The Fire Unleashed ✔

17. Harsh Reality

The low rumble of an engine coming to a halt put a temporary pause on my nightmarish fantasies. I woke up with a start and found myself in the same attire as the night before, crouched down low in my seat on the airplane.

It felt as if my head had deserted me and gone out for a walk - sky diving in this case, since the intolerable pain in my cranium was uncharacteristic. I had had headaches before, but never ones that screamed a pitiable tale of a fortnight's hard work with little to no sleep, failure and wounded friends.

After my eyes had trained themselves to adjust to the not so foreign surroundings, I looked around to find anything out of place and to ensure everything that was meant to be here was still in place, or everyone. I stood up to see Luca sitting two seats down from me, staring aimlessly into the sky tainted with reddish blue hues.

The state of the sun perfectly described the mood of the plane. Everyone was weary, not because of the great brawl, but because we couldn't taste that scrumptious success. It was weighing down on everyone's hearts and its evidence was very easily seen on their countenances. There happened to be a large amount of blue with a tint of red in our lives right now, and the sunset brought anything but sad memories to us.

The scene wasn't to my liking. Even though I have always wanted my men to be serious and efficient in their job, this sullen mood was not what I wanted to have in the atmosphere. It was killing me slowly. There was already a fierce battle in my mind and life that I had to constantly avoid, and I couldn't bear to see the same battle in my surroundings too. This way, there would be no escape for me, even for a minute; and everyone else will be pulled inside this horrific dungeon which holds no key of freedom.

As the captain announced our arrival in U.S. and everyone started packing their stuff to get to their homes, I saw Luca still seated on his seat, still distracted. I decided it was time to ram some sense into him, just like he does to me all the time. I went upto his seat and sat next to him. Sensing it was me, he tensed up more. It was as if he was waiting for me to admonish him.

"Do you know that you're such a disappointment?"

Was my first line I said to him. Not a good way to start, but trust me, this is the best way.

Hearing this, he tensed up more than it was possible. The expression of remorse flooded his face as his eyes drooped down further. He thought I was referring to the incident that happened yesterday.

"I know."

He whispered quietly, probably already mulling over different ways of committing suicide.

"You do? I don't think so. I don't think I can see understanding on your face."

I tell him simply, my words aiming at a completely different thing, yet this idiota had yet to learn that. He continued to feel sorry for himself until I couldn't keep up this act for longer and smacked him hard across the back of his head. He looked up at me in shock until what I had done registered in his head. Before he could make another smartass comment on how he deserved it, I spoke up angrily,

"Lo stupido, why the fuck are you acting like it was all your fault?! And will you stop with this pathetic expression of yours? Acting like this is not going to bring anything back, and I'm not angry at all, so stop already with this nonsense, alright?"

His eyes widened even more when he heard me. So maybe this was my first time ever saying things like these but let's face it, this was my first time ever in consoling someone else. I hadn't done it to anyone, not even my mother before. So, I totally understood when he looked so dumbfounded because it was actually a rare sight for me too.

"Wh- what?!!"

He sputtered in disbelief.

"Now don't act like a real dumbass. What's the use of sitting here and staring out the window like you just lost the love of your life? 'This depression doesn't suit my face, it's only reserved for you.' Whose words were these? And now look who's getting all depressed?"

He gave me a soft smile. It was the first time I saw him actually smiling since we all grew up. Otherwise, he always pasted on this knowing smirk on his face which attracted girls like bees get attracted to colorful flowers, but also annoyed me to no end. I had no idea this one preaching would manage to squeeze out such a genuine smile from him.

"You really believe that? That I'm not made for being all sad and droopy?"

He asked me quietly, a total contrast from his usual boisterous personality.

"Yes, now get up. We need to go home and then we need to take charge of work. We also need to do a hundred different things and take care of Bria. There's so much to do so you better not slack off okay?"

I started rambling out all the things we needed to complete as the tension in my body rose to new unknown heights. I was so engrossed in planning out the next week in my mind that I didn't notice the evil smirk on the face of the Devil Himself. When I looked at him again, I found him grinning at me like a Cheshire cat.

"What now?"

I asked out of utter annoyance. You see I wasn't just saying that his smirks annoyed me, they actually did.

"You think my face is so handsome that I don't suit sadness, and you suit it better because you're uglier than me, right?"

This bastardo! I couldn't believe I fell into his trap, again. No matter where or what this man is doing, he will still have all the time in the world to get on my fucking nerves. I narrowed my eyes on his face, then on his forehead and back of his head, where he was still housing a wound, and clenched my fists tight.

"Meet me at the gym tomorrow, we'll see who's uglier."

And then, I walked away as his loud and bright laughter lit up the deserted airplane in the dark.

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