Sitting on a bench, Mark paid no attention to passersby. He stared at the sidewalk with worried eyes, thinking about what he should do. He was put in a difficult situation. Out of nowhere came his rich father, who had toyed with his mother one night and abandoned her when he found out she was pregnant. He did what most married men do when an affair brings trouble.
On the one hand, it squeezed him in the chest until he thought of the wealth and money he could have at his fingertips. On the other... he wanted nothing from the man who abandoned him and his mother at the worst time for her. She was the one who worried about his upbringing for eighteen years and, despite her lack of money, tried to make sure he had everything.
How could he accept anything from him?
Although... shouldn't this man pay for being a coward and having his son raised for eighteen years without a father?
The boy rubbed his face and raised his gaze as Naomi stood before him. She removed the hood from her head and sat down next to him.
- On the phone, you sounded like you were worried about something. Nevertheless, I'm glad you thought of me. What happened?
He looked at her sullenly and sighed heavily.
- For the moment, you are the only person I can talk to. If I disturbed you in something....
- Come on. For you, I'll even resign from my job and come at break neck speed," she stated quite seriously; however, Mark laughed at these words.
- I still don't know why you're so crazy about me when even the girls at my school don't like me, but I feel it's better if I never know the truth.
- I, for one, am glad that the girls from your school don't pay attention to you. At least I can be calm about it.
Mark combed his hand through his hair, and then his gaze was caught by a classmate who was walking along the sidewalk with his friends.
- That donkey was still missing," he muttered under his breath, turning his face to the blonde. The girl furrowed her eyebrows when she realized that it was the boy she had exposed to ridicule in front of the school.
- Whom do my enchanting eyes see! - he exclaimed with feigned joy, pointing his finger at Mark and the girl who accompanied him. His friends looked excited to see Naomi Smith.
- Isn't she the queen of commercials? What is she doing here?
- Yes, that's her. As you can see, they both snuck out for a date. She's probably trying to lighten him up before tomorrow's final exam. Don't they look strange together? Such a chick and a loser at her side....
Mark was furious. The situation with his father had unleashed the anger he had been storing inside him strenuously for a long time. This time he couldn't handle it. He jumped off the bench and rushed to his colleague, clutching the collar of his T-shirt in his fist.
- The offered will be you when you don't pass the final exam. Let's see, who will be laughing under their breath then?
Naomi grabbed Mark's shoulders and pulled him back. She was standing between the boys when she noticed that the one there was trying to fight.
- Get away from him, idol! - she shouted, slapping his chest with her hand. - Do you really have no intelligence? Usually, dimwits cling to one man and oppress him to the point of insanity, just to get a kick out of it because in science they are complete donkeys.
The brunet, who was standing behind her, fixed her with a disappointed and angry gaze. She humiliated him again. She stood up for him, making him look like a wimp. Furthermore, she hurt his pride, and this made him feel worthless once again.
This time he couldn't take it. His nerves reached their zenith.
He pressed his lips together when a colleague raised his hand to strike Naomi. He jumped to him and, without thinking, aimed a solid fist at his face. Tom staggered backward. He was stunned as he put his fingers to his cut lip.
He was about to throw himself at Mark, but was stopped by his friends.
- What are you doing? Let it go, for fuck's sake. You started it first, so you deserved it," one of the girls spoke up, trying to calm him down. - If you continue to lash out, I'll still give you a slap!
Tom relented. He threw his friend a warning glance, then left with his friends.
- Are you okay? - Naomi asked, grasping his hand. Mark angrily jerked his hand out of her grasp.
- I've had enough of you! - he shouted unexpectedly, making the girl open her eyes wider in amazement. - Why are you meddling, huh? You're the one making me a loser! That's precisely how I feel in your company!
- I never thought of you that way. I just wanted to help you.
- You hurt my pride every time! I am ashamed when you stand up for me. - Mark was breathing heavily, not taking his eyes off her. It looked as if all the weight he had been carrying on his shoulders for a long time was starting to come off.
The blonde laughed nervously under her breath.
- Did I offend your pride? I just care about you, and it's normal that I want to help you. So what? I was supposed to stand by and watch a fight occur between you, and you take blows from him?
- Why do you assume in advance that I would be the one beaten? - His eyes shone with anger that the girl had never seen in him.
- Come on, Mark... - She rolled her eyes. - You don't have to play macho. We both know how weak your skills are.
She didn't think how it would sound and opened her mouth before she bit her tongue. That was a mistake. She froze when she realized how perfidiously she had humiliated him.
- So find one that has better opportunities and give me a holy peace of mind! - yelled at her, after which he turned on his heel and walked away.
The girl put her hand to her forehead and closed her eyelids. With one thoughtless sentence, she destroyed everything....
*
Samantha stood in front of the gate and took a deep breath, in her head once again replaying the words she had managed to learn to apologize to Alex for her recent behavior. At home, she thought it over carefully and realized that she had no right to attack him like that.
She wanted to go into the garden, but gave up when she noticed that Alex was outside in the company of a friend. They were both sitting on a wooden swing, holding glasses in their hands.
- Have you seen the video that is circulating on the Internet? Naomi put on quite a show in front of the school. Why is she so crazy about this student? It's not like her.
- And she goes to the fortune-teller all the time and believes all the stupid things this babe tells her. She claims she has met her destiny. Let her be there with him. Mark seems fine. That's her business," Alex replied, looking at one point.
- I talked to her recently and questioned her a bit about this boy. She stated that she would never give up on him. Apparently, her actions were so harsh from the beginning that she asked you to seduce a girl who hangs around him. Was she, by any chance, talking about Samantha?
The teenager furrowed her brow. Instantly, her heart went up to her throat.
- Yes, it was about Samantha. She knows very well that she can count on me. Chicks fly at me like dogs at delicious meat.
- That made the comparison... - His colleague laughed throatily. - You played ugly. This girl is really cool. Last time we drank alcohol I managed to get to know her and I got the impression that she feels something for you. She constantly talked about you.
Samantha pressed her lips together to hold back the tears that gathered at the corners of her eyes.
- I made her realize that there is nothing between us. We will never be together.
She felt as if someone had torn her heart from her chest and perfidiously trampled it with a shoe. Now she began to understand everything. Alex was interested in her for a reason.... well, how could he since she's just an ordinary, poor high school student? What was she thinking? Did she really think it was her beauty that attracted such a hunk to her?
She was a fool. She could expect that this was a ploy Naomi had planned, just to get Mark.
Furthermore, she couldn't suppress it in herself. In the end, she was unable to stand it. She hit the gate with her foot; she did it with such force that she drew the attention of the boys sitting in the garden.
- Samantha? - She noticed how Alex's face had gone pale in a brief moment. - When did you come?
- Apparently, the good spirit brought me to the right time, before you started chatting about me. Now I understand everything. At least it was explained why you do not take me seriously.
She wanted to leave, but the robed man ran outside and grabbed her hand. He held her to him.
- Come on... it was a long time ago. To be honest, I was interested in you anyway, before Naomi asked me for help.
The teenager smiled under her breath. She still did not turn to face him.
- How did you become interested in me if you don't want me as a woman?
- After all, I told you that I care about you very much and would not do anything to hurt you.
- It was just talked to give you a break.
He forcefully turned her to face him and looked into her eyes.
- You are damn important to me, Samantha. I've been taking you seriously for a long time, but I've never been in a relationship and never will be. You have to understand that. It's not because I don't care about you at all.
- It's that we have a problem... - Alex pulled down his eyebrows when he saw tears in her eyes. - Your colleague is right. I fell in love with you and I don't want you to be my friend. Since you don't play with relationships, but take me seriously, it's best if we just let it go.
- Samantha, what are you...
The girl jerked her hand out of his grasp.
- It is hurtful enough for me that my affection is unrequited. - She took two steps back when she felt that any moment she would decently cry in front of his eyes. - Only now am I beginning to understand that we both come from different worlds. In our acquaintance, it's like two fairy tales. Nothing can connect us. We are not made for each other.
- What the hell are you talking about! - He raised his voice at her as the girl began to move further and further away. - You sound like you've read some dumb books lately!
She did not respond. She simply turned her back on him and started running. Tears streamed down her cheeks as she clearly heard his call.
She approached him to apologize, and ended up leaving him with a broken heart. She suffered through her stupidity.
*
Mark lifted his face and looked at the girl leaning over him with broken eyes. She had her hand outstretched, gesturing for him to shake hands with her; however, he refused to do so.
Eventually, everything inside him snapped. He lingered around the city all day, not wanting his mother to see him in such a deplorable state. He was fed up with himself and life in general. For that moment, he just wanted to disappear. He was good for nothing, and Naomi only proved it to him.
He still remembered the words she had said to him. One cruel sentence that stuck in his mind and that he couldn't stop thinking about. She had done it deliberately, and now she wanted him to forgive her. She was mistaken because he was no longer going to pretend to be submissive in her presence. It was over, and with that, their relationship came to an end.
He ignored her hand and, wiping his tears with the sleeve of his sweatshirt, rose from the sidewalk, longer unable to bear her presence.
With his arms crossed over his chest, he strode jauntily through the empty streets of London, ignoring the girl who never took her eyes off him. She followed him, hoping that he would finally relent and forgive her.
It was the middle of the night, but she was not afraid of danger because she had Mark in front of her. And even though he hated her currently, in times of danger he would do anything to save her. Even if he was worse in a fight than the average woman.
He stopped and strained his gaze as his attention was caught by a black luxury car that stopped by the sidewalk. He swallowed his saliva harder as he noticed people in suits getting out of the car heading toward him. With a panicked look, he looked over his shoulder spotting Naomi, who didn't pay attention to what was going on around her, as she was looking only at one point - at him.
- Mark," she uttered in a whisper, and a slight smile appeared on her face as he unexpectedly started running towards her. She paid no attention to the boy's frightened face as she mirrored his silhouette with her eyes as he clumsily flashed toward her.
She was sure that he would take her in his arms and place a romantic kiss on her lips like she had seen many times in movies. Her dreams were interrupted when he firmly grabbed her wrist and jerked her to run with him.
- What are you doing! - she shouted with indignation in her voice as they disappeared behind the next building.
He didn't answer, so she looked over her shoulder and shrieked when she saw the men running after them. They were of powerful stature and did not look friendly, so Naomi realized they had wicked intentions toward them.
Around the next corner, Mark pulled her into a narrow passage that separated the two buildings. It was so tight that the boy pressed her against the wall with his body, and she blinked her eyelids to look at his chest, which rose and fell under heavy breathing.
She couldn't deny it. This was a good opportunity because she could get closer to him.
- Are you all right? - He asked, looking at her carefully. She lifted her face and, breathing through her mouth, nodded.
- I'm fine. Who are the people who are chasing us? - She asked in a whisper, trying to make eye contact with him. Unfortunately, the boy shifted his gaze to the side, still feeling great pity for her.
Again, he avoided answering.
- Mark, what have you gotten yourself into?
- We should never have met. This is some kind of destiny. We are both too different from each other," he replied straightforwardly, looking above her head at the gray wall.
- That's not true. Opposites attract, and I only want you to love me," she announced boldly, and then, for the first time in a long time, he looked into her eyes. He was confused by her words.
- Don't say that...
- I can repeat it a thousand times! I'm sure nothing will change my feelings toward you. You can hide the cruelest truth, but I will not give up on you, Mark.
- There is something you don't know, Naomi. - He swept her petite face with an embarrassed look. - I recently met my father. Do you know who he is? - He saw a clear curiosity in her eyes. - This may really shock you....
- Have you met your father? Why didn't you tell me about it before?
- Because I am ashamed. My father was married when he got into an affair with my mother. He left us, and now he has appeared out of nowhere and is sending some thugs to force me to live with him. I got the impression that he doesn't count my opinion at all. I think he also saw me as a victim of fate that he can control. I probably look like one.
Naomi framed his face in her hands and climbed on her toes to kiss him.
- To me, you are perfect the way I met you. There is no other man in the world as wonderful as you are, Mark.