After the acquisition, my manager threw more important tasks at my desk, and no complaints. I love learning and improving my career, so I welcomed the knowledge. I was assigned to deal with important company clients and headed to a restaurant to meet one of the important clients, Mr. Mittal. We have too many ties between the companies, and we both need to come to terms with an important deal related to manufacturing. That guy is hot-headed, and getting an appointment is a hard task, so I can't mess this one up.
I parked my car outside the restaurant after checking the time I made my way toward the entrance. As I entered, the atmosphere was quiet which was unusual, and I was welcomed by the empty surroundings. I was perplexed for a few seconds. This is one of the classy restaurants in the city, and it's empty. Strange if you ask me. No waiter, no manager; it was absolutely empty, and only one soul I could see who was sipping the juice with a cunning smile on his face. My blood started boiling with just a glimpse of him.
"Sorry, Mr. Mittal couldn't make it." By saying that, he gestured for me to take a seat. I was staring at him with a burning gaze, and in return, he chuckled. "Those eyes beneath the glass. No one noticed it unless you showed it voluntarily and at our first meeting, I knew you were not as pathetic as you proclaim. Don't give me that look. You can hide your true nature beneath the glass, and Ralph would be an idiot not to notice the same, but I am not Ralph." His whole posture changed into more intimidating. He will always fucking do this when we are alone like I will give a shit. "Take the fucking seat."
We were starting each other, and he started smiling. Something about that smile. "Well, am I right? Did Ralph ever notice the person behind the glass?" Indeed, he didn't and that doesn't prove anything. I didn't wear that façade to hurt him or anything. "We are fucking the same people wearing the mask." I scoffed at that comment. He is not only weighing our façade but also concluding that we both are the same. Seriously. "Will you show the real you? I am eager to meet real Reece Damon."
Without uttering a word, I took the opposite seat. "Long time and I never wished to see you but here we are for the same reason." He was fuming. "Messing with my boyfriend again." "You mean Ex." "You can speak thank God and you know very well that we will be back together anytime soon." By staring at him. "He is still your ex." "That doesn't mean you can sneak your way in and do the fuck you want." "Same old, same old no changes." "Trust me it will work every time. Stop every fucking thing and I mean it."
The waiter placed the juice in front of me and excused us.
"So, as I was saying, stop every fucking thing that you have started again in my absence. I am winning him over, you know it." I started sipping the juice to calm every nerve that was threatening to stab him on the spot. "Are you using the old method?" "It definitely going to work, as nothing changed between us ever going to." True, but will his words have the same weight as they had before when I was a fucking teenager?
"He is mine. He will always have been. You can enjoy him for the moment, but when it comes to the long term or future, he will always be with me. I won't let him slip, not to you at least. Back off Reece enough, you had a good time, and everything should stop. I am going to win him over again and again and again." The confidence after betraying someone shook me a little. Seriously pathetic.
"If I didn't." "Good point. I was hoping to hear this from you. I want someone striking me, not nodding pathetically. Let me give a few highlights. Your career is going well, but not that well. You have achieved something, but it will take another few years to be called an achiever and to see a good bank balance, and Mr. Mittal is my biggest fan." He finally finished his drinks, and there was a relaxation in his posture. A satisfied smile was lingering on his face. I was too numb to respond to anything, and once again, my mind was preoccupied with the future.
We were just fucking right. Why the hell does everything feel like just the way it happened long before? Once again, he was threatening, and neither my position nor my mindset changed. I am thinking the same way as I used to think before. I liked Asher's confidence because he always meant every fucking word and he would turn it into reality. He will win over Ralph. I am more than confident about that. Again, we were just fucking right.
This open threat and being powerless pathetically thinking about money, not about the person I love. We were fucking for fuck's sake; whatever we had in the past, nothing was going on in the present. Ralph would go back no matter what I did. Should I be fucking risk everything?
"It will always work, no matter how many years might pass. Trust me, the power and the money will always get its way. Strangely, it's true. Always so fucking true. I won't fucking interfere in your way, and I expect the same from you. We are the same; the only difference is that I am with money and power, and you are without. Reece, you want to rip me off at the moment, and I get it. I am the only person who saw the real you beneath the glass, and in some way, we are the same. We both love Ralph, and I am the only person who will win over and have him forever. You can keep barging, but things will change only momentarily, as permanent changes will always be with me.
My mind was clouded, and again, I was pushed to the same position. Again, the ball is in my court, and I don't know what to do.
"You will cheat on him again." There was silence. Neither denying nor accepting, and this was fucking enough to prove who was worthy. "None of your business. Let me repeat myself, Reece, don't sneak in my absence." "You don't deserve him. He doesn't deserve any of this." "Please don't tell me you deserve him rather than me. I can dare to do anything for him. What about you?" I love him wholeheartedly, and that's enough for Ralph. It wasn't enough in the past, and we are fucking now, that's it. What the hell is wrong with me?
In the past, Ralph bounced back twice. What about now, will he?
"Can't you be serious with him?" "Can't you mind your fucking business for once?" "You will do every fucking thing to get back to him. Why the hell do you end up hurting him?" He sighed. Seriously, is it fucking that exhausting? "Listen, Reece, like seriously, listen to me. I am not going to repeat myself. Mind your bloody business and concentrate on your career. Don't dream of things beyond your reach, like Ralph. Get stuck in your career and date someone in your range, that's all. Never think of Ralph; he is never going to be yours no matter what I do in the coming days. Got it? You better get this. You have reached only a few steps in your career, and I don't want you to start from the bottom. If you get on my bad side, you may repeat the bottom steps again and again. This is a fucking clear message. I have improved my threatening way right damn, and I am bloody proud of myself."
We were silent, and I was at a loss for words. "You know I am not a psycho or anything, but I am feeling strangely satisfied by seeing your face. You want to do so many things but are tied by the future and responsibility, whatever shitty reasons you got, and I am happy to shatter your confidence every time. I want to be done with you forever, but you keep sneaking, which is fucking grabbing my attention. Give and take a break, will you? So, let's not see each other forever. Count the days you will be bidding a final goodbye to Ralph. I will definitely make you too. Till then, have a great day ahead. Mr. Mithal has given an appointment for tomorrow. Reach the venue in time, pitch whatever shit you want, and try to claim a step. Best of luck and goodbye forever."