Again, and again, and again, I gulped. Wait, how in the world had he fallen for me? What was wrong with these guys? What was going on in my life? First, it had been Raymond. Then Ralph. Then Ryan. And now, Kenneth? What was all this? A love… pentagon? Four men, all in love with me? Was I Bill Gates’ secret daughter or something? What was happening?!
Extremely confused, I threw my hand up, violently raked my fingers into my hair. “Oh, Jesus, help me. Please, help me.”
Kenneth sighed. “This is it, Serene. It hurts so much when you defend Marsha. How can you expect me to like her, though I’m in love with someone else?”
“But, see, I need to tell you something,” I announced. I wasn’t in for the shitty I-love-you talks.
For Jeez’ sake, I had a boyfriend! A very cute, adorable, and extremely loving boyfriend. It had been a few weeks since I had been dating Ryan, over a month since I had liked him, over a year since I had known him, but, to be frank, the weeks had been the best times of my life. Raymond and Ralph were no longer creeping into my life, so Kenneth had to shut his love-you mouth, and go back to Marsha!
He tugged off his glasses, his throat moving as if he gulped hard. “I’ll end this conversation here. Hopefully, you’ll give me a chance in your heart.”
“But, Ken, I’m not—”
“I don’t wanna hear some discouraging words from you, okay? So just… leave me for now. I need you to think about it first,” he said.
“Wait, you need—”
“When next I see you, I wanna hear some good news.” He cut me off again. What was with him?
I slapped my palm against my forehead. “Wait, listen! Stop—”
“Now that I’ve expressed my feelings to you, I hope Marsha gives up on me. I hope she backs off now,” he continued.
“Stop shunning me!” I threw my arms up, my eyebrows raised to the sky, my mouth dropped to the ground. What was going on with this man? I had always thought he was cute, but now, he disgusted me.
“Goodnight. Sweet dreams.” Without giving me a chance to explain myself, he just turned around, and jogged out of my proximity.
Angered, I grumbled at myself, and stomped back to the store. My aim had been to sort things out between Marsha and him, but, in the end, I got a shocking proposal. So upsetting.
Immediately I walked into the store, my eyes caught Marsha standing by the counter. I rambled to her, feeling quite bad. “You’re okay?” I asked.
“Guess so.” She rubbed her knuckles against her eyes, and looked at me. Who would have ever known that her pretty, blue eyes could end up being this red, due to the crazy amount of tears that had left them? She sniffled. “Someday, I’ll be fine. Anyway, he’s told you about his feelings, right?”
I nodded hesitantly.
A weak smile plastered on her lips, and she looked down. “Good for you. Guess this is the end of my love for him. I-I’m done. I’ll give up. Yeah, that’s what I’ll do.”
“Marsha, please, don’t.” I attempted to pat her shoulder, but she stepped backwards.
Again, she sniffled. “I’ll be on my way home. Goodnight.”
“But—” She just twirled around, and ran towards the restroom.
I leaned my elbow over the counter, ran my fingers into my hair, feeling so, so confused.
My love life was in a Pentagon. And now, I was creating a triangle in theirs. This was upsetting.
***
Spending my Saturdays with Ryan had always been the best thing to do. His nice sense of humor always cracked me up daily, together with the amazing kisses and hugs I constantly got from him. Glimpsing at him, I smiled, blushing. Why did he like to stare at me this way? His intent gaze always made me feel like a shy teenager.
I stood on my toes, so I’d be able to grab a frying pan from the kitchen cabinet. Grabbing that, I walked over to the counter in his kitchen, and took some tomatoes and onions from a small love-shaped basket. In a short while, I began to slice them. I was going to cook a delicious meal for us.
“So, why haven’t you gone to work in about four days?” He hopped on the counter, resumed staring at me.
I laughed weirdly. I hadn’t wanted him to ask me anything about my workplace. If he found out about Kenneth’s so-called love for me, he’d be upset and jealous. “Well…” I cleared my throat. “I’ve been too tired to go to work. And, no worries, my boss asked me to take the week off.”
“Oh. That’s good for me.”
I nodded.
As I continued to slice the tomatoes, his eyes scanned me. What was going on with him?
“You know what?” He tweaked my cheek, smiling like SpongeBob SquarePants. “I think you should visit a salon. I need you to style your hair.”
“Why?” I pursed my lips. “I like my hair this way.”
“I’ll be attending a business dinner tonight. And, you’re gonna come with me. This time around, you’ll be my girlfriend, and not a hired girlfriend,” he stated.
I giggled. “Okay. Whatever.”
“I’ll ask someone to get you something nice to wear.” He stepped down from the counter. For some reason, he smirked, and stood behind me. His arms snaked around my waist, his lips dropping a kiss on my neck. “Tonight, I want everyone to see Ryan Arthur’s girlfriend. I want them to admire us till their eyes fall off.”
“You’re silly.” I slapped his arm, but he didn’t pull away from me.
Again, he pecked my neck. “I know. I’m in love. That’s it. Don’t blame me.”
“Mr. Lover,” I remarked.
Afterwards, silence overshadowed us.
Unexpectedly, he pulled away from me, and burst out laughing. I winced, wondering why he had laughed that hard, and why his laughter sounded as if rocks were falling from the sky. He kept laughing, his shoulders and arms shaking as he did so. He tugged his hands to his belly, leaning his back over the counter.
“Mr. Lover,” he murmured. For some reason, that made him laugh harder.
He laughed to the point he fell to the floor. He lay flat on it, closing his eyes as he laughed. His legs wiggled like a defaulted machine, tears starting to leave his eyes. Wait, this was quite creepy. Had he been possessed? Why would a mere “Mr. Lover” make him laugh this hard? Should I just call a doctor or something?
“Ah!” He cried as he still kept laughing.
Quite scared, I just continued slicing the tomatoes.
When I noticed that he was no longer laughing, I turned to him. He looked groggy and exhausted as he sat on the floor. Had he run mad?
He smiled like a lunatic, and exhaled. “Men, you’re so funny. Mr. Lover?”
“But, what’s funny about that?” I shrugged, totally confused.
He was silent, and we just stared at each other. His smile grew wider. Again, for no reason, he threw his head back, and burst out laughing. The back of his head clashed against the floor, his hands tugging at his belly.
Unaware of what to do, I sauntered towards the sink. When he was done laughing, he would probably inform me. Till further notice, I would ignore him.
I guessed Mr. Lover would be insane for a few minutes.
***