FOR a split second it was as if the whole world was at a standstill for Jeremy, he just couldn’t believe his ears. Jasira? His Jasira? A member of the underworld, this same underworld that he had so much dreaded all his years on earth.
He studied her, his mind racing. “Why didn’t you tell me any of this before?”
She removed her hands from her face.
“I was scared to, I didn’t want to lose you,” she said.
He laughed a cynical laughter.
“Lose me? My dear, I think you have already lost me -.”
She looked at him, alarmed.
“Jeremy,” she called.
“Yes. I have always dreaded the mafia all my life, everything about the underworld, I hate it, and always never want to have anything to do with them,” he said.
She cried, for the first time ever, Jasira cried because of a man, because of love.
“Stop this Jeremy, please, just stop,” she pleaded.
He made a face.
“Stop what? How am I sure that you aren’t here to harm me? Oh yes! All these attacks I have been getting lately which aren’t working, you have come to make them work right?” He asked.
She pulled up a surprise face.
“Oh no! Jeremy, you know I can’t.”
He shrugged his shoulders.
“Well I don’t. You have hidden so many things from me, refused to let me know deep things about you and so, I don’t,” he said.
She felt hurt by his words, so hurt. Then she stepped closer, her eyes locked onto his.
“I’m not here to harm you, Jeremy. I care about you, more than you know. But my past is something I can’t change, but together we can better the future,” she said.
He stared into her eyes and saw a glint of sincerity and her love for him, but with the issue of her involvement in the underworld hovering around, he looked away.
“You know what? Just go spend the night in the guestroom -.”
She gasped.
“Very early tomorrow morning, you take your belongings in here and leave -.”
“Jeremy.”
“Just stay away from my life for now, I need space to think, thank you,” and with that he walked up to the bed and flopped down on it, then he let out a wail of pain.
Quietly and sadly, Jasira walked out of the room.
***
Amelia stormed into her room, slamming the door behind her with a force that made the walls tremble. Her breath came in short, angry bursts as she paced back and forth across the room. The familiar space, usually a sanctuary of calm, now seemed stifling and oppressive.
The drama that had just taken place a few minutes ago kept on replaying in her mind, each repetition stoking the flames of her anger.
Jasira, of all people. So Jasira is the lady Jeremy had chosen, and not just chosen, but chosen over her. The words echoed in Amelia’s head, a taunting refrain that she couldn’t escape. How could Jeremy choose her? Didn’t he see through her facade? Amelia’s mind whirled with memories and accusations, her thoughts a chaotic storm of betrayal and fury.
She grabbed her phone from the coffee table, her fingers trembling as she scrolled through her contacts. She found Zoey’s name and hit ‘Call’ without hesitation. The phone rang twice before Zoey’s familiar voice answered.
“Hey, Amelia! What’s up?” She asked.
“Zoey, you won’t believe what I have just found out.” Amelia’s voice was a mixture of urgency and desperation. “The mystery lady whom Jeremy has been keeping away from the public is Jasira, the mafia queen.”
There was a pause on the other end of the line before Zoey responded, her tone disbelieving.
“Wait, Jasira? Are you serious?”
“Yes, and it is worse than you think,” Amelia continued, her voice rising with agitation. “She is not who she pretends to be. Zoey, she is dangerous.”
“Are you telling me? I know. But how could Jeremy? Isn’t he aware?” She asked.
Amelia took a deep breath, steadying herself.
“I don’t think he is, she has been faking her identity to him,” she rushed her words.
“Oh my! I can’t believe this. How the hell is she doing that?”
“Well I do not care, I am so restless right now and what is gonna make me calm down, is to tell Jeremy in details who really his ‘angel’ is. I can’t wait to tell him everything. You know… she was the one who killed Daniel, two years back,” she said.
“Daniel? Jeremy’s cousin?” Zoey’s voice was a whisper, the shock evident even over the phone.
“Yes. Daniel. Jeremy doesn’t know. He can’t know. I have to tell him, Zoey. He needs to know the truth.”
Zoey was silent for a moment before she spoke again, her voice firm.
“You need to be careful, Amelia. This is dangerous territory.”
“I know, but I can’t let him stay with her. I have to do something.” Amelia’s resolve hardened with each word. “I have to tell him, and who knows? My chance might come in here.”
After hanging up with Zoey, Amelia sat on the edge of her bed, her phone clutched tightly in her hand. She typed out a message to Jeremy, her fingers moving quickly over the keys. She read it over once before hitting send.
***Jeremy, you need to know the truth about Jasira. She is just not who you think she is. She is a mafia queen, right hand man to Lord Lucario, the Don of The Mambas Organization, and she has done terrible things. Worst of all, she was the one who killed Daniel, yes Daniel, your favourite cousin, two years ago. Please, believe me. I can’t let you get hurt, because of course, you know I love you.***
The message sent, and Amelia’s heart pounded in her chest as she waited for a response. Minutes felt like hours, each second dragging on with unbearable tension. When her phone didn’t buzz with a reply, she concluded he had gone to bed, he was gonna reply the next morning and with that, she fell back on her bed and dozed off.
***
The next morning arrived so lazy and sluggishly, the golden rays of the morning sun filtered in through the window and landed straight on Jeremy’s eyes, forcing him to open them.
He did and turned over, the first thing his hand rested on was his phone, which he had tossed away after wailing out of pain.
He picked up the phone and sat up, then looked down on himself, he had slept off with his legs hanging out of the bed, his stomach rumbled, reminding him that he didn’t had dinner the night before, then his thoughts travelled to the yesterday’s happenings and he sighed in disappointment.
Unlocking his phone the first thing his eyes settled on was the text Amelia has sent the previous night.
Chills ran down his spine as his eyes quickly scanned through the lines of the text, goosebumps took all over his body, what a shocking revelation.
The worst of it all was the Daniel part, Jasira was the one who pulled the trigger that left him dead. Slowly, he turned to look at his portrait on the wall, the portrait of his favourite cousin.
“No wonder,” he said, “she always looked haunted whenever she sees that portrait. Ahhhhh! This is too much,” he roared like a wounded lion, and immediately sent for her.