Five

People like him are people I don’t like.

It reminds me of someone who broke my pieces and how I became foolish in the so-called love. My face hardens, and I stand up from my seat. I take the luggage from him and don’t need his help.

“What did I do?” Zach inquires from behind me. “You’re frowning again, Cairen.”

“I’m like this when I’m woken up,” I reason.

I hear him chuckle softly. “You want to go back and sleep? Why not if it makes you feel better.”

I halt down the stairs, and my face bumps into his chest with my sudden turn. He steps backward. “Are you mad again that I hit you? It is an accident.” He looks at me in worry.

I couldn't help but notice the way he looked at me, as though I might lash out at him at any moment. It was just the two of us left, and I couldn't help but let out a weary sigh.

"You have a talent for getting under my skin," I remarked, gesturing my finger to my mouth, as if to zip it shut.

He responded by mimicking the gesture, giving me an OK sign. I shot him a glare, but he persisted, miming a problem.

"Really?" I groaned, trying to stifle a laugh at his antics. I turned away, continuing our walk. As much as he annoyed me, I secretly found his craziness endearing.

We walked in silence for a while, his head bowed and a grin on his face. I raised an eyebrow, curious about what was going through his mind.

"What's the problem?" I asked.

He only smiled wider, placing a hand over his heart. It was a gesture I couldn't quite decipher. Then, he pointed to a man passing by, holding a bouquet of roses.

"Flowers?" I guessed.

He shook his head, frowning at me. Then, he traced a circle around his face with his hand, leaving me utterly perplexed.

“Face?” My unsure tone. He nods and points at me.

“My face?” Then he nods again, smiling and giving me thumbs up.

I approaches him. I think this man is playing with me, and I don’t understand what he is doing. And I stepped on his foot, making his eyes widen the action as if hurt.

“Why can’t you say it? It’s like you’re crazy,” I grunt at him.

“Ouch!” he exclaims, full of emotion. He is gaining some attention from the passers at us.

Iffin him! Attracting people from us might think that I am hurting him. “Stop doing it, Zach,” I say with just enough strength for him to hear.

“If I step on your foot, is it not painful? Then you don’t want me to talk. Don’t you know how struggling it is for me when I can’t speak even though I’m itching to say a word?” he retorted with annoyance. “I am doing anything just to please you, which seems not enough.”

He snorts like a child while folding his arms. How old is he? And he seems to act like this. I had never met a man like him.

“What will your parents’ reaction be when I tell you what you did to me?” he threatened.

“Like you do.” Who at his age would do that? Tell my parents.

I refrain from throwing the juice in my hand. He had to tell my parents. And my parents’ eyes stared at me in disbelief. I can’t seem to swallow the cookies in my mouth.

My father is next to him on the couch across from me, and my mother is on my side.

“Cairen…” the disappointment in my mom’s voice crushes me. My hand shakes as I grasp the glass and drink the juice’s entire content.

Seeing the victory in Zach’s eyes, I want to get rid. Iffin him! Papa believes him. I put the glass down on the coffee table.

“Sorry,” I let out to Zach with my best, I mean it, expression.

My father shakes his head. “You shouldn’t do that to Zach, and you are not like that. Is that how my mother taught you?”

“No, Pa..” I just trailed off. “I am just messing up with Zach. I didn’t mean it.”

I sense mom’s hand on my shoulder, and she squeezes it gently. “I understand, Cairen. It’s just not good. If your grandmother let you be like that, not me and your father.”

I turn my attention to my mother. “I won’t do that again,” I swear.

“I forgive you, Cairen.” Zach’s voice boils my blood.

Iffin you! You go to hell! I scream in my mind. Cairen will have patience with his act and so good enough not to do what I had done. But I am not her.

But I am acting as Cairen now, even though I hate it.

“Thank you, Zach. My actions are too much. It’s my fault. You are just being nice, and I am here like a jerk.” I choke all my pride in that matter to humble myself in front of him. Like I have never done with anyone else.

How lucky he is! In my mentality, the glass had touched his face. He looks at me with an astonished tint on his façade and restraints.

“I should go now, Uncle and Aunt. Thank you for the snack, as always. Your cooking is delicious, aunty,” he declares to my parents with a genuine smile.

My father pats Zach’s shoulder and utters, “You are always welcome here, Zach. You will be our son-in-law, and don’t be reluctant to come and visit our daughter.”

I mentally roll my eyeballs and hold a cookie. I direct my attention to my hand and drain my glass. My parents leave to accompany Zach, and I persist in my seat. Son-in-law? Why did my parents root for him? Do they not see what kind of man he is?

For the sake of the debt of gratitude! Huh! And what my parents and grandmother had will exist until I had taken that term. Iffin!

I tightly clutch the crushed cookies in my hands. That man has no shame. When we meet, I will show him how I seize my revenge.