Step 2 to Destruction

"Emir, I need a favour.", I said as I sat myself down in his office.

"Do I need to arrange a cleaning crew for someone you killed today?", he asked wryly not looking up from his laptop.

When I didn't joke back, he raised his head.

"What do you need?", he asked, all humor gone from his tone.

"I want you to give me permission to not hire an applicant.", I said.

"That's easy. You handle PR. You know what's best.", he said putting his glasses on the table.

" We already made her an offer, I'm afraid. She starts next week."

A frown appeared on his face.

"You know that she can sue us.", he reminded me.

" Not if you order a hiring freeze for some time.", I countered.

"Why would I do that when I need fresh talent?", he asked.

"Because I will be in your debt. I will owe you.", I said plainly.

"It's too big a risk.", he stated.

I took a deep breath. Calm. I prayed for calm.

"Emir, this is bloody important.", I emphasised again.

His eyes narrowed.

"Give me a name.", he said.

"Teresa Garcia.", I said.

"Why?", he asked.

"It's better if you do not know why. For your sake."

"Ignorance is not a good excuse for bliss.", he insisted.

I sighed. My fists clenched.

"She is Ellis Garcia's daughter. Ellis is a board member at Boss Lady. I need leverage.", I confessed.

He stayed quiet and inscrutable.

"You would really do that to someone. Use their daughter as leverage material?", he asked mildly.

"I would.", I said. They hadn't thought twice about destroying me.

"Would you destroy me when the time comes?", he asked softly leaning forward on his elbows. His gunmetal grey eyes were laser-focused on mine.

"I would be lying if I didn't admit that you are a means to the end."

He chuckled ironically.

"So, this job is your way of getting back at them.",he concluded.

"Doesn't lessen my commitment to it.", I argued.

"Agreed. Your work has not gone unnoticed."

Emir leaned back into his chair again regarding me in a new light. I remained quiet. We were like two predators circling each other.

"I do this and you will agree to anything I say?", he clarified.

"One thing, yes. I won't say no.", I promised.

He gave me a dangerous smile.

"You should never make a promise like that.", he said slowly, evil dancing in his eyes.

"I don't make promises lightly."

"What if I keep you forever?", he asked.

"At Aslan-Lemaire? You will tire of me soon enough.", I said.

He turned his face away. His eyes closed briefly and then he turned to me again.

"You tempt the devil within me, Miss Bianchi but consider the job done.", he confirmed.

"Pleasure doing business with you.", I said and left the room.

_________

"This is impossible.", Clementine said angrily. Her French accent was becoming more and more noticable with every passing second.

"It's just a suggestion Clementine. Not the end of the world.", I explained.

"You are suggesting we hold a virtual fashion show and invite everyone. Our collections are not meant for everyone to see. Cotoure is for the high society. It's special not for commoners. It's art.", she spat.

"I would like to think Aslan-Lemaire was started with a much different vision than this. Making cotoure accessible to people should be a priority."

"Our house has maintained its golden standards. Tradition and quality is what we value. We won't lower them for an outsider.", she said, protesting vehemently.

"Then you will be irrelevant. Learn to keep up with the times, Clementine. People's tastes are changing. You need to diversify or get stuck. ", I pointed out.

" Ladies...", said a voice from outside the doorway. "We can have a civilized conversation about this. Let's retract the claws for a little bit."

We backed down. I explained to Emir, the concept of a VR fashion show.

After some serious thinking he replied that he was not convinced that this was the right way to go but he wouldn't put the idea out of hand.

On this he sided with Clementine that Aslan-Lemaire's core values could not change. It made me seethe with anger.

I could see Emir wouldn't give my idea the serious thought it deserved. I left the meeting room in a fury.

This was why I was reluctant to work in partnership!

______________

"Hey stranger!", I said on the phone.

"Hey! ", came a tired voice back.

It didn't sound like the man I loved. It didn't sound like Ethan.

"You don't sound good. What's going on?", I asked concerned.

" I don't. I am not......I am not....good.", his voice choked on the last word.

"What happened?", I asked trying to still my heart.

"The soldiers were patrolling along the village as usual. We were at the base camp when one soldier calls in an emergency, a code red. A village had been set on fire by militants, for daring to disobey Sharia law and sending girls to school. 15 women and 7 children were burnt alive. I can still hear their screams.", he echoed hollowly. Something had broken in him.

"But all I could think about was, it's only a dozen deaths. It's not too many. You will not believe the amount of death I see. I have become desensitized to the horror of it. War zones, they bring out the worst parts of human nature.....and I couldn't look at myself in the mirror today. I was counting bodies without feeling.", he said his voice sounding heavier with each passing word.

"I see heroism. I see you. You went to war not caring of the consequences. You went to exorcise your demons in a battle field. War also brings out the best of human nature. You did it for me, for us, because you wanted us to have a chance. That's not selfishness Ethan, that's sacrifice and I know it when I see it.", I said seriously.

"You can tell me that to make me feel better but it won't change the truth. This war has changed me and I am not sure I like the person I have become."

"Well, I like you. I like every side of you- the good, the bad, the worst. I love you.", I promised.

"We are bound together, aren't we?", he asked.

I laughed softly.

"Most days I feel like a wife whose husband has gone to war. I don't feel like your girlfriend.", I said.

"And I feel like the husband who has left his heart 4000 miles away.", he said.

"We are married, then. Without ceremony, without people, without witnesses. It seems that none of my marriages are to be happy.", I said laughing bitterly at the irony.

" What are we going to do?", he asked.

"We hold on. We wipe our tears. We fight. We turn our backs on the ones we love. We betray. We fight our own hearts. We keep writing this story until we can write no more.", I said staring out of the window. The sky remained grey.

"Will there be a happy ending to this story?", he whispered into my ear through the infinite distance of seas and lands.

"I don't know. It depends, I suppose. I will be writing it as I go. I will make bad decisions and good ones. But, you will be here, reading it with me. Because we are masochists and idiots in love. But, I can say that the end will be a deserving one.", I whispered back.

We were silent for moments.

"What about Josh?", he asked.

"Nothing's changed. We keep praying. We keep trying.", I responded.

" I can't sleep.", he said. "There are nightmares. Violent ones. Terrifying ones."

"I can't wake.", I responded. " I am a living a nightmare."

So much unspoken. So much pain. So much hurt.

"Then we both do what we have to.", he decided.

"We keep fighting. When the war's over, we come back to each other.", I promised.

"In sickness and in health.", he said solemnly.

"In joy and in sadness.", I vowed.

_____________