her ears.
“This piece of news seems like a little shoot of the sun at the end of the tunnel,” Raquelle confesses and sniffs quietly. “At least something good in a while.”
“So, what are you waiting for?” Terrence shrugs with a slight smile. “Go to him! You wanted to see him so much!”
“Yeah, sure…” Raquelle nods. “I will go to him… If they let me do it.”
“I will wait for you. And then I can drive you home. Of course, if you want it…”
Raquelle says nothing and stands in the same place for two seconds. And then she turns around, goes quickly down the hall, and goes downstairs. Terrence keeps standing where he is and watching her until she hides somewhere. Seeing that the girl looks much happier, he is happy, too. So much that he forgets about how upset he was some time ago because of her words about his wish to leave this place.
“I knew it would happen!” Terrence thinks with a slight smile. “And I’m so glad Mr. Cameron is fine… I’m sure he will get well soon. And Raquelle will finally calm down and relax. Ah, how I wish I always saw her so happy. Her smile would warm my soul up. If she’s happy, I’m happy, too.”
Terrence smiles much wider, feeling a little relief after hearing that Frederick is fine. Moreover, the man is very happy that he managed to talk to Raquelle for the first time in a while and discovered so much. This talk was quite honest and helped them feel much better and shorten the time while waiting for the news about the grandfather of the girl.
But at some moment, Terrence suddenly realizes that Alicia has not come to them yet.
“Oh, damn, Alicia!” Terrence calls the memories. “Right! I completely forgot about her! She should’ve come to us after Mr. Cameron had been taken here!”
Terrence looks around quickly, looking for Alicia.
“It’s weird, why hasn’t she still come here?” Terrence asks himself thoughtfully. “She promised she’d go with Frederick and doctors… What if something happened to her? I wouldn’t like Raquelle to get much more shocked after she exhaled with relief… For her, it’d be a great shock…”
Terrence swallows up nervously.
“Okay, I will try to call on her mobile number and find out where she is now,” Terrence decides. “And why she hasn’t come here even if she said she’d come here with doctors.”
Wasting no time, Terrence takes his mobile phone from the pocket of his coat and starts typing Alicia’s number with his little shaking hands. Coming to the window, the man puts it to his ear and starts to wait for an answer. But he does not have to wait too long because someone answers him very quickly.
“Yeah, hello,” Alicia pronounces a little excitedly.
“Good afternoon, Alicia,” Terrence greets quietly. “It’s Terrence.”
“I am coming to the hospital, Terrence,” Alicia says confidently. “And I know you and Raquelle are there.”
“Yes, yes, we’re here. And the nurse came to us and told us some news about Mr. Cameron.”
“And what? How’s he?”
“Fortunately, the worst things are over. The doctors said the crisis was over. But Mr. Cameron will stay in the hospital for a few days to get strength.”
“Oh, thank God!” Alicia exhales with great relief. “I was so worried about him.”
“That girl said if Mr. Cameron did everything he was told, he would quickly come to himself and live the usual life.”
“Don’t worry about it. I shall make sure that he does everything he is told.”
“Listen, where are you now? Why weren’t you in the hospital?”
“Oh, I got a headache. Got too nervous… And as I had nothing with me, I had to go to the closest pharmacy to buy some drugs for headache.”
“Alright. But you can calm down. Mr. Cameron is fine now.”
“Thank God.” Alicia clears her throat quickly. “And what about Raquelle? How is she feeling after everything she went through?”
“She is fine,” Terrence pronounces quietly. “But she can barely understand what’s happening and is still shocked.”
“Is she with you?”
“Nope. The doctors let her go to the room of Mr. Cameron, and I stayed to wait for her.”
“Did you manage to talk with her a little? Or is she still mad at you?”
“First, she was mad, but later, we managed to get on well and talk…”
“That’s how. What were you talking about?”
“Well…” Terrence shrugs. “I told her why I got nuts on that day… Confessed that you and Mr. Cameron told me about the meeting and something else.”
“Was she very mad after she found out that her grandfather and I told you about the meeting?”
“Nope, actually… I think she is even grateful to you. If Raquelle had been alone there, she would’ve been really dead. And your niece completely understood it.”
“I hope she understood we did it for her well-being.”
“I think Raquelle did.”
“Fine…” Alicia exhales quietly.
“Come to me. I will quickly tell you everything.”
“I am going to come to you. At first, I thought I’d find you and Raquelle on the first floor, but I met two policemen, who said they came here because of Simon, and let me know you went to a different place.”
“Did they tell you everything so easily?”
“I just explained that I was a relative of Raquelle. They understood me and told me everything.”
“I see…”
“Tell me, please, where are you now?”
“Go upstairs to the third floor, turn on the left and go down the hall until the end. You will see me after you come. I will be waiting for you here.”
“Erm, fine,” Alicia pronounces thoughtfully. “I am coming back to the hospital from the pharmacy and coming to you. We will talk about everything that happened.”
“Alright, I’m waiting for you.”
“See you.”
Alicia ends the call, and Terrence puts the smartphone in the pocket of his coat and sits on the sofa with a quiet sigh, deciding to wait for the woman to come to him. While he is all alone, the man decides to think about what might happen in the future, asking himself whether everything will get better, or everything will actually get much worse again and again. Anyway, Terrence feels less lousy because he decided not to sit and do nothing, but to do his best to help Raquelle get off Simon.
***
Meanwhile, Raquelle goes to Frederick’s room, still being terribly excited but feeling much better because she heard just something good. The girl quickly finds the room that the nurse told her about, hesitates for two seconds, slowly opens the door, and enters it. She sees her beloved grandfather lying in the bed, looking a little white and exhausted. He is currently hooked up to some machines that help the old man get energy and get well.
“Grandpa…” Raquelle pronounces in a little shaking voice with tears in her eyes.
When Raquelle sees Frederick in front of herself, she sheds a tear of happiness from realizing that the man managed to survive, despite worrying about his granddaughter for such a long time. He did it because she needed him. Thanks to his wish to be next to his only close person, Frederick is still alive and looks at Raquelle with a slight smile while she sits on the edge of the hospital bed and takes his hand, which she slightly squeezes.
“My gosh, Grandpa…” Raquelle shakes her head.
“Raquelle, granddaughter…” Frederick pronounces with a little exhausting smile. “Thank God, you’re alive and healthy…”
“Yes, I’m fine, don’t worry.”
“My God… My girl…”
Frederick puts his hand slowly on the cheek of Raquelle, making her smile shyly.
“I can’t believe it…” Frederick pronounces in a little shaking voice.
“It’s okay, Grandfather Frederick,” Raquelle calms down softly. “I’m alive and got away from Simon once and forever.”
“I was so worried about you…” Frederick takes Raquelle’s hand a little tighter and then softly takes her second one. “I was afraid that stinker would do something bad to you.”
“And I was terribly afraid something would happen to you…” Raquelle says confidently and sniffs quietly. “You can’t even imagine how much I was worried about you. When Aunt told me that you ended up in a hospital, I got really frightened. I thought I’d lose you.”
“Don’t worry about me, sunshine,” Frederick pronounces softly and tucks a strand of Raquelle’s hair behind her ear. “My blood pressure just got a little stronger, and my heart hurt a little.”
“How do you feel now?”
“I’m fine. I’ll stay in the hospital for a while, take some cures, and then go home.”
“The nurse told me you were very lucky that your health is quite strong. She thinks you’d get well quickly.”
“Maybe. But I was holding on just for you, my sunshine.” Frederick softly caresses Raquelle’s hand. “A wish to be with you at a hard time for you helped me survive. You do know I’m living only for you.”
“I’m sorry, Grandpa,” Raquelle apologizes, sobbing and wiping off tears under her eyes. “I’m sorry about making you worried so much.”
“No, Raquelle, don’t be.”
“I would never forgive myself if you died because of me now.”
“It’s okay, honey. And I solemnly swear that I will do my best to live as long as possible. Just for you. For my beloved granddaughter.”
“Try to, please…” Raquelle says shyly. “You and Aunt are the only close people of mine that I have. There is nobody else I could count on…”
“We know, sunshine…”
Raquelle kisses the weak and white Frederick cutely on the cheek while he looks at his granddaughter closely.
“I hope Simon did nothing bad to you?” Frederick expresses anxiety with his widely open eyes.
“Thank God, no,” Raquelle shakes his head. “He could’ve done… But fortunately, there were the policemen, who didn’t let him hurt me.”
“Policemen?”
“I don’t know if I stayed alive if they hadn’t come just in time…”
“I see…”
“As far as I understand, did you and Aunt Alicia have to do with the fact that they came there?”
“Did you think we’d let you go there alone?” Frederick wonders truly. “No, my darling! Your aunt and I aren’t so stupid to let you do something like that.”
“I should’ve gone there alone, without the protection of someone… Or someone would’ve suffered because of that man.”
Raquelle sighs heavily.
“I know it was a great risk, and I could’ve died…” Raquelle adds quietly. “But I thought I would deal with that man and make him sure to leave me alone… But I was such a naive idiot…”
Raquelle slightly inclines her head.
“Now I understand he wanted to kill me anyway or do his best to bring me to a wish to kill myself…” Raquelle adds with sadness in her eyes.
“I think you, your aunt and I must thank Terrence for letting nothing happen to you,” Frederick says thoughtfully.
“Yeah…” Raquelle moves her eyes down for a moment and then looks at the floor. “He was there, too…”
“That man was an initiator of the operation,” Frederick confesses. “He asked us to let him know about everything that had to do with you and Simon.”
“And you and Aunt Alicia told him that I had to meet Simon…”
“Right, when we told him about your meeting with that stinker, that man decided to go there with the police.”
“I got it. Hunter was also there. The man, who was in love with me for a long time and often visited us at home many times.”
“Yes, yes, I remember him. He is a very good man. I’m sorry you didn’t pay attention to him.”
“He's sweet and kind, but Lynwood is just a friend to me. And I’m grateful to him for helping me get rid of Ringer. And not refusing to help MacClife when that man asked him about it.”
“Terrence didn’t want you to know about his plan before that fateful meeting. And your aunt and I thought you shouldn't have known what we wanted to do.”
“I understood everything when Terrence said that he always knew that Aunt was here.”
“She went to his home and started a scandal. And he told her the truth and asked me and her for help.”
“I got it.”
“We helped me make his plan come true and told him everything we knew about Simon.”
“Yeah, I know.” Raquelle cracks a slight smile. “And I’m glad he came to help me… I must confess that I highly appreciate his actions. Anyway, he saved my life.”
“I get it…” Frederick nods. “And I think you realized that you shouldn't have counted on yourself. Heroes don’t always do something on their own. They often get help from one or another person. There are things that you would not do if you did not have someone’s help.”
“I know, Grandpa…”
Silence settles in the air for two seconds, after which Frederick breaks it, looking at Raquelle’s face while she is looking at her hands with sadness in her eyes:
“By the way, honey… Maybe, you tell me what actually happened between him and you now?”
“What happened between us?” Raquelle rounds her eyes, getting a little nervous.
“I guess you had a serious fight if you took your stuff and asked me to let you live at my home.”
“Erm, yeah… We really had a serious fight. I already told you that on the day I moved to your home.”
“I know. But I want to understand the reasons why you fought so much. You explained nothing to me. And your aunt doesn’t aim to talk to me about it.”
“Grandpa, let’s not talk about it now…” Raquelle suggests hesitantly. “You aren’t healthy yet… The nurse said you were not allowed to get excited.”
“Raquelle…”
“Please… Think of your health.”
“But I want to know why you fought with your boyfriend and decided to break up with him.”
“Why does it get you surprised?”
“Nobody leaves a beloved person for nothing. As well as nobody gets divorced from a husband and a wife. Something terrible was supposed to happen and make you leave Terrence.”
“We just realized we didn’t fit each other and no longer wanted to be together,” Raquelle shakes her head. “It happens that people can fall out of love and get cool… It happened to us… We understood that we rushed.”
“Yeah, maybe, it’s one of the reasons. But it’s not the main one that led to such a bad moment.”
“Grandfather…”
“I was very mad at Terrence and hated him. And he looked very scared when he had to explain everything. So, I’m making the conclusion that the man did something terrible that made you leave him.”
“Please, let’s not talk about the past,” Raquelle says softly. “What happened is over.”
“But I want to understand it! And help you! Maybe, I’ll be able to save your relationship. A breakup is not good. As bad as a divorce. In my time, people did not almost get divorced. You should’ve had very great reasons for that. For example, cheating.”
“Nothing will change if I tell you what happened between us.”
“Please, Granddaughter…”
“Everything’s decided, Grandpa,” Raquelle replies quietly. “Terrence and I broke up. Once and forever. There is nothing between us. We are already living our lives.”
“Ah, these young people…” Frederick sighs tiredly. “You date when you want. You get married when you want. You divorce when you want. That’s wrong! People used to treat relationships and marriage with greater responsibility and didn’t run to get divorced after every single fight.”
“I just don’t want to live with someone I don’t love. I don’t want to torture him anymore. Terrence deserves someone to be better than me. And I will meet someone one beautiful day.”
“Sweetie, please, tell me what happened,” Frederick says with pity in his eyes. “I should know the truth. To help you establish your relationship or say everything’s worthless, and you should really break up.”
“No, Grandfather…”
“I promise, sunshine, if you say Terrence did something terrible, I will do nothing to him. I will feel sorry for him at least because he saved you from Ringer.”
“But…”
“I just want to know the reason…”
Before answering, Raquelle sighs heavily and decides to tell just a part of what really happened between her and Terrence, hiding the main thing Frederick should not know.
“You see…” Raquelle pronounces thoughtfully. “The case is… Two weeks before I got the second letter from Simon, in which he let me know I had nobody to ask for help, he called Terrence.”
“Called Terrence?” Frederick frowns slightly. “Simon?”
“Yeah. And…” Raquelle starts to finger over nervously. “Ringer said I was allegedly cheating on Terrence.”
“But is that a lie?”
“Of course, a lie! I never cheated on him, even if I didn’t love him much. I never thought of looking for another man when being in a relationship.”
“And did Terrence get mad and believe it?”
“Yes. But it wasn’t the last call. Terrence confessed that Simon kept annoying him with calls and telling him about me cheating. He washed his brains so hard that MacClife eventually believed it.”
“So, did Ringer get you to fight?” Frederick concludes.
“He ruined my relationship with all my close people.”
“Stinker!”
“Yeah, but there’s something else.”
“What?”
“The case is that Terrence decided to call his mother after his first talk with Simon. And she started to talk about his own father, whom he didn’t love since childhood.”
“And what?”
“Mrs. MacClife began to persuade him to meet his father and just talk to him. But Terrence refused. And that plea got him mad, as well.”
“But why?” Frederick wonders. “Why doesn’t Terrence love his father?”
“I don’t know what happened between them, but his servant somehow told me Mr. MacClife beat his wife before the eyes of his son and left them on their own at some moment.”
“Wow…”
“It sounds like true, but who knows what actually happened.”
“It seems like said that talk made him mad.”
“I came to him after that talk to try to learn the reasons for his hatred for his father,” Raquelle sighs heavily. “And I made a mistake when I refused to leave by his plea. Terrence asked me to leave him alone, but I was obsessed with curiosity and kept asking him questions. And he… Went wild and… Screamed at me.”
Raquelle sniffs quietly and carefully wipes off tears under her eyes.
“Then I decided not to bother him for some time,” Raquelle confesses. “We didn’t talk for a few days… But as Terrence confessed, he wanted to come to me and apologize. However, Ringer started to press him and make sure about my betrayer. He made him wilder and wilder…”
“Wow…” Frederick shakes his head.
“And a few days later, Simon called Terrence’s mother and terrified her. He did it so much that doctors had to come to her. Thank God, everything was fine, but Terrence was excited and blamed me for being guilty of all the problems. I brought his mother to a heart attack and made everybody worried about their lives.”
“Jesus Christ…”
“But he was right…” Raquelle sniffs quietly. “I’m partly guilty of this situation… I put everybody in danger, fought with my friend, fought with my boyfriend, with whom I lived more or less well even if I didn’t love him… Made you worry about me, and literally brought you to the hospital.”
“My girl…”
While Frederick softly caresses her hand, Raquelle nervously starts to pull down a sleeve of her denim jacket.
“Nothing changed for the next few days,” Raquelle confesses. “We sometimes fought, snapped, and dreamed of breaking up more and more. But somehow, we had such a strong fight that…”
At this moment, Raquelle pinches her lips and tries to hold her tears down, not wishing to tell Frederick that Terrence dared to raise a hand on her.
“What?” Frederick asks with a scare in his eyes. “What happened?”
Even though Raquelle has never hidden anything from Frederick, she decides not to tell him what became the last drop of her patience that made her leave the house that she lived in.
“That I took my stuff and moved into your apartment,” Raquelle says a little hesitantly and bites her lip slightly. “On that day, I… Heard so many charges and… I didn’t want to take it anymore. So… When nobody was home, I quickly took my stuff, got in my car, and left.”
“That’s how?” Frederick pronounces surprisingly.
“I was taking it for a long time. But those words became the last drop of my patience.”
“What kind of words?” Frederick frowns slightly.
“Insults, humiliations, blames for being a bad girlfriend and terrible friend, granddaughter, and niece… He even threatened to ruin my life and reputation…”
“Come on?”
“That’s why I left him. And I no longer want to have a deal with him.”
Frowning much stronger, Frederick looks at Raquelle much closer, starting to think the girl is hiding something. He believes that something terrible happened as the girl holds tears down and even shakes slightly.
“Did you tell me everything?” Frederick asks. “Or did you not say something?”
“No, Grandpa, I told you everything,” Raquelle protests, looking at Frederick with sadness in her eyes. “You asked me to tell what happened, and I did it.”
“Listen, I know that when a husband insults and humiliates a girl it's a serious reason to break up. It means that a man does not respect the woman he chooses. But something tells me there is something else that impacted your wish to break up with him.”
“Yeah, right, not only that… But also the fact that we no longer love each other…”
“Don’t you really love? Or do you want to make you and me sure about it?”
“Now I understand we didn’t love each other too much. I understand we rushed to start an affair… We rushed to start living together. I actually wanted to date nobody.” Raquelle swallows up nervously. “I wanted to stay a single girl for two more years before deciding to start to think about my affairs. But it happened otherwise… Sadly, Terrence and I confused passion and love and weren’t ready to take care of each other and be together in good and bad moments. And I… I listened to you and Aunt Alicia. You insisted that I started an affair that I didn’t mind.”
“Alright, if you don’t want to talk about it, I will not insist. But I really want you to hide nothing from me and be honest with me. You and I have never had secrets.”
“I’m honest with you, Grandpa,” Raquelle says softly. “I told you everything that happened between us.”
“I believe. But I guess there’s something else that you, Alicia, and Terrence don’t want to say.”
“Grandfather…”
“Alright, alright, I will not make you tell me all the truth. But remember, someday I will be back to this talk and make you call the reason for your fight with your boyfriend. I need to know if I should be worried if you had to talk to that man again.”
“Don’t worry, Grandpa,” Raquelle replies with a slight smile. “I think we will no longer fight like a cat and a dog and quietly let each other know that we really broke up. I will tell him I will not take anything from him: no money, no houses, no cars.”
“I see that you calmed down a little and no longer say bad things about him.”
“Yeah, maybe, we couldn’t stand each other at first. But before the nurse came to me to tell me about you, we had had quite a good talk. I think it was good. I even got hope that… We would remain friends after the breakup. And say goodbye to each other without a scandal.”
“Anyway, you’d have time to talk about everything and make the right decision that anyone of you would not regret.”
“Yeah, sure,” Raquelle cracks a smile.
Silence settles in the air for some time, after which Frederick takes Raquelle’s hands with a shy smile.
“Anyway, I’m very glad everything is over now,” Frederick says confidently. “And I hope you’ll stop being as depressed as you were some time ago.”
“You’re right, my main problem is solved forever,” Raquelle smiles slightly.
“How do you feel?”
“Much better.”
“Good, then!”
“You know, without you and Aunt by my side, I wouldn’t have gotten through all of that and would’ve gone insane. I’m so glad my prayers were heard. When I wanted my auntie Alicia to be near me. She left everything in London and came here just for me.”
“I'm madly grateful to her for arriving here, helping me take care of you, and supporting you.”
“Me too. She could’ve stayed in London, but she decided to come.”
“And I will be grateful to Alicia for changing Terrence’s mind, washing his brain a little, and making him help you somehow.”
“Do you think she made him do that?” Raquelle frowns slightly.
“Quite possible. She told me she started such a great scandal with MacClife that he got white from fear and could barely speak. Got so scared that he immediately told her everything and then began to beg her and me for help in your salvation.”
“I’d like to think he did it at his will.”
“Anyway, that man didn’t stay aside. Of course, I wasn’t happy about his company and was a little mad because he tried to become good so hard. But for you, I made myself bite the bullet and agree to help him.”
“What do you think about him?” Raquelle asks hesitantly. “Did he really do that from fear of you and Aunt? Or is he really regretting and wishing to fix his mistake?”
“No thinking about my anger at him, I believe he is regretting it,” Frederick replies thoughtfully. “Because he did care about what was happening to you. Terrence agreed with his acquaintance, organized the operation, and went to the meeting with you and Simon along with the police. And the fact that he kept his word already makes me respect that guy.”
“If I’d known he was doing that only because of fear of my family, I would’ve pissed him off.”
“Now you shouldn’t think about it. The important thing is that he came to help. He saved you from that stinker and gave you a chance to live your life and get rid of your heavy burden.”
“Yup, you’re right…” Raquelle cracks a smile. “Thinking about it doesn’t make sense… The important thing is that everything’s over, and I’m able to forget the nightmare that was happening to me for two months.”
Silence settles in the air for two seconds, during which Frederick moves his eyes to his hands but then glances at the window in his room, thinking about something not very nice, judging the sadness he gets in his eyes that are a little lackluster due to his age.
“By the way, what happened to Simon after everything was over?” Frederick asks.
“The policemen opened the fire when we ended up at the root,” Raquelle replies with sadness in her eyes. “And… At some moment, he just lost his balance and… He fell off the height of a five-floor building.”
“What? Simon fell of the root?”
“Yes. The falling was cruel.”
“How’s he doing now?”
“The doctors say he might remain a disabled man. They believe he got a lot of serious fractures. His spine suffered much more.”
“I guess it will happen,” Frederick shrugs. “If you have serious problems with your back, you can think you’re confined to a wheelchair. You can do nothing with it.”
“I know… Nobody doubts he would do.”
“Yeah, but what’s gonna happen to him? Will he get arrested after everything he has done? Or will he be walking free even if he is released from the hospital?”
“No, he won’t do. The police promised to do their best to put him in jail for many years. Moreover, as it turned out, Ringer has done a lot of crimes for his whole life.”
“A lot of crimes?”
“There is much about it, including fraud. But the most important thing is not that but…”
Raquelle sighs heavily and inclines her head, finding the courage to say something.
“What?” Frederick frowns slightly.
“I’m not sure if I should say it right now, but…” Raquelle pronounces hesitantly and exhales sharply. “The case is… My parents didn’t die in the way we used to think.”
“What do you mean? I don’t understand you.”
“The car accident was provoked on purpose, Grandfather Frederick. Simon was the one to do that.”
Frederick moves his widely open eyes on Raquelle, not being able to believe what he heard.
“What?” Frederick gets horrified. “What do you mean, Simon provoked the car accident, in which your parents died?”
“Yes,” Raquelle throws her hands up. “Mom and Dad because of him, not them. As you and Aunt were told by the police.”
“But how? How did he do that?”
“He broke my father’s car when he and Mother were going somewhere. It seems like he cut a brake line…”
“A brake line? Cut off?”
“Dad couldn’t stop it and crushed the truck parked on the highway at the high speed.”
“Jesus Christ…” Frederick shakes his head.
“Yeah, there’s something else that we thought was wrongly right…”
“What?”
“As it turned out, my parents didn’t get divorced before dying in the car accident.”
“Didn’t they get divorced? Do you want to say…”
“They thought about it when they started to have fights and misunderstandings. But then something changed, and Mother and Father reconciled and changed their mind about a divorce.”
“Wait, wait, Raquelle, I don’t understand you,” Frederick jabs. “How did you get this thought?”
“I’m not lying. My parents didn’t get divorced.”
“Why didn’t they do? They told your aunt and me they no longer wanted to be together. I remember there was a moment when they even began to argue about the division of property and a question about your living with one of them.”
“Yeah, but the case didn’t lead to their divorce.”
“They were already divorced at the moment of their death. But the fact that they ended up in the same car on that day because they couldn’t take each other is still a mystery to me.”
“They went somewhere to have fun on that day.”
“But how does Simon know it?”
“I will explain everything.” Raquelle tucks a strand of hair behind her ear. “As it turned out, Simon was in love with my mother and couldn’t forgive her for choosing my father over him.”
“Come on?” Frederick wonders. “Did Simon know Elizabeth?”
“He confirmed everything. He said he loved her and wanted to be with her all his life, but Father conquered Mother’s heart, and she chose him. Ringer tried to make Mother come to him many times and make her sure that he would accept her, even with the child. I mean myself. And he got the hope that it would happen when my parents wanted to get divorced. But one day, he saw them together and realized that they reconciled. And then Simon got wild and provoked the car accident, in which my mother and father died.”
“Where could your mother meet him?”
“He said he saw her among the new students at the college where he went to study.”
“Wait, but if Simon knew Elizabeth, he was supposed to live in England.”
“Simon was born and lived in Cambridge. In England. His mother died early, and I can say nothing about his father. Ringer was raised by his stepfather, who died after a continuous illness.”
“Are you sure he provoked that car accident?”
“I am. I’m gonna say more, he provoked that car accident and decided to take it out on me.”
“On you?”
“That’s why he started the scandal that happened one and a half years ago,” Raquelle shakes her head. “That was revenge, Grandpa, his revenge for the love my mother rejected.”
“He confessed it?”
“Yes. He told me everything. And I didn’t believe it at first, but it’s the truth, unfortunately…”
“Oh, Jesus Christ…”
Frederick starts to understand the meaning of Raquelle’s words, which make him really shocked, much more nervous, and much whiter. The man shakes his head, looking at his granddaughter, while she softly caresses his hand with tears in her eyes.
“My gosh, is that really true?” Frederick asks with horror in his eyes. “Did that stinker have to do with the death of my son and daughter-in-law and your parents?”
“I know it’s hard to believe it, but we have to,” Raquelle says with sadness in her eyes. “We have to admit that we believed the lie and didn’t know what actually happened.”
“I can’t believe it… I can’t.”
“But it’s the truth. Ringer just went crazy from love for my mother and couldn’t take the fact that she preferred the other man. He was like an obsessed maniac that was chasing my parents since he learned about their affair. And as Simon said, he even wanted to kidnap me to mock me.”
“Kidnap you?”
“Yes. And when he came to my carriage and took me in his arms, Dad attacked him with fists.”
“Do you remember that?”
“No, I was too young. A baby.”
“My God, if it’s so, your parents should have reported him to the police.”
“They did, but nothing changed. Vice versa, when the police went to his home and showed the restraining order, Simon went wild and swore to destroy my father and mother.”
“Gosh, how awful…” Frederick closes his mouth with a hand and shakes his head. “Poor Elizabeth, poor Jackson…”
“I guess it was one of the reasons why Mom and Dad wanted to divorce,” Raquelle assumes. “They just couldn’t take that tension. Either Mother started to go crazy, or Father got sick of living under the pressure.”
“If they didn’t really divorce before their death, I can understand how Elizabeth and Jackson ended up in the same car on the day of their death.”
“That stinker deprived me of my parents…” Raquelle sighs heavily and sniffs quietly. “He made me feel lonely and needed for nobody.”
“And the important thing is that he wanted to destroy you.”
“I can’t believe Ringer did all of those bad things just because he loved my mother and wanted to take revenge on her for leaving him. By using her, Father and me…”
“Yeah, I couldn’t imagine anything like that…” Frederick replies with sadness in his eyes. “And I didn’t even know Simon was chasing my son and your father…”
“He never told you that?”
“Nope.” Frederick sighs heavily. “Jackson didn’t almost tell me what was happening in his life… Your father always said I shouldn’t have meddled in his life. He must’ve dealt with everything without other people’s pieces of advice. Even when he wanted to get divorced from your mother…”
“Did he and Mother tell you or Aunt nothing about the cancellation of their divorce?” Raquelle wonders.
“No, Raquelle…” Frederick shrugs. “After their relationship got worse, your mother and father became very secretive and said nothing to anyone about their problems. Even your late Grandfather Timothy and Grandmother Tiffany knew nothing.”
“But why did they say nothing about reconciling? You always got on well and rarely fought.”
“Right, our family was very friendly. We were happy with your birth, like children. And we literally fought for the right to spend time with you.” Frederick smiles slightly with sadness in his eyes. “But those fights made everything worse… Because of them, your mother got estranged from her parents and fought with her sister because of stupid things. And my son became secretive. But sometimes he could visit me for a cup of coffee and confess that he didn’t want to get divorced from your mother, whom he loved deep inside. But your father refused to accept advice and said I shouldn’t have meddled.”
“Wrong.”
“Yeah. Now I understand I should’ve expressed determination and toughness. Instead of being so soft and quiet. Maybe, everything would’ve been otherwise… Maybe, I would’ve done something to save their marriage.”
“And Mother should’ve told her family about Simon chasing her. I’m sure they would’ve thought up something and saved her family from that sick man. She shouldn’t have been silent and thought she’d deal with him alone.”
“I know that dead people can’t be judged, but she did the wrong thing. By being silent, Elizabeth defeated herself and her husband. And she almost sent you to another world… If she’d said everything to her father and mother, they would’ve found a way to save her, Jackson, and you.”
“That car accident wouldn’t have happened, and my parents would’ve probably gone on a date or somewhere else. We would’ve lived happily.”
“Wow… I would’ve been surprised why they ended up in the same car… But I think now everything’s back in the right place. I still can’t believe it, but Simon’s words seem to be true.”
“Yeah… Right…”
“Gosh, I can’t believe that stinker deprived me of my only son and daughter-in-law and deprived you of your father and mother…” Frederick shakes his head with a heavy sigh.
“I know, Grandpa…” Raquelle puts her head on Frederick’s shoulder with sadness in her eyes. “But I would like not to think about it… I’d actually love to forget everything that’s lately happened.”
“Ah, Raquelle, what’s happened in our lives will always stay in our memory,” Frederick says thoughtfully, starting to caress Raquelle’s head softly. “We can’t strike out what we’d like to forget. Even if these memories give us great pain…”
“I know, Grandpa…” Raquelle replies, sighing with sadness in her eyes. “But sometimes I wish I had something that would erase your memories. Erase your bad memories.”
“Everyone wants it, my sunshine. Everyone…”
Silence settles in the air for a few seconds. And then a serious man in a white robe enters the room where Raquelle and Frederick are now after he knocks at the door quietly.
“Hello,” the man pronounces gently, closes the door, comes with one of many apparatuses, and checks something. “How are you feeling?”
“It seems like, good…” Frederick shrugs. “Much better than before…”
“Nothing bothers you?”
“Nope, I just feel a mild weakness.”
“I see…” the doctor pronounces thoughtfully, examining the numbers of some machines and writing some data on the paper he is holding. “So, the numbers are kind of normal… Blood pressure, heartbeat… Everything is stable…”
“As stable as the coming of day and night!”
“M-m-m, since you still have a sense of humor, you will get well soon,” the doctor replies cheerfully with a shy laugh.
“Trying to think positively.”
“That’s good you keep optimism. Some people lack it so badly.”
While Frederick shrugs with a shy smile, the doctor moves his eyes to Raquelle and looks at her closely through his glasses.
“Oh, as I understand, are you the granddaughter of Mr. Cameron?” the doctor specifies. “I was told you were supposed to be in this room.”
“Yes, this is me,” Raquelle nods.
“Raquelle Cameron? Right?”
“Yes.”
“I completely understand that you worry about your grandfather very much and would like to stay with him for more time. But, unfortunately, I have to ask you to leave the room. Mr. Cameron needs to have a rest.”
“Alright, I get it,” Raquelle shrugs with sadness in her eyes.
“I think you can come back here tomorrow and spend much more time with your grandfather.”
“So, I will visit him tomorrow then.” Raquelle leans toward Frederick and kisses him on the cheek to say goodbye. “Bye, Grandpa. See you tomorrow.”
“See you tomorrow, sweetie,” Frederick pronounces softly. “Have a good rest and take care of yourself.”
“Okay.”
Raquelle slowly gets up from the bed and wants to leave the room, but the doctor calls the memory about a wish to tell her something.
“Oh, excuse me, Ms. Cameron…” the doctor pronounces thoughtfully.
“Yeah?” Raquelle turns on the doctor.
“Could you stay for two minutes?”
“Erm, yeah, sure. What’s wrong?”
“I would like to talk to you about something that has to do with Mr. Cameron.”
“Something bad?”
“No, no, nothing bad, do not worry.”
“Alright. I am listening to you. Speak, please.”
“Let's go out of the room and talk in the hall…”
The doctor does a gesture to let Raquelle go forward, and she nods and silently leaves the hospital room. Then the man turns to Frederick and says confidently:
“But you have a rest and get the energy, Mr. Cameron. Before getting ready to sleep, I will check you again and examine your state again.”
“Alright,” Frederick nods.
The doctor turns around and leaves Frederick’s room after Raquelle, closing the door and leaving the old man alone. Then the girl looks at the doctor with a little scare in her eyes and locks her fingers tightly, getting horrified from just thinking he would like to say something terrible to her.
“So, what would you like to talk to me about?” Raquelle asks hesitantly.
“Oh, please, do not worry,” the doctor pronounces softly, noticing that Raquelle looks very tense. “I am not going to say anything that would make you shocked.”
“Really?”
“I just want to give you some pieces of advice.”
“Pieces of advice?” Raquelle frowns slightly. “What kind of pieces of advice?”
“Relax, Ms. Cameron, I am not going to tell you that your grandfather's health might get worse,” the doctor replies confidently. “Vice versa, I am sure he will get well quickly if he gets the right care and medicaments.”
“But what’s wrong, then?”
“I just want to ask you not to make him nervous, at least for a week or two. And to take care of him. I think you understand that your grandfather needs someone from his close people. The doctors did their best, but then everything depends on him and what people around him do for him.”
“Yes, of course,” Raquelle nods. “I understand everything… Do not worry about it.”
“By the way, as I know, doctors had brought here another man before they brought your grandfather here.”
“Erm, how do you know it?”
“The police told us what happened and warned that the man might be very dangerous.”
“Ah… I see.”
“They said he tried to kill you and threatened you…”
“Yes, it’s true,” Raquelle nods. “A couple of policemen went here with doctors and him to wait for the news and not to let him run away.”
“Yes, yes, we talked to them. They are on the first floor and waiting for news.”
“Do you know something about that man? How is he doing now?”
“The surgery is still continuing,” the doctor shrugs. “But after he got serious problems with his spine, it means only one thing – a lifelong physical inability.”
“Alright… So, will nothing help him?”
“Most likely. Because a spine is a carcass that holds your whole body. If it gets hurt, a person will not be able to walk and take great loads.”
“I got it…”
Silence settles in the air for two seconds, during which the doctor looks at Raquelle closely and frowns slightly, while she glances aside.
“You know, I would recommend that you go to your home and clean yourself up,” the doctor advises confidently. “You have nothing to do here. So, you can go and have a rest.”
“Alright, I shall do this,” Raquelle promises quietly.
“Although your grandfather needs a rest, I made an exception for you by allowing you to visit him. But nobody else can enter his hospital room. At least until tomorrow. Neither the woman I talked to nor the man you came here with.”
“Anyway, thank you so much for letting me visit him, at least for some time.”
“I did that for sympathy for you.”
“Yeah?”
“I was told you looked too bad and were definitely too exhausted and frightened. My heart jammed, and I decided you should’ve been with him at least for a few minutes.”
“Thank you so much for your kindness again.”
The doctor smiles silently and shyly, then pinches his lips slightly and swallows up nervously, still looking at Raquelle closely.
“By the way, excuse me for asking you an inappropriate question…” the doctor says hesitantly. “Are you the famous model, who suffered from getting slandered by someone?”
“Erm…” Raquelle stutters, being surprised that the doctor became the first one to recognize her as the famous model that everyone forgot a long time ago. “Yeah… It’s me…”
“I’m not into the show business, but I saw your face on the covers of some magazines and watched some shows with you.”
“By the way, the man, who is getting the surgery now, is the one, who slandered me somehow.”
“Seriously?” the doctor wonders truly. “Oh, gosh…”
“I recently found out that I was suffering because of him after almost my birth. He ruined my whole life and deprived me of everything I had somehow.”
“Oh, I'm very sorry about what happened.”
“Thanks, but I can change nothing, unfortunately. What happened is over.”
“Anyway, you should not give up. You should not let anything break you.”
“I’m trying.”
“Remember, no matter what someone says about you, I will not believe it.”
“Thank you so much,” Raquelle thanks with a slight smile. “You spread hope inside me.”
“Fear nothing and go to your goal until the end,” the doctor insists with his head proudly raised. “You’ve always followed this rule – so, don’t break it now.”
“Alright, I will try!” Raquelle nods.
The male doctor smiles slightly and glances at the papers in his hands.
“Oh, excuse me, I have to go,” the doctor says thoughtfully. “I have many other patients that I should check.”
“Yeah, sure,” Raquelle pronounces quietly.
“Stay happy. If you need to ask me something about your grandfather, you can find me at the office #678. My helpers, who are always aware of my business and can say something to you, are always there.”
“Thanks, I got it.”
The doctor turns around and quickly goes somewhere, leaving Raquelle alone. The words of this man gave the girl some hope that not everything was lost and helped her get a little better. It makes her understand that she should really not give up and wait for the worst things. But as it turned out, it’s not as easy to do as to say…
Although Simon will no longer dare to hurt her, Raquelle does not feel quiet. Yes, she is madly happy the story of Ringer is over once and forever, and the reasons for his revenge are clear enough. But the girl is upset that she has problems with her relationship with her friends. And some problems with her career make the girl think of quitting it and becoming a common person.
Anyway, the words of the doctor of Frederick make her understand that she should think better before doing something. Raquelle often does something without thinking and then pays much for her stubbornness and wish to do what she wants. She understands she must turn on her brain this time and think of everything very well to make the only right decision that she will never regret.
***
While Raquelle is next to Frederick and talking to his doctor, Terrence is still in the hospital. More specifically, in the hall. He is expecting to meet Alicia, who is about to come here. The man falls into his thoughts too deeply that he does not notice that quite much time goes by before the excited woman shows up from afar, while she looks around, sees the familiar black-haired man sitting in the hall all alone and thinking about something and comes to him quickly.
“Terrence!” Alicia pronounces excitedly.
Terrence instantly reacts to his name, raising his head up, and sees Alicia, who looks terribly scared and excited.
“Alicia!” Terrence exclaims and sharply gets up on his feet. “Oh, finally, you’ve come! I started to worry and wanted to call you.”
“Sorry that I didn’t come to you and Raquelle and warm that I wanted to go to a pharmacy to buy tablets,” Alicia apologizes gently. “I just warned the doctor that he could talk to you and my niece about his condition, and then left quickly.”
“It’s alright, I completely understand.”
“Say, is everything really fine with Mr. Cameron, as you said on the phone?”
“Yeah, the doctors say the worst things are over.”
“Oh, thank God…” Alicia calms down a little.
“Of course, it’s too early to say about a full recovery, but there is a great chance to get well soon.”
“And how’s Raquelle? How did she get through what happened to her? How did she accept the news about her grandfather? What happened to Simon?”
“Let’s sit down, and I will tell you everything…”
Alicia nods and sits on the sofa, and then Terrence joins her.
“So what?” Alicia pronounces excitedly. “What about my niece and that stinker?”
“Raquelle is fine now, even if she looks very upset and depressed,” Terrence replies quietly. “The policemen had to do their best to find and catch Simon, who almost killed her. But fortunately, everything ended well, and your niece didn’t suffer.”
“Oh, I’m so glad my girl is fine…” Alicia replies with a slight smile.
“We did everything we could.”
“And Simon? What happened to him?”
“He had been driven here before Mr. Cameron was. He fell off the root of the five-floor building and got many serious traumas. The policemen opened the fire, but he always dodged the bullets. Though, at some moment, he lost his balance and started to fall.”
“Jesus Christ…”
“And not to make you worried, I will not tell you what that stinker wanted to do to her.”
“I’m even afraid to imagine that…” Alicia shakes her head.
“I can only tell you that she fainted after everything had ended.”
“Fainted?”
“It’s not amazing. She tortured herself for such a long time. And today, she had to experience that strong stress. So, here’s the result.”
“Did she wake up quickly?”
“Not quiet. But we managed to wake her up before the doctors came. Though, they examined her, worked on some of her wounds, and asked if she wanted to go to the hospital for the examination. However, Raquelle declined it.”
“Oh, my poor girl…”
“Don’t think about it. The important thing is that your niece is safe and sound.”
“Would that stinker survive after the falling?”
“Most likely, yes,” Terrence shrugs. “But he might stay a disabled man until the end of his life because his spine suffered much more.”
“What do the doctors say?”
“As far as I know, the surgery is still continuing. But I think the result is clear… If something happens to his back, he will never be able to walk.”
“You know, Terrence, I know wishing someone evil is bad… But I will be very glad if that man stayed disabled. He’s done too many bad things to all of us. Too much pain…”
“Yeah, I agree… And I must confess that I am also happy about this end to the events. That jerkoff asked for trouble and got what he deserved.”
“At least, now Ringer will no longer do his dirty things, being confined to a wheelchair.”
“And I’m very glad about it. You can be absolutely quiet about your niece’s life. Nothing threatens her anymore.”
“I know. And thank God, everything was over.”
Silence settles in the air for two seconds, after which Terrence bites his lip slightly and looks at Alicia hesitantly.
“By the way, did you know Simon was dating Elizabeth, Raquelle’s mother?” Terrence asks carefully.
“What?” Alicia rounds her eyes. “Elizabeth? My sister and Raquelle’s mother? She was dating Simon?”
“A long time ago. Many years ago. When she was young…”
“No… No, it can’t be true… How could my sister know that stinker?”
“But Simon confessed that,” Terrence shrugs. “He said he was trying to take revenge on Raquelle because her mother left him, preferring the father of your niece over him.”
“No… I don’t believe it.”
“I’m going to say more, Simon was the one to blame for the car accident, in which Elizabeth and Jackson died.”
“Oh, no…” Alicia closes her mouth with a hand. “How awful… God… I can’t believe my sister got in touch with that stinker…”
“As he said, they met at the college where she decided to study,” Terrence confesses.
“But how? Why?”
“I guess she was dating him secretly and said nothing to anyone.”
“No…” Alicia shakes her head. “Gosh, Terrence, are you telling the truth? Did my younger sister really get in touch with that terrible man and fall in love with him?”
“It’s all the truth, Alicia,” Terrence nods with sadness in his eyes. “Ask Raquelle if you don’t believe me. He told her everything when they met.”
“I can’t believe it, I can’t…” Alicia closes her mouth with both hands. “But what did Elizabeth find about him? What got her so attracted to him? Ringer couldn’t be compared with Jackson!”
“It’s hard to say,” Terrence throws his hands up. “But Simon said they loved each other very much, but while he had to go to Cambridge and take care of his stepfather, who got seriously ill.”
“Simon lived in Cambridge? He is an English man?”
“Yes. But he came to London to go to study at the college.”
“My gosh…”
“While he was busy with taking care of his stepfather, who died anyway, your sister met Raquelle’s father, got married to him, and gave birth to the daughter.”
“And did he choose the murder of Raquelle’s parents to take revenge?”
“Exactly! Ringer was chasing them everywhere and even planned to kidnap your niece when she was a baby.”
“Kidnap? Kidnap my Raquelle?”
“To drive them crazy. But he said that if Elizabeth came back to him, he would accept Raquelle as his daughter and educate her. But your sister refused to be with him and said she loved only her husband.”
“But if it was the truth, they should’ve gone to the police.”
“They did. When somehow Ringer came to the baby Raquelle and just took her in his arms, Jackson attacked him with fists, and then Elizabeth and he reported to the police. And when the police went to his home with the restraining order, he lost his patience. He swore he would revenge on the Camerons for the rejected love and first kill the parents of the little girl and then get off Raquelle when she grew up.”
“Oh, gosh…”
“Ringer wanted to give up on his plans when their neighbor told him Raquelle’s parents wanted to get divorced. He believed Elizabeth would come back to him and was ready to forget everything. But it didn’t happen. Somehow, Simon saw her and Jackson together and realized that they reconciled. And he decided to kill them. He quickly found a way to do this.”
“Provoke that car accident?”
“Yes, he broke the brake of the car of Raquelle’s father, in which he and Elizabeth wanted to go somewhere together. And it later provoked the accident, in which both of them died without a chance to survive.”
“Oh, my gosh…”
Alicia shakes her head and sighs heavily with dumbfounded eyes.
“Why?” Alicia wonders in a little shaking voice. “Why did it happen to them? Did my sister and brother-in-law do something bad to die in such circumstances?”
“Elizabeth wasn’t just lucky to stand in his way,” Terrence replies thoughtfully. “He was obsessed with love for her and wanted to see her with no other man. Either him or nobody.”
“My God, why did Elizabeth speak to that stinker and date him?”
“Who knows, Alicia…”
“So, it happened that… Simon was chasing the family of my niece for many years? Was he planning to destroy her for a long time?”
“Sort of.”
“My gosh, it’s insane…”
“By the way, didn’t you and your parents really know they were dating?”
“No, Terrence, I swear I knew nothing,” Alicia sniffs quietly. “The parents of her and me didn’t know that Elizabeth was dating Simon. We always thought she just walked with her friends, went to study at the college, and study at someone’s home…”
Alicia sighs heavily with sadness in her eyes.
“But as it turned out, she was just destroying herself slowly but rightly…” Alicia adds. “My God… I would’ve never thought such a shy, decent, and educated girl would pay attention to that bastard.”
“If the police had paid much more attention to the investigation, you would’ve known the real reason for the car accident and brought the guilty man to jail many years ago.”
“But why did they lie to us? Why did nobody want to find out the real reason for the car accident?”
“The investigation could be suspended because of Simon. Who, for example, could’ve agreed with some familiar people not to let that crime be solved.”
“Oh…” Alicia sighs heavily. “Honestly, we were so overwhelmed by Jackson and Elizabeth’s death that we didn’t pay attention to anything and didn’t find out anything to prove something and put someone in prison. We were told those people were guilty of the car accident because they were not watching the road and allegedly fighting. So, we believed them. And we thought it was true for ages.”
“And didn’t you know the parents of Raquelle change their mind about getting divorced?”
“Yeah, what a twist…”
“I don’t know how they managed to save their marriage, but they reconciled. But as I said, Simon thought Elizabeth would leave Jackson, come back to Ringer, and introduce her daughter to him to let him replace her father. But that man could be dreaming about it.”
“Oh, gosh, I can’t believe that nightmare started just because Simon decided to take revenge for the fact that my sister left him,” Alicia shakes her head and runs her hands over her face. “Was he so obsessed with her that he was ready to do any crazy things?”
“It seems like it’s true…” Terrence replies thoughtfully. “But I think they would’ve told you about their reconciliation if they hadn’t died. And expressed a wish to make their relationship with you that got a little worse much better.”
“Oh, if our parents had known everything, they would’ve called all their familiars and protected Lizzy from that stinker. Mother and Father had many good familiars. Those people could do much for them for their old friendship.” Alicia sniffs quietly. “I’m sure Ringer would’ve gone to prison for many years and paid for what he did. And Elizabeth and Jackson wouldn’t have thought of a divorce, wouldn’t have fought with their family, and wouldn’t have died in such tragic circumstances… Maybe, you and Raquelle would’ve been happy, too. You would’ve met her mother and father… And everybody would’ve lived happily after…”
“If Simon hadn’t pressed on me and told me about the betrayer of your niece, against whom he was turning me so hard, Raquelle and I wouldn’t have broken up,” Terrence assumes thoughtfully. “And we would’ve tried to fix the mistakes we made.”
“I think you two wouldn’t reject the help of my sister and brother-in-law if they’d been alive and aware of your problem. Those people would’ve surely helped you solve your problems and get much happier.”
“I’m very sorry it all happened, and you can’t bring those people back. But at least, this nightmare is over. Forever. Luckily, Raquelle has been saved from that sick stinker, who almost brought her to death.”
“You’re right,” Alicia nods with sadness in her eyes. “Unfortunately, we can’t bring dead people back. They’ll be alive in our memories. But I’m glad this many-years nightmare has finally ended. And now we know what actually happened many years ago.”
“You’re right…” Terrence pronounces thoughtfully. “Absolutely…”
Terrence inclines his head and thinks about something. Alicia watches him for two seconds, completely understanding why the man got sad.
“Are you sad because everything is over between you and Raquelle?” Alicia asks carefully.
“I already stopped hoping for something good,” Terrence confesses without emotions. “I will always love Raquelle and wish her the best. But I clearly understand that I will never get back the time when we were happy.”
“It’s been not too much time since your fight. I have told you and shall say that she will never forgive you so quickly.”
“No matter how much time is gone, nothing will be changed.”
“I think she could forgive you. Even if you have behaved not very well in the past few weeks.”
“No, Alicia…” Terrence sighs quietly. “It’s impossible. I don’t count on anything and don’t believe in a miracle.”
“Didn’t anything change for the better when you had a talk?”
“I don’t think so. Yes, Raquelle and I talked well, and I supported her as I could while waiting for the news about Mr. Cameron. But it doesn’t change anything.”
“At least, the ice has been broken.”
“You know… Trouble unites people… But for how long? Until it gets solved?”
“C’mon, Terrence… Did you really think being saved from Ringer would instantly make her forgive you, just like in a beautiful fairytale? No, my dear, you should try and wait for her to realize she would be able to forget and forgive you.”
“I did it because I thought it was my duty. The duty that I should’ve done from the beginning.”
“And you did the right thing. You did the right thing by doing something and not waiting for her to come to you.”
“You know…” Terrence swallows up nervously. “I’m starting to understand that I really love her. And… I don’t wanna lose her. After I almost lost that girl. Maybe… I didn’t appreciate her the way I should’ve done. But now I’m very sorry about it. I’m sorry about getting too busy with me and my wish to build a musical career.”
“We appreciate something when we lose it. To understand it, you should get over a loss.”
“Since she left home, it’s been just unbearable for me to live alone. I am missing her. Maybe, we lived like neighbors, but I felt good anyway. At least, Raquelle and I never thought. Never.”
“I understand you, my dear. I understand.”
“I know everything is over. But… I still can’t believe it’s real. I don’t wanna believe it…”
“At heart, my girl doesn’t want it, either,” Alicia replies softly. “But she doesn’t confess that. And maybe, Raquelle also started to realize that she really loved you. She is sorry about not behaving in the way she should’ve done. I mean, she said it once.”
“No, Alicia, it’s not the truth,” Terrence protests with sadness in his eyes. “Raquelle never loved me. She dated me just because Mr. Cameron and you wanted her to meet a man and always told her that a girl must have lived with a husband and children.”
“If she were indifferent to you, there wouldn’t have been talks about you and jealousy of you and other girls. Raquelle would’ve shown emotions. When someone feels something for another, he or she always has some emotions: good or bad. It doesn’t matter.”
“Who knows. But I think she’s determined to keep moving on. Moreover, Raquelle actually wants to leave this place after Mr. Cameron gets better… Erm…”
“What?” Alicia wonders truly. “To leave? My gosh, Terrence, why do you think so, Terrence? Who told you Raquelle was gonna leave?”
“She did it. Your niece had told me everything before the nurse came to us to tell us about Mr. Cameron’s condition. She added that she had no wish to continue her modeling career. She got sick of that and wanted to suspend it first or actually quit it if she realized it would be better.”
“Hm, she told me nothing about it…” Alicia frowns slightly. “Maybe, she is obsessed with emotions? Because she’s never talked with Mr. Cameron and me about her plans for the future and said she wants to leave.”
“I don’t know… Maybe, she told me about it because I told her the same?”
“Do you also want to leave?”
“Yes, I would like to leave for a while…”
“Really?”
“I want to decide what to do. I’ve got great problems with my career. The scandals that have to do with my name have made my reputation much worse. Many people don’t want to work with me. I didn’t almost talk about it, but everything has been too bad in the past few years. That’s why I stopped acting in movies so often.”
“But you can fix everything.”
“I would like to try. But if I don’t make my business better and don’t get into the musical world and record at least a couple of songs, I’ll have no choice but to quit my career. And… Start a new life. Somewhere far from here.”
“But you can regret it.”
“What could I do?” Terrence shrugs. “Maybe, I have no choice. Maybe, I have to start a new life. Forget who I am, who I loved, and what I did… Become the new Terrence MacClife. The one that nobody knows. To find a place where nobody has ever heard about me and live there like a common person.”
“But, Terrence, you’ve got everything here: home, work, family…” Alicia notices with sadness in her eyes. “Think at least of your mother! Would Mrs. MacClife be left and forgotten if you leave this place?”
“Don’t worry, I will not forget her or disappear.”
“Besides, you’ll have to get a new job. Your money will be gone early or late.”
“Don’t think if I can do anything. I was raised in an atmosphere, in which getting money was a hard thing. If I have to do this, I am ready to work too hard. And I know I would get much less money than I got for shootings in movies.”
“Do you wanna run away?” Alicia asks with sadness in her eyes. “Let things happen as they want? It’s wrong!”
“I will do this only if I don’t manage to solve my business.”
“Oh, Terrence, I don’t recognize you. What happened to you? You were such a confident man, who never doubted anything and feared nothing! What’s happening now?”
“People just change,” Terrence replies in a lower voice.
“You shouldn’t run away and hide from shame for your actions. Or you will be called a coward. Nobody will remember that you saved Raquelle from Simon today. Nobody will care about it.”
“Not everything depends on me. For example, I will not change the mind of Raquelle and make her sure not to break up with me.”
“What if you can? You haven’t tried!”
“No, Alicia, getting pieces of the broken vase together is worthless,” Terrence replies without emotions. “Raquelle and I have made too many mistakes that we will not fix.”
“Sometimes you can give people a second chance.”
“Not in my case.”
“Terrence…”
“I don’t regret this affair and am grateful to Raquelle for the few months we spent together. But unfortunately, we have to go our separate ways. Maybe, we’ll manage to keep a good relationship somehow. But we can’t be a couple. We can’t do this.”
“You know, of course, it’s your business, and I shall not try to change your wish. You are not a boy and can decide what to do. But please, think well! Don’t repeat the mistakes of my niece, who often acts thoughtlessly and then regrets what she does.” Alicia says nothing for two seconds. “And now I don’t mean your breakup. Even if Raquelle wants to leave, it will happen because of her emotions. I’m sure she’ll regret that later. Just like you will do! If you run away and wish to come back someday, nobody will be waiting for you with open arms.”
“I know everything will be changed,” Terrence replies without emotions and moves his eyes to Alicia. “But I do need it so badly, you know. I’ve got no wish or strength to keep doing what I do.”
“Terrence…”
“I’m sick, Alicia. I burnt down emotionally… The past few years have been too emotional. My head literally goes around. I need to distance myself from everything and live a quiet life. Far from here…”
“Okay, but you don’t have to quit your career. Just have a rest for some time and then start working again.”
“I’m afraid I’d have to do this. Because my reputation is bad. Restoring it doesn’t make sense. A bigger part of the bad rumors about me is the truth. I denied everything for many years and hid the real me under the mask… The egoistic and insolent man with a hard character. Who showed it especially hard at the beginning of his career… But now I want to tell people the truth and let them judge me.”
“But you could do a kind thing. You can prove that you are, maybe, a little egoistic and cruel, but you want to get better.”
“I’ve been doing that for many years! But not many people believe that I do this with all my heart.”
“Maybe, that isn’t true? People do know when you do something from your heart and when you do something for a show. Trust me, when you do something really good at your wish, they will start to change their opinion about you.”
“I did everything I could, and now only the public will be my judge. And some people, who ruined their friendship and any good relationship with me. And I no longer want to beg and make someone believe I can be a good man.”
“It’s never too late to fix something.”
“Believe me, Alicia, nobody would even think of me if I disappeared. It would be better for everyone. Even your niece.”
“Terrence…”
“I will repeat, I will not disappear, and I will be able to live a common life. I’ve got enough money and will live well for some time. And then I will try to find a job and just live… Live like a different man… Have fun, get pleasure, come to myself after the nightmare… And get ready for the fact that someday I'll have to forget my past life and the people, who I have met.”
Alicia says nothing and just shakes her head with pity in her eyes, while Terrence thinks of something and moves his sad eyes aside. And a few seconds, they hear someone’s slow steps, and later, Raquelle shows up in hell, coming to them down the hall. She quickly notices her aunt and cracks a slight smile.
“Aunt Alicia?” Raquelle pronounces quietly.
“Raquelle!” Alicia exclaims. “Gosh, my girl!”
Alicia sharply gets up from the sofa and takes Raquelle in her strong hug, which the girl accepts with pleasure.
“My darling…” Alicia pronounces excitedly and cutely kisses Raquelle on the temple. “I was worried about you so much… I thought I’d go crazy while waiting for some news from you.”
“Everything’s fine now,” Raquelle replies softly and steps back from Alicia with a little exhausted smile. “The worst things are over.”
“Thank God, then,” Alicia exhales with relief. “I’m very glad this story has ended forever. Though, looking at you gets me horrified. You’re so tired… And you’re all in bruises and scars…”
“It’s okay. It will be gone soon.”
“My little girl…”
“By the way, did you just come here?”
“Yes, a few minutes ago… And while you were with your grandfather, Terrence told me some details.”
“That’s how…” Raquelle pronounces thoughtfully. “That’s good then… I wouldn’t have to tell all the same several times.”
“Don’t worry, sunshine, I know everything.”
Raquelle says nothing and moves her eyes to her hands, while Alicia caresses her shoulders softly.
“By the way, how’s your grandfather doing?” Alicia asks and takes Raquelle’s hands. “How’s he feeling?”
“Thank God, he’s fine now,” Raquelle replies with a slight smile. “He will be under the control of doctors for a few days and then go home.”
“May I visit him now and ask how he’s feeling?”
“Erm, no, unfortunately… The doctor said he made an exclusion for me. He let me come to the room. Just for a few minutes. Because Grandfather is not healthy enough to accept visitors.”
“I got it.”
“So, if you want to visit him, you can do this tomorrow. And I can’t be sure about it.”
“And did you really see him?”
“Yes, we talked a little, and I calmed him down. And then the doctor came to us, checked something, and took me to the hall to say he needed a rest and good care of his close people.”
“So, if it’s so, we can come back home. You need to put yourself in order and have a rest from what you got through.” Alicia quickly looks at Raquelle from head to foot. “And you even fainted.”
“I did…” Raquelle crosses her arms over her chest and looks down. “Simon got me exhausted… He almost raped me, thinking I was Elizabeth Thompson. And he pushed me off the roof…”
“What?” Alicia gets horrified. “Almost raped you? Pushed you off the roof?”
“Didn’t Terrence tell you?”
“Nope, he didn’t. But how did it happen? How did you actually stay alive?”
“I will tell you everything when we come back home. Now I wouldn’t like to think and talk about it. Let’s have a good rest. I’m so exhausted and wanna lie somewhere.”
“Alright, my sweetheart, let’s go home. You’ll wash your face, brush your hair and change your clothes… And then you and I will drink tea, eat something tasty and go to sleep. And tell me what happened.”
“Yeah, let’s go home… I can't stay here anymore…”
Alicia and Raquelle are going to leave the hospital and go home. But before leaving, they decide to say goodbye to Terrence, who is just watching them with sadness in his eyes and listening to what they say. After hesitating a little, the girl hesitantly comes to the man first, swallowing up nervously and locking her fingers tightly. At this moment, MacClife calls the memory of driving the car on the way to the hospital and not giving the girl the keys that he takes from the pocket of his coat and gives her.
“Goodbye, Terrence,” Raquelle says goodbye quietly. “Thank you so much for everything you’ve done for me. I will never forget it. And I truly appreciate all your efforts that were good for me. Remember that you did a wonderful act, and I will always be grateful to you for that.”
Raquelle caresses Terrence’s shoulder with a slight smile, turns her back on him, inclines her head, and slowly goes down the hall to come to the stairs that lead to the first floor. After her niece leaves, Alicia also comes to Terrence to say goodbye to him.
“Thank you so much for everything you’ve done for Raquelle,” Alicia thanks with a slight smile. “I knew you’d keep your promise and do your best to help my niece.”
“You do know I did that because I love her and wanted to do my duty,” Terrence replies shyly and sighs heavily with sadness in his eyes. “I did just something good for her before saying goodbye to her forever.”
“From now on, Mr. Cameron and I owe you. Feel free to ask us for help or a piece of advice if you need it someday.”
“Thanks, you’re very nice to me.”
“Remember, not everything is lost. I advise you to wait for some time and not to rush. You two should come to yourself after this shock and don’t aim to meet somewhere. Later, you will know what will happen. Even if you want to try to give each other another chance, nobody will mind it.”
“I think everything is decided. Raquelle and I are no longer together. We broke up. A long time ago.”
“Don’t give up, Terrence, please.” Alicia puts her hand on Terrence’s shoulder. “The best thing you can do now is to wait. You did what you promised when you helped my niece get off Simon. As you see, Raquelle appreciated it, and you quietly talked for the first time in a while. The fact that you can be next to each other without sorting your relationship out already means something.”
Terrence says nothing and moves his sad eyes down.
“Goodbye, Terrence,” Alicia says goodbye with a slight smile. “Go home. Don’t wander around dark streets at this time or in this condition. You should also clean yourself up. You look, to be honest, as lifeless as my niece does.”
Alicia turns around and quickly goes somewhere down the hall to catch Raquelle.
“Goodbye…” Terrence says very quietly, looking into the distance.
Although Alicia gives him hope that everything might get better, Terrence does not want to have any illusions or dreams that everything will get solved soon. The man knows one thing: he lost Raquelle and will never get her back. Something tells Terrence the girl’s offense would be much stronger. The only thing they could do was keep their good relationship and remain good friends, who would always be ready to help each other.
Some time later, the upset Terrence slowly looks around the whole room, where he is all alone. Then the man slowly starts walking down the long halls of the large hospital and later goes downstairs to the first floor, fixing his little matted, disheveled black hair on the way and meeting doctors, patients, and visitors that come here even at such a late time.
Terrence leaves the hospital along with some people that go on different sides. He sees Raquelle having a sad and exhausted face, getting on the driver's seat of her car, and Alicia, who is sitting in the passenger seat and looks anxious. A few moments later, they leave the parking lot slowly and go on the road. Terrence watches the car that just left with his sad eyes and then sighs tiredly.
The man stands near the hospital for some time and breathes in the little cold evening air for some time. And then he slowly goes downstairs, puts his hands in the pockets of his coat, and starts to go somewhere straight down the road that is lighted up with streetlamps to go either to his home that is too far from here or just wander in the city all alone, feeling devastated and absolutely exhausted after everything that happened today and what he has gotten through in the past few weeks.
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