Chapter 32 Part 1
Poolside
I watched Marcus and Zachary's serious exchange on the other side of the pool.
In the middle of the amusing exchanges Mara concocted, Zachary's cell started blaring. He'd merely given it a glance and was going to turn it off but I quickly urged him to take it.
"It's important, isn't it?" I'd pushed the phone into his hand and he'd reluctantly taken it.
He'd answered it. I heard the clipped tone he used to whoever was on the other side before he'd walked away. I followed him with my eyes.
"He's busy even on vacation," Lily observed.
Marcus grimaced then, "Because this isn't the time for him to be out of the office." He'd given me a begrudging look as if he wanted to say something.
"Marcus," Zachary had called. And ten minutes later, they were still in the same spot. Still in the same topic, I suppose.
"From experience, I believe that conversation's going to go on for the next two hours." Mara told us.
Lily and I nodded. I didn't mind. And I'd explained to Zach that it was okay.
But the three of us girls left alone like this, there was a sudden silence.
Lily bit her lip, turning to me. "I-I want to... apologize for the t-things Marcus said to you. Especially yesterday. That was uncalled for."
That actually surprised me. I was shaking my head instantly. "No... I think I'm the one who owes you an apology."
Lily looked confused, "Why? What's there to apologize for?"
"Yesterday, my pregnancy and amnesia must've shocked you."
"That's nothing to apologize for," Lily smiled after a pause, and then added softly, "I actually guessed that much. Instincts told me you're pregnant during the party... and you seemed to be lost with everyone. Especially when those three girls came. Marcus and Zachary talk a lot and I overheard once the word amnesia. It wasn't hard to figure out... though it's kind of unbelievable." Then as if embarrassed, she added. "It must be hard for you."
It was. Then I glanced at Zach's back, and remembered his words.
You have me.
I returned my eyes to Lily, "Somehow, I'll manage."
Mara then leaned in, and sighed. "Speaking of Marcus, though I also agree that the way he treats you is uncalled for, it's not completely incomprehensible." Then she grinned at the two of us, "Like I said, we've been best friends since college but I've known them both long before that because our families were close. And I know for a fact that Marcus went a bit off the rails during high school."
She glanced at the guys before continuing her story, "I think the money got to his head—which is typical rich kid problem. But on top of that, Marcus was also a natural genius. And while the rest of our mortal classmates struggled to pass, he flaunted the fact that he could do what he wanted while he maintained straight A's. It got so bad that he would've been expelled and serving jail time if not for his dad. Cash speaks, you know."
I was absorbed in Mara's narration when Lily spoke from beside me, "I didn't know about this."
"You didn't?" Mara perked up at that info, grinning. "Marcus would probably kill me if he finds out I told you. Anyway, back to the story—Marcus graduated high school with good records."
"But?" Lily inserted, glancing a bit guiltily in Marcus's direction. "There's a 'but' in that statement." Lily was obviously interested in every information about her husband and it was amusing to see.
Mara nodded, "But College isn't anything like high school. If you don't comply with rules and regulations, don't produce the course requirements and meet deadlines, you don't pass—simple. And our university president, bless him, couldn't be bribed to save a galaxy. Needless to say, Marcus flunked the first term." Mara suddenly burst out laughing, "So you see, I wasn't kidding when I said Marcus was the dumbest among us three. It was funny to see him suddenly out of his depth then later on, try to do better. But old habits die hard and he barely passed the first semester."
"It was probable that I was going to amuse myself with watching Marcus struggle for the rest of our college life but during the second semester, Zachary entered the same university. And since we already knew each other, it was natural that the three of us hung out."
"My point is," Mara lifted her eyes to Lily, "Marcus and Zachary were complete opposites. And I think, Marcus realized that quickly too. Zachary was a genius who didn't take that fact for granted while Marcus thought his intelligence an excuse to slack off. Where Zachary worked hard, Marcus played hard. While Zachary set goals and walked in that direction, Marcus let the cards fall where they may.
"I think Marcus was frustrated with how college life was faring although he'd be all smirks when I opened the topic. But to top his frustration, Zachary dropped out during our sophomore year in high school and was actually doing better than him during college. Zachary was taking double our load because he was late one whole sem and had to catch up. I don't understand male ego but I think that was Marcus's wakeup call."
"So Zachary dropped out of high school." I said, finally.
Mara shrugged, "The family business needed him."
"And then?" Lily asked. "What happened to Marcus?"
Mara snapped her fingers, "Right, the story. Zach was a good influence on Marcus. As stupid as Marcus was acting, he had his ambitions too but didn't know where to start. And I think continued association with Zach set him straight. School became a competition of sorts between them. But it's not surprising that no matter how hard Marcus tried, he couldn't top Zach off. Zach had a work ethic that wasn't human. To add to that, he never drank in excess either, didn't womanize, didn't ever gamble as far as I was concerned. Marcus developed grudging respect for that kind of self-control because, obviously, that wasn't something he could achieve—Lily, I'm sorry for slandering your husband but it's true."
Lily shook her head, "I already knew about these things."
Mara nodded, "You know, Marcus and I have always known Zachary to be reasonable, logical and fair in everything." Then she turned to me and suddenly, Mara was all serious as she stared at me. "Then came you... and suddenly, he wasn't so reasonable anymore."
I didn't know what to say to that.
Mara leaned back and shrugged, "At least that's what Marcus thinks and as you well know, he's pretty vocal about it." Mara lifted her right hand as if to check her nails, before smiling to me brilliantly. "But since I'm biased in Zachary's favor, I reserve my right to defer judgment until presented incriminating evidence of the contrary."
"Because Zach is a reasonable person. Just a tad bit secretive."
A flash of lightning suddenly illuminating the sky cut off our conversation. It was followed by thunder and suddenly, the guys were coming back to our side.
I must've been absorbed in the conversation because I was only feeling the chill in the air now. Zachary was already pulling me to a stand by my elbow, "It's going to rain. Let's get inside."
I was looking at Zach when there was another flash of lightning. And in that split second, the person in front of me suddenly wasn't Zach anymore. It was another man I'd never seen before. And in the background, heavy rain fell and the wind howled. I was being drenched by the freezing water...
"Scarlett?" I blinked, and it was Zachary again. He was looking down at me with a concerned expression, "What's wrong?"
The sudden twitch inside of my head was something I couldn't tell him about.
Because the memories that I was running away from...
I think they were chasing me now.
Because I already had an idea of which memory that person belonged to.
"N-nothing."
Then the first raindrop fell.