Stained Recovery

The meet-cute || Chapter 1

"A friend of ours, who thinks I deserve to know." I shrugged and gave him an empty stare.

"Were you invited?"

"I don't know, her sisters haven't mentioned anything yet," I said.

"Why the fuck are you still talking to them? How many times did I tell you to cut off all ties, dumbass! You won't be able to move on from this! That girl broke your fucking heart, Cleo. Wake the fuck up." Daniel said with his menacing voice.

"I can't just stop talking to them! They were my family too, we were together for almost a decade." I shook my head — he wouldn't understand. Being with Naomi for a long time, I got so close to her family, especially her sisters and parents.

Daniel just stayed quiet and gave my phone back as he sat on the vacant seat beside me.

He wouldn't understand — the western culture families are totally different from what we grew up with, families are so tight in the Philippines.

Yep, I'm mixed — half white, half Filipino.

When I was younger, I stayed with my mom in Manila. I was raised in an Asian household — catholic, conservative, and strict. Every summer break, I spend time with my dad and we fly here to LA.

And no, my dad and mom aren't divorced or separated. They were just living in different countries since I was little. My mom wanted to stay in Manila, while my dad, had to stay here. He needed to manage his real estate firm, my mom visits from time to time though.

I moved here and studied sophomore year. I was practically homeschooled in the first few years when I started studying. The reason?

I was diagnosed as intersex — I basically have a penis while I still have breasts and both testicular and ovarian glands. Now, while my male hormones are way higher than the female — my parents and other people still consider me a "girl".

2 years old — that's my age when my parents noticed some abnormalities in my physical appearance. My parents were really heartbroken but not because they were disappointed that their little girl is different — but rather, because they knew that I will experience animosity and discrimination because of my situation.

From then on, they tried to keep me safe — even from the doctors who's want to check and experiment on me. I was a rare case — and they hated the way people treated me.

"Cleo, you spaced out again. Come on, bro — where were you?" Daniel broke me out of my thoughts and grabbed my arm.

"Naomi doesn't deserve your time bud, just don't think about her. You're living far away for a reason — and she's not your concern now."

"I know... I'm just hurt. I never thought that this would happen — I loved her, Dan." My voice was shaky — I couldn't even recognize it, I always had an authoritative voice. Right now, I sounded like a stray puppy, kicked and battered.

"You know what, take the rest of the day off. Rest, then tomorrow morning — we'll slay the fuck out of that deal and close the sale. I'll handle everything from here. Go home." He said with a soft smile and determination in his eyes.

With a deep sigh, I stood and fixed my shirt. "I'm going to Jas' place — if my dad calls, can you tell him I just didn't feel too well?" I said before placing my phone back in my pocket.

"For sure man, I got you. Don't worry about it." He pats my shoulder and pulled me in for a hug.
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The moderate traffic going to Oakhurst from Olympic Blvd. made the drive pretty quick. My driver pulled through a 20-minute drive in 15, and I'm impressed.