SUMMER.
The rays of sunshine burst across my face once the room blinds opened and I jerked to the side with a groan escaping my lips. Even before I opened my eyes, I knew it was my father."Hello Sunshine" He clamored with as much morning glee as he could garner while I desperately held unto the few seconds of sleep that still hung heavy unto my eyelids. But then he sat into the bed, weighing the mattress down and almost sending me flying.A sudden movement like that was more than enough to rid the sleep from my eyes. I rubbed them, shooting him a death glare but Davis has a large grin across his face. He was already dressed in khaki cargos and a hat strapped to his chin."Are you ready for today?" He asked and I arched my brows. "What is happening today?" Truly dumbfounded, I threw the question back to him."We were supposed to go into the city, I hired a tour guide and everything. Me, you and Taylor. And Vincent only that he cancelled on me just now" He scoffed with a gritty tone but that was all I heard. Vincent canceled so that meant he would be home.I wanted to stay home too."Ohh!" I exclaimed, clenching my temples very dramatically. "You didn't tell me yesterday, I would have woken up early and gotten prepared. Plus I think I've even come down with a headache. The journey of yesterday is totally weighing down on me" I muttered softly and by the way my dad's shoulders suddenly flattened, I could tell he knew what was next."I'm sorry" I reached to his hands. "We could go tomorrow! You did say we still had a bunch of fun things to do this summer" I cheered him up and he just let it slide with a slight nod. "I guess so" He reached to touch my neck and luckily, I was warm."You should get enough rest and eat before I get back. You're burning up" Even I was shocked as I reached to touch myself, maybe it was just the nervousness of telling him a lie—even if it was just a little white one.I rarely ever lied to my him. I was what they called a typical daddy's girl.It was so easy and often for my mum to get mad and yell at me but Davis never did. Rather, he'd sit me down and look me straight into my eyes each time I got silent and he would tell me that I could always come to him. That I should never lie to him.There was that trust as it should be, which filled me with a lot of guilt as I watched him walk away. "You wouldn't mind me stealing you dad for today, will you?" I saw them off to the front door, wrapped in my duvet while Taylor was wrapped in his arms. She was dressed for the occasion, large sunglasses, a sleeveless top and shorts as short as short as her pale white thighs."As long as you return him back" I teased back at her, jaws aching from the forced smile. It was hard not to remember yesterday and how swooned Taylor was by Vincent as well. If my dad couldn't tell, I could.She was a gold digger and I wouldn't stop until I'm able to prove that her and my father are not a great fit. He should be with someone unfazed by his success, someone who knew him inside and out—he should be with mum. Being the matchmaker that I was, I was going to make it happen. "Bye" I bade them farewell as the car took off from the driveway and when they were gone, my smile disappeared faster than the speed of light maybe because I could instantly tell that Vincent was behind me.His commanding aura and mesmerizing scent were so strong it gave away his presence in any room. I let the blanket slip to the couch before turning around to him. And lo and behold, there he was, standing with nothing but a thick piece of towel around his hips.It gave very little to my imagination, not that there should even be any at all. And my hands reached to cover my face before settling around my neck. It was hard to breathe normally with him that way."Are you okay?" He leaned forward and I nodded my head briskly. "Uh hum" A hard lump slipped down my throat. His biceps were slithering in moisture like he'd just come out of a sauna and his skin, beneath all the tattoos was the perfect shade. Like he'd tanned before coming here.I saw more tattoos than the grim reaper now, there were about several of them which made me wonder the story behind each one. But I had to leave, with each second that I spent standing there, the tension built between the both of us."I should go" I backed away when he started to inch closer and my back was pressed against the wall. How could sniff out my nervousness like a wolf to its mate, I could tell by the glimmer in his eyes and the smirk across his lips. But alas, he came to a halt."You should get dressed" His voice was more commanding than usual and I furrowed my brows. "Get dressed?" "You heard me" Vincent turned around, walking down the corridor. "We're going out" He added and there wasn't much room for me to say no.And so I scurried to my room to clean up, appearing like half an hour later in a faded pink crop top but a skirt rather than a short. It barely scraped my thighs as well but Taylor's were way shorter.Vincent was waiting by the table and his eyes didn't hold back from scanning me profusely, as if he tore off each piece of clothing with his mind. "I'm ready" My hands crossed in front of me, a little uncomfortable or maybe nervous because I still had no idea where we were going.Before I knew it, we were hiking down the Oregon roads, through a rocky forest that early morning. The sun was out, although the air was a hazy breeze but it still beamed with a lot of possibilities. Vince was way ahead in a ripped sleeveless t-shirt and shorts."Don't you just love it here?" Finally, he called out to me. "I do" I said and when he finally came to a halt at the edge of the cliff, he looked to me. "What is it?" I asked in response to his intense glare."How long has it been?""Since we last saw each other I mean?" He threw a question back at me and I grazed the ground with a stick in my hands. "I don't know, grandpa's funeral?" My tone was questioning like I wasn't sure but I was.I knew every time he came around the house."You were what? Sixteen?" He remembered and I nodded with a coy smile across my lips. "Man it seems so long ago. You look so different now" Vincent remarked and I toyed with the ends of my brunette hair. Maybe it was longer but besides that, I didn't think I changed that much.Until he said that."You too!" I struck a finger at him and we both chuckled for a moment. "How so?" His lips curved and I wasn't shy to let my eyes scan him as well. "The tattoos," I paused. "They're like a hundred more!""Oh come on" I exaggerated and got a reaction out of him. "They're barely even forty. You know I got one for each year of my life" He said."Oh" I softly gasped. "That would be what? Thirty eight now" I was so sure with my answer but he shook his head. Now, his face was closer to mine which made his glare more intense."Ouch.""Thirty seven actually, how old do you think I am?" He appeared hurt very dramatically and I rolled my eyes to the back. "It's just one year" I scoffed but Vincent shook his head. "You're wrong." His answer was stern. "One year can change a lot of things, it could change everything"And he was right.My gaze softened recollecting the events of last year, from the start of the divorce to the end. "Why didn't you never come around?" I asked him this time and Vince looked away. "Come around?" He echoed."Through the divorce.""I tried to speak to you as often as I could, didn't I?" He was always used to answering a question with a question. "It's different. Dad needed you as well, you were his best friend" I added and Vincent pushed a hard lump down his throat and then it hit me."That's why you're here, isn't it?" I asked and all he did was dart a glare back at me. "Why else?" He shrugged. And although him and my dad had been best friends for so long, it didn't stop me from wondering how much they had in common with each other because there was nothing.My dad hated tattoos, especially the idea of any on me. And he made fun of Vincent each time he got the opportunity to. Vince ran a bar and my dad was a world renowned surgeon until he quit to start up his own firm.My dad was married but it was clear as a whistle that Vincent didn't even believe in love, not to talk of marriage.They were so different but their bond, it was so strong. Like brothers."And he wouldn't stop nagging about Taylor, he desperately wanted me to meet her" Vince joked and I tapped his arms. "Same!" I exclaimed. He let out a soft laughter from his chest."What do you think of her?" Was the next question he asked and I couldn't even stop the way my nose scrunched up the next second. "I mean she's different—she's great" She's honestly a walking red flag and there was something I said that made him jump into a raging laughter."What is it now?" I rolled my eyes for the nth time, an effect he had on me and he struck his finger in my face. "You liar, you don't like her for shit" He cussed and I chuckled. Well I tried.But failed regardless, forgetting how much of an expert Vincent was in reading people, especially me. He always teased that I was like a sheet of glass and on some days, it hurt that I was such an open book."Well I don't hate her" I tried to speak amidst our laughter while Vince turned around, clutching his chest. "She's just...""She's just not Lily, I know" And he added, words that struck my chest. Words at the tip of my tongue and I turned to him with surprise. "How do you know?" I asked and he shrugged. "I just know.""Do you think they can ever work their way back to each other because I know she still loves dad. I'm not sure about him—" "Oh he does" Vincent said. "Davis still loves your mum but sometimes you know love is just not enough" He muttered."You speak as though you're an expert" I whispered and he scoffed from his lips. Vincent inched closer to where I stood. "What makes you think that I'm not?" His eyes sparkled like the sun."I mean...you," I stuttered. He was too close, close enough that our heated breaths mingled in the air and I couldn't take a step back, not unless I wanted to fall down a thousand feet and I really couldn't because his arms wrapped around my waist.This wasn't mixed signals, this was really happening."You don't really look like someone that believes in love" I whispered to him when I got a hold of my words and there was that smirk. So brief that you could miss it if you blinked. "Are you profiling me Summer?" My name escaped so perfectly from his lips."Do you?" His hands strained through my hair. "Do I what?" I asked him."Are you such a firm believer in love yourself?""It's hard to when your parents are divorced, isn't it?" I threw him back a question this time and Vince scoffed. "Oh Summer" He whispered and his voice reverberated through my body. His hands gripped my flesh beneath the crop top and he pulled me closer into him. Our lips were barely a meter apart, he was such a tease."I'll show you" Was all he whispered next and a lump formed in the back of my throat. "Show me wha—" And before I even completed my sentence, he crashed his lips into mine, taking me by surprise. And for the first few seconds, it was as though I was lifted above the clouds and nothing else mattered when I was in his arms.It was soft and delicate, yet so passionate as he breathed in the air around me, clawing his nails into my flesh. He was warm, enclasping me in his woodsy cologne and when he pulled away, it was like a fall from heaven. I slowly parted my eyes open to face him again and he smiled.Unlike the million overwhelming emotions that plagued me, he smiled without any regret before he said, "I'll show you what love is" And his words caught my tongue in the back of my throat.Did this just happen?Did Vincent just kiss me?LILY.SEVEN MONTHS LATER.I sat in that chair, opposite Dr Max. For a moment, the room was silent up until Davis came rushing in through the door. He was drenched in the rain and as he sat beside me, he heaved a deep sigh.“I’m sorry I’m late” He panted. “It’s in the middle of Spring and I don’t get why it rains everyday now” Davis shrugged and our counselor only let a light scoff. “Well I’m glad you’re both here” Dr Max folded his arms.I glanced at Davis and then at his outstretched arms before a hard lump went down my throat. We’d decided some months back that we were willing to give this another shot—but only after some thorough marriage counseling. And I could’ve sworn before that this was what I wanted.But as I sat in that chair, so much had already happened and I wasn’t so sure anymore. “So,” Dr Max cleared his throat. “How have you been? Trying to cohabit with each other once again?”“Especially with the baby around” He added and I sighed. “Lily, you go” I lifted my eyes to f
DAVIS.The corridors inside the building was well intertwined and dark. Barely any lights were working, about half of them flickered, a pattern which we followed until we got to the stairs. Then both Vincent and I came to a halt.“Which way now?” I lifted my eyes and the walls echoed by my words. “I doubt he’s taken her upstairs” He replied. It was completely dark up there, not even a twitch or a flicker.“He always talked about a basement around here. I’ve got to find it” He took his feet, scavenging his pocket for a torchlight. “Well I’m going to head upstairs, you stay here” I croaked. Vincent immediately stood to his feet, he turned back to me.“You really want to split up, now?” He asked and honestly, I just didn’t want to be anywhere near him now. I was beyond furious each time I thought about his hands on my daughter. Vincent was a mess and as much as he was my friend, we were nothing alike. He was bad news, nonchalant and reckless most of the time and this just proves my eve
VINCENT. “She’s in there.” I looked ahead at the building before all of a sudden, my phone started to ring in my pocket. The sheriff alongside everyone else almost installed darted their eyes back at me. I pulled my phone out and looking at the screen, a chill went up my spine.“It’s him” My heart stomped, seeing Diablo’s name across the screen. Davis and the sheriff raced backwards as I answered the call. “How does he know we’re here?” Davis was the most worried now, even Lily just stood at a distance with her arms crossed in front of her.“Shuu” I gestured. Across the phone screen, it was pitch black for the first few seconds but that was before we heard a shrill cry in the background. I would know her voice from a mile away—Summer.“Diablo!” I gritted through my teeth. “So you’ve fallen right into my trap huh?” Although we couldn’t see him or anything, we heard his voice. “Leave the girl alone. It’s me you want!” I muttered.“Oh Vincent, sweet naive Vincent. Because I have your l
VINCENT. "Are you okay?" Stella's shriveled voice was barely audible over the phone. Davis's car had only just come to a halt and it wasn't upon alighting the vehicle that I was face to face with the police station. A hard lump went down my throat as I realized what this could mean.And even if I didn't, Stella was there was to remind me."Where are you?" She asked. "I'm at the police with Davis, we have to turn him in before he hurts anyone else" I said, referring to Gustavo and I heard a couple of sobs on her end. "Are you out of your mind?" It was predictable that she'd be distraught."That could put you in a lot of trouble—""But he has Summer!" I yelled through gritted teeth. It had been hours but he still had Summer, I didn't care if I had to go to prison or make an enemy of Gustavo if it was the only way to get her back. She was all that mattered and he crossed the line abducting her."Put us, Vincent" Stella whispered. "This could put the both of us in serious danger. I'm sca
DAVIS.“Yeah she’s doing better now” I placed the phone against my ears as I threaded down the stairs. Lily hummed on the other end of the line and I could swear I heard a light scuffle in that moment.“What is it?” I recognized an ‘i told you so’ even from a distance. “Nothing” She whispered. “The one day I was there, it was obvious how much of a handle she was” She referred to Taylor and speaking of the devil, I looked across the kitchen counter where she stood. She had her face buried into her phone screen like she did half the time.And she was picking out from a fruit bowl just beside her. I heaved a deep breath. “But I guess she must be something special about her” Lily added with a sweet tone. “Otherwise why else would you be with her” She continued and as I walked further, I realized I could ask myself that same question and still wouldn’t have the answer.“I gotta go” I pinched the bridge of my nose as Lily exhaled. “Goodbye, Davis” She said before hanging up. I looked into t
VINCENT.“Fuck!” I screamed into the skies, ramming my fist into the side of my bike until my knuckles bled. But there was no use, I couldn’t even feel it beneath the pouring rain. My hair was drenched and soaked across half my face. Only after a while did I run my hands through it and I sucked in air through my lips. My hands fell to my waist as I tried to figure out what the fuck just happened. Summer was mad, I didn’t think she’d be after everything, especially the time she told me she loved me.A moment that had been replaying in my head ever since. I rattled my brain as to why I couldn’t have just said it back. I mean I’d said it a countless time to women I probably didn’t mean it to. It was so easy to lie but this was different. It felt different.Summer wasn’t just any woman, she was Summer.Or maybe the actual reason that I couldn’t say it was deep down, I knew it was true. And I knew the moment I said it, it would all just become real. I would be vulnerable and it scared me.