Malice

"Hey, Venus." She grabbed my hand with her tender palms.

"Hey, Julia." I felt myself blush, bashful that my cheeks would turn just as rosy as hers. It was the middle of January, with the fields covered in white. My girlfriend strung me along with her, through a path clear of snow in my front yard, lined with bushes that'd normally be filled with flowers when spring time came around. Her favorite ones were any that had blue petals, so we were in search of any hidden ones covered in frost while we waited for my parents to leave the manor.

"Venus, we'll be back in the evening. Our meeting will be with the new heads of the Sedia Corporation. There's a possible collaborative partnership that we'll be dealing with here."

I sighed with uninterest. "Okay, father." They walked to the limousine that came to pick them up at the front gate, and me and Julia watched as they were driven off into the distance.

"Let's go," I told Julia. We went inside the manor and spent the rest of the day there, doing a variety of couple activities with one another. Within a few hours it got late, and soon the sun became a darkened orange. I called up my chauffeur to give her a ride home.

"Get home safely, okay?" I helped Julia into the car. "And tell me how tomorrow goes. I wish you all the luck in the world with that."

"Thank you," she leaned over and gave me a kiss. "I'll make sure I get the position just for you!"

Her windows rolled up and soon off towards home. I exhaled with slight sorrow. Although it was just a day, I was gonna miss her for the time being. She informed me ahead of time about an interview she'd gotten at some new opportunity down her street, and this was to happen tomorrow. I was nervous, but also excited for her. I supported her with whatever it was she desired to do.

"You don't need to go through that stress. I can fund you as much as you want!" I tried convincing her to avoid working beforehand, but she'd told me off already. I tried to explain that my family was wealthy, and that I could support her financially as much as she wanted, but she kept telling me the same thing over and over again.

"I don't love you for your money, Venus. It doesn't matter to me whether you're rich or not. Even if you can give me the opportunity to avoid the hardships of life, I will still choose to face them head-on. I'll make my own money, don't worry!"

I'd sigh with disappointment, but there was also admiration at her independence. "Gosh, I love you so much." Then we'd kiss.

She'd always been that way, even before we started dating. Top grades in every class of Education, and always competing in various academic competitions within extra curriculars. I admired her determination to continue pushing forward no matter what was thrown her way, and eventually, I asked her out.

"Y-Yes…" She replied shyly. That moment was one of the happiest I'd ever been. Now we've been dating for nearly a year, in fact, our anniversary would be in exactly a month from now starting tomorrow. I went to sleep that night, gleefully reminiscing on the happy memories of our first year together.

Then came the day of her interview. I texted her good luck, and she replied with a simple "Thanks!" to top it off. I asked her to update me after her interview, and that maybe she could come over the next day to celebrate if she got the position. The results for this workplace were supposed to be immediate, maybe even on-the-spot, so I anticipated her conclusion. She told me that she was down for the idea, but only if she were to make the position.

So I waited. I waited for an hour, then two, then three, then five. By now, I noticed it'd been much longer than I thought an interview was supposed to go for, so I became sort of anxious.

"Maybe she's just resting at home… Did it not go well…?" The thought made me hesitate to pester, so I waited for another hour. Eventually, I was entering the seventh hour without her reply, and nighttime was approaching. Usually having been directly communicative constantly throughout our entire relationship, this was a moment that struck me as odd. I was curious as to what had happened, but also slightly unsettled by it all.

"Hmm…" I finally settled on a decision. I would get a cake prepared for her congratulation, and bring it to her doorstep in the case that she'd been hired. Within the next hour, I had the manor's baker make me a cake designed with both fondant and real blue-petalled flowers, etched on top with the words "CONGRATULATIONS ON BEING HIRED!"

"Heh," I smirked at the finished product. "She'd love this," I thought to myself. So I got myself driven over to her address, and waited in the car with the cake while I called her number.

"You betta not bring that cake out if she didn't get hired, ya know?" My chauffeur snorted a laugh.

"No, no, I'm sure she got hired. Just hold on one second, I'm calling her." The phone began to ring. After a minute, there was no pick-up and I was sent straight to her voice message.

"Interesting…" I became even more confused. She'd never gone this long without talking to me, so I exited the car and began to cross the street to her house when I saw something that caught my wealthy eyes. A Model 54E car was sitting alone in her driveway, wrapped with a luscious purple glaze and some indigo undertones.

"What the…" I'd always known Julia to be "middle-classed" as my people would call it. She wasn't wealthy like my family, nor poor like the homeless. She was perfectly in the center of it all, and this often made her self-conscious.

"I'm sorry I'm not as perfect as you…" She'd always tell me. But I'd always shut that statement right up by telling her that "Just because I come from a family of higher standing, doesn't mean I'm any more perfect than you. We swim in our imperfections together. It's what makes us who we are."

No matter the financial situation, I've always chosen to treat her the same as anyone I'd ever meet. That was unlike my parents, who were fueled by the pride of their funds. I hated it, especially since with that mindset they'd expected me to find a girl on equal financial standing. But now my mind was in the gutter. If Julia wasn't wealthy, why the hell was there an overly expensive vehicle sitting in her driveway?

"Did she lie to me…?" A single doubt hovered momentarily, but it was hard to believe. It wouldn't even make sense as to why she'd try and hide a lifestyle like this when I was living the same way. I passed the beautiful car, and walked up the steps to her home. It was the first time I'd ever actually come this close to her front door. For the entirety of our relationship, my parents inhibited me from coming to her "type" of neighborhood. But now that they were gone for the time being, I decided that today was the day I'd visit, and maybe even meet her parents for the first time.

As I approached the door, I could hear vibrations emitting off the frame. There was bass resonating from within the home, as if some speakers were playing music loudly. I pressed my ear against the door and listened.

Slow, tantalizing R&B music was playing.

"Huh?" I pulled out my phone and looked at our message chat. Repeated texts with the words "Are you home?" were left delivered but not seen. But it was clear to me here that someone was in fact home. I wanted to find out if Julia herself was home, so I saw my next opportunity: the window with the semi-opened blinds right next to her front porch. I walked over, trying to look as non-suspicious as possible, and I peered through the thin cracks of the blinds to the room.

I dropped the cake and it crumbled against the snowy floor.

There, inside my girlfriend's home, on a bright red couch across the window, was Julia being done from behind by another male my age.

"You like that, you slut?" He smacked her from behind which left a lasting red hand print.

"Fuck YES!" The hair in her ponytail was gripped tightly by the other guy's hands. He tugged it back and her head cocked upwards. I could only watch as my lover's eyes rolled up with pleasure from a guy who wasn't me. We hadn't even done the deed yet, ever.

"Who's your daddy?" The unknown male asked her. His hair was slicked back with a mixture of gel and sweat, clearly done by a professional, and he had clear gold earrings dangling from both his ears. He grinned proudly, and I could tell already by his mannerisms that this was the very owner of that Model 54E in the driveway.

"You, ugh!" Julia moaned loudly. "You feel so fucking GOOD!"

The two went at it, and I couldn't help but stare as my eyes began to swell.

"He thinks he's the shit, you know."

"Your boyfriend?"

"Yeah—FUCK!" Julia's speech was interrupted by an aggressive thrust. "He thinks he's top shit just because he has money!"

"No I don't…" I began talking to myself, replying to her, as I heard all of this unfold.

"Really?" The other guy scoffed. "How cute of him. Little does he know there's another wealthier and bigger boy in town now!" He threw another deep thrust into her.

"FFFUCK!" Julia's body was whipped forwards.

"So what're you going to do with the little Venus boy then?"

"Little…?" I began to feel myself heat up.

"Leech off of him," Julia laughed.

"Leech…?" My fist had tightened.

"Good idea. Don't want a whore like you wasting my money, so go get your goods off of him. If he's so rich, then get him to buy you shit you want whenever you want!"

Julia smiled at the idea. "I literally will. He doesn't do anything good for me anyways. All he's good for is his money!"

"B-But I've done everything for you... All my effort..." I spoke silently by the window still. By now my eyes had swollen, but so too did a negative manifestation of emotion within my heart. A dark sensation of energy was beginning to wrap around my body, and I couldn't control the resenting thoughts that began to pile. In the center of all of it, a single memory of Julia remained, resting before my eyes as if it were the cherry on top of everything.

"I don't love you for your money, Venus. It doesn't matter to me whether you're rich or not."

As this memory replayed in my head, my ears were overlapped with the moans of another two, and their words spoken about using me as a piggy bank.

"FUCK!" Julia's moans were getting wilder.

"WHO'S YOUR DADDY, HUH?! WHO!?"

"YOU! YOU! NOT VENUS! YOU!!!"

"THEN WHY DO YOU LOVE HIM, HUH?!!"

"I-I DON'T! I NEVER EVEN LOVED HIM TO BEGIN WITH!!!"

Something inside of me snapped in that moment.

"UGH—!" Their bodies shuddered, and soon they melted on top of one another.

At that moment, I dropped my knees into the chilling snow, nearly landing in the blue pile of now mushy cake beneath me. I wanted to cry out of sorrow for myself, cry as the winter winds began to howl, and cry as the freezing flakes melted with the warm tears that formed on my face. But with a few moments passing, something began to hold back that emotion entirely. It was a sentiment I now bore for my girlfriend, which was previously love, but it was now something new.

Malice.

"I came…" Their voices diminished as I walked away from the window. My unzipped feathered jacket flapped behind my back in the cold wind, which was already turned away, as my mind was already turned over.

"Aye! Why'dja drop the cake, boy?" My chauffeur had rolled down his windows and looked at me with confusion. I opened the door and entered the car.

"Just take me home."

~

{ TEXT MESSAGES LATER THAT NIGHT }

"Hey babe, sorry for not replying! I KO'd as soon as I got home from the interview and slept up until now."

"Why?"

"I didn't want to tell you, but I stayed up all of last night because I was so nervous for the interview. Sorry!"

"It's okay."

"But guess what?"

"What."

"I got hired for the position!"

"Congratulations."

"Is something wrong, Venus?"

"No, why?"

"I don't know, I just thought you'd be more excited."

"I am, it's just hard to tell over text."

"Should I still come over tomorrow?"

"Yeah."

"See you tomorrow then, babe!"

{ LEFT ON READ }