The atmosphere was extremely tense as Maya, Karam and Hasan glanced at each other warily.
Five minutes passed since Kanz asked her question and no one uttered a word.
On the other hand, Giovanni sat looking at Kanz without even blinking, guilt written all over his face. The scenes he just watched were surely going to engrave themselves in his mind. He couldn't believe how much terror Kanz was put through and how she has survived, only for him to make her life worse when all she wanted was to live peacefully.
"Who is Ali?" Kanz repeated, her voice almost a whisper.
"He..." Isaac cleared his throat, "He was your fiancé."
Kanz's breath hitched at what she heard and she looked at Maya with eyes full of tears, she saw her best friend moving closer to where she was sitting. Maya squeezed Kanz's hand tightly as she looked at her sympathetically.
"A-and where is h-he now?" Kanz asked the question she feared the most and her assumptions were clearly confirmed by the look Maya gave her.
"I'm so sorry sweetheart." Maya apologized, her own tears falling freely. She remembered that day as if it was yesterday and she couldn't bear the idea of her best friend suffering all over again because of the incident.
Kanz pulled away from Maya as if she was burned, she stood abruptly and looked around her in daze and through blurred vision, she felt her chest tightening as she began to massage it with her hand.
"I will always be around to protect you, that's a promise." The words echoed through her head and she closed her eyes tightly.
"When we get out of here, I will make sure to erase every bad memory and experience you went through.. we will be fine, don't worry."
She opened her eyes and looked at Maya, "He promised me we will be okay.." She whispered and Maya's eyes widened.
"Do you remember anything?" Giovanni spoke immediately as he got up and walked towards Kanz, making sure to stay at a safe distance.
Kanz shook her head in return, "N-no, I just remembered what he said once but I still can't remember where we were or what we have been through."
"No need to pressure yourself, you will remember gradually. No need to worry.."
Kanz sighed tiredly and glanced at all of them at once, "I'm sorry how today turned out but I need to have some time alone." And without waiting for anyone's reply, she walked out of the living room.
They heard the door to her room close and everything fell into silence for a couple of minutes.
"What happened that day?" Karam uttered his first question as he looked at Maya directly.
"You already know what happened, why are you asking?" She answered as she directed her gaze to the blank screen.
"Clearly there is more to the story we knew." He seethed, losing his patience quickly.
Maya glared at him fiercely, "What's the point in knowing now anyway?"
"So there is something more?" Karam asked, already getting the confirmation he needed.
She started fidgeting with her bracelet, a clear sign of her nervousness, "I'm going to check on Kanz." She mumbled and turned around to walk in the direction of Kanz's room.
"Stop right where you fucking are, turn around and tell me what happened that day." Karam said, boiling with rage.
"Watch it, Karam." Hasan warned as he stood between his friend and his sister.
"The audacity of this man," Maya scoffed as she turned and glared at Karam, "Why are you so adamant on knowing what happened? What will you do? Or better yet, what would you have done if you have known about this back in the day? Pretend your sister is dead? Abandon her? Oh, wait you already did that.." She crossed her arms, mockingly.
"You. Know. Nothing." Karam's eyes flashed dangerously as he balled his fists.
"Oh believe me I know more than enough."
"Both of you shut the hell up." Hasan said firmly, "How many times do I have to say that we need to be careful around Kanz and we don't want to stress her more than she already is."
"Maya," Hasan addressed his sister, "We know that Kanz is your best friend and you are very overprotective of her because of what happened but please cut Karam some slack as he is trying to make amends."
"And you, Karam," Hasan turned to face him as he started talking, "Even if Maya knew something more about that incident, it's not her place to say so don't take your anger on her or your problem will be with me. If you want to know what happened to Kanz, ask her directly and nicely."
"We will leave now," Alex said after all people calmed a little, "We will pass by tomorrow to check on Kanz." He finished and Matteo nodded, nudging Giovanni who seemed out of it.
Giovanni snapped his gaze to Alex, who looked at him questioningly.
Giovanni shook his head as he went to the door directly followed by his brother and cousin.
He waited for Alex to unlock the door to his apartment and he went straight to pour himself a drink.
"What's wrong?" Matteo asked once Giovanni took his first sip and started pacing around the room.
Giovanni didn't answer as he finished his drink in one chug and went to pour another one.
"Woah, hold on.." Matteo uttered, trying to move the bottle out of Giovanni's reach.
"Fuck off Matteo," Giovanni answered through clenched jaw as he grabbed the bottle again.
"And what are you planning to do? You want to drown your sorrows instead of manning the fuck up and talking about them?" Alex said as he crossed his arms and leaned against the wall, observing his brother closely.
"What do you want me to do? Go and sleep it off?" Giovanni scoffed as he took his second drink.
Alex rolled his eyes at his brother's sarcastic tone, "Or talk to us about it." He suggested as he looked at Giovanni pointedly.
Giovanni sighed as he slumped on the couch, he had his hands resting on his thighs as he swirled the liquid he had in glass.
No one uttered a word for a few minutes, "Just say whatever comes to your mind." Matteo said as he took a seat on the opposite couch, Alex doing the same as well.
"I'm upset." Giovanni said simply, it was hard for him to talk about emotions or to acknowledge what he felt.
"And you are upset because..?" Alex encouraged him to continue the sentence he uttered.
"Because.. I.. Kanz.. I'm just mad at what I watched."
"You are right, we are all mad because of what that fucker did." Matteo agreed, careful not to say much details about what they watched.
"And I'm.. mad at myself for giving her a hard time." Giovanni muttered as he downed his drink hastily, "No wonder she reacted that way that day at the warehouse.. what the hell was I thinking?"
"Yeah, what you did back then was stupid actually," Alex confirmed, nodding his head while Matteo raised an eyebrow at his cousin who shrugged in return.
"I can't believe someone would do what was done to her.. she's literally the sweetest person I've ever met, how can_" Giovanni stopped himself when he noticed the looks on his brother's and cousin's faces.
"Talk about hypocrisy.." Alex mumbled as he crossed his arms against his chest.
"Yeah, that was my first thought," Matteo agreed and smirked, "My second thought was, did you just call Kanz sweet?"
"Fuck off." Giovanni said, rolling his eyes.
Matteo laughed at Giovanni's reaction, when he calmed a little bit, he said, "Seriously though, do you have a crush on Kanz or something?"
Giovanni stilled for a moment before he narrowed his eyes at him, "I don't have a fucking crush on her."
"Ok, no need to get defensive. Pretend I didn't say anything." Matteo shrugged, raising his hands in surrender.
"Damn right I will and you need to stop coming up with such absurd ideas or I will beat the shit out of you." Giovanni threatened before standing up and walking away.
"He totally likes her." Alex said with a snicker as he nudged Matteo.
"Shut up!" Giovanni called out from the next room and Alex let out a loud guffaw.
"We still need to figure out about the person who dropped the envelope at Kanz's apartment." Giovanni said as he returned to the room, typing away on his cellphone.
"Already on it, I asked Domenico to hack the cameras for the entire block to check if we can get a clear sight of the person. I'm waiting for his feedback on the matter." Alex said and Giovanni nodded.
"There is something off about this entire thing, how can a person get their hands on such videos unless they_"
"Unless they had a hand in what happened to her two years ago." Giovanni completed what Matteo was about to say, "This is even worse, it means there is someone who's stalking and following her around as they know every detail in her life." He finished, pacing around.
"Step by step, we need to know who we are against. Then, we will figure what to do with the bastard." Alex said through clenched jaw.
***********************
"How are you feeling, Kanzi?" Maya muttered as she went into Kanz's room, closing the door behind her.
"I don't know.." Kanz shook her head and shifted away on her bed to make room for Maya who sat beside her.
"That's OK, you will pull through this just like you did with every shitty thing that happened before." Maya said with an encouraging nod.
"C-can you tell me more about him?" Kanz asked with a wavering sound, her eyes watering immediately.
Maya nodded her head with a small sad smile, "Of course," She cleared her throat, becoming emotional herself, "He was kind and used to help whoever needed him, our families were always close so naturally we all grew up together, and he grew up loving you. God, he loved you so much and I used to fight with him all the time because he wanted your attention on him always." Maya snickered causing Kanz to smile a little.
"But he was so serious with his work, come to think about it, he never said anything. I still remember the bickering we had when he'd refuse to say the slightest thing about what he used to work, except for that you didn't need to worry about anything," Maya paused once she noticed Kanz frown, "Don't worry he wasn't in the mafia or something but it was something to do with the military and stuff so it was confidential."
"A-and did he die in that day? You know where we were during that video.." Kanz asked, already fearing and knowing the answer.
Maya looked at her with a sympathy shining in her eyes, "Unfortunately, after you and he were held and tortured to get information out of you, the police were able to locate you and the kidnappers were killed on spot during the armed clashes," Maya hesitated for a minute, "Both of you were rescued and you were by the ambulances with the medical team. Once he made sure that you were safe and they're treating your injuries, he re-entered the warehouse to help the officers search for leads and evidence."
"Well, this is good. We were rescued and taken care of, so what happened?" Kanz asked, not being able to follow up with the storyline Maya was telling.
"Everyone thought the same as well, but it seemed that the main people who were responsible for your abduction were close by or were informed about what happened and the entire building exploded in no time, leaving behind 12 deaths." Maya finished and Kanz felt the first tear drop down her cheek.
"And Ali was one of them." Kanz stated and Maya nodded in affirmation, whispering a small 'unfortunately'.
"Does that mean he died because of me?" Kanz's voice wobbled, "What type of information did I have? Who were these people that I got involved with? And what happened after? I have a lot of questions that I don't know the answers to.."
"Hold on, I don't want you ever to blame yourself for what happened to Ali and I am sure he wouldn't want you to feel like this. As for your other questions, the story is really complicated but what you need to know is that during the war in Syria, you used to work as a journalist in a very famous channel, you gathered some dirt about a very dangerous group and they were rumored to be connected to ISIS. They felt threatened and you know what happened after."
"ISIS?" Kanz questioned, her eyebrows furrowing slightly.
"That's a story for another time." Maya announced with a small smile, "Now, let's talk about happy memories, did you know that I used to have a crush on your brother when we were teenagers?" Maya let out a laugh as Kanz looked at her with wide eyes.
"Ew, I didn't need to know that!" Kanz exclaimed, her face scrunched up in disgust.
"Don't worry, it's totally gone now since he's kinda jerk."
"Hey! Don't talk about him like that." Kanz defended her brother and Maya rolled her eyes.
"Oh and did you know that you and I used to go to a café all the time when you were still in Syria? We were regular customers and because of our loyalty, they name our usual table after us." Maya said with a proud smile, "I still remember the day they told us about the table, we were literally ecstatic as if we won the lottery."
Kanz laughed a little bit before saying, "You know, even though I can't remember you, I know that you are a very good person and I am so glad we are best friends."
"Aww, don't say any sentimental shit or I'm gonna cry now." Maya told Kanz while pretending to wipe an imaginary tear.
Kanz laughed while hugging Maya tightly.
***********************
The next day, Kanz woke up to the constant ringing of her doorbell. She rolled to the other side of her bed, almost falling down before getting up and dragging herself towards the door.
She opened it while yawning and rubbing her eyes tiredly, someone cleared their throat and her eyes snapped wide open immediately.
Dressed in a definitely expensive dark suit, Giovanni stood in front of Kanz as his eyes raked her appearance from head to toe. He watched her as she tried to run her hands through her long frizzy hair in order to tame it while she straightened her posture.
He met her gaze with a small smile and greeted, "Buongiorno."
"Buongiorno," She replied then grimaced, "Did I pronounce it right?"
"Si, you said it in a perfect way." He applauded her, "Anyways, get dressed and I will be waiting for you down the building." He finished saying and turned around to walk towards the elevator.
"Wait!" Kanz called out causing Giovanni's steps to halt, "Where are we going?"
"To the company where you used to work as my secretary, you might remember something if you accompany me today." Giovanni shrugged and she gave him a wide smile.
"OK, I will be ready in ten minutes."
"I highly doubt that but sure, meet me by the car."
Thirty minutes later, Kanz opened the door to Giovanni's car and slid in to the passenger seat with a sheepish smile, "Sorry for being late."
"You're always late so I'm used to it by now."
Kanz ignored his comment and asked, "So, do you think I will be able to remember anything when I go to your company?"
"It might help you as you used to spend a lot of time there." Giovanni answered, keeping his eyes on the road.
"Why? Did I love my job that much?" Kanz asked, causing Giovanni to glance at her briefly.
"Not really," He replied, "But I was kinda asshole and used to overwork you."
Kanz tilted her head to the side, "I find it hard to believe that you can be a mean person."
"Well, believe me when I say that I did unforgivable things to you and if you remembered anything of my actions, you wouldn't be sitting here inside this car with me." Giovanni stated, clenching his hand against the steering wheel.
When Kanz stayed silent, he continued, "I just want you to know that I regret everything I have done and I will do my best to make you forgive me."
After what Giovanni said, the atmosphere grew awkward and both of them stayed silent for the rest of the ride.
A few hours have passed and Kanz didn't know whether the idea of her going to the company was good or bad. She has been wondering around the building, bored out of her mind and she didn't seem to remember anything. Her former colleagues seemed nice as they introduced themselves and started recalling some memories with her. Yet, all she could do was smile and laugh awkwardly because she felt like she didn't know these people at all.
It was near the end of working hours and all employees were called for an urgent meeting with the boss so the company was eerily quiet as Kanz made herself a cup of hot chocolate.
She was walking through the corridor when she heard commotion from the meeting room so she hurried towards the noise. The door was open and she saw Giovanni sitting by the head of the table with crossed arms, he didn't notice her presence as he was busy glaring at each and every person in the room.
"Now, why did the sales drop drastically regarding item 20158 and item 19674 in the past two weeks?" He asked in a deadly voice and Kanz's eyebrows shot up in surprise at his tone.
When no one answered, he slammed his fist against the glass table, "I just asked a question and I expect an answer in the next two seconds or so help me God all of you will be fired before you utter the word resignation."
"There were too many technical issues and we received a lot of complaints from customers. Therefore, we had to compensate them, withdraw the entire lot from the market and work on the technical problems." One of the employees was brave enough to answer the boss who looked like he was three seconds away from blowing up.
"And why am I being informed about this now?" Giovanni seethed out and Kanz clutched her cup tightly.
"Answer me!" He bellowed and Kanz backed away slightly, her mind swirling with flashbacks.
'Is your life a joking matter to you? How can you be so careless?!'
'Speaking of danger, how is your work going?'
'Who is asking? The nosy neighbor Kanz or the nosy journalist Kanz?'
'You fool girl, you can fix the world and face all its problems with the articles you write! This is not how it works.'
'Take one more step, I dare you.'
The flashbacks were cut off by Giovanni's booming voice.
"All of you are getting the best salaries in the damn country and everyone dreams of the privileges you have but all of this goes down the drain because apparently you can't do your jobs right!"
"I'm giving all of you one week to_" Giovanni's rant was cut short as Kanz's cup slipped from her fingers and shattered against the wooden floor by her feet.
His hard brown eyes met her wide green ones and with one look at her, he knew that she remembered everything.
"Cazzo." He muttered through clenched teeth. (Translation: Shit / Fuck).
Author's note:
Here is another chapter.. I'm super sorry about the late update but right now I'm learning a new language and I was - still - busy with the courses.
If anyone can recommend to me French songs and movies / TV shows, I will be grateful ❤
Please don't forget to vote, comment and share..
Ciao ❤
Update time: Saturday, 14th of October, 2023 - 4:00PM