Perfection Isn't Ours

Chapter Twelve

°°°

"It happened on the day after your two years anniversary with him. I don't know what was wrong with him. He just came in, and quietly sat down. I demanded what he wanted and why he wasn't with you on the anniversary date. He said that your company took you to Manchester for someone important," Nora said and took a sip of her tea out of the mug she held.

"And what happened?" Ciara asked with a hint of venom in her tone.

Nora smiled sadly and dropped the mug on the dinning table in front of her. She laced her fingers and sighed.

"Next thing I know, my back was turned and he pounced on me. I tried to push him away but him being the stronger one, I couldn't. I wanted to scream but he covered my mouth. He kissed me painfully and tore my clothes. I pleaded but he didn't listen. I pushed, he didn't budge... I-I was scared and fainted after he had his way with me.

"After that, I woke up in pain and disgust. I just cried and wanted to call the authorities. But then I had to stop. I realised that you'll be broken if you found out. You were so in love with him and I couldn't do anything about it," Nora said, gazing at Ciara who smiled softly before circling the table and hugged her.

"I'm so sorry it happened. I swear if I could take back the hands of time, I would not date Jerome to have him hurt you so. Please forgive me for putting harm on you," Ciara said, rubbing Nora's head.

"It's okay. The only important thing is what you're going to do after all these. Are you breaking up with him?" Nora asked, wiping her cheeks. "Because he's put you through a lot and if you end up saying that you'll stay with him after I told you this? Consider us done."

Ciara looked ahead of her, a thought crossing her mind. After a moment, she looked back at Nora and smirked, making her friend give her a confused look.

"Actually, I'm not breaking up with him-Just listen. I'm not breaking up with him, yet. My plan is to torture him. Jerome hates it when I don't obey him. So, I'll torture him. Torture him as in, ignoring the fact that he yells at me or beats me up. Every man hates It when his partner suddenly starts ignoring him or easily accepting defeat. He begins to question her nonchalant behavior. Then I'll break up with him with ease."

Nora frowned. "That's a brilliant and a  stupid idea. Good for you and I pray it works, because I feel it might not end well. At all, Cici."

"Oh, come on. Support me, I can't let Jerome go without actually making him feel pain," Ciara stated with a pout.

They laughed for a while before they sobered up.

"How's Mason?"

Nora smiled." He's really worried about you, you know. If you ask me, he likes you."

"No, Nora. Even if I break things off with Jerome, you don't expect me to jump into another man's arms. Who knows if I date him and he turns out to be worst than Jerome or even anybody I start to date turns out like Jerome. No, I'm not ready and I don't think I'll ever be," Ciara said in a distant tone.

"I'm not a bad friend, Ciara but maintain a good friendship with Mason. Don't do anything too hasty. He has a girlfriend, so relax. You might even find someone else later," Nora said, touching her friend's hand.

"Of course," Ciara said. "You know I told myself that I wouldn't go out because of Jerome. Well, I change my mind. This minute, I just want to go out and see what Jerome will do."

"Go, girl," Nora hooted and stood up. "What's the plan?"

"He took my phone, I thought of ordering a new one. Could you do that with your tablet? Since you trashed your phone against my wall and I left My laptop at work. Then I'm going over to The Deon's reality to see Mason," Ciara replied, walking towards their room.

"Done. I'll order you a new Samsung, Cici. Don't make that face, you know I don't use Apple. You can get an iPhone when you can. I got to go to work, I'm an hour late!" Nora hollered while moving to the door.

Ciara nodded." See you later and tell the boss that I came down with the flu."

Nora gave a thumbs up and left the house.

•••

Ciara stared at her reflection in the mirror while her hands rested on her hips. She took in her attire with a smile.

Light brown skinny jeans, chocolate brown crop top and brown heels. She picked up her hair band and decided to place her dark locks in a neat bun. She smirked at her reflection and checked her neck and face. She had used make up to cover up the marks of Jerome's hand. And she almost began to sober up but kept her cool.

"Not today, not today, Ciara. You're going to make Jerome wishing he never hurt you all those years. That he never made you what you are today," she whispered to herself then glanced at the diamond engagement ring in its holder on her vanity table. She picked it up and rolled it between her thumb and index fingers.

"Where in the world have you heard of a man buying an oversized ring and hasn't changed it?" She asked and barked a short laughter.

Ciara dropped the jewelry and picked up the Samsung phone off the vanity table where it was charging. She blinked when an idea came to her mind.

She opened the camera of her phone and took mirror pictures. She took enough and began to scroll to delete or keep the ones that were perfect. Once she was done, she opened up her i********: application and posted the pictures and watched as the picture got a few likes.

"Well, let's go see what the world has for us, Ciara."

With that, she left the room with her brown purse.

•••

Mason walked into his office with a frustrated look on his face. He had just finished dealing with some annoying investors in a meeting and unfortunately, the thought of Ciara in his head had distracted him. He put on the air condition in his office and sat down on his chair.

"I wonder if Nora spoke to her," he said and held his hair in frustration. He glanced at his phone for a moment before his eyes bulged. He picked the phone and unlocked it before opening his i********: account.

"Ciara could be on IG," he said, inputting her name.

He searched the name and rolled his eyes when he saw a lot of women with similar names. He sighed as he brought the phone closer to his face just to look at the profile pictures of each.

After five minutes, he finally found her user, CiCi_R. He tapped the follower button and smirked in humor when he saw she had over 12.9k followers. He began to scroll through her feeds. He checked the recent one and frowned.

"Thirty minutes ago? I thought-"

His door opened. "Mate, some lady is here to see you," Elizabeth said, face contorted in annoyance.

"Who? I'm not expecting anyone until 3," he replied.

She shrugged. "Some hot chick, if you ask me. Is she one of those annoying hoes who pretend to have a meeting with you and do I need to call security?"

"Send her in," he said and stared at her recent uploads. The outfit was perfect on her skin, giving everything a nice theme.

"Mason?"

He froze, he knew that voice anywhere. He slowly dropped his phone and slowly looked up.

Before him, stood Ciara in the same outfit she wore in her i********: picture. He swallowed. Her face had an amazing make up work done. Maroon matte lipstick and perfectly carved brow. Yeah, I know make up. Fiona, remember?

"Why are you standing there like you've seen a ghost?" She asked with a smirk and he chuckled before walking to her.

Before he could stop himself, he hugged her body into his. He sighed in relief and placed his head into her dark locks and inhaled. 

Ciara blushed a deep shade of red as she felt Mason's arms tighten around her body. She lifted her arms and hugged his torso, then inhaled his sandalwood and spicy scent, mixed with a strong deodorant.

"God, I was so worried about you," he whispered.

"What the hell is going on here?"

They froze.