I groaned at the incessant ringing of my phone at the ungodly hour. It was the wee hours of the night. I was going to let whoever it was get it from me, I don't care if it was my mother or father no one was safe- that's the kind of mood I was in. It was a weekday godammit.
But when I heard Don's anxious voice all that hot boiling rage flushed cold and icy.

'Anne found out!'

'Are you sure...'
I could then hear Anne yelling on the phone at someone, presumably Thomas because she kept asking.
'Why would you?'
She sounded both mad and hurt.
Don came back to the phone.
'She's been in there yelling at Thomas. She wants him to come clean.'

Universe why? Just why?
'Don, did you tell her?'

'David it wasn't me. I have no idea how she found out.'

We both remained quiet. What was there to do now? Soon the truth would be out and Keziah, Keziah would be a mess and that would leave me dealing with the aftermath and working on the proposal alone.

'I need to talk to Thomas.'

'David what?' I heard Anne scream. What have I done now? I whined internally. How was my name already in the conversation?

'David I'll text you.'
This was not the time for texts, I wanted to say to Don, especially Anne just sounded as though I'd committed murder.
But he was gone which left me waiting for that text. Their arrival was a few minutes but I swear it felt like a day and a half.
The messages delivered made me feel even worse.
'The job is more important than the truth?
'Is that what you told Thomas?'

'Not like that.' I bit out as I replied to Don.
But in actuality, that must have been how Thomas perceived my advice.
The universe did enjoy making me look like the villain in Keziah's story and I was getting weary of it.

I repeatedly dialed Thomas until he picked up.
'What went wrong?'

'I don't know.'
His voice sounded raspy and...

'Are you drunk?'

'Yup.'

'Where are you?'

'In my room. My drapes are shut and my door is locked so no one is getting in here.' He chuckled humorlessly.
'Welsh, I don't know how she found out but it's out and I'm going to tell her. I have to. The guilt has been eating me inside... like you don't even understand.' His voice broke a little.
The sympathy I felt was unwarranted and not needed.
Clearly, he loved Keziah, very much. I didn't want to claim him to be a victim of circumstance because when it came down to it, this was all his fault. And what he needed was a plan, a course of action to lessen the blow somehow. I wanted to tell him that but he interrupted me.
'Keziah's calling me.' He sounded panicked.
'I need to get this.'
The silence was deafening yet brief because not long after my head whipped to the door at the sound of movement on the outside.

'Tommy you aren't making sense.' I assumed that was what the muffled words were.

I wasn't sure when the best time would be to step out of my room standing at the door with my hand on the handle, waiting.

'No, I don't want to listen. Stop talking.'

The moment I opened the door Keziah dropped her phone on the sofa and began pacing in frustration.

'I'm sorry if I woke you up.'

'You need to listen to what he has to say, Keziah, call him back.'

She froze and gawked at me, 'Wait how...'

She shook her head.

'You don't know what is going on.'

I had to come clean. 'The thing is, I do.'

'I know that was Thomas on the phone and I know why you don't want to listen to him. He told me when he came here, that was why he came here Keziah, to confess not propose.'

I might have as well dropped a bomb would have had the same effect. She glared at me, I could tell her mind put everything in place working overtime.

'Why would you tell him I wasn't ready?'

'Look at you right now? I told him not to tell you and if it had been up to me you would never have gotten to the truth.'

My words were harsh but they weren't coming from a mean place I wasn't sure if she could see that at all. Probably not now.

'Why? so you could mock me behind my back?

'No.' I raised my voice.

'I didn't want you distracted.' I heaved. Oh, God how I didn't want to say the words but if I didn't they would come back to bite me in the butt as they had a habit of doing.

'I told him to wait, the least he could do was leave you with a career. If he was so bent on telling you the truth to alleviate his guilt he should do it after our presentation or when we got to Incheon. He was going to be a distraction.'

'You are a horrible person.' She hissed walking away from her room. I didn't know where she was headed but I thought it better to leave her alone.

Her phone started vibrating. I thought it might be Thomas so I grabbed it. Turned out it was an unknown number.

'Hello, Keziah.'

Listen, I couldn't attribute any diagnosis with the feeling, yet whenever I heard her voice, I got goosebumps on my skin, it had never been like that. Her constant calls, emails, and text messages were probably the reason.

'Ha, you blocked my number, so I guess that means you still aren't talking to me, but it's fine.' she whimsically sighed. 'You don't have to speak I just need you to listen.'

What I wanted to ask Claire was why was she even calling Keziah. However, she just went on, rambling excitedly as if they were friends.

'Did you hear that Thomas cheated on you?'

Now, how in the hell did Claire hear this?

'Oh yes, I know. I was there... in the club...'

she paused dramatically but I knew what she was about to say next, her trippy voice sent all the warning bells ringing in my head.

'And in his bed keeping him warm while you are across the ocean with David.' She had the audacity to laugh.

'You smug stupid bitch!' the switch in her demeanor was drastic and so sudden it almost had me whiplashed.

'You just had to be selfish and have both of them. Turns out I can have Thomas too... oops I mean I have had him. You have nothing to say? How could you when you are probably shagging David, you lying whore. You are probably relieved that I slept with Thomas aren't you, is that why you aren't screaming at me? You always claimed you never liked David, you called him names and made fun of him. You said he made your life a living hell so then why did you have to go on the trip? David was mine-- he is mine'

The maniac was screaming and I had just about heard enough, this was all my patience could tolerate.

'Are you done?'

I had to check the phone to make sure I hadn't lost connection when the phone went deathly silent.

'David, oh hi. Did Keziah give the phone to- to you...'

'Now you listen to me, I do not want you to ever get in contact with Keziah ever again so long as you breathe or by Jesus, I would make every day you breathe painful and I trust that you know I can. If she so much as hears a hello from you I will screw your life up so badly you would rue the day you ever heard my name.' My Gosh, she was a twisted woman.

'No, David, you misunderstand...'

'No, Miss Archer, I see everything clearly and I believe that it is you who misunderstands. I am not asking.'

Keziah was calling my name, her voice got nearer and I immediately hid the phone ending the call with Claire just in time for her appearance.

'Have you seen my phone?'

I slipped the phone in my back pocket and shook my head. I needed time to delete that entry.

It was as she came closer that I saw the tears on her face, she had been crying.

'I need to call Anne.'

My long legs closed the space between us so I could envelop her in a hug where to fell apart in my arms body racking sobs.
My arms tightened around her when she leaned further into the hug as her legs gave out. My chest tightened from the intense pressure and my eyes were stinging a little. She needed that it was going to be okay and I wanted the words to uttered from my mouth, I wanted to be the one who would but her heart at ease. Yet all I could do was hold her.

'Keziah, let's go into the house.'

Her steps faltered so I scooped her up and she turned her face into my chest and continued to weep.

I set her on my lap and cradled her until she fell silent and swayed into slumber.

I was trying to lay her on the couch but her hand cut on my sleeve and she let out a small whimper. That cry, it tugged on my heart strings. Oh,how could I leave her? I stretched myself beside her on the couch and stayed until I was sure she didn't need me anymore.

I tumbled to the floor, jarred awake from the pain. I propped myself on arms looking around in the darkroom which looked nothing like my room.

And... Keziah was lying perilously at the edge of the sofa. I reacted instinctively when she shifted, my hands stopped the would-have-been painful descent I had just experienced. Her brows creased and her eyes blinked open.

'I didn't want you to fall and hurt yourself.'

Her eyes softened. I studied her swollen eyes, it only made her look more vulnerable and I just wanted to protect her. My alarm chose that moment to go off.

'You don't have to come into work today, you can take the day off.'

'But the presentation is today.' she frowned.

'I know, but you look like you need the break.'

Her eyes turned hard.

'So you can say you told me so? I do not need a day off. I'm fine, all I needed was a good cry.'

She haughtily sat up and glared at me.

'I can do this.'

Why was she angry at me? I was doing what was good for her so why get angry at me.

Whiles, we waited in our offices for the meeting to be assembled, I struggled with nerves which were a foreign concept to me. I pinned the symptom to the uncertainty of not knowing if Keziah could handle the stress and her emotions. But her face was a granite mask I couldn't decipher. I had to believe she was fine and yet my mind kept replaying those scenes from this dawn. She couldn't have possibly healed in the span of mere hours.

'Keziah, are you sure you are okay?'

'I said I am fine, Mr. Welsh.' she snapped at me.

The soft knock on our door let us know that the meeting was in session. I spared her one last look but did not ask her a single question. I would trust her this time, maybe I really did underestimate her.

The details of the meeting are not necessary, I couldn't even say everything that happened. I was just in awe of the way Keziah took charge of the presentation. She smiled, she joked and she flawlessly seamed in the details I forget to mention when it was my turn to speak. She proved to me that I was truly anxious for no reason.

The look of defeat on the face of our opposition was priceless and I wouldn't have wanted it any other way. I guessed then that Thomas's confession only made her stronger, a force to be reckoned with.

Later that day we were all sent emails inviting us to a company-sponsored dinner after work. Keziah and I sat in silence because I guess she wasn't talking to me.
I took note of the 'do not smoke' signs at the restaurant. Good, it was a good place for her.
Inside, she only chose to sit beside me because she barely knew any other person. However she wasn't the quiet self she had presented in the office and in the car all day, here she was smiling and chattering away.

'I need to use the bathroom.' I whispered to her hearing and them, publicly excused myself.

When I came back, she was gone.

'Miss Keziah went to get something in the car she said.' A receptionist at the office told me.

'I'll be back in five minutes.' she had texted me two minutes ago, so I thought I would wait and it turned out I couldn't. What if she was crying again? I'm sorry but that's the first thought that came to mind. Keziah is stronger than that, she proved it today but I still chose to seek her out.

Yes, I cared about her, and that wasn't a crime. I didn't care if the other employees saw it in my actions. I'd take responsibility later but for right now, my mind was on Keziah.