Chapter Ten

Valentine

Dominic is back.

I sat quietly perplexed at the couch after Ivana left the moment her baby had fallen to sleep. My eyes were completely glued on the stuffed toy left on the other side of the couch. Its eyes staring back at me as if there's something on my face. I threw a pillow to cover it. I feel surprisingly happy and excited that Dominic is finally back but that lingering thought of Dominic being back in town looped like a trap beat inside my head and kept me uneasy for the whole day. I didn't expect to retreat like a coward back to my room and imagine a lot of things about the Dominic that I've known back in high school, the Dominic that taught me how to love, the Dominic that captured my attention, and he's doing it again. I haven't spent a lot of my precious time thinking about him for the longest time in my life, and believe me, after all of the hurt he caused me, it certainly felt so relaxing that he's not stressing me out for the past several months. Unfortunately, right now, it only took a simple whiff of his return for all of it to come storming back just like a boomerang. I am stressing about him all over again, and I shouldn't be worrying about him like this again because I know that I've already moved on from him. The feeling isn't that great at all.

I laid supine on my bed, thinking he must've changed a lot. He must've grown a lot of facial hair and looked like someone who's been stuck on an island for a long time. He could've also gained some toned muscle and looked like he'd been living at a fitness gym. He must've transformed into a much more attractive version of himself. I have never checked on his Facebook or Instagram, and I'm thinking, did he forgot about me at all? There's a high percentage that he already did forget about me. So much like me, that five-year gap was spent in letting things heal naturally, and I've already put all of it in the past. I guess Dominic has already moved forward in his life and decided to put me behind.

It's a breath of relief that a week had already passed by slow like a month without a single thought of Dominic conquering my mind. I just focused on work and consistently distracted myself at home with a lot of reading and watching. I did a lot of interviews for the applicants who passed the initial interview. I had to bring out the best in me and deal with some privileged people who think that just because they are customers is that they are always right and that they can say and have whatever they want. I had to re-design my office to make it look and feel more like an office. That's a very productive week for me, and I rewarded myself with another night of drinking before going on a day off.

I woke up to the sound of birds chirping, the sun directly shining on my face, and a headbanging headache. This is just another typical day where I wake up late to an expected yet unsolicited hangover after pulling out an all-nighter. My eyes popped open and quickly burned from the direct sunlight, which tickled my headache, sending me coiling in pain for a moment. I moved out of my bed and had a long and pleasurable cold shower before finally going downstairs to grab something cold to drown my thirst with. The smell of pizza quickly invaded my nostrils as I was surprised to see Vincent and, quite shockingly, a woman with him at the dining table.

"Wow, you just keep on showing up here whenever you feel like it huh" I slurred out in the open as I walked towards the fridge without paying much attention to Vincent and the woman he was with.

As long as I can recall, Vincent hasn't visited here for the last three months. Not that I give a shit about it, but I just don't dig the fact that he just blatantly shows up here every time he feels like showing up here whenever he wants to show up here. I totally get it, he's super busy with Law school and all of that stuff, but I'm pretty sure it only takes a few seconds to dial a phone call or even draft a simple message.

"I miss you too, bro," Vincent replied with a mouthful of pizza.

"So, what brings you here?" I asked while pouring a full glass of cold water. "I thought you have already forgotten about us."

"Just admit that you miss me," He replied.

"Hangover?" The woman let herself inside the floor of the conversation after seeing me gulp the whole glass of cold water. Her voice seemed extremely familiar, I've kind of know it from somewhere, and when I put down the glass and had a full view of her face, I was utterly speechless to see no one butYhannie.

Of all people that my brother had to bring here, why does it have to be Yhannie? I've got nothing against her since I've already moved on from all of the bullshit. I just don't give a shit about her anymore after learning the fact that she knew about the whole scheme to play me and still chose to zip her mouth and look away. She could've warned me. She could've done something.

She looked much more different now than the last time I saw her, which is roughly five years ago. Last time she was a strawberry blonde with her hair extending far down to her lower back, and now she drastically changed her hair into a brunette, and she's now rocking a bob cut. She's not wearing any sort of make-up now except for the lipstick that she's on, which is way different from the always beaten for the gods Yhannie years ago. She appeared much more like a mature woman now.

"Wait, you are friends with her?" I asked my brother, giving him some type of mad glare.

I don't mean to sound like a jerk at all, but I'm just not expecting this. I've never expected this, and I'm dumbfounded that Vincent and Yhannie knew each other. I thought that I'll never see this woman again, ever, but here she is right now, smiling like she's totally innocent.

"Yeah. I kind of bailed her ass out of prison," Vincent explained.

"What? You are a criminal now?" I shifted my gaze from my brother to Yhannie, who looked somewhat flushed. I kind of want to ruffle some of Yhannie's feathers, just to kind of let her know that she's in no position to re-enter a part of my life.

"You are right. I just actually killed a man wearing only a towel," She answered, and to think that I'm just wearing a towel right now, obviously since I just came out of the shower. She's throwing this back at me.

"Oh, is that so?" I settled down at a spot right in the middle of them.

"Mhmm"

"We are going to a party tonight, do you want to come with us? You know have some fun. I missed partying with you man," My brother offered as he handed me the garlic sauce for the pizza.

"Nah, I'm going to have to pass for now. I have some work tomorrow," I lied. I don't really have work tomorrow. In fact, I've already planned to have another all-night party tonight, and I don't want to go to a party with both of these people.

"So what?" Yhannie purred.

"It means, it's not like high school anymore. I can't party all night and still enter school the next morning." I trailed as I dipped the tip of the pizza and scooped a lot of garlic sauce. "Where's Keiran by the way?" I inquired, and as soon as that question lifted out of my mouth, Vincent and Yhannie exchanged some looks.

There was complete silence, and the only sound that I can hear is the sound of me disgustingly munching the pizza. This is the first time Vincent came home without Keiran, and I quickly thought something might have happened though I'm certain it is not that serious.

"Where is that guy? I've missed him," I repeated the question to my brother. I'm looking at him deadly, waiting for an answer. Keiran and I had grown close to each other, and now I'm just a bit worried that something might have actually happened between my brother and him.

"Uhm, you know......"

"They broke up!" Vincent leaned back on his chair and was about to spit up some lies when Yhannie blatantly cut him off and spilled the truth right in front of me just like a hot and freshly brewed tea.

"Whaaaaaat?" I expressed my utter shock about it. I know that my brother loved Keiran so much that he would catch a bullet for him. I see it in his eyes, burning in conflagration every time. Even until now, I can see it in his eyes.

"Yeah, we broke up," Vincent admitted.

"Wow. I'm so sorry man. Is that why you are going to party tonight?"

"Yes, your brother is on the process of moving on and we are going to have some fun tonight," Yhannie answered. This immensely annoyed me. This brings me memories of the old Yhannie. The old nosy Yhannie.

"You know what, I'm talking to my brother, stop answering the questions that are meant for him, alright" I spat at Yhannie, and I may have sounded rude and disrespectful at that, but it's Yhannie. She doesn't give a shit.

"No, it's fine," My brother spoke. "I loved him so much but you know, if you really loved someone then you should be willing to let them go."

I patiently waited for both Yhannie and my brother to leave the house before I finally decide to leave. Luckily, Ivana called right before I locked the house and said that she's free tonight, so I picked her up, and we both ended up going to a gay bar of her choice.

"I've totally missed this shit!!!!!" Ivana screamed at the top of her lungs the moment she got the first sip of alcohol in months.

"I've missed this too," I agreed with her. The fact that I'm starting to get comfortable about going out drinking alone is fucking scaring the shit out of me. It's like loneliness is slowly making a place in me, and I want to shut that door before it enters inside me and make a home.

"You know what, let's go dance," She suggested, and I have to give this to her. Being a mom is slowly sipping her youth.

We both finished our vodka, and Ivana pulled me towards the sea of people striking up the heat and grooving to the beat. As soon as we hit the center of the dance floor, we began dancing to the beat. Ivana is moving like a salted worm, and it is making me cringe, but she's living this moment. Why tell her she's terrible at it. We danced for a while until someone stepped on my foot.

"Ouch!" I let out a loud scream. The shoe that I chose to wear isn't that hard and thick, so it got my toes so freaking bad when someone stepped on my foot. I paused from dancing for a moment to see who just got the nerve to step on my foot, and I see two guys kissing the shit out of each other. "What the fu...." I was about to call them both out, and at this one particular moment, my world just froze in an instant when my eyes couldn't believe who I saw.

It was Dominic motherfucking Warren.