Unlimited Hatred

[Rob's Narration]

Time changes but people never change. Though we give many chances to them, they still do the things which are against you. Since childhood, to maintain peace and to get what I want, I gave Arica many chances to change. But she always continued to do the same things again and again. Though we make efforts to make them change, everything goes in vain.

"Yes, I have objections. How can a murderer become a Director of the company", I say.

"Who are you calling a murderer?", grandpa bursts out.

"How can you think of giving the responsibility of the company to a murderer? Because of her, that person committed suicide. If she was little more responsible while assigning him the work, without making him overdo, he might be with us today. Because of her childishness, we lost one of our members. Don't you feel sorry for him Arica? How can you not feel any guilt towards him?", I accuse her of her deeds.

"You can't judge every story from one perspective. There might be a lot more than you think it is. Anyways I won't be saying sorry because it's not my mistake. Then I will be taking leave. Thank you", she says and leaves angrily.

"Thanks for your gathering in short notice. This is it for today. You meet me in my room", says grandpa and leaves.

I follow him to his room. This time though he may be scary, I'm not afraid of him anymore. He bangs the door and goes and sits in his chair.

"Are you mad? How can you behave like this in front of everyone? I didn't give her the company directly. I just gave her a chance to prove her skills. What's the problem with that?" shouts grandpa.

"Yes, I'm mad. When she is not even your own granddaughter, why are you so desperate to give her the company?", I ask him.

"What happens if she is not my own granddaughter? I have raised her as my own. I promised my best friend that I would take care of his family", says grandpa.

"What kind of promise that is which will make your own children suffer. This company is your 49 years effort after his death. How can you easily give her the opportunity to take away everything from us", I say.

"That's why I thought of getting you people married. So that I could rest at peace", says grandpa.

"How can I marry such a masterminded criminal who doesn't have any guilt towards what she has done", I say.

"Rroooobbbb...", shouts my grandpa and raises his hand upon me.

I just see him angrily and leave the room.

"How can he say such a thing?", saying, grandpa starts crying.

[On the way to my room]

"Hey, Rob. Alright?", asks Jane.

"I'm alright babe. Had your lunch?", I ask.

"No, not yet. I'm waiting for you", she says.

"Okay let's go then", I say. I see Arica staring at me from the corner of the hallway. I just ignore her and take Jane to lunch.

[At the restaurant]

I was in deep thought about the incident and then Jane brushes my hand with hers.

"Are you alright? What did the chairman say?", she asks.

"Nothing much. He scolded me and raised his hand on me", I say.

"How can he raise his hand on his own grandson for that cheap fox. Really she is getting more important than you. I can't bear to see this", she says in anger.

"Did I really do something wrong? Was acting like this too much?", I ask her.

"No babe you are right. You need to fight for what's yours. That Arica is really a fox minded. How can she imagine getting the company?", she says and curses Arica.

"Let it be, babe. I won't let her win this time. Let's eat", I say.

"Okay. Don't forget that I will always support you. Love you Rob", she says and smiles.

"Love you too babe", I say.

"Babe I'm afraid of her. Will she try to do something to me? She knows that I'm your girlfriend. If she blackmails you using me, please let it go. I don't want you to lose the company for my sake", she says.

"She can't do anything. I won't let her sit still if she tries to do something to you", I comfort her.

"Calm down. She might not be as bad as you think", she says.

"She is the worst than I thought she would be", I say.

Mom is calling me. She was calling me since that incident took place. I didn't pick the call as I was not interested to hear her lecture. I go out and pick her call

"Hello mom", I pick the call and say.

"Rob where are you?", mom asks.

"I'm at a restaurant. Having lunch with Jane", I say.

"Rob I said you many times. You need to break up with that girl. For some reason, I don't like her. And what is that you have done today? Where are your manners? How can you behave like that?", she starts scolding me.

"Mom calm down. I will talk to you after I get back home. Bye", I say and hang the phone.

"Rob... Rob... Hello... Hello...", she says on the other side.

*****WRITER," I think this is all for Rob's side. Now we again go back to Arica's side."*****

[In the hallway]

I'm very much angry with Rob's behavior. It took me two years to recover from that trauma. I didn't tell anyone about it. I can't get peaceful sleep even once because of the nightmares. I used to fall on the ground sweating if there were any power cuts. I couldn't walk on the streets late at night. I was only comfortable when my friends were around me. I only faced them when I was all alone. Except for my doctor, no one knows about it.

[Inside my cabin]

"Victo... Can you get the pills from my car? I need them immediately. Here are the keys", I ask her a favor.

"Yes sure mam", she says.

"Thank you, Victo", I say.

She immediately goes to get my pills. I started getting the attack again. My head is bursting with pain. I keep on sweating. I couldn't be seated in my chair. I went to the sofa and laid down. After five minutes Victoria knocked on my door but I couldn't hear it. She came in and saw me sleeping on the sofa. She kept my pills on the table and went out. After an hour I woke up and realized that I have lost my consciousness. I immediately took the pills and was about to leave the room. While leaving, Victoria came inside.

"What happen Victo? Is it important?", I say.

"Mam, do you remember Jane? I was telling in the morning but it got interrupted", she says.

"She is Rob's girlfriend. Is there anything more?", I ask.

"Mam she is the daughter of the manager who worked for you two years ago", she says.

"What are you saying? She is the daughter of Edwin uncle!!! I have already taken care of that matter. How can she come back here? I kept it a secret from her about the cause of her dad's death", I say and leave the room.

I see her walking in the hallway. I grab her hand and take her to the stairway.

"Why are you here? What are you trying to do?", I ask her in a low angry tone.

"What I'm trying to do? You should know it better. How can you kill my dad like that?", she shouts.

"I didn't kill your dad. He committed suicide", I say.

"You were the reason behind that. So you killed my dad", she shouts again.

"Leave it. You won't understand. What's the reason that you are behind Rob? I know that you don't love him", I ask.

"My reason!! It's simple. Revenge", she says.

"Have you gone mad? Don't dare to touch my family", I say.

"I'm going to use him to take revenge on you... You bitch...", she shouts and comes on to me to hit me. I grab her hand, pull her back and twist it, in order to defend myself. Just then someone opens the door of the stairway.

"Arica stop it. What are you trying to do?", he barks at me.

I release her hand and she rushes to Rob.

"No Rob its not like what you think", she says. It looks sweet for him but cunning to me.

"What is it then?", he shouts.

"Rob you don't know who she is", I say.

"It's not your problem. So keep out of it and Arica... this is the last warning I'm ever going to give you. If you ever lay finger on my girl then you are really dead. Come on babe", he says and takes Jane with him.

While leaving, Jane turns back and gives me a wicked smile. In the span of time, I again started getting the attack. I just sit on the stairs and take a deep breath. That moment I felt how much Rob hated me. I still wonder why he hates me. He might have his reasons. He is the first person to have Unlimited Hatred towards me. Suddenly, I felt someone is watching me from upstairs. But when I went to see, there was no one. Immediately, I took my bag and keys and left for the day.

On the way to home, I felt dizzy. I don't know whom to call because everyone will create a big scene out of this small thing. James immediately struck my mind. James is the son of grandpa's Personal Secretary who retired four years ago. So, James joined the company and took his father's place. I know him since childhood and he is like an elder brother to me. I took the car side and called him.

"Hello, James. It's an emergency. Can you please pick me. I'm in front of the StarBucks? I'm waiting", I say in very low and tiring voice.

"Wait there Arry. I will be in five minutes", he says and hangs up.

After five minutes he knocks the window of my car.

"Hey, James...", I say and hug him, "I missed you a lot buddy".

"Hey Arryyy...", he says and hugs me back.

"Sorry for calling you out of blue. But you are the only one I can rely upon", I say.

"Is there any problem Arry?", he asks.

"Can you take me to Hoston's hospital? I need to get there immediately. I will tell you everything on our way", I say.

We get into the car and go towards the hospital. I tell everything about my attacks. I didn't tell anyone because they will get tensed.

"James you should not tell anyone about this", I say.

"From when did it start?", he asks.

"It started two years back. It was one of the reasons I went back to school. I became worse when we used to have holidays. Everyone went back home and I used to be alone", I say.

"Is it serious?", he asks.

"No its just stress which needs to be relieved", I say.

"Why do you take everyone's stress and suffer? I hate it when you do like that", he says.

"Haha... No problem James. I just need everyone to be happy", I say.

"I can't help but ask. What's going on in the office? Everyone was talking about you while I was coming. I heard them saying that you are a murderer and you tried to hit Jane because of Rob etc.,", he says.

"What? Are they really serious... How can rumors spread like this? This is so funny", saying I laugh.

We reached the hospital and went to the doctor. As soon as James saw the doctor, he starts blabbing.

"Doctor... Is she fine? Nothing will happen to her, right!! Are there any other possibilities like... She will not die, right!!! She is still young to die, so...", he starts.

"Shut up... Don't embarrass me... Don't mind him Doc...", I say.

"No problem... It's fine... and what's the reason you have come today. You said that you were not getting attacks for six months", Doctor says.

"Yes, Doc... I faced the attack today afternoon after six months... There won't be a problem right", I say.

"No. No. There won't be any problem. I will just prescribe you different pills because the one I gave you before were very strong. As you have your family around you, I will just reduce the concentration and I also suggest you that take those pills only in an extreme case. Don't take them otherwise. Just don't stress yourself and don't overwork", he suggests.

"Okay Doc...", I say.

"Okay then. Take good care of yourself", he says.

"OK, Doc. Thank you", I say and leave.

After we came out, James starts blabbing again. Anyhow, I stop him and we left for home. When we reached the apartment, I called him up to have some coffee. He parked his car and came with me. In front of the door, I found a basket of flowers and a strange box.

"Ooooh... You still have so much following", he says.

"Who do you think I am? Arica Ford has an immense following", saying I open the door.

I turn on the lights and tell him to get seated. I go into the kitchen to prepare coffee.

"What do you want?", I ask.

"Cappucino with less sugar and extra cream!!", he says.

"You didn't change at all. You are still having the same tastes", I say.

"You too like Cappucino but double sugar. But why do you always drink Espresso? I have seen your status and that too, I think its double shot or triple shot", he asks.

"I only drink or eat my favorites when I'm alone. I don't like people coming to a conclusion on me. I always want them to wonder about me. Other than you, only my family knows my favorites. They also don't know everything", I say and we chat for a long time.

After some time, he realized that he had plans and said his goodbyes. I walked him down to his car and gave my goodbyes. Suddenly I felt that someone was watching me. When I turned back, there was no one. I went into the apartment and got into the lift. I got a message from grandpa saying," Just take rest for few days. You can come back after everything calms down".

After seeing the message, I started playing with my phone, rotating it between my fingertips. As my phone has sensors, it misdialled to Rob. I didn't realize that. The lift stopped at my floor and got down. When I started walking towards my door, someone called me from the back.

"Hey, Arica. Long time no see", he says.