12 - Mark II

Jackson stares back at me longer. I honestly get frozen from where I'm standing. 

Why is he here? Is Cristina with her? FUCK!

"Jackson," I blurt out aloud, forgetting about the event that is happening right now. I free my hand from Sandra, running down the stage. "Jackson!" I call out again, but he's already out the door, ignoring my shouts. 

"Mark!" I hear Sandra calling. Then my dad. The hall becomes noisy with buzzes of people maybe wondering what I'm doing or where I'm going. I run out as fast as I can. But, as soon as I get out the hotel, Jackson has already ridden a taxi and is speeding away. 

"Mark!" My dad and some of his men finally catch up with me. "What are you doing?"

"Dad." I turn to him, panicking, "I need a car." I say out of breath. "Right now."

"Why? What's going on?"

"Dad!" I yell. "Car. NOW!" 

"TUAN!" A tall man comes out of one of the black SUVs that just arrived. Holy Shit! 

"Mr. Samson." I look at him wide-eyed. 

"Mark. What's going on?" That's Mr. Aymes who just came out from the hotel, behind him is Sandra. 

More and more people are already crowding behind us, curious as to what is going on. "I'm sorry." I look at my dad, at Mr. Aymes then at Sandra. "I'm sorry. I can't do this."

"What are you talking about?" Mr. Aymes steps forward towards me. "Mark. Can you explain what's going on."

"Mark." My dad is eyeing me, I see that he's getting nervous. "Let's talk inside." He then looks at Mr. Aymes whose face is already red with anger. "Let's go back inside. I'm sure my son is just a bit confused."

"No, dad." I tell him, almost in tears. "I'm not."

"Can we please just go inside and talk?" He says, gritting his teeth. 

"This is an embarrassment." Mr. Aymes is already shouting, not caring about the onlookers. "I can't tolerate this Tuan. The deal's off. I'm taking my daughter with me." He grabs Sandra's hand and pulls her towards the car that's already waiting for them. But, before he gets in the car, he looks behind me, furrowing his brows. I turn around to see Mr. Samson glaring back at him. 

"Mark." My dad yells when the car drives out of the driveway. "We need to talk," he says, fuming mad. He turns to his heels and enter the hotel. I follow quietly behind. The hall is already empty except for my mom who's crying, sitting on the chair she was on since the party started. 

I quickly run to her, putting my hand on her shoulder. "I'm sorry. But, I really can't."

She doesn't answer, her sobs become stronger though. 

"TUAN!" Mr. Samson and his men enter the hall, shouting. "Where's my daughter?" Oh, Fuck. So, she was here? SHIT! 

"What?" My dad turns to face him. "How would I know? I was busy taking care of my son's engagement here."

Mr. Samson shakes his head, licking his lips, his hands on his hips. I immediately get up and stand between them. "Dad," I say under my breath, trying to push him away from Cris' dad. "Please. Don't."

"What?" He looks at me. 

"I won't let you near my daughter ever again, Mark," Mr. Samson shouts at me. "You break my baby's heart just for this piece of shit you call money? You want all the gold in the world, huh?" He turns to my dad. "I hope you drown in your own money, Tuan."

"I...." I'm about to answer him, but he continues.

"Mark. You told me you'd take care of her. That you'd never hurt her no matter what. What's this? I swear to all the gods, if something happens to my little girl, I'm gonna skin you alive, Mark."

I know. I didn't want this to happen either. But, I know better than to interrupt. Unfortunately my dad yells back. "Don't you dare threaten my son, Samson. You don't even know half of the story."

My mom is already behind my dad, pulling him back. 

"Story? What story? That you're being played again here? That Briggs is manipulating everything? That story?" Mr. Samson says. "How stupid can you get? You don't even know who you're marrying your son into. Aymes is someone you don't want to associate with, Tuan."

I knew it. Briggs is behind everything. But, Aymes, too?

"But..." he shakes his head and smirks. "What do I know, right? That's your life. Just don't you fuckin' get near my daughter. If I see just a shadow of you near her, I'm gonna show you what hell really looks like."

"Briggs?" My dad seems surprised though. "The boy behind bars?"

"Don't tell me you haven't done your research, Tuan." Cris' dad chuckles sarcastically. "

I spot Trey, but she's already on her way out. I leave my dad and run to her, grabbing her arm. "Trey!"

"Let go, Mark." She turns to me, her eyes shooting daggers. 

"Is Cris with you?" I ask, my tears threatening to come out again. 

She chuckles sarcastically, shaking her head, "What do you care? You left her, right? Why would you ask now?" She looks at me from head to toe. "ASSHOLE!" She yells before running out the hotel. 

I want to follow her, but the shouts from inside makes me go back to the two old men yelling at each other. 

"DAD!" I yell, too, as soon as I get back in. "STOP. Please."

"I don't care what you do with your business, Tuan." Mr. Samson is saying. "Be stupid if you want to. I'm not stopping you. Just stay away from my family. Do you get me?" He yells the last one before turning and walking out the door with his men behind him. 

"Sir," I run after him. 

"Don't even talk to me, Mark." He says. "Don't you even try looking for my daughter. I'm taking back what I said last time. I WON'T ALLOW YOU TO GET NEAR HER. NEVER AGAIN."

"But..."

"Are you deaf or something?" He turns to me again. "I said, don't even talk to me."

His man opens the car door and he gets in, giving me a death glare one last time before closing the door and the car exits the driveway. 

FUCK! FUCK! FUCK!

I don't notice my tears already wetting my shirt. Only when I feel a hand on my shoulder that I turn around and sob on my mom's arms. 

"I'm sorry about all this Mark," she's saying as she rubs my back with her hand. "I'm really sorry."

____

I lock myself up in my room as soon as we get back home. I try calling Cristina - no answer. Jackson - same. Trey - she rejects it all the time. 

Honestly, I don't know what to do now. Obviously, Cristina knows. She might be out there crying on her own. 

'Babe, I'm sorry. I love you. Please let me explain.'

I send her text after text, but she doesn't reply. 

A lot of 'If Onlys' run to my mind. But, I know it's too late for that now. I wanted to avoid hurting her by not telling her what's happening. I guess, that made it even worse. If you were in my shoes, what would you do?

I get out of bed and in my car. The next thing I know, I'm parked in front of Cris' house. It's already dark, almost all the lights in their house is off except for one on the second floor and the entrance. I don't see any cars on the driveway except hers. 

Could she be in there? I take out my phone and call her. This time, her phone is already off. I close my eyes and rest my head back. 

"Sir?" I open my eyes at a knock on my window. I turn to see the Samson's guard, peering through the glass. 

I roll my window down, clearing my dry throat. "I'm sorry." I tell him, "But, is Cristina in there? I need to talk to her."

"I'm sorry, sir, but you have to leave." He says, looking apologetic. 

"I just want to talk to her." I plead. 

"I'm sorry." He says again. "She's not here."

"Her dad?"

"He's not here either. Nobody's here."

"Where'd they go?" I ask. 

"I don't know sir. But, I haven't seen Cristina coming home. Mr. Samson and his men left in a hurry this afternoon. I didn't know where they went."

Fuck! 

Babe, where are you? Please be safe. I'm really sorry. I love you. I hope I can say that to you again soon. 

_______

"What do we have?" I ask Emily. I've moved out of the house because I can't talk to my dad without starting a fight. I can't stand seeing my mom crying all day either. My friends and I have rented a small apartment and we made that into an office. 

It's been weeks since the supposed engagement. Our - I mean ... my dad's company is near to being bankrupt. I don't know what he's been doing, but, I don't really care. I'm busy working on the little I know about Mr. Briggs, Mr. Santos and Mr. Aymes. 

I also sent someone to look for Cristina. Wherever she is, I just hope she's safe. I know she's hurting and angry right now. Although all I want to do is look for her myself, I can't just leave even if I hate my dad. This is the only thing the family has. He's worked so hard for this. Family is still family after all. 

I've hurt my parents for cancelling the deal with Aymes. But, if only they knew how hurt I also am for sacrificing my all too perfect life with Cristina for this. Maybe it's just too perfect. It must have been too good to be true. I don't know. But, I still want to go back to her. I hope that after all this, I walk to her waiting arms and she'd accept me again. 

But, I know that's far from happening now. She hates me now. I know she does. If I were her, I'd be cursing me to eternity of hell. If only ... FUCK. Here I go again with my 'If onlys'. I can't stop thinking about her and what we could possibly be doing right now if I didn't take that plane to LA. My regrets are slowly eating me up and I'm dying in guilt. 

"Hey!" Emily tosses papers on my desk. "What are you thinking?"

"Cristina!" I simply answer, feeling like crying again. It's all I do when I'm alone at night - cry. 

She sighs, understanding. She and my other friends would listen to me rant when we get some time to drink and all I talked about was Cristina and how I miss her. 

"So," I sit up straight, taking the papers in my hand. "What's this?"

"Sean is out on bail."