But then I changed my mind in the last seconds. Biting my lower lip, I tried to take a step and I did it so I kept walking until I heard David call my name.
“Sam?”
I didn’t turn to look at him so, in the next second, I found him standing in front of me.
“Sam? Are you okay?” Worry was evident in his voice as he grabbed my elbow. “What are you doing here?” He asked again but instead of answering his question, I swatted his hand with a slight force and gave him a blank expression.
I continued to walk, but every time I took a step, he blocked my way.
“Sam, what happened to your foot? It’s bleeding!”
“So what? It’s as if you care!” I walked past him only to be pulled back in front of him.
“You heard us talking.” He said calmly this time. It wasn’t a question but a confirmation
Since I didn’t respond, he made me look at him.
“I will explain everything, but please let me treat your wound.” He was still holding my arms.
“No, thanks, but I can take care of it myself.”
“Sam?”
“Why don’t you just go back to her and stop her from crying like what you were doing earlier?” I asked sarcastically but didn’t wait for his answer as I took his hands off me, but it was to no avail.
“Sam, it’s not what you’re thinking —”
“Whoa! Does it matter? Does it matter what I think or not?”
He didn’t answer my question. He let go of my hands instead and let out a deep long sigh that made my heart shattered even more.
“Her mother is in the hospital and is currently in a coma due to a head injury she got from a car accident.”
“Ahh… ” The only word I formed in response. Even though I was shocked to hear the news and felt a little guilty, still it wasn’t enough to vanish the pain I had when I saw the look of sadness in his eyes while he was hugging her.
“Then you need to go back to her because she needs you more than anyone else.” I told him almost a whisper. I suddenly felt weak the more I stared at him as I saw him so down because his girlfriend’s mother was in a coma.
I gulped, biting my lower lip, trying with all my might to hold back the tears that were forming around my eyes.
“Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to go home!” I emphasized the last word.
“No, Sam. I won’t let go without treating your wound! It might get infected if I let you go this way!”
“Whether it gets infected or not, it’s not your problem to worry about!” I spat, gaining all my strength to scream at him.
“Sam, please, don’t be stubborn and let me treat your wound!”
“Stubb — stubborn? And how did I become stubborn when this is my own body? Whether I treat this wound or not, it’s not up to you to decide!” I really felt the pain in my foot so I had to push him to get through. But guess what? I didn’t expect the next thing he did.
“Samantha!” He picked me up in a bridal style and held me tight so I couldn’t struggle.
“David! What the heck are you doing? Put me down!”
“No! Your foot keeps on bleeding, so stay still, Samantha or I will never let you home!”
-‘Huh!’- My mouth hung in mid-air when he scolded me. It was the first time he had done it. So it’s true. There is always a first time for everything.
“You can’t do that!” And since he had already called me stubborn, I stood by what he said. I struggled in his arms. “Put me down, David Garcia!”
And I succeeded!
“Why do you insist on treating my wound? Why don’t you just go back to your girlfriend and sympathize with her?”
“Samantha, Tanya is not my —”
“Why do you keep bothering me, huh? Who do you think you are?” I breathed. “Do you know what I have realized ? I realized that exes can’t really be friends!”
“Sam, what are you talking about?” Confusion suddenly flashed through his eyes.
“Let’s just end it here! Let’s end this so-called friendship here! Forget all the things I told you that night on the beach and I will do the same.” He stared at me with his mouth agape as he took a deep breath.
“So you now remember everything,”
“From this day on, I don’t know you anymore.”
“Sam —”
“We’re no longer friends or even acquaintances. So when we meet again by chance the next day or any other day, just pretend you don’t know me and I will do the same thing.” I ended that speech with a long, deep breath. I had to do it just to keep my tears from falling.
He didn’t respond, so I thought he would already let me pass and go but I was surprised when he pulled me again and this time, he kissed me. He kissed me hard on the lips and God how I missed those lips … how I missed his kisses. The tears I had been holding back since earlier, now freely flowed down my cheeks. And before I get to lose my sanity, get carried away by the not-so-strange sensation he was giving me, and get drowned into the pool of desire, I decided to end it there.
I pushed him hard with a slap that shocked not only him but also the woman standing behind him.
“I’m sorry, Sam,” He apologized, trying to hold me again by I stepped back.
“You should be!” I harshly wiped the stupid tears that kept flowing down my face as I gave him a stormy look.
“I’m sorry —”
“David? Sam?”
We both turned to Tanya who looked so down and with swollen eyes from crying.
“I’m sorry, Sam, I didn’t know you’re here,” She apologized. For God’s sake — she apologized! What for? Did she hear what we were talking about? Maybe, because she was apologizing for I don’t know why.
I felt offended when she did that so I responded with a sarcastic chuckle. I turned around without saying anything until I was stopped when David spoke up behind me.
*
“Sam, Tanya is not my girlfriend,”
It was as if I had suddenly become deaf to what I was hearing, that’s why I turned around so quickly to ask him again, but I guess I didn’t have to as he had already spoken again.
“That’s the truth, Sam. She’s not my girlfriend —”
But he was suddenly interrupted when I burst out laughing that only God and I knew it was fake. And honestly, I didn’t even know why I was crying.
“Wow!” I exclaimed, still laughing and shaking my head at the same time. “So if she’s not girlfriend who is she then? Your best friend? Your sister? Your —”
“She’s my cousin. My first cousin from my mother’s side.”
“Ahh … should I be happy?” I wanted to talk more but I suddenly choke on the sob that suddenly bubbled my throat. I couldn’t believe what I heard. I had the feeling that at any moment I would explode with anger.
“I’m sorry,” David once again tried to hold my hand but I stopped him by placing my hand in the air. I was crying so hard that even if I wanted to scream, I couldn’t find my own voice.
“Its true, Sam, David is my cousin. David and I were just cousins.” My gaze moved from Tanya behind him and back to him with hurt and disappoinment.
“Why?” The first question I asked him the moment I regained my voice, but it was HIS cousin who replied.
“Don’t blame him, Sam. It was all my idea. I told him, if he wants to know if you still have feelings for him, he has to make you jealous and I’m willing to help him by pretending to be his girlfriend.”
“Ohh … so are you satisfied with what you did?” I asked more to David with disdain look in my eyes. I was offended but it’s nothing compared to the shame I felt in myself. All this time I thought I was competing with her, I didn’t know I was only competing myself.
“I wanted to tell you when we were on the beach that night but —”
“You wanted to tell me? Why? If you really wanted to tell me the truth, then why didn’t you do it before and why are you just telling me now? And one more thing, why did you have to do it in the first place?”
“Because I was afraid! When I saw you again, I was afraid to know the truth and at the same time I was afraid to lose you again!”
“Afraid?” I echoed. “What were you afraid of?”
“I love you, Sam, and that didn’t change even after two years you were with him. So when I met you again, I started to have this question in my mind every time I was with you … what if you still love him? What if you’re only here to make him miss you?”
“Fine! But after knowing the truth about my feelings, why didn’t you end it then? Why didn’t you tell me?”
He didn’t reply.
“David, I remember asking you many times about her but I didn’t know every time you kept lying! And maybe you were making fun of me every time you heard me talking about her! You were laughing behind my back!”
“No! That’s not true!