Has Cupid Gone Mad?: War Of Hearts

by Belinda Elkaim

  “Sounds like a plan.” Taylor replies as she picks up a photo album, “should this go or should this stay?” she tosses the photo album on the sofa and flips it open.

  She begins to feel extremely bad about Karina and Alex’s breakup. Pages after pages full of gorgeous photos of the life that they have shared together. They look incredibly happy and it is just too obvious that both of them are in love with each other. Staring at their photos Amber could not refrain from blurting out angrily,

  “Something is not right Taylor they are in love with each other, so why does he walk out like that? Not calling back once? That is absurd!”

  Taylor sighs “I feel so bad for Karina. I hope she stops crying soon. It murders me to see her this way. She has not been off the bed since she got to my place.”

  “Well then hurry up and close all these boxes so we can call his brother Adam to find out what is going on.”

  “Agreed.” Taylor affirms. After all thirty little boxes are taped shut she eagerly texts Adam, “he is on his way.”

  Famished they head over to the kitchen to scout for food. “I see she has not been cooking much” Taylor checks out the empty fridge that has only a carton of stale milk in it.

  Amber checks out the pantry and finds only art supplies, cans of acrylic paint and tubes of oil paint, brushes of all sizes and rolls of canvas.

  “Which color do you think tastes better?” she stares into the pantry and brings out two tubes of oil paint, then puts them back and closes the door.

  “Marvelous” complains Taylor “now I am starving.” Amber collects all the empty pizza boxes scattered around the garbage can in the kitchen and stacks them into one neat pile for recycling. Starring at the boxes “I have an idea, one of us can pick up a pizza from this

  restaurant across the street.” Amber points at the logo of Nick’s Pizza on the boxes.

  “I will go,” volunteers Taylor “I will be right back.” she picks up her Gucci bag and hurries out the door.

  ******** From the corner of her eye, Taylor notices this rather attractive man while placing the order inside Nick’s Pizza.

  Wearing a pink polo shirt and a pair of Calvin Klein designer jeans, he dons a clean cut look that is normally way too conservative for Taylor’s liking, but something about this man is magnetizing her and her curiosity is triggered.

  Deliberately she sits next to him on the padded bench while waiting for her pizza. Patiently she waits and anticipates him to lead an opening line over the most conservative topic. ‘Predictable’ is what she perceives of him.

  Minutes of silence later, the waitress gestures to the man that his order is ready. He walks over to pick up his pizza box and his apparent lack of interest surprises her. Just as it crosses her mind that he might be a loyal and devoted husband to a wife who is yearning for pizza, he turns around and smiles at Taylor,

  “You look oddly familiar” he begins, “you are Taylor Gibbons, the columnist with the Herald, aren’t you? I have seen your photos and have read some of your articles.”

  With pride Taylor reciprocates his smile, “Yes I am Taylor.”

  The man extends his hand for a shake, “I am Ivan Solovich, editor of Miami Life Magazine and it is a pleasure meeting you.” He reaches inside the back pocket of his jeans, pulls out his business card and hands it over to Taylor.

  “Pleasure meeting you too!” Taylor is quite surprised that the editor of Miami’s most popular magazine is this young. Ivan looks as if he is a college graduate.

  As if he can read her mind, “I know, I look extremely young for my age.” he flashes a charming smile, “listen, I am in a rush but would love to have you visit our office this week. Would you be interested to write for us? I have read your columns before and have always been intrigued by your wit.”

  Pleasantly surprised by the coincident Taylor hesitates but quickly shows enthusiasm, “Absolutely, I would love to talk more with you. Perhaps I can call you on Monday morning?”

  “Wonderful. Have a wonderful evening and I will look forward to speaking with you on Monday.” He extends his hand politely for a goodbye shake, reciprocates her smile and walks out of the restaurant.

  “Interesting.” Taylor whispers to herself, reads his business card then slips it inside the front pouch of her Gucci bag where she keeps all important business cards.

  ******** Walking across the street from Nick’s Pizza back to Karina’s building, Taylor has the Pizza Box on her arm and is tempted to bite into a slice while it is sizzling hot. A blonde model type man is entering the building at the same time and courteously opens the door for Taylor, “After you.” he flashes a smile with a European charm.

  Taylor tries to mumble “thank you” with a mouth full of pizza and is reciprocated with another charming smile, “that smells good.” Taylor is rather embarrassed and nods girlishly.

  They walk together through the hallway and he presses on the elevator button, “you might as well tell me which floor so I can push the button for you.” His eyes are fixated on Taylor’s breasts.

  “Sixth floor” she smiles.

  “I am at 408” he smiles at Taylor but is ignored by her silence, “This is so predictable” Taylor thinks to herself and remains silence for the rest of the elevator ride.

  The man steps out of the elevator, turns around to look at Taylor and repeats, “408.”

  Uninterested Taylor waves goodbye and watches him disappear behind the closing elevator doors “totally predictable.” She mumbles to herself.

  As soon as Taylor steps into Karina’s apartment, Amber grabs the pizza box, “what took you so long?” she teases her “met someone interesting and could not stop talking?”

  Taylor laughs “Actually, I met two.” “You are impossible” laughs Amber, “and of course, they are both drop dead good looking right?”

  “Nope, one is way too conservative for me but there is something special about him. The other one is just a model wannabe who wants a quickie, guys like him are a nickel a dozen here in Miami, so boring.” Taylor sits down to enjoy the rest of her slice.

  “Oh excuse me. Is Taylor in for something special?” Amber teases her as she peeks into the pizza box and receives no response.

  “I am too hungry to think about men right now.” Famished they sit down on the sofa and diligently devour the delectable pizza. Interrupted by an incoming text signal Taylor reaches into her bag, searches for her phone and reads the message out loud “This is Alex’s brother Adam, I am about five minutes away, is there a rolling cart at the building that I can use?”

  “Unfortunately not, you will have to park and come upstairs for the boxes.” Taylor sends a reply to his text.

  “Amber,” Taylor finishes her slice in one bite “get ready to interrogate Adam, I want to know what really happened between Alex and Karina.”

  Chapter Five. Karina rolls off the sofa in Taylor’s condo and dashes into the bathroom. Flipping up the toilet seat, she vomits vigorously into it while crying hysterically.

  Her body is aching and she no longer has any strength left to bend over. Sinking onto the bathroom floor, she sobs, then crescendos into a full cry, pauses to shiver then sobs into another crescendo. Releasing all the agony that she is feeling inside of her, she screams as loudly as possible until her throat hurts.

  Pulling herself up from the cold marble floor, she stumbles over to the sink, stares into her own reflection and gasps. Miami’s most glamorous spokes model looks a disaster. Her black eyeliner has run all over her cheeks, her hair is a tangled mess, eyes all swollen; she looks psychotic and feels suicidal. Feeling cold and feeble, she shivers again while sobbing and vomits again into the sink.

  She turns on the faucet and lets the water run into a steady stream. Hypnotized by the sound of the running water, she opens the medicine cabinet and scans through Taylor’s miscellaneous items.

  From the corner of her eyes, she sees the light reflection on a pair of sharp object. Equalizing and numbing the pain of her heartbreak
, she slips her fingers through the loops of the scissors, picks it up and stares into her own reflection in the mirror.

  Involuntarily she raises the scissors to her hair and begins cutting off the lengths of her beautiful long hair while shivering and crying,

  “I don’t love you anymore Karina. I don’t love you anymore.” She believes that Alex hates her and is beginning to hate herself as well.

  ********

  “Bang, bang, bang ..” there are sharp knocks on the door “bang, bang, bang..” Amber rushes to the door and opens up to Adam, “you could have used the doorbell you know.”

  “Sorry it is a guy thing.” Adam smiles apologetically, “luckily I found a parking space right by the front door. How many boxes are there?”

  Taylor lures Adam into Karina’s apartment “Adam we have a pizza here, would you like a few slices before we start moving the boxes down?”

  Adam quickly scans around the apartment. Intuitively Taylor assures him that Karina is not there. “Sure, I am rather hungry too.” He walks over to Taylor and sits on the sofa with her.

  Amber rinses a glass, pours herself a glass of water and pretends to be preoccupied in the kitchen while listening to the conversation.

  No matter how hard Taylor tries, Adam is swift and clever to avoid the subject, diverting the conversation into an unimportant chatter. Seeing that Taylor is turning around in circles and unable to grasp any information from Adam, Amber gets impatient and walks over to join them on the sofa.

  Sitting close to Adam, Amber leans over to reach for the last slice of pizza from the box on Taylor’s lap. Intentionally, she brushes her breasts against Adam’s lap as he leans farther back onto the sofa to give her more space. She twists her upper body towards Adam and ensures that her cleavage is visible, with a hand on his lap and a slice of pizza in the other hand, “do you want to share the last slice?” she smiles at Adam teasingly.

  Picking up her cue, Taylor inches closer to Adam and smothers him with their feminine power. Sensing the pressure Adam covers his face with his hands, laughs lightheartedly and pushes them away from him. Pulling himself to a stand, he faces them and looks into their innocent and curious eyes.

  Unfortunately, Alex’s secret is not his to give away. He has sworn to secrecy so while he understands their bafflement and Karina’s agony, he is not entitled to disclose. If Alex prefers that Karina hates him rather than to suffer the truth, then he must respect his wish. Adam turns around, stacks up a few small boxes and lifts them into his arms,

  “Do you really want to carry the burden of the truth? Sometimes things are better left unsaid, especially when it comes to matters of the heart.”

  Taylor and Amber exchange gravely perplexed looks upon their faces. Wordlessly in silence Amber stands up and begins helping Adam with the boxes. Taylor leans onto the sofa and watches them,

  “So this is it? Three years of loving memories packed into thirty little boxes and Karina does not deserve to know anything?” Taylor stares at Adam with a blank expression on her face.

  Adam clenches his teeth and pretends that he did not hear a word.

  Amber breaks the silence and whispers out loud, “I packed away ten years of memories and a gigantic heartache. Consider her lucky that she has only put in three years of her life into this ridicule.”

  ******** Driving home in silence, Taylor cannot help feeling horrible for Karina and sympathizes on the ordeal that she is going through. Having been broken hearted numerous times, Taylor can only admire those gutsy hearts who attempt relationships. She convinces herself that nothing lasts forever thus it is a waste of time to try. Merely a justification for her lack of faith, deep inside she longs for love but is frightened to be broken again.

  The radio blasts out the song “Try” by Pink!! Listening to the lyrics she gets annoyed and turns it off. She would rather not hear it from anyone and prefers not to try. Disallowing any possibilities she focuses on her career and the exhilaration of random excitement.

  She pulls up into the garage of her townhome and hurries in to check on Karina. “Karina?” she shouts out as she enters.

  Taylor gasps loudly, stops abruptly in her tracks and stares at Karina, who is sitting on a barstool by the kitchen counter devouring a chocolate bar,

  “Karina!!!” she exclaims, “Oh my God Karina what have you done to yourself?” Taylor rushes over and touches Karina’s once beautiful long hair that is now cut short in uneven lengths.

  Karina closes her eyes weakly and begins to sob again. “Oh Karina” Taylor whispers and hugs her as hard as she could “I love you Karina, I love you. Do not let yourself go like this. You have to be strong for yourself.”

  “I could not help it.” Karina starts crying hysterically again “I did not mean to cut my hair off, but I could not help it.” Karina breaks down some more.

  “Shhhhh … It is ok” she continues hugging Karina and assures her that everything will be fine. “Do not worry, we will fix it and your hair will grow back again. I promise you everything will be fine.”

  Taylor attempts to calm Karina who now shivers in her arms, “I know you are hurting Karina, so cry. Cry as loudly as you want until you cannot cry anymore.”

  Karina frees herself from Taylor’s hug and rushes into the bathroom to vomit again, “Taylor, I do not feel very good. I feel cold and weak. My head hurts, my stomach hurts, my heart hurts and every inch of my body is aching.” She flushes the toilet and walks out of the bathroom, “sorry I made a mess out of your place.”

  “Do not worry Karina, we will fix that too. I think you need some rest. Why don’t you lay down a bit, I will make you some hot soup and you will feel much better in the morning. I promise.”

  Taylor reassures Karina that everything will be fine but yet deep inside she fears that Karina is on the verge of either a nervous breakdown or a depression. Her self destructive behavior is beginning to be worrisome.

  Taylor opens the pantry door and brings out a can of Campbell soup. While preparing the food, she can hear Karina sobbing in the guest bedroom, “this is depressing.” She mumbles to herself and pours the soup into a bowl.

  She places the bowl of soup and pieces of bread onto a serving tray and brings it into the darkened room. Turning on the bedside lamp, she places the tray on the bedside table and finds Karina curled under the sheets with her head hidden between two pillows. “Karina please have the soup while it is warm. It will make you feel better and help you get stronger.”

  “Thank you Taylor,” she whispers between the pillows “thank you for loving me when nobody else does.”

  “Oh Karina you know that it is not true!” Taylor decides to refrain from a sad conversation and tries to alter her mindset, “Madonna is coming to town, would you like to go? I will get tickets.”

  Karina does not respond. “Karina?” Taylor speaks softly and realizes that Karina has fallen asleep. Quietly she turns off the bedside lamp and tip toes out of the bedroom.

  Taylor walks over to her desk, sinks into her chair and shuts her eyes. She leans back and tilts her head; massaging her temples she whispers to herself “Damn you Alex.”

  Her mind begins to drift and after a few moments of pondering, inspiration descends and she opens her eyes abruptly. Powering up her laptop, she opens up a new Word document and types in one single word in the center of the cover page, “BROKEN.”

  Closing her eyes again Taylor travels down memory lane. She recollects her childhood in a dysfunctional home where her father, a cocaine addict and the biggest loser on earth, continues to demand of her hardworking mother for every single penny while he idles with other dead beat husbands at a local pub.

  At times he would get violent, so violent that Taylor would hide inside her closet and tremble with her teddy bear in her arms.

  She remembers how painful it was growing up torn between both parents and having to cope with their daily battles. She remembers how violent he was with her mother and all the bruises that she suffered.

&nbs
p; She remembers how her mother tugged her safely in the backseat of their SUV, with her favorite teddy bear on her lap she watched her mother cry hysterically while driving away, thousands of miles away to a new town full of unfamiliar faces.

  She has not seen her father ever since.

  Taylor opens her eyes abruptly and stares across her office. She fixates her gaze at same teddy bear that sits on the leather chair at the corner of the room and begins typing,

  “Chapter One.”

  Chapter Six. Taylor falls asleep in front of her laptop while attempting to write her first novel. With her head resting on her arm, she is awaken by the sound of her alarm on her iPhone and slowly opens an eye, reaches over lazily to turn off the sound and stares at the displayed time, “eight thirty am” she mumbles to herself and stretches her beautifully slender body to a full wake.

  She stares into the screen of her laptop and scrolls up and down a few times. Reviewing what she has written the night before, “did I write that?” she questions herself and appears astonished. She stares into the screen for a few moments longer and sweeps her locks away from her face while leaning back into her chair. She seems to have forgotten what she has written and is trying to recollect her thoughts. Hearing a clattering noise coming from the kitchen,

  “Karina?” she mumbles and hurries to the kitchen to check on her distressed friend.

  Beautiful Karina looks distraught with swollen and bloodshot eyes. Her long silky hair is snipped short into uneven layers and not only does she appear grubby, she smells horrendous. Under Taylor’s encouragement, Karina heads for the shower while Taylor prepares a quick breakfast for two. Shaking her head Taylor mumbles to herself, “What a shame!” referring to the oddly mysterious breakup of the couple whom she once envied,

  “Love is one sick joke!” she mumbles into a bowl of eggs while beating at it. Beating at it vigourously she lets out the anger towards her father, her traumatizing childhood, men that have broken her heart and Alex as well. She manages to calm down as Karina walks into the kitchen and pours the egg batter into a lightly greased frying pan.