The Crimson Statue ( gxg )

xviii│ worship

"I'M TELLING YOU SHE JUST GOT THOSE EYES ... AND HAIR - AND MY GOD HER SMILE-" , FIERO PAUSED HIS DAILY RANT TO GLARE AT ZAIRA. He waved his hand in her face, grinning wickedly when it did not elicit a reaction from her, "But she does not hold a candle to your mother. You should ask her how she was feeling after last nights activities."

"Nice try, coglione. I heard you the first time, she's smart, fun and beautiful. Of course, not at all like the hundred other girls who you've sad the same about-"

"Zaira - I really mean it this time. She just makes me feel .... alive."

Zaira paused, her mind once again sucked into the black hole that is Nayeli Iman Kader. Did she feel the same toward Nayeli? She wondered if what she was feeling right now could lead to that feeling of love Fiero always talked about. 

To her,  love was simply a hallucination. Marriage was simply a business transaction. A means to stand a little more firmly while swept away by the struggle for power. Perhaps it was time she saw through the mirage.

"Fiero, how will you know if these women aren't just after your money or your looks? If by chance I heavily disfigure you and removed you from the family, these women will not spare a glance in your direction."

Fiero, the wise best friend he is, picked up on the worry that bubbled beneath her words.

"Cara mia, love at first sight is not possible.  At first glance, you notice the superficial things like money and looks. If what you see pleases you, you think 'oh I want taste those precious boo-"

"FIERO"

"BOOKS, PRECIOUS BOOKS," Fiero squealed, running away from Zaira's viscous attacks.

☽         ☎︎       ☥      ☾

THE SUN DANCED A CROSSED HER FACE TO A TUNE THAT WAS INGRAINED IN EVERY PART OF ITS RAYS. It caressed her sharp jaw, lit up her sharp cheekbones, but the distance between it and her piercing eyes were too far. It was symbolic almost - how the light didn't reach her worry filled eyes. Her hands felt clammy and her insides were churning faster than the speed of light. In her mind, the events of last night played through her head on repeat, her heart thudding whenever she reached the scene she thought she could never forget in her life. 

Zaira. That woman, no goddess, had ensnared her mind with the perfect grace she carried herself with. Ensnared her with her glittering eyes, her deadly stare, her figure that had been crafted by Michelangelo himself, her voice that could make even Artemis fall in love.  She held her by a leash, each word she said made her want this moment to last forever. The tension - god their tension. It was like she forgot how to breathe around Zaira. 

Never in a million years did she even begin to imagine that she, Nayeli Iman Kader, would be screaming into her pillow like a little girl who met her celebrity crush. She who withstood the selection and triumphed over all, defeated any challenge that ever came her way, was reduced to a blushing mess at the mere thought of her. 

The moment Zaira Venezia Di Fazio had walked through those doors, all eyes immediately fell on her. Nayeli had also watched her walk through with all the confidence in the world. She knew that her beauty and elegance was blinding all who was present, and she owned that power with every fiber in her being. Nayeli watched as her eyes had narrowed in on her target, stealing his heart with only one look. She had watched as Zaira took him to a back room, only to emerge later alone with heel stained with blood. For once in her twenty years of living, she cracked a smile so wide and genuine that Cyra and Ehsan question their sanity.