The Devil's Favourite Obsession

Silviya noticed that Lily was paying enough attention to her words to create a believable story.

Silviya reflected on how Cixi was. She was weak and kept a lot of emotions to herself. She would fight back, well, she tried, but she could never outrun the group. Especially not Silviya.

How dare Cixi ignore her message! And how could she leave college when she was the reason Silviya started to enjoy it? Silviya’s day would be complete if she could just make Cixi suffer. She liked how defiant Cixi was, but sometimes Cixi held back so that Silviya would not come at her with more force. Cixi was both smart and foolish.

Silviya decided to build more tension into the story.

She was not going to mention the video. The video was the reason Cixi had left college. It was the reason Cixi had moved without leaving a forwarding address, the reason she changed her number and her home.

If Silviya mentioned the video now in front of Lily, this pathetic girl would surely warn Cixi within the hour, giving Cixi a second chance to run away. Silviya meticulously accounted for this. Cixi was not going to be permitted a second chance to escape. No!

Silviya wanted to capture Cixi and put her through all sorts of torment, so that she would remember Silviya’s name until her death.

How dare Cixi ignore her? Silviya had asked her to meet in front of the college at a specific time, and yet Cixi had not replied. Silviya sat in this cafe, hidden in a secluded corner, with a barista beginning to wear the concerned expression of a worried friend. Cixi was not going to walk away.

”Once,” Silviya created another lie, ”Felix almost killed Cixi.”

Lily’s body went on alert. ”That fucker,” she hissed under her breath.

Silviya’s words made Lily think deeper. Was this why Cixi never talked about her past? Was this why Cixi changed the subject every time the conversation drifted toward the college? Was this why sometimes Cixi flinched at men who raised their voices at the counter?

Lily got worried about her friend.

Silviya watched the worry arrive across Lily’s face. The worry was the precise emotion Silviya had been building toward. ”He is one hell of a piece of work,” Silviya said. ”And now he is looking for her.”

”Looking for her?!”

”Cixi changed her number. She left her old apartment. She is not in touch with me or anyone. I was the only person in that whole college who actually wanted to protect her. But she did not let me. And now Felix is going mad. He cannot find her. He is dangerous!”

Lily scrutinised the sentence. She did not, by the careful instinct that had been earned across three years behind a cafe counter listening to strangers, take everything she was being told at face value.

”After six months,” Lily pointed, ”he has decided to look for her after six months?”

”Yes.”

”Six months is a long time. Why wait until now?”

”He has been distracted. There were other girls he kept himself busy with. And suddenly, one day, he asked everyone on the campus about Cixi!” Silviya’s expression changed to one of fear.

”So he was done with other females and now looking for Cixi... for what? To die?!” Lily gritted her teeth in anger.

”He flirts. He cheats. He moves on. He keeps three women on a string at any given moment of the week. He is bad news, and I do not know why Cixi did not take my warning seriously. I am so worried for her...”

Lily registered the sentence.

Silviya saw the registration cross Lily’s face. She moved to cover it. ”He caught me off guard last week at the campus canteen. He dumped food on me in front of everyone. I was so scared of him that I kept my head down. I cried and begged him to forgive me if I had made any mistakes. Instead of letting me go, he grabbed my neck. He lifted me off the floor and started questioning me about Cixi. He told me that if I did not tell him where Cixi was, he would...”

”He would what?” Lily did not let Silviya finish the sentence.

Silviya hesitated. She had been intending to say he would kill me. But she changed her mind. ”He would hurt me in the worst possible way,” she said.

”I am sorry you had to go through all that. And so,” Lily said, ”you came here today. To find Cixi. And to tell her that he is looking for her.”

”Yes.”

”So that she can run.”

”Yes and no. I want to warn her and help her.”

”With three of you.”

”What?”

”With three of you at the corner table. With a man at the table. With another man at the table. Among them, one was here recently, and Cixi ran away from him.”

Silviya’s mouth did not move for a careful, uneven second. She then turned and looked at her boyfriend and then at Rony.

”We study in the same college. I think Cixi was reminded of her past by seeing him. She does not do well being close to men because of Felix. Probably, she did not want to put Rony in danger because of Felix, so she ran away. That is what she started doing later when Felix had beaten people up because they talked to her,” Silviya added more lies. ”That’s why you need to arrange for me to meet her. I need to know if she’s okay. I want to see her smiling again. My friend that I lost—I want to see that she’s doing fine.” Silviya held Lily’s hand. ”Please, it’s my request. But don’t tell her I’m waiting for her. She might not turn up. I feel she needs to face reality; otherwise, she might live in fear of men for the rest of her life. I can see how worried you are about Cixi, and I can tell you’re a good friend to her. So please, let me meet her. Let me help her.”