章 17: Please

The cold air in the room brought about a stalemate. We were both frozen in our expressions since the last roar came from the outside.

The silence was heavy around us, however, it lasted merely a few seconds before I could hear the faint sobbing from the other side of the room. A gentle and desperate bang on the door was heard.

Haziel acted first amongst the both of us, he moved out of the dining and went for the door. I followed slowly behind him, halting before the living room.

With a twist of the lock, the door eased open to reveal a middle-aged woman. Her hands were thrown up and in an instant appeared wrapped around Haziel's nack in an endearing embrace.

The woman hadn't taken note of me yet. Her tearful face was focused solely on the man in front of her. She had on an expression that seemed to be a cross between hysteria and relief.

I leaned my back on the wall of the entryway, staring at the scene wordlessly, feeling like I was prying into their private moment.

Haziel removed her hands from their unwelcomed placement, he used his right hand to wipe the tears on her face, the mild black ink of mascara smeared on his palm. The woman looked up smiling sadly at him before whispering something inaudible.

Haziel's gaze turned to me for a brief second before landing back on the person on the brink of breaking in front of him.

It was at that moment, the woman took a moment to take in her surroundings. Her gaze followed his and halted at me.

A perplexed expression was what she offered me. I looked down to avoid her eyes.

"..."

The dead air floated around us, underneath the clear-cut tension, my heartbeat quickened.

"Who is she?" Her voice was now loud enough for me to hear.

Haziel turned his gaze to me and stared for what felt like an abyss of time, yet, didn't reply.

"I guess I'm a friend of his." I took the initiative but immediately regretted it.

To say we were friends was probably an overstep.

"Friend?" She posed the question at Haziel looking straight at him.

Haziel nodded slightly after a snippy moment of hesitation. The woman scoffed at his response bringing her arms up and pushing an abrupt air barrier between herself and him.

"Friend? Don't sugarcoat things for me!" She yelled glaring at Haziel, not in anger but bitterness. The tone at which the words spilled out of her mouth had a sour effect.

"Have you found a replacement for me already? How quickly you were willing to ignore me, and why? because of her?"

Although I was lost in their conversation, I could put a few pieces of the scene together.

"I wasn't ignoring you, I've been busy," Haziel replied monotonously.

My attention had been on the woman for a while I failed to notice Haziel's reactions. His lips were in a straight line and his eyes, in a state of confusion.

"You didn't have to make a scene." He uttered sighing afterward.

"Yes, I did. You know I had to. You either don't answer my text or reply coldly, you ignore my calls and never give me a reason why." She once again broke down in tears, reasoning with him.

"I'm not stupid Hazzy, you never treated me this way until my husband started the divorce proceedings. My money flow, status, and marriage have been dragged down to the gutter. And now all of the sudden you're too busy for me." The woman sobbed in between some words. Her left arm clutched her chest in pain.

"I need you, I really need you. I have nothing now, you can't just leave me."

"PLEASE!" She begged after taking a deep breath. Her voice was shaky with a depth of emotion.

"We don't have that type of relationship Ereny. I sorry if I gave you the idea that I could be that type of person for you, I can't." Haziel's words were heartbreaking even for a bystander like me.

I looked away from them sorting through what was unfolding in my head, filling in my mental jigsaw puzzle.

This side to Haziel was bone-chilling cold. He was either playful or aloof in our interactions but never deliberately cut-throat.

My awareness of my lack of understanding of his personality became overly heightened. This brought about a quiet storm in my chest.

This woman was most likely a past lover or at least something similar. If they had shared such a personal experience, how could he be so impersonal in his approach to her?

"Why not? I've given you everything. We have something special. You said I mattered to you." Her voice was weak and fearful, and her sobbing had calmed down but the tears spilled down her face tracing her raised cheekbones.

"..."

"You do matter to me. I wish you happiness but, I think it's time we end our relationship." Haziel uttered the final words of his sentence in a sweet unbiased manner, he even offered a slight smile at the end. Despite all that, his words must have hurt like a stub of a toe.

Ereny's red eyes shot up at him in astonishment. She blinked twice tilting her head to the side, taking several seconds to process the words that were said to her.

"No! I refuse. I won't let you go." She said seemingly in denial.

Feeling like I had intruded enough. I went into the dining for my purse grabbed it and came out.

"I think I should leave." I broke into their conversation for the second time.

My powers of invisibility swiftly faded after my words. Ereny looked at me and scoffed, her bloodshot eyes sent imaginary daggers into my chest.

"Yeah, you should go. Leave!"

"..."

"You must be thinking that I'm so miserable right? You have his attention and affection now but just wait at any inconvenience he'll drop you to the ground just like he is doing to me right now." Her words were absorbed into me as though I became a sponge.

"I was once like you," her gaze turned to Haziel, "Curious about the artist who showed me an interesting time, the artist whose eyes could leave you lost yet content. Leave now, he doesn't care about anyone but himself and his gain. He doesn't love anyone, but he can fake it." Once again endless streams of tears fell out of her eyes.

"..."

My eyes alternated between the both of them before settling on Haziel for a period. He looked at me, not bothering to refute any of her statements. I lost track of how long my eyes lingered on him searching for his thoughts.

"I'll take your advice into consideration," I said with a hook in my throat. The feeling in me was indescribable, all I thought of was to find the nearest exit from here.

"You should also leave. Even if you can't let him go. Bombarding him like this would only be detrimental to the both of you." I said with genuine concern before passing the both of them and leaving his apartment. At my final glance at Haziel, he showed a regretful expression.

The air outside embraced me, easing up the tension on my shoulders and freeing my nerves.

I took deep breaths walking towards my car. The drive back home was a welcoming experience. Calming music filled the car distracting me from the previous situation I was in.

I walked through the doors of my apartment dreading any more upsetting encounters. From the fight in the Orphanage to the scene at Haziel's apartment. It was clear there was a hectic theme for the day.

The house didn't have the usual trace of alcohol or silence.

Jalen's laughter echoed through the room, peaking my interest. He was sitting on the couch in the living room completely engaged with what he was watching on tv.

When he did notice me, his expression still cheerful from his show fell on me. He smiled at me nonchalantly.

"Hello," he said with no hidden sarcasm or malicious intent, his gaze went back to the tv afterward.

I hummed a response and passed by him. He stopped me in my tracks.

"This show is really fun and might be up your alley, wanna watch with me?" He threw an invitation at me.

I stood still contemplating.

Jalen took a glance to eat me, paused the show he was watching, and rose his arms up in surrender.

"It's just a show, if you wanna come to watch then it's your choice."

"..."

I went upstairs wordlessly accepting his offer. I changed out of my clothes into something more comfortable and with my phone in hand went down the stairs.

I sat on the same couch as him a bit on edge yet open to enjoying the experience with him. In a few minutes of him being relaxed my guards were brought down.

I leaned my head on the edge of the couch resting my lower limbs at an angle.

We watched the sitcom silently with a few fitting fits of laughter filling the room creating a peaceful atmosphere.

2 episodes in and Jalen was humming the theme song off-key. My pour chest suffered from my burst of laughter.

"Hey!" Jalen's eyes widened at me in amusement. "Stop laughing at me," he complained.

His words fell on deaf ears and proved usefully in doubling my laughing fit.

He chuckled a bit with me. After laughing a lot some saliva got stuck in my throat and just like that my laughter was transformed into coughing.

Jalen noticed and patted my back before rubbing it gently to soothe me.

"You okay?" He said slightly amused.

I nodded turning my gaze to meet his. My eyes and his bore into each other. The coughing had stopped but the staring felt more intense. His gaze pierced through mine effortlessly captivating me.

The hold was strong for a few seconds but was interrupted by a buzz.

My phone buzzed from beside me. Breaking free from the stare, I swallowed and checked the notification on my phone.

[Can we talk?] - Haziel.