"So, what do you think of my sister?"
I squinted my eyes at him. It's weird for him to ask, "what do you mean? She's excellent and beautiful, if that's what you mean."
"No, I hope that she's enough for you," Dion said in embarrassment.
"Oh, please. I should be the one worrying if I'm not enough for your little sister. I mean, she's fragile, and I'm scared if I treat her the wrong way."
"I saw how you and Martin treated her, and I choose you more than Martin," Dion spoke.
"Martin doesn't deserve Joy. He mistreats her," I said, sipping my wine. Does he know that Martin abused her? I try to keep my mouth shut from telling him that Martin used her. It's not my place to say the news, and he should know it straight from Joy.
"You know? I've always been the protective brother for Joy. I always caught Joy hooking up with someone somewhere, and I always scare them away. And I've never in my entire life agreed with Martin as her fiance," Dion sighed in fatigue, "I always talk to my father to cancel their marriage. But it didn't work," he laughs pathetically as he finishes his scotch.
"And when I learned about the soulmate thing on Joy. I was happy thinking that my sister would receive something she wanted," He continued.
"That is?" I asked.
"A true love," he answered, "The only thing she asked for."
I looked down and thought about what Dion said. I settled down my glass and looked down at the people in the backyard talking. I saw Joy talking with someone along with Emilia by her side.
The only thing she asked for was true love. Do you know what's pathetic? Her father knows what it feels like to marry the love of his life, but he doesn't let his daughter marry someone she loves. I looked around to see if her father and I found him talking with a couple of men. Wayne, why do you do this to your daughter? Do you know how hurt she is by her fiancee? If you see that her fiancee had abused her that you've chosen, would you cancel their marriage?
Then something came to my mind, and I had to ask him, "Dion, can I ask you something?"
"Go ahead," he said as he poured both of our glasses some wine.
"Can I tell Joy about the soulmate thing?" a straightforward question came out of my mouth, making him stop what he was doing at the moment.
"No," he answered concisely.
"Why?"
"You just can't," Dion sighed, and he gave me the glass, "you can say it romantically, but you will never tell the absolute truth about the soulmate thing."
"But, doesn't she deserves to know?"
Dion put his left hand on his hips, and his right hand brought his glass to his lips, "we don't know what the future holds. We don't know how Joy would react."
"What's the worst thing that could happen?"
"She'd think you're joking, or you're crazy, or she'll think you have schizophrenia," Dion leaned closer to me and whispered, "the worst-case scenario that could happen is she walking away from you."
I wouldn't want that to happen to me.
"But if we were apart, fate would bring us back," I said. He cringed at my response, "what? Do you think I'm joking?"
"If it's fate. Then why did your future self go back in time and try to fix your mistake?! I suspect the Harris inside of you is laughing after hearing you say," Dion was starting to get irritated. He's right. In the future, I failed to complete my task of making Joy my girlfriend before graduation. Dion bites the inside of his cheeks before speaking, "fate is a strong word. I would say it's more of a destiny. Do you know the difference between them?"
I propped my chin on my palm, "fate is something God already sets and can't be changed. For example, the country you were born in and your family. And destiny is-"
"A course of events that an individual can shape. For example, your carrier choices and your significant other," Dion said, making a point. Then, how did I screw up? I should ask Kinsley about this.
I sighed, "What if I accidentally told her the truth? unintentionally."
"Then that's your problem, make up an excuse or tell her the truth and hope she won't freak out," Dion answered, "I know. It's hard to keep it to yourself, but sometimes we don't always tell the truth. Emilia doesn't know why I saved her, and it's killing me."
Dion puts his hand on my back, "the truth becomes more nuanced, and there are times when a little white lie or the absence of some critical facts might be appropriate. Some truth has an impact, so I suggest you be wise."
The conversation died down a bit until I heard a commotion downstairs. The people in the backyard also turned their attention inside the house, "should we check it out?" I asked Dion.
"No worries, it must be my weird uncle being drunk," Dion said.
"I had enough of this house!" I heard a voice echo in my head.
"I don't think it's your uncle. I think it had something to do with Joy," I said to Dion as I finished my wine.
"How can you be sure?"
"I can hear her thoughts."
"Oh right, I forgot I can do that too," Dion said.
Then the balcony door swung open, revealing Joy with her hair down tousled. I wonder what happened. Did she get into a fight with someone? I didn't think he got fed up so quickly. She grabbed me and led me downstairs, "Is everything okay?"
We stopped halfway down the stairs, and she spoke, "no. I'm taking you somewhere," when I arrived downstairs, I saw Martin and her father in the foyer. Joy took off her coat and threw it to Martin's face. Then pushed Martin out of the way and opened the door. She led me to her car, and we drove off.
I saw from the speedometer she was going a bit more than a hundred, and that worries me. She never went more than eighty every time she drove. I took her arm to comfort her, and it must have worked because the car started to slow down. The lights turn red, and she stops the car. She puts her head on the steering wheels, "what happened?" I asked her.
I saw a couple of tears fall to the steering wheel, "I argued with my father, and Martin had to jump in and talk shit about me."
"What did he say?" I asked her again as I grew irritated. The way I could feel her anger flows, I found my fist clenched without my knowledge.
Joy shook her head and took a deep breath before leaning back in the seat. When the lights turned green, the car moved again, and we went to another road that led to the woods, "it doesn't matter what he said. It's not like I can make him take back what he said."
"You still didn't tell your father about the abuse?"
She shook her head, "I don't think he would care if Martin keeps hurting me. He was too busy with his fantasy of keeping the business alive."
"Have you tried to tell him?"
Joy bit her lips and shook her head, "no point in trying. I can already guess the outcome."
"No, we don't know what's the outcome will be until we try. You don't know how he's going to react, Joy."
Joy sighed and propped her head on her arm with her elbow on the window, "I don't really plan on being here that long," she said in fatigue. I can tell that she's worn.
I didn't want to stop her from doing what she wanted. I don't want to be like her father or fiancee, always stopping her from doing what she wants, so I asked her, "how do you want your family and friend to remember you?"
Joy breathed deeply before breaking down, "as someone who tried hard to be someone I couldn't."
I bite the inside of my cheeks as I thought I'd never imagined myself going through what she had gone and she's still here, alive and strong. I saw her finger starts to tremble, to mean that she was cold or because she was crying. Whatever it was, I still took off my coat and put it around her body, "can I drive?"
Joy wiped her tears and turned her attention to me, "what?"
"Let me drive. I can't let an unstable person drive the car," I said with a joke. Hoping that she would laugh, and she did.
"How much wine did you drink?"
"Three glass, but I'm sober now," I said and shrugging. Joy shook her head and stopped the car. No one was on the road except us, so she stopped in the middle of the road.
"Okay, I don't want to see any dent when we got there," Joy said, and she turned on the GPS, switching seats with me.
"Where are we going?" I asked as I swiped the screen to check the destination. It's on a mountain, are we going to her old house?
"My mother's house," Joy answered, and I thought it would be respectful not to ask her a question, "thanks, for the coat."
"No problem. I can wake you up when we arrive there. It's an hour's drive," I said as I read the GPS calculation.
"Can I hold your hand?" Joy asked me, and I chuckled.
"You don't need to ask, princess," I said as I took her hand, and she smiled. Then I drove according to wherever the GPS took us to. I saw from the corner of my eyes that Joy was sleeping peacefully with my coat on top of her. I didn't care when my hand started to die, but Joy wanted it; I didn't mind.
We finally arrived at the destination, and I stopped behind a gate. I woke up Joy, and she spoke to someone on the intercom, and the gate opened. I drove for a couple of minutes until we arrived at the luxury cabin. It's the same cabin I saw in my dream. I parked the car, and we got out of the vehicle. Joy spoke with the security for a moment before walking back to me.
We entered the house, and it was the same as I remembered: the fireplace, the living room, and the beautiful scenery from the expansive balcony. I bring my finger to the table, and not a single dust on the table- or even anywhere. How is it clean when somebody doesn't live here anymore? I looked around the house as I saw Joy walking toward the balcony. She put both hands on the railing and hung her head down. I slowly approached her and stood next to her, "what lovely house, Joy."
"You did not just say it's lovely," Joy said as she hid her laugh.
"I think your party made me talk like rich people would," I jokingly.
Joy sucked air through her teeth before speaking, "this is where I lived before."
"Is someone staying here because it's squeaky clean."
"My father hires some maid to clean the house once in two weeks. He didn't want the place to be haunted or look like it was unoccupied, so no one would try to buy this house."
I nod in understanding. Even though I already know the story behind this but I still ask, "If I may ask, why did you move? This house has everything."
Joy shook her head, "It doesn't have everything."
***