Considerably Wicked: A Dark Romance

by Leigh Frankie

  If Una were a different woman, she would find it hard to resist the kiss. Sinclair’s lips felt like velvet against hers, and she would have wanted more, but she wasn’t any woman, and he wasn’t Will. So, she pushed him away, and he felt her slap him hard, so hard that his face snapped to the side, and the sound resounded in the car as her small hand met his face.

  “Oh... Una, I’m sorry.”

  Shocked and speechless, Una reached for the door handle, but Sinclair quickly grabbed her hand.

  “Wait.” Sinclair’s mind, which was racing all through the ride, had gone blank. He really did only want to speak to her, the kiss was completely not part of his plan when he came to see her. And despite doing it, the slap was something he never had expected.

  No one had ever slapped him across the face ever before, not even Belinda, who acted more like his disciplinarian than a sister. No one, except her.

  Sinclair slowly turned his head back to face Una, his chest heaving with emotions. There was something about the action that felt too nostalgic for him. He couldn’t believe it. There was no doubt now what Una meant for him, and the realization only made him want to kiss her again, but he decided against it as he felt his cheek began to throb from the painful contact.

  “I’m sorry, but please listen to me first,” he begged.

  “Why did you do that? Are you out of your mind?!” Una yelled, her chest rising and falling rapidly, her eyes still blazing with anger. She agreed to speak to him, but he kissed her instead.

  “Please just listen to me first,” Sinclair begged her.

  She could feel her lower lip tremble. “I knew you couldn’t be trusted.” She was mad. “Why did you do that?!”

  “I like you! There I finally said it,” Sinclair blurted out.

  “What?” she gasped.

  “I do. I’ve been having this feeling since I first met you,” he confessed weakly.

  “I have a boyfriend!” Una shouted, her free hand shot out, but when Sinclair flinched, she pulled back.

  “Will?” Sinclair asked, his voice a mixture of hurt and utter disbelief. “Why him and not me?” His voice fell this time, thick with agony and bitterness toward the fact.

  Una yanked her hand away from his hold, her eyes dropped from his and she slightly turned away. She felt the pain in his voice and to her utter surprise, she stayed in the seat next to Sinclair.

  “Well, I thought something is going on between you and him. I just pushed the thought of you with him at the back of my mind. And then I told myself that if I’d just be a little patient, you’d see me in a different light and, perhaps, let me in your life,” Sinclair spoke again, his voice cracking. “I couldn’t be more wrong.”

  Una’s eyes snapped to his, his confession spinning in her brain. “I wasn’t particularly nice to you when we first met so… why?” She knew she didn’t have to elaborate on her question.

  Sinclair searched her face for any signs of chance. “She wasn’t really a ray of sunshine when I met her too. She even told me to go straight to hell.”

  Una’s eyes narrowed at her. “Who are you talking about? Who is she?”

  “She’s you,” he answered. “After meeting you, my heart swelled with emotions I had not experienced in a very long time. Emotions that only she was able to make me feel then.”

  “You’re not answering my question, but that’s okay because it’s not really important to me. What’s important though is that you know that Will and I are together,” Una said, her voice heavy with the truth.

  Sinclair took a deep, heavy breath, almost as heavy as his heart upon hearing what Una just said. He met her gaze and saw nothing. Not even pity. This somehow set him off, and he shook her roughly, words coming from his mouth like a growl. “What do you see in that guy? He can’t give you the kind of life that I can. Trust me, Una, I know Will’s kind. He won’t last long. He’d only hurt you. He doesn’t even talk about you at work.”

  Una gritted her teeth and pushed him away. “I know what you’re doing, and it’s not going to work.”

  “Can’t you really see it? He’s only with you because he can’t say no to you. He can’t say no to you because you fucking own the house he’s living in!”

  And with that, he earned another slap to the face and he stared at Una, more startled than in pain. She glared at him and he backed away, his hand against his throbbing cheek.

  Una pointed at him, sudden rage consuming her. “I don’t want to see you ever again.” She reached for the door and pushed it open and climbed off the car, slamming the door behind her.

  She crossed the street without looking back. Climbing the porch, she vanished into the door of the house.

  Sinclair finally caught himself and saw how things got out of his hands, out of his control. He punched the steering wheel and cursed at himself, running his fingers through his hair.

  “Fuck!” He leaned over in the seat and threw another hard punch at the steering wheel, followed by an onslaught of hard punches until his hands began to hurt. “Fuck! Fuck!”

  Panting, he finally stopped when he was able to regain his self-control and his eyes began to water. He wiped his eyes and straightened his clothes before he started the car.

  ***

  Liezel sat in the booth by the large window where she could see people passing by from inside. She stared at the steam slowly wafting into the air from the white cup that sat before a middle-aged woman on the polished wooden table. Her attention was suddenly interrupted when a group of women opened the door and leisurely strolled inside, engrossed in whatever conversation they were having before coming in. For a moment, she felt calm as she continued to watch the group laughing and talking.

  A rendition of Bossa Nova started playing lightly from the speakers mounted in the ceiling. Liezel smiled at the calming music but quickly snorted when she looked around, and her eyes caught a young couple occupying the table across from her. She saw them gaze intently into each other’s eyes as they held hands while speaking in hushed tones across from one another. Liezel looked away.

  A moment passed before she glanced up at the clock on the wall. She took a deep breath to calm her nerves because her stomach was in knots. She had ordered a hot cup of coffee, but the hot drink couldn’t seem to make her feel warm. Suffice it to say, she was nervous. How could she since she was, after all, about to confront Una about Sinclair.

  She went over her speech over and over in her head on her way to the café, just as she’d done the night before. Taking another deep breath before sipping her hot coffee, she told herself to pull it together. Una was, after all, her friend. What was going on was clearly just something to test their friendship, she thought. Besides, Una and Will were already a thing. There was nothing Sinclair could do.

  Liezel looked up at the clock again and was somehow feeling a bit glad that Una hadn’t arrived yet. She had thought about what could happen as soon as she told Una what she knew, and although nothing could really be certain, however, there was no doubt that everything between them was about to change.

  Another moment had passed by when Liezel looked and finally say Una pushing the door at the entrance and searched for her familiar face in the somewhat deserted café. Liezel took one final deep breath as she watched Una approached her.

  “Hi,” Una greeted as she slid into the booth across Liezel. She rested on her open palm when a waitress walked over to their table to take her order. “I’ll have a slice of your pie and a coffee,” she said immediately.

  The waitress smiled and walked away with her order.

  Liezel sighed and took a sip of her coffee. She then glanced outside the glass window and the same couple that earned a snort from her walking down the street.

  “What do you want to talk about?” Una asked her.

  “I wanna talk about Sinclair,” she blurted as she turned away from the window and looked at Una. She began to nervously play with the coffee stirrer. Her face turning red. “He’s into you, Una.”

  Un
a only responded with a nod.

  She continued, “He had flowers sent over to you.”

  “And did you see the part where I threw in the garbage?”

  She nodded. “Yeah.”

  “Good. Then why are we having this conversation about him?” Una pouted.

  “How come you didn’t tell me?” Liezel asked glumly. “While I poured my heart out to you, looking pathetic, you—”

  “I never told you because it’s not worth the discussion, and I never took his feelings seriously. Not only that, I’m with Will now. I have zero interest in Sinclair or anyone. Why are you making this such a big deal?”

  Liezel cocked her head to the side. “Not a big deal? Una, Sinclair and I—” she paused. “He… I liked him! I very much liked him. Can’t you see it? I’m hurt. I’m jealous. I feel pathetic right now,” Liezel added. “It’s perfectly clear to me now that he only wanted me for my body while he wanted you…all of you.”

  “How can you be so sure?”

  “Because you’re his Rose.”

  Una looked at her for a moment, her eyebrows knitted together as if trying out to figure out what she meant by what she just said.

  “Rose was Sinclair’s first love. It took me a while to notice the resemblance, and it isn’t really your hair or the color of your eyes but the vacant expression on your faces that offers so much,” Liezel explained.

  For a minute, they sat uncomfortably as they watched people outside walked by. The café was slowly packed with people, mostly students from the nearby university, to grab something to eat.

  Liezel wanted to tell Una it wasn’t her fault that Sinclair saw much of his past lover in her, but the way that Una had uncaringly handled the matter was pretty hurtful for her. As her friend, she had expected Una to tell her about Sinclair’s advances as soon as it happened. But could she really expect that from her? Una had never been that type of friend—or person. The only person she could consider her friend before she met Liezel was her the doctor. Una was different, to say the least.

  “I didn’t know anything about Rose. I didn’t—” Una paused and then sighed. “I’m sorry if I hurt you. I didn’t mean any of it to happen.”

  She sounded sincere, and this made Liezel smile. “I’ve been through a lot of failed relationships. You know that part of my life. But with Sinclair…I guess I was more invested than he was. I thought that the fact that he made a pass at me—risking his reputation—was a good sign that he was really into me. The flirting and the banging, I thought something amazing would come from it. And I really wanted to move whatever we had forward. I wanted a serious relationship between us to happen. I thought something amazing would come from it.”

  “What are you trying to say?”

  “I wanted him but he… he wants you.” Liezel snorted. “Look at you in your mini dress and cardigan and that expressionless look on your face…I guess you got this” —she made a gesture with her finger— “whole thing working for you.”

  Instead of reacting to the way Liezel had offhandedly ridiculed her, Una took a deep breath and looked at her with utmost sincerity. “Sinclair’s no good for you. He’s rich and good-looking, and he is pretty aware of that. And he thinks he could do whatever he likes. And I am not Rose, Liezel.”

  Liezel’s lips twitched, suddenly desperate to get past the most uncomfortable conversation they ever had. “I know that, Una, but the truth is just something I can’t ignore. That’s why we’re having this conversation.”

  Una’s face became bleak as she listened, but as she continued to explain her side, Liezel could see her scowling. “It’s not my fault. Sinclair doesn’t interest me in the slightest. I haven’t led him on. In fact, I was quite blatant with my lack of interest,” she coldly said. “He kissed me yesterday, you know.”

  “He did what?”

  “He told me he wanted to talk to me and he kissed me, was what he did instead. I slapped him, of course. Twice.” She suddenly jumped to his feet, startling Liezel

  “Where are you going?”

  “Home.” She merely glared at her friend who slumped back in her chair. “I’m sorry I didn’t know how important it was for me to tell you what kind of a man Sinclair is. I thought that after your vast experience with different men, he’d be an easy one for you to read.” She quickly left the café without looking back.

  Tears slowly ran down Liezel’s cheeks, stunned by the truth that came from Una’s unforgiving mouth. After quite some time, she finally got the strength to get up to her feet and leave the café.

  Sinclair kissed Una.

  She was gutted, and for over an hour, she walked the streets, deep in thought over everything that happened in her life recently.

  ***

  When Liezel came to work that Friday morning, she only had one thing in her mind—to quit. She had enough. She was no quitter, but the thing with Sinclair was a lost cause.

  Storming toward her boss’ private office, she gathered every strength and confidence in her system and swung the door open loudly.

  She sucked in a breath when her eyes fell at the sight of Sinclair, sitting in his chair, a good distance from the large glass window, staring into the view of the city. Her loud entrance didn’t even earn her a glance from him.

  Gathering every bit of her nerve and rage, Liezel stepped in toward Sinclair’s desk, laying down a piece of paper. She cleared her throat when he continued to stare at her, blinking occasionally.

  “What do you want, Ms. Blanco?” He spun to face her, his demeanor dull and tired.

  “I quit.” Liezel flicked a glance at the paper.

  Sinclair snatched the letter, his blue eyes narrowing at every word as he started to breathe furiously. And to say that he was livid after reading the strongly worded letter was an understatement. “Do you really think I’d accept this piece of shit that could jeopardize me?”

  “It’s the truth,” Liezel said stiffly. “And didn’t you read the entire thing? I specifically said in the letter what an effective boss you are. A fucker, but effective nonetheless.”

  Sinclair slammed a fist on the table, his perfect lips thinned. He then crumpled the paper and tossed it over his shoulder, his eyes not leaving Liezel’s. “You’re fired and I’ll make sure that every company in the entire fucking state would know that.”

  “You’re one sick asshole.” Liezel gritted her teeth.

  “Don’t even try to paint yourself differently, Liezel. Okay, let me level with you. You see, I wanted to fuck you as much as you wanted to fuck me. And I treated you well, didn’t I? I didn’t give you false promises, did I? I didn’t feed you lies…but you, on the other hand, lied to me. But I let it pass, didn’t I? So what else do you want from me? Why are you giving me this shit again? Don’t you get it yet? You were a good fuck, but I’m done with you.”

  Liezel’s eyes were welling up with tears, her hands clenched at her sides and nails digging into her palms. She looked so angry that she was visibly shaking. “You will pay for this,” she muttered under heavy breaths.

  Sinclair took a deep breath but looked unfazed. “What are you going to do?”

  She glared at him. “Watch me, asshole.”

  As if to punctuate the last word, she stormed out of the room, and with great effort, she banged the door behind her.

  In his chair, Sinclair closed his eyes. He got more important things in his mind than this. Like the recent rejection, he got from Una. It was a first, he had to admit. No had ever rejected him before. He was wealthy, successful, and aside from excelling in the looks department, he had his future mapped out brightly already. But why did Una choose to stay with Will and not him?

  He leaned back in his chair and let out a long breath, thinking how did Will become a better choice than him in Una’s eyes? It simply didn’t make sense to him.

  Before he got lost in his thoughts, the door swung open and Will himself stormed toward him, who had already attracted a lot of attention in the office on his way. A few people were
already crowding around outside. Liezel was following behind him.

  “What did you fucking do?!” Will barked at him. His icy blue eyes were on him as he slammed a fist on the table in fury.

  “Will—”

  “Una told me how he forced his filthy tongue into her mouth,” Liezel cut in, her eyes were cold and hard.

  It didn’t take long for everyone in the office to gather outside Sinclair’s office, witnessing the first-ever fight between the company’s CEO and one of his best employees. Glen barged in and stood cautiously next to Liezel.

  The atmosphere in his office thickened quickly as almost everyone who was on the floor was stunned upon what was going on. None of them could believe how someone composed and congenial as Will could be as equally as frightening.

  Will mentally counted to three and looked up at his boss. His eyes were dark blue and deadly.

  “Don’t look at me like that. I am your superior, you punk.” Sinclair stood up from his chair and shot everyone a look. “You can’t barge in here acting like I fucking owe you anything.”

  Glen took a step back, sensing the tension swiftly building up. “Guys, I think you should just all…calm…down…” His voice wavered.

  “I asked you to stop with whatever it was you’re planning to do,” Will said, his voice was dangerously low but was enough for others to hear.

  “And why do you think I should listen to you?” Sinclair asked, his eyes boring into him. All the anger he felt from Una’s rejection was coming immediately to the surface.

  “Oh damn…” Glen whimpered. “This is not good.” He looked back and saw people staring at them.

  Tension soared as soon as they saw Sinclair walked around his desk, taking a step forward.

  Sinclair briefly glared at Liezel. “Is this your plan? You disgust me!” he spat and then his eyes met Will’s. “There’s nothing you can do, William. And as soon as Una realizes that I am a better man than you are, she will leave you for me.”

  “You fucker…” Will trailed off. His normally cool and amusing appearance changed and his face twisted in an all-consuming fury. His hands closed into fists.