The Formidable Vicario Returns

"Lorenzo, before you sign out, I want you to make one last delivery for the day."

I was walking to the staff room to sign out on the logbook when Ben's words, the manager's, prompted me to turn in frustration.

I had been making deliveries since the company opened and even had to work overtime because one of the two other people that was meant to be on shift with me called in sick.

The same Ben told me to cover the person's tasks, which I unhesitatingly did, but it seemed I could never satisfy him or the owner of the company, Michael Anderson, no matter what I did.

I had been working for the fast food delivery company for two years, but I had never been rewarded for my diligence. Many people who were employed after me had been promoted, but I had never even been rewarded once.

But I never cared about it. Even though I was nobody and had nothing, I had never sought validation from people and would never.

Regardless of how Michael considered me and treated me like I was worthless and spat on me, they did not get to me. They never did.

Instead, my love for Sandra was the only thing that kept me moving on regardless.

As an orphan just like she was, she struggled to further her education at the university with the menial jobs she usually did, which is why I had always sponsored her tuition fees with the little I earned.

I trusted her with my entire life and had never once questioned her loyalty or had she done something for me to do so, which was why I was certain that she was worth it.

She was a few months away from her graduation from law school, and I knew that in some years, our lives would turn positively because I still had the plan to further my education to university level.

"I've been working since I resumed, while Israel spent almost the whole time sitting and doing nothing." I pointed it out to Ben.

"Mister Anderson gave the instruction to deliver it yourself." He handed me the pizza package, which I reluctantly collected since I had no choice.

Working there was the only source of my income.

"That jerk. He just loathed me to the bone." I muttered.

I asked for his address and inputed it on my Google Map as I ignited my bike's engine to the location in anticipation.

I was not anticipating making the delivery. Hell no!

My anticipation was because I had decided to propose to Sandra officially to be my fiancee in order to take our relationship to the next level.

My face was plastered with smiles as I touched my pocket, feeling the ring box I was going to propose to her with-the ring that took me three months to save up from my salary and tips I received from customers for the duration.

I had been reluctant to make the decision for months because I had considered my financial status, but I finally decided to, after realising that love didn not cost a dime. Little did I know that I was wrong.

She had been with me when I had no penny; why would she not accept my proposal?

Although it was meant to be a surprise for her, I had been calling her to know her whereabouts, but she had not been picking up, leading me to conclude that she was studying at home since her phone was always silent whenever she did so.

She had been taking her reading seriously since it was her final exam.

I smiled again, imagining her beautiful smile that would brighten my world when I would go down on my knees and say the words I had practiced to propose to her.

I increased the speed of the bike as I twisted the throttle grip towards me.

After what seemed to take forever, I parked in front of a opulent mansion, as the map had indicated.

"Yes," I chuckled as I checked my wristwatch with tattered leather straps, finding out that I got there twenty minutes before the time indicated on the map.

I was gobsmacked by the beautiful sight of the mansion before me, and I lost myself admiring it for some moments.

As I stepped through the towering gate, I gawked at the sheer grandeur of the surroundings that enveloped me.

The driveway stretched out before me like a red carpet and was flanked by meticulously manicured lawns.

As I marvelled at the extravagance surrounding me, my thoughts drifted to Michael, the heir to this vast fortune.

Despite the golden opportunity bestowed upon him, he seemed oblivious to the true value of his inheritance.

Instead of cherishing the wealth and privilege that surrounded him, he squandered it on reckless pursuits and thoughtless actions, leaving a trail of scandal and disgrace in his wake.

He had a reputation for always making bad headlines on the news, from driving recklessly and getting caught to uttering derogatory remarks to people considering them worthless and so many other things. He also had reputations for a wayward lifestyle, partying, drinking, and fornicating.

It was a stark contrast to my own modest lifestyle, where every penny earned was cherished and every opportunity seized with gratitude.

Yet, as I stood in the midst of luxury while shaking my head, I could not help but feel a pang of pity for him, for he possessed everything money could buy but seemed to lack the one thing that truly mattered-wisdom to appreciate the true worth of his inheritance.

I snapped myself out of the thought, realising that picturing myself in his shoes was useless.

It was only a dream that would never come true-for now. I was a delivery man, a worker in a world that was ruled by the wealthy and powerful. I would always be on the outside looking in, a stranger in a world that he could never truly call my own probably until some years later.

What enveloped my mind now instead was seeing Sarah, picturing her expression, and imagining her delicate lips on mine.

I rapped on the door, and no reply came seconds later.

"I hope this guy doesn't delay me." I prayed silently as I rapped on it again three times consecutively, but impatiently this time.

"Who the fuck is that? Do you know how much the door costs?" Micheal yelled.

I chuckled because that was exactly what I expected from him-to reply rudely.

"I'm sorry, sir. It's me, Lorenzo. I'm here to make the delivery you requested." I informed him.

"How early you arrive only if you know how long I've been expecting you."

He can't just stop being rude, can he?

I didn't reply to him because doing so would make him delay me with his silly talks and nags more.

"Babe, can you help me get that?"

I was certain that the person he spoke to was a woman whom he had planned to have a nice time with on his bed.

"Okay." The person replied.

"I knew it." I scoffed at verifying that I was right.

But! But the voice sounded familiar. Could it– Never! It can never be who I thought it was.

As I stood behind the door, impatience gnawed at me like a relentless itch.

I tapped my foot nervously. Each second felt like an eternity as I waited for the door to swing open, eager to leave and reunite with the love of my life.

Finally, the latch clicked, and the door creaked open slowly, revealing the figure on the other side.

My jaw dropped in disbelief as I stared at the person before me, my mind struggling to reconcile reality with expectation.

There she stood, framed by the doorway, wearing a simple night robe that clung to her curves and her hair still damped from the shower.

It was her-the last person I had expected to see, yet there she was.

My heart raced as I struggled to find words, my mind reeling with a whirlwind of emotions.

I blinked my eyes twice, hoping it was not her. It can never be my Sarah that was before me. Never!

But as I gazed into her eyes, I saw the truth reflected back at me.

"Sarah, what are you doing here?" I asked her in disbelief.

"Lorenzo," she muttered.

"What are you doing here?" I asked her again because that was all that mattered to me at that moment.

"I...I..."

It suddenly became clear to me that she was there to have sex with Michael, given her stuttering and appearance, although I had initially hoped for a different reason.

"You must be kidding me." I scoffed.

I could not believe my eyes as my world fell apart before I realised that the very woman around whom my life revolved was cheating on me. With that jerk, for that matter!

Then the devil himself showed up.

"I guess everything has been revealed." He chuckled as he appeared from behind the door.

Both I and Sarah were surprised as our gaze fell on him.

Sarah lifted her chin up in confusion, furrowing her brows in confusion.

"What is going on here?" I asked him, scrunching my face.

"Well, since you haven't fully realised..." He chuckled and shifted his gaze to Sarah.

"I'm sorry, darling. I planned everything to show him that poverty-stricken jerks like him cannot possess treasures like you. It is never possible." He grinned satisfactorily.

I could not believe my ears; instantly, my mind flashed back to a few weeks ago when Sarah came to meet me at the company.

She brought me my lunch because I had been eating out for days due to being busy.

I noticed that while we were conversing, Henry, who was talking to the manager, was busy ogling at her ass, which fit snugly in her gown, making me uncomfortable.

Yes, Sarah was indeed a treasure to possess. Aside from the love I had for her, her body was stunning and could make heads turn wherever she went. She had a curvaceous body that didn't need her to try her best to reveal itself in whatever fabric she wore.

After she left me, I saw her conversing with Henry outside the company, but she did not give him any attention.

His expression etched defeat as she left the scene, leaving him standing with his jaw dropping as I observed them from inside.

She told me everything that happened between them even before I could bring up the issue when I returned home, recounting how she embarrassed him with words, leaving him speechless.

We laughed it off as she claimed that she would never have anything to do with someone like him, which made butterflies churn in my belly.

That night was the day I realised that I had found the other piece of me and that her heart could not be bought with money.

Little did I know that I was bluffing, because how did someone who seemed to be my heaven-sent lover turn out to be cheating on me with someone I least accepted?

Thinking of the worst treatment I received from Michael since that day broke my heart more.

I had expected her to flare up at the fact that Michael played her, making her get caught in his web of ridiculous game, but she didn't. She remained calm instead, maintaining her usual expression.

Seeing that I was motionless and speechless due to the shock from everything that had happened, Michael collected the delivery bag from me, spread his arm around her shoulder, and finally, with a derisive wink, closed the door while I remained frozen.

But before the door could finally close, I wanted to call her name-a plea for her to have a re-think of her decision and return to me-but word failed me as it ended up being a whisper.

Even though I was heartbroken and never expected to catch her in such an act, I earnestly hoped that she would return to me. I was willing to accept her back into my life if she apologised, but she did not. She did not even show any sign of remorse or redemption.

I turned to leave in defeat after seconds had passed of me standing in front of the door like an uninvited guest. That was when I realised that it had been raining.

As I entered the rain to leave, the ominous clouds overhead seemed to mirror the heartbreak raging within him. The rain poured down in torrents, drenching me to the bone as I walked, each drop feeling like a heavy blow, echoing the weight of betrayal and heartache I carried.

"What could be her reason for cheating on me?" I halted, trying to reflect on what could be her reason.

"Did he offer her a huge amount of money?" I shunned the thought because she was not the type to be won over with money.

"Fuck it!" I turned with determination to leave with her so that we would talk it out, discuss extensively about it, and settle it.

I just could not live without her. I could not picture myself without her.

Finally, I reached out a trembling hand and pounded on the door.

"Micheal, you motherfucker. I dare you to open this door if you have the balls. I am not leaving here without Sarah. She is mine!" I screamed at them, especially him, to hear me regardless of the rain and thunder, not bothered by the threat the action posed to my job.

As the door swung open after some minutes, it revealed Michael's smirking face, and the tempest of emotions brewing within me was nothing compared to the storm raging outside.

"Well, well, well, Did you forget something?" He taunted, his voice dripping with mock.

I squared my shoulders, refusing to back down.

"I'm not leaving without Emily, Michael. Yes, you've won, but that's it!" I shot back, my tone laced with barely contained fury.

Sarah appeared and hovered behind Michael, her eyes darting nervously between us.

"Please, Lorenzo, just leave, please." She pleaded, her voice tinged with guilt.

Although her utterance shattered my heart into fragments, I was determined to leave there with her, and nothing or no one could stop me.

In determination, I tried to force myself in to drag Sarah out of there, but he kept blocking my way, which erupted the pent-up anger in me, prompting me to land a punch on his face, hence, making him fall to the ground.

Sarah gasped and approached me. She stood in front of me as she held my arms, a plea for me to stop my raging display which was already beyond my control.

Her gaze was filled with guilt as she looked deep into my eyes. "Please, stop this."

Even though her touch still sent electricity coursing through my body like it usually did, her pleas fell on my deaf ears.

Michael cleaned the blood of stains off his lips.

"Trust me, you will surely regret this." He smirked.

But I considered his threat a bluff because I was confident that he would be no match for me if we were to go fist-for-fist.

The fact that he still did not see anything wrong with what he had done vexed me, prompting me to approach him and land a punch on his face again, but Sarah stopped me as she gripped my arms tightly.

"I never meant for any of this to happen, but it has. Please just leave for now." She muttered, her voice barely above a whisper.

Michael's grin turned predatory as he stepped forward, closing the distance between us.

"You never meant for what to happen, Sarah? Getting caught?" He sneered, his words like venom.

I could not believe that he could still confidently speak, knowing fully well that I could end his life if I wanted to right there.

I turned, standing toe-to-toe with him, and bristled, my fists clenched at my sides.

"Enough of this, Michael. I am taking her with me whether you like it or not." I growled, my voice thick with anger.

"You can't even stop me if you want to." I chuckled as I held her hand to leave with her.

But Michael only laughed. "You wish."

Little did I know that his threats were not bluffs until two cops showed up before I could reply to him or leave with Sarah.

"Hey, mister," my attention was directed to where the voice came from.

I was shocked to see them, not knowing their reason for being there.

"You are under arrest." The second cop said, which surprised me because they didn't even bother to ask what was happening.

"For what?" I asked, furrowing my brows.

"You are under arrest for physically assaulting Mr. Michael and for causing disturbance in his peaceful house." The other cop replied.

"What?" I was surprised that they did not interrogate any of us before coming to a conclusion.

That is exactly what they were expected to do.

"Just get him out of here."

That was when it dawned on me that that was the reason Michael said that I would regret my actions. He had obviously called them before he showed up behind the door.

I could not believe the cops meant their words until one of them started approaching me.

My eyes locked with Sarah's as I expected her to plead with Michael on my behalf, even though everything that happened before me moments ago broke my heart, but she did not.

She seemed not to take what was happening anymore and left, her eyes tinged with pity, leaving me with Michael and the two cops.

"What the hell are you doing? This is a violation of my rights." I wanted to call their senses into them as if they had been spellbound by Michael, but it did not work as they handcuffed me and forced me into the car.

My heart sank more, realising that I had been treated unjustly due to the influence of money.

Before they drove out of the scene, Michael waved at me, smirking derisively.

Everything seemed like a movie until we arrived at the police station.

I had planned to create a scene once we entered by drawing people's attention to how I was unjustly arrested by shouting, but that did not help. Instead, it ended up worse for me as different cops kept on hitting and harassing me, making me realise that I was powerless in the situation.

"You are a damn fool for thinking you can escape the wrath of people like Michael. You don't cross paths with people like him." A cop stationed at the counter that was collecting my belongings scoffed.

Before I realised it, I found myself locked up in a holding cell with four others.

Sitting on the floor with my back against the wall, I remembered the last words spoken by the cop at the counter.

"Just hope he is not willing to take this to court; if not, you're done for." He had told me.

"What mess have I gotten myself into?" I bumped my head against the wall lightly.

I had stepped on the tail of a cobra, and now I was left with nothing but to face its confrontation.

Getting imprisoned just because of a lady did not even make sense. But Sarah deserved it. I could do anything for her. If she was remorseful and later followed me home to settle everything that happened, I would not even bother being locked up there.

"You don't have courtesy. Do you?" A voice in the cell snapped me out of my thoughts.

I didn't say anything since I was certain that he was not referring to me-not until I saw two huge figures standing before me.

Before I realised it, they began punching me repeatedly in the face, alleging that the noise from my head hitting the wall was disturbing them and that I showed them no respect-I was meant to treat them with reference right from the moment I stepped my foot on the cell.

After they were satisfied with beating me, I sobbed silently on how unfortunate I was as everything that happened in the night replayed in my head.

"This is all because of you, Sarah." I whispered, groaning in pain.

The next morning, while every part of my body was still aching in pain, a cop opened the holding cell, informing me that I had a visitor.

I let out a slight smile, knowing that it was definitely Sarah. I had no family. The only family I knew was my mother, who died when I was nine.

I did not know who my father was, whether he was alive or not. When my mother was alive, I would ask about my father, but her reaction was always sombre, sometimes leading to tears.

I stopped asking because I could not bear to see her upset, especially considering all she had done for me.

If only I had known that death would come between us very soon, I would have asked her of who my father was and the family we belonged to regardless.

The question of my family's identity has weighed heavily on my heart since my mother's death, until I met Sarah.

She had never made me feel left out in my entire life and showed and gave me a purpose to live-to keep going on with life regardless.

I scrunched my face as I saw her sitting on one of the chairs in the waiting room, a pretext that I was annoyed at her.

"What happened to your face?" She touched the bruises on my face, her eyes tinged with concern.

"What happened to my face? Are you not the cause?" I scoffed.

"I'm sorry." She muttered.

I could not keep up with my act and held her hands as our eyes locked with each other's. "Tell me, Sarah, what really happened?"

Before she could reply, I added. "I know it's not because of money. You've never been swayed by that, so don't tell me it is."

"Lorenzo...just forget about us. Let us put an end to this." She announced it, which came as a shock to me.

"What are you saying?" I chuckled in disbelief.

"I'm sorry I made this happen to you. It's my fault, and I didn't mean for it to happen, whether you believe me or not, but this relationship cannot work any more." She clarified.

That was not what I was expecting her to say. How could she say that? Had she forgotten what she meant to me?

"Babe..." I hushed, barely a whisper.

"I believe you. I know there's a reason you were there. But I forgive you... I'm ready to take you back into my life. Heck! What happened between you two may not even be what I thought last night."

"If what you thought last night was if we had sex, I'm sorry to break your heart, but..." She pulled out her hand.

"We did," her voice was barely above a whisper as she broke the news to me.

My eyes widened, but I hid it, determined to forgive her regardless, even if the wound would take a very long time in my heart to heal.

"Still-"

"Just forget about it, Lorenzo." She snapped.

"I came here to tell you that I have apologised to Michael on your behalf, and he has agreed to release you. Only if you..."

She lowered her voice. "If you go down on your knees before him and apologise."

"What?!" All eyes fell on me as I instinctively shouted.

I whispered. "What do you mean? Me? Fall on my knees to beg that asshole? Never! Besides, I thought that you were here to bail me out."

She told me that Michael had instructed the cops not to grant my bail and that I would be released unless I did what he said.

"Never! That is not possible. Not in a law-abiding country." I replied.

"Haven't you realised what is happening?" She raised her voice at me, which had never happened before.

A guard cop cautioned us that if any of us shouted again, that would be the end of the visit.

She apologised afterwards.

"What do you mean? What is happening?" I asked her.

"I can't believe you can be asking me such a question." She chuckled in disbelief, scrunching her face.

"Don't you realise you can never win this battle? Michael has shown you one of the things that the rich have over the poor, which is the reality, just like he did to me."

"What did he do to you? Tell me." I curiously asked, excited that she was finally going to spill the reason for cheating on me with him out.

"Never mind." She muttered.

"Yes, he cheated you, but it's either you rot in jail because he is ready for you to be charged in court or you do as he said." She explained.

Her statement made me realise that she was right, including recalling what the cop at the counter the previous night had said, which broke my heart because the universe had always been against me. Always defeating me with any chance it had.

I agreed to do what Michael said after she explained it to me, but I suggested we could still salvage our relationship.

But she was determined that it was over between us.

She stood to leave, telling me that that would be the last time we would be seeing each other and advising me to cut off every connection I had with her.

"Do you know... do you know that I planned to propose to you last night?" I informed her, as she was some feet away from me.

Without turning, she replied. "I didn't wish for us to end this way. I never even wished we could get separated, but you just have to let go of me the way I've decided to. Bye, Lorenzo."

With that, she walked out of the room while my eyes could not get off her figure, brewing tears.