"How about we increase the stakes, Ms Brown? The loser has to reveal a secret she has been keeping." He smirked.
"!!!"
Does he know something? And 'she'? He's sure that I'll lose?
"Mr Wilson, I think you're biting off more than you can chew. But okay, I agree."
I shuffled the pack of cards without breaking off the eye contact with Mr Wilson. He looked laid back and chill, as if he knew he was going to win. If not for the tugs near his lips I'd be genuinely scared.
After I dealt the cards I said, "Mr Wilson, since we are already risking so much, we might as well play blind."
Mr Wilson shrugged in agreement. There was no 'fold' option (backing out) anyway.
I flipped over all the five cards at once: Ace of spades, diamond Jack, clover King, diamond King and nine of hearts.
We showed each other the cards, Mr Wilson showed his first, he carelessly threw the cards on the table. "Show off." I grunted.
He had two Queens with him, one of clover and one of hearts. Oh, so that's why he was being a brat. Other than the pair on the board, he did not really have good cards.
I, on the other hand, had a King of Hearts and two of clover.
"I- I can't believe it! I won! Hahaha! In your face, Mr Wilson. Hahahaha!!!" Oh yeah~ I won because of 'three of a kind', three Kings, in your face Mr Wilson.
I kind of started dancing while being seated. Mr Wilson narrowed his eyes against me and grunted. He started glaring at me. "..."
I smirked at him. No cooking for him~ No secrets spilled~ I'm perfectly safe. Mr Wilson, on the other hand, not so much. Everything was according to plan, excellent- in the voice of Mr Burns.
"Okay, well, I am feeling very sleepy so I'll be going now." Mr Wilson faked a yawn and got up to walk away.
"Oh, no you don't. You're not going anywhere until you spill your secret. It was your bet, Mr Wilson, it would be very unfair if you back out from a bet which YOU made." I pulled him by his hand as he was walking away.
Have you guys witnessed a scene where the parent drags the kid across the mall because the kid refuses to move because the kid's mom or dad refused to buy him/her what he/she asked for?
Yeah, you probably were the kid or have at least seen a kid doing that. Now, imagine that scene and in place of the kid, imagine me and in place of his parents, imagine Mr Wilson. I gripped onto him like an octopus, not willing to let go. The nerve of this guy! He was still trying to escape. Obviously, I'm not going to let that happen. A bet is a bet and now, he has to honour his words.
"Ms Brown! Please have some dignity! Release me!" He yelled. Maybe he did not think I would hold on to him like my life depended on it.
"I could say the same for you Mr Wilson! You made a promise and I won't let you live a peaceful life if you don't tell me one of your secrets!" I was really surprised that I hadn't lost my grip yet.
"LET ME GOOOOO!"
"NOOOOOOOO!"
After a good ten minutes, I let him go. Mr Wilson and I were huffing and puffing. Playing a game of tug-of-war right after we ate food was not such a good idea.
I took the support of a wall next to me while I tried to stand and spoke in-between deep breaths "*gasp Mr Wilson *gasp* you *gasp* suck! *gasp* You are *gasp* *wheeze* really a *wheeze* sore loser!"
"*gasp* Speak for *gasp* yourself Ms Brown. *wheeze* A good orange *gasp* in a basket of *wheeze* rotten oranges *gasp* becomes spoiled!"
"That does not even make sense! *erratic breathing* You! Cannot! Even! Remember! Common sayings!" I finally caught my breath and cooled down. I can't say the same for Mr Wilson, though.
His face became completely red. See, now you have a worthy opponent, Mr Wilson. You went to the gym and thought yourself to be strong but sorry to burst your bubble, I am very strong. So think twice before fighting with me. *wheeze* Oh my God! I was very wrong to this right after I filled my stomach to the brim. Ouch my stomach. Man down! I repeat, man down!
Mr Wilson was not in a better position than me so yep, my ego is satisfied now.
Mr Wilson dragged his back against the wall as he slowly drooped down to sit. After he took a deep breath, he looked at me. He turned his face away as soon as I turned to face him. He looked straight ahead while he leaned his head against the wall.
"You know, Ms Brown, I never really said sorry to anyone."
And then came flashbacks to my mind:
1. Right after he became sober:
"Mr Wilson? Are you okay now?"
He coughed before saying, "Sorry for the inconvenience, Ms Brown. I do not remember what happened, but if I misspoke when I was not in a proper condition, please do not take it to heart."
2. He indirectly apologised after the whole drama with Elena.
3. He apologised after commenting on how broke I am.
Now, what does he mean by 'I never really said sorry to anyone'? I mean, yeah, getting a sorry out of his mouth is really hard, but he says it when he knows he really screwed up.
"I did not get you. You said 'sorry' a few times, and I heard you say it."
"Well, that is just so that your morale increases and you won't ruin the work assigned to you and so that people won't feel offended and sue me. I never really meant any apology till now." He shook his head and sighed to himself.
What the actual- Calm down Lia. Calm down. So he did not mean it when he apologised to me? He did not apologise for all the ruckus he caused when he got drunk? He did not feel sorry when he suspected me and trusted Elena. No, seriously. Is he looking for a beating? Because it's been so long since my fist met any face.
I glared at him. If my glare could kill, I would have stabbed him a thousand times, healed him and stabbed him again.
Mr Wilson got goosebumps because of my viscous stare.
"Ahem, what I mean is that, whenever I apologised to you, it was sincere, it was the most sincere apology. I was very much in the wrong by trusting Elena over you. I hope you forgive me."
"Ugh!" I rolled my eyes at him. If I was not tired I would have really smacked him. "Whatever, continue." I glared at him again.
Mr Wilson glanced at me for a moment, as if checking whether I was still in the mood to kill him or not.
He then continued, "Well, I never really felt apologetic when I said sorry, except in your case Ms Brown!" He quickly added.
"There was this one time I really felt guilty."
I was all ears, though I appeared angry and sulky. Hey! The moment he trusted that random woman over me, whom he knows personally, it angered me! And now he's saying that his apology was not sincere. It made my blood boil!
"When was this incident?" I asked with an angry tone, it was a fake angry tone though. What I want to know is his secret than being angry over something that happened days ago.
"Ms Brown, this is a very personal matter so I won't go into the details."
"Ugh fine." I grunted. I'll take what I can get.
"Well, this happened when I was very young. Probably when I was ten years old-"
"Oh! So that means twenty-five years ago." I interrupted. Yes, this sentence was deliberate. I wanted to get on his nerves. I'll keep increasing his age to anger and annoy him without any hint of guilt. I have the right to do so after all I've been through. Humph!
Mr Wilson gritted his teeth and glared at me. He stressed every syllable in this sentence, "I'm only twenty-eight years old, Ms Brown!!!"
"Nah, that cannot be right. Oh? I see now. It's your face that makes you look like- You know what, nevermind, continue." I grinned at him kindly.
Mr Wilson looked like he'd explode but he continued, "I promised my first ever friend that I will meet her again, but I could not fulfil my promise. I don't even remember her name. Sigh, I regret that I could not meet her again, I was send to a boarding school against my wishes. I did not meet my family for over ten years, much less the first ever friend I had."
His voice became softer as he spoke further. Noticing that the mood became sad, he quickly added, "You might find it hard because I am so perfect and awesome, but when I was younger, the other kids found me weird. Well, what I say is that they were not up to my level of intelligence."
I noticed that he was trying to change the mood, so I ignored his self-flattery and added, "Oh, so your first friend was a girl. Ooooh~"
"Please, Ms Brown. Be a little decent." He remarked.
"Hey! What did I say? Anyway, let me tell you this. You're not the only one whom other kids found weird." I comforted him, which turned out to be a mistake.
"Seeing how you turned out, I do not think they were wrong." He casually added.
EAT MY FIST, MR WILSON. And like that, I threw a 'light' punch at him.
He stared at me because he did not expect that I would punch him. Seeing him staring at me like that somehow made me laugh. I started chuckling out loud and Mr Wilson joined me too.
This is nice....