0°Celsius: To thaw a frozen heart
0°Celsius: Chapter 13

Deal with the devil.

I closed my eyes with my arms engulfing myself trying to protect me from the unknown.

My heartbeat was increasing with each passing second and I could feel my hands starting to shake.

Minutes passed and my condition worsened in anticipation.

A panic attack was in making and me forgetting today’s dose of my medicine was a catalyst.

He was silent…only his strong cologne and cigar smoke intermixing could be felt.

Finally after waiting for too long I decided to open one eye.

He was very close…his fingers held my brown locks with which he was playing..

‘I….I…a…m so..rry…I… didn’t..meant.to….’

‘Just shut up your pretty mouth belle.’

I zipped my mouth shut and breathing became difficult.

My chest started moving up and down faster as tears stinged my tears..

The pain is starting….sh**….this panic attack seems worse than others.

Within next minute I was sliding down the wall holding onto my chest. My legs felt heavy and my energy was draining.

Before my body could hit the ground a hand on my waist supported my weight.

My face was pressed on his chest as my body was completely left at his mercy.

‘Belle…’

I felt cold fingers hold on to my wrist to check my pulse rate.

‘Sh**!! It’s a panic attack!!’

I was lifted up bridal style and placed on the sofa…through teary eyes I could see him ransacking my purse.

The next minute my head was placed in his lap and he raised my head a bit.

‘Open your mouth…here take the medicine..’

The medicine was placed on my lips followed my him placing a glass of water on my lips.

I gulped enough water to swallow the medicine and my body fully collapsed on him exhausted.

Just before my eyes closed down I saw him looking at me with gentle eyes while wiping my tears.

Henry was a playboy.

There was no doubt in this.

And most of the girls with whom he played also liked to play his games.

They liked to be with such a handsome and influential person even if it’s for a short time.

But today sitting on his office chair staring at the cute little unconscious girl he. questioned himself.

‘Why would Alessandro send a girl like her?’

Alessandro as per him was a very intelligent person ..with no time for love and emotions…he was cold and he never did anything wrong..

Then why send an innocent girl like her to convince him. Earlier the girls that came to convince him knew what they came for and did it well..

But this girl…she wanted to do business by talking and not with her body..

Unlike others who came.

There was no doubt that he was intrigued by her…by her bravery and her actions…

But she was too innocent for her own good.

And he will use this innocence of her to his best advantage.

He looked at her and smirked.

The brilliant idea that he just came up with will not only make me grab the 5 millions deal but will also destroy his only business competitor Alessandro.

And she will be his Ace in this game of cards.

A businessman is always an opportunist and today this opportunity itself knocked on his door in the form of this innocent girl.

How can he let her go?

Get ready belle…you won’t even know what you did that caused the entire deck of cards to come crashing down.

He thought as she opened her eyes.

I woke up with a heavy headache.

I looked around to see that I was still in Henry’s office and he was sitting on his table looking into some papers.

‘..s..orry…for ….causing you …trouble I’ll take…my leave.’

I lifted myself up and was ready to leave when his words stopped me.

‘You want me to sign this deal …right belle?’

I turned around and looked at him shocked.

Will he sign it?

If he does will Andro forgive me?

‘Yes..’

‘Well then you have to do something for me in return…..there is a file …file no 211 in Andro’s office…I want it within next 24 hours.’

A file?…

Well that is a very easy task…but it sounds fishy….

‘So what do you say? Do you accept devils deal belle?’

‘…….okay……but…first I need to know what’s inside it…that’s so …. important…?’

‘It is a deal we both decided to do few years back…but he backed out of it…the deal documents are still with him and he refuses to give them to me …if you can get me the file I can amend some clauses and carry it out with my other partners..’

I don’t understand business….but this file seemed harmless to me.

If it can help me get forgiveness by Andro then why not.

‘Okay…I’ll get it by tom.’

He smiled and signed the file I bought him…

‘I have done my part ..now you need to do yours.’

I nodded and left with a broad smile on my face.

Andro will be very much surprised..

I will love to see his defeated face..

As I showed Andro the file his face was flabbergasted. And so was everyone else’s.

He covered his shock look and placed the file aside.

‘Get the meeting started…’

Everyone was whispering while staring at me…I passed all of them a smile and made my way to my table.

Mr Ronald was already waiting for me at my table.

‘Sapphire…thank God you are alright….Henry didn’t do anything….right?’

‘No Mr Ronald he didn’t ….I directly refused and he understood…but I didn’t expected mr Alessandro to send me….’

‘That’s why I was stopping him! I don’t know what has happened to him these days…he knows what Henry expects but still he sent you…those girls are…..anyways you are fine…that’s what matters…’

‘It’s okay don’t worry…I am perfectly fine..’

He nodded and left while I decided how to get the file now..

It was evening now and most of the members were busy packing up their stuff..

I decided to first search for the file in the store room.

It was stocked in files from top to bottom and my eyes randomly searched for the number nearest to 211…..

I reached the sequence….there was 210…212…but no 211…

I sighed in fatigue and frustration…

Lifting myself up…I made my way towards his office..

This is my only chance of forgiveness…

I need to get that file.

The room was empty…the meeting was still going on and now was the right time.

The drawers in his office table were locked as expected…

I searched for the key but it was no where to be found.

This is wrong…my conscience scolded me..I was stealing something.

But I want his forgiveness….

My eyes landed on his chair and to my luck his coat was hanging on it…

Placing my hand in the pocket I felt the keys.

But instead of happiness…fear entered my mind…

What if Andro comes to know of this…

No he will not know…there are no cameras here in his room…it’s safe.

I opened the drawer and there were around 8 files there.

File 211 was the last one and I didn’t waste much time and locked the drawer back

Placing the keys back into his pocket.

In a hurry the file slipped from my hands and landed near the table.

I was going to pick it up when the door to his office was slammed open and his eyes directly met mine.

Fear was a small word… something similar to a heart attack shook me.

My eyes looked down to see the file lying near my feet.

I slipped it under the table with my foot but as soon as I looked back up.

Andro was moving towards me.

Next I know my back was pushed back on the table and a gasp left my lips.

His arms blocked me between him and the table.

I thought he will question my presence here in his office but he was angry about something else.

‘How did you bloody managed to convince him?…how?’

His eyes were hate personified and his voice as deadly as a beast.

I remained silent…

‘How did I not see this 2 years before…how was I so damn ignorant of your whoring ways….I must admit it miss brown…you are beyond my expectations..’

‘Convincing Henry takes more than a beautiful face and a sexy body. Which you lack in all respects….so tell me miss Brown what did you do?’

‘I….I… explained…him…the proposal….he like-‘

‘Don’t you dare Fu**** lie to me Sapphire!!You think convincing someone takes 3 damn hours..huh?

And not to forget this stinking smoke smell which I can still smell from your clothes…’

‘So tell me Sapphire…did you fuc*** sleep with him?’

His grip on my shoulder tightened making me squirm in pain.

‘Isn’t that what you wanted me to do?’

My reply made him freeze at his spot…this is the truth and let’s show him it crystal clear

‘Didn’t you send me to sleep with him!! Didn’t you Mr Alessandro Rousso Romano??

You dare to send me to a Fu***** playboy to sell my body to him so that I can get a deal for you…I never thought that you will be such a man Andro….’

‘I loved you…and I still love my Andro…but you are not my Andro!!

You are not even a shell of a person my Andro was…..he would never send a girl to get raped by a monster….he would kill a person who even touched his Saph….but you….you are not him….’

His grip on my shoulders loosened and he turned around from me not able to look at me.

‘Mr Rousso I may have betrayed your trust…may have faked a lot of things…may have even lied to you…but never did I wished anything bad for you….never did I enjoyed causing you any pain….I am not a sadist like you…’

He turned around and grabbed my throat with so much force that my head was slammed on the table behind and his legs blocked my lower body.

‘Sadist….you call me a sadist when it was you who played thousand games with my heart….it was you who made me loose my sanity for 1 whole year….when it was you who fuck** guys while I was replaceing ways of ending myself…’

My eyes widened and no longer the pain on my neck mattered…

Ending himself….

The pain was still present in his eyes but now the only difference was that it was being lighted by sparks of old wounds.

He was breaking from inside. I could see it but he will never accept it.

‘You tried every weapon to kill me…to destroy the fun-loving happy Andro…to ruin not only him but even his empire…but I survived…I survived with the hate I mustered for you. And this hate has no reasons…no boundaries…and no regrets….’

His grip on my neck tightened and I nearly choked.

His eyes are beholders of a monster…a monster who I have started to fear.

‘Don’t blame me for hating you…for hurting you…or even selling you to that playboy Henry because even you know you deserve every damn bit of it and even worse….’

He moved back and I held my neck coughing rigorously.

He stood there staring at me struggling in pain but he didn’t moved forwards to help.

And why would he when he caused it in the first place.

When the coughs died down and my breathing returned to normal he was still there staring at me lying at his feet at his mercy.

‘Get up and leave now…you are wasting my time….’

Oh Andro….

Why each word that comes out of your lips deepens the crack in this already cracked mirror.

I was trying to build a bridge to reach your side but you keep on widening the gap….I don’t know when the crevice got turned into a rift and the rift into a valley…but I just fear that don’t go that far that even the longest of bridge can’t connect our two broken Half’s.

That I die from that same cliff trying to reach you…but you have already turned your back on me and started your journey to the continentality of the plains with someone else’s hands in yours…

While his back was on me..I managed to pick up the file 211 from under the table and while clutching it to my chest made my way out of his office …

This file was my last chance of forgiveness…and I will have it.

Don’t you worry Andro…I will take away all this pain from you…I will relieve you of the pain that I have caused.

Even if the mirror of my heart cracks …I will still reflect you back the light that once you reflected me.