Life could be boring when one was alone and jobless. As expected, yeah, I had lost my job. Last two nights, James had called me over the phone, and had cursed me so badly. I was pretty sure he hadn’t dared to call Ryan. Ryan, on the other hand, was missing. Goodness knew what was up with him. He didn’t even care to call and ask about me or my parents. Well, he had probably left forever. Though I wasn’t ready to, I guessed I would have no choice but to move on.
“Hey, aunty!” I flinched on hearing that voice. With a small smile hanging on my lips, I turned to my tiny nephew who ran towards me.
“David.” I put him on my lap, pecked him on the forehead, and tweaked his cheek. “How’re you, my love? Did you have fun at the park?”
“Yes, I did.”
“Happy Birthday in advance.” I smiled widely at him. “My sweetie’s gonna be four.”
“Yes! I’ll be a big boy!” He rejoiced, throwing his arms up, and swinging it like a kite.
“Holla.” My elder sister, Anna, joined us on the bench. Since we were little, she liked sitting in the backyard, so I had been expecting her to come here.
Anna was the first child in the family. She was thirty, and was that one person that could be my twin. We both had blue eyes, a pointed nose, and in fact, we were both 5″9. The only difference in our look was her blonde hair, and well, she was fatter, since she was a mom already.
At first, Vicki and I had decided to not tell her about mom and dad’s accident. But, eventually, Vicki said all of it to her. She had also tried raising some money for our parents’ surgery, though she and her husband lived in Canada. When Vicki had told her about my stupid wedding, she had come all the way to the US, only to save me from James’ clutches. Anyway, she was too late. Ryan had saved me, already.
I gave her a warm smile. “What’s up? Did you all have fun at the park? And, um, I don’t see Vicki anywhere.”
She sat beside me, and chuckled. “She’s busy learning how to become a lawyer.”
“Hm?” I raised a brow at her.
“She said she’s gonna help me with some court cases, so she’s reading one of my big books,” she explained.
I giggled. “That silly girl.”
David hopped down from my lap, turning to his mom. “Mom, I wanna go and take a nap. I’m so tired.”
“Alright.” She pecked him on the forehead. “Go in through the back door. Enjoy your sleep, okay?”
He nodded, then jogged out of the backyard.
Anna sighed, and turned to me. She crossed her legs over each other, cleared her throat, giving me a smile. “So, how’re you doing now? Learning to get rid of the break up?”
I shook my head at her. “It’s not easy at all. Forgetting him isn’t something I can think of right now.”
“I understand that.” She nodded in agreement.
“But…” She shrugged. “You can’t keep on thinking about him forever, right? You’ll have to move on.”
“I-I don’t know how to.” I raked my fingers into my hair, exhaling so, so hard. “See, I think I should just forget about relationships. I’m not too old. I can go for a master degree in business administration or accountancy, and just further in my education or something.”
She chuckled. “Yeah right. Like it’s that easy. You wanna get some counselling from a lawyer who’s got a PHD degree?” She winked.
I pulled my lips down, a sad look crawling to my facial expression. “I’m just tired of everything. Furthering my education is all I can think of.”
“Or…” See furrowed her eyes at me, tucked her arms around her chest, and leaned close. “Wait, I wanna ask you a question.”
“Go on,” I said.
She cleared her throat. “Do you believe in God?”
My left eyebrow cocked at her. “Yeah, sure. Why?”
She pursed her lips. “And, um, do you believe in Jesus?”
“Uh?” I squeezed my face in confusion. What was going on?
She shrugged. “Do you?”
“Yeah, duh. I always have. You know that, don’t you? We’re Christians.” I kept lifting an eyebrow. I was so, so puzzled.
“Aha!” She snapped her fingers at me, smiling weirdly as if something was ringing in her head. “Good then. Go become a nun! That’s the best thing to do.”
“Ah, no!” I threw my arms up in reproof. “Why would I do that?”
“Cause you would no longer be heartbroken by some dudes. Duh.”
I slapped her arm. “Oh, shut up! Is this how you can make me feel better?”
She giggled. “Alright, alright. Guess the education part is a better option. Go for that.”
“Good,” I remarked.
“Cough!” That loud voice made me flinch and sulk at myself. Why did people like startling me?
I turned around to see who it was. “Vicki, what’s your problem?” I groused.
She laughed, and settled to sit on the bench as well. “What’s up with you guys?”
“Nothing,” I bit out.
She rolled her eyes. “Such a meanie. Anyway, I’m here for Anna, not you. You can go inside and attend to your lover.”
“What do you mean?” I gave her a blank expression.
She flapped her hand. “Just go inside. Ryan’s waiting for you. He’s here to see you.”
“Ryan?” I widened my eyes. All of a sudden, I squinted them. “I swear, if you’re pulling my legs, I’m gonna have to murder you. You know I’m dying to see him.”
“Oh, good.” Again, she rolled her eyes. “You can just keep on staying here. I won’t force you to go to him. After all, I’m still upset with you. I don’t care about you anymore”
I hopped from my seat. “I’ll be right back.”
With that, I made my way into the house. I didn’t think twice before going through the back door. I was more than excited to see him. Like a happy toddler, I jerked the door open, and stepped in.
I halted in my tracks for a while, totally nervous and hesitant to see him. I breathed in, breathed out, and cleared my throat. Being a bit dauntless, I walked into the living room.
There he was. Looking cute. He sat on the three seater couch, his eyes glued to his phone. He laughed at something, and snorted as well. That cute laugh. There was a small bag beside him, probably a bag containing groceries. He was wearing trainers, joggers pants and shirt, so I guessed he had probably been jogging. I didn’t know why, but only looking at him, I flushed with shyness.
Was I stupid? This man was angry at me.
I cleared my throat to get his attention, and of course, it worked. Our eyes met. Like one of those infatuated teenagers, I looked away. It felt hard to look him in the eye.
I brushed my feet on the carpet beneath me looking down, feeling bad for some reason. “You’re here? Had thought you wouldn’t ever come to see me,” I said.
He was silent. He just stood up, and walked to me. It made me feel even more nervous. He cleared his throat as well. “Look at me. I won’t bite you. There’s nothing on the floor.”
Ah, goodness. He knew I was avoiding eye contact with him.
Feeling more coy, I raised my neck to look at him. “Are you here for the locket?” I asked. “I know you wanna cut all—”
“Did I say anything?” He kept his hands in his pocket, giving me a stern look. “Don’t act all innocent. You aren’t innocent.”
“I agree.” I nodded. I didn’t know why I was speaking like my voice got stolen by a witch. What was with me? “So, what do you need? I see you’ve brought some groceries with you. See, you should stop doing that. I already owe you a lot.”
He took a step closer. “Oh, you want me to leave your life completely? You don’t—”
“No, no.” I shook my head immediately. “Wait, I don’t know. I mean, I don’t want you to leave, but well, you have every right to do so.”
“Hm.” He nodded. “I would have, but I realized that I kept my heart in your palm.”
“Ryan,” I called in a whisper, my eyes dunking in tears.
“I hate myself for falling in love this much.” He sighed. “However, since I can’t get rid of it, I’ll keep flowing with it.”
I sniffled. “Y-You wanna… forgive me?”
“No.” He smirked. “I don’t wanna. I just wanna take you back, so no man would fall for you.”
“Uh… it’s the same thing, you know?”
He looked away. “Whatever.”
I cupped his jaw, pulling his face so he’d look at me. “I’m so sorry, my love. I really am.”
Surprisingly, he cupped my jaw as well. Finally, he smiled. “I realized that instead of ending our relationship, we can fix it. Yes, I’ll admit, I’m still very hurt. But, with time, things would be fine. I’ll learn to get rid of the betrayal. After all, things like these are the ups and downs that occur in a relationship. Besides, I think I’m used to being betrayed and heartbroken. James has always tried to steal every woman I have. All my life, things like these have been happening to me. I’m almost used to it.”
“You’re so sweet.” I smiled. “I hope you find your peace in the end. I hope I can make it up to you.”
“It’ll be fine,” he said. He held my hands, squeezed them, still smiling. “Tomorrow, we should go on a date. My sister wants to see you. She’ll be around soon.”
“Good. I’ll be glad to see her.”
We were silent. Overly excited and dazed to know that he was actually giving me a second chance, I leaned close, and embraced him tightly. I couldn’t believe this. I just couldn’t. He was really forgiving me? But, how?
He held my jaw. Without a second thought, he smacked his lips over mine. I kissed as well, kissed with so much love, kissed mildly, kissed from the bottom of my heart, kissed as if we wouldn’t ever do this. I just wanted to show all my love in this one kiss.
“Mommy!” Hearing that tiny voice, we snapped away from each other. I moved my eyes to the source of the tiny cry, only for me to see David standing beside the staircase
My eyebrows jumped to the ceiling, my eyes widening so much. “D-David? What’re you doing here?”
He shook his head swiftly. “I’m sorry. Bye, bye.” Saying that, he ran up the stairs.
Embarrassed, I turned to Ryan, smiling like a shy donkey. “He saw that. Ouch.”
He chuckled. “It doesn’t matter. So, you wanna go on a walk?”
“Sure.” I nodded.
He took my hand, that warm smile pulling back to his lips. “I have something for you. Tomorrow, I’ll show you what it is.”
“Kk.”
He leaned close. Once again, he hugged me. This time around, he hugged tighter. “I missed you,” he whispered. “I really did. I’ll take the risk of believing in love again. Fate would decide whatever happens after.”
“Thank you.” I shut my eyes, enjoying the warmth of his body as I leaned my head on his chest. “I love you.”
“Love you too.”
***