Chapter Forty- Ruined Dates and Childhood Homes
"Would you like to go on a date with me?" Mr. Rivera blurted out in the middle of Shakespeare and Hamlet. We were discussing how to grade his students' movie review of Hamlet when all of a sudden I caught him staring at me.
His eyes were begging me to say yes. I didn't have the heart to tell him no. Besides it was just one date. What could possibly wrong?
It wasn't like Mr. Madrid and I had come to an agreement few nights ago. We were far from that. He was stubborn as a coffee stain on a white shirt.
After he helped himself with the food in the house, I asked him to leave peacefully before my friends arrive. It was inappropriate for me to let my trespassing ex-boyfriend stay in our home. The man was challenging as ever but he obliged after I did some pleading. We accomplished nothing that night. We still ran in circles. It was tiring. I'm getting fed up with all this shit.
"Sure." I agreed.
"Dinner, tomorrow night?"
"Dinner sounds great."
*****
Sean and I agreed to meet in front of Cafe Ris. It was the first time I heard about the place. I was extremely glad about it. I wasn't ready for another trip down memory lane. When we came inside, I expected a regular coffee shop. It wasn't just a cafe rather a huge coffee bookshop. It had two floors of tall shelves of thousands of reading materials and a variety of tables, armchairs and couches.
I was taking in the welcoming and exciting ambiance of the place as Sean described Cafe Ris. Apparently, it was known for throwing events like book club readings, theater acts and live jazz music. They offered exclusively homegrown Philippine highland coffee and served different kinds of food from pastries to pastas.
There was a microphone and podium at the center of the first floor. I was right when I guessed it was a reading event they were having tonight. It was a poem reading by a diverse group of people. Young, old, men and women were all gathered to share their own piece. Even their themes vary. One girl talked about first love and first heartbreak which I could relate very well. Another reader named Penelope shared her piece about tragedy and lost. Not all of their poems were sad. There was this guy, Hanz who wrote about surviving cancer and a woman in her forties sharing her thoughts about how beautiful life is. There was even LeAnn, Sean's bookworm student. He came to know about the place because of LeAnn.
The experience was refreshing. It gave me new perspectives to ponder on. I never thought I'd enjoy listening to poems. They made me think outside the box and listen between the lines.
"Thank you. This place is wonderful." I told Sean as we stood in front of the cafe. He was a breath of fresh air. Being with him felt light. He was simple, smart and funny. He was just so easy to talk to. It as nice to be someone who wasn't so intense everytime.
"You're welcome." he replied and made me face him. His eyes were glued to mine as he said, "I really wanna kiss you right now."
"Sean, I-." He cut me off with his soft warm lips. I didn't make any attempts to stop or push him away. For a second I hoped I'd feel the same way when I'm with Mr. Madrid. I didn't. The kiss felt strange. There was no spark. It didn't feel right.
"Stay away from my girl!" someone growled and pushed Sean away from me with a punch. Maybe I was in shock but I swear I heard the sounds of bones breaking. I was just not sure if it was from Sean'face or Mr. Madrid's knuckles.
Sean was taken aback and he almost lost his balance. His hand flew to his nose which was now bleeding. Mr. Madrid was about to throw another punch when I yelled for him to stop. He was panting when he turned to me. His eyes were dark and filled with rage. It was almost terrifying.
"What the hell?" I glared at him. I fished out some tissue from my bag and walked towards Sean but he grabbed my forearm to stop me. Anger boiled inside my body. I was starting to see red haze around me.
The scowl on my face was still there. He knew how I hated this kind of violence and now he chose to do it in front of me. "Let go of me!" I told him with gritted teeth.
He glared back at me but didn't speak a word nor listened to me. I was mad but he was furious. He was controlling his wrath but I can still feel it. He didn't let go of my arm rather he interlaced his fingers with mine.
Without a warning, Mr. Madrid started dragging me away from Sean who really looked like he broke his nose. Despite all my protests and resistance, he managed to pull me away fast. He didn't even look back at the poor guy.
"I'm so sorry!" I yelled back to Sean. "Let go of me, you son of a bitch!" At my cursing, he stopped and scooped my legs with his arms then threw me on his shoulders. I was so angry, I almost hit him. He was lucky I could never do that. I begged him to put me down but he didn't listen. Next thing I know he was throwing me inside his car, my behind hitting the car seat hard. He saw it and looked at me with concern and guilt. This prick still had the guts to look at me in the eyes after everything he did.
He revved the engine and all we could hear was each other catching our breaths.
"Where are you taking me?" I demanded.
"Why would you let him kiss you?"
The kiss. That's what this is all about. He saw the kiss.
"I will kill the reckless bastard if he touches you ever again." he threatened with rage. "Say something!"
"What do you want me to say? That Sean was a better kisser than you? That I wanted to kiss him back before you attacked him? Is that what you want me to say? Huh? That his lips were sweeter than yours?"
I couldn't tell him that I let Sean kissed me because I wanted to know how it'd feel. I can't let him know that he's still the only one who can make sparks fly when he kisses me. That after everything it was still him. Despite all the lies and the secrets, he still made my heart skip a beat. I still want to picture the future with him. Time was taking its own sweet time erasing him because the truth was I still love him.
The car fell silent. I calmed myself and I knew he was doing the same thing. The tension vanished as time passed. I didn't know where he was taking us. I rest my head on the window and replayed my night. Worry consumed me as I remembered Sean. I pulled out my phone and saw that he has messaged and called me a dozen of times. I was about to open one of his messages when the bastard snatched my phone and threw it out the window.
"You prick. That was my phone."
"And you we're about to call him."
I just groaned and didn't bother correcting him.
"This is kidnapping! You're holding me against my will!" I yelled minutes later.
"That's right, Miss Daniel. I am kidnapping you." His eyes were full of mischief and his lips curved into a smirk.
Oh shoot.
*****
I woke at the scent of coffee and butter. I wanted to stretch my legs but I couldn't. Opening my eyes, I realized I was still in the damn car.
"Good morning, angel." Mr. Madrid opened the door for me.
"Where are we?" I yawned. It was already morning. How long was he driving?
"Almost there."
"Are you taking me to some abandoned building or something?"
He chuckled. "Please eat before we leave."
"I'm not hungry. I wanna go home."
"No. Not yet." he said firmly. What scared me was the fact that I still feel safe and secure around him even if my mind said otherwise.
"Can I least borrow your phone? Rico will look for me. We have band rehearsals today? I need to tell him I won't make it."
"You have five minutes."
"Fine!" I scowled in frustration.
I made a quick phone call to Rico and Kyla. I felt bad lying to them about my 'needing some time alone' excuse. I was far from being alone because there's this mischievous kidnapping ex-boyfriend eavesdropping my phone conversations.
"It's very rude to eavesdrop, Mr. Madrid."
"I never claimed to be polite, Miss Daniel."
"At least tell me where we're going." We were back on the road once he begged me to eat. I simply took a sip of the coffee which bothered him. He couldn't force to eat so he gave up eventually. It was too early for solid food. I don't want my stomach hurling if I force myself.
"You know me, angel. I like surprises."
I rolled my eyes as he threw me his signature smug look. "Prick."
Mr. Madrid made attempts to start a conversation but I throw him off with my sarcasm everytime. He wasn't such a good sport and decided to zip his mouth.
Madi- 1, Prick-0
*****
He drove through widely opened iron gates. Several luxurious cars were parked along the driveway. I turned to him but he kept his eyes forward as we pulled over in front of a gigantic Mediterranean mansion.
Definitely not an abandoned house.
He asked me to stay so he could open the door for me but I beat him to it. He rolled his eyes as I climb down the car. My body ached with all those hours of sitting down. I was excited to stretch my legs so I simply gave him a 'What?' look.
"Mr. Madrid", a man in his fifties stood by the entrance. He was wearing a suit and tie just like what David always wore. "Welcome home."
Home? I squinted at him.
"Welcome to my childhood home, Miss Daniel."
*****
"I know you!" a little girl started squealing in front of me.
The prick left me alone after dragging me to this mansion which happened to be his childhood house. He said he'll quickly get us some food but it has been ten minutes already. There were so many people here.
Of course there'd be plenty of people, Madi. Hello? It was a party.
My hair was a mess, I haven't brushed my teeth since last night and I smelled of car leather. I felt embarrased as soon as we went to the courtyard where the party was. What was the occasion? I had no clue. Most of the guests were dressed semi-casually, it was hard to tell. All I know was that there were a lot of people including this little girl.
"I know you!" she repeated pointing at me. Her high-pitched voice and energetic jumping made heads turn to our direction.
Okay, kid. Lay off the sweets.
"Oh my. I'm so sorry." a woman said to me before turning to the girl. I assumed she's the girl's mother. She was in a yellow sundress and ballet flats. She shared the same hooded eyes with her daughter. "Chantal, it's not very polite to point at people. Please say sorry to the lady."
"But mom-."
"Say sorry now, sweetie."
"Sowee." the little girl pouted.
"Hey, it's okay. No need to be sad." I told her and she smiled at me.
"What's going on here? Hey I know you!" a tall man came to us then pointed at me.
"Seriously? I just asked your daughter to apologize for harassing this lady and you're doing exactly what she did."
"Oops. Sorry. But you look very familiar."
"See. I told chu mommy. I know her." the little girl insisted.
"That's it!" the man snapped his fingers. "You're the girl from Mickey's office."
I tried to recall if there was a time that this man and I have been in Mr. Madrid's office at the same time. There wasn't. I can only count on one hand the people that I've been with inside his office. Michaela, Avery, Carlos and of course, Mr. Madrid. No one else.
"Daddy! The picture!"
"That's right, sweetheart." he carried his daughter in his arms and kissed her sweetly on the cheek before explaining to me. "You have a picture on top of my brother's office desk. We visited him one time and that's when we saw your photo."
Photo? What photo? Brother? "You're Marco?" It took me a second to notice his hazel brown eyes which were similar to Mr. Madrid and Michaela's. The man as tall as his brother too but he looked like a big goofy man. He doesn't seem serious like his brother.
"He has mentioned me? That's a first. Marco Madrid." He offered a hand which I awkwardly took.
"Madi Daniel."
"Oh my god! You're Madi? Michaela has told me all about you!" Then she gave me a hug. "I'm Audrey, Mickey' sister-in-law."
"Madi!" As if on cue, Michaela came running to lunge herself at me. "You're here!" She released me from her tight hug. "Why do you smell like car freshener?" she asked rubbing her nose. "Come! Let's freshen up. We'll be back guys!"
That moment when Michaela dragged me away, I realized that the Madrid siblings have one thing in common, they like to overwhelm people.
Michaela brought me to a room on the second level. She shared that it was her childhood bedroom but she still comes home once a week.
"You have no idea how happy I am that you're here. Are you and Mickey-."
"No." I answered quickly.
"I was going to say are you guys okay already?"
"I don't know. I'm just confused he brought me here. We're not together anymore. I don't know what he's planning but he's up to something."
"I'm sure he does. Mickey has always been like that. He never shares his plans with us. Take Lumiere for example. We had no idea he was dreaming of becoming a mall tycoon. One day we just got invited to the opening of his first branch. Mom and dad helped with the expansion but still. He just do what he wants you know. Just think about the engage-. I'm sorry."
"It's fine, please continue."
"Our parents were very disappointed with him. He hasn't explained everything to us but he said he broke off the engagement."
"He told me the same thing."
"We're just letting him fix his mess. We know that the more we try to make him tell us what's going on with him, the more he won't open up."
Hearing Michaela talk about his brother made me wonder if I knew Mr. Madrid well. Do I know him at all? Did I even make efforts to get to know him? When we were together, he made it all about me. I was the center of the relationship and it shouldn't have been.
Michaela had to answer a phone call so she excused herself right after we came back to the courtyard. I walked to the refreshments table as my throat felt dry.
"Madi. Thank god, you're still here. I thought you left. I threw your phone, I didn't know how to contact you. I was looking for you everywhere. I was so worried." Mr. Madrid was covered in sweat as he caught his breath. He did look very worried, terrified even.
I was about to tell him that kidnapping ran in the family when Marco butted in.
"Hey, bro. I didn't know you were capable of such emotion. I guess we should be thanking Madi here for finally making you feel things."
Marco's comment piqued my curiosity. Why does he talk that way to his brother?
"Are you done? Madi needs to eat." the prick brushed off his brother.
"Mom wants to see you. Make sure to talk to her before you leave." Marco ordered coldly before turning to me with a genuine smile. "Nice to meet you, Madi. We'll talk again soon."
All I could do was smile awkwardly. There was definitely a rift between the two brothers. It was a sad thought.
"Come on. You haven't eaten anything."
I walked past him ignoring the hand he was offering. I headed to the food serving area.
"You're mad at me." Mr. Madrid was following me as I fill my plate with mouth-watering dishes.
"No, asshole. I'm not mad at you. You ruined my night, punched my date, kidnapped me, brought me to this place then left me alone. Why the hell would I be mad at you?"
"I'm sorry for leaving you alone. I got caught up."
"Whatever."
I spotted an empty table and made my way there with the prick trailing behind me. We both ate in silence as we were both starving.
"He's okay." he muttered and I raised an eyebrow. "That reckless driver is okay. I knew you were worried so I had David check on him."
"Do you expect a thank you?"
"I'm glad Michaela found you. You look beautiful as always." His eyes were scanning my lace crop top and rose pink maxi skirt. Michaela insisted that it was the ensemble perfect for me. She also nagged me about wearing my contacts instead of the glasses.
I rolled my eyes at him but he managed to make my heart flutter like he used to. He never forgets to remind me that I was beautiful.
I let him do all the talking while we ate. I pretended I wasn't being attentive but the truth was I listened to every word he said. Like today's occassion was a fund-raiser brunch for his mother's sustainable development projects. That meant all these people around us actually paid for their food and I was indulging on it for free. I felt embarrased going back for the third time so he had to get my dessert.
"Your brother seemed nice. Why do you talk to him like that?"
"Let's just say you're not the only one who got mad at me for the engagement. My entire family is upset with me except for one little person."
"Chantal."
"You met her?"
I nodded. "She said she knew me."
"She saw a p-."
"Picture of me in your office."
I didn't need to say a word. He knew I wanted to know why he kept a picture of me in his office.
"It helped me get through the days I couldn't see you."
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