Flinching from the sudden pain spreading up the length of his arm, an injured "hiss" escaped Amiri's lips. Again? Hadn't that stupid,
oaf-like excuse for a tailor been warned once before about his clumsy fingers? A burning glare from Amiri's eyes connected with the pitiful,
submissive idiot kneeling beside him, the pin that had met Amiri's precious skin still between his trembling fingers. His fear was warranted as Amiri
stared down at him, lips clenched against the Arabic curses that wanted to stream from them, without pause. All of this over a simple pin prick? No.
All of this over five simple pin pricks. All because he had been too busy to even think about the event that his sister and co-chair
of his company, Nema, had told him about...weeks ago. Too busy to think about the custom suit that he needed his personal tailor to begin making for
the event...and too busy remember to look for the new assistant that he still needed to interview and hire as he was without a permanent one
after firing the last one. And he would not let Nema control the choice of next assistant as she would not only determine WHO it would be, but also
what sex it would be. No, Amiri would handle these things...in all of the free time that he did not have. And now, not only did he have
scheduling issues and wardrobe malfunctions...Rhomie was home. The prodigal sister had returned.
"Be...careful." His deadened eyes rolled away from the insignificant man's face and stared straight ahead, bored...and irritable. The lack of sleep
from the final weeks of his undergraduate career, his temporary assistant handling matters the best she could...which was pitiful, really and the
company's new acquisitions were leaving him with a less than pleasant demeanor. And what pleasantness he did have left, Rhomie was sucking right out
of him with her incessant whining and... With a heavy exhale, he closed his eyes against all of the thoughts weighing on his brain. By Allah, he was
nearing a mental break. If it was not for the occasional joint and the less than "occasional"...conquest, he would have been stark, raving
mad. Rhomie was threatening the arrival of his insanity, anyway. She had been...intense from the second she arrived home. Wanting this, asking for
that. Needing a spa day. On the verge of dying without in season purchases...although she had only been away for three months. Three months
that were ENTIRELY her fault...but his thoughts would digress.
"And do not forget to drop the right cuff...it is too high. I should not have to remind you again." Seeing the in-store tailor nod quickly out of the
corner of his eye, Amiri continued to stare off into a wall of mirrors, not really seeing himself as only his thoughts streamed in front of his eyes.
So many thoughts that he could not stand them all. Thoughts about the business, thoughts about the meaningless event he would buy this misshapened
suit for, thoughts about Rhomie and her homecoming...thoughts about holding it all together, every single piece of it...and then, watching everything
inside him get closer and closer to falling apart.
Screams from the haters, got a nice ring to it
I guess every superhero needs his theme music...
She would never understand how everyday she tried to take off somehow ended in her working. It was the day before her husband came home and she had
plenty to do without getting calls every twenty minutes about how everything was falling apart without her at her desk. Like the call she was taking
now, in the middle of her son’s fitting for his tux. “..Yes, love, I know but I’m not looking at it now and I won’t because I’m with my
son-,” she sighed, her patience wearing dangerously thin as her intern continued to speak on the other end. Evita couldn’t pretend she didn’t
care about what the girl was saying,; the account she was talking about was important to her...just not now. “Look, I’ll play with the wording
myself when I get home but, until then...don’tcallmeanymorealright, bye.” Her words were rushed as she quickly disconnected the call before the
girl could protest.
Turning her phone completely off she dropped it into her bag before she could chuck it clear across the room. Ridiculous. Sighing once again, she
brought herself back to the task at hand., AJ’s fitting. She was glad Whitney had come so she didn’t have to leave him alone for the fitting while
she tended to things that she wasn’t supposed to be dealing with...today...Her attention was diverted to a very nice pair of cuff links that she
was sure Alvaro would love. She wanted them. Alvaro didn’t really suit up that often but, if nothing else, he could wear them to Whitney’s
wedding. Her head came up, her eyes scanning the small shop for someone to hold them for her until she was done with this fitting. Or at least that
was her hope before she found someone more interesting to her.
Her breathing hitched and she could feel her heart stop and restart as her eyes came across the unmistakable frame of the boy that had meant so much
to her in her past...and probably still did, in some way. She had lost contact with Amiri after their last...meeting. Things hadn’t ended
as well as she might have hoped then but, it was all for the best in the end. She’d married a wonderful man had a perfect little boy and she
was...dare she say it, happy...Was he she wondered...The scowl on his face, reflected in the three way mirror he stood in front of told her he was not
for the moment and she probably shouldn’t ask now...but if not now, when?
But it's you who brought me here.
You, through all these years.
Stop complaining like a little girl, Amiri. Go and buy a suit. It will be just as good as a tailored one. Nema had been wrong on so many
levels. As she usually was when it came to making statements, decisions...judgements about anything concerning Amiri's life. She could run the company
better than any man in their family could have as it waited for Amiri's guidance and leadership, but she would never live his life better
than he could. She could continue to run her own as not everyone achieved satisfaction from an endless work day. Standing in the paneled mirror, the
pointless store "tailor" by his side, his eyes roamed over the suit, seeing the flaws immediately. They would not be decipherable to the untrained
eye, but Amiri's eye would always look more carefully. Gone were the days when he could be swayed by a designer name. After he had inherited a tailor
with hands meant to create suits that donned only Ben Hassi men, there was just something about wearing a suit that was made just...for him. Wearing
"labels" would never surmount that feeling.
Yet, here he was, in Gucci. Buying a suit that did not have the lines, nor the texture of the suits that his tailor created for him. All because of
Nema's persistence, the distraction of Rhomie's demands and of course, Madgeline's equally annoying need for his time and attention. He was
overwhelmed. Overtaken by the women in his life. The doted on, privileged daughters of Miloud Ben Hassi. They had been the responsibility of Amiri's
father, running to him for every desire and need and now that his father was...gone, it was Amiri's responsibility. It was his job to care for,
provide for and protect the six women that Miloud left behind. And Amiri took that position, without complaint. Even after the demands from Nema came,
running him like the she had put on the title of CEO after their father's death. She led well, but it was not her place, Amiri's uncles making that
point very clear every time they spoke to him. And he did not complain after Rhomie was admitted to rehab. What were "forays" with much more than the
occasional joint turned into to "committed relationships". And instead of jail time when she was discovered spending a little time with her obsession,
she was granted probation and recovery...thanks to Amiri and the family's fortune. Between following orders, paying bail and playing guardian to
Madgeline, there was not time for much else. His women were his everything.
His women... There was a time when that meant so much more than just the women he was blood related to. A moment when nothing else had
mattered besides the conquest and the intrigue of it all. Even as childish as it had been, Amiri could not help but look on it with longing. The
boyhood that he had taken for granted until the moment he lost it. Now, there was no time for the game of women, no time for the thrill of the chase
and the catch. And definitely no time for the very rare regret. Blinking away his thoughts, especially as the word "regret" sounded in his mind, he
looked away from the tasteless suit and...into the eyes of a spectator. Squaring his jaw, he could not help the look of annoyance that wrinkled his
brow, his eyes hardening even as he studied the woman's face. A look of shock? Of course, probably at the hideous suit he was wearing. Her hazel eyes
were rounded and her skin would have surely paled without the mocha it wore. What? Was the suit really that bad? Because if it was, Amiri would...
Evita. Just like a boulder, it hit him. He was looking into the face of Evita...his Evie. No...not anymore. Not since... And THAT
was another memory he did not want, returning the stare that she was giving him, ten fold. Snatching his arm from the tailor, he stepped from the
elevated platform where he stood, his steps refusing to move towards her. His mind raced as he looked at her...four years later. Four years later and
he still could not find a word to say with her in front of him. It was ironic, really, as speechless was the way she had left him.
"Hello..." His tenor voice broke the silence between them, the simple word carrying so much weight and so much hesitance.
Screams from the haters, got a nice ring to it
I guess every superhero needs his theme music...
Amiri Ben Hassi. He was her everything in her childhood and then again a mere four years ago for a time she had once considered too short. He had been
her first love, the father of her first...No. She wouldn’t go there today. She hadn’t gone there in years. Amiri had been a distant
memory until this moment, haunting her with certain smells or sometimes songs but, never to the point of dwelling. But with him standing just feet
from her, in a nearly empty store, she couldn’t help but question herself. What was he doing in Kapuhai Reef? How had he ended up here? How
was...life? She was asking herself questions that only he could answer but something in her wasn’t allowing her to move toward him. It wasn’t
allowing her to interrupt the man at his side, working diligently to tailor a suit to Amiri’s probably still impeccable taste...She couldn’t. And
as his eyes finally found hers, she knew she probably wouldn’t work up the courage to ever. She saw the look there, that twinge of annoyance that
covered his face before his expression changed to match hers. He knew who she was. Even if it took him a second...
Her eyes didn’t falter and somehow, as he turned around to look at her fully, her feet began to move toward him, stopping just short of the podium
he had once been standing on. Hello...Her immediate reaction, as it almost always was when he spoke was a smile. A sweet smile covered her
face as she looked into his, his eyes searching her for some type of sign that told him what would come next. She could understand why he’d be
feeling a little unsure, what with their last words being less than friendly to one another...well, mostly on her part. But the past was neither here
nor there. That was then. Now...
“Amiri...You look well,” she said sweetly, her smile never faltering as her weight shifted nervously.
But it's you who brought me here.
You, through all these years.
Evita... The whisper of her name repeated itself, over and over again inside of his head, almost as if his mind could not believe that he was
looking at her...that she was standing before him either. Because his eyes could not. Nothing about that moment seemed very real to Amiri. If he had
been sleeping soundly lately, he would have actually believed that that moment was a dream. Because none of what he was looking at seemed like it
should have been...happening. None of it. Not the shock on her face and then the gradual smile at the sound of his voice. Not her walking towards him,
like two friends reuniting for the first time in years. And not her body in the same space as his. Because as it stood, he should not have seen her
again. He did not deserve to. He did not deserve her smile, her kind remark about his appearance. None of it.
And there it was again. The guilt. The guilt that he felt whenever he thought about the way that they ended four years ago. Four years ago...even
though it felt like a lifetime since he had felt her presence. Looked into her eyes. Felt her skin against his...he did not want to think about that
part. Maybe because that feeling was one that he could barely remember. The last thing he had felt, the last touch from Evita that he remembered...was
the sting of the slap to his cheek.
Yet, here she stood, mere steps from him in the mostly vacant store, a smile on her face like four years ago did not happen. Did she remember? Of
course she remembered. How could she have forgotten the moment when she figured out who Amiri truly was. A child...as she had told him with
her own lips. A child who could not deal with his own emotions and the love of the only woman that he truly cherished...so he sabotaged them with
someone who did not even deserve his time. How could she forget...
"Thank you." He murmured, his eyes taking Evita in as she drew closer to him. His feet refused to function. Too shocked to step forward and too busy
studying her to move backwards. He stood still...watching her look at him. "As do you. What..." Interrupting himself, he looked away, almost as if he
needed to collect the thoughts that were so jumbled inside of his head.
"What are you doing here?" Blunt. To the point. But her presence would not allow him to be suave and careful. It would not allow his words to be fully
thought out and eloquent. Evita stripped him of that.
Screams from the haters, got a nice ring to it
I guess every superhero needs his theme music...
Amazing. It was unbelievable how fate kept bringing the two of them together. As if it was trying to tell her something, as if they were supposed to
be...No. Amiri was supposed to be nothing to her. After what he’d done he should have meant nothing to her...but Evita had never been one
to hold grudges. Her mother had always told her her heart was too forgiving but, it wasn’t something she could control. She could see, even now,
that Amiri was sorry for what he’d done. She’d seen it when he apologized again and again before her patience had broken and she’d slapped
him...Their final interaction...Or at least that was what they thought.
It was what they’d thought before today. Before this very moment with the two of them standing face to face like they were, each of them frozen in
place and in time. His eyes searched her as her eyes did the same to him, sweeping over his frame and trying to read him. There was nothing but, shock
there, which was understandable considering this very strange happenstance that seemed to keep visiting the two of them....Had it really been that
long since their last moments together. So much had happened for her since then...She was married, she had a son...What had he been doing since? He
was first to voice his curiosity, asking what she was doing here.
“Oh, I’m here for my son’s fitting. He’s the ring bearer in a friend’s wedding-,” Her response had been so reflexive, so light and easy
that she hadn’t thought of what her words might mean to him. That she might want to ease him into the news of AJ. She watched as his face changed
with her words, her smile slipping. She opened her mouth to apologize but...why? It was true, she had a little boy and he wasn’t anything to
apologize for...He would have found out eventually as AJ was just on the other side of a wall and he would see him when they left.
Instead she turned the subject to him, “And what about you? Are you in Kapuhai Reef for pleasure?” Most were.
But it's you who brought me here.
You, through all these years.
What are you doing here? Was that the best that he could do? A blurted out question that was neither one of his concerns, nor any of his
business. Nor the question that he actually wanted to ask. Truthfully, Evita's business in Kapuhai Reef was not something he deserved to
know. Sure, it gave him the ultimate pause, seeing her like this and it was only natural for questions to arise...but Amiri did not exactly believe
that she would just pour her entire life's story out as she stood there...looking as perfect as the day he saw her la- ...no. No, thank you.
That thought...those thoughts, Amiri would not let start up inside of his traitor mind. It always betrayed his feelings for her. Feelings
that meant nothing as she had told him exactly how she felt about him in their last moments together. He had shut everything off after her words. The
remembrance of the fragrance of her skin. The speed of his heart whenever she said his name. The way his heart beat for her and her alone. He shut it
all out when she left him standing there. Because after he had heard her words, he no longer wanted to feel...anything...ever again. And that
sentiment was the same in that moment as it had been four years ago.
Yet, Amiri had asked that prying, clumsy question...too stunned by her to even think before he spoke. He hated that she made him that way...that even
years without her, her presence could do the very same thing to Amiri that it always did. Unsettle him. He clearly attempted to regain his
posture as she stepped closer to him, his chin lifting as he took in the smile on her face. He looked away from it for a moment...as if he were trying
to lessen the desire to smile back at her, letting go of the facade of the fact that he knew that he was getting something that he did not deserve.
His eyes returned to her as she spoke, following the movement of her lips as she formed each word in her answer...stopping at the word that froze
Amiri's hard mid-beat.
Son. My son. Her what? A son. A SON. Amiri struggled against the breaking surprise that was threatening to fall all over his face in
revelation. He did not want to show his surprise, the surprise that one would normally receive when they, so leisurely, dropped the news that four
years later...they had a son! But surprised was what he felt...without doubt. A son. With a hard swallow that he prayed Evita did not see, Amiri
looked at her with dull eyes as she turned the questions to him...to avoid answering her verbal spill about a son that Amiri had found out about in
the most unpleasant of ways. He would not give her the pleasure of a subject change.
"Son. You have child now." He stated, more than questioned. With an indifferent smirk that he had to struggle to keep from reaching his eyes and
exposing the warring that was going on inside of him, he looked away, catching his reflection in the mirror that he had just been standing in front
of. He smoothed his lapel and looked back at her, his eyes roaming from her shoes to her face. "Hm. Congratulations."
"Pleasure...right." With those words, he began to collect himself from the shock of Evita's news. With a subtle gesture, he signaled the tailor that
had been cowering by the three paneled mirror. Quickly the man scampered over and carefully pulled the suit coat off, knowing that another pin prick
might mean his life. "These days, everything is business."
Screams from the haters, got a nice ring to it
I guess every superhero needs his theme music...
If it made him feel any better, she hadn’t expected to see him here either. She was just as shocked as he was that they were being pushed together
once again. She had expected never to see him after...the last time. It wasn’t something she liked to think about, her mind immediately rejecting
the embarrassment and heartbreak that whole ordeal had caused. He’d cheated and she found out in a very public, extremely humiliating way; some
other child bringing her to light on a situation she shouldn’t have been in to begin with. In all honesty, she blamed herself for a lot of what
happened that night. She had been foolish to ask of him a relationship that he couldn’t have possibly been ready for at his age. He had been a child
then, just a boy. Four years later though, here he stood. Taller. Like the last time their lives were thrust together this way. A chance meeting
turning to some cruel twisted fate that neither of them had expected then.
But things were different now. Their lives were different. Well, hers was at least. Wife, mother; she wore hats that she hadn’t before and she would
pretend it hadn’t changed her. Nor would she apologize for it, her slip about AJ coming so easily that she hadn’t even noticed it before watching
his expression flash the surprise that it should have before he caught himself. He knew better than to think he could hide from her. She’d known him
for too long...too well. She shouldn’t have told him like that. Such a simple sentence, carrying a message that should not have been merely
mentioned in passing conversation. That was horrible of her. And she could see him shutting down as he tried closing himself off from whatever it was
he was feeling. Oh no...
“Amiri, I didn’t mean-,” he cut her off, his voice coming to stop her before she could tell him she hadn’t meant to just drop that on him. She
hadn’t really. AJ was her baby. Talking about him came as naturally as breathing but, she should have thought about what hearing about her son might
do to his emotions...She remembered a time when telling him about a child that neither of them had been allowed to see was at the top of her list of
“Things to Keep from Amiri”. AJ was different. AJ wasn’t his. “Yes, I have a son now. AJ-,” she spoke slowly, her voice soft as if to
cushion the fact the way she hadn’t before. “He’s four now. Growing fast...” she stopped speaking, the conversation becoming one sided and
more awkward then she liked. Especially when he congratulated her...
She changed the subject, asking about him before she was forced to continue the awkward conversation they were having now. These days everything
is business. That was new. The Amiri she had known as a boy was nothing but pleasure. It seemed to radiate from him then; a joy that would never
be contained in boardroom or an office. She couldn’t imagine this “all business” Amiri...but perhaps these four years had changed him as well.
It was good, she guessed. Although the way he’d replied to her didn’t make it sound as if he was pleased with his life of all business.
“Surely not everything-,” he had a grilfriend, friends, at the very least family...although she knew all too well how they could be...But
Amiri had to have someone or something that made him happy. Something that made him...warmer than he was being now.
But it's you who brought me here.
You, through all these years.
A son. Even the repeating phrase in Amiri's head did not make the situation any more real for him as he stood there, taking in the words that
had just left Evita's lips. She had a son. A child. She was a mother. That reality settled on Amiri more quickly than he ever imagined it
possibly would. Evita as...a mother. Not that the idea was very foreign as she had always been...caring and warm...capable of the qualities that would
deem one...mother worthy, Amiri guessed. And once or twice, in the days when he had had the time to day dream lofty thoughts and imagine fairytale
futures that were beyond his reach now, he had imagined Evita as a mother. He had seen her in the recesses of his mind, pushing a royal blue
pram...her clothing expensive, her every need, met. And...a child lay inside of the stroller, thick black hair...round cheeks, chubby hands. His name
carrying the legacy of a line of strong men. Ben Hassi men. He had seen her with his son so often that the day dream almost seemed real. The dream had
never really stopped visiting, its appearances dwindled instead. But somewhere in between dream and reality, in between business and sleep, Amiri
almost believed that the past would forget itself and that Allah would bless him and make the dream...truth.
But there was no more hoping in that confession, the hope that had been invisible inside of Amiri until that moment, shrinking into itself, feeble
cries streaming from it as it left the forefront of his mind and faded back into nonexistence, where it should have found itself in the first place.
There was no such thing as...hope. Not for Evita. Not for any woman that dared cross Amiri. His life was too busy. His heart was too hardened and his
time was too valuable for silly things like emotions and love. They were both a waste of time, finding themselves at a standstill the moment that they
began. His life was not his own anymore. It revolved around the company and his family, the well being and survival of both hanging in the balance.
There was no more time for the things of his childhood. Not even...feelings that had to do with the woman that stood before him, looking so much more
mature, yet...so much the same. Amiri had noticed it as his eyes took her in. Her face was rounder, her hair longer. But her eyes were still as kind
and as-...no. He did not have time. He would not go to that place. Not now. Not when Evita was looking at him so hard, her eyes searching his
face the way they always did. Reading him. He did not want her eyes on him the way that they were...watching him. Pitying him...
Frowning for a second before he looked away towards the mirror again as the tailor removed the suit coat, folding it gingerly over his own arm and
stepped back from Amiri and Evita, knowing enough about his place to at least look like he was removing himself from the earshot of their
conversation. Amiri wished he could remove himself. Take himself away from the sound of Evita's voice, that familiar, slight accent slipping through
as she questioned him about his comment. How everything was business. How there was almost no pleasure in his life. Of course, he was not
exaggerating. Everything was business. Every outing, every engagement, ever minute...every second. All TCG time. All Nema's time. All Madge's time.
All Rhomie's time. Never HIS time. Even in the moments when he found a second to enjoy himself, to go out...he had to practically pay a woman for her
presence as he was too busy to even find a companion to share that time with. So yes, it was all business, no play. No fun. Not a single
shadow of the revelry that he once enjoyed. The fun and play died with the boyhood in him...four years ago.
"Everything." Amiri said simply, interrupting Evita's innocent question. He knew that she only asked because her memories of a person that no longer
existed, but her question was...annoying. A pesky reminder of the things that he once had that were now gone. His youth, his vitality, his
freedom...his Evie. Looking to her, he gaze softened for a moment as he watched her face change at his gruffness. He did not want to see that face.
The taken aback expression at the unfamiliarity he wore. As odd as it was, he would have welcomed anger, brashness...because it would have meant that
the Amiri that Evita faced would have at least been one that she remembered. He could not help feeling as if...he were a stranger to her. Narrowing
his eyes quickly, his expression softened slightly.
"I-things are quite different for me now..." He spoke softly, his dark eyes staring at her as he thought about his next words. But he couldn't figure
out how to tell her. Anything. He could not figure out how to tell her that his father had died the very night she had found out about his
indiscretions with his classmate. The night she had found out about his unfaithfulness from Ruka's very lips. He did not know how to tell her that his
father's death was the only reason why he did not go after her, beg her for her forgiveness. Ask her back into his life again.
Screams from the haters, got a nice ring to it
I guess every superhero needs his theme music...
Evita really hadn’t meant to tell him that way. In a perfect world, she would have thought about her situation and read him a little more before she
spoke. He really hadn’t even meant to ask her what he had. What was she doing here was simply him trying to process this; trying to put the pieces
of their lives together to figure out how they’d ended up in the same place, at the same time, again. What was she doing here? The right answer
would have been trying to breathe. Because that was what she was doing here, in front of him. She was trying to keep it together long enough
to make it through a very short hello. And he was having just as hard a time with this as she was...no matter how he tried to hide it. She could see
him. She knew him. And it was scaring her senseless...
She would be the first to admit that she was scared to death of this man...because that was what he was now. She could look at Amiri and see
his maturity there, staring her in the face with cold eyes as he faced the reality she’d set out for him. Sure, four years was a short time, but
there was change in the simplest things about him that told the story of his growth. Though he had always cared for his appearance, Amiri in a suit
was a rare treasure before. Now it seemed he wore them shopping? His eyes no longer kept their child-like glint when he looked at her. They dulled
now, but only when she wasn’t speaking...And he stood taller, his back more rigid than she remembered...as if he walked with the weight of the world
on his shoulders...and from the sound of things, he did. Everything was business with him now. Amiri the man...no longer the boy who broke every
piece of her...
She shouldn’t have cared. Not the way she did. She could see in his face that he wasn’t happy and hearing his voice only confirmed things for her.
His life was not what it once had been, but what could have changed? Something so drastic as to make the Amiri she used to know the one that stood
before her...It hurt her to see him this way, but more than that, it scared her that she cared so much. She just...it confused her. Alvaro was her
everything. He was. So...why was Amiri bringing on the emotions she’d felt when they’d been together the first time? When she had been nothing
more than Evita, the maid in Miami who constantly denied him. She wasn’t that girl anymore. She was the wife of a wonderful man and the mother to
his child. A family that she would easily and without question lay down her life for. She had changed just as he had...so why did her feelings remain.
Her right hand came to cover her left, her fingers subconsciously spinning with the ring that Alvaro had placed on her finger the day of their
union.
Things are quite different for me now...Good. She she wouldn’t have to ask. He was going to offer the information to her. What had made him
so...cut off? Or at least she thought he was going to tell her, his voice stopping at the mere fact that things had changed...
“How so, Amiri?”
But it's you who brought me here.
You, through all these years.
Why did she pry? And why did she keep prying into Amiri's life like she actually cared about his life when she did not? When she
should not. She was a mother now. She was happy. So happy that the inquisitive gaze that she held while looking at Amiri could not even erase
the joy in her face, the slight creases around her lips. Smile lines. She smiled...often. So often that every look outside of her smiles that Amiri
received from her looked as if it was foreign on her face. It looked as if her lips were meant to smile now. Like that was what they should have been
doing her entire life...that was what they would be doing for the remainder of it. Someone was making her smile now and that someone was not and had
nothing to do with Amiri. He was not her life any longer. She was not his. And he had no one and nothing to blame but himself. As much as he did not
want to think about four years ago...the pain...the loss, the thoughts of it all came back as he looked into Evita's eyes, the dullness of his stare
the polar opposite of the warmth and concern that lie in hers. There. There it was. The feeling. The emotions...that he did not deserve from her. It
annoyed him to see them there...made him want to turn away from her and the innocence that even in her maturity, she still wore. The innocence that he
should have put to a violent end four years ago with his actions. He nearly ruined her. He nearly ended everything that she was...because of his
stupidity.
"Why?" He asked, his single worded question lingering in the air as he stepped closer to her, his eyes narrowing as he searched her for the reason
behind her concern. He wanted to look for the glimmer of revenge in her face. He wanted to see the fact that she was filled with enough hate at his
actions that as soon as he spoke about the changes in his life, Evita was use them as the tools to destroy him. That she would end him with his own
display of emotions. That he would cause his own demise. But...Evita had never been that woman. Never. She had always been full of good and love
and...so pure. She was so pure. Even the harsh slap and the words that followed when she found out about his indiscretions were rooted in her love for
him...not her hate. And Amiri, as much as he did not want to admit it, knew Evita. He knew the core of her. Knew that love existed so deep inside of
her that her inquiring about the changes in his life were only rooted in the concern that she truly felt. She was Evita...she was not Ruka. She was
not...him.
"Why do you even care, Evita?" And even knowing what he knew, he still snapped at her, his comment harsh as he looked away from her, a cold smirk
hardening his face as he watched her expression change. Good, Amiri. Hurt her. That is what you are good at... It was true. All he knew how
to do when he was younger was ruin and destroy. To even believe that he was capable of trying to love something so pure when he was the exact opposite
of the word was laughable. He was the perversion over everything that she was. And now? There was nothing left to even pervert. Every movement, every
action was robotic. Every part of him that looked like the Amiri of his youth was a ripple, a shadow...a mockery of who he was. Now...he was an empty
shell, wearing everything on the outside and praying to Allah that no one could tell the difference.
"You...should not care." And that was honesty. She should not have. Evita should not have had to waste any more time caring for someone or something
that could not do the same for her. Amiri was not capable of it. Not then...and certainly not now. Allowing his eyes to meet Evita's again, he saw
what he was hoping not to see...the look of expectancy still on her face. The desire to still know what change plagued Amiri's life instead of
blessing it. And...by Allah, he was going to tell her.
"Things have changed. I...run my father's company now. And...Miloud is dead. So...there is your answer." Dead. The word that was so avoidable
had slipped out and...his father was dead. Of course, it was true and Amiri knew it. He had lived that truth for four years. But the word...dead. A
word that he would not say, would not allow his family to say around him...would not...it...his father was dead. And now, Evita knew the truth. There
was no glamor in the change in Amiri's life. There were no children. There was no faceless, possible wife or mother of his offspring. There was
only...death. And responsibility. Amiri's gaze fell again, a sudden interest in the button of his shirt's sleeve hiding the sudden glazing of his
eyes.
Screams from the haters, got a nice ring to it
I guess every superhero needs his theme music...
She did care. More than she should have probably...more than she wanted to try to explain to herself. She didn’t know why she still cared for Amiri.
It was just...they had known one another for so long and he was...a piece of her. There was a time when she would have given anything for him and
feelings like that don’t just disappear. She still felt for him; she still wanted his happiness, just as she had hers. Amiri deserved to be happy.
Sure, he’d made some mistakes, but that didn’t mean that he wasn’t entitled to be happy. She didn’t control that, he did. And he wasn’t. It
was obvious, a flashing red light that could be seen through his cold eyes. He wasn’t happy and she had to know why. Apparently he did as well.
Why? He stepped closer, the inches between them becoming few as she waited for him to explain his question. He couldn’t be asking what she
thought he was. It had to be obvious that she wanted them to be...friendly, if nothing else. But it was made clear that it wasn’t obvious
to him as he clarified his question.
She winced, the sharpness of his voice seeming to stab at her as his question met his ears. Her brow furrowed, her feet taking a slight step back as
she tried to come up with some type of response to that. Why was he angry? She’d only asked why he wasn’t happy; she only wanted to know what she
might be able to do to help. She just... “I...um...-,” She had nothing. She didn’t have a specific reason for caring about him the way she did.
It just happened. Amiri was important to her...He was trying to change that. She hated when he did this. Pushed her away because there was something
that he didn’t want to show her. It was okay for him to be himself with her...he had done it so many times before. “Amiri, I just-,” he stopped
her. Telling her that she shouldn’t have cared.
He was right. She shouldn’t have cared about what he was doing. She should have been back with AJ watching his fitting and cooing at how cute he was
in his tuxedo. Instead, she still waited for a response to her initial question. What changed? What made him the way he was now? Hard, callous, and
cold...And then he told her...and she wish she could take the question back. Miloud is dead. His father was dead...She could not deny her
mixed feelings on the death of his father. Miloud had been...a monster to her in her youth. A tormenter of her for the years that followed...She could
not say she was saddened by his death. But Amiri, his father was everything to him. Sure, he may not have seen him as often as he would have liked,
but there was an unconditional love there. The love of a father and a son. The same love that kept AJ so close to Alvaro, even though he was miles
away.
“Oh, Amiri...I’m so sorry...-,” she was. Genuinely. She was sorry he was hurting; sorry that he’d lost someone so important to him. She felt
for Amiri. Not for Miloud.
But it's you who brought me here.
You, through all these years.
Evita was apologetic. She was sorry? For what? For the death of a man that absolutely hated her and the abomination that was the relationship
she had had with his son so long ago? Amiri found her sorrow hard to believe or even understand. But then again, Evita was not him. Evita was warmth.
She always had been. Even before their forbidden love, when she cast off his advances, she did it as warmly as possible. Skepticism would tell Amiri
that it was only to save her job that she rejected him so delicately, but he knew better. He knew her better. She was the purest thing that he had
ever had and that fact had not changed as he watched the sympathetic frown change her features, warp them in a way that looked so foreign to the
happiness that Amiri could easily tell it wore, more than not. It was true, she did care. He could see it in her the eyes that held him in his past
every time he connected with them, which he could not do at the moment. Not with the uncharacteristic tears that threatened to expose the flicker of
warmth that still existed in the frigid cold.
"Why are you sorry?" He scoffed, blinking quickly as the busying of his hands became redundant and...awkward. Something that Evita had the tendency to
do so often. She threw every sure thing about him off. No woman did that to him. Made him feel so absolutely out of place in the place he stood, in
his clothes...in his own skin. Quietly, he exhaled the emotions that were building and looked at her, her eyes still as inquisitive and concerned as
they'd been from the moment that she looked at him and realized how different he had grown to be. How absolutely empty of his prior boy he was and
now, there was no one but the man left. The man that was a poorly emulated reflection of a father who had left him far too soon...abandoned to lead an
empire that he had never tried to understand in the first place. Amiri did not question her gaze, mostly because it was familiar. It was the same
look he gave himself most mornings when the reality of his life hit him. When he was alone and he could admit to himself how unprepared he was. How
completely afraid he was...
"You should not be sorry, Evita. You hated my father..." That was true, brash as it was. Sometimes, he could not help but wonder if his own sympathy
was even genuine. If it was rooted in emotion or if it was just the reaction of a son to a father, a chemical release. A reaction, not a true sorrow.
"And...even I do not deserve your sympathy." Pausing, he swallowed deeply, his eyes shifting away from hers as he felt the magnitude of the comment
that he was going to make. "It is karma, is it not?" And even in that simple statement, he knew that she had an inkling as to what he was saying. It
was all deserved. All of it. All of the pain, the loss. He deserved it. Thinking about everything he had done to Evita, all of the pain he had caused
her four years ago. How could he not expect for the things he had done to her to catch up with him? The lying. Cheating on her with his classmate
under the guise of protecting her from the world that she eventually was exposed to? It was all expected, really. There had to be a cosmic crime in
almost destroying one of the purest things he knew.
Screams from the haters, got a nice ring to it
I guess every superhero needs his theme music...
Oh, there was no denying the feelings Evita harbored for Amiri’s father. The history that the two of them shared, although short, was bitter and
full of a hate that she would probably carry for the rest of her life. She was not at all sorry about his death and if that was going to end up
sending her to hell, so be it. But Amiri...it was him she was sorry for. He had idolized his father and with him gone she could imagine how lost he
was. No, Miloud wasn’t exactly the father that Amiri deserved; a man that cared more for his only son than the work on his desk, but he was
Amiri’s father none the less. The bond between a boy and his father was something Evita could easily understand. It was something she saw on a daily
basis with her son and his father. They may not have seen one another everyday, or even talked more than a few times a week, but Alvie still lit up
like a Christmas tree when his father came home from one of his trips. He still fell into his arms and their routine like his dad hadn’t been absent
for months, like he hadn’t missed a beat...Evita might have smiled at the thought if she and Amiri weren’t having such a grave conversation. One
that seemed to confuse him somehow.
“What do you mean why? You lost your father, Amiri-,” It seemed like the natural order of things to empathize with him. She had always been
somehow in tune with Amiri’s feelings and not simply because she could read most of them on his face...Of course she was apologetic about a loss in
Amiri’s life. No one deserved unhappiness and Amiri certainly didn’t. She knew him, and yes, he’d made quite a few mistakes, but she knew the
Amiri that he was afraid to show people. A young man who wanted nothing more than to love and be loved in return. She knew him, but he obviously did
not know her. That fact became apparent when he started telling her what she shouldn’t have been doing. And what was this karma nonsense?
Was he saying Miloud had this death coming? Because honestly, she wouldn’t argue on that point, but Amiri was a good kid that had made a few
mistakes. That was life, things happened. If her father had died from all of her indiscretions, she might have lost him long before she
actually did. She might have told him that his notion of karma was absolutely crazy if it weren’t for the small arm wrapping around her leg, little
AJ’s voice calling out to her, demanding her attention. They were done already? Oh no, she’d completely missed the fitting thanks to her ever
invasive job and...an old friend. She turned away from Amiri, the smile returning to her face as her attention turned to AJ. “Olhar
filho*-,” she began, stooping to come face to face with AJ as she pulled him in front of her a bit more. “This is an old friend of mommy’s.
Say hello.”
AJ gave a small wave, his curious gaze lingering on Amiri as he took him in before speaking, “He doesn’t look old mommy...” Evita giggled a bit
prepared to explain what she meant before Whitney appeared behind them, agreeing with her son in a tone that was probably more suggestive than she’d
meant it to be, before introducing herself.
“Whit, this is my...” she stopped, unsure how to classify them to someone who understood human relationships...They had been friends once, lovers
was actually more accurate...She certainly wouldn’t introduce him that way though. “This is Amiri.”
How could she not know WHY she should not care? How could Evita not know what Amiri meant when he said those words to her? Words that instructed her
to disregard any of the emotion she was beginning to waste on someone like...him? Evita had never been stupid. Quite the opposite, she had
been very aware when it came to Amiri...outside of her one tragic flaw...trusting him. But she had never been what he would have defined as
"unintelligent". Smarter than the rest of the help in the home Amiri had shared with his family in Miami, Evita was the one that he had always known
did not exactly belong. Not because she was beautiful...or her body delectably curved, even in their youth. But because Amiri knew that she wanted
beyond domestic work and sub-station. For the moment, he could not help but question her missing the point behind his words. Had she forgotten
everything? The filth that sullied their past? Everything he had done with the undeserved trust that she had foolishly given to him? Or was there
something else at play? While Amiri was so consumed with the past of them, with the things he regretted and wished he could change, had she...just
simply...forgotten?
Looking back to her warm, questioning eyes, his only grew colder as he realized the truth. She did not remember. And possibly...she did not
care to remember. But why would she? She survived him. She went on to have a son and a life that had nothing to do with Amiri. Only his memories
remained. Only he was tortured enough to remember the exact details. Ruka's words to her. The powerlessness that he had never felt a day in his life
seeping over him like cold, frigid water down his spine. The sting of the slap. The course down her beautiful face that the tears took as they
streamed down her face. And...seeing her back turn to him...and feeling as if he would never see Evita again. He deserved remembering it all. The
curse was his. And he decided, right there, in this brief encounter. It would not be hers to remember. Ever. She was blissful in the forgotten past.
Her life was different now and she was happy. Amiri was not...and even though he would never tell another soul his thoughts, he knew he had earned
every moment of discomfort and regret he felt with Evita.
Before he could answer the question from Evita that he did not know how to answer without a lie, he looked behind her at the child that ran to her,
wrapping his arm around her leg. And Amiri...stared. Blatantly. Without blinking...at the small, tanned, black haired child with a face that was
almost far too serious for his cherubic cheeks. His curious, dark eyes returned the stare as Evita bent to him, her native language that the boy
obviously understood leaving her lips, introducing Amiri to the boy. But he didn't have to look to Evita's son as his eyes had never left the boy. The
similarities in the child's face were...amazing. He looked just like her... The beautiful lips...the eyes that were so curious that you could
tell there were questions that might have been spoken behind them. But then...there were other things. The upturned nose was not hers. And hair,
although as black as her real color, fell in ringlets. Not hers. But not foreign. Without noticing it, Amiri's lips had lifted at the corners, softly.
He nodded at the child's small wave, his teeth cracking through his smile at the boy's words...until he was almost distracted by another introduction.
A friend. Whit? Looking up fleetingly he gazed uninterestedly at the woman, his attention pulled from Evita's young son.
This is my... Amiri's eyes flashed at Evita, his lip twitched quickly against the smile that was there as he noticed her unsureness in how to
introduce him. Without hesitating, he extended his hand to her friend, grasping it briefly in the uncomfortable moment.
"Charmed." He said, his eyes never leaving Evita's.
Screams from the haters, got a nice ring to it
I guess every superhero needs his theme music...
Oh, she remembered. She remembered everything that had happened on the last night they’d shared. She knew what he’d done, it was ingrained in her
subconscious and would be there forever. But what Amiri wasn’t wrapping his head around was that he had been forgiven. He may not have forgiven
himself yet, but Evita had forgiven him so long ago. Yes, he had broken her, but if he hadn’t...Alvaro never would have had the chance to put her
together again. The pain of her break up with Amiri was what she needed to realize the love that she was truly meant for. The love that had made her
whole, instead of whatever she had been before. The love that had made her the mother of the beautiful little boy that was clinging to her leg now,
his curious eyes going from his mother to the man she was talking to before she introduced the two of them.
Evita’s eyes fell back on Amiri as AJ waved at him and she...saw...what was this? A smile. Something she thought this Amiri, Mr. All-Business, would
never have been capable of. Her son did have that effect on people though. She smiled a little in the seconds that passed when she watched Amiri’s
eyes go between her and her son, probably comparing features, maybe still trying to swallow that Evita had a four year old son to care for now. She
was about to reverse the introductions and properly introduce AJ to Amiri, but she was beaten to the punch by Whitney, her arrival causing Evita to
jump a bit. He most certainly doesn’t...Same flirtatious Whitney. You would think she’d pull back a little what with her about to be
married soon, but no. She clung to what little fun she could have when it came to men. Evita giggled a little, shaking her head and introducing Amiri
and Whitney to one another...or trying to. Her words stalled in the middle unsure of what title to place on a guy that had been so many different
things to her in the past. She would have called them friends, but as his eyes came back to hers in the pause that she had allowed to linger for too
long, she wasn’t sure if Amiri would have done the same...
She opted to just say his name, something that wouldn’t need clarification later when Whitney asked for every detail about the tall, dark, and
extremely handsome man that had her missing her son’s fitting in his first tux. Great. That was going to be a conversation that she would love to
have...Today of all days. Her husband was coming home tomorrow and she ran into Amiri today. Of all days. In Kapuhai Reef of all places. How did this
keep happening? How did they somehow always end up in the same place, with a connect from the past that did nothing but confuse the two of them
whenever they were pushed together by fate.
Amiri spoke, pulling her from her thoughts as he and Whit shook hands. It may have seemed as though he was in the moment, his greeting as polite and
charming as she expected from Amiri, but his eyes were on Evita’s; still there from her search for something to call him. Something to explain him.
She couldn’t then but if he kept looking at her the way he was it would become obvious anyway. “So...um-,” Evita blinked, her eyes falling away
from Amiri’s finally. “Whit, he’s done?” she asked, referring to Alvie.
She nodded, the smirk on her face growing into a smile as she responded, “He is, but it seems you’re not, soooo-,” she took AJ’s hand pulling
him a bit closer, “AJ and I are going to go around the corner and register me at Williams-Sonoma.” She winked, pulling AJ along before Evita could
protest and leaving she and Amiri alone once again.
But it's you who brought me here.
You, through all these years.
Uncomfortable silence filled the moment, Amiri's eyes refusing to leave Evita's, even after she looked away. She spoke to her
friend...Whitney, was it? He could not be sure. Words and introductions had fallen away with the thoughts running through his mind. Thoughts
about Evita and the child. The beautiful features on the child's handsome face. Amiri had been a handsome child as well. The tanned skin that covered
the sinew of his young adulthood only became his as he aged. As a child, he had been much fairer, his skin barely darker than sweetened cream. His
hair had been dark and carried the soft curls that it continued to wear to that day. When he looked at the boy, he remembered his childhood. He
remembered how fawned upon he had been. How loved. This boy was loved...a little prince, enthroned on Evita's heart. Amiri knew this. It was in the
way she watched him, how the simplest things that he did, that he said, amused her. And even as she struggled to find words that would erase the
uncomfortableness of introducing her future to her hidden past, her thoughts returned to her sweet son, asking the friend if he was finished. Amiri's
eyes shifted from Evita, reading the unsaid words as her friend informed her of her imminent departure into another store, apparently to continue
preparations for a coming wedding. Amiri nodded in her direction as she left, his eyes returning to Evita as they stood alone again, silence falling
between them as if it had never been interrupted.
"Your son..." He began, breaking their silence. "He is a handsome boy. He looks so much like his mother..." A compliment to the child with the face
that would not blot itself from Amiri's mind. As familiar and memory evoking as it was, the compliment was true. He was a fine boy.A fine
son. Flinching softly, memories of the things denied him played back to him as he made great efforts to push them away. In the midst of
apologizing and torturing himself over his mishaps with Evita, she was only thinking of the present and the future. A son. And from the looks of the
simple, golden band on her left ring finger, a husband. A detail that Amiri had missed as he stood before her, his pointless atonement so far from her
mind...but forever on his. It was his punishment. He knew this now. Her life, as good and pure as she had been, was not something she deserved. A
husband. A son. The shadow of smiles still on her beautiful face. Love. And Amiri? His life was what it should have been, the karma of his life making
its appearance. What he deserved...
"I am...happy to see your life so fulfilled, Evita." A forced smile twitched against the tightness of his lips and the coldness of his eyes. "You
deserve every happiness." There was no sarcasm in this statement as it was the truth, through and through. Evita had always been the definition of
good. With the horribleness of the past, the horrible things that his family had placed into her life, she deserved this. She deserved what Amiri
could only look longingly at. What he had not known he wished and wanted for until his own fabricated excuse for a family lost a critical piece.
As if right on time, the tailor that had been the bane of his existence emerged from the back, his suit bagged and ready to go. He looked at Amiri
anxiously, ready for him to look over the sub-par suit and approve of its imperfection.
"It looks as if my suit is ready..." Amiri said, the same painful smirk playing about his lips and failing miserably to look authentic.
Screams from the haters, got a nice ring to it
I guess every superhero needs his theme music...
![[*]](images/davis/default_icon.gif){kind=icon}
