2 Karma

Luca watched the news on the television mounted on the bathroom wall while she was dipped in the drop-in tub. It was about a scandal regarding a celebrity actress, model, and singer, who was allegedly a high-end escort and was now a mistress. No man was mentioned, but the media was showing misleading photographs of the woman with men on national television.

That woman… was her.

A tear rolled down her cheek, but her expression remained stoic. She couldn't even hear the cryptic statements the newscaster was saying anymore as a flat line was ringing in her ear.

"Xander," Luca whispered the name of the man she loved.

She snapped her eyes ever so tenderly, shifting them on the deck where her phone was resting. With her trembling hand, she reached for it and dialed Xander's number — her fiance — for the umpteenth time today.

"Please pick up…" her voice was shaky, listening to every ring while squashing down the anxiety creeping up her spine. "Please, Xane. I need you."

[The person you are trying to reach is unavailable…]

Her heart sank, hearing the operator's voice once again. Luca weakly put down the phone on the deck, catching up to her ragged breathing while tears flood her eyes. She reached for the bottle of Chateau Lafite right beside the empty glass and another bottle of pills.

But instead of pouring herself a glass like what she kept doing, she grabbed the bottle and chugged three mouthfuls to wash down her pain. When she hissed, she realized the pain was still there.

"How can you do this to me?" Tears continued to fall from her eyes, gazing at the phone with her arm over the tub's rim.

"Why?!" she roared, but the phone didn't answer.

"How can you do this to me…?" this time, her voice lowered, almost choking in her own tears. "I gave up everything… everything… for you. You said you love me."

She hiccuped, eyes still on the phone, hoping deep in her heart he would call her back. But every second that passed, her heart just kept sinking deeper and deeper.

"You promised…" She shook her head, chugging another mouthful of wine. "Did you forget?"

Luca tapped her chest while talking to the innocent phone. "I gave up everything for you, Xane. Every damn thing just to be with you! Everything! And now... you're leaving me high and dry? Huh?" her teeth clenched, grinding them with the anger swelling up in her chest.

"Why don't you answer the goddamn phone?!" she screamed, her voice echoing across each corner of the enormous bathroom. But despite the anger, sadness, and anxiety building up within her, all she could do was hang her head low until her forehead was resting on her arm.

"Please, please, please... I can't take it anymore, Xane," mumbled Luca through her gritted teeth, hiccuping in between her pleas. "I need to hear you, please. Call me and tell me everything is going to be fine... that's all I want. Please... just --"

RING!

Luca perked up the second her phone rang. Her eyes lit up with hope as soon as her gaze caught the light from her phone's screen. Seeing Xander's name on it, her eyes softened with affection. The anger and desperation they bore just a second ago disappeared without a trace.

"Xane..." she reached for the phone in a hurry, answering it without a second hesitation, and placing it right in front of her ear. "Honey —"

"Ahh… Ahh… Xane..."

"Ina... I love you."

Luca froze, hearing moans from the other end of the line. For a moment, she couldn't breathe, recognizing these voices. Her face buckled as she covered her lips when he continuously moaned another woman's name.

She knew she shouldn't be listening to them anymore, but Luca couldn't move a muscle. All she could do was listen to her heart shattering into countless pieces and watched how her world crumble right before her eyes.

"Ina… I love you…" the man on the other end of the line grunted before the two of them screamed, reaching orgasm from passionate lovemaking.

She could hear their heavy breaths and the faint sound of kissing, triggering Luca's imagination as if she was there with them. Yet she remained silent. Her tears even stopped, eyes blank, hand on the phone while the other on the bottle resting over her bent knee that was above the water's surface.

"Love, can you get me a glass of water, please?" said the woman sweetly, to which the man replied with a gentle, "sure, love. Wait for me."

Several seconds later, that same woman picked up the phone beside the pillow — almost under it — and placed it in front of her ear.

"How did that feel?" the woman asked with a taunting tone, smirking. "Did you like the taste of your own medicine, Luca?"

Luca didn't answer. She couldn't.

"Did you really think he will stick with you?" the woman laughed with her lips closed, but the sarcasm in her tone was distinct. "A cheater will always be a cheater, Luca. He cheated on his wife for eight years with you; what makes you think he will stay faithful to you? Don't make me laugh."

The woman glanced at the phone to check if the line was still connected after hearing nothing but silence. She smiled when it was still connected, placing it back in front of her ear.

"I'm just starting, Luca. Don't be sad because after delivering you to hell, I'll make sure he will join you down there." She smirked. "And you'll have your happy ending to that place where you both belong."

Luca's lips parted, and she only said one word, "Bitch."

CLACK.

It hurts.

Luca dropped her phone on the deck, losing all her energy with just that. She was hoping to hear Xander's voice and tell her everything would be fine. But alas, while her world was crumbling, he was moaning another woman's name and having the time of his life.

"Bastard…" she cursed, gasping for air at the pain in her chest. "Shitty bastard."

Yet, all the pain and anger in her heart were meant for Xander and for herself. She didn't even feel the slightest hatred towards that woman, Georgina, Ina or George for short, Xander's ex-wife.

Everything Georgina said was true. Xander cheated on her with Luca. And this… was her revenge.

This was karma serving her the tea after letting it cool down.

"Hah…" Luca laughed weakly, and her laughter only grew louder until she was screaming in anger.

"I hate you!" she screamed, crying and laughing at the same time, chugging another mouthful of wine to numb the pain. But alas, no matter how much she had drunk, it still hurt.

That was the man she sacrificed her career, her relationships, and her life. She was foolish to believe he was worth ruining her life for. But this realization was already too late to regret.

Everyone in the country already heard the news and her life would only go downhill from this moment on. Luca couldn't take it. It was too much for her when all she did was love.

Love, devote and give her heart so easily to the wrong person.

Even if she would explain herself, it was pointless. No one would listen to her when everyone already believed she was the scummiest woman to ever exist — maybe she was.

"I hate you…" she whispered as tears once again shone in her hazel eyes. "I believed you even when everyone told me about you… I hate you, I hate me, I wish I never met you."

While Luca wept and loathed herself for being foolish and Xander and her heart for still loving him even at this second, she caught the bottle of pills sitting right beside the empty wineglass from the corner of her eyes. The side of her lips curled up as a shallow laugh slipped past them.

She placed the bottle of wine back on the deck and reached for the bottle of sleeping pills. All she wanted was to end the excruciating pain and humiliation. The effect of the wine just amplified her desperation to stop the pain.

Luca sniffled and chewed her lower lip while staring at the bottle of pills within her grasp. 'This was the only solution' she could come up with to end everything. After all, everything was over. She was done for and there was no tomorrow for her anymore.

When she opened the lid, she hesitated for a second. Closing her eyes, Luca drew a deep breath and shook her head. However, just when she told herself this probably wasn't the end, Xander's moaning and "I love you's" addressed to Georgina, rang in her head.

She snapped.

Luca reopened her eyes, showing clarity and desperation within. That was right. This was the end. Without a second hesitation, Luca tapped the bottle on her palm and emptied it. Some pills fell from her delicate hand and onto the tub, but she didn't care since there was a mountain of pills waiting for her to take it.

She gulped, staring at the pills in her palm. She closed her eyes and shoved the pills down her throat, reaching for the bottle of wine to wash them all down easily. Once finished, she huffed and laughed airily.

"Meow…"

Luca flinched upon hearing the cat's meowing, turning her head to where the sound came from. There, by the door, was a black Persian cat, meowing and looking back at her.

"Nova," she whispered, feeling her chest tighten and her lungs constricting. She unknowingly leaned back weakly, reaching her hand out of the tub and in the cat's direction.

Her heart sank, realizing she made, yet once again, another foolish, reckless, and selfish decision.

"Nova… I'm sorry." Tears fell from her weary eyes as her vision blurred, and the meowing slowly sounded distant. "I'm sorry Daddy will not come home anymore… Nova…"

Luca felt her remaining energy slip out of her grip, resting her arm over the rim, watching the blurring figure of the cat approach her. She tried to reach Nova, her cat, to pet her for the last time.

However, even before she could reach Nova with her fingertips, darkness welcomed her with a tight embrace and her hand fell lifelessly, swinging out of the tub until it stopped.

"Meow…"