EIGHTY-TWO

The next few days had gone by smoothly though her mood remained unchanged, they had gone for a cruise on his yacht, they even visited Sam and Nina, Yalda had watched absentmindedly as Sam and Alexander had played chess. Nina had noticed she was a bit down, and she was glad she hadn’t tried to talk to her about it; she had simply asked if she was alright, and of course, she had told her she was just fine.

They had been away for a week now, and though they had both tried to keep away from their phones, Alexander had to tend to one business or another, she could tell they would be going home soon. In a way, she was glad, yes, the island was relaxing, but she had nothing to do here and it gave her a lot of time to think about everything till she felt like losing her mind.

Alexander had invited Sasha over to spend the day with them since they would be leaving soon, of course, she had been pissed by the idea of being around Sasha for a whole day but there was nothing she could have done. It had been just three of them ‘hanging out’ today, but she felt it was too crowded, she felt like she was third-wheeling in whatever relationship Sasha and Alexander had.

She had watched them play chess, and she had listened to their conversations till she spaced out. She only snapped out of her thoughts when Alexander had informed her that he needed to take an important call. Left alone with Sasha, she had simply wanted to ignore her but Sasha decided to speak to her.

“So, Yalda, you and Alex have been together for four years?” she asked her.

She stared back at her blankly, unenergetically; she didn’t have the time nor the energy to deal with her at the moment. However, Sasha seemed very inclined towards talking to her regardless of the fact that she had just ignored her.

“That’s quite long, I have to accept that.” She said. “What I don’t understand is why. I mean, what is it about you?”

Yalda held her tongue though the look in her eyes spoke volumes. She sat there glaring daggers at her as she so desperately wished alexander would see her for the bitch that she truly was.

“It doesn’t matter though; Alex can never commit to a woman.” Sasha said as she crossed one slender leg over the other.

What she had said caught Yalda’s attention and her eyes widened slightly. Of course, Alexander could never commit to any woman, he was literally terrified of any form of emotions, she could see it in his eyes. Perhaps she could tell her a bit more of his past, maybe she understood how deeply his trauma had embedded itself in him.

“And why is that” she asked her.

An irritating smirk curved her lips and her eyes narrowed squarely on hers.

“Because he has me.” She replied. “How could he possibly commit to you or any other bitch out there when he has me? He’ll always come here when he’s tired of the world’s bullshit, when he’s tired of y’all’s bullshit.”

Yalda couldn’t stop herself from rolling her eyes as she shook her head.

“You are insane.” She told her, “You’re out of your fucking mind. He sees you as a sister. You really think he’s going to leave all the women out there to come fuck his sister?”
Her smirk wavered and her eyes darkened maliciously. Yalda had undoubtedly struck a nerve.

“I am not his sister and he doesn’t see me as one.” She told her.

Yalda couldn’t help but smirk and shake her head. It seemed everyone who had an attachment to this island was a bit insane and in denial of one thing or another.

“Not that I care much, but I’d advice you to pull your shit together and stop wasting your time.” She told her. “Don’t ruin the relationship you have with him by trying to be something else.”

She shook her head.

“Don’t lecture me, Yalda.” She retorted sharply. “You must feel really special for having been in his life for so long. I’d think you were special too if you weren’t some obvious replica of his dad’s bitch.”

Her words hit Yalda like a punch, they knocked the wind right out of her.

“He’s a broken man with a broken mind; that’s why he keeps you around. You know that much more than I do.” She added.

Looking down at her hands, Yalda realized they were trembling so much. They were trembling from rage, from hurt, they were trembling from everything. Unable to control herself, she grabbed the glass of orange juice in front of her and splashed the content on her face angrily.

Sasha’s horrified gasp traveled through the space just as Alexander returned, his gaze flickered from Yalda to Sasha and then back to Yalda who was still fuming and holding the glass.

“What’s going on here?”

Their gazes snapped to his at once and the darkness in Yalda’s eyes spoke volumes; she was upset, enraged even, and so was Sasha.

“Alex, she threw drink on me!” Sasha whined as she pushed her seat back and got on her feet.

Yalda chuckled humorlessly. She shook her head as she set the glass down.

“Can you truly not see that she’s a bitch?” She asked him.

“Don’t call her that.” He warned. His tone was mild though, but it didn’t matter to Yalda.

“Of course, I forgot, she’s your sister; she can’t be anything like me.” She spoke, her voice had dropped and octave. “She can’t be anything like the bitch you keep around you.”

Not waiting to hear what he would say, she angrily got on her feet and stormed out; she couldn’t be around Sasha for a second longer.

….

Blowing out an exasperated breath, Alexander made his way over to Sasha who had began crying as she blinked her eyes rapidly to get the juice out of her eyes. Bringing out his handkerchief, he began wiping the juice from her lashes first.

“Are you alright?” He asked her.

She shook her head immediately.

“It got into my eyes; it hurts so much.” She cried quietly.

“I know. I’m sorry.” He tried to soothe her; she was so very distraught.

He still couldn’t understand what had happened; Yalda and Sasha had been getting along just fine when he left them, and all of a sudden, Yalda was furious. He knew her well enough to know that she wouldn’t act on the whim unless of course she had been pushed too far. But Sasha was a sweet girl, what could she possibly have done to upset her so much?

“I can’t see.” She cried.

“Let’s get you to the restroom to wash it off then.” He said. “Is that alright?”

She nodded.

He took her hand and began leading her to the restroom down the hallway.

“It hurts so much.” She croaked.

“We’re almost there.” He told her. “We’ll wash it out soon.”

“Why would she even do that?” Se cried. “I’ve been so nice to her.”

He wasn’t a fool, he knew that she must have done something to prompt Yalda to react like that, but he just could guess what she had done. Or perhaps Yalda might have overreacted, but still, Sasha must have done something. They had gotten to the restroom now; he guided her to the sink and turned on the tap before he began helping her wash the juice off her face gently.

“It’s alright.” He soothed as she flinched from the water on her face. “Keep your head still.”

Soon enough, he was helping her dry her face and neck with a towel while she sniffled quietly, satisfied with what he had done, he set the towel aside.

“You’re alright.” He told her.

She dragged in a deep breath before nodding once.

Now that she was calm, it was time to get to the bottom of what had happened.

“What happened?” He asked her.

“I don’t know, we were just talking and she suddenly got so furious.” She replied.

“What were you talking about?” He asked her.

She lowered her gaze from his but he slid his fingers underneath her chin and nudged her head up.

“Tell me.”

“Alex, I didn’t say anything to upset her.” She told him.

But that wasn’t what he had asked. He shook his head.

“Tell me what you were talking about, Sasha.” He said.

“We were talking about stuff, random stuff.” She replied. “Girl stuff.”

She wasn’t telling him the truth, it was obvious. Shaking his head, he turned around to leave but she held his hand to stop him.

“Don’t go to her.” She said.

“Sasha, I don’t have the time for this; I need you to be honest with me.” He told her.

He stared into her red and moist eyes as more tears pooled in their depths.

“What am I to you, Alex?” She asked him.

His brow arched questioningly. He’d think it was obvious that he saw her as family.

“Tell me.” She insisted.

“What is this about?” He asked her.

And instead of responding, she rose to her toes and crashed her lip unto his. His eyes widened slightly in shock and he wasted no time in backing away from her. The cold glare in his eyes should have been enough to keep her rooted to where she stood but she advanced towards him again.

“Alex…”

“It’s time for you to go home, Sasha.” He cut her short. And before she could say anything else, he turned around and walked out of the restroom.