He threw the newspapers at my feet. “How the hell do you know my sister?”
And just like that everything I had thought of, every story, every reality, every truth disappeared. And my mind turned blank.
The axis of my world had tilted.
Fate, my dear, can be a tricky friend.
There were a thousand words I had thought of saying to Alex Bianchi when I would first see him. A hundred ways to frame the sentences and tens of ways to explain everything. But now sitting in front of him, on the 23rd floor in his B building, holding a cup of hot coffee – all I could think of was – What the bloody hell?
I started at the milk coffee, hot vapors dancing over my face, both my palms now numb to the heat from the mug. I was breathing steadily yet I felt the blood in my brains was vanishing.
Instead of giving Alex answers to his questions, I now had a set of questions of my own to ask him.
Is the world truly such a small place? Or is fate just a game?
“Drink it.”
I looked up, blinking at Alex, who was sitting opposite me on the table, drinking coffee. I quickly wiped away the water residual from my face and nodded, taking a sip of the coffee.
I winced, there was no sugar, it was bitter. I hated it.
“Sugar?”
I shook my head. “It’s fine.”
Alex didn’t say anything, he patiently finished his coffee while I had two more sips and threw the remaining away.
Alex sat in the same seat at the table, his eyes digging a hole on my face. I nervously touched the strand of hair fallen on my face and tucked it behind the ear. I sat down in my seat, looking at the wooden table and wondering how to start this conversation.
Alex didn’t bother around. “How do you know Julia?”
I scratched my wrist anxiously, not sure how to explain my relationship with her. “Um well.” I started, I took a deep breath and just decided to delve right into it. “I was her pen pal.”
Alex looked shocked, he physically looked taken aback. He stared with disbelief. “Her what?”
I chuckled apprehensively. “Well um… 8 years back. When we were in school we used to talk over an app. That’s how I know her.”
Alex snorted, looking around, his face shining with incredulity. His eyes glistened with wonder that I could come up with such a story, such a lie. “Are you for real?”
I entwined my fingers, moving them uneasily. “It’s the truth. How is she your sister? Aren’t you a Bianchi?”
Alex raised his eyebrows in defiance. “So?”
I cleared my throat, blinking at him. “Well um, so how is she your sister?” I repeated meekly.
Alex stood up, walking closer to me. I sucked in a breath, staring as he came nearer and sat in the empty chair right next to me. “Do you think you are in a position to ask questions?”
I swallowed, feeling a little scared. “I- I need answers too.”
Alex snorted, shaking his head at me. That look of mortification at my doings made me want to crawl in a hole and die or just drown in a sea. I looked down at my entangled fingers.
“You should just be glad you aren’t in jail.” And with that, he got up and walked out of the kitchen into the living room.
I watched his rigid back as he disappeared from my sight and then let my face fall into my palms. I groaned, deep misery engulfing me in its cold arms.
“Just tell the truth Myra!” I said to myself and got back, patting myself on the back, reassuring myself.
I followed Alex’s footsteps and saw him filling a glass of what looked like a strong cocktail. He didn’t even add ice, just poured half a glass and drank the entire thing in one swig. His gazed eyes never once leaving mine.
I looked at my feet, unable to hold his stoic stare and pressing my lips together.
“Drink?”
I shook my head.
“Cool.”
I could only watch as he poured himself another glass and walked towards me. His walk was stiff and his eyes held no empathy. Still dressed in his black suit, he looked like a lion ready to jump and feed on his prey. “So Ms. Myra Collins, why the hell did you hack my company?”
I took a deep breath before replying. “To make Ray Parker go to jail.”
Alex tilted his head to the left, scrutinizing my face for any signs of a lie. “Why?”
“Because he deserves to rot in jail.”
“One sentence explanations won’t work here.” Alex said. He pointed at the empty couch. “Let’s sit. You have a lot of talking to do.”
I walked behind him and sat on the other end of the couch, my hands resting on my lap and my back straight.
Alex took another sip from his glass, one arm around the couch, one leg rested over the other knee and his back leaned against the armrest, he seemed relaxed yet intimidating. I had seen him like this before, it was when he would be taking interviews or sitting in important meetings. Calm but strong.
“Let’s start with how you broke my trust.”
Every word of that sentence pierced through my heart and my head hung in shame. “That was never my intention.” I answered timidly.
I heard Alex sigh loudly. “The weird part is, even after knowing what you did. I still trust you. A part of me knows you must have your reasons to do what you did and I am willing to hear them. But why you hid everything from me that is what I don’t understand. Did you not trust me enough?”
My head shot up at his words and the accusing tone at the end. I shook my head quickly. “I do trust you. I do. And when I did the hacking I didn’t even know it was your company. I mean I did but I never thought I would work there and well-” I paused before shrugging. “-start to like the owner of that same company.”
Alex stared at me and this time I didn’t look away. I let him see the sincerity in my eyes, the guilt, the hope and even the pleading in them.
“I can’t forgive you.” Alex informed. “Not yet.”
I nodded. “I understand.”
“It will take some time. Maybe even months.”
I nodded again. “I will wait.”
“Years?”
I looked at him and smiled gently. “I’ll wait. These two months have been horrible because I didn’t know if you would ever forgive me, if you would even want to see me again. But now if there’s even a slight chance for us, I’ll be okay. I’ll try. I’ll wait. I’ll endeavor. Good things don’t come easy and you are one of those for me.”
I could see Alex’s lips twitching to form a smile but he held back. Instead he drank the remaining drink, emptying the glass. “How cheesy are you.”
My smile widened. “I try.”
Alex’s eyes studied my body, from my face to my toes. “You lost weight.” He noticed.
I looked down at myself and shrugged. “Yeah.” I pointed at him. “You did too.”
He stared into my eyes. “I couldn’t sleep.”
My eyes lowered. “I am sorry.”
There was an awkward silence and then Alex got up. “Let’s eat something. I’ll cook.”
I raised my eyebrows. “Pancakes?” I questioned, remembering the last time I was genuinely happy, the time he had cooked breakfast for me.
Alex turned to glance at me. “That’s not the only thing I know.”
“The famous juice then?” I mocked, fighting a big smile.
“Funny.” Alex commented dryly.
He opened the drawers, wondering about what to cook. He walked to the fridge and pulled out an egg. “French Toast?”
I nodded, walking towards him. “Sure. Need any help.”
Alex removed three eggs, rolling his eyes. “It’s not exactly a recipe that needs 2 people to cook.”
“I was just trying to be polite.” I retorted.
Alex pointed a knife at me. “Don’t get smart at me. You are still not forgiven.”
I threw my head back in frustration. “You will never let this go. Will you?”
He shrugged one shoulder, breaking the eggs into a bowl. “Not in this lifetime.”
“But you’ll forgive me?” I blinked innocently at him.
Alex didn’t reply and I chose to ignore the pang of hurt at his impassiveness. If the roles were reversed, I would have made a bigger deal out of it and definitely not cooked for him.
So I chose to embrace the fact I was lucky enough to just be in his presence. Somethings we can’t control and sometimes it’s better that way.
After 15 minutes, he placed a plate with three French toasts in front of me. “Ketchup is there.” He pointed at the wooden cabinet. I took out the bottle, noticing the five bottles of Nutella beside it. I raised my eyebrows. “I didn’t know you liked Nutella that much.”
Alex cleared his throat, avoiding my sight. “You like them.” He answered in embarrassment.
And I didn’t care about hiding the huge smile that danced over my face. “Oh.” I simply said, the gleeful smile not fading even a bit. Just the fact that he got five bottles of Nutella because I liked them and kept them in his own kitchen cabinet made me want to jump with joy.
Alex looked up, away from his plate. “Stop smiling.” He extended his arm towards the ketchup.
I passed it towards him, the smile constant. “My lips won’t listen.” I replied.
He rolled his eyes but didn’t protest anymore. “So when will you start explaining?”
I swallowed the bread. “Now.”
Alex pointed the fork at me, his eyes glaring. “How many times should I tell you to chew? Chew the damn food Myra.”
I blinked shocked at the sudden outburst, timidly gulping the remaining food. “I chewed.”
Alex snorted. “No.”
“I will now.” I guaranteed, taking a bite and profusely moving my teeth and chewing loudly.
Alex continued to stare at me until I couldn’t chew anymore and finally swallowed it. “Continue that.”
I nodded, taking bites and munching on the toast loudly.
Alex groaned. “Do you have to be loud?”
I smiled straight. “It’s so you know I am chewing.”
He narrowed his eyes at me in displeasure. “You really get on my nerves.”
My fake smile widened. “I try.”
“You are not forgiven, don’t forget that.”
I huffed, my smile falling. “I couldn’t even if I tried.” I grumbled.
Alex let out a victory smile.
After a few seconds I asked. “How was the case?”
He glanced up. “Ray plead guilty.”
My jaw dropped in shock. “Really?”
Alex nodded. “For the first court session and he claimed he didn’t do it but then something changed and in the next session, he plead guilty and got 7 years in prison instead of 10.”
I gaped at my plate, wondering why Ray would do that. Because we had enough proof and he thought it was better to stay in prison for 7 years rather than 10? Is that why?
“Why did you blame him? Was that your plan all along?”
I nodded slowly. “Yes, he was the one I was going to blame. I had it all planned since two years.” I looked at Alex. “You were the variable I hadn’t expected.”
“Do you hate him that much?” the revelation in Alex’s tone was evident.
I shrugged a shoulder. “Not hate per se. It’s just revenge.”
“For?”
“Julia Brown.”
Alex choked on his French toast, coughing and choking. My eyes widened in worry. “Are you okay?”
Alex just nodded, motioning a thumbs up that he was fine. After a few more seconds and gulping down a whole glass of water, he calmed down. “Ju-Julia? What?”
I started drawing tiny circles on the table with my forefinger. “Well um. 8 years back she was my pen pal. And we talked quite a lot, until she suddenly stopped messaging one day. And for more than a month, I texted her on the app but no response. She’s why I became a hacker actually. How is she your sister?”
“She’s a cousin from my mother’s side. My mother was a Brown before marriage. We weren’t close but she’s still family.” Alex answered. “What’s this about revenge?”
I sighed, diving down the memory lane. I clearly remembered the day as if it was just yesterday. I was stalking some good-looking people on Facebook and accidentally came over a picture I was familiar with.
In the 10 months that Julia and I talked, we didn’t share last names or addresses because that secrecy was a part of being a stranger friend and we liked that suspense. We barely even exchanged photos. But Julia had sent me a few images from her first date with Ray, one was with Ray – both sitting in a park and smiling. One was just hers, a cheerful smile that made her left dimple pop out and eyes shining with life under the evening sky. She was wearing a bottle green knot sweatshirt and rose pink pants. She looked beautiful and so happy.
That was the very image I stumbled upon, and to this day I remember the words written on that post.
‘You were such a bright soul, so lively. I hope you find peace wherever you go. R. I. P Julia. You’ll be missed.’
I could barely believe my eyes as I read the post. I couldn’t comprehend just how and why it happened. I texted the person who had put up that post, asking what happened to her.
Her reply shocked me to my very core.
‘She committed suicide. It’s so sad really. Were you a friend?’
The person who always motivated and inspired others, the one who smiled even when her parents fought, the one who helped stray dogs even if her elder sister hit her for it, the one who secretly stole biscuits and extra food from her home to give a poor classmate who couldn’t afford to buy lunch. How could she do something so drastic? And most importantly why?
‘Do you know why?’ I asked the friend.
‘No, there was no note found. But she had been really silent in school, so depressed.’
‘Do you know her address?’
‘Who are you? How do you know her?’
It took a lot of convincing to finally make that friend give up the address and more details. And it took years to find out what had really happened.
But after knowing the truth I couldn’t just sit and watch so I came up with a plan, a plan of revenge.
I had already started studying hacking and found it quite interesting, I got into the same classes as Ray Parker, I smiled at him and made him notice me, I took an apartment near his place. And when I found no proof that could connect him to what had happened 8 years ago.
I made him a victim of a crime he didn’t commit.
Did I feel guilty? Yes.
Would I change anything? No.
Because sometimes, Karma can be a funny thing. When you don’t see it coming, you go and bring it.
Sometimes you have to be the bad guy too just to catch another bad guy.