Jasmine felt her heart fall off her chest completely, she felt like collapsing with shock. Xavier laughed maniacally, reaching out a hand to hold the lady who was standing behind Jasmine. “Check her out, Jasmine,” Xavier said seductively, making her twirl around. She was wearing a black dress that revealed her back.
The two sides of the dress diverged, all the way extending to the waist and hip line. Her fair back was exposed, exuding an alluring temperament. “Babe, do you mind telling me who she is already?” the girl asked with an eye roll, looking at Jasmine reproachfully. She couldn't help but curse Jasmine inwardly for disrupting her fantasy moment with Xavier. “She's no one, babe, you don't need to worry about her,” Xavier told the lady with a smile radiating his lips as he reached out and stroked a wisp of hair and tossed it behind her ear. “Okay, then. I'll be waiting in your room” the lady notified then walked away, not after shooting a final glance at Jasmine.
After the lady was out of sight, Xavier's gaze fell upon Jasmine again, and then he smiled, “So, as I was saying, Jasmine, there was nothing of a relationship between us at all” he began again, moving away from where he was standing to sit down on a single couch in the living room. “What were you thinking, Jasmine? A whole me in a relationship with you?” he questioned dramatically with popped eyes, “That's impossible, Jasmine. Haven't you thought of us not being compatible with each other? You're not even my taste,
I only wanted to get in your panties for once and forget about it, but you keep coming back” he continued, shaking his head and sighing disgustingly. During this time, Jasmine was blinking her eyes rapidly to confirm if this wasn't a dream, a terrible dream that she didn't wish to come true. “Xavier” she called in a voice barely more than a whisper. “Yes, Jasmine” Xavier answered, rising to his feet again.
“I'm sorry for the inconvenience, Jasmine, but as I said earlier, you're not my taste” he amounted his pace back to where Jasmine was, and leaned closer, his breath fanning against Jasmine's teary face, “You see that hot girl that just left here, that's exactly my preference” he winked, raising his hand to wipe the tears that were flowing down her cheeks, “Don't worry, Jasmine, you will also find a man who will take a liking to you” he asserted, looking serious. “Although I took away your virginity but damn that, my girl wasn't a virgin either” Jasmine could only search his face, praying earnestly this should be a dream.
“So, good luck, Jasmine” with that, he dipped his head forward and pressed his lips against Jasmine's forehead for a moment then walked away in the direction of the lady. Watching his receding figure, Jasmine felt as if time and space were frosted around her. She stood frozen in place as if her feet were stuck.
Suddenly, she laughed out loud hysterically, “What kind of dream is this?” she muttered as more tears spilled out of her eyes. She looked around her surrounding, “Yes, I'm in Xavier's house now, so…” she trailed off then suddenly collapsed on the floor, wailing and shouting, “Xavier!” but got no response from him, she cried harder, still hoping this was one of her daydreams.
An hour later, she felt all her strength abandoning her body, she was tired from crying and there were no tears left in her eyes. Unexpectedly, her cell started ringing inside her shoulder bag. She gazed at it at where it was lying and switched her gaze from it almost immediately. The phone stopped ringing and started again. This time, she struggled to crawl toward it and retrieved the phone from her bag.
***
“Oh my goodness, Jasmine, what have you done to yourself?” Paisley cried, peeling off Jasmine's dress, preparing her to take a bath. “What has Xavier done to you? Why are your eyes so reddened?” Paisley kept asking these questions over and over again since she had brought Jasmine back to her apartment, but Jasmine wouldn't say a word, she continued to stare into space with tears falling from her eyes. Paisley made her stand up and led her to the bathroom. She returned to the room, letting her tears flow from her eyes voluntarily.
Earlier, Paisley had called to ask Jasmine a question, thinking she was at work, but Jasmine had requested her to come to pick her up at Xavier's residence. She was quite stunned, but decided not to interrogate her over the phone and quickly left her apartment for Xavier's estate. Upon arriving at the place, she saw her friend standing in front of Xavier's house, looking soulless and pitiful.
Paisley asked what was wrong, but she didn't say anything and just when she was about to burst into the house, Jasmine's voice stopped her, “Just take me home, please” Paisley rubbed her forehead, 'is it that Xavier had broken up with her?' she breathes out helplessly, staring at the bathroom door. Taking note of what to do, she collected her cellphone from her handbag and quickly scrolled through her contact list, she needed to call Xavier and asked what he had done to her friend. Paisley was still at it when she suddenly heard a loud thump from the bathroom.
Abruptly, she tossed her phone aside and rushed into the bathroom, only to find Jasmine struggling to stand up from the floor, naked and dripping wet. She seemed particularly pitiful, like a porcelain doll that was about to break apart at any time. Another round of tears blurred Paisley's vision, she had never seen Jasmine this broken before. She bent and picked her friend up, using all of her strength, “Please, Jasmine, pull yourself together” she pleaded as she grabbed a white towel from the rail and wrapped it around Jasmine's chest.
After being busy in the kitchen for about fifty minutes, Paisley left the kitchen with covered dishes in her hands and headed to Jasmine's room. On getting to her room, she realized she was already fast asleep. “Come on, Jasmine, you need to take this soup before it gets cold” Paisley coaxed, dropping the tray on the nightstand first and going to sit at the end of the bed, tapping her feet. Jasmine stirred, her long thin eyelashes trembled a few times before she was able to slowly open them.
Gazing at the familiar ceiling in a daze, Jasmine didn't know how long she had been asleep, but she knew it felt like a long, never-ending dream. She slowly braced herself to a sitting position on the bed and felt a sharp pain flash across her forehead. “Ah!” she muffled a groan, holding her head. “Sorry. You cried too much, didn't you?” Paisley let out, looking so sorry as she stood up from the bed and helped her carry the plate. “Thank you” Jasmine muttered, collecting the spoon from her. “How are you feeling now?” asked Paisley, after returning to her previous seat. Jasmine could only nod, as she sluggishly scooped the content into her mouth.
As soon as Jasmine narrated the whole ordeal to Paisley, she became shocked. So shocked was she that her eyes and mouth opened wide in disbelief. Inferring from her occurrence with Xavier the last time, she had learned that he was a bastard and a jerk, but she never thought he was an animal, a monster in human clothing. 'He deserves to die' Paisley seethed inwardly, blue veins standing out on her forehead. However, Jasmine's soft whimpers brought her back to reality. “What have I done to deserve this, Paisley?” she choked on sobs as her shoulders trembled violently. Paisley crawled toward her on the bed and pulled her to herself, “Stop crying, Jasmine. He's not worthy of your tears” Paisley said persuasively, her eyes swimming with tears too. “Why would he do this to me, Paisley? I love Xavier so much, I love him” her voice was soaked with despair. “You have to be strong, Jasmine, Xavier isn't the right man for you. Please stop crying” Paisley continued, holding Jasmine in her embrace.
Jasmine woke up late in the night and soon realized Paisley had left for work. She ought to be available for the night shift too since she had swapped shifts with Nurse Grace, but she wasn't feeling well.
Her head was aching severely, and she felt her head was going to fall off her head anytime soon. She crawled out of the bed, slide her slender feet into her purple furry slippers, then walked out of the room. She sat on the small staircase outside, curled up into a ball, and stared up at the multiple stars in the sky. “You're just the perfect lady for me, Jasmine” She shut her eyes in an attempt to stop the tears from surging into her eyes, but it was too late. “I love you so much, Jasmine, and I will always do” the more she recalled Xavier's words, the more her heart shook painfully as tears spilled uncontrollably out of her eyes.
The grief was just too much to bear, but suddenly as if been possessed by a spirit. She braced herself and wiped off her tears, looking straight. Her temple was tightened into a line and blue veins keep jumping out, “I'll take revenge on you, Xavier” she mumbled to herself, balling her hands into a fist.