I Was Never Yours - Episode 5
04-09-25 (20:58)
With shaking hands I gripped the Styrofoam cup that
Zach handed me. My entire body was trembling and I
knew I was close to hyperventilation. I looked up
gratefully at the tall figure looming in front of me and
gulped the lukewarm water hungrily. We were sitting
in the waiting lounge now, awaiting the
announcement of our flight but boarding that plane
was the last thing on either of our minds. Lexie, being
the drama queen she always was had exited after our
dramatic confrontation and had left me to pick up the
pieces. Though it wasn't what Zach was going to say
or do that worried me, the only thing I could think
about was how Lexie was going to explain this to
Noah. I would've told him eventually, but finding out
the way he was going to was the last way I'd have
wanted. I didn't even want to imagine the look on his
face when he finds out; I wasn't scared for myself, all I
wanted was to shield him from the pain of knowing.
Zach sat down next to me, moving rather awkwardly
to create enough space between us. Neither of us
spoke but I could tell from his body language that
there were a million things running through his head. If
it'd been someone else I'd just have asked them to
spit it out but with Zach I felt as if I had to maintain a
certain decorum and that I could never step out of line.
I'd always seen him as the guy who'd marry my elder
sister and I'd never gotten rid of the shyness and
awkwardness that I felt around him.
"You were with someone when we...got married?" he
asked, his voice so low that it almost felt like I'd
imagined the question.
I nodded slightly and gulped, trying to get rid of the
choking feeling in my throat. Here it was, the time to
tell him everything. I wondered if that would change
his behavior towards me. If he found out that he
wasn't the only one to lose a person they'd love then
maybe he'd make an attempt to make things better
between us.
"Does he know that you...?"
I shook my head. "I haven't told him, I couldn't bring
myself to do it," I said in a small voice, hating having
to admit what I'd done.
"Is that why you broke your phone? You weren't
planning on ever telling, were you?" he asked as
understanding dawned upon him and I groaned. Why
did he want to find out all about me all of a sudden? I
was beginning to think it was better when he treated
me like I didn't exist.
"Arianna..." Zach groaned, gripping his forehead, "you
don't do that to people," he said and let his head fall to
his knees. I knew what he meant; by not telling Noah
about what had happened I'd acted like a huge
coward but it was a better alter-native than breaking
the heart of the guy who loved me the most.
"I'm sorry I didn't know that there was a proper way
to let your boyfriend know that you married someone
else," I said, my tone curter than I wanted it to be.
The Zach I knew would've reprimanded me, given me
an equally bitter answer but somehow he remained
quiet and I was grateful for that. My head wasn't in
the right place and I didn't want to say or do
something that I'd regret later. Things were bad
enough with Zack as it was and I didn't want to do
anything to further deteriorate that.
"Did you love him?" he asked me after a while and I
decided it was no use hiding it.
"More than you can imagine." I let out a bitter laugh
but something bugged me. He'd asked me did you
love him, it was like he was referring to the past. I still
loved Noah, I would always love him and I was sure
that my feelings for him would never change.
Next to me, Zach sighed and at the same time an
announcement was made, signaling that the plane
was ready for boarding. I quickly grabbed all my stuff
and headed to join the line that was already starting
to form. I couldn't believe the conversation that we'd
been having. I was discussing my love life with the
guy I was married to; that couldn't be normal could it?
A guy separated me and Zach in the line and the
distance was calming. I took out my documents, my
hands fumbling with all the various pieces of paper
until they all fell on the ground. The guy behind me
picked them up before I could even get down to do it
myself and as he handed them to me, he squeezed
my hand and gave me a toothy grin. Immediately I
pulled back from him; the look in his eyes and the
smell of his breath told me that he was drunk.
"What, a guy don't even get a thank you?" he slurred
and I retreated farther away from him till I barged into
the woman standing in front of me. She turned around
and glared at me, muttering bitch. Great, now I was
stuck between a drunk and a real-life version of
Regina George. The guy didn't take my moving away
from him as a sign that he creeped me out, instead he
moved closer to me and whispered in my ear, a chill
running down my spine as he spoke.
"You know you look mighty fine and that ass...'' He
sucked in a breath as his hands trailed lower down my
back. I whimpered at the lust in his voice, his touch
making me feel disgusted with myself and dirty. I
closed my eyes, praying that he'd leave me alone.
A loud bang made me open my eyes and I turned to
see Zach throwing a punch at the drunken man who
ended up lying on the floor with a loud thud with
blood oozing from his nose. Zach towered over him, his
foot resting on the man's stomach, crushing it under his
weight. My eyes widened as I took in the scene before
me.
"You touch her one more time and you'll be begging
me to kill you," Zach growled at him and the man on
the floor nodded his head furiously, looking scared out
of his wits; he sobered up pretty quickly, I thought to
myself. I rushed to Zach's side and he immediately
directed his attention to me. "Are you okay?" he asked
and I nodded, not looking at his face but his bruised
knuckles. Security had arrived by then and were
picking up the man from the floor roughly. None of
them asked Zach any questions; even they knew who
he was, who we were, and that granted some benefits.
I gingerly took hold of Zach's hand, trailing my fingers
over the bruises. "You didn't need to do that," I
whispered, afraid to look into his eyes which I knew
for a fact were focused on me. He pulled his hand
away from mine and walked back to the line; this time
I stood next to him. I would have clung to his arm had
it not been such an inappropriate idea.
"I might not be the love of your life Arianna but it's still
my job to protect you whether you like it or not."
Was it wrong to say that hearing him say those words
made me feel, for the first time in what felt like a long
time, like I would be safe and that nothing could harm
me, not if he was there? But then what if he became
the person who would harm me? Could Zach really
protect me from himself and the nature of our
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