(Previously on confessions, Obi wrestled with ghosts of past desires and sins, haunted by the siren Darce and the reckless fire of their masquerade affair. A chance encounter reignited dangerous memories, even as Kot dangled a new opportunity tied to powerful investors. Between fleeting pleasures, whispered warnings, and promises of profit, Obi found himself pulled deeper into a world where passion, smoke, and business collided, until Kot’s call set the stage for a venture that would burn brighter, and perhaps deadlier, than the last.)
If there is one thing I hate now, I hate living without fire. And as Kot hung up, my toes and fingers began to tingle, my face was enflamed, and I could almost taste the smoke in my tongue as my nostrils flared in anticipation of how wild this new venture would be.
The words of Henrik Freischlader never felt truer in that moment. It's a lonely world, and everybody tries to hide; people live their lives with the rule to satisfy.
My wristwatch showed it was ten minutes to dinner. “Five more laps, then I’m done,” I whispered, jumping into the pool.
“Where did I disappear to?” Kot had asked, I mulled, head down and sprinting to the other end.
It hadn’t been a long time since she was loving me in that smoking parlor, and the memories were fresh and the flesh raw. I kicked and backstroked.
I was yours for just a while, but I still love you so, I thought, watching the fairy lights overhead. If I only had a second chance, would I let her go? Too bad, I didn’t have her number. I sighed, pushed back against the wall, and sprinted through the remaining numbers.
The night passed in restless thoughts until morning came. My business partner, Kot, met me with my luggage at the hotel lobby before proceeding to the meeting at Lion in the Sun Boutique Hotel & Spa. He’d be dropping me off for my flight out later.
“That bebi got another lover,” Kot began.
“Which bebi?”
“I’ve had the stories, Obi. You know you're not a natural kind of lover, with no soft and tender ways. It's a chilling, killing kind of love.’ So, they say.”
“What are you talking about?”
“How much of your past has come back to plague us? I beg you, let this one go.”
The fairy lights overhead reminded me I was hers for just a while. And now Kot wanted to drag me into old ghosts. ‘I didn’t even take her number,’ I said, sharper than I meant.
“So, you knew what I was talking about!” He screeched to a halt.
“It was a masquerade,” I said defensively, “and she didn’t say anything about that.”
“She didn’t say, or you didn’t ask?”
“What difference does it make? Are you now an authority on morality?”
“Godless morality, that’s what it is, Obi, just in case you’re so far gone in your mischief to be saved!” He was almost shouting.
“Where is all this coming from, Kot?” I asked, calmly.
“I know you love to block your ears, I know you love to close your eyes because it makes things go easy. I'll tell you this one thing for that, it's quite an easy thing, but for us living in reality, it’s quite a dangerous thing.”
“What!”
“You need to be very afraid,” he added, his voice still.
“I’ll tell you this one thing, too: fear is the most dangerous thing. Fear tears you down. Fear is making you stop in the middle of the road,” I said, signaling to the cars hooting behind us.
“Now what are you scared of?” I began as we pulled up at the Lion after a long, icy drive and a valet opened our doors.
“The siren you were with yesterday is Darce. Her family’s hotel group is the investors I told you about.”
“That’s great news then.”
“No, you don’t get it. Darce doesn’t run shit. Her fiancée is the CEO of the group.”
“How’s that?”
“I hear this engagement is part of a merger deal, some corporate empire politics. Now I don’t need to get into all that; all I need is money.”
I felt the fire rise again in the pits of my stomach.
“Who else knows I was with her yesterday?”
“Nobody, as far as I know, you’re a stalking cat.”
“So how did you know?”
“What you need to be worried about is whether she’ll be in this meeting? And if she is, will she be able to keep cool or be a fool?”
