Carefully opening her eyelids, Kathryn crossed her leg with a long sigh as she stared at the man before her.
"Please...." The man said. His eyes were filled with guilt, and his face glistened with unshed tears, and Kathryn would have... no! A few years back, she would have hugged him tightly and thanked him for coming back, but not today or any day in the future.
Gently biting her lower lips, Kathryn changed her sitting position from the cross leg to sitting straight like a therapist, ready to speak after years of just listening.
"What do you intend I do about your dilemma?" she asked in a slight whisper, picking her words one after the other so it could be heard.
"Nothing... I'll step down as C.E.O of the company and also share articles related to your works as well to the press, that way, you can get everything you truly deserve." The man replied, staring at the tiled floor maybe hoping it'd open up and swallow him whole. What a joke, she thought.
Lifting her head up as if in slow motion, Kathryn rested her back on the cushion she sat on and let out a laugh. She laughed so hard that her chest vibrated. It was the same laugh she had given 7 years ago when she found out about her stance in his life. A painful laugh.
As she laughed on, her brain took her on a "backwards" journey of the past that had haunted her 5 years after she lost everything... chuckling deeply, she shook her head. She didn't lose, she had won but for 5 years, all she saw was her loss, her anger and how cruel the world was to her.
She remembered it all. Each pain twisted her heart with so much joy. She remembered how her life had transformed. Depression had been her guardian, and she followed every beat it made.
Kathryn looked at the man before her, Joseph. They both finish at the same varsity, though he was two years out of school before her. He knew about her potential. Her studies and he embraced her. He was the only one who didn't seem to mock her for her crazy research on alien interaction and space travel.
That could have served as a red flag to her, no?
He invested in her. She was the brain, and he was the cash flow. She remembered how she had turned down many opportunities just to build something of her own. She was blind, too blind to see the red color dangling before her eyes. They were meant to be partners. She thought they were, but he always excluded her from gatherings where he could have her introduced. Instead, he says to them exactly what she tells him to his other wealthy friends while she stays indoors hooked on computers like they are the reason she breathes.
So, from the very beginning and to people, Joseph had been the brain and money behind the project. Absurd! Isn't it?
...and when she started to notice the dirty game, he had brainwashed her into his romantic tide, and she rode with him. So, instead of him saying to people, "Meet the brain behind the project," he'd say, "Meet my girlfriend. She's the angel that surrounds me," and she would blush consistently like she worked in a company where ketchup is being manufactured.
It went like that till the company came to life with his name and part of the project merged together to give it "Joseline" (Joseph and alien) research company and when she had with her feminine face pouted her lips, he said he did it for them. Also, the name sounded feminine, and that's that.
Another red dangling fat lie, no? Well, she believed him. Why wouldn't she when she would be his fiancee and they'd get married soon.
Soon? Oh, yes! That soon broke her to pieces when she found out Joseph, her supposedly meant-to-be boyfriend or lover, had proposed to another girl.
The heavy, painful laugh? No! It didn't come at that moment. She thought it was a lie. We all know how news is. Filled with lies just to tarnish people's image, especially a young, vibrant beauty like Joseph.
Another flag of the red sea, right? She didn't believe them.
She called Joseph instead, and he didn't pick up her calls. For three, no... almost four days, she didn't hear from him. All she got to know about him was from the news that greeted her every morning and put her to sleep every night. Her wall was almost shattering then ... he called. Finally!
Her face lit up when he said he was almost at her place. His voice sounded tired, and when she saw him, he looked more tired. He was super stressed. See what the news reporters had done to him.
Shaking her head, she seethes her teeth before hugging him, and he returns it with so much energy that she feels her soul almost leave her body. Letting her go, the sob story began with my parents...
"I am so sorry Kath, but we can't see each other again. My... My parents want me to marry her because they are rich. I am sure you've seen the news. Everything has been finalized, and there's no turning back for me. I have to marry her." He said.
His words... His words cut through her flesh and crippled every cell inside her body.
"No... no. You have to fight for us. We've been through a lot. You can't! No... no..." she wailed pathetically like a little girl denied candy on halloween night.
He had watched her cry. He didn't even console her or get her tissue as she hiccuped from excess cry. Instead, he finished the job.
"Also, I'll have my lawyer send you a file. I'll pay you off with whatever amount you want for assisting with the project." He had concluded.
What project did I assist with? Kathryn wanted to ask, but her brain couldn't form any word as she watched him walk out her door.
She wanted to hold him and ask if he was serious, but she couldn't. She couldn't do anything when the document came from the lawyer or when she heard he got married. She was lost, so lost for 5 years until she regained herself, until him... Larry. He was her therapist-became husband.
"Kath..." Joseph called, but before he could say another word, Kathryn picked up the remote and switched on the Tv.
Investors have been pulling out of Joseline's Research company after another failed space travel, making the C.E.O Joseph wealth go down the drain.
Also, his wife had filed for a divorce at this crucial time, making the...
Switching off the TV, Kathryn stood up. "You want me to revive a failed project, no? I thought you said I assisted? Telling the whole world about everything is too late. Just watch it crumble. Watch every penny you put into the project decline like a bear graph. Make sure you stay alive to watch Karma's early luck on you. Now, you can walk out the door like you did last time we met." Kathryn said before leaving her sitting room.
