by Mia Mills
I look over to Khloe, who is wide-eyed. I bet she never thought my boyfriend would be this handsome! I must be the luckiest woman on Earth to have others swooning over my boyfriend.
I hook my arm around Khloe’s arm and pull her closer to us. As her best friend, I believe I must be the designated introduction master to all this. I want Sean to be friends with my friends, too.
“Khloe, this is Sean, my boyfriend!” My head turns from Khloe to Sean to Khloe again. “Sean, this is Khloe Sparks. She’s my best friend, and she has the best booty in Royal Peaks!” I giggle.
For some odd reason, Khloe is so quiet right now. She’s just staring at him like she’s seen an apparition of some sort. Her body is stiff, and she doesn’t move an inch. Then, her face scrunches up a bit, making me feel a bit anxious.
This behavior is quite abnormal for her, honestly! She’s not jealous, is she? Oh God—did I make her feel awkward? I just want them to get along!
I look over at Sean and notice that he’s also quite tense, which is very unusual. I wonder what’s wrong with them.
Khloe looks at me than towards Sean before bowing her head towards him. “It’s a pleasure to meet you again, Mr. Harrington.”
“Uhm, there’s no need to be so formal, Khloe,” he replies.
I start to laugh at Khloe and pat her on the shoulder. “Babe! Why are you so formal? There’s no need for that. It’s just Sean!”
“Because doing so would be unprofessional? Seriously, I insist I call him formally,” Khloe remarks.
Sean sighs and shakes his head. “It’s alright, I guess. I don’t mind.”
“Thank you, sir…” she replies politely before turning to me. “Babe, I mean I’m happy for you but wow—don’t you know how big-time he is?”
I look at her curiously. “A textile dealer and investor?”
“Investor? Textile? What the fuck? Last time I checked, he’s the boss of this resort. Where are you getting all of this shit?” Khloe questions. “If he’s into fabrics now, that’s a really odd choice for expansion.”
“Wait—what are you talking about? Sean? Our boss? You must be joking right?” I ask her, confusion evident in my tone.
Khloe frowns at me and crosses her arms over her chest, before questioning, “You genuinely don’t know who Sean Harrington is?”
My face crumples as I look towards Sean, who doesn’t return the eye contact. I’m starting to have a really bad feeling about all of this. My chest starts to tighten as I feel the rush of emotions start to build up inside me.
Is he actually hiding something from me? He can’t truly be the boss, right?
“Mariah, Mr. Harrington’s parents built and owned the resort for quite some time. But now he’s our boss,” Khloe just confirms the worst.
The weight of a thousand piles of earth suddenly crashes down on me as the realization sets in.
“No way. That’s not— Sean; she’s not—“
The panic starts to creep in. Cold sweat starts to form on the back of my neck. I turn to him for answers, but his silence is damning.
“She’s not telling the truth…Is she?”
Sean finally looks at me. His face is unreadable, but his eyes tell a different story.
“She is…” He mutters.
Suddenly, it all makes sense now.
The penthouse, the expensive car, the hotel and ski privileges—Oh my fucking god, how could I have been so stupid?!
All this time, he’s been lying to me about who he was and what he did! I felt that there was something wrong with him, but I didn’t think it was going to be something like this!
How could he lie to me?! I thought he loved me. I thought he trusted me!
“S-Sir, uhm…I think you and Maya need to talk. I’ll close down the shack,” Khloe says quickly, excusing herself from the situation.
“Yes, we do. Thank you for handling this, Khloe,” I hear Sean reply.
I don’t look at either of them anymore. My eyes stay fixed on the snowy ground while a roller coaster of emotions just run through my system. What euphoria I had earlier suddenly just flushed down the drain.
Already, my face is pale, and my body is getting weak. I feel absolutely light-headed. The words continue to play on repeat in my mind.
Sean is my fucking boss.
I had been fucking my boss.
I feel Sean’s hand snake gently towards my own. He’s quiet, still. His body slowly towers mine as he moves closer to me.
Warm arms slowly wrap around my body from behind. God, this feels so good. I want it. I do. There’s nothing I wouldn’t give to have him hold me like this forever.
But, fuck, at what price? How can I ever trust him now? How?!
Khloe reappears and sees us, already finished fixing the shed. A serious look is plastered upon her face. She takes a moment to collect her thoughts, before finally moving away from us.
“I’ll go back to the resort. Uhm, I do hope you sort this out. Don’t stay out too late,” she says before turning around and running towards the resort’s entrance.
Now, we’re alone in the open. The howling of the wind is loud against the frozen landscape. The skies seem to cry for me with tiny ice crystals.
“Maya?” I hear him whisper in my ear, “Come on, Maya, please talk to me.”
I tremble. Something inside me is hurting. It’s hurting so bad that I just want to scream and crash. This situation is all too much.
“Let go of me,” I tell him firmly.
Those arms tighten their hold on me. Sean pulls me closer as if trying to hold me back. For some reason, these arms don’t feel as welcome or as warm as before. I feel awful being in his arms like this.
“Please, Maya. Listen to me. I do want to explain.”
“Shut the fuck up and let me fucking go, Sean!” I yell at him.
He refuses to let go. Blood starts to surge back to my face as the pain starts to morph into something violent and bitter. It’s getting so hot.
The weight is getting heavier and heavier—crushing me, pressuring me, and like a supernova—I burst.
“LET GO OF ME!! Let go you, fucking liar!!” I scream as I thrash my arms to get away from his hold.
Desperately, he tries to hold on to me for longer. But I persist, squirming away from him as I hard and as fast as I could. I need to get away from him. I need to get away from all these lies!
The moment I feel the icy breeze on my body, I turn to him with tears dripping down my flaming cheeks. My pink lips are quivering, as does my body. I am filled with unadulterated rage as the impact of everything just falls upon me.
“How could you fucking lie to me, Sean? Why would you do this?!” I screech at him, my voice starting to get hoarse from the dryness of my throat.
Sean stretches out his hands towards me, and I pull away.
“Maya, please. I didn’t mean to lie to you for this long. I wanted to tell you!” He says.
“Then why?! Why didn’t you just fucking tell me?! You had all the time to come clean!”
Sean looks down and balls his fists, the whites of his knuckles showing. He explains, “I wanted to. But I didn’t know when or how. I…I have a lot of issues—”
“Of course, you do! You lying piece of shit!” I scream at him.
He looks at me, pained, before replying, “Maya, please. I just needed to know that I can trust you first!”
“What do you fucking mean by that?? Haven’t I done enough to make you trust me? Am I not trustworthy enough?!” I question him.
“No! That’s not it—“
“ENOUGH! No more lies! I don’t need your shit explanation! I don’t need you! I hate you, Sean!”
Sean looks taken aback by my words. I mean every word of it. I don’t need him or his explanations. He’s lied to me. He’s used me! There’s no use in trusting a liar like him.
Once again, he tries to make a move to come towards me, but I shove him away entirely. Sean stands in front of me, a good few feet away. I breathe heavi
ly, trying to ease the pain in my chest but it just won’t disappear.
“Do you know how everyone else will look at me now?! I built my career only for you to ruin everything I’ve worked for! I worked hard to get this far! Now, everyone will think that I just fucked my way up the ladder!” I start, slowly backing away from him.
“Maya, that’s not true—“
“I told you to fucking shut up!!”
The pain won’t go away, and I feel like I want to tear myself to shreds! I look directly into his eyes, and ask, “Did you even love me, Sean? Did you?!”
Sean frowns at me and nods, “Of course I do! I love you, Mariah.”
“And do you lie to people you love, Sean?!” I ask.
At first, he looks like he would want to speak but no words come from his mouth. He knows there’s no excuse for what he did. There is nothing he can say to justify it.
“I thought so,” I say before turning away from him.
“Maya, I’m sorry!” He yells at me.
My tears keep streaming as I listen to him apologize over and over again. I want to forgive him. I do.
But knowing that the person you gave so much of yourself to simply does not trust you enough to be completely honest with you sucks.
I feel like shit. Am I that bad of a girlfriend for him? What did I do to deserve this? Didn’t I love him enough? How could I have shown him that I was trustworthy enough?
I need to get away from here and clear my head. There’s absolutely no way I can manage through this night without letting off some steam.
My gaze looks towards the shadow-casted mountains—my only sanctuary. It’s getting late, but I am willing to take my chances. I know the mountains well enough.
I just need to get up there and let go of myself. If I don’t do this, I don’t think I’ll ever be able to forgive Sean for this. If I don’t do this, I will hate Sean forever.
I clutch my ski plates close to my person before my feet take me forward.
“Maya, wait—where the hell are you going?!” He asks in a panic.
I don’t look back at him. I don’t acknowledge I heard him. Let his voice get drowned out by the winter howls. Instead, I trudge my way towards the ski lifts as quickly as my legs could take me.
“That’s none of your concern! Just stay away from me! I need my time to think!” I tell him after gaining a bit of distance.
Fuck him if he tries to stop me. I just want him to leave me alone to think. I need to get rid of this hurt. I need this time to re-evaluate this relationship.
What’s a relationship without trust?
I continue towards the path going to the lifts. Already, I can sense that he’s following. Fuck, why won’t he just leave me alone for now when I need it?!
“Mariah!” I hear him yell from a distance.
Please just go away.
Chapter 23
Sean
“Maya! Wait up! Please!” I scream on top of my lungs as I continue to run towards her in the freezing snow.
I knew and felt that she was going to react badly to the news, but I didn’t expect it to be this bad. Everything is blowing out of proportion!
It was never my intention to hurt her feelings. God knows I don’t want her to feel like this.
I don’t want her to hate me. Or worst, herself.
I manage to catch up to her. My hand grabs her wrist, and I pull her to look towards me. I can’t her go, not like this.
“Mariah, can you please just listen to me?”
“No! I said get away from me!” She screams as she struggles to get my hold away from her. “It’s over, Sean! You disgust me!”
I frown at her words. “OVER? What do you mean by that?”
“I. Am. Done. This thing…” she points at herself and me, back in forth, “We are done!” She clarifies.
I let go of her wrist as she made intentions clear. I stare into her eyes, looking for any sign of deceit or hesitation.
“You…can’t be serious. Are you really leaving me?” I ask her.
My pain starts to overwhelm me as she turns away from me. In desperation, I run towards her once again, hugging her from behind. But the moment I touch her, she turns and shoves the ski plates across my stomach with force, knocking me back.
I cough in pain before looking up at her. Her eyes are full of rage as she looks down at me.
“For once in your life, just accept that not everything will go your way. I’m done. We’re over. Now, fuck off,” she says harshly.
“Fine! Go ahead! Run away. See if I fucking care!” I say back to her just as harsh.
She frowns at me.
What the fuck, Sean? She turns her back to me before hastily making her way towards the lifts.
I can’t do anything else but watch as she make her ascent towards the mountains. Here in the cold, I have two choices.
Do I run after her? Or should I just leave her alone and pretend like none of this ever happened? I can go back to my life before Maya.
I can, but I certainly don’t want to.
I don’t know what to do. Maya means more to me than anyone I’ve ever known. I don’t want her to leave my side. But, what if she doesn’t want to come back? She made it seem like she’s serious about leaving.
What should I do?
My gaze falls back towards the area where her lift would be. She should be half-way up the mountain by now. The stress is starting to kill me inside. I need to make a decision and fast.
Can I leave her out there on her own? Can I let myself lose the most beautiful and strongest woman I’ve ever known?
Can I live without Mariah now that I’ve fallen completely and utterly in love with her? I’m so fucking stupid. Why am I even asking this?
I push myself to my feet, running to towards the direction of the lifts.
No, I can’t lose her. Not like this. I can’t just let her go.
What usually takes me a few minutes of walking now only took less than a minute. I jump over several steps and rush towards the lifts. I need to get to the next one and fast.
“Excuse me! Sir, we’re closed for the night!” I hear someone from the controls say.
I look towards him and frown. Who the fuck does he think he is?
“Do you not recognize who you’re talking to?”
He gasps and gets up from his seat. With small steps, he comes towards me, saying, “Sir Harrington? Is that you?”
A sly smirk mounts on my face. I’m glad my people still somewhat know me despite my relative absence to them.
“Bingo. Now, let me on this thing,” I tell him.
“Still not happening, I’m afraid…It’s too dark now, sir! The mountains are far too dangerous this time at night. I hope you understand,” he says.
I groan and shake my head, “Then why the fuck did you let Mariah get up there?!”
He frowns at me. He’s probably confused as to why I’m even asking.
His hand pats my shoulder before explaining, “Sir, Maya is a professional ski instructor. She knows the mountains better than anyone here—even better than you. No offense.”
With one swift movement, I grab his collar and pull him towards me. A growl almost escapes my lips as I grit my teeth in annoyance.
What does he fucking think of me? A bloody kid? These are my mountains.
“You are to allow me to ride a lift going to the Olympic track. I need to follow Mariah. She might get in trouble out there. She’s not thinking straight!” I yell at him.
He winces at my words. “I’m sorry sir! I just can’t do that!”
“Didn’t you hear what I said?! She’s not okay! I need to get to her on time!” I say as I lift him from the ground, carrying him towards the control panel with ease.
I just want to punch this guy. I mean, really? But I calm myself. It’s unfair to him that I’m dragging in my anger.
At the back of my mind, I’m happy I have trustworthy and responsible staff. If only he wasn’t just so good at his job now!
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I place him on his feet as soon as we’re at the controls. “Now, do it! Or do you want me to fire you on the spot?!”
“S-Sir, please don’t do that!”
“Then do as I say!”
In terror, he finally pushes the buttons to spring the engines back to life. In a matter of minutes, the cables are working once again. I look at him and smile.
“Thank you. Now, I need you to do one more thing for me. I need you to call the guards. Tell them to come here at once. Be ready for an emergency. Did you get that?” I explain in a hurry.
He nods to me and gulps, “Y-Yes sir! I’ll be on my way.”
“Good! Now, go!” I tell him.
I watch him as he runs towards the resort proper. My eyes scan the area for anything I might potentially need. There’s a bunch of handheld radios in one of the cabinet compartments. I guess this is what they use to communicate from here to the top of the mountains.
I grab one and a flashlight, check for radio connection, then turn to board one of the lifts finally.
I’ve lost a good amount of time from dilly-dallying. Of all the days to be questioned, it had to be today?
Analyzing the slopes, I realize a chilling detail. The constant raining frost already covers the tracks from previous skis. I see no new trails. Not even a small one.
“She hasn’t skied down yet?” I ask.
I’m baffled. Mariah should be down the mountains by now. Or is she stalling? She can’t stay there for long, right? God damn it! I’m losing my mind just thinking about this.
I don’t know what I’d do if I lost her here. I can hear my heart beat like loud war drums. I’m sweating despite the cold around me. My hands are trembling as I hold onto the rails of my lift.
All this is new to me, and I don’t know how to address this panic properly. I’ve never loved or cared for anyone like this before.
For the first time, I genuinely want to tell someone my story. I want to explain to Maya the experiences that made me the way I am. If she knows about my past, she would understand where I’m coming from.
God, why can’t this thing go any faster?! I feel like time has just slowed down to a crawl and is purposely trying to keep me away from Mariah. My stress is starting to get even worse.
