Cry For Me

Chapter 36

A few months later

No matter how many times Omar walked through the office door and sat in the large and accommodating leather chair, he still couldn’t shake the feeling that he was sitting in someone else’s territory…Amir’s territory. He had had the whole CEO’s office remodeled and refurnished but even after all of that, it still didn’t feel like he belonged in there.

The whole fiasco of that one dreadful night was behind him now, but he still had nightmares about it at times. After Amir and Hakim were taken into custody by the police, their overly verbose and expensive attorneys kicked in to try and get them out of the mess, which did little to nothing to help alleviate the situation. The evidence was too overwhelming and the fact that there were the two hitmen to testify against Amir and Hakim had their case closed before it was even opened.

It all happened so fast, but the court meeting was one hellish experience for Omar. He had to sit back and let his own flesh and blood be tried and found guilty, and subsequently be given life sentences each. Amir tried to uphold his veneer of dominance but in the box, he looked like a cornered mouse. Hakim was even worse and had even burst into tears a couple of times. He had been an accessory to murder since he had helped Amir plan the accident. Omar had never seen him look so pathetic.

The last image he had of them was them being taken away to some maximum-security prison. His mother, sister and brother Navid had been there to comfort him and comfort each other because they all knew that their family would never be the same again. Particularly for Omar, he had gone from third in line to the next CEO of a multinational billion-dollar cooperation and it was overwhelming to say the least. Every one of the board of directors was on board with it, as they saw him a worthy leader and proven as such time and again. They trusted him to wash out all of Amir’s dirty transactions and be a beacon of hope to save it’s face after the huge scandal.

He was very glad that he wasn’t alone, since he had Navid by his side acting as his second in command. He made sure to help him transition from being an underling to the big boss whom everyone was learning to fear and respect dutifully. And since Amir wasn’t in the picture anymore, multiple high-end moguls were eager to do business with them. Things were looking up in the professional sense but when it came to his personal life, everything was in shambles.

He hadn’t spoken to Andrea or tried to get her messages through Salvador in quite a while. Although it made his heart ache infinitely, he knew it was for the best. He was still healing from everything, and he hoped that she was healing well. He knew that she’d finished her high school and gotten a diploma and in a short while, she would be off to college, where she’d get to explore adulthood, build up her career, and probably fall in love….

The last bit made him sick to the stomach.

More than ever, he wanted her close to him. He missed her smile, brushing hair behind her ear and her sweet kisses. Andrea had effortlessly mesmerized him the moment he’d laid eyes on her, even if she was in fact much younger than him at the time. Like he’d noticed before, he had never felt that way about any other woman before and that one time they made love; it was engraved in his mind like a tattoo. She was inexperienced but she drove him crazy, and she knew just how to keep him wanting more…begging for more.

He cleared his throat to discard the sensual memory, already starting to feel uncomfortable around the crotch. Navid, who was seated on the couch, going over a business proposal, glanced at his brother who was fidgeting in his seat. “You okay there, mate?” he asked, eyes going back to the papers in his hands.

Omar nodded, even though the tip of his ears were red and a dead giveaway to his obscene thoughts. “J-just a little distracted by everything that’s been going on,” he trailed off, his voice going down an octave.

Hakim, placing his papers on the coffee table then sat back, on leg perched over the other. “Now, I know for a fact that whatever is distracting has to do with a woman. Let me guess, Andrea?” he stated rather than asked. Omar sighed and tapped the desk with his fingers.

He nodded. “I’ve been thinking about her a lot lately. I can’t stop thinking about how she’s doing, what she’s up to. I just f—king miss her I guess,” he replied gloomily, with an ounce of yearning.

“Well, what’s stopping you from reaching out to her? You proved your innocence and there is literally nothing preventing you two from being together. I know you love her, so what’s holding you back?” he inquired, his chin perched on his knuckles.

Suddenly, Omar felt like he was in a therapist’s office. “It’s not that simple. I don’t think she’s forgiven me, and I doubt that she will. That, and the baby…that hit her pretty hard. I think about our baby so much as well, but the universe took her away from him. I feel like I’m to blame for that because if I hadn’t let her leave my side, then maybe our child would still be here,” he said in a tone drenched with guilt and grief.

Navid sighed. “I get where you’re coming from but none of that was your fault. Besides, you saved Andrea and to me, that counts a lot. I’d have loved to have a niece to spoil but I think it wasn’t meant to be. You’ve got these unresolved emotions and it seems to me that you need closure and if you don’t address them, you might have a downward spiral,” he told his brother, and Omar knew Navid was right. He would have to talk to her someday, and who knew when that would be. If it was anytime soon, Emilio might just purchase a shotgun and riddle him with bullets. He shivered at the thought.

“Enough of this, we need to focus on this new chain of stores we’re opening in Italy. You’ve perused though the proposal, do you think it’s a good idea? Are we looking at prime land or just another Athens case?” he asked his brother, swiftly changing the topic.

Navid picked up the proposal once more and opened it. “This is a lot different from the Athens idea, if you ask me. Milan is a fashion center and having a couple of department stores there, some wineries and an art gallery perhaps…this is a literal gold mine. The city if filled with opportunities and the fact that we would be spending some extensive time there wouldn’t hurt either,” he joked and Omar gave him a knowing look.

“You always had expensive tastes, Navid. But if you give it the green light then I’m inclined to do the same. After all, you have a lot more experience in this than I do.”

Navid smirked. “And yet, you’re the big boss. Do you know that three quarters of the female staff fawns over you and I’m hearing that HR is in trouble over people showing up with rather revealing outfits and insipid perfumes? You’re basically number one on the market right now and since your reputation with women precedes you, one of them thinks you just might look their way one of these days,” he said with a laugh.

Omar smiled ruefully. “They can dream on because knocking boots is the last thing on my mind right now. Running this company is my number on priority right now,” he muttered and then got back to his powered-up computer.

“If you say so, boss. I think you should have your PA book an appointment with Mr. and Mrs. Mancini. Italy here we come,” he beamed before gathering his stuff and leaving the room.

Omar sighed, his thoughts jumping back to Andrea. Now might now have been the right time to appear back in her life, but he was certain she was his soulmate, and they’d meet again someday.

                                                                                             ***

“I cannot believe that summer vacation is over and we’re already going to college,” Aliyah whined exaggeratedly, reminiscing over the fun moments she had had over the seemingly short holiday.

Andrea hummed in agreement. “True that. The day after tomorrow you’ll be leaving for Stanford, and I’ll be off to Oxford. We dreamed about this moment for so long and now that it’s finally here, we cannot even enjoy it properly,” she huffed in annoyance, dipping her leg in the water from the floating bed she was laid upon.

For the last few weeks of summer, Andrea had gotten permission to spend time at their family’s beach house with Aliyah, Salvador, and a few other close friends from Charlton Academy. She hadn’t been open to the idea at first but upon realizing that she had been behaving like a hermit for long enough, she kicked the bad habit to the curb, purchased several bikinis and her surfboard.

The last couple of months weren’t easy but she had coped pretty well with the help of her family and best friend. Each day, the grief she had been feeling had started to fade away until it was just a mere pang she felt now and again. The people who had caused her suffering had been adequately punished. Omar’s dad and brother were behind bars facing a lifelong prison sentence. Rhett too had been thrown in jail for three years too after Emilio had him pinned for attempted rape. His family, and Sydney’s had also been severely sued for defamation by her family and the Pedrads too.

At long last, the great and almighty Sydney Reale had fallen from grace, and it was by far the most humiliating thing in the history of Charlton. Her family’s reputation was so muddied that she got rejected by all the Ivy League schooled she had applied too. Andrea had surmised that her Sydney’s mother may have tried to pull some strings using her feminine wiles but it hadn’t worked and as a result, Sydney was going to some community college. It made Andrea happy to know that her archnemesis had gotten the right card dealt to her.

On another note, Ximena had given birth to the most adorable little boy Andrea had ever laid her eyes on. His name was Javier Dos Santos, with his mother’s raven hair and his father’s jade eyes. And Andrea loved him so much that whenever she visited Ximena at her home or she came over, Andrea would hog him to herself. If she couldn’t have a child of her own yet, her nephew would do, and she planned on spoiling him as much as she could. Javier was an excellent addition to the family, and really managed to brighten everything up with his infectious smile, deep dimples and cute little feet.

“Are you two still whining?” Salvador hollered as he walked towards them, dripping wet from the ocean waves, his abs glistening and swim trunks clinging to his lover half. Aliyah couldn’t help but ogle him, in fact, she had been doing it very often for a while since they came to the beach house.

Andrea, noticing the stupid look on her friend’s face, cupped some water from the pool and splashed Aliyah in the face, who switched back into reality in a matter of nanoseconds. “Hey!” she yelled, and Andrea chuckled.

She turned to her brother. “I thought you and the other guys were surfing and playing beach volleyball. You were supposed to be giving us some alone time,” she muttered in a clipped tone, giving her brother the stink eye.

He shrugged and moved over to where Aliyah sat by the chaise lounge, bent down in front of her and took her towel. He began to dry off using it, purposefully teasing her and she was beginning to shift a lot in her seat. There was something going on between the two and till now, Andrea hadn’t figured it out.

Once done, Salvador discarded the towel on the empty chaise lounge and passed a subtle wink at Aliyah, who seemingly blushed. “I’m not here to bother you. I was getting tired of the water, so I wanted to take a shower, maybe order a pizza later. I’ll leave you two ladies alone now,” he said flippantly before stalking away and disappearing into the house.

Andrea paddled across the pool with her hands and lifted off the inflatable bed before going to sit beside her friend. “What the hell is going on between you two?” she fired and Aliyah looked mortified.

“I-I don’t know what you’re talking about-,”

Andrea cut her off with a scoff. “Don’t bullshit me. I know you like the back of my hand. You tow have been all flirty flirty around each other lately. Be honest, do you have a crush on my brother?” she demanded, and Aliyah gulped.

Her lips curled downwards. “It’s, It’s complicated. I mean, we always used to ignore each other and then a few days ago when we went to buy groceries together, we started talking and we found out we have quite a lot in common. He took me to a cute little ice-cream spot, we talked some more and we somehow ended up making out,” she admitted timidly and Andrea’s jaw slackened.

“You kissed my brother?” she exclaimed in disbelief, causing Aliyah to shush her due to her loudness.

“Keep it down. Yes, we did, in fact, we did a little more than just kiss in the back seat of his car but we said we wouldn’t talk about it,” she trailed off, heat flaming her cheeks.

Andrea held her mouth. “Here I was under the impression that you two didn’t get along, but it seems you were one step away from shagging right under my nose. I can’t believe it; my brother and my best friend,” she echoed in what could only be described as awe.

“Listen, Drea, I am so sorry about it. I didn’t plan any of this and I get it if you’re upset-,”

Andrea shook her head and smiled. “I’m not mad at you. A little thrown off guard but definitely not mad. Hey, if you like him then go for it. You’re certainly an upgrade from the chick he was last with,” she commented jokingly, but Aliyah’s facial expression remained sad.

“I don’t know…summer is almost over and he’s going to Wharton and I’m off to Stanford. The timing is just off. We’d be doomed before we eve start anything,” she said in disdain. Andrea knew where her friend was coming from. The timing was certainly off but that didn’t mean that she had to be miserable until the end of summer.

Andrea squeezed her shoulder. “I think you should go and talk to him. Ask him what you mean to him. It may be the wrong timing, but you need closure, or you might begin the semester in the wrong frame of mind. I don’t want you to have any confusion clouding your mind,” she said encouragingly but Aliyah bit her lip hesitantly.

She nodded before standing up. “Okay. Thanks for being such a good friend,” she said with a smile before following after Salvador into the house.

There were many things that Andrea hadn’t gotten closure over, like whether Omar was really in love with her or not, or if it was only one sided. The problem was that to her, it felt real, and she had really believed him when he told yet. And yet, he hadn’t talked to her in such a long time that she was starting to wonder if she’d imagined it. She had wanted to call him, text but each time she even got remotely close to doing it, she would panic and stop altogether. As much as she wanted to talk to him, her wounds were still open, and she wasn’t ready to face him yet.

And she had no idea for how long she’d feel like this, but Omar was one man who she’d never forget about, and she would love him for a long time, despite all of his mistakes.

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Hey guys. Hope you're well.

So, I didn't want to say this but this is the final chapter before the Epilogue. It's very long and I took time to really think about the details. I tried to do all the characters justice and I sincerely hope I did.

What can I say, I'm a little emotional about this. I'd grown attached to the characters and letting go of them will be hard.

I'm working on the Epilogue so you still have that to look forward to. Who knows, there might be a reunion between our two leading characters....

Stay tuned to find out!

Vote and comment ♡,

☆Deetronite☆