"What have I done that broke your trust for me?" Simon sat on the couch, which was in front of Titan's desk, and leaned his torso forward in Titan's direction. He clucked as he looked down the floor and sighed. "Was this because of what I said to Stephanie?" This time he sounded more desperate for Titan's answer.
Titan looked at him and rolled his eyes as he tilted his head and looked somewhere to avoid Simon's stare.
Why should I trust you given that you were the one who first decided to break it? As self-centered as I may be, I don't believe you ought to get another chance. For what reason? To shatter it and cause me further harm?
You are welcome to speak with me and approach me in the same manner as before. But even if you thought we could still make amends, you wouldn't ever convince me otherwise. If you claim I've changed a lot, then you should know that not only have people changed but so have my feelings for you.
I started to wonder why you did it, thanks to you. Every day, every minute, I questioned whether I had hurt you in some way, whether I had been too demanding of you, or whether the things I had asked you to accomplish were too much for you.
You not only betrayed my trust, but you also betrayed me. You deserve to know that I won't forget what you did to me, nor will I ever forgive you. Because of that, you merely give me more reasons not to trust people like you.
Simon clucked and let out a loud, frustrated sigh. "If that was a big deal for you, fine, I'm sorry. But still, I deserve an explanation here, Titan."
Without a word, Titan pulled his head down to check on the notifications displayed on his phone instead. As he scrolled down, he noticed the note he wrote on that night when Stephanie was told to leave her home.
He stood with his eyes widened, which startled Simon. "What's wrong?" Simon got up and waited for his best friend to open up.
Despite his inhibitions toward Simon, he wondered if there was any way his best friend could redeem himself. Let's see. "If you're that desperate for my approval, this is your chance."
Simon's eyebrows knitted. "How?"
"You've got to help me move out Stephanie's belongings today before that old bastard comes back and throws them away."
"Who's the old bastard?"
"Stephanie's landlord."
"If she's moving out, where else could she stay?"
"She's staying with me."
Titan's nonchalance surprised Simon. It was unusual for him to see his troubled best friend acting like that. He had never seen Titan looking as frustrated as he did, despite his obvious efforts of keeping himself composed.
But Stephanie was just his intern, right? When he looked at Titan, it was clear that it was the other way around.
Stephanie must have a special place in his heart, otherwise, he wouldn't even care about her things as frantically as he was. Watching how his cold and distant buddy has changed into someone as caring as he was made Simon even more curious.
***
"Is something going on between the two of you?" Simon asked as he dialed the transport service. While waiting for them to answer his call, he looked at Titan, who was driving the car and was looking in the distance.
Titan ignored Simon until they arrived at Stephanie's place.
With his eyes wide open, Simon took in his surroundings while covering his mouth with his palm. He had a hard time understanding how Stephanie could be living in such a place while working for a renowned company. He never believed she kept her life a secret from him.
Titan rushed when he saw Mang Marino standing in front of Stephanie's place, leading a group of men in a loud voice.
"Wait!" Simon called Titan's attention while he kept running behind him. "Fuck, Titan!" He ran and ran until he reached closer to him. "What the hell are you doing?" he sputtered.
Mang Marino scoffed. "Oh, you're here. I remember you. You're that bastard Stephanie brought in." He turned his head and continued yelling at the men. "Faster, you bastards! We don't have the whole day to finish this work. Get your balls to work fast." He looked at Titan again, raising an eyebrow. "There's nothing you can do now. She failed to show up and remove her trash on my property, so I'll do it myself."
"If you're going to insist, you're going to regret what I could do to you, fucking bastard!" Titan's eyes remain wide and shoved Mang Marino aside. "Everyone, stop whatever you're doing here." He turned and pointed his index finger at the old man. "You're not going to do this to her."
"And who the fuck are you, young man? You look familiar, but I don't care." Mang Marino flicked his head up with his mouth slightly open. He looked at him with sarcasm printed all over his face.
Titan scoffed and raised his eyebrow. "Yeah, you were right. Probably, you've seen me somewhere."
"Step aside, you bastard. I still have a lot to do here." Mang Marino pushed Titan and walked a few steps toward the men, who were lifting boxes of Stephanie's personal things.
When Simon saw what the old man did, he clucked and ran faster to reach them, enraged. "What the fuck are you doing to Mr. Sandoval?" he sputtered.
"Who's Mr. Sandoval?"
"Mr. Titan Sandoval," Simon answered.
Mang Marino spat. "Is he here? Are you fucking kidding me? And who are you, by the way? Don't tell me you're also one of Stephanie's friends?" He clucked and turned to face the workers. He clucked and shook his head, dumbfounded. "Why would I care about Mr. Sandoval?" Mang Marino raised his arm and pointed an index finger up. He shook his head. "Someone like him doesn't belong in a place like this. That fucking ugly bitch!"
Simon was about to say something but he was caught off-guard when Titan grabbed the old man's collar and pulled him. "What did you say? Stephanie's an ugly bitch?"
"Titan, stop," Simon uttered while pulling the two apart. Yet, he fell when Titan shoved him.
"How dare you call Stephanie like that!" Titan punched the old man in the face.
"Fuck!" The old man rolled to the ground and tried to get up. But when he rubbed his face and saw blood, it didn't take him long to pull himself up and stood facing Titan. He screamed, running towards the young man, and landed a punch before Simon could even intervene.
When Titan fell on his buttocks, he groaned in pain. Yet, the pain didn't stop him as he stood and wanted to punch Mang Marino once more.
But Simon successfully pushed him aside, stopping him from the altercation. He then signaled the workers to hold the old man to stop this nonsense.
"Why are you trying to stop me, Simon? That old man shouldn't be doing this to Stephanie!" he sputtered while pushing Simon to run and continue the fight. "Don't you know who I am, you fucking bastard?"
Titan was about to lunge at Mang Marino, but he halted when he heard Stephanie's voice in the background.
"Stop!" Stephanie walked in frantic towards them with her eyes widened and teary. "Just stop it!" She continued doing so with Christine walking beside her.
Titan turned his head and saw her walking toward them. His eyes widened and were panting as he pulled himself up and fixed himself in frantic. "What are you doing here? You're supposed to stay in the hospital until you're fine."
Stephanie refused to answer and continued ignoring him until she stood closer to him. She looked him in the eye and shook her head. What the hell are you doing, idiot?
You, too, Simon. She cast a quick glance at Simon and rolled her eyes before she walked closer to Mang Marino.
She sighed as she felt the tears begin to crawl down her cheeks. "I'm sorry for not showing up on time, Mang Marino." She bowed, which angered Titan more. "It's my bad. But don't worry, I'll do it today. I promise."
Simon and Christine, on the other hand, remained frozen and jaw-dropped by what Stephanie did.
"You should have gone earlier, Stephanie! I'm in a hurry. Take your things, or I'll throw them away. I don't need your trash. I need this room empty now!" He gestured with his arm raised as he continued sputtering at her.
"Don't worry. I'll take of it." Stephanie winced as she entered her old home. She looked around the almost empty space where all the boxes were once stapled. She began to feel choked the longer she tried to stop herself from tearing up. Not in front of everyone.
Simon let out a loud sigh and flicked his head up, calming himself down.
"Steph…" Christine sighed and pressed her lips while her eyes began to tear up. She looked down while her hands were holding her bag tighter. "This is going bad. Where should she stay if you're going to force her to move out right now?" she asked aloud as she stood closer to Mang Marino.
"I don't care. And she knows that," Mang Marino answered.
"But—" Christine couldn't help herself but look at Stephanie and noticed her disappointment on her face, although she wasn't saying anything. She gulped and exhaled a loud sigh. "You're a jerk, old man!" she sputtered.
"I know I am, young woman," Mang Marino replied and spat.
Christine scoffed and left, heading inside Stephanie's room where Stephanie was.
At that moment, Titan shoved Simon. "Let me go." When he removed Simon's grip on him, he walked closer to Stephanie. "Stephanie—"
Stephanie turned and looked at Titan, standing beside her. "It's okay," she answered before Titan could continue saying a word. Then, she smiled. "How about you guys help me today? Won't it be faster if we all work together?"
When she turned, Titan couldn't help but watch her start grabbing the boxes and talking with the workers at the same time. He sighed and shook her head before he walked in the same direction to help Stephanie, rather than picking up a fight with the old man.
He turned to Simon. "Have you called the transport service yet?"
Simon nodded. "Yes, I did. They confirmed to arrive soon." He checked his wristwatch and clucked. "But it seems they're late. Fuck it!" He turned and was about to head to Stephanie and Christine. But when he felt Titan's hand on his shoulder, he looked at him and he gulped. "Is something the matter?"
While he landed a stare at his best friend, Titan didn't say a word and simply squeezed his shoulder before he walked past him.
And when he did, Simon's eyebrows knitted in confusion as he continued looking at Titan heading toward the workers and discussing with them. He walked toward Stephanie and Christine, telling them to stop helping through a gesture.
"Why should I stop helping them bring my things?" Stephanie scoffed while Christine nodded and slapped Stephanie's arm to convince her to listen to Titan more.
"Just stop, and let me handle this," Titan exclaimed and sighed.
She wanted to insist, but in reflection, she knew he was correct. Before she arrived at the scene, she remembered her deal with the physicians.
They said she shouldn't be complacent and do something stupid, though her bullet wounds may have miraculously healed more quickly than anticipated for some mysterious causes. Otherwise, she would run into further difficulties, which was something she shouldn't do.
Meanwhile, the other team of movers began gathering boxes one after another until the room was completely bare. When the truck was already fully loaded, they signaled to leave.
At that moment, Titan approached Mang Marino and the driver. "Deliver these packages to this address." He handed them a business card.
Both of them nodded in agreement. Shortly after, the driver turned on the ignition and drove away from them.
When Stephanie was about to leave and close the empty room, Titan grabbed her shoulder and forced her to look at him. "What?" She raised an eyebrow while trying to calm herself down even though her eyes remained bloodshot.
"I guess you should have this with you," Titan uttered as he handed her a small wooden frame of her only family photo. He tapped her shoulders once more before he headed out, leaving her alone.
Stephanie's eyes began to tear up while she was holding the frame and staring at her family whom she missed. Her father, mother, and younger sister were standing in front of a religious shrine nearby, holding their old cat, Titan. I'm sorry for everything, for being selfish. I wish you were still here with me. I miss you so much.
As the tears dampened her face and the glass surface of the frame, she flinched when she saw a piece of a handkerchief being handed to her. She pulled her face up and saw Titan standing near her with his arm raised.
He beckoned her to take the fabric off of his hand. "Take it, whether you like it or not."
Agitated, Stephanie stared at the maroon-colored handkerchief and glanced at his face, and back to the fabric once more.
"There's no turning back now, Stephanie," Titan said as he pressed his hand on Stephanie's hand with the fabric, forcing her to take it.
Stephanie scoffed and rolled her eyes at him when she noticed that he was grinning despite her helpless and dire situation. She knew there was nothing else she could do but stay with him until she could find a place of her own, so that was all she could do.
But then the scenes from her lucid dream started to play back in her head. She thought back to the incident when she stood in front of the tree, desperately trying to find someone to lean on.
Titan's troubled look caught her attention as she lifted her face and started to feel her entire body trembling. She stared at him when she had a startling thought. She made an effort to reject the notion, but her instincts had taken over and she was unable to stop her heart from racing and her unsettling feelings toward her boss.
Could it be possible that her grandfather was attempting to tell her about this moron in her dream? Was her encounter with Mr. Titan Sandoval the key to understanding the causes of her misery?
It can't be true, right?