Not made for each other - 10. Secret Meetings

Chapter 10: Secret Meetings

I felt someone caressing my forehead, ruffling my hair. There was only one person who could do that.

“Please mom, tell me whatever I saw last night was just a weird dream,” I croaked groggily. My eyes were still closed.

“No, it wasn’t,” my mom affirmed kissing at my temple. I slowly opened my eyes and looked at her.

“Mom, I think you are rushing into something without thinking everything through. I think you’re making a rash decision,” I remarked calmly.

“No, I’m not, hon.” She emitted a long breath and continued, “I haven’t forgiven him altogether. I haven’t taken him back in my life. All I did is just stop him from walking out of my life again. I have just given him a second chance,” she lifted her eyes to meet mine, “I have waited my whole life for him, Zune,” she conceded.

“Do you still trust him?” I asked skeptically.

“No, but I love him,” she answered honestly. I hugged her.

“I love you mom and I’ll respect your decision,” I assured her.

“Oh, hon. Last night when you ran out to your bedroom I got scared that you would hate me for…”

I pulled back to look at her. She was gazing down.

“Mom, I could never hate you. Though I don’t agree with your decision, last night I thought about this a lot and I came to the conclusion that you have the full right to live your life for yourself. It’s not necessary that you have to think of me every time you are making a decision for your own happiness,” I stated, trying to convince her. She stared me for few seconds and gave me her perfect smile.

“Okay, so tell me what we are going to do now about this whole situation?” mom asked in an uncertain voice.

“Look mom, you have a right to give him a second chance, the same way I have the right to never forgive him. I can’t stop you from meeting him or dating him, and you won’t force me to meet him or forgive him. I’ll respect your decision and you’ll have to accept my decision. That way both of us would be fine,” I concluded, shrugging my shoulders and raising my left brow.

“Sometimes, I think you are my mom, not the other way around. When did you become so mature?” she commented with a proud smile. “Breakfast will be ready in a few minutes, so I want your lazy ass downstairs soon, grandpa.” She kissed my forehead and moved towards the door, laughing softly.

“Mom?”

She turned back.

“Please warn Mr. Rilens, if he even thinks of hurting you again, believe me, I’ll make him regret that in a very bad way,” I mentioned in a stern tone.

She smiled, nodded agreeably, and left.

I had to meet Ed today. I scrambled off my bed and stepped towards the bathroom.

There were still fifteen days left until our school reopened. Fifteen days with Ed. I was very excited.

I texted Kev to inform him that I got a call again from Ariel’s mom about teaching some kids sometime, so since everything was fine, I was going to go over there and start teaching them today so I wouldn’t be able to see him until I was through for the day. I also told him to inform our gang about this. He messaged back, showing his disappointment. I was feeling guilty for lying to him but there was no way I could tell him the truth. I repeated the same story to mom. Thank God none of them investigated anything.

Day One

It was a bright and sunny day for a change. Around nine-fifty-five, I was standing outside the church waiting for Ed. A few minutes later I saw him walking towards me. He was wearing a pair of black jeans which complemented the green t-shirt he had on. There was a quote written over his t-shirt: ‘If you like me, raise your hand. If you don’t, raise your standard’. Within seconds he was standing before me but my eyes were still on that slogan.

“Even your t-shirt is full of arrogance, Mr. Arrogant.” I said teasingly, giving him a mischievous smile.

“I think it’s cool,” he playfully retorted back.

“Cool, huh? Whatever. So where are we going?” I asked, tilting my head to my right.

“I don’t know. You tell me.”

“You wanna meet me and you haven’t even planned what to do or where to go? Amazing,” I taunted with a sarcastic smile on my face.

He took a step towards me, the smile slowly fading from his face.

“I don’t care where we go. I don’t care what we do. The only thing that I care about is being with you,” he asserted intensely, meaning the words more seriously than they sounded.

Sometimes Ed was as intriguing to me as a classic novel full of suspense and mystery.

I decided that first we would go see a comedy movie, much to his disapproval. I have seen him smile, but now I wanted to witness his laugh.

We went to see ‘21 Jump Street’. My reason for forcing Ed to see this movie was accomplished within the first few minutes of this amazing flick. Watching him laughing his ass off was so surreal. Many times I had to grab him so his butt wouldn’t fall off his seat. I was also laughing but Ed’s hysterical reactions made the whole movie worth seeing. All in all, we had great fun there.

When we came out of the theater, Ed was gushing about the movie enthusiastically. He seemed overexcited. I was getting really fond of this new Edward.

We went to eat in a cheap Chinese restaurant. Unsurprisingly, the food was not great but Ed’s awesome company made up for that.

Soon it was time to say goodbye. Ed was not very happy but when I reminded him that we had to meet up again tomorrow, his face lit up.

When I got home, mom was there but she was leaving for her shift at the hospital. She told me that tomorrow night she would be going on a date with Mr. Rilens. I grunted inwardly but kept a smile on my face. I didn’t want to dishearten her.

Later in the evening, the gang came to pick me up. They all had planned to watch a movie, and guess what the movie was? ‘21 Jump Street’…arrgh.

After seeing that movie twice in a single day, I was exhausted. Kev dropped me off at home. As mom was not home, we made out for half an hour. It was exhilarating. Nothing ever felt so good. I was in heaven.

When Kev didn’t show any sign of leaving, I had to literally throw him out of my house. His charming face and innocent pout did nothing to me to let him stay overnight.

“I LOVE YOU,” he shouted from the other side of the door when I closed it in his face.

“BYE KEV,” I shouted back and giggled.

Day Two

It was a warm and cloudless day like yesterday. I hurriedly ate my breakfast and ran to the church; otherwise I would have been late. I arrived there at nine fifty-eight. Ed was not there. I sighed in relief and waited for him to show up. It was ten-thirty and he was still not here. He could have at least called me to tell me that he would be late, but no, he probably thought it wasn’t that important to inform me, bloody asshole. I won’t talk to him. It was eleven now and I was still standing alone outside the church. What the hell did he think of himself? What the hell did he think of me? I was done with waiting for that stupid arrogant piece of shit. Go to hell, Mr. Arrogant.

I turned around to leave, fuming and cursing him but then I saw him running towards me. Oh, so he finally got some time to show his ugly face. Bloody dork.

“Hey,” he greeted me nervously as he came up to me, standing a few steps away from me.

“Hey! HEY! You are damn late and you didn’t care to send me a single message informing me about that and then all you have to say is ‘HEY’, unbelievable!” I shouted maniacally and shook my head in disbelief. I was seething with anger.

“I’m just an, an hour late,” he tried to defend himself. He did a poor job of it. He could never be a lawyer.

“Wow, now instead of being sorry, you are defending yourself, showing me your stupid attitude. Amazing,” I accused him caustically, throwing my hands in air.

“Okay, okay. I-am-sorry. Happy now?” he apologized in a non-committal way.

“Oh, please Mr. Arrogant, I don’t need your benevolence,” I retorted irritably, narrowing my eyes on him.

“Bene, bene…what?” Arrogance with a poor vocabulary, dynamic combo.

“Nothing,” I huffed and began walking towards bus stop. He started following me.

“Look, I said I’m sorry,” he apologized again.

“Go to hell with your sorry,” I grumbled without looking back.

“Where are you going?”

“Home.”

All of a sudden, he jumped in front of me obstructing my way. I stopped abruptly.

“Zune, please. I’m sorry. I’m really, really sorry. Please don’t go,” he begged making a puppy face but I was still miffed.

“Let-me-go,” I hissed, shooting daggers at him with my eyes.

“Zune, at least listen to my side of story,” he pleaded.

“One hour, for one-FUCKING-hour I have been waiting for YOU outside this church like an IDIOT but you didn’t find it appropriate to at least inform me that you’d be late, and NOW you want me to listen to your side of story? You know what, I don’t care. Just let me go,” I snapped.

“Zune, but…”

“LET ME GO.”

“You call me Mr. Arrogant, but right now it’s you who is full of arrogance. Stop overreacting, Zune,” he chided losing his patience.

“What?”

“Yeah. You are overreacting and, and you are behaving like a stupid, stubborn and irritating kid.”

“How dare y…”

“I’m apologizing to you again and again and here’s you who…”

“SHUT UP! You know what, next time you see me, DON’T TALK TO ME,” I roared, as I shoved him aside and rushed towards bus stop.

“FINE,” he shouted behind me.

“FINE,” I yelled back over my shoulder, without turning around.

I was in one of the worst moods when I got home. Thankfully, mom was not there. I threw my shoes, socks and house keys in the living room, headed towards my bedroom and crashed on my bed.

‘He thinks this world revolves around him; everything should happen as per his wishes. *News flash* I am not his bloody puppet. I won’t meet him EVER again. I won’t talk to him EVER again.’ I decided all this in my mind and unknowingly drifted off to sleep.

A vibration in the front pocket of my jeans woke me up. I lazily pulled my phone out of my pocket. It was Becca.

“Hey,” I greeted.

“Hey.” She didn’t sound herself.

“What’s up, Becca?” I asked, rubbing my eyes with my free hand.

“Zune, since Ed came back he’s been silent. He’s not talking to me and he’s been holed up in his bedroom. Are you guys fighting?” she asked dubiously with a bit of hesitance. I told her what happened today and then she revealed the reason behind Ed’s late arrival at the church.

“Zune, Ed took me to my doctor for my regular check-up; that’s why he was late. He was by my side all the time, probably that’s the reason he couldn’t text or call you,” she informed me.

“Oh shit!” I groaned, slapping my forehead. I was such a jerk to him. Oh Gosh. I heard Becca giggling on other side.

“You think it’s funny.”

“Obviously, yes. You guys are worse than a husband and a wife. Well, congratulations on the very first fight of your relationship,” she teased. She was so turning into my mom.

“Becca, stop acting like my mom and tell me what I should do! I have screwed up everything. I’m such a stupid, idiot…”

“First of all, stop cursing yourself. You just acted on impulse, so calm down. I don’t think Ed is angry with you, he’s just sad.”

“I know, and it’s killing me that I’m the sole reason for that.” I sighed in disappointment looking up at ceiling.

“Oh come on Zune, don’t blame yourself. Look, I’m going out grocery shopping with Sophia. There won’t be anyone at the house except Ed, so you could…”

“I got it.” I cut her off. “I’ll be there soon. Bye, and thanks Becca.” Without waiting for her response I hung up and headed towards bus stop.

Within half an hour I was outside the Woodworth’s house. The front door was open so I went inside. As Becca told me earlier, no one was there. I checked Ed’s bedroom but he was not there. I searched for him in every other bedroom, in the kitchen, and the dining room, but he was nowhere to be found. Then I went outside, looking for him in the garden. I found him next to the garden, sitting at the edge of the swimming pool. His shoulders were slouched and he was looking at the blue water in the pool. I slowly moved towards him.

Ed’s legs were cooling off in the pool water. I copied his maneuver and sat in the same manner. He noticed my presence and looked at me. He was looking sad. He stared me for a few seconds and then looked away.

“Now you’re not even going to talk to me?” I asked softly.

“You are the one who said ‘next time you see me, don’t talk to me’,” he retorted, repeating my words without looking at me.

“Ed, I’m sorry,” I genuinely apologized.

“I don’t need your bene…bene…”

“Benevolence,” I completed for him and couldn’t hold back my chuckle. He spared me a look and seemed pissed. He averted his gaze. I silently cursed at myself for being a jerk and I made myself remember the actual reason for me being here.

“I am sorry, Ed,” I apologized again but he didn’t react. He was still not looking at me.

“Ed, please?” No response.

“Ed?” Same response.

I was not going back home without making him smile. I slid down into the cool pool water. I looked up at him and caught him glancing at me out of the corner of his eyes. Suddenly, I began splashing water on him.

“Zune… Zune…what are you doing? Stop it!” He was trying to save himself from my water attacks by putting his hands in front of his face.

“Make me,” I challenged.

“You are done, Zune Williams,” he threatened and jumped into the pool chasing me, splashing water on me. It didn’t take him long to get a hold of me. He grabbed my wrist and drew me towards him. “You really think you are going to get away with that?”

I smiled evilly and again splashed water on his face. In that moment his grip on my wrist weakened and I climbed out of the pool. He followed me to exact his revenge. Both of us were soaking wet and dripping water everywhere.

I made him chase me in the house, through the dining room, around dining room table, and then I fled to his bedroom. I tried to lock the door but before I could do that, Ed threw it open with full force. I fell flat on my back on his bed. He smiled wickedly at me.

“Now you’ll know who the master of this game is,” he teased and moved towards me. But before he could reach me, I was on the other side of the bed. After running around his bed for about five minutes, we were tired and fell on his soft bed landing on our backs, laughing and panting, looking at the ceiling.

“I…I’m s…sorry,” I apologized again between heavy breaths.

“It…it’s okay.”

“We’re good?”

“Uh huh.”

After our breathing was under control, he turned to me and propped himself up on his left elbow. His face was hovering over mine. He stared at me and I held his gaze for more than a minute. Water droplets were gliding down from his damp hair to the tip of his nose onto my forehead. That was the moment I remembered about the kiss we shared on that unlucky day and I was sure he was thinking the same. Before this moment I had never thought about that kiss, but this sudden proximity with Ed was brewing unfamiliar emotions inside me. He slowly and steadily began leaning in. No. NO. NO FUCKING WAY. I bolted out of the bed in an instant. I didn’t want history repeating itself.

“I, I think, I, I should l…leave now,” I stuttered, walking few steps away from his bed, looking down.

“Y…yeah. F…fine. I’ll d…drop you off.” He stood on my right and stammered, scratching his temple. He was avoiding glancing at me and I was doing the same.

The ride to my house was quiet. Neither of us uttered a single word.

‘What would have happened if I hadn’t stopped…don’t think about that, Zune. Don’t. Nothing would have happened. Nothing has happened.’ I was assuring myself that everything was fine and normal when Ed parked his car outside my house.

“I guess I’ll see you tomorrow then,” I concluded forcing a smile on my face.

His face was showed that he was as uncomfortable as I was. He mouthed ‘for sure’ with fake cheerfulness.

I apologized once again for treating him like a prick. I told him to be on time tomorrow and let me know if he was going to be late. He smiled and nodded. I went inside without looking back. I so hope this strange awkwardness between us vanishes by tomorrow morning.

I didn’t meet any of my friends that evening as I was not in a mood to go out, so I lied that I had a headache and needed rest.

Day Three

It was a cloudy day unlike the previous two. When I reached the church, Ed was already there waiting for me. Thankfully, we were feeling at ease around each other. The shadow of yesterday’s little incident was not visible in our behavior.

We decided to go to a mall on the other side of the city first. He didn’t buy anything but I purchased a t-shirt for him. It had a quote saying, ‘Mom says stay away from girls’, perfect. I couldn’t wait to find out what Ed’s father’s reaction would be when he saw Ed in this t-shirt. Ed swore that he’s not gonna wear that t-shirt but he took it anyway.

Later, we went to a café, Grey’s Café. We ordered two cappuccinos.

We began talking about our families. I told him about my mom, that she was my only family. We didn’t have any relatives. It was just mom and I and we were more than enough for each other. Ed told me that he had a lot of relatives but no one close to him. I also found out that Becca was an amazing mathematics student and wanted to do something in accounting but couldn’t, because of Mr. Woodsworth.

Ed revealed that his father hates being photographed. It answered my question about why I hadn’t seen any family photographs or Mr. Woodsworth’s solo image in his house. Weird man.

Then, we conversed about our plans after graduating from school. He told me that he’s interested in opening up a restaurant someday. I disclosed that I wanted to be a teacher. It felt good talking about normal stuff while having your favorite drink.

We were still deep in our conversation when Carol called me. She wanted to go shopping for a handbag, RIGHT NOW.

“Why don’t you take your boyfriend along with you?” I asked harshly while putting my cup of coffee on the rectangular wooden table.

“Because he’s gone with Kev to his photography institute to submit some papers, and before you ask about Ron and Jake, I must inform you that Ron is working and Jake is not picking up his phone for which I’ll kick his ass later. Moral of the story, I don’t have anyone else except you to drag along and don’t you dare to say ‘no’,” she explained everything in one single breath.

“How much time will it take?” I asked helplessly, rubbing my forehead with my free hand.

“I promise it won’t take more than half an hour, I swear to God.”

“Okay, meet me at Sarran Point in fifteen minutes,” I ordered in a defeated and irritated tone.

I told Ed to wait for me as I had to go for a while and would be back in an hour. He nodded pressing his lips together.

It was a big luxurious handbag shop that Carol dragged me to. She was excited like she had found some buried treasure. She surveyed the shop around ten times, discovering different brands and colors, then took another ten rounds to choose the top fifteen handbags that she liked the best.

“How’s this?” she asked enthusiastically with an ear to ear smile.

“Amazing,” I replied nonchalantly, while checking out a hot guy who had just entered the shop with a girl, who was probably his girlfriend.

“And this?”

“Mind blowing.” That guy was in a black shirt and black jeans. He must have been around twenty-three with a height of six-one, I guess.

“And what about this?”

“Great choice.” My eyes were still glued to that hot stud. His toned body was apparent from his tight clothes. He was looking so eatable…hmm.

“I didn’t take you here to perv on straight guys.” She came in between that sexy guy and I and gave me a fake smile, folding her hands against her chest.

“I was not.” I tried to snub her allegations but failed miserably.

“Oh yeah? You were ogling him like you were just about to drag him to your bed and have your way with him,” she blurted while making her way towards the next niche of handbags.

“Keep your mouth shut and tell me: did you choose anything yet?” I asked wryly.

“Nopes.”

A few minutes later I saw that hot stud’s girlfriend going towards the bathroom and then I noticed Carol flirting with him; she’s actually such a bitch. She looked at me and winked. Before the guy’s girlfriend could come back, Carol was walking towards me with a crooked smile.

“Don’t look at me like that, Zuney baby,” she muttered curling her lips.

“You know you are such a bitch and DON’T CALL ME THAT!” I warned her, narrowing my eyes.

“I’ll always call you that. Do whatever you can. By the way, that guy was really HOTTT,” she whispered. I shook my head in defeat.

It took her forever to choose a handbag, and believe me, it was possibly the ugliest handbag in that store! It had a weird color combination of purple and maroon. It was a total eew.

We walked out of the handbag store and went to McDonald’s to eat something. We got ourselves burgers and cokes. For the first few minutes we talked about that hot stud we saw in the store. We fantasized about having a threeway with that guy, but then we fought about who would take him first. In the end Carol won, as usual. We were talking nonsense but it was hilarious. When we both got a stomachache from laughing nonstop, we decided to leave.

Around six in the evening, after taking the bus to Carol’s house, I walked home. As I entered in my living room, I got a call from mom on the landline number, informing me that my phone was turned off and reminding me that she would be late tonight because she had a date with Mr. Rilens. She was happy, excited and nervous, like she was going on her very first date. I calmed her down and wished her all the best.

I decided to order a pizza rather than cook something. I was about to dial Domino’s number when I pulled my phone out of my pocket and found my battery was dead, no wonder mom couldn’t get through to me. I put the phone on the charger, and a few minutes later, Becca called me.

“Hey Becca.”

“Thank God you picked your phone. I have been trying your number for hours but it was switched off.” She sounded really stressed.

“Becca, is everything alright? You sound worried,” I asked with genuine concern.

“Actually, Ed is not home yet. I called him but his phone is out of the service area I thought you guys would be together so I called you, but your phone was switched off. So I, I just got worried. You are with him, right?”

“Ed is not home yet? But I…” OH SHIT! How could I be such an idiot?

“What happened? Everything is fine, right?”

“Don’t worry Becca, everything is perfectly fine. Ed, Ed is with me. He’ll be home soon,” I lied.

“Okay. I just get scared with small things.” She sighed in relief. I assured her that Ed would be home in an hour. I hung up and found I had countless texts from Ed asking about where I am, when I am coming back, how much more time it would take me to come back and etc. etc. OMG! He would have been pissed as hell.

Without wasting another moment, I ran towards the bus stop. It was raining now. It took ten minutes for the damn bus to come. I constantly tried to call Ed’s number but it was always out of the service area. Twenty minutes later, the bus dropped me off a few blocks from the café and I ran as fast as I could, bumping into dozens of people. The rain was coming down harder now. I finally got to the café five minutes later.

I hurriedly opened the front door and frantically look around. The whole place was empty of people save for Ed. He was in the same seat where I had left him. He was having coffee and reading an unrecognizable magazine.

“Ed!” I exclaimed, walking towards him in a rush.

“Hey,” he greeted me with an adorable smile but his smile faded when he saw I was soaked from head to toe. “You are all wet. You’ll catch cold.” He looked at me with his concerned eyes and made me sit across the table. He gave me some tissues to wipe off my face. He flagged the waitress down and ordered two coffees.

Ed was staring at me intently. There was no anger, no attitude and no arrogance in his gaze. There was just a twinkle of happiness in his eyes. He was happy to see me there.

“I, I’m so sorry. I just forgot about you. I am so, so sorry, Ed. I am idiot, and stupid, and…”

“Sshh…” he put his finger on my lips and shushed me. “Did I say something? It’s okay, Zune. There is nothing to be sorry about,” he assured me with a natural and gentle smile.

“You are not mad at me?” I asked in disbelief with my eyes bulging out of my head.

“Dogs get mad. People…they get angry,” he restated his strange theory and we both laughed softly.

“What the hell were you doing here all this time?” I asked incredulously.

A girl of around twenty was at our table with our coffees.

“Drinking countless cups of coffee and waiting for you,” she informed me with a smile and continued, “You are damn lucky to have a boyfriend like him.”

Before any of us could correct her that we were not boyfriends, she had left.

With the mention of the word ‘boyfriend’, a silence enveloped our table. We were just having our coffees, stealing glances at each other and smiling awkwardly.

After finishing up our coffees we exited the café. It was still raining so we decided to wait for the rain to stop, standing under an awning outside the café. Ed told me that he tried to call me many times from café’s landline number as there was no service on his phone but my phone was switched off, he even texted me many messages but got no response. I told him about my dead battery and apologized once again. He just smiled. How could he be so cool and calm after waiting for nearly seven hours?

I told Ed that his mom was getting worried about him. There was still no service on his phone so I gave him mine to call her. Ed ensured her that he’s fine and would be home soon.

It was still raining hard. One question was continuously running through my mind, so I decided to ask.

“Ed?”

He looked at me.

“When I didn’t return in an hour, why didn’t you leave? Why did you wait for me?”

He tugged a tuft of my wet hair behind my earlobe; I shivered as his cold fingers touched me. He smiled slightly and answered with graceful simplicity, “Because you told me to wait.” It was the only reply I got. Just because I told him to wait, he waited for me the whole day and when I finally showed up he was not angry, on the contrary, he was concerned that I was all wet and could catch a cold. I don’t think I will ever be able to understand him.

I held his gaze for God knows how long trying to read him but I wasn’t successful.

The rain finally stopped and we headed to the bus stop. Ed made sure I made it home ok, and then he grabbed another bus and went to his house.

I changed into dry clothes and called Kev. He told me that he was with Daryl the whole day and apologized for not being able to call me today. He asked how my day was and if I was enjoying my teaching. A sense of guilt clouded into my conscience, but I assured myself that whatever I was doing was for a good cause. We planned to meet tomorrow evening.

I called mom but she didn’t pick up her phone. She was probably busy on her date with Mr. Rilens. I smiled inwardly and went to bed.

Day Four

The next morning, I found my mom in the kitchen. There was a vibrant, lively smile on her face which I had never seen before. She was definitely in one of her best moods today and I knew very well the reason behind her happiness.

She made my favorite breakfast for us, grilled cheese sandwiches with cheese-garlic sauce. They were amazing. We were eating in silence, when she suddenly asked impatiently, “When are you gonna ask?”

I knew what was she talking about but I decided to tease her a little.

“Ask what?” I asked back innocently.

“Don’t play dumb with me, hon; you know very well what I am talking about,” she replied shaking her head and calling me ‘Satan’ under her breath. She’s still like a child and I couldn’t hold back my laugh.

“Do I have any choice?” I asked with a mischievous smile when my laugh subsided.

“No. Not at all.” She proceeded to fill me in with each and every detail of her date, how Mr. Rilens brought red roses for her, how he took her to the best restaurant in the city, how he took care of her and behaved like a gentleman the whole night. While telling me all of this, mom was blushing, smiling and laughing. I was relieved that he was making her happy. I hoped things would remain the way they are.

Mom informed me that she’s meeting him again this evening so she would be home late. She left shortly after that for the hospital with Mr. Rilens. Yes, he came to pick her up. He didn’t come in; he was waiting for her outside in his car.

My meeting with Ed was just like the previous one. When I arrived at the church, Ed was already there waiting for me. He was in white v-neck plain t-shirt and blue jeans. He looked nice.

We went to Grey’s Café again. It was not a big place and normally it did not attract many people. The same girl who referred us boyfriends yesterday took our order. She grinned as she recognized us and introduced herself as Katie.

Minutes later our coffee was on our table and we were again lost in our chatting. Today we talked about our love lives. I told him about Kev, how our relationship blossomed and deepened day by day and then he told me about his affairs. He had many affairs but nothing serious. His last girlfriend was Sarah. She was a nice girl but wanted to take their relationship to the next level and Ed was not ready.

We drank three cups of coffee each and finally decided to leave. Katie told us to come again as she waved goodbye. She still had the misconception that we were boyfriends, silly girl.

After exiting the café, we wandered around the streets aimlessly. We were so engrossed in our talking that we had no idea where we were going. We never fell short of topics to talk about. We talked about everything and nothing. It was fun.

When it was time to leave, we headed to the bus stop.

In the evening, Kev came to pick me up for our date. This time we were hanging out alone, without our gang of crazy friends. We went to Sausen’s and ate dinner. He told me how unhappy he was that our school would be reopened in a few days. We talked about our friends, our moms and our relationship. I knew he was desperate to hear those three words from me but I was in no hurry.

He seemed very happy to spend this quality time with me alone. His eyes were on me all the time. I was convinced that he was in love with me; even I had no doubt that he was more than a friend to me, but I had yet to be sure about my feelings towards him.

When Kev dropped me at my place, mom was still not there. I gave Kev a long and much needed goodbye kiss. When our lips parted, I could easily sense that he didn’t want to go. I softly pressed my lips against his for a peck and mouthed bye. Before I could turn around to enter my house, he grabbed my hand and yanked me towards him. My other hand was on his chest now.

He brought his lips close to mine and whispered, “I love you.”

“Bye Kev,” I whispered back. He smiled and let go of my hand. I smiled back and went inside.

Was what I was feeling at the moment called love? Only God knows.

Day Five

Today Mr. Rilens was at our place again; the only difference was that he came inside this time. I guess he’s making it a ritual to pick up mom every day. Mom invited him in for breakfast and went to her bedroom to change, leaving us behind in an uncomfortable silence.

“H…how are you?” he asked hesitantly after sometime, looking at his plate.

“I, I’m fine. How are you?” My situation was no way any better than his.

“I’m fine too.” That’s all we talked about.

Thankfully mom came back after a few minutes to rescue the both of us from this awkward situation. She told me she would be home on time today for a change. I loved the sound of that.

Today Ed and I went to Grey’s Café as usual. Now, it was a custom for us now to visit this place every day. Katie was her usual warm and friendly self with us.

We sat and talked there for about an hour, after that he took me to a painting exhibition. It was the first time I had ever been to such a place. I knew very little about painting but Ed never let me feel dumb. He explained every single detail about each painting to me and I listened to him with growing fascination. I had no idea when three hours passed. Unexpectedly, I enjoyed my time studying all the different and amazing colors and lines on those canvasses.

Like always, we headed towards bus stop when it was time to leave.

When mom came home we hung out for a while and then cooked dinner together. It felt nice; I really missed spending time with her.

Before going to bed I called Kev to tell him how much I missed him today. I kissed him through the phone and he promised to meet me tomorrow.

Day Six

The next morning, Mr. Rilens was once again at our breakfast table and mom was again in her room changing. Unsurprisingly, both of us were silent and trying hard to concentrate on our breakfast. Was mom leaving us alone deliberately?

He cleared his throat more than once, probably to get my attention, but it didn’t work. And finally, he broke the silence.

“H…how are you?” he asked with the same hesitance.

“I’m fine,” I replied curtly without looking at him. This time I never asked him how he was. I was in no mood to carry on this conversation.

“Tonight, Jenny and I are going out for dinner at Sausen’s…”

“…again,” I completed for him looking at him expressionlessly.

“Yeah.”

“Cool.” I responded reluctantly, shifting my eyes to my breakfast again.

“I was, I was thinking…maybe…”

“Maybe?” I again lifted my eyes to meet his gaze.

“Maybe you, you could accompany us?” He quickly averted his eyes. He was definitely scared.

“Why?” I asked in annoyance, raising my left brow.

“B…Because you, you are…you are my son and I thought…” He never lifted his eyes from the table.

When I heard the word ‘son’, I lost all my senses. I bolted out of my seat, causing the chair to fall backwards.

“Son? SON? SERIOUSLY?” I yelled. I was pissed off like hell.

“Look, son…” I never gave him the chance to complete.

“Just by landing your bloody sperm in my mom doesn’t make you my bloody father,” I bellowed.

My mom hurriedly came out of her room hearing my raised voice.

“Zune…”

“He told me you’ll be late mom. I have my keys. I’m leaving. Bye and take care.” I diverted my eyes towards Mr. Rilens, “Goodbye Mr. Rilens.” I drawled in a discourteous manner, making it clear to him of his place in my life, and with that I ran out of my house. I heard my mom calling my name behind me but I never stopped.

It was raining again but I kept walking at a fast pace. My vision was blurred and the reason behind that was not the rain; it was my eyes brimming with tears. I wanted to punch him, scream at him. I wanted to cry.

In no time I was outside the church. It was still raining and I was soaked from head to toe. Ed was already there holding a black umbrella in his left hand. He hurriedly ran towards me and took me under the shelter of his umbrella. He looked at me and sensed that I was upset but didn’t utter a single word. We kept walking together under his umbrella in complete silence. That umbrella was hardly saving us from the rain. My eyes were on nothing in particular, but I could feel his concerned gaze fixed on me.

When we reached Grey’s Café, Ed closed his wet umbrella and opened the glass door for me. I walked inside and silently sat down at our usual spot. I was shivering from being so cold and wet and I could hear the sound of my teeth chattering. Seconds later, I felt a jacket on my body. I looked at it. It was Ed’s who was now sitting across the table from me. Katie immediately brought two unordered coffees to our table. Ed muttered a thank you with a small smile.

After having my coffee I was feeling much better.

“Feeling better now?” he asked after few minutes. I gave him a slight nod without lifting my eyes from the empty cup placed before me.

“You wanna talk about it?” I looked at him and saw that his eyes were full of worry and concern.

“I can’t promise to help you but I can assure you that you’ll feel better once you’ll let it out,” he assured me, holding my gaze, and raising his eyebrows. I don’t know why but I felt this sudden impulse to pour my heart out to him.

“My, my father…” I couldn’t stop myself from telling him everything about Mr. Rilens. He listened to me attentively. When I was done I took a deep breath and rested my forehead on my hands that were clasped together on the table.

“Zune?”

I didn’t react.

“Who’s the most important person in your life?” he asked out of the blue. His question compelled me to look at him.

“My mom, of course.” I answered in a manner like it was the stupidest question I had ever heard.

“And he’s making her happy,” he pointed out.

“But…”

“Zune, listen to me,” he leaned towards the table and continued, “I know it’s hard for you to trust him, but believe me it’s even harder for your mom to trust him again, but she still believed him and gave him a second chance. Zune, your mom raised you alone, performed every responsibility of a parent alone, but never complained. She had suffered a lot, but now she’s happy once again because of the reappearance of her lost love, but her happiness would be incomplete if you are not happy. Don’t you think you should be a little friendlier towards Mr. Rilens just for her sake?”

“Then what should I do?” I asked annoyed, narrowing my eyes at him.

“Try. That’s all you can do is try. You should just try to give him a chance, give your mom’s belief a chance. I know it’s not easy and it won’t happen in a single day but if you don’t try, it’ll never happen. Imagine if things work out between him and your mom and they decides to move in together, then you would have to face him every day. It would be impossible for you to ignore him and your relationship with him. And if you guys succeed in treating each other as being invisible, think how much it would kill your mother to see you guys giving each other the cold shoulder. It would make her unhappy to know that you guys are not happy. She would be so disappointed with herself and you would feel guilty to be the cause of all this. It would create frustration, anger, and finally destruction of her relationships, Zune,” he finished. His eyes never left my face.

Ed told me nothing that I hadn’t known already, but when he said these things out loud, I actually wanted to try. I wanted to give Mr. Rilens a chance. What was happening to me? What were Ed’s words doing to me?

We didn’t talk much after that. When we were about to leave Katie gave me a concerned hug. I was surprised, but still hugged her back. She told Ed to take care of me. I guess she knew somehow that something was wrong with me. I was starting to like her. Ed and I gave her a small smile and left. Ed took me to the church. We sat there in silence until it was time to leave.

He dropped me at my house and told me to take care of myself. I nodded pressing my lips together.

Ed’s words were swirling in my mind since I got home. He was right; mom was the most important person in my life. She was always there when I needed her, now it was my time to stand back and let her make her decisions, regarding her happiness. I knew what I had to do now.

Kev came to pick me up on time but I told him what I had decided. He seemed genuinely happy with my decision. He called Carol and let her know everything. I could hear her excited scream through the phone. I chuckled, shaking my head. It didn’t take Carol more than an hour to arrive at the Love Life Café with our gang of friends.

The six of us were enjoying our coffee and chatting about random stuff. No one was talking about Mr. Rilens and my decision but deep down I knew they were overwhelmed with what I wanted to do, especially Carol. She seemed overexcited, overjoyed. She was laughing at Ron’s lame jokes, grinning whenever her eyes fell on me and reminding me again and again how much she loves me.

The five of them dropped me off at my destination around nine p.m. They all hugged me, wished me luck, said their goodbyes and left. I walked towards the entrance of the restaurant. When I was standing in front of the main door, I stopped and took a deep breath. I calmed down from my feelings of anxiety, pushed on the glass door and went in. I ran my eyes around the interior of Sausen’s and within a few seconds I spotted them at a corner table in the far north section of the dining room. There was still one chair that was empty. They were talking about something serious, probably about me. I walked over to them.

“Hey, Mom.” I greeted my mom in a delighted voice, with a cheerful smile on my face. Two pairs of eyes turned on me.

“Good evening, Mr. Rilens.” I acknowledged him in the same manner.

They were undoubtedly shocked, happily shocked to see me there. They were still staring at me in astonishment.

“I’m not interrupting you guys, right?” I asked skeptically, furrowing my brows with a slight smile.

“No. No. It’s not like that. It’s just we were not expecting you, that’s all. Sit, sit down please,” Mr. Rilens insisted staring at me in awestruck wonder. I sat down between them. I glanced at mom and then at Mr. Rilens. They were still gawking at me like I was an alien.

I knew why I was there so without wasting any time I decided to verbalize what was in my mind. I fixed my gaze on Mr. Rilens.

“I hate you, Mr. Rilens.” His smile immediately faded away, “but my hate for you is nowhere near my love for my mom. She’s my world. I can’t see her disappointed, unhappy and torn between the two people she loves the most. For her sake, I’m ready to try, I’m ready to give you a chance.” A hint of smile crept over his face. “I’m not saying I’ll start calling you dad from now on or give you the place of my parent in my life; all I’m saying is that I’ll try to behave normal around you. I’ll try to understand you. I’ll try to accept you.” His smile widened. “And I think the best way to begin this relationship between us would be as friends.” I finished with simple directness.

The way he was unsuccessfully trying to make out words, the way shining tears of relief were visible in his eyes; I reckoned he was amazed and damn happy.

“I, I couldn’t ask for more. I couldn’t.” That’s all was he able to say. He hesitantly put his hand over mine and squeezed gently. I gave him an assuring smile.

I shifted my eyes to my mom. She was looking at me in gratitude with wet eyes. I knew a heavy weight had just been lifted from her chest which had been buried deep inside her.

Looking at their faces I was sure I made the right decision. I was feeling good, very good.

After dinner Mr. Rilens dropped us home. I invited him for breakfast the next morning. He smiled and I gave him a genuine smile in return.

When he left, mom hugged me tightly and whispered ‘I love you’. I hugged her back murmuring ‘I love you, too’. She was relieved and more than happy about this new beginning between Mr. Rilens and I.

After talking with mom for few minutes, I went to my bed with a gratified feeling in my heart. I picked up my phone from the night table and sent Ed a message.

Thank you.

Within seconds I got his reply.

:)

I couldn’t restrain my smile after seeing his text. I slept a very nice sleep that night.

Day Seven

Carol called me early the next morning. She was super excited about Mr. Rilens and me and told me again and again how proud of me she is. She asked me whether she could call me bro from now on. She was always like a sister to me so I happily agreed. She told me she would join us for breakfast today as we were family now.

After breakfast with Mr. Rilens, Carol and mom, I left for the church. Ed was, as usual, waiting for me. We went to Grey’s Café, where I filled him in with every single detail of last night. He seemed very pleased with my decision. He told me his father was back in the city but I didn’t see any happiness on his face; on the contrary he looked upset. When I asked, he said he’s worried about what would happen if his father found out about us. I told him it would never happen. Who would tell him?

To brighten up his mood, I took him to a dance show at the Maria Theater. The fusion of two dances had been shown in this program - Tango and Salsa. We enjoyed it a lot, especially Ed. Thankfully, his radiating smile was back.

On our way back to my house, I assured him that nothing bad would happen. He just stared at me with an unreadable smile.

In the evening, I met Kev at his favorite place. He gave me a bracelet, consisting of several beautiful green beads that were threaded together on a string. The most important thing about that bracelet was that he made it on his own. I was touched, really touched. I wore it immediately. For me, it was perfect. This honest and loving gesture endeared him to me even more.

Later in the evening, our friends joined us and we hung out together.

Day Eight to Day Fourteen

Nothing extraordinary happened for next seven days.

Mr. Rilens and I became friends. I had begun calling him Matt instead of Mr. Rilens. Now, he and Carol ate breakfast with us every day. We would talk about his job, and the criminals he deals with in his everyday life. I found out that he had an amazing sense of humor. His jokes had me rolling on the floor. Slowly and steadily I was starting to like him. The one person who was the happiest with all this was my mom. I caught her many times looking at Matt and I with a glint of admiration in her eyes.

Carol was also more than a friend to me now. She had started acting like a responsible and protective big sis. Last night just four of us went out for dinner as a family. I was getting a feeling of what a family means. We all had great fun.

During these seven days, my meetings with Ed continued. We had adopted a maneuver; first we went to go to Grey’s for our much needed caffeine. Katie (who was still under the illusion that Ed and I were boyfriends), was a friend now. She was always chirping around the café, spreading her warm and bubbly smile. We came to learn that she had a thing for hugs. It was a ritual for her to hug us before we left. It was impossible for anybody to ignore her. Ed and I had started calling her Bubbly. Cute name, isn’t it?

We would then go see a movie or go to a dance program or we would go to a painting exhibition and when we were not in the mood for any of the above mentioned stuff, we loved to walk around the streets engaged in our talking. The nonsense that we schmoozed about made perfect sense to us. We would talk about everything under the sun, except sex. We never ever talked about it. The serious, arrogant and angry Edward had starting cracking up at laughable jokes. Whenever we were together, I had no idea where the time went. Time just seemed to fly when we were hanging out. Now we both were accustomed to seeing each other daily. God knows what’s going to happen after school starts back up.

My evenings were for my friends. The six of us loved to hang out anywhere and everywhere. Daryl with Carol, Ron with Jake and Kev with me; we were three couples, talking, teasing, joking, laughing, and above all, enjoying being together. It was awesome.

It was the golden period of my life. Everything was so perfect, but I forgot that nothing is always perfect in this world and my life was not any exception.

Day Fifteen

It was the last day before school reopens. I was excited and disappointed; I was excited because I was missing school and I would finally be able to walk down its corridors and classrooms starting tomorrow. I was disappointed because today was my last meeting with Ed. We both wanted to continue our meetings but it didn’t seem possible in our present circumstances. After school, I was sure my friends were not gonna leave me alone, so Ed and I were only left with the option to meet on Sundays. I was so going to miss him.

I ate breakfast with Matt and mom as usual. Carol hadn’t come today as she had to meet Jake. I was about to get up from my chair holding my plate, when Mom said that she wanted to talk about something. I put the plate back on the table and shifted in my chair trying to get comfortable. Mom was playing with her fingers and that meant she was damn nervous.

“Mom, what is it?” I asked looking to and fro between Matt and Mom.

“Zune…actually Matt and I…both of us…were…you know…thinking…that…you know…we…”

“Mom stop playing with your fingers and look at me,” I ordered tilting my head a bit and she obliged. I took her hands in mine and smiled at her, trying to calm her down. “Now tell me, what’s the matter?” I asked in a calm and casual tone.

She seemed much more relaxed now. She smiled slightly and replied, “Matt and I were thinking of…of moving in together.”

My jaw hit the ground. They wanted to move in together. Isn’t it too soon? I mean, it had just been fifteen days since they started dating and they already wanted to move in together. I was not sure about this. Logically, it didn’t seem to be the right decision to me. Both of them were eagerly waiting for my reaction.

“Say something,” Matt pleaded furrowing his brows, leaning down on the table.

“I…I…” I couldn’t form a single word apart from ‘I’.

“If you are not okay with our decision then we can talk about it,” my mom assured me in a strained voice. Her brows were knotted in tension.

“Yes, Zune, if you have any problem or objection about this, then let us know. We will talk about it and sort it out.” Matt affirmed mom’s words. He was as nervous as my mom. They were still anxiously waiting for my response.

“Okay.” I looked at them and inhaled a deep breath, “Are you guys sure about moving in together?” I asked incredulously, my eyes popping out.

They nodded, looking and smiling at each other like love-struck teenagers. Love makes people insane, so true. They were still lost in each other’s eyes.

“Ahem.” I cleared my throat, holding back my mischievous smile. They let go of each other’s stare and shifted their eyes to me.

“We are sure, hon,” Mom concluded with a confident smile.

Screw the logic, if my mom was happy then I was happy. Immediately a broad smile showing my approval spread over my face and they both sighed in relief.

“Aww, I’m so happy for you guys,” I exclaimed and went to hug them together. I was very happy for my mom, for them. Finally, FINALLY we would be a proper family in the real sense of the word. They told me Matt and Carol would move in with us tomorrow afternoon. Matt would obviously share mom’s bedroom on the main level. Carol would get the spare bedroom situated upstairs in front of my bedroom. Wow! Carol and I would have so much fun together. I was extremely excited. They were very relieved and happy to see me overenthusiastic over them moving in together. I once again hugged them affectionately, took my house keys and left for the church with an ear to ear smile plastered over my face.

On my way I called Carol and told her about Matt and mom but the bitch already knew everything. She was as excited as I was. I guess both of us were overexcited because we were going to be living in the same house. We were on cloud nine. She also told me that there’s a party at Kev’s house tonight as his mom was out of town for two days to attend a seminar. All our friends would be there at the party. She invited me but I declined her not-so-tempting offer. I HATE parties and she knew that so she didn’t argue further. Ron, Jake, Daryl, and in the end, Kev called to convince me very persistently to come over to the party but I remained firm on my decision. I said sorry to Kev for disappointing them but really, parties were not my thing. Kev said he understood and I was glad for that. He told me that everyone was happy to hear about my parents moving in together and they were planning to come over for a visit with my family on Sunday. Kev was very happy for me. He said he couldn’t wait to see me tomorrow in my school uniform because I look the sexiest in that outfit. He knew really well how to flatter me. I gave him a long kiss on phone and hung up. He’s so nice; he’s a perfect boyfriend.

Wow, what a fantastic beginning to the day. I was feeling full of life and the luckiest guy on this planet. Nothing could go wrong from this point.

It was a cloudy day but my amiability made me feel warm and happy, even in this depressing weather.

Ed was waiting for me outside the church like always. I hurriedly ran towards him and hugged him. He laughed softly and hugged me back. Before he could ask for the reason behind my great mood, I told him everything. He was very surprised with this unexpected news but didn’t forget to congratulate me.

We went to Grey’s Café. Katie knew what we wanted so she soon brought our coffees to our table. We thanked her and got busy with our conversation, locking ourselves in the small world of Ed and Zune. Today we didn’t go anywhere else. We were at the café the whole day talking, smiling, and laughing. It was the last day of our meeting so we wanted to live it to the fullest. We also planned to meet on Sunday. Ed was an important part of my life now. I was planning to tell my friends about him soon.

Ed told me that Becca and his father were out of town with Sophia for a day to attend his cousin’s wedding, so he was alone tonight. When I asked him why he didn’t go with them, he replied he couldn’t miss our meeting for his cousin’s wedding.

He offered for me to stay with him tonight which I politely declined.

Katie had already left as her shift was over, and soon it was time to leave. We had no idea how time could fly so fast. When we came out it was dark, and raining cats and dogs. Stinging wind was making the weather worse. It was like an evil and violent thunderstorm was on its way.

We waited for a few minutes but the weather didn’t get any better.

“Zune, it would be impossible for you to get to your house in this weather. You could get hurt. Come with me, my house is minutes away from here,” he suggested leaning over me.

“No, it’s okay. The weather will probably be better in a few minutes. We should wait.” I started rubbing my hands together in front of my mouth, blowing warm air in it.

We waited for another few minutes but the conditions were getting worse and more dangerous.

“Zune, come on. The storm will hit the city soon. We should leave. We can’t stand here forever. It’s not safe here,” he insisted.

I had no other choice. I reluctantly nodded and called mom informing her that I was staying overnight at a student’s house because of bad weather. She told me that she’s also staying at Matt’s house because of the same reason. She ordered me to get home early the next morning as I had school tomorrow. I told her to take care and hung up. Mom with Matt, my friends were together at Kev’s and I was going with Ed. Something was out of place. I had a feeling that something very wrong was about to happen but I couldn’t put my finger on it.

We began running towards Ed’s house and within minutes reached there. He hastily unlocked the front door and we went in. We were all wet so Ed brought a towel and clothes for me and left for his bedroom to change his own wet clothes. His clothes looked like I was wearing a dress. He gave me a violet t-shirt and cargo shorts. I looked like a joker in them.

Minutes later Ed reappeared in living room. He was in a three-quarter sleeved white translucent shirt and blue faded jeans. He was looking very nice. His hair was neatly combed backwards. Oh God, what the hell? I was checking him out like a freak. He caught me drooling over him and gave me an amused look. I composed myself and went to his kitchen to bring out two cups of coffee.

Coming here was definitely a bad idea. Something very odd was prickling inside of me. What is going on? I mentally shrugged every disturbing thought and headed towards the living room with our coffee. I handed him his coffee and sat across the table from him. We were silent. He was staring at me unblinkingly. I took a sip of my coffee while averting my eyes and stared in fascination at a smudge I saw on the coffee table. I spit the coffee out of my mouth and coughed hard. Ed quickly came by my side and patted my back gently. I spared a glance at him while I was coughing. He was still looking at me strangely.

“I, I think I forgot to add sugar,” I whispered, leaving my seat. I took our coffees and dumped them in the kitchen sink. Why I was so uncomfortable around Ed today? Why was he gazing at me with an unfamiliar emotion in his eyes? I was scared to go back to the living room. I took a deep breath and made myself believe that everything was okay; it was just my stupid mind playing tricks on me. There’s nothing strange, everything’s normal.

“Hey, what happened?” Ed inquired from the entrance of the kitchen.

“N, nothing,” I replied forcing a smile on my face.

“Come on then. I wanna show you something.”

I nodded and followed him to his bedroom. He went to his closet and brought out a large white sheet of paper. It had four pairs of handprints on it. Ed cautiously put down the sheet of paper on his study desk.

“What’s this?” I asked, curiously looking down at it.

“It’s a plain white sheet of paper with some handprints on it,” he stated the obvious.

“Really. I thought it was a black sheet of paper,” I mentioned sarcastically with a faux smile. “Very funny. I know Mr. Arrogant, that it’s a white piece of paper with some handprints on it. What I’m asking is, whose handprints are they?” I grumbled raising my left brow slightly.

He chuckled as if I had cracked a joke, stupid Ed.

“The blue handprints are of mom. These green ones are of dad. Those black handprints in between the green and blue are mine, and these yellow ones are Stephen’s,” he explained putting his finger on each pair of handprints.

“Okay. I get it, but why are you showing this to me?” I asked in confusion, lifting my eyes from the sheet to meet his gaze.

“The people who get the privilege of putting their handprints on it are the one’s who hold a very special place in my life and…” He couldn’t complete his sentence and looked down. Oh God! Is he blushing? Hell, yeah. He looked so cute and adorable with those red cheeks.

“And?” I pressed to know what was on his mind.

“And you are one of the people who has a very special place in my life,” he asserted with conviction looking directly into my eyes.

“So you want me to…”

“Yes.”

“But which color should I use?” I asked, tapping my finger on my chin thoughtfully.

“Everyone has used their favorite color, so I guess you should do the same,” he advised.

“Hmm. Okay then, I’ll use the red color,” I decided.

Ed again moved towards his closet and brought out a deep rectangular tray, a painting brush and red water color. I don’t know what the hell that tray was doing in his cupboard. It was not even a color-tray. Whatever.

He placed the tray at the corner of his study desk and effused some of that red color in it. He added some water and mixed it with the help of a painting brush. Now there was a consistent red liquid in that tray resembling blood.

“Please do the honors.” He motioned me towards the tray, putting the painting brush aside.

I hesitantly came closer to his study desk and dipped my hands in the tray. I lifted my hands after a few seconds and looked at them; they were completely engulfed in red color. I smiled and put my hands on the right side of the yellow handprints on the white sheet of paper.

I giggled like a stupid schoolgirl, leaning over the desk and a few seconds later I lifted my hands from the sheet of paper. “How is it?” I asked Ed, who was somewhere behind me.

“Perfect,” he whispered in my ear. I jumped in surprise and turned around, instantly losing my balance. I grabbed Ed’s shirt to save myself from falling and he immediately held me around my waist. I knew he was behind me but I had no clue that he was standing so close to me. His whisper and his warm breath against my ear startled me.

My hands were on his chest as they gripped his shirt. My heart fluttered because of this sudden closeness to his body. We were breathing hard and peering into each other’s eyes.

“S, sorry,” I mumbled after awhile. He smiled and helped me to stand properly. As I let go of my hold on his shirt, I saw that my handprints were clearly printed on his shirt’s white surface.

“I’m sorry about your shirt,” I apologized pointing at my handprints.

“It’s nothing. I’ll change, don’t worry,” he assured me. He put the red water color back in his closet. He pulled out another shirt of the same color and walked towards his bathroom with the tray and painting brush leaving the sheet of paper which had now five pairs of handprints on it on the desk to dry.

Instead of waiting for Ed in his bedroom, I exited his room and went to the terrace. This beautiful house had an extended terrace. I stood at the entrance of the terrace and began admiring the rain. It was not raining hard now but enough to profusely soak your clothes. Thankfully, there wasn’t any sign of a storm. You could say this rain was romantic but not dangerous. When I concentrated on the rain, it seemed like the water was falling in slow motion. I smiled and decided to enjoy this rain, feel this rain.

I released my feet from my slippers and began walking to get under the open sky. I passed by the entrance door and reached the center of this elongated terrace. I spread my hands which were still immersed in red water color welcoming this beautiful rain. I noticed that my favorite color was slipping away from my hands to the floor. I closed my eyes and tilted my head back. I could feel the tingling drops of rain on my palms, on my face. I could feel the water dripping down on my whole body. These baggy clothes I had been wearing were now clinging to my slim body. I was all wet again. I was having fun.

After sometime I opened my eyes and looked straight ahead. I found Ed staring at me with a strange smile. I had no clue when he came here but I guess he was standing in front of me for a long time as he was also completely drenched. His wet, white shirt left nothing to the imagination. His toned and muscled body, his strong arms, and his broad shoulders, were all easily visible under his useless shirt. He was looking so…am I again checking him out? No way. I was…I was just…CHECKING HIM OUT! SHIT! Much to my relief, his jeans was not transparent like his shirt.

“When did you come out here?” I asked, hugging myself and throwing the dirty thoughts out of my mind.

“When you were in your own little wonderland,” he teased with a mischievous grin. I was feeling cold now.

“We should get inside,” I mumbled uncomfortably, and was about to turn around to leave when he held my hand gently to stop me. I glanced back and gave him a questioning look.

“Dance with me.” It was not a request; it sounded more like a demand.

“Dance? With you? Now? In the rain?” I asked incredulously. He was still holding my hand.

“Yep,” he confirmed with a grin and pulled me against his body without any previous warning. Our eyes were locked on each other and our bodies were pressed together. We stayed that way for many long seconds. Only the whooshing of the rain and the beating of our heartbeats were audible to me. I knew he was trying to suppress his nervousness. I smiled to ease the tension in the air. He smiled back. Streams of rain were flowing in a soothing manner all over his perfect body.

Ed loosened his hold on my hand and delicately placed both of his hands around my waist. I hesitantly put my hands on his shoulders and we began swaying back and forth in a circular motion. Our movements were slow, soft and smooth. He never took his eyes off me; even I was incapable of looking away from his intriguing brown chocolaty eyes. And then I began humming one of my favorite songs.

“Rain gently falls whenever we say goodnight

Falling like when your out of sight

Rain follows me even in my bed

And rain is the tears that I shed”

Then Ed continued the song:

“There’ll be no sunshine in my life

Untill you say your mine oh mine

There’ll be no summer, spring or fall

Each day is like winter time

But I can never say I care

I know it won’t be smart

Somebody owns your heart

It can never be mine”

I found a hint of pain in his voice. I felt like he meant each and every word of this song. He stopped for few seconds, stroked my hair and continued:

“So it rains when your near

Knowing we can’t even touch

Rain knows that I love you so much

But I know that my love will only cause you pain

So I’d rather live with the rain”

 

Ed stopped moving and so did I. There were so many emotions in his eyes; disappointment, anger, pain, care, concern, passion and…LOVE?

Ed let go of my waist and I withdrew my hands from his shoulders. We were staring unblinkingly into each other’s eyes, into each other’s souls. And then he sang the last lines of this song breaking off the everlasting silence between us.

“Somebody owns your heart

It can never be mine.”

As he finished the song, he gently moved a wisp of hair from my forehead and traced my lips with his finger. A shiver spread down my spine as he touched me and I closed my eyes. Our slightly parted lips tenderly pressed together. He held my face and I clutched his shirt as our kiss deepened. He tasted heavenly. What began as a simple kiss suddenly expanded into absolute passion. But then thought of Kev crossed my mind and I recovered my senses. I pushed him away with full force. I was feeling like history was repeating itself. How could I do that to Kev…again? I couldn’t do this to him. No, no way. Kev loves me.

Ed was looking at me like he had just woken up from a dream. This time there wasn’t any expression of regret on his face, but I was feeling disgusted with myself.

“What the hell are you doing?” I snapped, panting heavily. It was still raining.

“Kissing you,” Ed explained like I was an idiot.

He closed the distance between us and began kissing me again. I again pushed him away.

“It’s wrong,” I protested in a quavering voice. I didn’t sound too convincing.

“Then why does it feel that this is the most right thing I have ever done?” he uttered, and again bridged the gap between us and started kissing me with fervor.

I jerked him away once again.

“Don’t Ed. Please don’t,” I pleaded in a raspy voice, shaking my head.

This time he didn’t come anywhere near me. He was staring at me and I was gazing at him. There was a battle going on inside me. I was not able to think straight anymore.

Ed slowly walked towards me, I didn’t back off. We were standing in front of each other, face to face; I couldn’t back off. He cupped my face between his hands and pulled me towards himself; I didn’t want to back off.

We got closer and closer and like a magnet our lips crushed together. He started to gently nibble my bottom lip leaving me breathless for more. His tongue was begging for entrance. I parted my lips slightly to feel the wetness of his mouth, as weakness and desire took over me. After a light dance of our tongues we tenderly fell into a deep and passionate kiss. We moved together slowly in a firm embrace, the temperature increased and the flames burned while our tongues become acquainted. Our bodies melded together in a more intimate and sexual dance. My knees were wobbling helplessly. He held me tightly and lifted me up so I wouldn’t fall; still kissing me like this was the last kiss of his life. I could feel raindrops dribbling down from my toes which were pointed towards the ground. Every part of his body wanted to possess all of me, immediately and urgently. I was lightheaded from this unusual sensation that was running through every nerve in my body.

He slowly and gently lowered me to the ground so he could get a better grip on me. Our tongues were still exploring each other’s mouths. He lifted me again, his arms coming around me and holding me off the wood floor of the terrace. My eyes were closed but I guess his brown orbs were wide open as he was walking, carrying me in his arms. Our lips never parted. I felt him kick something and heard a door open. After a few seconds, I found myself deprived from the warmth of his mouth, and his body as my back was pressed against something soft.

My eyes were glazed over and I noticed I was in his bedroom, lying on his bed. He was sitting on the edge of the bed and his arms were on either side of my waist. His face was looming over mine.

He was gazing me intently. Staring back at him I saw the intensity in his luminous brown eyes, twin reflections of my own filled with mounting desire. I knew all this time what I was doing; I was cheating on Kev. I knew it was wrong. I knew I was going to regret this for the rest of my life. I wanted to stop myself but I couldn’t. I was blinded with lust. My mind was numb and was not able to process any coherent thoughts.

With each passing moment my shield weakened more and more and finally I gave in. I lifted my arms and flung them around his shoulders, clutching at his wet shirt as he stretched himself on top of me. As we pressed against each other, I felt the blood surging through my body. His whole body was radiating heat and desire for me. His fingers went up to my hair. He began kissing me very slowly, softly and passionately.

I had no clue when we got rid of our clothes but after a few minutes I saw them lying in a heap on the floor.

I was gasping for air. As he began to caress my chest, my hands moved down over his broad back. My soft sighs increased as he finally touched that warm welcoming place, I arched my body then fell back, moaning. Ed’s lips never left mine when I felt him reach over me and open up a drawer from his night table. I heard a pop and then felt coolness down below. I felt a strange sensation and realized it was Ed’s finger trying to get inside. He whispered to me to relax and when I did, his finger slipped in. He started moving it around and all of a sudden I screamed in pleasure. He hit something in there that felt so wonderful I wanted him to do it again and never stop. “More,” I whispered. “Don’t stop.” Instead of just one finger, he put in another and moved them both around. I didn’t realize there were so many nerve endings there. This felt like heaven. He added a third finger after a few minutes of me writing and moaning on the bed. He tried to stretch me out as best as he could. His fingers kept hitting that magic spot inside me. I knew if he didn’t stop I’d come all over him. Luckily he could hardly contain himself and he reached back over me to the night table and I heard something rip. I looked over at him with pure lust. He used his teeth to pull a condom out of a little packet. He rolled the condom on, put some of that cool wet gel on, parted my legs, lifted them with his hands and looked over at me. I gave him a small nod of consent and he slowly entered me, no longer able to resist me. I won’t lie, it hurt. It hurt a lot but I kept my mouth shut. He was pushing in slowly, trying to give me time to get used to something being in there. When he couldn’t go any further he stopped. Then he pulled almost all the way out and pushed back in. I was seized by a rush of intense sensations. He began thrusting in and out and every once in a while he hit that spot inside me that had me moaning and arching my back off the bed. I was panting and gasping for air, but all I wanted was more, more and more. On one particular hard thrust to that magic spot, I felt myself erupt all over my stomach. I couldn’t stop moaning. Suddenly, he started to move frantically against me as I trembled and my hands tightly grabbed his shoulders for strength. Excited beyond anything I have ever felt before, I experienced every fiber of his being explode as he shuddered and tumbled into my warmth and I bit my lower lip to hold back a scream of ecstasy as he hit that spot one last time and I came without even touching myself. I felt him pull out with a ‘pop’ as he took the condom off and threw it in the small wastebasket next to the bed. I felt tears slipping down from the corner of my eyes.

I don’t know when we fell asleep, but when my eyes opened, I glanced around at my surroundings. It was dark in here. The clock on the night table to my right was flashing 4.50 a.m. Where was I? And then reality struck me like a ton of bricks. I looked to my left and found Ed sleeping soundly. I glanced under the covers and gasped when I realized that we were both naked. I shivered with terror and hatred, hatred for myself and for Ed. He was sleeping on his stomach facing me and his fingers were tangled around the bracelet on my left wrist. The same bracelet Kev gave me. A flood of guilt attacked me. I bolted out of the bed. That bracelet was trapped between my wrist and his fingers couldn’t survive my sudden movement. It broke. Beautiful, small green beads of Kev’s love and trust scattered on the bed and floor.

When I left the bed so suddenly, it caused Ed to wake up. He sat upright in his bed and looked at me with confused and dazed eyes but as soon as reality hit him, his eyes widened. I was standing naked in front of him. I hurriedly ran towards the bathroom leaving that heap of wet clothes on the floor. I got my clothes, which I put in the dryer last night, and began putting them on with shaking hands. I wasn’t able to see anything clearly as my eyes were filled with tears and shame. How disgusting could I be? How could I cheat on Kev with…with Ed?

As soon as I was dressed and came out of bathroom, I ran towards Ed’s door.

“Zune,” Ed called me to get my attention. I tensed up but turned around. He was in his clothes now.

“DON’T,” I howled dementedly, pointing my finger at him. He looked scared and didn’t utter another word. Right now I was disgusted with him, and with myself. I turned around and ran towards the living room. Ed followed me silently. I slid my phone and house keys in the pocket of my jeans. Then I grabbed my shoes. I didn’t put them on as I wanted to get out of there as soon as possible. I opened the front door and started running without looking back. My shoes were clinging to my chest. I heard Ed yelling my name behind me but I didn’t stop.

“ZUNE!”

“GO AWAY!”

Ed’s voice never stopped echoing in my ears, I guess he was following me.

I was sore and it was still dark outside. I had no idea where I was going, where I wanted to go but I continued running. I just wanted to get away from everything. I hated Ed. I hated myself. I was feeling like I had killed a part of my soul. How would I face Kev? His trustful words and his face full of love swam across my mind and made me feel guiltier. My face was wet with tears. I wiped them off with the back of my hand and abruptly stopped. I dropped my shoes on the ground and put my hands on my knees to catch my breath. I was panting heavily.

When I looked ahead I found two roads in front of me going in two different directions. One road would lead me to my house and the second one would lead me to Kev’s. I could easily ran to my house and lock myself in my bedroom forever. I could pretend that nothing happened between Ed and I. I could hide everything from Kev. I could tell Ed to fuck off and don’t show his face to me again. Everything would be like before, but…but that would mean I’d be living a lie. I HAD SLEPT WITH ED. I HAD CHEATED ON KEV, and unfortunately I couldn’t change that.

I had concealed enough things from Kev. I had lied to him enough. I had cheated on him enough. I couldn’t hold back these things anymore. I didn’t want to deceive him anymore. I didn’t want to betray his trust anymore. I was done with all this. Kev had every right to know everything.

Kev always thought of me as an honest person, but after knowing about my betrayal, my lies, I have no doubt he’s going to think I am the most dishonest person he’s met and I don’t think he would be wrong for thinking that way.

I pressed my hands against my face, rubbed my eyes and inhaled a deep breath. It was time to confess my mistakes and face their consequences. I had a very good idea what Kev’s reaction would be but I was still determined to tell him everything.

I made my way towards Kev’s house, running at full speed. I was getting impatient to tell him everything as soon as possible because all these emotions of fear, shame, guilt and hatred were killing me inside.

After running for God knows how long, I was finally at his house, standing in front of his door. When my heavy breaths subsided, I rang his doorbell with a deep breath. No response. I rang it again. No response. I knocked on the door. No response. I was losing my patience. I began pounding on the door with my fist and didn’t stop until it finally opened.

“Who the hell is…” Kev opened the door rubbing his sleepy blue eyes but as soon as he saw me on the other side, he stopped in mid-sentence.

“Zune! What are you doing here so early? Is everything okay? Are you alright?” His voice was full of concern and worry.

I didn’t respond. I just kept staring at him not blinking. Tears were again forming in my eyes.

“Zune, what happened and why are you holding your shoes? Come on, get inside.” He took me to his living room. He switched on the lights and made me sit on one of the sofas. “Do you need anything to drink?” he asked taking my shoes from me. I shook my head slightly looking at the coffee table. “Zune, say something. You are scaring me now,” Kev pleaded, taking a seat on my right after putting my shoes aside on the floor.

‘Spit it out, Zune. Tell him everything. Don’t play with his feelings, with his trust anymore,’ I ordered myself in my mind.

“Kev, I…I…”

“Where’s your bracelet?” he asked looking at my naked wrist and then he took a wild guess, “Oh. You must have kept it a safe place. Right? But I really liked it on your wrist.” He held my hand and pulled it towards his mouth for a soft kiss. As his lips touched my skin, I felt like I was on fire. I closed my eyes, pressing them hard.

“You are looking so nervous and…and vulnerable. I think you really need some coffee right now. So hold on, I’ll be back,” he announced and jumped out of his seat. He made his way towards the kitchen.

His concern, his caring nature, and his love for me were pulling me deeper and deeper in my feelings of shame and guilt. I was so agitated that my heart was constricting in my chest. I stepped towards the kitchen.

We were standing on the opposite sides of the kitchen counter; he was preparing coffee and I was trying to confess.

“Kev, listen to me,” I pleaded in a broken voice but he didn’t listen; he was busy gushing about the last night’s party.

“You know four of those assholes whom we call our friends, are sprawled in the guestroom together. Our little party ended around one in the morning and they all were drunk, even our sweet innocent Jake was feeling no pain. I didn’t think it was safe for them to go home that late so I threw them in my guestroom.” He began telling me every detail of the party, while plugging in the water-boiler.

My eyes darted between him and the water-boiler and then my gaze returned to him. I was dying to spill everything.

“Kev, I want to tell…”

“Do you have any idea how much I missed you last night? Those assholes irritated me to death,” Kev whined, putting sugar into the coffee mug.

He was testing my patience now.

“Kev, I have something very impo…”

“Hold on sexy, I’m all yours after I make this hot coffee for my hot boyfriend. So, where was I? Yes, those assholes. Everyone was with their partners; Daryl with Carol, Ron with Jake and I…I was alone. Why? Because my hot boyfriend hates parties,” he chided, shaking his head and adding the caffeine into the coffee mug.

He was making it more difficult and painful for me to admit everything. I was on the verge of tears but he never looked at me. I brushed away my tears, swallowed hard and tried to compose myself.

“Kev, listen to…”

“Give me another minute, okay? Where was I? Oh yes, I was alone. Every one of them was making out in my house and I was tossing and turning in my bed, all alone. At least I was sober,” he kvetched making a funny face, unplugging the water-boiler and pouring the hot water into the mug. I would have laughed if it was a normal situation but now it was just irritating me to death.

“Kev, will you pl…”

“But honestly, I don’t care, and you know why? I guess you know why, because I love you.” Kev admitted his feelings once again and looked up at me for a brief moment, stirring the coffee with a spoon. He again shifted his attention towards the coffee and continued, “And I think that you love me too. That’s why you can’t resist me and came running to my doorstep so early to get lost me in my arms and to get a long mind-numbing kiss.” I was losing every bit of patience I had.

“Kev, for God sa…” My eyes were welled up with tears again and this time I didn’t have the ability or any intention to stop them.

“Not that I’m complaining. It’s kind of romantic to me. I’m almost done. Just let me finish making your coffee then I’ll kiss you until…”

“I SLEPT WITH EDWARD!” I forcefully slammed my hands down on the kitchen counter and screamed at the top of my lungs. His thumb and index finger that were holding the spoon and stirring the coffee abruptly stopped moving. Before he could look at me I closed my eyes hard and I felt a teardrop escape my right eye silently.

 

TBC.