* loyalty triumphs love but loyalty comes with love *
~•~
THE PRESENT
Adria sighed. "she made a lot of sacrifices for us" she said to her sister as a glint of pain flash in her eyes
Berlina; "she made sacrifices for you to live a better life, not coward away from your fears. You already went to jail for Ryan's death, So why do you keep hurting yourself? "
*THE PAST
After the death of Ryan, Adria was in a state of shock, Nightmare used that as an opportunity to frame her for the Death of Ryan , she was charged with murder. Adria didn't try to fight the case, she kept calm while allegations where placed on her. She was taken to the prison, where she would get beaten and starved .
Nightmare wanted her to die in there, he had planned all this right from the start, he didn't want to kill her, he wanted to ruin her life,image, and social standing. He wanted to break her emotionally and turn her insane.
Luckily Berlin came back to Africa, immediately she got the information.
Ring! Ring !!!
"Hello it's Berlina speak! "
"Hello boss, there's a little problem little boss has been arrested for Ryan's death-" he was interrupted by Berlina
"How dare him, who does nightmare think he is to try to ruin my little sisters life. I knew this was gonna happen, I warned her not to get too close to that guy but she doesn't listen, always with the stubbornness urrrgh! "Berlina
"Boss, what are we going to do, your in New York right now. There's no other person who has enough power to retaliate like you. Where little boss is right now, she's been treated badly and what's worse is she isn't responding at all, is like she has lost her rationality. She barely talks and when she talks it about Ryan ." he said
Berlina sighed "call my assistant and tell him to arrange a flight to Africa immediately and while at that prepare a business contract with Lu cooperation and arrange a meeting with them seems she won't be forgetting that guy soon hmmm. "
" But boss, nightmare succeeded in destroying little bosses company. " he argued
"DO WHAT I SAID!!!" She ended the call
When she arrived the case was reopened, she tried her best to get her sister out of jail while funding her company so it gets back on it's feet. She also made plans to send Adria out of the country because she knew nightmare wouldn't let her live in peace.
Lu jingze was her old time friend, she had helped him a lot of times and he stayed in Japan, so she arranged a meeting with his company to form an agreement of alliance. They were always there for each other so he accepted. Adria would have to work hard to gain their trust tho , so she would have to move to japan to work with them first.
She got released with no charges because they was not any strong evidence that proved she killed Ryan de banks.
Adria was bailed and compensated for the wrong judgement. She had lost everything she had in the war between her and Nightmare, so she had to start from scratch. Luckily her older sister became a shareholder in her company and funded it till it was stable and she even gained an alignment with the famous Lu cooperation in Asia.
'Typical Berlina always there to clean up my mess ' Adria thought
*THE PRESENT
" I just feel empty, and I don't know what I want anymore, I don't know where to start, I don't know what to do, I wish I did . "
Adria said sadly
" firstly, you should start from forgiving yourself, then learn from your stupid mistake for example aligning with dangerous people like nightmare in the name of connection and then forget about Ryan, is not like you loved him anyways (she scoffed) poor guy. " she said with disgust
" Don't make it sound like I didn't feel something for him "Adria argued
" Did you? " Berlina asked
"Yes! We fucking slept together " Adria rolled her eyes
"Yah right, you were clearly a boss f**ker" she joked while running
"How dare you! I better not catch you, you asshole, we felt something for each other ok!!"she screamed while trying to catch Berlina
"Are you trying to convince me or your self, huh crazy Leo " Berlina said
"Arrrgh say that one more time and your dead!" Adria threatened
" stupid Leo" Berlina stated
Adria charged towards Berlina and caught her as they both fought childishly. She hated it when people insulted her zodiac sign, since she was little, she saw her sign as the greatest sign ever and would argue with someone who thought other wise.
"Ha..ha...ha...ha stop I'm gonna die! " Berlina scream
Adria kept tickling her till they both fell on the floor together, these were the times she missed she thought to herself.
"I really missed you sis" Adria said sadly
"Come on cheer up, I'm here now durrh" Berlina said trying to cheer her little sister up
" You left me and you barely called, when I went to see mom, she always told me how you FaceTimed her and sent gifts over. But you never thought once to drop a message for me " Adria said looking down at her fingers. "Didn't you miss me, even a little bit ?. " she asked as she bit her lips trying to hold back the tears threatening to pour.
" Is that why you made all this trouble?. " Berlina joked. " Come on , actually I did miss you, Remember the last time we spoke, you told me I should let you live your life and try not to order you around. I had to let you do what you wanted and I was really proud of you when I heard you built a perfume and jewelry company and also got the second largest share in Coca Cola company, but when I heard you and nightmare became partners for the car company, I wouldn't lie I was really disappointed cause you knew better than to work with nightmare and we talked about it but you refused to listen do you remember?. "
Adria bent her head in shame "I do." She felt really ashamed of herself right now, Berlina was the only person who could make her feel this way " I'm sorry we had that fight, I never knew you would take me serious and for nightmare I didn't know it would end this way, I was introduced to him by jerad one of my good friends. "
" But I told you this was gonna happen. "
"At first he was a good guy he helped me a lot and I thought it was genuine, he even sent me to a defense school were I learnt to protect my self, I didn't know he was going to suddenly change and send me dirty missions to eliminate people " she shrugged
"Hold up, I hope you didn't kill anyone Adria " Berlina
"Jeez don't you trust me, I'm your sister for crying out loud, we have known each other like forever. I didn't ok ~she paused ~ but I shoot trevor tho. " she said calmly with no feelings attached
"What!!!!!!" Berlina screamed as she charged towards her
"Wait! I didn't kill him, i just shot his ankle that's all" Adria shrugged
"Oh thanks Goodness! thought you had someone's blood on your hand, I would have sent you back to jail myself. " Berlina stated
"Ha ha.... wait you wouldn't do that if I kill someone would you?" she asked Berlina
" Try me, so why did you shoot him " Berlina threatened
"He threatened to kill nightmare back then,he later extended the attack to me, so I had to make him know who he was up against " Adria replied simply
"Lol typical Adria, his lucky tho I would have killed him myself if he had laid a finger on you . " Berlina said
Adria sneered "Awwwn I could smell love in the air. For someone who threatened to put me in jail. "
They stared at each other for a while before embracing one another .
"Thanks for everything sis" Adria leans over her sister's shoulder
"Your welcome little one, I missed you a lot, you don't know how relieved I am that nothing happened to you . I was really scared when i got the message from your little minions "
" I love you so much "Adria whispered
"I love you more" Berlina stood up ready to leave when she remembered something
" And when your done preparing for your trip call me alright?" She said as she walked out the door
"Ok bye sis " Adria waved
She stayed exactly where she was before her sister left, she was tossing her phone round in circles while staring blankly at the wall. She thought about her trip to Japan, she didn't even know anybody there and she wasn't good with friends, how in heaven's name will she survive there urrrrrgh, ' I hope they have edible things to eat there tho why didn't Berlina not just send me to Canada or better still America' her phone beeped
A text message from her assistant she opened it and read it
Assistant; ma'am the flight has been booked and your visa is ready
Adria texted back; so quick? So when's the flight
Assistant; two days from now
Adria; what!!!! How can that be? I'm supposed to be here for a week before I leave and I don't even have a house there, that's another mans land I hope you know
Assistant; I'm sorry ma'am but this is your sisters doing, she made the arrangements for you
Adria; urrrrgh! Alright
Assistant; And you have some documents to sign
Adria scoffed and dropped her phone while thinking, she's trying to get rid of me huh, she placed her phone on the bed. She stood up and walked to her bathtub, she took of her robe and soaked her self in the warm water, closing her eyes as she felt relaxed. When she was done, she tried dring her hair and then a past event flashed in her eyes the first time Ryan touched her hair.
*THE PAST
Adria " This shouldn't have happened gaaad!!!!." She looked toward the young man beside her who look unbothered " what are you still doing here leave!"
Ryan smiles while trying to sit up " You think too much you know, this was bound to happen because we love each other. "
Adria was furious "Shut your bloody mouth, you idiot! I was wasted yesterday. The best you could have done was take me back to my hotel room not get drunk with me, urrrgh that's why I called you!!"
Ryan head was pounding, he felt Adria would be feeling the same so he stood up and headed to the kitchen, it was a hotel so he could get there without stress . Adria eyes flashed when she saw him naked, Ryan was like a really good friend to her, he was the only close friend she had and he always understood her, 'when others saw a cold and dangerous witch he saw a little puppy'quote his words.
"Get dressed would you!"threw his trouser at him
" Go take a bath you stink" he teased her
"Urrgh!! I'm gonna kill you Ryan" Adria said pissed how dare he say that to her, she never smells or was it due to the activity last night? and the drinks, she tried to smell her self.
Seeing Adria smelling herself he laughed out loud what a cute insecure little boss he thought to himself if only she knew how beautiful she was
" I was joking silly, you don't smell now please go take your bath and brush your teeth so you could drink this tea"
" why would I drink that "
" it would help reduce the pain your feeling here" he points his head
"Oh we really need to leave this place, but the director of this broadcasting company is not helping at all, urrgh!!!. how dare that coward extend our stay and give us tacky rooms to stay in ." She said as she stood up to head to the bathroom.
" Go take your bath smelly, when you come back we talk about ways to go about it "
"I don't smell!!!! You just said that your self " she said while dashing to the bathroom
When she was done she rapped herself in a white robe and sat at the big chair facing the mirror, Ryan gave her the tea to help get rid of the hangover.
Adria took a sip and looked at Ryan in surprise .
"What you like it? "Ryan smirked
"No! Yuck it taste bad your the worst tea maker ever " Adria
Ryan laughter echoed through the room " it's supposed to reduce the pain you feel, not sweeten your mouth silly and by the way am a guy, so I'm not supposed to know how to make things. Unlike you who doesn't even know how to prepare good noodles "
" How dare you it wasn't my fault the gas was too much ok and the noodles was already spoilt " she said struggling to keep a straight face they both erupted into laughter.
"The noodles were bad huh? your such a bad liar " he scoffed
Ryan watched her drink the tea and when she was done, he disposed it. He took a sit opposite Adria, watching her struggle with her hair. Why was she so perfect even her clumsy attitude seem cute, she's his boss so why do they share this strong bond, we're we married in our past life? Was she my concubine? Urrgh this feeling can be so draining, especially when your the only one feeling that way.
"Ryan I need clothes, so stop staring at me and make yourself useful, I don't pay you to sit around ok! " she interrupted his thought
" Alright, do you need help drying your hair " he asked as he blushed faintly
Adria turns around and smile brightly, she really needed help " You wanna help me?"
"I'm not really good but I could try" Ryan said while scratching the back of his hair.
"No! Your not gonna try anything with my hair ok, my hair is precious you don't use them to test unsure skill. " she scoffed
They were silent for a while looking at each other, Adria tried drying her hair again but failed .
"Fine you can try. "Urrrgh she hated it when people touch her hair, she thought
Ryan hesitated for some time , but eventually approached her gently and took up the dryer and stared drying her hair .
He held the dryer on his right and the comb on the other, as he comb through her hair, he felt how smooth and silky it was unlike his and the other Africans who had slightly strong hairs.
"Your truly blessed Adria " he whispered huskily.
Adria tried her best to avoid this coming conversation, cause she knew how it was gonna end. Ryan breath in her hair fragrance it smelled like fresh flowers, must have been the shampoo but they smelled so good.
"Stop sniffing my hair Ryan don't you think it's creepy " Adria complained
This new attitude Ryan showed her this days creeped her out, before this she remembered him getting overpossesive when Nightmare approached her and now she created a mistake bound with him things are gonna get worse, he is acting more caring I hope he doesn't get the wrong message dehm! why did I drink too much, she needs to set things straight .
"Umm Ryan "
" yh" he answered while combining her hair gently.
" why did you act that way towards nightmare last time, it was really strange tho, he surely hates you right now. I know I pay you to ensure my safety but that was overboard you know "
Ryan placed the comb and dryer on the table and turned to face Adria and held her hand
" Don't tell me you haven't notice"he asked
" notice What"Adria really had no idea.
" Nightmare like you, it's more like an obsession you know " he said with disgust
" And so? What's wrong with that? it's just a mere feeling, it's eventually going to fade. " Adria was surprised but tried to think officially after all nightmare was her business partner and secondly he hasn't told her directly.
Ryan hands tightened subconsciously around her hand, he stared into her eyes and replied " you know how dangerous that guy is, so you should know better than anyone that this is a clear red light "
Adria closed her eyes as she tried to stabilize her breathing "Ryan what I do, or choose to do doesn't concern you, you should be worried about yourself and carrying out your task as my bodyguard. "
"You know it does Adria, you already know how I feel about you and you know your mine! "
Adria ignores his comment and said with a straight face " Ryan it's really out of my control, how you feel is not my problem, if what happened yesterday gave you a new found hope I'm so sorry to break it to you that it was a dehm mistake! So get over it ok and quit making things complicated. "
Ryan felt pain as he heard her words, but this wasn't the first time she always did this, masking how she feels
"Why do you do this, why do you keep hurting yourself, why do you really believe you don't deserve love, why don't you just let me love you "
" Don't you get it, I don't care Ryan get dressed and leave. " Adria said
"Come over this shit Adria! stop making things complicated! I don't care if you don't feel anything at all atleast let me in please!"
Sounds of shattered glasses echoed in the room , Adria was fuming with anger as her usual evil aura invaded her, she was going to go berserk if Ryan doesn't stop. Every single time he does this, last time she warned him not to bring this up again, she doesn't love him and she doesn't love anyone, she hated all men, she hated the word love it sound so much like a joke, why is it so hard for him to get it, she doesn't fucking want to lose him , she only wanted him around and nothing else.
"Don't you get it? Y do you choose to make things hard, I don't deserve your love. I'm a heartless asshole! tsk tsk tsk how come you don't get it. How do you even wanna love me? Ha ha your just my mere bodyguard is this what I pay you for huh tell me! Do I pay you to sleep around with your own boss!" She screamed while pushing him as he tried to coax her.
" I'm fucking tired, i don't want your stupid pity!. I'm tired of being stock in this silly environment and all this bad energy, you've seen how my last relationship ended right so why do you choose to hurt yourself "
Adria said while shaking while blood slipped through her hands, she just wished he understood, why can't he just leave. He's her only friend right now and she wouldn't want to hurt him like she always do, she wasn't good with relationships and he fucking knows so why does he still choose to stay
"Adria your blee-"
"Leave Ryan!, I don't feel like talking. "Adria said pointing the door
Ryan steered deeply into her eyes " all these acting is not gonna work on me"
"Leave!" She screamed
He stepped out, she crouch down on the floor as she hug knees and sobbed silently, After some time she heard movements and raised her head to see Ryan standing there with some first aid, she chuckled he's not gonna leave huh.
"I thought I told you to leave Ryan your getting on my nerves when I want to be alone I want to be alone " she said
"I promise I'll leave once I'm done dressing your wounds " he said
"Your really impossible, your way to stubborn. " she sighed
"Well I learnt from the best" he said with a wink.
Adria chuckled softly " we both know your worse than me. "
Adria didn't even know she was hurt, she looked down and saw blood dripping that when she started to feel the pain.
As Ryan dressed her wounds she stare at the wall, she didn't even flinch once when it hurt .
"Your so scary, other girls would be crying in pain right now. " Ryan said while cleaning her wounds
"Sometimes I'm scared of looking at my eyes you know. " Adria laughed sadly.
"Why" Ryan asked patiently waiting for her answer.
"Cause when I do, all I see is pain in disguise Ryan " she closed her eyes trying to ensure she doesn't cry.
Ryan was quite for a while he knew she was not mad anymore but sad .
" you know growing up I saw how everyone craved to be loved ,but I hated it cause I always tried to find a way out , it not like I don't want to be loved or something I just want to find solace. I need peace of mind I want to experience genuine happiness and care but that's the thing nature would grant with a great sacrifice . "She said
" you harbor a lot of bad memories in your heart Adria, you need to let it go . " he said
"How do I do that when that's what I know how to do best that's where I find a little peace right now that doesn't require me sacrificing anything. "She said
"Well you can start by accepting me " he grinned
"Silly" Adria said while slapping him playfully " I think I pay you to much, how about a reduction? Or maybe I should fire you I think then I'll find peace of mine hmm wat do you think? "
They both steered at each other and laughed childishly, She did pay him a lot though.
"You really need to really disassociate yourself from nightmare, his a great red light "
"I know but it's not as easy as you think, sometimes I ask myself how I ended up in this situation. " she bent her head over
Ryan embraced her letting her rest her head on his chest, what a pained pure soul in a beast body he thought
" I'm gonna stick by your side forever Adria, I promise no matter what happens "Ryan promised as he held her tightly.
"Ryan I don't want you to hurt yourself, loving someone who doesn't feel the same and who doesn't deserve it " Adria said feeling tired to protest
"You don't know how much you mean to me if you did, you'll know how much more loving you deserve " -Ryan
" I can't promise to love you, but what I do promise is to always make a room for you right here" she said pointing to her heart
"Then that's enough then " he sighed feeling relieved that she didn't refuse him again.
He brought ice creams, he knew how much she loved the the strawberry and vanilla flavor. They ate together, when they were done they talked about how they would go about the deal which was taken eternity to finish.
She eventually slept off in his arms, he stayed awake watching her sleep while he played with her hair, he had found a new obsession her soft curly hair.
'Who hurt you this much my angel' he thought to himself, it really hurts to see such a perfect soul suffer. I'll ensure we share great memories till the very end he kissed her hair and slept off.
* THE PRESENT
"Why did you leave Ryan! You broke your promise you were such a good guy. " she sigh as she dashed to her study room to settle some office documents while trying to forget the memories she shared with Ryan .