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Lahat ng Kabanata ng Love in the Time of Quarantine: Kabanata 111 - Kabanata 120

122 Kabanata

Chapter 20 - Jaime

(TRIGGER WARNING: Recollections of domestic abuse. Read at your own discretion.)“Come on, Jorge. You promised you’d go jogging with us,” I say, tugging on his hand as I try to get him off the couch.“Girl, if you don’t let go of my arm—” he starts, but there’s no real heat in his voice. He just doesn’t want to go.“What’re you gonna do, huh?” Andie teases, smacking his ass as she passes, slipping on her running shoes. “Can’t even get your lazy ass off the couch.”“Please, baby,” I say, laying on the charm. “Come with us. It'll be fun, I promise.”He has no idea about the surprise I’ve planned. Andie and I are both wearing insertable vibrators, and I’ve got a vibrating cock ring waiting for him. I even made a whole "playlist" of vibration settings to match our jogging route. If we time it right, we’ll push Jorge to the edge—maybe even have our first public threesome in the park.But he won’t budge.“How the hell is running through the park fun?” he mumbles, face half-buried in a pillow

Chapter 21: Jorge

The hours between when Andie and Jaime left and when they came back felt like an eternity.I didn’t nap—obviously. How could I? I was too wired. I paced the apartment for a good twenty minutes, biting my nails down to the nubs. A few of my fingertips bled.Eventually, I started prepping for the next day’s orders, just to keep my hands busy. I made dough for two days’ worth of bagels and bread. By the time the girls walked through the front door, half the bagels were already proofed, boiled, and baking in the oven.The second I heard the door, I shut off the stove and rushed to the entryway.“Are you okay? Please tell me you’re okay?” I blurt, eyes immediately scanning Jaime.“I’m fine now,” she says quietly.Andie doesn’t even look at me. She kicks off her shoes and disappears into the bedroom without a word.Shit. Yeah, I’ve got a lot to make up for. Jaime looks drained, and Andie? She’s clearly furious.I turn back to Jaime. “Please… can we talk? Tell me how disappointed you are. How

Chapter 22: Andie

I knew it would take Jorge a little while to follow through on his promise. I’m not unreasonable—he needed to find and train someone.Actually, he found a driver pretty quickly. One of our friends, Angel, had just been laid off, so she jumped on the opportunity. Jorge even found a commercial kitchen he could rent part-time, which meant he wasn’t taking over the apartment anymore and had space to bake all day for orders.That was six weeks ago. Plenty of time to reduce his hours, especially since he no longer has to do deliveries.Has he? Nope.You’d think that after the dramatic fallout we had, after seeing how upset Jaime was—how pissed off I was—that Jorge would finally understand. That even though he’s building a new business, he still needs to make time for us.But it’s not happening.I’m still trying to be patient, but when I say “a little more time,” I mean very little. I can’t keep feeling like Jaime and I are in second place to his job—a job I helped him build. A job he didn’t

Chapter 23: Jaime

I’m sitting on the couch flipping through TV channels when Jorge walks in. It’s been two days since our failed date night, and this is the first time I’ve seen him for more than a passing second. He’s dressed in sweats and a tank top, hair wet from a shower—he must’ve just come back from a run.Andie and I have been sleeping in her old room ever since that night. With the hours he’s been keeping, I don’t really know what he’s up to anymore.Honestly? I don’t know if I can even muster the energy to care. Every time I try, it just ends up hurting.“Hey…” Jorge says tentatively, sitting on the arm of the couch.I glance over. “Hey,” I reply, then turn my attention back to the TV.“Um… where’s Andie?” he asks, like he’s not sure what to say.“Doctor’s appointment and then grocery shopping.” My responses aren’t angry—just short. I give the remote a voice command to switch to N*****x and start scrolling through options, skipping past the show I actually want to watch.Shadow and Bone. Can’

Chapter 24: Jorge

Andie looks between Jaime and me, and I can tell she immediately understands what’s going on. She’s always had that ability—to take in a situation at a glance and know exactly what’s happening. I guess that’s what makes her such a good programmer.And an expert at calling me on my bullshit.Ever since the day I triggered Jaime’s meltdown, Andie’s been more distant with me. I think she realized that, even though the promises I made to her and Jaime were heartfelt, they weren’t ones I could keep.The time I managed to get after that? It felt more like it was for Jaime’s benefit than for Andie’s. As introverted and quiet as she appears, Andie doesn’t take shit from anyone.She gave me more rope than I deserved. And I guess I finally used it to hang myself.“How far are we into this conversation?” Andie asks calmly.I blink at her, caught off guard by how level her voice is.Jaime answers instead. “I told him he’s not treating us like priorities. That the last chance we gave him was the la

Chapter 25: Andie

In that way that grief between people who love each other will sometimes turn sexual, when Jorge turns to Jaime and kisses her, she kisses him back.I lean in and kiss the side of his face. He turns toward me and—God—it feels good to kiss him. I’ve missed him so damn much. It’s been too damn long.Jaime brings his mouth back to hers, their kiss hungry and desperate. My hands go to the bottom of the hoodie he’s wearing and I rip it off of him.Jaime finds his mouth again, and I lean down, licking his nipples. He groans into Jaime’s mouth, his body tensing in arousal. He loves having his nipples played with. At the same time, I rake my nails down his abs.Jorge pulls back from Jaime’s mouth to look down at me. “Please. I need you both.” His voice is so full of need.I look at Jaime, asking if she’s okay with this. Because this is going to be an end, not a reconciliation. But I want this. I need him.Jaime nods, both of us catching the motion.Jorge surges from the chair, knocking it to t

Chapter 26: Jaime

It’s been a week since our last interaction with Jorge. We’ve been communicating via text and notes left at the apartment. The morning after our breakup, Jorge was gone before Andie and I even woke up. He’d packed a bag and left a note saying he’d be in and out while we were at work over the coming week.He’s moving into an apartment over his parents’ restaurant. It used to be his dad’s office, and over the years, various family members have crashed there when they were in the doghouse with their wives or girlfriends.Not a bad place—but not exactly the kind of space you’d expect someone with a thriving business to live in. Still, with COVID still bad, Jorge decided to stay somewhere only family had been. Said it was safer.Trying to decide what belongs to who over text is awful.I’d honestly thought Jorge was the one. The guy I’d spend the rest of my life with. When we added Andie into our lives, it felt perfect. For a while.So we bought everything together—TV, couch, microwave. Even

Chapter 27: Jorge

“Angel, do you have tomorrow’s shipment of bread all packaged? Carmello’s needs the delivery an hour early. I’d like to be able to have everything on rolling carts so I can just load up the trucks the second I get here,” I call to Angel.When she first started working with me, I had brought Angel on just as a delivery driver. But over the last two months, I have consciously tried to pull myself back from the business, and I’ve made Angel a partner. We have three drivers, a part-time baker, and two part-time packagers. I’ve cut my hours back so that I’m working nine-hour days, as opposed to the sixteen-hour days I was working before.The only reason that I’m driving tomorrow is because our early morning guy took the day off. Otherwise, I’ve even built in Wednesdays and Sundays as days off.“Yes, everything’s all ready. Just waiting for the last batch to finish cooling before we get it packaged. I’ll get that done in the next hour,” Angel tells me.I let out a huge sigh. “Ok. I’m heading

Chapter 28: Andie

Jaime and I go about making dinner in silence. We’re a well-oiled machine at this point, moving easily around each other in our kitchen. Angel and her partner Maddie are coming over tonight for dinner and to play cards.It’s something we started back in college with Angel—a weekly card game. Each week, someone picks the game we play, and once a year, each of us is supposed to introduce a new card game. We use candy and snack foods for any games that require betting. It’s more about hanging out and having fun than anything else.Maddie and Angel have been very careful about who they let into their circle, as have we, so we all feel comfortable being around each other, even with COVID still going on.Unfortunately, this is how much of our life has been since Jorge left: a silent orbit around each other. We hold each other through the tears and the pain, but we don’t really talk.I mean, what’s there to say?We’re enough for each other—but not for the man we love.It hurts. And we’re grie

Chapter 29: Jaime

I’ve been tossing and turning in bed all night after listening to everything Angel and Maddie said tonight.“You three belong together.”“He loves you.”“He wants you back.”“What do you have to lose if you do call him?”I know what my heart wants. I also know what my heart is afraid is going to happen. How can I allow him to possibly hurt me—us—all over again?What’s the definition of insanity? Doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result? Wouldn’t it be insane to let him back into our lives and hope it ends differently?Angel and Marta have both said he’s reduced his hours at the business. That they’ve hired new people. That he’s learned his lesson. Could it be true? Could he really have changed for us, even if he didn’t think we’d ever come back?I don’t know.We’ve been in bed since midnight, and it’s now 3 a.m. With a huge sigh, I get up and grab my robe, tying it tightly around me. I can’t lay here any longer. And if I keep shifting, I’m going to wake

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