Seeing Lucas standing by the doorframe of the restroom ignited her once calm heart to start thumping heavily in Sia’s chest. She cut her eyes away from his to gather her thoughts and words and breath.
Everything inside her is acting so weird if she knew it’ll be like this she wouldn’t have agreed to let him touch her. She tried to brush past him but Lucas blocked her view.
Resignedly, Sia hefted her head to meet his gaze.
“And why are you standing in my way?” She asked with a high-pitched voice. Lucas sighed and rubbed his hand on his face.
Clicking his tongue he uttered. “I’m sorry, Sia. I don’t know what came over me. I didn’t mean to kiss that day. I was…just not myself…”
He wasn’t able to clear the air before Sia interrupted him with a wave of her hand.
“I don’t wish to hear about that. So please let me go or I’ll call the security on you.” She said with a firm voice, giving Lucas no other option but to back off. Sia moved forward and didn’t even glance back at Lucas but she felt his eyes piercing every pore of her body.
Lucas stood there, watching her retreating figure. Losing Sia is one mistake he’d never forget in his lifetime. Taking a sigh he walked back to their table.
However, by the time he made it to the table, he saw Jake wiping a drop of Sia’s coffee that drizzled down her chin with the pad of his thumb.
Lucas wasn’t overly jealous when he saw Jake wiping that with his thumb. What triggered his jealousy is that Jake dipped his thumb into his mouth and licked it clean.
It made Lucas wonder Sia’s relationship with Jake. Ethan noticed how Lucas knot his fist in jealousy and tugged his shirt to remind him they are in public place.
Lucas was so restless with the way Jake’s jokes made Sia laugh. It pained him to see her smiling, laughing, and cackling even if what Jake said isn’t comical enough.
When he heard the word ‘orgasm’ slip from Jake’s lips, Lucas’s heart constricted. He clenched and unclench his fist. Lucas cupped his cup of hot chocolate and took three gulps before standing from his seat.
“I’ve somewhere to go.” He said curtly and picked up his tote bag and bat. Adriano wanted to stop him but Ethan shook his head ‘no’ at him. Thus, they both let Lucas leave to gather his thoughts together.
Sia didn’t take notice of Lucas’s sudden exit from the restaurant rather she leaned in on Jake and enjoyed his small talk.
“So you donate to charities for domestic violence?” Sia asked, watching Jake intently.
Jake eyed her cautiously before inclining his head in a nod. “How did you know?” He questioned. The grin on his face still visible.
Sia chuckled lightly before replying. “You drove me here, didn’t you?” She held her chin high and tipped her nose in the air.
As the realization hit Jake, he let out an ‘oh’ sigh and a ‘now I know where you got the hint from’ look at Sia.
He relapsed on his seat and folded his arms together. Jake doesn’t have to keep running his hand through his hair to keep his hair strands in place when he flips his head around his hair goes in the exact direction he wants it to be and Sia loves that a lot.
“You saw the sticker on my windshield. You’ve sharp eyes.” He commented, making Sia cackle.
“You can’t expect no one to see that. It’s very vivid.” She ventured, tucking the strands of hair behind her ears. “And it’s not bad in any way. I like that you’re donating to charity.” She complimented Jake.
A blush colored his cheeks a darker shade of red and he giggled. “it’s been a routine for me for four years now.” He spouted.
Sia narrowed her eyes an inch, “Four years?” She asked in sheer surprise. Jake nods his head. Something clicked inside Sia. She remembered Jake’s words some time ago at the gym.
“Does this have to do with your mum?” Sia cut the silence with her words. Jake looked at her from over his lashes and shook his head.
“It has everything to do with her.” He mouthed and clutched his cup, downing his drink in on go.
Sia doesn’t want to meddle but her curiosity got the best of her, hence she asked. “What happened to her? If you don’t mind?”
Jake shot her an ‘it’s okay’ look which helped Sia relax.
“I witnessed our mum being battered many times, I can’t begin to count.” He muttered, chewing on his lower lip.
Sia already knew he has a sister which is Mercy so she didn’t probe further on who his siblings are.
“She was whooped with a belt, chains. She received blows from a man who she claims to love. Do you know the worst part?” He asked Sia whose hands already began trembling. She swallowed thickly and pretzelled her head.
Jake swiped the pad of his thumb across his chin before proceeding. He leaned closer to the table and mouthed.
“She always believed he’ll change but he never did.” He huffed. Looking at his face and white knuckles, Sia knew he was trying to get ahold of himself.
“Our biological father died six months after Mercy was born. My mom was just a housewife who depended solely on her husband’s monthly allowance. When Mercy was one year old she met a man who promised to make her life take a drastic turn.” He laughed at that statement. “Of course, her life did take a drastic turn. From being someone cherished with love to someone whooped to death. But the thing is, the man didn’t show his true color until he took us in.”
Sia found herself taking shallow breaths. Every word that Jake spilled sends shivers down her spine.
“When he took us in, he engaged my mother. He showed her the life she always wished to have. He gives her a good fuck, ’cause I always heard her moan from our room then. He bought her heart. By the time I was five and Mercy was four, his true colors began to surface. My mother got pregnant for him and all through her pregnancy period, he hit her…on the stomach.” Jake gritted his teeth while a horror gasp left Sia’s mangled lips.
“What!?” Her voice dropped to a whisper.
“It was as if she breached their agreement by getting pregnant. I don’t know what they agreed on but seeing him hit her in the stomach was such a painful scene I can’t cleanse from my head for life. One day I tried to fight for her. I tried to save her from his wicked hands, I cried so hard but no one heard me. Mercy clung to my mother’s legs, wailing but he never cared. He hit her and Mercy hit her forehead on the armrest of a sofa. It gave her a permanent indentation on her face.”
Sia remembered the mark on Mercy’s face at Estrella’s pool party night. The onslaught of emotions made tears flood her eyes. How can someone be so cruel to innocent kids too?
“My mother always told us, ‘no one should know about this. He’ll come around. He loves me and you and will change someday.’ I was a kid, powerless and obedient so I couldn’t butt in. I prayed for him to change. Mercy cried for him to stop hitting mama. She lost the baby in her womb and it was as a result of the endless kicks on her stomach. My mother almost bled to death but she made it to the nearby clinic without informing him. When she returned from the clinic was the time everything came to an end.”
“She returned home tired at night ’cause of the IV she took at the clinic. For someone aiming to regain her strength, he forcefully pushed my mom down the stairs when she ignored his questions. And she…slipped from the stairs and hit her head on the hard marble floor. I screamed so hard when I saw her lifeless in the pool of her own blood. She didn’t say goodbye. She didn’t kiss us before leaving us like she always did. She just lay there, lifeless. Blood trailed down the stairs, down to my feet. I clung to her lifeless body. I hugged her tightly in the puddle of blood. Mercy held me. I held her. But he ran. He fled we didn’t see him for days and we stayed in the house with my mother’s corpse.”
“No. Tell me you didn’t. No!” Sia dipped her head on the table and held her stomach as she imagined how it must have been for Jake and Mercy. A five-year-old boy and…a four-year-old girl witnessed such horror from someone who should have been their protector.
“The house was empty, we had nothing to eat. So I came to beg the neighbors for food. That was when they noticed the dried blood on my body and cloth. They began to tip their noses in the air until they found out what happened. By then my mother’s corpse had decayed cause it’s been three days. For three days we stayed with her lifeless body. They took her away and sent me and Mercy to Forster home.”
“Jake! How?” Sia tried to force the words out but she found it hard to form a coherent sentence. “How did you both make it to where you are now?”
Jake pursed his lips to down the pains trickling inside him. “Perez is not our last name. It was for our foster parents who later adopted us and gave us life. They gave us the life we didn’t have. My foster father established the company I run now so when died he transferred everything to me and Mercy.”
“Your sister…is that why she switched her sexuality? Cause she has hatred for men?” Sia questioned but Jake twisted his head.
“She has always been attracted to girls. It had nothing to do with our situation. If it does then I have no idea.”
“I’m so sorry, Jake. I just…”
“It’s okay. It’s past tense now, pretty chick. I just devoted myself to helping people facing such horrors in their homes. No one deserves to die while trying to protect what they love. No one.” Jake muttered.
Hearing Jake’s last statement, Sia’s view of Jake changed. After all, he’s a prissy guy.
“Can I drop you off?” He asked her cutting through her thoughts.
“Huh? Oh, don’t worry. I’ll take a cab.” She told him as they crept outside. Jake helped Sia order a cab and waited until she zoomed into the horizon before leaving.