Chapter 12: He Deserved It

Even after they arrived at the office, Zarah was still thinking about the problem the ramen house was facing.

"Chris, do you know when the CEO Lockhart will return?" She asked him.

"Well, he's scheduled to return tonight but he might choose not to report to the company tomorrow." It was understandable as his official duty would start next week.

"Is it about the problem the staff is facing again?" Chris asked as he had no idea why Zarah was so invested in it when she had no relations with them or so he thought.

"Yes." Zarah did not hide it.

Zarah was enraged at how Nikolai had no care about the business that his father had established with blood, sweat, and tears.

The rest of the afternoon flew so fast and it was already five in the afternoon. However, she still had to render overtime and so she had to wait until seven to visit the hospital.

As promised, everyone received their pagers before going home.

Hope waited for Zarah at the entrance as she wanted to bid goodbye. She was a bit upset that they were not assigned to the same departments. They could only meet during breaks as interns were not allowed to wander around the department to which they were not assigned unless they were told to go there by their supervisors.

"Zarah, are you going home already?" Hope asked and Zarah answered her, "No. I'll be visiting the hospital today. How about you?", she asked back.

"Oh. Well, I was thinking of inviting you to dinner at my place. You know, so I'll know you better. And also, for my housewarming party."

Zarah chuckled and said, "If you're not a woman, I'll think that you have a crush on me."

Hope's eyes widened in shock. "Oh my gosh! How did you know?"

Zarah was stunned for a second, too. She didn't expect her blabber to be a possibility.

"How did you know that I'm a woman?" Hope continued and this time the two chuckled as they headed out.

When they calmed down, Hope explained. "Silly me. But you're right, if I'm a man I will literally be swept by you, Zarah. Kidding aside, I'm only being true to my intentions of wanting you to be my friend."

"Now, I'm intrigued by what you said. Everyone would be avoiding me by now but here you are, you are very persistent in wanting to be friends with me." Zarah found it baffling to meet someone like Hope when almost everyone in the past avoided her like a plague.

"Because I felt that you're my lost soul mate in a sense. Like the first time I saw you, I instantly want to be friends with you. Does that even make sense?"

"And oh, I think you should start changing your mind about other people not wanting to be friends with you. A few of our fellow interns wanted to eat with you but they held back themselves because they felt intimidated by you. Like, you're the most popular intern by now."

Zarah could not believe what Hope was saying because she felt like it was a dream.

"Well, isn't it late for a housewarming party? Why don't you schedule it perhaps for the weekend? Maybe I will come over and help you decorate?"

Hope's eyes widened in surprise when she heard this from Zarah.

"Okay! Don't worry, you'll be my only guest."

"Didn't you make any friends from your department?"

"Nah, I don't like them. They hid their true selves inside their thick makeup."

Their conversation abruptly ended when a car pulled over in front of them. It was Olivia's car. Olivia was driving but someone else was sitting in the passenger seat. It was Josh.

Zarah could not understand this overwhelming set of emotions that came into her like a tornado.

She watched as Josh came out of the car with a bouquet intended for Zarah.

Zarah subconsciously took a step back and this did not escape from Hope. "Are you okay?" Hope asked in concern.

Josh finally reached her and she was now standing face to face with each others.

Josh went on and hugged her as if nothing happened. Meanwhile, Zarah was contemplating whether she should hug him back or not. In the end, she didn't. Though her feelings were all over the place, her mind was clearer this time.

Josh thought that she was only upset. And so he stopped hugging her and retracted to look at her.

His eyes then traveled to her right foot where her injury was.

"I'm sorry if I missed your messages. I lost my phone and only found a replacement on my way back." Josh said and Zarah knew that he was lying.

However, she was interested to know what more he was hiding inside his sleeves.

"Okay. If that's what you said. I believe you." Josh heaved a sigh of relief as he thought he still had her.

"Here! Flowers for you." He then gave her a bouquet of red roses.

"Thank you. But I'm suddenly allergic to them." She then turned her attention to Hope and said, "Accept this bouquet and we'll be friends."

Hope didn't even get the chance to respond when Zarah placed it in her hand. Should she say thank you?

"You're welcome. See you tomorrow." Zarah genuinely smiled. 'Since when did red roses become a symbol of friendship?' Hope had this thought in mind. Nevertheless, since it came from Zarah, she'd accept this.

Zarah then turned her attention to Josh. "Please, not now Josh. I'm not in the mood to talk to you."

Zarah then went to Olivia's car and she entered the front seat because if she entered the backseat, she was sure that Josh would sit beside her.

Josh followed behind her but he was surprised by this sudden mood change from her.

"Did she know?" He mumbled to himself. However, Olivia reassured him that she didn't tell Zarah where he was yesterday.

They went to the hospital and the car was silent during the entire journey.

Zarah ignored Josh the entire ride and only talked to Olivia. Olivia on the other hand wanted to dig a hole and hid inside as she was embarrassed to have a brother like Josh.

She didn't want to give him a ride though. He forced her to agree.

When they reached the hospital, Zarah went straight to the ICU to check on Isaiah. She stayed there for an hour before she decided to leave.

Since it was too late to cook dinner, the trio decided to have a late dinner at a steakhouse.

Zarah liked her meat cooked medium well rather than medium rare.

While they were eating dinner, Josh realized that Zarah was wearing her ear piercings again and she cut her hair.

"Why did you cut your hair short? And you started wearing those things. You know that I hated seeing them on you." He said distastefully.

However, he didn't expect Zarah to refute him when she said, "Why not? I had them with me when you started courting me. If you indeed love me, you'll accept every facet that I possess and not just select the one you prefer. This is me. The real me, Josh." Zarah said while putting a slice of meat inside her mouth.

Olivia was silent as she listened. She had to give the point to Zarah through this round.

Zarah finished her meal and excused herself to use the restroom leaving the siblings behind.

The restroom was empty when she entered and so she decided to lock it as she didn't want others to see her.

She opened the faucet and let the running water flow down the sink.

The tears she was holding back started streaming down her cheeks. She filled her hand with water and splashed it on her face. The coldness of the liquid woke her up.

Somehow, her self-control had improved. She had been working on this for years. She managed to not snap at Josh the moment she saw her earlier. She even managed to eat dinner with him.

But now, she wanted to go home.

She didn't know what Josh was trying to play but she was not up for that at this moment.

Perhaps in the next few days but not right now.

"Zarah! Are you there?" Olivia asked while knocking on the door. Zarah closed the faucet and grabbed a facial tissue to wipe her face dry before she went and opened the door.

"What's wrong? Why did you lock it? I thought you were something dangerous inside." Olivia said in worry.

"Dangerous, such as?"

"Cutting yourself?" Olivia said Zarah's eyes drifted on the faint scars on her wrist.

She used to cut herself in high school and covered it with a handkerchief. Isaiah found out about it and became broken-hearted that he cried.

She felt guilty seeing him cry and so, she promised to not cut herself again. That was the time that she resorted to piercings.

"You know that I no longer do that. And that idea will never cross my mind. Not again."

She thought that it was useless to do so as she won't feel pain anyways.

"Good. Look, I don't know what my brother is planning right now but I'm not on his side. Trixie said he slept inside Natalie's house yesterday." Since Zarah knew about his cheating, Olivia decided to come clean about this.

"I know."

"How?"

"Natalie sent me images of him naked and sleeping beside her." Zarah didn't hide it either.

"That b*tch did what?!" Olivia could not believe that Natalie could be this shameless.

Zarah sighed as she tried to bury her emotions and then said, "I don't want you to be troubled by this, Liv. I'll understand if you'll be by his side since he's your brother."

However, Olivia was firm with her decision to be on Zarah's side rather than with Josh. "No. I won't and will never tolerate what he did. I told him to come clean to you before he starts meeting Natalie but he didn't listen to me."

"So, what are you going to do now? Are you going to break up with him?"

"Breaking up with him is like giving him an easy way out. I want to give him a taste of what he has done to me." Zarah was determined 

"What do you mean?" Olivia felt the need to ask her but Zarah only gave her a vague answer, "You'll see."

When they arrived home, Zarah pulled Olivia inside their room and Josh was shut outside.

He had no other choice but to sit down on the sofa but when he did, he was confronted by the angry Xander.

Xander jumped at him and scratched his face.

"Argh!" Josh cried in pain as he grabbed Xander and threw him harshly on the wall.

Xander cried as his back hit the concrete wall and landed on his feet.

The noise in the living room and Xander's sudden cry made Zarah get out of her room and checked what happened.

She saw the scratch marks on Josh's face and the crying Xander.

"Oh my gosh! What did you do?" Zarah lost her composure and snapped at him.

She immediately went to Xander and scooped him into her arms.

"Oh, my gosh baby!" Zarah loved her cat so much and she would feel hurt if Xander was in pain.

"Babe! Your cat scratched me on the face! That cat is evil! You should throw it back to the streets where it belongs!" Josh said and this triggered Zarah even more.

"What did you say?!" Zarah angrily asked him but before he could answer her question, Zarah's hand landed on his face. *Pa!* The crisp sound echoed inside the room as her palm and his skin made contact.

Zarah slapped him so hard that he staggered a few steps and sat on the sofa.

Olivia also went out of the room in a bathrobe and her hair was dripping. "What happened?" She asked the moment she saw Josh's bloody face.

However, she was trying to hold back a laugh when she saw Zarah's red handprint on the other side.

Seems like Zarah found an excuse to slap his brother. However, she thought that the slap Zarah gave was much gentler than how she used to give people in the past.

"Olivia, can you drive Josh to the hospital before I lose my self-control and kill him?" Zarah said seriously.

She didn't mind if people would hurt her. Just not her cat.

Xander didn't stop crying and Zarah was sure that he was probably in great pain.

Zarah went back to her room to grab her phone and wallet and left the place to bring Xander to a vet.

"Where are you going?!" Josh angrily asked her.

He was upset that his girlfriend still preferred her cat over him. It was no longer news for him but still, it upsets him.

Olivia went inside the room to grab a first-aid kit and throw it at him. She also gave him a mirror and said, "Go and clean your wound yourself."

Olivia went back to the room to get changed into a more comfortable outfit.

Josh was left alone in the living room in fury.

They were deliberately telling him that he deserved it.

***