The Sweet Taste Of Rejection

Chapter One

The Sweet Taste Of Rejection
Nhica Moico
(Edited)





Now and then I think of when we were together

Like when you said you felt so happy you could die
Told myself that you were right for me
But felt so lonely in your company
But that was love and it's an ache I still remember

You can get addicted to a certain kind of sadness
Like resignation to the end, always the end
So when we found that we could not make sense
Well you said that we would still be friends
But I'll admit that I was glad it was over

Somebody That I Used To Know, Gotye




Chapter One

            Marriage had always been an obscure concept to me. Especially extramarital affairs found inside marriages. It was always faith and loyalty until death do us part, family above everything else. Yet to Jace it was always scandal and sex before everything else. Humiliation. Control. Reflecting back on his demeanor and swagger-filled ways weeks after the party. I felt repentant and resentful just thinking about them.

            They tell you that it will be spectacular. A fantasy come true. A dreams cape reality. A bachelor with power and money would cater to your every whim and need, in return for a few heirs. Just hush-up. Keep his bedfellows' innermost, darkest secrets tucked tightly in his closet and seal your lips tightly. But the lucid truth was while I secured Jace's reputation, flashed a few beguiling smiles like pearls, I sold a little bit of my soul to the demons of the past. And I still do.

            I've been playing the torrid role of the bad friends—hiding my encounter with the Devil in-Prada himself. Addie and Jesse still yearn for "Mister Johnson's" identity; one I conceal through stories of the past, hopefully implying he wasn't someone I knew well. My heart ached and anger and vengeful thoughts continued to flood my brain when someone mentioned Jace's forsaken name; the pain intensifying when my kids said his name like a deacon's prayer. The name of the man who degraded our marriage for a beach-blonde tramp. The man who sparked a curious glint in their emerald eyes, the man who I still was head over heels for...

            "I think I'm going to postpone our wedding," a female voice murmured delicately, indicating that my assistant had arrived. Nearly falling from the bendable chair I sat in, I forced myself to lurch forward; my gaze carved into hers as I flashed her a expression of disbelief. She must've lost her mind; left it in a marvelous, sparkling business city.

            "What crack are you smoking?" I spluttered. "Care to repeat?"

            Shay's beautifully exotic eyes of cocoa were profoundly sad; her figure disheveled and untidy as if she'd spent a lot of sleepless nights thinking about it. Bags littered the undersides of her eyes, unlike my vibrant yet weathered down grey ones; the usual sparkle evident in her orbs dissipating. I stroked her knuckles reassuringly; all focus on Jace and his cantankerous ways gone with the wind outside. It hurt me to see my employees’ worried, saddened, or financially inapt, per say. It was the one piece of humanity I clung onto, probably because of my kids. They caused me to express a trait of motherly motive towards all my employees. Shay cleared her throat again, her Adam's apple throbbing against her throat.

            "I said, I'm going to postpone the wedding," she repeated, averting my intense gaze; her eyes welling up with stinging, salty tears. Sniffing, her index finger buried underneath her nose, Shay shuddered. We both drifted away for some time, my thoughts bobbing towards Bernard and if it had anything to do with Shay's abrupt decision. Bernard was a loyal employee of mine, who coincidentally, was involved with Jordan; ditching her and abandoning her like a hooker on the street when finding out she was sleeping with Jace. Not that I mind, really. Jordan was a sinner and sinners deserved harsh, cruel lessons in toying with a woman's heart. And vice-versa. Bernard and Shay, my secretary and assistant met briefly; immediate chemistry exploding between them like a volcanic eruption. Postponing or even canceling their wedding was devastating.