Six: My Darling

Roy

____

I glared at mom, so angry at her. Since the last forty minutes, she hadn't given me the answer I wanted. All she did was to sip from her cup as if I wasn't seated here with her. 

"Mom, I'm asking you the same thing again, did you tell Renee anything?" I ensured I sounded harsh, enough for her to know I wasn't joking around. 

"And what if I did?" She looked up at the sky, so much uninterest beaming in her voice. 

I snorted. "This isn't funny, you know? What'll dad—"

"Dad!" She interrupted me from speaking, turned to me. Those tears in her eyes ached my stomach, but what could I do? "Your dad is always everything. You so much care about what he thinks of you, to the point you're now doing terrible things."

I sighed. "I already told you he won't harm her. And, why do you even care about this? It's not like I'm the first guy to dupe a girl. I just—"

"Roy," she called out in a whisper. Tears poured down her face, and nothing but sadness was what I saw in her. "What's happening to you? Can't you stop this stupidity for my sake? That lady was adamant on not leaving you. How do you think she'll feel when she finds out about this? Why don't you leave her now, rather than let her find out."

I swallowed hard. "It won't take long. Also, she won't find out. When Dad gets what he wants, I'll just break up with her, and leave here forever. She'll only get hurt for a while. She'll move on eventually."

"And you think it's that easy?" She whimpered. 

"I don't know."

After a while of silence, she took her purse from the bench we were seated on, wiped her tears. "I'll leave now," she announced. "But before I do, I want you to know…"

My heart skipped a beat. Was she about to say she had told Renee the truth? Was that the reason Renee didn't look me in the eye? Was that the reason—

"From this day…" mom cut me off my thoughts. The seriousness in her eyes worsened my fear, and I couldn't tell what she would say next. "You're no longer my son," she stated firmly. 

Saying that, she stood up straight. Shocked and hurt, I stood up as well, my eyes widened. 

"M-Mom?" I felt tears in my eyes. I hadn't expected her to say that. "Wh-What do you mean?"

She wore no expression on her face. All I could tell was that she was being serious. "You heard me, Roy. I'm not joking. My dream was never to raise a filthy man like you. And, if your decision is to keep defrauding an innocent woman, then I guess I should leave you to do what you want. You. Are. Disowned."

I gulped a morsel in my throat. I was speechless. Mom was disowning me? Because of this game? How much more was I going to lose by playing this dirty thing?

"Mom," I managed to say a word. But, she shunned me by raising her hand in the air. 

"Enough now." She took a step backwards, inhaled hard. "And please, call me Karen or Mrs. Everett. You're done being my son, okay?"

About to speak again, she cut me off with a “Goodnight”, walked past me, leaving me speechless. 

What? Mom just… disowned me? She just left me? What was going on? 

Upset, I sat back on the bench, brushed my fingers through my hair, groaned at myself. Mom had left me now. Who was the next person that would leave me? Who else would I lose? 

Bitter, I stood up. I would go to Renee right now. She was always a temporary medicine. Seeing her would relieve the stress I felt. Yes, she was the solution right now. 

Not thinking further, I ambled to my car, heading to Renee's dorm. 

***

It felt like I was going to encounter God. 

To be sincere, being away from her for six weeks hadn't been so easy for me. I was so used to her, that not being with her made me feel empty. It made me realize how great I needed her. And, I hated that feeling. If I felt that way, what would happen when we got to separate? How would I survive in her absence?

After a while of debating with myself, I opened the door of the balcony, sauntered in. Only seeing her sitting on a couch in here, my heart felt pierced. 

She smiled. Her smile was small, innocent, beautiful. I felt guilty. Guilty to the point my legs felt weak, my organs crumbled, my breath ceased. I was almost losing my stamina. To wrap it all, seeing her turned me weak. 

I tried to smile back at her. I just had to be strong. Strong for dad; strong for this… tiring game. 

Renee

______

I couldn't stop thinking about what Roy's mom had done to me. She ruined my mood so badly. And, to worsen it all, Roy hadn't come to me yet. Didn't he miss me at all? Was he really not going to care about my feelings?

On the couch I was seated on, I tugged my knee to my chest, wrapped my arms around my legs, leaned my jaw against my knees. Closing my eyes, inhaling the cool air, I shuddered when I heard the sound of the door. 

Was that him?

Being hopeful, I turned around. And, when I spotted him, my heart melted. What a relief.

I smiled warmly at him, and he did the same. We stared, stared like confused goats. What the heck? Couldn't he come here, and kiss my neck, snuggle me, play with my hair, tell me how his work was going? 

"Roy," I cut the silence between us. 

Excited, I stood up, and hurried to him. Clinging my body against his, I hugged passionately, ensuring to enjoy the comfiness of his chest. I was close to tears, but I decided to make this moment happy. I missed him so much. I wasn't with my old friends anymore, so he was the only one who could bless me with those old memories. 

"How're you?" He finally spoke. He dropped a kiss on my forehead, soothed my hair. 

"I missed you so much," I pronounced. Pulling away, I slapped his chest, frowning playfully at him. "Why were you being naughty? You weren't answering my calls or texts. What happened?"

He kept smiling. I kind of noticed he wasn't being so cheerful to see me after a long time, but well, I decided to ignore my observation. The point was he was here. That was what I wanted. 

I cupped his jaw in my hands. "I can't believe you're here again. It's been so, so long. What took you so long to visit me?"

He sighed. "I've been… so busy. I'm sorry."

Unable to keep my overwhelming joy to myself, I stood on my toes, brushed my lips against his, kissed with so much love. He returned my kiss as well, but for some reason, his body was kind of frozen. It was as if he was scared of what he was doing. What the heck? Had he forgotten I was his girlfriend? So silly. 

When we pulled away from each other, I resumed smiling. I couldn't contain my joy. "I'm so happy," I said. "Things have been quite hard without you here. I really miss you."

His smile was faint, but did that matter? "I missed you too," he said. 

Taking his hand, I intertwined our fingers in each other, irresistibly adoring those blue eyes; those innocent eyes. "Let's have a seat. We've got a lot to talk about."

"Sure." He winked. Gosh, I missed those winks, that smile, those eyes, everything. Just everything. 

We walked to the couch. Again, It was time to be a hundred percent happy. My darling was back. What else could I want than always being with him? 

***