Nine: Shall be mine

Renee

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I stared at Bella as she laid on her bed, weeping. To be honest, I hated to see her this way. If I had known she would see Jason today, I wouldn't have gone to the library with her. Since we had returned from school, she wasn't talking to anyone, doing anything. 

"Gosh, this makes me sick," Barb murmured. Turning to her, I just sighed. 

"Me too," I affirmed. "I'm so surprised to see her this way. I thought she had completely forgotten about him."

She nodded, pulling a sad look. "I know, right? But what can we do? Don't you think we should talk to her now?"

"It's not like she'll listen," I said. 

Virginia scooted closer to Barb, smiled at me. Since I was sitting on Virg's bed, opposite to them, I could see them clearly. 

"You know what? I think Renee's more experienced in things like this." She poked Barb's arm, winked. "We're babies in this, huh? Let Renee go to her. And, I think we should leave the room. Bel might not wanna speak if we're here."

"True." Barb stood up without hesitating. Grabbing her jacket from the bed, she snapped her fingers at Virginia. "C’mon hun, let's get ice cream."

"Sure." Virginia looked at me, and smiled warmly. "This is on you. Fix her before we return, okay?"

I stared blankly at them, quite confused. How was I supposed to talk to a depressed person? Was I some kind of motivator or therapist?

"Bye," Barb added. And before I could say anything, they were both out of the room. 

I scoffed, and stood up from the bed. They were right in a way. Since I had experienced this before, I could talk to Bella. 

Walking to Bella's bed, I was a little hesitant. She seemed so sad, so I couldn't think of a way to start a conversation with her. 

"Bel?" I called, standing only a few inches away from her bed. 

"I'm hurt," she stated. Woah, that was unexpected. 

I sighed, and sat on her bed, moved closer to her. She had her back on me, but I could tell that her eyes were so swollen, due to her unending tears.  

"Come on." I stroked her arm gently, feeling sad. "I know how bad you feel right now. I've also been through such. But, there are certain things we've got to learn to get rid of. Just like you asked me to get rid of Sean, you should stop thinking about Jason."

"It's not easy," she said. "Jason and I shared a really strong bond. We dated for two years. He made a lot of promises that I clearly don't know how to brush off my mind." She sobbed, and turned around to catch my gaze. As I had expected, her eyes welled in tears . 

"I'm so sorry." I continued to caress her arm. 

She squeezed her face, weeping more. "I'm so sorry, but I'll admit, I still love him so much. I was complaining about Sean and you, but I'm obviously in the same shoes. I can't seem to get rid of Jason."

"I know that." I smiled to make her feel better. "And you know what? I feel like these guys take advantage of our weakness. So, we gotta prove to them that we're the stronger ones. Crying like this, would only make them the big guys."

"But it's hard." She squeezed her blanket in her palm, shut her eyes tightly, as tears escaped them . "Where do I start from? How do I get a new guy at this stage? Another two years? Wasting my lifetime again?"

"Don't chase love. Love will come to you at the right time." I rubbed my fingers against her hot tears. "We've just gotta be calm, honey. We'll definitely find the right person. I guess our old relationship was only a lesson. At least, we've learned some things from it, right?"

She sniffed hard. "Right. True."

I stood up, and sighed. "I'm so sorry for what happened. Do you mind eating now?"

"No." She flipped her blanket over her body. "I just wanna sleep. I've still gotta brush these thoughts off my mind."

"Hm." I nodded. Moving to my bed, I took my jacket from it, walked to the door. "I'm leaving for work, okay? Ensure to not cry too much, huh? It'll be fine."

"Okay," she mumbled. 

I opened the door, stepped out, heading to the club where I worked. 

***

The club was boring tonight, little customers around. And, it made me quite anxious. Anxious because it was affecting my daily pay. If this had to continue, I'd only end up being too broke to take care of my family and my fees. 

"A bottle of Scotch." I was dozing off, but I hopped from my seat on hearing that voice. Blinking, I looked at the person. Seeing it was Roy, I kind of… smiled.

What? I smiled? Why?

"Oh. You," I said the same thing I always said whenever I unexpectedly saw him. 

"Did I startle you?" As usual, he had that cute smile on his lips. He sat on one of the high stools by the counter, leaned his elbow on the counter. 

"Maybe." I grabbed a bottle of scotch, and glass, dropped it in front of him. "You've come for me again, right?"

He chuckled. "Maybe."

Sitting back, I stared comprehensively at him. It was high time I had had to start observing him. Since the counter was quite wide, I leaned my elbow against it, cupped my chin in my hands, narrowed my eyes at him. 

The moment he caught my gaze, he raised his eyebrows. "You need to say something?"

"Maybe." My tone was low due to my tiredness. "I really wanna know what you want. You're just so weird. I mean, I keep wondering if you're normal."

"I haven't been hanging out with my friends these days. I've been coming to you." Again, he kind of diverted from that topic. 

"That's exactly what I need to know." I snapped my fingers in the air, narrowed my eyes further. "Do you really need a new friend?"

"I'm sorry about what had to happen to your friend." He drank from his glass, reacted to the hotness the alcohol must have caused in his throat. 

I pursed my lips, rolled my eyes. "Guys are shit. Y'all just make ladies feel depressed."

"That's the reason I haven't taken any women," he said. 

I furrowed my eyebrows at him, hissed. "Liar. You're famous. You definitely have someone."

"You think so?"

"Yep. I mean, ladies talk about you as if… you're some kind of gold." I hesitated before uttering that. 

"What?" He choked on his drink, laughed. Really? So they do?" Leaning closer, his eyes squinted at me. "Are you… one of them?"

I scoffed. "You wish."

"I truly wish," he declared. A small smile grew on his lips, and he suddenly wore a serious look. 

Puzzled, I stared dumbly. "Th-That's not possible. I mean—"

"You can be the first to steal my heart." His voice was low, husky and serious. "Don't you wanna give it a try?"

Uncomfortable, I stood up, chuckled anxiously. This guy was definitely crazy. Why would he say that? We weren't even alike in any way. What was wrong with him?

Wanting to end this conversation, I stepped backwards. "Um, I'll be back. I-I need to use the— "

"Come on." He stood from his seat. "It's eleven. Time to leave. Let's go now."

I blinked like I was confused. Taking my phone from the pocket of my jacket, I observed he was right. 

"Oh." I looked back at him. "Okay. I-I'll be back. I need to do something. You can wait outside."

"Sure." Saying that, he walked to the door. 

I breathed out in relief. Really, I needed a minute alone. He was making me feel choked. Of course, there was no big deal in what he had said, but it kind of affected me for a reason I didn't know. 

Quickly, I began to arrange the counter. When I was done with that, I went to my boss's office, told her I was leaving, then headed out. Since I was still gonna work here on Friday, there was no need to ask her for my pay. 

As soon as I stepped out, I spotted Roy leaning his back against the wall. 

"You're ready?" I flinched on hearing his voice. I guessed I was lost in staring at his cuteness, that I didn't even know when he turned to me. Ah, so stupid. 

"Sure." I nodded. Soon, we began to walk on the Street. 

I noticed he never came here in his car, for some reason. I knew he was rich, so I always expected to see his car, but I always saw nothing. 

His phone rang. Checking its screen, he said he had to excuse himself for a moment. So, I just stood in my tracks, waiting for him to return. 

Scrolling my eyes through the place, I pressed my lips against each other, shut my eyes, inhaled the cool air. And, the moment I opened my eyes, my gaze caught something. Instantly, I felt tears in my eyes. 

It was Sean. He was in front of a coffee stand, by the other side of the street, holding a lady's hand, smiling widely. Leaning close to her ear, he said something to her, and that made her chuckle. Since the street was quite loud and crowded, he couldn't see me. 

I would admit, I was upset. So upset. I had always thought he still loved me but only needed some time to be alone. But, seeing him now, I—

Or wait, could they be normal friends?

Trying to convince myself with that question, my hope got shattered in a jiffy. No, she wasn't his friend. He had just given her a small kiss on the lips. 

I blinked, swallowed my tears. If I cried, I was definitely crazy. I had told Bella not to cry, so I also shouldn't cry. 

"Sorry for the delay." Roy's deep voice startled me. 

Turning to him, I tried to hold my tears. "Oh." I avoided eye contact with him. "I-It's fine. I'm not in a hurry."

"Good then. Let's go now."

Turning to the next street, I couldn't help but feel so bad. Did it mean Sean was playing around with me? Only recently, he had told me he'd give me some time. He had pecked me. He had made me feel attached to him again. So, was all of that—

I guessed it was high time I had stopped thinking about him. I truly had to move on. 

Taking a deep sigh, I raised my neck. And, that was when Roy took my hand in his. Huh? What the heck? 

I turned to him, looking up at his tall figure. "Wh-What are you doing?" I asked. 

"Holding hands can keep anyone calm," he stated. He glimpsed at me, walking slowly and gently. 

I creased my brows at him, puzzled. "Pardon?"

"Let's hold hands," he suggested. "That should help you get rid of the stress, right?"

Woah, woah. How did he know I was stressed out? Was he a wizard?

Not arguing with him, I moved my eyes to the road. He was right, I needed someone to comfort me. Obviously, Bella wasn't going to be able to do that. And as for Virg and Barb, they weren't so good at it. 

After a short silence between us, he sighed. "I don't know if anyone has told you this before, but I'll tell you you're cute. Facially cute, quite unique."

I gave him a questioning look. When he glanced at me, he chuckled. 

"I've known you for a couple of weeks, and you've not asked me for a thing. You're different from the other girls."

I was different? Really? Ah, good!

"Thanks." I blushed, but I didn't make it so obvious. 

"Renee." He stood in his tracks, looking down at me. There was an unfathomable look in his eyes, and that made me pretty nervous. "You might find this weird, but I want you to know I feel something for you. I've always wanted someone different, and that person is clearly you."

I kept staring. I was so, so numb. Was this one of my dreams? 

He stepped closer, smiled warmer. "And, the different one shall be mine. We shall see how it goes," he declared. 

"Pardon?" That word left my lips in a whisper. 

He just chuckled. "Let's go. With time, you'll know what I mean."

Saying that, he continued to walk, and I just followed him. 

Why was I this confused? What was happening? What was he saying?

***