Amara's POV:
"What?" I gasp, my words barely audible.
"You're fucking joking, right?" Mason snaps angrily.
"No, not at all," the man shrugs nonchalantly. He's taller than I expected, olive skin, dark green eyes that are full of darkness, and a stubbled face. He's dressed head to toe in black; a black shirt and pants, accompanied by a black long coat. His dark brown hair is gelled back against his face, with the smallest section falling upon his forehead. His whole look is intimidating.
"What do you mean?" I ask sheepishly.
"I want you, Miss Amara—to come and work for me." he smiles pitilessly.
"I would never work for you." I spit, terror building up inside of me.
"I thought you'd say that," he sighs, taking a step forward, "Which is why I have a little... ultimatum for you." he smirks, his gaze shifting hatefully to Mason who stands in front of me.
"Either you come and work for me again, until you pay off your debt—or I have Amara." he tilts his head, his expression blank as though he was asking a simple order. I feel my stomach turn.
"You're fucking insane, you think I'd ever let her anywhere near this shit?" Mason raises his voice.
"You think you'd have a choice? I have men that could find her in a millisecond, Mason." he chuckles heartlessly.
"You didn't find me." Mason challenges.
"You think so? Mason, if I wanted to find you I would have—and when I did, well, here you are." he looks at us condescendingly.
"I could have her whenever I want her." he whispers against Mason's ear, his hand gripping his shirt once more.
"You're a sick fuck, you know that?!" Mason screams, his arm acting tightly as a barrier between the smug man and me.
"Why would you want that?" I whimper, "What has that got to do with Mason's debt?" I barely whisper, the words burning like battery acid as they pass my lips.
"Because he doesn't care about the debt," Mason scoffs, the sound of realisation filling his voice. "You don't, do you? You only care about ruining my life, and you know that she is my life." his voice cracks as his grip on me tightens.
"You clever, clever boy." the tormenting voice whispers. He throws his head back in laughter once more.
"He knows that I would never let him touch you, that I would die before I let them even put their hands on you, there's no ultimatum at all—it's a threat. That's what it comes down to, isn't it?" he addresses me, and then him, his stare remaining set on the intimidating figure in front of us. My chest aches as he speaks and I fight back the tears. We'll figure this out.
"I took business from him and now he's hurting me the only way he knows he can," he pauses painfully, "You."
I close my eyes momentarily to stop the tears.
"He knows that you're the only thing in this world I care about and he's playing on it, just like I fucking knew he would."
This has been Mason's fear since the first day I asked him if we were friends. All that time ago. I convinced him, over and over, time after time that it was irrational—and now here they are, doing just as Mason told me they would. Tearing us apart.
"How long is a while?" I speak up, almost choking on my words.
"What?" the man furrows his brow.
"How long would Mason spend paying off the debt?" I ask, my breath unsteady.
"Not long," he leans forward, "But after he joins me, he won't want to come home to you, principessa." his taunting voice whispers next to me.
Mason shoves the man forward with force and rage, but he just laughs as he staggers backwards—he laughs the most unsettling laugh I've ever heard.
"I have to go now, duty calls. I'll expect a decision by morning?" he raises his brow, turning on his heel and walking off without a care in the world, whistling an unnerving tune.
—————
As we arrive back to the hotel room my quiet cries have turned to sobs.
"So what's the plan, what do we do?" I ask frantically, gulping down the growing lump in my throat.
"You're not doing it, right?" I whimper.
"Right, Mason?" I choke, closing the door behind me and waiting for him to turn around.
"They'll hurt you, Amara." he utters, his voice strained.
"We can run! We can run anywhere, Mason," I exclaim, "Please turn around."
"Mason please look at me!" I cry frantically, the horror of the situation seeping into my bones.
"You cant spend your life running, Amara—it'll catch up with you, it always does." he whispers, his back still facing me.
"No, no! It doesn't matter as long as I have you!" I cry desperately, my hands trembling.
"You don't deserve to spend your life running, that's not what I want for you. That's not what you deserve." his voice wavers and my breath catches in my throat, the terror I have towards his words is horrifying—we've had this argument over and over, how I deserve better, how he can't put me in danger, how I should be set free, but now it's real; and now there's a fear in his words that I've never heard before.
"You can't stay here, Mason—I wont leave you here." I shake my head although he can't see, my choked sobs filling the small room.
"I need you!" I cry in panic.
"And you don't think I need you?!" he yells, turning to face me—his glassy eyes taking my breath away once more. "Fuck!" he spits, throwing one of the ornaments onto the floor, smashing it into a thousand tiny pieces.
"Amara I cant bare thinking about life without you!" he yells, stepping towards me, "The thought of it makes me feel fucking sick to my stomach, I can't breathe when you're not here!" he raises his voice, placing his hands on my shoulders.
"Then don't send me away." I shake with each sob, my vision distorted and my throat feeling as though it's closing up.
"No, Mason—" I grip his hands and place them on my cheeks, "Please don't leave me, please don't leave me too." my hysterical sobs force me to close my eyes. The pain is coursing throughout my whole body. I can't lose him too, I can't deal with that—I won't be able to go on.
"I have to, baby." his broken voice causes my frenzied cries to increase, my eyes squeezed closed as if it's just a bad dream. Please just be a bad dream.
I desperately try to catch my breath, wrapping my arms around his neck and sobbing into his shirt, I can't bring myself to open my eyes. His touch on my skin feels like deadly poison, the more I make myself aware of our embrace the more the pain screws it's way into my heart. This can't be real.
"No!" I yell, taking a step back, "I'm not leaving you!"
He looks at me with sad eyes, "Mason, no! This isn't happening!" I shout in denial, it can't be, I won't let it.
"We did not come this far just to give up now! We didn't!" I scream forcefully.
"We aren't giving up." he sighs, his voice strained.
"Mason please!" I repeat as I choke on my tears.
"Hey," he whispers, holding me at arms length and gently wiping my tears. "This isn't forever, I'll make sure I come back to you, no matter how long that is." his voice breaks, and my heart along with it.
"No," I shake my head as the tears continue to fall.
"I want to tell you something okay?" he exhales deeply.
"Okay," I nod.
"You and I were different. We came from different worlds, and yet you were the one who taught me the value of love. You showed me what it was like to care for another, and I am a better man because of it." he recites, making me burst into a new fit of tears as I pull him into my arms again.
"You memorised that?" I choke for breath as one of my favorite quotes, from my favorite book, comes from my favorite person.
"It sort of jumped out at me." he whispers, rubbing my back slowly.
"This can't be goodbye, Mason, please." my manic cries become louder and more painful.
"It has to be, baby." he croaks, his heartbroken voice burning itself into my memory.
"This is all my fault, I should've never followed you there! I should've listened, I'm sorry!" I grip his shirt tightly.
"No, Amara, I should've never brought you here to begin with." he tells me calmly.
"It's all my fault," I repeat as I cry painfully into his chest.
"Do you remember that day on the roof, we climbed up there and we watched the view from above—we conquered your fear, remember?" he whispers shakily.
"Yes," I choke, confusion joining the flood of emotions.
"You asked me what I seen when I looked at you, and I didn't answer," he swallows, holding me a little tighter.
"When I look at you, Amara—I see my future," his voice cracks, "I see everything that makes me who I am, what makes me want to be better and the person I want to come home to every day, the person I want to marry," his words take my breath away once more.
"I never thought I'd be the man who loved someone more than himself, or the man that would do anything just to make the girl he adores smile; I never thought I'd ever want to fucking marry someone and spend my life with another person, but I can't imagine my life without you. And now, I need to—I need to put you first even if that means putting everything I want aside for now. And if I make it out of this, I'll be that man for you."
"Mason, please don't." I bawl.
"Look at me," he whispers.
I see it in his eyes; the fear, the pain, the way his heart is shattering into a million tiny irreparable pieces—just like mine. I see the desperation and the panic in his eyes; he doesn't know if he'll ever see me again, I know it. I see it, I see it in my favorite golden speckled mirror to gaze into, in his glassy eyes, in his trembling hands. I hear it in his unsteady, raspy voice and in his heart which pounds frantically against his chest. I know this is goodbye. The pain in my chest is inexplicable—this is goodbye.
Saying goodbye to him in that moment was like saying goodbye to everybody I've ever loved at once, and in a way, it was. Saying goodbye to everything that makes me whole, a part of myself. Saying goodbye to my best friend and being consumed in agonising darkness that wrapped its suffocating arms around me and pulled me under. Saying goodbye to him, I lost a piece of myself—I felt it slip through my desperate fingers as I wondered if I'd ever gain it back. I lost my best friend, and the part of me that I loved most.
I imagined what it would be like, to never see his eyes light up his face again. That, was when I was drowning. That, was when I never thought I'd come back up for air. I thought Mason Loche coming into my life was my downfall. Trusting him, loving him with every fibre of my being—but it wasn't. He saved me when I didn't know I could be saved.
Saying goodbye to Mason that night, as his hand slowly slipped from mine—that was my downfall.
"I love you, Amara Woods." he utters the bittersweet words with total confidence as the tears stream relentlessly down his cheeks for the first time. "I will love you eternally."