FOURTEEN

Scarlet Sapphira got down at the park and began walking down the streets, where she went to a bridge and went beneath it.

Lee watched intently to see what she was doing there, till Amane pushed him aside then said,"It's my turn."

Lee shrugged then said,"She's all yours, if you can get to her."

Amane licked his canines, the dude will be surprised.

He watched closely as she hugged the man seated there and engaged in intimate conversation with him, she actually had a bigger web of relationships than her own brother let by.

She then began eating dinner with him after setting up a table, then sat really close to the man...this brought back memories, some painful.

Amane shook off the thought and paid attention to her as she kissed the man's cheek then left and that was his opportunity...

He then walked around her and stood on a road that she curved on, calling for a taxi.

She, as he anticipated, walked right to him and said,"You can't get a taxi in this part of town, how did you get here?"

"I got on the wrong bus, do you live around here?"

"My aunt lives nearby, I come to stay during the weekend..."

Licking his teeth, he asked,"Umm, could you help a guy catch a ride?"

"After helping my best friend? Of course, it's the least I could do."

She walked with him and he tried to engage her in a conversation, but she seemed distant, and he knew why, it was Lee.

He just had to get her to say it...

"So, I assume you've met my friend Lee."

"Yeah, how are the two of you related?"

"We've been best friends for about a year now after we met in China."

DuPont's delight, his pupils are dilating and he hesitated... he's lying...

"And have you been with a girl recently?"

She's taking the bait... that's nice...

"We just broke up, I've decided to stay alone a while..."

"Oh cool, cause Lee said..."

He stopped and asked,"Said what?"

"Oh it's nothing, but the cab stand is that way."

He held her by the hand and pulled her back and she got really close to him as he hair flowed in the gentle breeze.

He then said,"Please, tell me what he said."

"...I don't want you to get mad."

"Well it depends on the subject, but please."

She looked down and said,"He aid you've taken a liking to me...but I should keep my distance, because you wouldn't be good for me."

There it is...

Take it slow...

"He actually said that? He's a pathological liar, I just can't believe he brought it here too."

"Really, what happened?"

"I can't tell you."

"But I told you, it's the least you could do."She said with pleading eyes.

"The fact that you told me means I couldn't trust you."

She looked away, disappointed, as he smiled slightly, then said,"I'm sorry, I've just always had a problem trusting people ever since the incident."

She remained silent, but he knew she wanted to know, so he whispered in her ear,"He stole my girlfriend..."

***

Scarlet Sapphira looked at him, shocked as he pulled back, a sorrowful expression on his face.

She could tell this hurt him, or at least, that what he wanted her to think, she could still find subtle signs of a liar, still, she had to say he was a good one.

"H...how did it happen?"

He sighed then leaned on the nearest wall and said,"Her name was Yara, I met her during my stay in South Africa. We got really close until I had to leave for China to continue my studies, and there I met Lee. We became close friends, though I kept in touch with Yara and getting to my birthday, she said she had a surprise for me, so I got anxious..."

He chuckled at his past foolishness or present wisdom as he continued,"...I came back from school to find him kissing her in my room, I knew he stayed the night, but I didn't know she was coming...or that they'd do such a thing. I immediately broke ties with her and him, but he was persistent and kept begging me to forgive him, but..."

Looking at his subtle expression mentioning such a sensitive topic about Lee, she came to realise that they were much closer than friends, as he continued,"...my heart needed time to mend, I didn't want to go through that pain again."

"I'm so sorry."She said.

"Here's a question for you, why do you dye your hair?"

She seemed saddened by the question then he asked,"I'm sorry if I went too far, I..."

"No, it's okay, the taxis will be waiting, we should hurry."

And with that, she left.

He felt absolutely stupid for that, he just moved further away from her, but looking and even smelling around, he got an idea.

He stayed close to her till they got to the taxi stop and he gave the nearest sober driver his address, then entered the vehicle as she slowly walked away, self-consciously having her hands in her pockets and her head hanging.

He could now see why her family barely ever knew where she was, she loved to roam, like him.

He told the driver to wait as he wanted to make a call, and placed the phone on his ear without dialing a number and saw something that made him smirk...

***

Scarlet Sapphira was yanked to the side of a curb and Amane quickly got out of the vehicle, paid the cab driver and ran towards the scene where he met five men trying to abduct Scarlet Sapphira, with a shocked expression on his face as to what they intended to do, pure rage began to fill him to the brim as he attacked...

A few seconds later, all the five men with two extra were either on the fire escape, in the garbage cans or on a heap, all unconscious.

He ran to Scarlet Sapphira as she quietly lay on the floor and gently tapped her cheek, trying to wake her up.

Her pretty eyes fluttered open then she looked straight into his, then turned away, ashamed then said,"I'm sorry, it's just my curse!"

She began crying then he lifted her up and placed her gently against a wall and asked what she meant and she said,"My mother was cursed by some witch before giving birth to me, now I'm stuck with this stupid hair and this ugly face!"

He then said,"Hey, hey, hey, your hair isn't stupid, and your face isn't ugly, it's beautiful, and you know what? Curses don't exist, the only bondage you have is believing you have a curse."

"And how would you know?"

"... believe it or not, this hair is natural...my dad was part Japanese and part Melanesian and my mom, part Ethiopian, part Russian, they both had blonde haired parents and I just got lucky."

She continued to sob as he gently hugged her, and she wrapped her arms around him too, asking... begging him to walk her home.

He carried her between his arms as her arms were strong over his broad shoulders and around his neck, he then got her to a shabby two storey building with a few lights within, then asked,"Is this it?"

She nodded, then hugged him to say thank you and he kissed her hand before leaving.

She gently closed the door, leaning against it and began silently jumping for joy and he smirked, he had this whole thing in the bag.

Scarlet Sapphira couldn't believe how gullible boys were, she went to thank Peter for his help and snuck out the window, she still needed to get back home...