Present time; seven years later
"Brother? Is this your new number?" I texted in reply to the unknown number that had just texted me to ask when I would be coming.
"Yes, it's me, little sis. I changed my number last week because I got a new phone. You know, the business meeting starts in forty minutes and we have to make a good, first impression on those Italian men. They won't accept a lackadaisical attitude."
"Yeah, I know. I would be at your place in thirty minutes." I texted in return and turned off my phone and just when I was going to urge my driver to drive faster, my phone vibrates again with another message from the unknown number which I was yet to save as my brother, Alexander's number.
Then I open the message which consists of the address where I am supposed to meet him and the Italian men. This comes as a shocker to me because I find it very weird.
"Aren't we meeting at your house any longer??" I text.
"The venue just got changed. Follow this new address instead."
Hmm. For some reason, it all seemed very weird right from him texting me, calling me "little sis." Alexander never calls me little sis, he calls me 'baby girl' instead, and this new address? It seemed pretty odd that my brother had a venue for where we were supposed to have the meeting and the venue was not his house.
After all, this business belongs to the two of us; we are only meeting with the Italian men to seek business and entrepreneurial advice from them since they were experts in the field of established bags and shoe business and since my brother and I are just launching a business collaboration together, we have to make things right.
Nevertheless, the change of venue seemed very unnecessary. Why can't we just hold the meeting at his house?
I decided to calm down and asked my driver to make another turn so he could drive towards the place given in the new address. I would do as told.
It's my third year of being a businesswoman and definitely, I have come across and have to do weirder things that could not even be discussed publicly. Business is certainly about taking a whole lot of risks and doing a lot of risky things as well with the constant probability of things either going right or wrong.
This is all my life consists of now. I have had to move on to do other things with my life since love and friendships are not the only aspects there is to a man's life. Those two have failed me brutally. This is why I love doing business so much and I had gone to the extent of studying accounting at Yale's University even when I initially never intended to.
Business has nothing to do with emotions. If you are going to choose one, then the other one has to go flying out the window or leaving through the door and since I badly needed to get rid of my emotions that just never need to my voice to attempts to control them, I went for an alternative that has thankfully never failed me nor put me to shame.
It has helped me put love and friendships totally behind me, way faster than I had even thought. Once I began to master the keys to prosperity, ownership, and financial success, I knew I had to get rid of that thing called emotions because I had to make profits in every possible way, whether big or small and that is certainly unachievable if emotions are involved.
You don't show compassion, pity, or love to someone you are supposed to make a transaction with.
Honestly, I found it very interesting and I wasted no time trying to know all about it. It is the perfect cure for someone like me who is tired of getting disappointed repeatedly.
Now I know that If I'm to cry over anything at all, then it should be because of a monetary loss or a wreck in my business and not because of some bastard breaking my heart, cheating on me, or getting unpleasant surprises from people I least expected to hurt me.
The only reason why I make interactions with people now is for the cause of money and if there's something to benefit from them financially and that is exactly why I got married to Mustafa, two years ago.
You know, I kept rejecting all of the love shots he was firing at me for so long until I stumbled upon this thing called, 'business' and realized that I was willing to do just anything for my monetary profit.
I mean, it can be fun using people to make a profit, just like playing a chess game, right?
Dan was someone who gave me a tough time mentally, emotionally, and psychologically all through my younger years and all of the efforts we made to keep our boat sailing despite everything just never worked out ever since we cheated on each other.
He forgave me truly for everything and for the fact that I unintentionally cheated on him but I just could not get over what he did to me, no matter how hard I tried. No matter the number of times I made an effort to rebuild the solid, firm trust I once had in him.
There were times, when I would ask him to screw me hard, all because I wanted to feel the Dan I used to know when I was nine years old. I badly wanted to believe all of the oaths he had made to never cheat on me again. I wanted to be convinced so I begged him every day to vow to me that he would stay loyal and he was willing to say those vows, over and over again.
But I had the toughest time, believing him. I became that girlfriend a guy would never want to have; excessively protective and gets easily jealous by the minutest contact he had with a girl. I knew I was becoming a trashier person by the day but Dan never complained because he believed he deserved all I was doing to him and would go through it all just to eventually earn my trust.
But deep down, I knew there was no point because I was never going to trust him again and I did not want to waste his time any further.
So we broke up but became sexual partners, meaning we had sex with each other with no strings attached to it like before. I mean, I still loved him, loved him for all he did for me during the hard times, loved the good, genuine times that we shared, loved his body, loved his penis too but I didn't trust him. I just couldn't.
Does such a relationship exist? Yeah, it does but you know, in as much as I completely wanted to let go of Dan, I just could not.
Toxic, yeah? That's right.
It was messed up and afterward, I even realized that he too was still holding the grudge and pain from me kissing Mustafa very passionately on the dance stage but held all of it in and tried to always remember that my act was a mistake.
He confessed that that was why he always screwed me very aggressively because he was still mad at me nevertheless.
We kept screwing each other for so long even while we had our partners. Dan has someone else he was dating while I was dating Mustafa. I started to date Mustafa when I discovered that he is the heir to his father's conglomerate jewelry business in Arabia and that was the time when I was just beginning to learn how to get rid of my emotions by using business as a substitute.
At first, I wanted to give Mustafa a chance just so I could get over Dan, but I realized later on that Mustafa wasn't even a better option because, Zoe who I thought was my friend, had severe feelings for Mustafa and hated the fact that Mustafa had feelings for me instead.
When I found out, I realized why Zoe gave me that stupid advice to give Dan a chance on the day I saw those bouquets on my bed. It made more sense when I knew what her true intentions were. She knew Mustafa would stop firing love shots at me if I get back with Dan. So she desperately wanted it to happen so she could perhaps have Mustafa to herself.
Little wonder why she was also the first person to send those videos to me on that day immediately after I got a call from Mustafa.
But I did not care neither did it hurt me when I found out about it. I decided not to use Mustafa to get over Dan as that would cause a whole lot of friction which I wasn't prepared for.
So I went for a better option, - business.
That was when I figured it would be good to be in a relationship with Mustafa because the transactional benefits attached to it is something I just can not forfeit.
I realized that transactions were far better than relations.
So I gave Mustafa a chance but of course, he thinks it's from a place of love. Then I did something utterly messed up.
I told Zoe to shoot her shots at Mustafa and overlook the fact that I am in a relationship with him. I did not care about Mustafa's heart any longer, I only cared about his pocket, so the least I could do was to give him a chance to experience love on the other hand so when he eventually finds out that I was never in love with him, he would not be so heartbroken and perhaps, he would start to realize how much of a better option, Zoe has always been.
And of course, these things didn't stop Dan and me from having sex with each other. Equilibrium right?
Isn't that what life should be all about? I was only trying to achieve that.
But when my elder sister, Demi found out, she was very pissed with me. She was pissed for the fact there she had taken out of her busy time to take me to a psychiatric hospital just so she could make me know that people run mad because of disappointments and heartbreaks.
"Why are you doing these things, Cassandra? It's really messed up and you're going too far and you would regret it so much. Mustafa is a good guy for God's sake. He is your best friend and he doesn't deserve what you're doing to him at all. You are acting like a confused person, who doesn't know what she wants but wants to have it all at the same time. You'd only get bad results for acting like this." She told me that day as she took a jug of milk from the drugs and shut the fridge afterward.
"Everything is already messed up. Including me as a person. So let me just mess it all up some more, you know?" I smirked.
"And you think this is a joke? Look, do you want to end up like those patients I showed you at the psychiatric hospital? Because with all of the things you are doing now, keeping in touch with your ex, and having constant sex with him, and dating your best friend for monetary gain, someone who you are supposed to genuinely love, you would end up running mad. Is that what you want?" She asked as she poured some of the milk into a glass cup.
On that day, we were sitting on the kitchen counter and were having a random discussion like we used to have, something I undeniably miss. During those times, I was hurting a lot as well and I always confided in my sister.
"Yes, big sister. I want to run mad. I don't even care about a damn thing. You can say all you want though but I know you can never believe me. Remember that day when I stormed out of the room and went straight to the kitchen to get into a hot argument with mother and then you came to the kitchen with dad only to see that all of the plates are broken. You were the only one I told everything to but you never believed me. You never believed mother could do such a thing and in all honesty, I don't blame you for not believing me because you were never the victim. I was."
"But still—" she swallowed hard, knowing I had a point but I interrupted her quickly.
"You do not need to worry about me sis, because if you do, you would only just end up being as messed up as I am and I don't want that for you because you are already going through a lot on your own," I told her.
And truly, she stopped worrying ever since that day. That didn't stop us from communicating with each other regularly, neither did it stop us from being sisters but when it came to my love life, she never asked about it neither did she bring the topic up because she knew it truly did not exist, it only looked like it existed.
And now, I am transactionally married to Mustafa with two children. Those kids? You might wonder why I have children for a man I do not love right? It's all for the sake of business as well.
The wisest thing to do as a business person is to ensure that your wealth is massive enough to spread through your generations even after your death. In as much as I wanted to sap and benefit all I could from Mustafa, I wanted it to pass on to my generations as well. I want a generation that believes not in love but money because with money comes power and independence.
I want my children to inherit all that would be left off Mustafa's wealth and businesses so they can make big waves in the business industry when they grow old enough to engage in businesses.
Business has and would continue to pay off.
Now, the best part of it all is the fact that my brother and I are finally establishing our joint business together, something I have always longed for to happen. My brother is a professional shoemaker and I've been very much experienced in the vocation of bag making so we decided to merge both skills, make more money out of it and form a brand name of our own since bags and shoes go perfectly together as accessories.
My brother, Alexander, and I have never really been close as siblings because in a way, I never really liked him. He was always happy and selfishly expected everyone to be as well.
It irritated me a lot because he just had no what everyone else was going through and therefore expected everyone to be happy for no reason. Maybe it is just me that feels that way though but I guess I am entitled to my feelings.
I ascertained that he would be the best sibling in the family to have a purely transactional relationship with since we were never really close but I wasn't mean to the point of financially draining him or cheating him.
I still love my siblings, well enough to respect them.
Nevertheless, it excites me to see that I'm realizing my dreams now, thanks to my marriage to Mustafa, benefiting from his business to enlarge my coasts.
I didn't realize how long I had been reminiscing on my past until my driver informs me that we are at the venue already. I had been reflecting for roughly thirty minutes.
Then I looked around me, expecting to see houses, people, and a modernized urban environment but my heart begins to hammer loudly beneath my chest that I can barely even take it, I can feel all the blood in my system rushing right into my head, making my skin suddenly very warm.
My eyes were widened with fear as a surge of trepidation instantly took over.
Lo, we were at a dead end; a deserted, dry street. No houses, cars, or even people. All I could see were shrubs and grasses that had completely turned brown in death.
Beads of sweat had quickly found their way through my forehead. Images of the castle flashed through my head and then I realized that this place looked very very similar. Or was I seeing things now? Are these part of the symptoms? What the heck is going on??
I know I spoke about getting rid of my emotions by using business as a substitute but one thing that made me weak all time, one thing that was powerful enough to humble me and make me fall on my knees to beg desperately for mercy, one that undeniably and easily has the power to make me cry out loud, break down and freak out completely was the fear of being held into captivity.
That fear remains my breaking point irrespective of every other kind of fear that I have managed to conquer. That fear turned me into a dummy real quick.
With shaky hands, I reach my phone in my pocket only to see that there's barely any signal at all. I try to call my brother's number; the one I was familiar with but the call did not go through since there wasn't any signal at all.
"CALL MY BROTHER'S PHONE NUMBER IMMEDIATELY!!" I commanded my driver, as though him calling my brother would be any different. I tap on the front seat where he is seated hurriedly as I bite on my lips nervously.
I have lost my way completely now and definitely would not be able to find my way around neither would the driver be able to. The driver tried calling my brother's number but of course, it doesn't go through because there's no signal.
"Bloody hell!! Where are we?!" I shouted, panicking as a tear ran down my cheek. "CAN'T YOU DO SOMETHING ABOUT THIS, FRANKLIN??!! HOW DID YOU EVER DRIVE INTO A PLACE LIKE THIS??!! WHAT IS—" I was going on and on complaining and panicking and crying but the sound of my phone chiming in cuts me off abruptly and I pick my phone up to see a text from my brother, from the number that I am familiar with.
Then I opened the text and it read;
Where are you?? Don't you know the way to my house any longer?? These Italian men are waiting for you!!!!!
A gasp of shock escaped from my lips as another tear ran down my cheek. His text only just confirms the fact that I'm in deep shit and I've been trapped and I know my captor is lurking around somewhere and would come very soon for me knowing that I've easily fallen into the bait that has been set for me.
How did I not realize on time that the unknown number didn't belong to my brother?...
******
Psalms 55:12-14 - "For it is not an enemy who reproaches me; then I could bear it. Nor is it one who hates me who has exalted himself against me; Then I could hide from him. But it was you, a man my equal, my companion and my acquaintance. We took sweet counsel together and walked to the house of God in the throng