POV: Raphael
“Do you love him?” I asked her, looking at her closely, watching her every reaction.
“What?” She asked, looking at me strangely.
“Answer me, Victoria!
Are you in love with Miguel?!” I yelled in anger, staring fixedly at her.
“What are you talking about, what do you want me to say?” she asked back, feigning anger.
“I want to know why you talk about him with so much passion and why you act as if he were your lover. Is he your boyfriend, are you having a secret relationship with a guy you just met today?!” I asked her, yelling angrily at her. Of course, I know that it’s not possible for her to be having a secret relationship with him, but I just want to know if she is truly in love with him.
“He is my friend, Ralph, nothing more. He is just a guy I met today, I like having him around me because he… he… he…” I guess she wanted to say that he cares about her but she realizes that it would not be nice to idolize another man in front of me. I tipped my head to the side, staring at her as if she had done something abominable.
“I’m sorry,” she let out sadly, looking away from me and playing with her hands. I’m making her feel guilty for not doing anything and that’s wrong. but I just can’t stop myself, I needed to know how she feels about him, and now that I know that she is falling in love with her brother, I hate myself for not telling her the truth from the beginning.
I love her, I should have told her about my true feelings for her. Maybe if I had been open about my feelings for her, she would not have opened her heart to fall in love with another man. It’s just that, I can’t begin to express my true feelings and caring for her like I really want to, I can’t even apologize and make up for my mistakes like I planned to. Expressing my feelings is going to make me weak and I don’t want to be seen as a weakling, never.
I can’t wait to see the look on her face when she finds out that Miguel is her brother. She would hate herself if she discovers that he is her brother, she will never forgive me, or him too. I don’t know how long I can keep up with this lie, I don’t know how long I can keep the truth about her identity away from her.
“I am not in love with him, Ralph, I just enjoy his company. I feel this special bond with him and he makes me forget about my problems, he makes me happy.” she let out with a smile, her eyes lighting up. if I had any doubt that they are siblings, it disappeared the moment I saw the glint in her eyes. she may not know that he is her brother yet, but she sure feels drawn to him, a bond that has always been there.
She knows I am not happy that she is seeing this guy, but she still couldn’t stop herself from talking about him with passion, she couldn’t stop smiling as she spoke nice things about him. I finally calmed as she explained how she spent the rest of the day with him, how he took her shopping and bought matching wristwatches and other nice stuffs. she told me how she thinks that he looks a lot like her and she is going to have lunch with him tomorrow because she likes his company.
“He’s so caring and understanding, Raphael. I like him, not in a bad way, I promise. He’s like a part of me that I never even knew was missing.” She confessed, smiling to herself as she thought about him. I looked at her for a few minutes, chuckling to myself. She is obviously thinking about him right here before me. She has this dreamy look on her face, he eyes looking thoughtful. There is no doubt that she cares about this guy, she likes him so much.
“You look so cute when you talk about him, he must be such a nice guy,” I told her, smiling back at her. She nodded in response, smiling brightly at me as I pulled her in for a peck on her forehead.
“Fine, you can hang out with him, but only if you promise to keep to the terms of our contract no matter what.” I told her, coaxing her to agree to my condition. I know that there is nothing I can do you stop her, she is obviously happy to spend time with him and that is fine with me as long as I don’t get to lose her. I couldn’t ruin her happiness, I had to let go off my anger and jealousy and let her get to know her brother better.
“I’m really sorry for what I said earlier,” I began, my voice expressing my sincerity.
“I didn’t mean to hurt you. I was just overwhelmed, and I took it out on you. Besides, I should not have sided with Dominic and Claire against you. You should always come first, I know that now and I’m sorry. You didn’t deserve that.” I told her honestly, wondering where I got the motivation to say all this to her face with feeling like a fucking weasel. Victoria sighed, the tension in her shoulders easing slightly.
“I know you didn’t mean it, but it still hurt. I just want to feel appreciated, you know?
Im doing my best and putting everyone first. Sometimes I wish I had someone to treat me right, someone that will truly understand me.” She confessed, looking so sad. I took a step closer, my heart filled with pain as I realized that she is actually talking about me. Even if every one treats her badly, I should not be like them. I’m supposed be her source of laughter and comfort. I should always make her happy and not the other way around.
“You are so amazing, Victoria. You light up my world. I don’t want you to ever doubt that.” I confessed, looking into her eyes, smiling warmly at her. I reached for her hand, intertwining our fingers.
“Can you forgive me?” I asked her, looking into her eyes. Her eyes searched mine, and after a moment, she nodded.
“I can, Ralph, I can never be mad at you for too long. But you have to promise to communicate better when you’re feeling overwhelmed” she told me with a smile, as she used her fingers to make the quote sign in the air to emphasize her point.
“I promise,” i said with a smile, relief washing over me. With a gentle tug, I pulled her into my arms, wrapping her in a warm embrace. We sat there for a moment, savoring the closeness, the warmth of our bodies merging together. Then, I leaned back slightly, cupping her face in my hands.
“You’re beautiful, you know that?” I teased, smiling at her. Victoria smiled, her cheeks flushing.
“You have your way with words, you always know what to say.” She responded with a smile. I leaned in, capturing her lips with mine in a tender kiss. It was soft at first, but soon deepened, filled with the unspoken apologies and love that had been building between us. When we finally pulled apart, we were both breathless, our foreheads resting against each other.
Damn, I want more, I want to take of these clothes and make love to her all night long, showing her how much I care about her. But I had to hold back for now, I still gave some apologizing to do.
“Let’s make dinner together,” Victoria suggested, a playful glint in her eyes.