Forsaken betrayal

Episode

19

Gealic didn't know why Lennox's words hurt the way it did. She wasn't even Amelia, but when Lennox said he was tired of her, he did genuinely seem tired. She couldn't pass it off

physical tiredness and that was what made her sad, the fact

that someone with her face could cause souch pain to someone else. On one hand she had been hurt by the person she loved the most, and on another, Amelia had been hurting the person she loved the most. Everything would have been easier if she really understood what Amelia was like. With that, she could act accordingly, or help make her life better.

One thing she knew was that Amelia wanted Lennox to love her, that she could try.

A knock came at her door but she laid still on her bed, too lazy to respond to the knock on her door.

"Has he gone?" She asked Mrs, Rachel who had walked in anyway.

"Yes," She nodded. "He left very early this morning."

"Do you need something ma'am?"

"What was Amelia like?"

"Ma'am?"

"Nevermind, you can leave."

Mrs. Rachel was the wrong person to get such information from, Gealic thought.

~~~

"Good morning, a cup of Expresso please." Alex ordered,

Tori sighed, her eyes flashing with irritation. "Alex, I'm not doing this with you today. You've been here everyday for a week, don't you have a job?"

"I do. It's been hard to sleep these days, I need the caffeine."

She wiped down the counter, "Get it somewhere else."

"No one makes coffee like you."

"Alex, if you're here to annoy me." She sighed. "I don't want you here."

"What, you're scared of a little trouble? You've faced worse, common."

"Leave, my customers will be here any minute."

"They're not here yet, we have time."

"Please leave, I don't want to have anything to do with you anymore." Tori's voice cracked.

"I'll stay away but you have to listen to me first."

"I am scared of your mother, Alex, I cannot stay here with you around."

"I-"

"No, I just started building my life over again, I can't let you ruin it over again."

"Are you scared of me or my mother?"

"Me!" She spat. "I'm scared of losing control around you and losing myself to you. I am scared of me." "Tori,"

"Your mother cannot get to me if I'm not close to you."

"Tori"

"Do you know how hard it had been for me to forget about you? I finally take the courage to come back here and you're here again," Her voice faltered "Do you want me dead?" Alex's voice was a low growl. "Don't say that, Tori. Do not say that."

"What then?" She stared at him in resignation, "What do you want me to do when you keep appearing?"

"You talk like you were the only one hurt. You traded me for her money!"

"So? It was either you or my brother's life. I have my priorities."

"As you should but you could have told me. You shouldn't have run away."

"I took her money, how could I stay?"

"What about me? Did you ever think of how I'd feel? Do you know if I could have fixed things?"

"There was nothing to fix, it was either me or you."

"I'm mad too but look at me trying to change things." Alex's voice dropped to a soft whisper.

"Don't change anything, we're better off this way."

"If we were better off like this why are you here? Why did you come back here? Why didn't you keep running? The money you received was probably enough to take you round the world. It's probably the same money you used for this place!" The jab twisted through her skin, hurting like a stab from a molten blade.

"Alex!"

Alex's eyes locked onto hers, his gaze burning with intensity. "I'm sorry."

"Leave!" Tori's voice rose, her anger like molten larva.

"Yeah, sure." He turned to the door. "I'll leave."

"I came back because I have nowhere else left to go." She whispered through raw emotions, her voice barely audible.

"You'll make more money being another man's spy, enough to continue your adventure."

Tori's sobs echoed through the empty café, her body shuddering in pain as Alex turned and walked away.

~~~

"What's up man," Johnson hailed as Alex walked into Lennox's office, ignoring him. "That's not cool, don't keep your friend hanging."

"Fuch off!" Alex yelled at he collapsed on a sofa.

"That hurt," Johnson replied, his voice lowering in false sadness.

"I'm jaded guy, I don't know what to feel anymore."

"Tori?"

"Yes," He let out a frustrated sigh, burying his face in his hands.

"Lennox," Johnson called. "Your brother needs a little love spell, think you can get some from your wife?"

"Alex should take care of his love life, don't bring it to the office."

"The love life started in the office," Johnson laughed.

"Johnson!"

"Fine, I'll stop being a pain in your sad asses. But Lennox is right, you're the only one who knows the best way to sort things out. She doesn't want to see you, yea?" "She practically kicked me out."

"Go again."

"I'd issue a restraining order if I were her." Lennox quipped.

"Do that with your wife, you prick."

"I should." He replied.

A knock on the door paused their conversation. Mr. Gu peeked through the door before walking in completely.

"The meeting is starting in a minute." He informed them and left.

"We'll be there in half," Johnson answered. "Let's go."

He pulled the brooding Alex up. "Toughen up man, it's time for business now."

Lennox scoffed and surged to his feet, but his sudden movement sent his office spinning making his stagger.

"Are you okay there Len?" Johnson noticed him.

He nodded, "I need to sleep."

~~~

"What do you think about letting me out for a few?" Gealic asked later that night while Lennox quietly ate his food. He had always been of very few words since she met him but today, he was eerily silent. "You need to rest." He only answered, taking a bite of his steak.

"I've been resting for days, it's beginning to bore me out." She dropped her fork.

"That's the point, get you bored so you don't go around breeding trouble." He replied nonchalantly.

"Let me leave, I have an interview for my movie." She urged

"You're not going anywhere."

"Lennox!"

"I mean it Amelia, I don't trust you." His voice raised, bearing all his anger.

"Will you keep me locked in here forever? I've tried to cope but I won't take it anymore. It's suffocating."

"You will stay here, Amelia. You're a danger to yourself and I can't let anything-"

"Nothing will happen to me, I am a grown woman."

"You rarely bahave like it." He snapped.

"You are tired of me right? Then let me get out of your face, just for a few days."

"No."

"I'll stay at my grandfather's, I won't do anything, I promise." She walked over to him briskly.

His eyes narrowed, "You'll stay with your mother and Maggie? I thought you hated them."

"I do, but I'll rather stay there than with you. You're not any different from them." She hated to be mean but he was giving her no choice. "Fine, take Richard with you."

"Lennox?"

"What? I said you could go." He winced in pain as he spoke.

"You're deathly pale, you should see a doctor." She answered, putting a palm over his forehead.

His eyes darted to hers and stayed fixed, for a moment his vision blurred and he shook it off.

"Are you Amelia?"