THE SPACE BETWEEN THE LINE
“What’s going on here?” he asked again since they both kept mute the first time.
He could feel his blood boil in his veins and his heartbeat sped faster like he had just finished a marathon race.
“He just…” Maria started but was interrupted when Reid spoke.
“Is this what you do now?” he was trying hard to contain his anger but he couldn’t help it.
“What do you mean?” Maria and Kyros asked in unison.
“Nothing. It’s fine,” he retorted as he turned to walk away.
“Why did you come over?” Maria asked him and he stopped in his tracks before turning over to face her.
“Aren’t you meant to be at work?” he replied curtly, checking his time. “It’s a few minutes to one,” he added before looking up at her.
“Yeah. Yeah,” she replied still uncertain of what her next action should be.
“You should also get your shirt back on. We have some work to do,” he said, facing Kyros who looked lost in space.
As Reid walked out. Maria and Kyros let out a deep breath that they didn’t know they were holding.
Maria had thought he was going to clear the air by telling Reid they were in a relationship but she was disappointed when he didn’t mention any of sort. She looked over at him who was staring back at her.
“What? Are you okay, babe? Listen, we didn’t do anything wrong. It’s on him to misinterpret,” he said, shuddering his shoulder but Maria didn’t reply to him as she walked back inside.
She really wanted him to man up and brag about their fresh relationship.
“I can still help with the zipper,” Kyros called out loudly at her.
“It’s fine,” she replied to him.
Kyros was fully dressed in a few minutes and he walked out of the bathroom to be greeted by Maria who was dressed in a white corseted dress that looked so good on her skin. It stopped right above her knees. She matched it with a black strapless sandal heels and a black bag. She complemented the whole look with gold jewellery that accentuated more on her beauty.
“How do I look?” she asked him immediately after he saw her. “The dress is a little bit too short for work, right?” she added as she pulled the dress to reach her knees.
“No, no. It’s exceptional!”
“You look…” Kyros started.
“Great?”
“Beyond great, my lady,”
“Then what’s the word?”
“No word can compare to how good you look but imma go with immaculate. Perfect with no blemish,” he compliments as he walked closer to her. She smiled broadly at his compliment, tucking a few strands of stray hair behind her ear.
“You look perfect, yourself,” she compliments, pulling lightly in his suit.
“We should go on our first date, Maria. You look too good to just go to work today,”
“First date it is,”
They both walked to Kyros’ car with broad smiles beaming on their faces, unknown to them that Reid was in his car watching them as they walked by. He looked agitated and frustrated.
He wanted her but now she had chosen his lawyer over him. He slammed his fist repeatedly against the steering wheel as he watched the smile on their faces. He dug his nails in his hair angrily as he watched them drive by.
“Where do you want to go?” she asked him and he withdrew his right hand that was holding the steering wheel to hold her hand that was resting on her thighs.
“You’ll see,” he answered with a smile.
A few minutes later, they were pulling up in front of the restaurant.
“What? You brought me to work? I thought we were going on a date,” she remarked with a confused look, raising her eyebrow.
“Yeah. We’re going on a date at your restaurant,” he replied with a smile and she stared hard for a while with pure admiration.
She looked at him as though she had never set her eyes on him ever before. She admired how thoughtful he was to think of bringing her on a date to her restaurant but that, to her seemed a little off.
She thought of how she was meant to be free in a place that was her workplace and how she was meant to act normal.
“It’s fine if you wanna go somewhere else. I’d understand that myself,” Kyros said, trying to bring down the awkwardness that was building up between them. “I want you to be comfortable with me,” he added, reassuring her of her safety with him.
“I’m fine. Let’s go in,” she managed a smile.
They walked in and the normal pleasantries by the team was exchanged. The whole place was a little crowded with no space left.
Kyros looked over her, demanding her next option for them which could be to go to a different restaurant in town.
“I guess we have no other choice,” Maria finally spoke and they walked out. On their way out, they ran into Reid who had an obvious bitter look on his face.
He stared at them as they stared back. He looked particularly at Maria who as well was gazing at him and then, she laced her arm around Kyros’ arm causing Reid to open his eyes widely.
She turned her eyes away from him and Kyros who was taken aback walked beside her into the car.
“Are you sure about this?” he asked as they got into the car.
“I’ve never been more certain,” was her reply and Kyros ignited the car with a slight nod and a smile before driving.
They arrived at a fancy restaurant that gave Maria more ideas about how to improve hers since their services were great.
They settled for a cocktail first as they wait for their meal.
“If I didn’t have you, I’d be dead mad at myself for the rest of my life. God! You look more beautiful as I stare,”
“You’re super sweet with words. So sweet that it takes my breath away,” she gasped for air jokingly.
“I don’t wanna take just your breath. I wanna take you away, from here,”
“From this restaurant?”
“No. From this space,”
“By space, you mean this world?”
“Yes, this world. I wanna take you away from this world.”
“Aren’t you a lawyer to know that’s murder?” she joked as she slipped her drink looking at him as she laughed aloud.
“Not if I do it more romantically.”
“There’s a romantic way to murder?” she teased further and his laughter grew louder. She loved the sound of his laughter. She couldn’t get enough of it.
“I can start that,”
“That would make you a lawless lawyer,” she retorted and his look changed abruptly.
He sipped on his drink and if Maria wasn’t paying intense attention to him, she wouldn’t have noticed the change in his countenance.
“Did I say anything wrong? I was still in my joking mood. I love the sound of your laughter,” she said with a wink and that seem to bring him out of his mood.
“You are so good. Very smooth,” he said to her.
She used the elevator and throughout the journey to her floor, she had a big grin plastered on her face.
Kyros never stopped showering her with compliments throughout their date. Even though he seems not to be certain about shooing her off, she managed to understand his kind of person.
The elevator door stopped and it chimed open on her floor. She stepped elegantly out of the elevator with a sheepish smile on her well-groomed face as she looked down at her feet, walking towards her apartment door.
She stopped dead in her track at the sight before her.
There was a person, a person lying down by her doorstep. She gasped out of shock like she was about to choke on her breath.
She walked carefully towards the body lying on the ground aimlessly. As she got closer to the body, she was more surprised at the realisation of who it was.
It was Reid.
She checked his body out and then did she realize that he reeks of alcohol. The smell was so harsh that she had to hold her nose tightly. But she frowned at how there was a particular thing that was off.
He wasn’t breathing. There was no usual heaving at his chest to indicate that he was alive. She stepped back out of fear, holding her chest with her two hands as she had withdrawn it from her nose.
She slowly bent to place her head on his chest, tucking her hair behind her hair in the process. She jerked back at the reality before her.
He wasn’t breathing.
“Reid,” she called but he wouldn’t respond nor did he bulge to signify he was still a living being.
She placed her hand over her mouth as she sat on the ground near him. Beads of sweat formed on her forehead, dripping down her chest to her cleavage. She shook her head severally out of denial at the impossibilities of the situation she was faced with at the moment but he wasn’t breathing.
He’s dead.
Reid Martakis is dead.