I BELONG WITH YOU

CHAPTER 14

“Oh, hey there. Haven’t seen you since last week,” Jenny smiles, eyes beaming, “how was your week? Bet you spent it screaming at everyone,” she smirks, “I however, had a very pleasant week.”

I roll my eyes, “yeah, after all sucking cocks sounds pleasant to you.”

“Heeeey, that’s not what I always do, well occasionally not,” I laugh at her comment. Jenny grins, comes to where I am and hugs me, “I miss you.” Then she steps away, “so, I was told you have something for me.”

I nod, “yeah, I know you’re only loyal to cocks,” I roll my eyes while she laughs, “but you’re a good assistance,” I shake my head, “actually you’re the best.”

She smirks, “now, don’t I know that. I’m the best,” she winks at me.

I nod, smiling, “and this is why you’re the best candidate to sit on my chair,” she frowns, “congratulations, you’re the new boss of this company.”

Jenny deepens her frown, “what are talking about Bella? You’re still the boss here,” when I don’t answer she asks again, “right?”

I shake my head, “not anymore, I resigned last week.”

“Whaaat?” Jenny shouts, “but why?” gosh, this girl is so loud.

I sigh, “Jenny please lower your voice. My reasons are my own. But I want you to replace me because I can’t trust anybody else with this. Promise me that you’ll do so.” I search her eyes with sincerity in mine.

“I’ll miss you,” she wails. Oh, hell! “Why are you suddenly leaving, how can we manage without you here,” she sniffs.

I stand up and walk to her, “Jenny, you’re more than capable, so I’m sure you can manage just fine,” I hug her, trying to comfort her. When she calms down, we discuss about work stuffs and I put everything in order before I leave the office to her. Yes, I’m quitting. I want to begin a new life with no dramas, I want to give a good life to my child. I want to be a good mom to him or her, unlike my mother.

After I left my office, former office for good, and drive to my house. My plan is to leave this city, to start afresh. I have money, I am educated, so I’ll be fine. I’m capable. And, besides there is nothing here for me. Hailey left, and she was the only person I had, the only real true friend.

When I reach to my house, I sigh. I have a lot of things to do, like renting out my house, selling my furniture and some stupid stuffs I no longer want. And that’s a load of shit to handle, on my own. Before I get a chance to open my front door, someone beats me to it. From the inside. I watch in horror as the door is pulled open from the inside, and then appears someone I never dreamt of seeing again.

A chuckle, “did I scare you? My goodness, you look like you’ve seen a ghost!” Hailey exclaims. I stand here, staring at her, nothing coming from my lips. And, I don’t blame me, I never thought I’d be seeing her.

I start getting emotional, tears streaming down my cheeks, my throat burning. It’s Hailey. She is here. When I need her the most. I run to her and embrace her, squeezing her more tightly.

Hailey laughs, “okay, I know you miss me and all that, but you really don’t have to squeeze me to death,” she speaks over my shoulder.

“Shut up you evil step mother,” I sniff, “you don’t even know how I feel right now.”

“Oh, yeah, you’re right, I don’t. Your emotions are all over the place,” then she gently pull away, “my goodness, that was a helluva hug. You wanted to kill me, didn’t you?” she gives me a death stare.

I roll my eyes, “you look fine. And here I was, worried sick about you,” I stomp in my house. “Seems like you’re getting along with the people who abandoned you.” I say that without thinking, then it dawns to me what I just said to her, I gasp and stare at her, then biting my lips nervously I say, “sorry, I didn’t mean that.”

Hailey waves her hands, shaking me off, “it’s okay, I know you didn’t. But, damn B, you’re such a mood,” she smirks.

I nod, “I know. I’m sorry Lela, I’m so happy to see you. It’s just that......,” I pause, unable to finish my sentence.

“Hey, I understand, and it’s okay, really. You don’t have to tell me everything right away,” I nod at her. We hug again, then I step aside and wipe away my tears.

After we chat for sometime, I order some pizza and after we finished eating, I asked Hailey to crush at my house. Figured she wouldn’t stay here for long. She told me that she came to sell her house, she would be leaving after a week. I’m glad, I get to spend the last days with her, even though I haven’t told her that I’m leaving the city. In fact, I have not told her anything at all.

I wake up in the morning, feeling so nauseas. Oh, yeah, that’s what I do every morning, vomiting until there’s nothing left in my stomach. And that’s when I eat, when my tummy is completely empty. The doctor told me that, it takes up to three months for nausea to leave, but in other cases, until one gives birth. God, I hope I’m not the latest case. This shit sucks. After I’m done washing up, I step out of my bedroom and start searching for Hailey. Thankfully, I don’t have to search for long, for she is standing just outside my home office, holding the ultra sound picture I took recently. I halt, staring at the picture in Hailey’s hand.

Hailey lifts her head slowly, then clutching the picture, she softly speaks, “when were you going to tell me about this?” goodness, I shut my eyes, feeling nausea again. When I open them, Hailey is right in front of me, smiling, “hey, congratulations B!” she’s not mad? She hugs me, then steps back and sniffs like a dog. “Oh, now I know what this smell is about.” What the eww!

I tilt my head to the side, and twist my face in disgust, “what the hell, woman! Did you just smell me?” I ask her, frowning.

Hailey laughs, “yeah, kind of. You know I have superpowers,” she winks. Of course she does, the annoying superpower. I sigh, what did I expect from her anyway, that she’ll change? No way. My Lela never change. “So tell me, who’s the lucky bastard. The bartender?” she twitches her eyebrows.

I sigh aloud and clear my throat, “Lela, we need to talk.”

“Of course we do!” she smirks and holds my arm to lead me to the kitchen. There, she starts shuffling on my kitchen shelves, “we should talk right after we’re done eating.”

And right after we finished our breakfast, I spilled my guts to Hailey. Starting from how my relationship with Zed started to how it ended. When I told Hailey my last encounter with Zed, she sighed and shook her head. Not believing it. I wouldn’t too, if he didn’t say that to my face.

“Wow!” Hailey exclaims, “that doesn’t sound like the Zed I know. Was he possessed?” I roll my eyes at that.

“I wouldn’t know that, and believe me I don’t want to. I want nothing to do with him,” I tell Hailey.

She stares at me, “but Bella, he is the father of your unborn child. You can’t cut him off just like that.”

“Watch me,” Hailey frowns at my remark, but I ignore her.

“Maybe I should talk to him,” Hailey whispers, but I hear her clearly.

Abruptly, I turn to Hailey, anger rising in me, “don’t you dare, Lela!” I point my finger at her, my eyes hot with rage, “don’t you dare meddle in my affairs, especially with that son of a bitch. And I mean this!” then I storm out of the kitchen, back to my room. “Fuck!” I shout, and start pacing the floor. I mean Hailey is my friend, right? Then why is she defending the bastard? I just don’t understand her.


ZED


(Grunting and groaning) I keep pushing myself harder with my workout. I have been doing pushups for almost an hour now. I need to be more fit, now that I’m back in the army. Well, it’s been a month since I came back to the base with my mates. They were glad to have me back, even though I am no longer their captain, but they’re just happy to have me here. And I’m happy, really, when my mind doesn’t roam back to Bella then I’m happy to be here, but unfortunately, that is rare times. I miss her, and there seem to be no distraction that will hold my head off her. My Bella! The woman I love with whole of me. And the woman I pushed away because I felt scared. The hell was I thinking? I clear my head and do another round of push up.

Then I hear a distance sound of handclapping getting near to me. A whistle, “damn man, didn’t know you were this good,” aah! It’s him, my new nemesis, Zebron. The man has been getting on my nerves since the first day I got back in the army. He somehow figured that, Bella and I had a thing, the fucker now tends to use that as my weakest point. And damn, he is succeeding in breaking me more and more each day.

I decide to ignore him and continue doing my push up. And my tactic seemed to work, for a minute.

Zebron laughs, “you’re ignoring me, again. Well, then I should leave you, right?” yeah, bitch. “Bella has recently been on my mind, damn ever since I kissed her I haven’t been able to get her out of my head,” he smirks. I grind my teeth, and try so hard to ignore him, “think I’ll just have to fuck her, to satisfy her......” I don’t let him finish his sentence, I jump in on him and punch him harder on his face.

“You son of a bitch,” I snarl at him. Thwacking him as I speak, “I will make sure that you no longer use this fucking mouth anymore,” I don’t stop punching him until he faints. But, I still continue to beat him, anger so clear in me, I feel so wrecked inside. Why did I push Bella away? Why did I hurt her? I suddenly stop punching Zebron and stand and scream on top of my lungs.

Behind me, I hear some chaos, but my mind is filled with rage. But then I hear the general’s voice near me, “oh my God!” I look up and see him staring at Zebron, he doesn’t waver his gaze, “what did you do?” he whispers, then more loudly he shouts at me, “what have you done?” I look at him, then I avert my eyes and stare at the body at my feet. I don’t even regret beating this son of a bitch. But the look on my uncle’s face makes my stomach twist in an ugly way.

My uncle stands, and looks around him to command, “take lieutenant Zebron to the emergency room, faster!” he shouts to the others who came with him. Two men pick Zebron up and take him away. The general dismiss the other guys as well, and commands me to stay.

When we’re finally alone, I speak, “I’m sorry, sir. I let anger take hold of my actions,” he holds up his hand to silent me.

Then he shakes his head, “I taught you better, and this,” he points at my bloody hands, “this is not better,” I can tell he is trying to control his anger. He is gnashing his teeth so hard.

I lower my head, feeling like an idiot, “I’m so sorry sir.” I apologise to him.

The general doesn’t respond at first, and when he finally speaks, I feel like I’ve been cut down to pieces. “Today, you disappointed me,” there’s clear disgust in his voice as he speaks, “for the first time in my life, I regret doing what I did for you,” Oh my God! It feels like my heart has been squeezed, I can’t breath. But, the general isn’t finished yet, he gets closer to me and speak a menacing voice, “after this mission is over, and you come out in one piece, you must leave the army, for good this time. For you’re no longer welcomed here.” Then he walks away, leaving me all alone, with a heavy heart. And I can’t blame him, I’m the one who pushed him away. I keep pushing everybody away from me, so I shouldn’t blame anyone for whatever that happens to me.

After the incident with Zebron, none of my mates got close to me. It’s been a week now, but not one of my comrades said more than two words at me. I am finally alone. And after this mission, which is two week ahead, I won’t be seeing any of them again.

“Hey,” a sound comes from opposite my table, where I’m sitting, having lunch. I look up and see Ethan. He smiles, “what is it? You’ve been avoiding me for a long time now.” Yeah, I know. He is the only guy who is ready to speak to me. But I don’t want to talk to him. Because if I allow him near me, other guys will isolate him too. And I don’t want that to happen to him. He is a good guy.

“Go away,” I dismiss him and get back to my meal.

He clicks his tongue, “not this time pal. You can’t push me away this time.” He sits at my table, “I’ve been meaning to speak to you about something,” I don’t even look at his side as I keep digging in my meal, “who’s Bella.”

Just the mention of her name makes me snap my head to him. I narrow my eyes at him, “come again?” I ask him in a low menacing voice.

Ethan just smiles, “you know, that doesn’t work with me,” he says, “I asked who is Bella, all you had to do was telling me the truth.”

“I’ll tell you to fuck off!” I glare at him then go back to my food, but I have no appetite anymore. Ethan just punched me in the guts. Practically.

Ethan hums, “so, she’s the woman you’re interested in,” what the fuck, “and you’re pissed at Zebron, because he wants her,” damn it. Ethan whistles and then speaks again, “so where is this woman.”

I sigh out loud, “you’re a good story teller, but it ends there, don’t push it further.”

“Should I ask Zebron instead?” he is mocking me, I know he is, but as of late controlling my anger has been next to impossible.

I slam the table with my fist and glare at Ethan, not caring of the looks I get my way, “I already told you to get lost, don’t test my patience any longer,” then I stand to leave, “it’s better if you stay away from me like the rest of them.” I walk away without glancing back.

After what I did to Ethan, nobody ever came to speak to me. That’s okay with me, at least that’s what I keep telling myself, even though deep down I know I’m not okay. But I brush my feelings aside and keep on a neutral face. It’s only a matter of time before I leave here anyway, what’s the point of having conversation with anyone when I know they’ll ignore me.

So, when the big day arrives, nobody but me was happy. Everybody was freaking out, because the mission was a very tough one. But I was happy because, after this, I’ll be leaving this place and head back home. And the first thing that came to mind at the mention of home is Bella. I have to right things with her. No matter what. And nothing should come between us again. Ever.

*************

Finally we get back to the base safe. After we accomplished the mission. Thank God, everyone came back safe, although some are hurt, but not that much that a hospital won’t help.

The general requests for me soon as we got checked and settled in. I go to his office, knowing exactly what he wants to tell me. When I open the door to his office, I see the general standing facing the window, he seems lost in thoughts. I knock to gain his attention, and I do. The general, my uncle, turns and looks at me.

He nods, “come on in and sit, we have a lot to talk about.” He goes and sit at his chair. I follow suit and sit opposite him. The general stares at me for a full minute before he decides to speak again, “so,” he clears his throat, “your comrades say that you saved the lot of them in the battlefield,” I nod my head at him, “that’s so brave of you, just like you’ve always been, others come first before you. It was why I made you their captain.” I nod again. “But you know this was your last mission, right?”

I reply, “I’m aware, sir.”

He sighs, “Bella,” hearing her name makes me stay alert, the general goes on, “why did you leave her, knowing that she’s pregnant?” what the fuck!

I stare at him, “who told you that Bella is pregnant?” I ask the general holding a confused expression.

He narrows his eyes, “I think that’s not important right now. Answer my question boy.”

I look away from him, and answer him, “yes, Bella is pregnant.”

“With your child?”

I sigh and speak in a lower voice, “yes. It’s mine.”

The general hums, “so, you decided to leave her knowing she’s carrying your child, right?” I close my eyes and nod, “do you care to tell me why?”

I gulp, suddenly feeling like a little kid. I open my mouth to speak but nothing comes out, twice. I make out a frustrated groan. Then finally I speak, “I was scared and out of my mind, I thought I was rushing things with her. But...... but the thought of losing her makes my blood boil with fury. So I’m planning on setting things straight with her.” I tell him honestly.

The general nods, “so, that’s the reason you beat Zebron up, jealousy,” he sighs, then planting a smile, a genuine smile he says, “I guess I should congratulate you then,” he stands and give me a handshake which I take cautiously, “you should now leave to take care of your baby mama,” he winks at me. And I’m speechless to how fast my uncle’s mood changed.