•Flashback.•
"Chris Millers, I don't think I deserve such a fancy place for our first date?!" -I say.
"You deserve more than this!" -Is all I get for a reply from Chris.
"You look really beautiful!!" -Chris exclaims.
I blush.
"Thank you. You look good yourself!"
— And the rest of our date was spent talking about stuffs. I was really surprised that he was friendly and relatable in some cases.
'He's a Daddy's boy.' -As he exclaims.
His Mom died when he was 5. His Dad is an influential businessman.
His Dad is well known in Singapore, Malaysia, Japan and where not!
And the restaurant Chris has brought me to, for our first date, belongs to his Dad's friend.
It is so beautiful, so marvelously huge.
. . .
"I had a wonderful time today, Michelle." -Chris exclaims, smiling widely.
"Ditto, Mr. Millers. Thank you a lot." -I say.
"I wanna see you again." -He says,
out of the blue.
"Sure. We'll catchup at Campus?" -I say.
"No, I mean as in another date. I really want to get to know you." -He says, not taking his eyes off me.
"I'll have to check my Schedule." -I say, trying to ignore the thought of another date
with him. But what I couldn't ignore is, him staring at me.
"Why are you staring at me, though?" -I ask.
"Cuz you're beautiful. And I'm trying to see as enough as possible! God!!!, how can you be soo beautiful?" -He says.
"Shut up." -I say, blushing.
It's the first time anyone has ever called me beautiful. Pretty much because I have ignored everyone throughout my life. Never spoke to anyone. Never.
So I felt pretty blushy.
"How about tomorrow?" -He asks.
I stare at him.
"A week later?" -He asks again.
"A month?"
"A year?"
"Next life, at least?" -He asks, pleading.
"Tomorrow?" -I ask.
-His face lits up. "Definitely!"
"Okay now, bye!" -I say and turn around.
But before that, he sneaks a kiss on my cheek. "You're really beautiful, no matter what." -Chris says so, and runs off to his car.
I smile to myself.
"Clown." -I say to myself, as I start walking towards my old car.
. . .
"Did you bring me Waffles?" -Mom asks.
"Did you ask me to?" -I say.
"I sent you more than 50 messages to bring me Waffles!!! GODDAMMIT! Now what am I supposed to eat?" -She says.
"I'm sorry. My phone was on silent. I was outside." -I explain.
"Where were you?" -Mom asks.
"Uhh... With a friend." -I reply.
"And what were you doing?" -She asks.
"We... We were.. We were studying for the upcoming test we have!" -I lie.
My mom stares at me in disbelief. And then;
*SMACK*
"You think you can just lie on my face?!!! What do you take me as? A fool?!!!"
-She yells in fury.
"Mom! What's wrong with you? Did you drink again?" -I ask.
"Why the fuck does it matter to you?"
-She says.
Instead of replying to her, I make my way to my bedroom. I lock the room door and plop on my bed. I know it's rude of me. But this is what I have to do every time my Mother drinks and goes nuts.
I never knew my biological father, but had two stepfathers. Both of them were caring.
Weird, I know. My life itself is weird.
My first stepfather divorced my mother because she cheated on him with my second stepfather. (Really confusing for me too.)
And my second stepfather was divorced by my Mother because she was bored of him.
Both of my stepfathers wanted my custody, but could only get the custody of my step siblings.
Yes, I have three step siblings.
Two brothers; from my first stepfather.
One sister; from my second stepfather.
It's been a long time since we last saw each other. 8 years, probably.
I sigh to myself as I turn the lights off and try to fall asleep.
Eventually, I succeed.
. . .
I wake up in the morning to someone knocking on my door.
"Hope she's sober now." -I say to myself as I open the door.
But it wasn't my mom that I saw, it was the cops. I'm confused.
"Are you Ms. Michelle? Daughter of Ms. Ruby?" -One of the officers ask me.
"Yes Sir. Is there any problem?" -I ask.
"I'm afraid that you'll have to come to the police station with us. We need to confirm and inquire." -He explains.
"Sure. Give me a sec." -I say.
I quickly wash up, but unfortunately run out with my pj's. I wear a leather coat so that my outfit doesn't get revealed.
I get in my car, and follow the police car.
As soon as we reached the police station, the cops led me to a room. Instead of asking anything, I silently followed them.
We reached a room, which was at the end of the hall. It was dimly lit.
There, in a bed was a body.
I was scared to approach it.
And then, the cop spoke; "Ms. Please, would you mind clearing if this is your Mother or not?"
. . .
•Present.•
I wake up to an unfamiliar scent, in an unfamiliar room. The walls are white, Just like an art museum. Except that, it has no arts.
I look around my surroundings. There are a few tubes inserted in my left hand.
Is this... A hospital?
. . .
I sigh to myself.
A healing after a beating.
Funny isn't it? No matter how much I want to die, this guy won't let me die. Even though he's killing me, slowly, day by day.
. . .
"Babe?" -Chris calls out.
I try to respond to him. But keep shut because all that will come out is anger, despise and hatred. He smiles at me.
"How are you feeling?" -He asks.
"Pretty good." -I say, sarcastically.
-He laughs. I stare at him.
Is this guy for real???
"Okay, I'm sorry." -He exclaims.
"Sorry won't fix this!!!" -I yell, suddenly losing my temper. Chris stares at me. He's about to say something, but I cut him off.
"Don't say anything. At all. Please." -I say.
-Chris grows quiet.
"Leave." -I order. "No." -He says.
"LEAVE!" -I order, again.
He gets up. And instead of leaving, he comes closer to me. I look at my hands, to avoid looking at him. My hands look pale.
"Look at me, Michelle." -Chris appeals softly, and lifts my chin with a curved finger.
And before I knew it, I reluctantly lift my head and looked into his eyes.
Chris's head slowly descended and he captured my lips. I just let him go on. He ran his hand down my 'still injured' body. His kisses were soft and tender.
There was a taste of lemonade in his lips and demanding tongue and the smell of lemon still lingered in his mouth and breath.
He wrapped his arms around my body, bringing it against his owns and kissing me deeply, yet passionately.
Running both of his hands up my back to under my neck, to lift my hair and to feel the smooth texture in his palm.
Despite all this, I didn't respond to him. I couldn't respond to him. Maybe because I was rather too stunned to even return his kisses and his demanding caresses.
Maybe he noticed, because he stopped.
"What's wrong?" -He asks.
"I... uh..." -I stuttered. No words forming.
Chris smiles. He's about to kiss me again but I partially move my head.
"You do realize that this is a hospital, don't you?" -I say.
"Come on! It's okay, you know? You're in the VIP SECTION." -He exclaims.
"By what means?" -I ask, annoyed.
He stares at me, dumbfounded.
"Why'd you say that?" -He asks.
Because...