Ashes and Scales: Remember Us, Mate

Chapter 12: Hateful

AUTHOR’S POV

Zoraya and Cian found themselves outside after the night's festivities had ended. The stars above Luxor Heights twinkled brightly, but all she could think about was how much she wanted to stay. The warmth of the Diakos home, the sense of belonging, had put her in such a good mood that the prospect of returning to her parents' house seemed unbearable.

She leaned against the front porch rail, nervously tracing the gold necklace Mrs. Diakos had given her. She was already wearing it, and she loved it. Cian stood beside her, his hand gently resting against her back.

“I don’t want to go home,” she finally said, tired of wrestling alone with her thoughts. She knew her parents would stay awake and not sleep until she returned, especially given what had happened with her father.

However, she didn't want to return home, and when she didn't want to do something, she didn't want to do it. Cian turned to face her, his expression soft. “Baby, you know it’s best if you do.” He whispered, laying a gentle kiss on her head, but Zoraya whispered that it wasn't best for her.

“I can’t, Cian. I don’t want to deal with them. I want to stay here, with you. Please allow me to stay here." He sighed and ran a hand through his hair, knowing it was not possible.

"If you stay, they might worry and look for you, and if they find out you are here, it will only make things worse." He tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear, but Zoraya's frustration flared.

“Why do you care so much about what they think? You know they hate you. They’ll never accept us. We might as well do what we want,” she spat, and Cian’s jaw tightened, but his voice remained calm. "Because they are your parents, Zoraya, they may frustrate you, but they have your best interest at heart. I still have hope if we don't give them more reasons to hate me—maybe I can win them over," he said and Zoraya scoffed, stepping away from him, her arms crossed.

"You are delusional if you believe they will ever let me be with you. I know my father. He is a hateful turd!"

"Maybe," he said, his gaze never leaving hers, "but I am not giving up. I know they love you, and I know they are acting like this not to make your life difficult, but because they do not trust my family and me. Plus, I’m not afraid of a challenge, baby. Perhaps the two of us can be the link between our families."

Zoraya's chest tightened as he spoke, anger and helplessness rising within her. She no longer cared about bridging the gap between their families because she realized her family did not deserve the Diakos; they were too good for them. But she loved Cian, and if it was important to him to be in their good books, she'd do her part.

“So you really want me to go home?” she asked, and Cian pecked on her lips before whispering no. “I don’t want you to go. I never want you to leave," he said, his face bursting into a smile that made Zoraya's heart skip a beat. She sighed and hugged him. He returned the hug, and she spoke within it, saying, "Okay, I will leave. I love you," she added, and Cian reciprocated, still holding her tightly. When they pulled back, they shared a kiss and then headed back inside, where Zoraya wished everyone a good night.

After exchanging hugs, she and Cian went outside, with Cian leading her to the car. They kissed once more before he unlocked her door, and she slipped inside. The driver started the car, and Cian blew Zoraya a kiss, muttering again how much he loved her. She gave him a teary smile in response, feeling as if she had just boarded a carriage to hell.

On the way home, her thoughts were racing, between reminiscing about the evening and worrying that she and Cian would never take the next step in their relationship because he was waiting for her parents to change their minds, which she did not see happening anytime soon.

She leaned back in her seat, her thoughts returning to how much she wanted to be with him tonight. It was the perfect evening, and she wanted it to end with him finally making her his. She was certain that Cian loved her as much as she loved him, but the fact that he was holding back made her insecure, and she despised feeling insecure.

Questions flooded her mind, including whether Cian was holding back because he was thinking about letting her go if her parents did not barge. Unlike her family, Cian’s family were peaceful people.

What if they did not want her parents' drama? And what if his parents were the ones telling him not to claim her as his until he gained the approval of her parents? Everything inside her told her that Cian's reluctance was due to her parents and that made her resent her father even more.

Zoraya was so preoccupied with her thoughts that she did not realize she was home until the car came to a stop.

She stepped out as the driver opened her door and went inside. The house was dark, with the only light coming from the hallway lamp. As she walked past her parents' room, she heard a faint sound–their bedroom door opening and her mother's voice echoed behind her, asking about her evening.

She did not want to talk, however. She just wanted to sleep and forget she was here and not with the love of her life, so she said okay and quickly disappeared into her room. She did not hate her mother, but she could not help but be angry with her at times. She was the one who gave her a toxic mess for a father. Why couldn’t she marry someone better? She was such a loser, and sometimes she couldn't stand her sight because of that.

Upon entering her room, she placed her clutch on the sofa and proceeded towards her closet. She grabbed her pajamas and changed into them before going to her vanity to take off her makeup. She was completely exhausted. It was in a lovely way that warmed her heart, but still, she was exhausted, and she slipped under the covers, hoping to fall asleep quickly.

But sleep didn’t come. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t stop thinking about how much she wanted to spend the night with Cian. The thought of being back in his arms made her chest ache with desire.

She tossed and turned, becoming increasingly frustrated with each passing minute as the thoughts that had flooded her mind in the months leading up to the holidays resurfaced. Why didn’t they just leave everything behind and go live far away from their families?

Yes, Cian loved his family but surely they would understand that he needed to start his own family. He was no longer a child, and they still had Charon to shoulder the responsibilities.

Thoughts of Cian trying to win her family's hearts—something that would never happen—came crashing back too, and before she knew it, she sat up her heart racing. Grabbing her phone from the nightstand, she dialed Cian’s number. He didn’t pick up, but she wouldn’t give up. She knew he must have still been with family and hadn’t heard the phone, so she called the houseline. Gigi, Cian's cousin, picked him up, and Zoraya asked to speak with him.

Tears were brimming in her eyes at this point, and she could feel herself shaking, but as frustrated as she was, she didn’t miss how Gigi hesitated, causing her to call her name again and ask if she was listening to her, and once more it took Gigi a minute to reply and say yes. Zoraya didn’t miss the annoyance that now laced Gigi's voice.

However, before she could speak, she heard Cian's voice. She asked herself what Gigi's problem was. Everyone in Cian’s family loved her except for Gigi and, for the life of her, she couldn’t figure out what she had ever done to her. Cian had assured her that Gigi didn’t dislike her, that she was just a generally indifferent person, but she had seen her interact with others in her family and she never seemed to be cold to them.

When Cian's voice answered, Zoraya was unable to contain herself any longer and started crying. "Please come get me. I don’t want to be here. I need you, and I don’t care about anything else.”

There was a pause on the line before Cian agreed to come get her, but only on the condition that she not allow her parents to see her leave. Zoraya agreed even though she did not care anymore and jumped out of bed and dashed to her closet to get dressed. Tonight, she would tell him about her plan to flee, and if everything went as planned, she would never return.

•••

MAIA

"Someone is tired," Lira said, noticing my yawn, and I could not deny it. I barely slept last night. I couldn't stop thinking about what had happened with Keir, and the more I thought about it, the more fear began to take hold.

I stayed at his place until pretty late after we returned from the pharmacy to get his mother's inhaler, hoping that we would talk about what happened. But we talked about everything except that, and now I felt scared, wondering, what if, when we finally spoke about it, he said it was a mistake? The make-out session had intensified my feelings, and I didn’t know if I could be just his friend anymore.

“You want to talk about it?” Lira asked, and I realized my expression gave away my thoughts. I was about to speak when I heard Zoraya scream at something, and Lira and I exchanged glances. Zoraya had been scowling all day, and Lira said whatever happened must have happened at the dinner she went to last night. She explained that this was how she usually behaved when something went wrong the night before. The following day, she would be moody early in the morning. She advised me to avoid her until everything was back to normal.

Despite Lira calling me back, I was curious about what was going on, so I peeked out of the closet. I saw that she was with her mom, trying to give her a gift that they had bought on their trip. But Zoraya didn’t want it because her mother said it was from her and her father. I wondered if she had a fight with her father, but my eyes widened at her next words.

Her mother told her that her father loved her and that she needed to meet him halfway, but Zoraya said she hated her father.

Hate was such a strong word, and my eyes were still wide as she grabbed the gift and threw it across the room, shocking her mother. “That’s it! I can’t deal with you when you are like this. You need to grow up, Zoraya!" her mother exclaimed in a cracked voice before storming out of the room.

Just then, Zoraya's phone rang, and I was startled as Lira nearly ran me over as she hurried out. I was still looking at her, perplexed as to where she was going when she took Zoraya's phone and answered it. I didn’t know she answered her phone too.

"It is Gigi," she said, looking at Zoraya, who motioned for her to hand her the phone, which Lira did before returning to the closet. "I didn't know you answered her phone too," I said, to which she responded that she only did so when Zoraya was in a particularly bad mood. I was curious as to how that worked. Did Lira just automatically know if she was in a bad mood today and answer her calls?

But I didn’t ask; I’d seen enough for the day. I finally got back to what I was doing, but just then Zoraya entered, calling for Lira's attention. She mentioned that she had a spa date with Gigi and needed Lira to fix her outfit. It was then that I noticed she was holding the box she had thrown away. Lira replied with yes; Miss Busco and Zoraya gave her the box.

"Take this and get it out of my sight," she said, handing it to Lira. Lira nodded, taking the box before Zoraya turned around, humming as she exited, and looked at her, wondering what the hell was going on. She was screaming just a moment ago.

“Who’s Gigi?” I asked and Lira said it’s Gigi Diakos. I had no idea who she was, but weren’t the Buscos and Diakos' sworn enemies? Keir had told me that. I said that to Lira, and she said they were, but the caller ID said Gigi Diakos, so she didn't know. She said maybe it was another Diakos, not from the Diakos family here in Luxor Heights. “Maybe,” I said, looking at the box in her hand and asking what she was going to do with it.

"Open it and keep whatever is inside, then make sure the empty box is out of her sight," she said with a knowing smirk, and I found myself laughing despite my anxiety. I had imagined many different scenarios for what it would be like to work here, but none of them accurately reflected the reality. It was insane, and I was about to say so when my phone rang. It was Keir.

“Hey,” I answered, and he asked when I would be getting off work. I told him I only had two hours left, and he asked for my work address, which I provided, before asking why he needed it.

“Because I want to pick you up.”

“Oh, okay,” I replied with the biggest grin, and he said he would see me later. “Later,” I said, cutting the call to find Lira looking at me with a smirk. “Am I missing something?” She asked, and I realized she must have heard Keir. My phone was loud.

I shrugged, admitting that I didn't know, which was indeed true. But there was one thing for sure, I would not spend another night not knowing. I waited and waiting didn’t work; now I was going to straight out ask.