"Go then! If you care about her so much. Go!"
"Fine, I will!"
I couldn't fathom for a moment how well my day's been going. For one thing, it hasn't been.
For many, many months these useless and highly senseless bickering and quarreling with my girlfriend have become a terrible habit.
And no, she's not on her period.
I stormed out of her apartment, trying not to hear her scandalous yelling that followed me from behind. I wore my grey cotton jacket that I placed on her coat rack when I came to her place a while ago.
I made my way to their basement parking lot, started up the engine of my Ford Mondeo and roared away from my problems to some better things: Ice cream and some alone time.
My drive to McDonalds was peaceful and that the road was (thank the Lord God Almighty) not busy. It's a Sunday afternoon, the sun is shining brightly and so will be my mood once I get a hold of that sweet hot fudge sundae.
Approaching the drive-thru as I spotted the fast food chain to be full, I ordered the hot fudge sundae.
And some fries.
And apple pies.
I decided to drive to a park just a few miles north and enjoy my stress-relieving food because I've been so full of the shit that's piled up on a supposedly good rest day.
I woke up to the sound of two people arguing. I checked my watch and it was 9AM. It was my sister and my dad.
We live in a small, square house. Well, not really that small. It has 4 bedrooms, a kitchen and a cozy living room, warmly lit by the light emanating from the window. Each bedroom has its own bathroom. The house wasn't at all spacious, but it's good enough for a family of 5, and for a group of friends to come and just chill.
My room was just beside my elder sister's at the far end of the hall on the left side of the house, and the reason why I awoke with irritation at the sound of two people debating on something I have no idea about is because my father must have followed her to her room while they were already arguing somewhere that was not near my room.
I went out to grab some breakfast about an hour later and my sister stormed out of hers and began yelling at me.
"I lost my earring!"
"Um, good morning to you too?"
"Stop playing! Hand me back my earring!"
I looked at her clutching the ear that didn't have the earring pierced in it and my eyes shifted to her glaring ones. "Why are you asking me? I don't even wear earrings."
She scoffed. "Drop the act! I caught you snooping around my room the other day. You probably took it to annoy me, well it's working now! Just hand it back!"
Her face was turning red and I couldn't help but breathe a laugh at this ridiculous accusation. "Excuse me? You took my shirt and I happened to find it in your closet when I thought I'd lost it. But you don't hear me yelling at people on a Sunday morning, now do you?"
"If you'll just give it to me we wouldn't be arguing this long!" She shrieked.
I avoided her eyes for a second and gazed down at her neck. I scoffed. "How unbelievable you are, sissy." I shook my head and smirked.
With that last sentence, I walked cooly past her on my way to the kitchen.
"Where the hell do you think you're going?!" She screamed from behind me, but not following me.
"Off to get some breakfast!" I responded after, my back still facing her.
"Get me back my earring, you bitch!"
I gritted my teeth but smiled to myself. "Try checking your tangled necklace, you twat!"
With the sweet silence that followed and a loud 'bang!' of the door, I entered the kitchen as I was humming a random tune to ease the tension awhile back. I grabbed some ham, a slice of cheese, pulled a bottle of ketchup from the cupboards, took some bread and a plate and made myself a sandwich for breakfast.
I also made a steaming mug of coffee for myself, sat on one of the chairs by the dining table, and munched on.
At that time I received a message from Natalia, my girlfriend, telling me to meet her at an Italian restaurant some time today to have lunch and watch a movie.
I wasn't planning on doing anything for the rest of the day so of course, I penciled her in.
Sipping the last drop of my coffee and drinking some water, I stood up with half of my sandwich in hand and made my way outside to the front porch where my dad sat, his coffee mug, far from empty and has probably gone cold, remained still and untouched on the small round table beside him.
Fights with my sibling are something I'm quite used to, but what was about to happen changed the whole game.
I've been the closest to my dad. Ever since my mom left us, I always make the effort in keeping my dad happy because I myself feel his pain and what mattered to me most was his happiness, after all. I was only 9 years old at that time, my sister 13.
Usually, I do everything with my dad: grocery shopping, laundry, car washing, general house cleaning, and we even shoot hoops during the weekends. My sister helps with the chores too, but never like how dad and I do them. Especially with the basketball part. She's rather not fond of it.
I suppose it's safe to say I am my father's favorite, and my mother favored my sister more.
So I settled myself on the other side of the table parallel to my father, and placed my half-eaten sandwich on the wooden surface after taking a bite.
"Whash up, popsh?" I muttered in between a mouthful of ham, cheese, and ketchup sandwich, noticing how weary he looked.
He looked at me and smiled, but the way it seemed to be forced worried me, and I swallowed what I was eating. Hard. "Just trying to decide whether I should mow the lawn or take you out to the theme park." He shrugged.
I chuckled, in hopes that I could ease the tension he's feeling, and because I appreciated the thought of a theme park date with my dad. "Why mow the lawn when we can ride the roller coaster, eh?" I punched his arm lightly in a playful manner.
He beamed at me and immediately stood up. "Come on then!"
The smile on my face vanished as I recalled a scheduled date I have with Natalia.
"Oh, I'm going out today." My voice faded and the way his glee was washed away so abruptly at my words made my heart sink. "We can go after, though! I don't plan to stay long anyway."
My suggestion had no effect whatsoever.
He sat back down, sighed, and took his coffee mug. After taking a sip, he said, "oh no, it's fine! I'm good. I was just hoping." He took another sip. He wasn't fine.
My mind was in panic mode. "Well, how about tomorrow?"
"You have classes." He simply stated.
I bit my lip and crunched my face. "Next weekend, will do. I'll leave the days free for us so it would be fun!" I tried to smile.
The way my dad's eyes drooped and how the corners of his lips sagged, I knew I wasn't getting anywhere close to a smirk. "No, I have a business trip next weekend. It would have to be some other time if you really want to."
That hurt.
He took a last swig, stood up and went inside.
Seemed like the coffee wasn't the only thing that's gone cold today.
A little trivia here: my dad knows about me and Natalia, and of course the other girls I've dated. He's completely okay with it unlike my mother was. That's why she preferred my sister more, but Felicity was not a follower of my mom. No, she accepted me nonetheless.
So ever since I started dating, I barely made time for my dad anymore and he was my bestest friend in the whole wide world and I felt like the biggest asshole right there and then because I couldn't find precious time to spend with my father and even with Felicity just because I wasn't single.
Losing the appetite to finish the rest of my sandwich, I went to the garage, unparked my car and drove away.
Seeing my dad being upset with me was worse than the fights Felicity and I have.
I took my phone from my pocket and dialed Natalia's number.
"Hi baby!"
"Hey, where are you?" I tried to sound cheerful.
"I'm at my apartment. Will you pick me up?"
"Yeah, I'm on my way."
"Okay, I'm just fixing up. I'll be down in a bit."
"Okay."
"I love you." She said with glee and I said I loved her too. The usual.
The drive to her apartment went fairly well despite the fact I almost crashed into an SUV because my thoughts were taking me away from the steering wheel.
I gave my sincere apologies to the middle-aged man behind the steering wheel and drew out a deep sigh before continuing on my trip.
My car finally skidded onto the driveway of the apartment and there she stood on the entrance, smiling at me with that beautiful smile, and I believed this day would turn out all right.
At least I thought so.
We had a good lunch at this Italian restaurant she suggested. After the short conversation about how good our day started, which was of course a complete lie on my account, we headed off to the cinemas and watched X-Men: Apocalypse.
Totally rad movie by the way.
When the movie finished, we walked hand-in-hand to the parking lot.
"Where are we going?" She asked enthusiastically, mounting her chin on my shoulder, her eyes staring up at me.
Looking at her with a tired but satisfied expression, I told her, "let's just chill in your apartment."
She smiled at me knowingly and I kissed her forehead.
The drive back to her apartment felt depressing. I was only thinking about my father and the way he looked at me as the terrible feeling inside my gut began to bother me, and the feeling that reflected on my face was conspicuous to Natalia.
She lay a hand on my jean-cladded knee. "You all right?" She sounded worried.
I took one of my hands off the steering wheel and grasped the hand that was on my knee. "I am, baby. I am." I gave her hand a squeeze and kissed it tenderly.
It took a few minutes before we arrived at her place, and by the time we closed the door she pulled me in. Her kiss was soft.
"I'll just take a shower." She beamed at me and turned.
I couldn't help but gape at her from behind.
I took off my jacket, placed it on the coat rack, and went to the kitchen to get something to drink.
Good for my girl to keep a stash of rootbeer in there for me to indulge on every time I visit.
I took a can and returned to the living room where I sat on the sofa and switched on the TV to some random cartoons.
Cartoons nowadays would never be the same compared to the cartoons during the 90s.
After the first show has been finished, I found a beautiful blonde lady blocking my view of the TV during a commercial and her legs parked on either side of me, her weight on my thighs.
She was wearing a large shirt that reached mid-thigh, and I felt the smooth skin of her legs as I unconsciously slid my fingers towards them as a reflex. I felt my face heat up as I glanced up at her.
Her hair was damp from the shower, her eyes gleaming a bright emerald green, and her lips curled into an alluring smile.
Her long tanned fingers slid behind my neck and up the roots of my hair, and she leaned in.
I breathed her in, and she smelled like vanilla. She was as enticing as a whole blueberry cheesecake with extra blueberries.
We were like that for several minutes; just feeling each other, savoring the sweet act of affection, pulling each other close, and in those moments she made me forget about the worries I had a while ago.
But of course, these thoughts were uncontrollable. They just suddenly stormed in like the bad guys in a homicide scenario. I couldn't do this with my girl in this state. It was bothersome.
I pulled away with my hands at her waist, twisted my body, which made her flop on the soft cushions beside me, and I stood up, breathing heavily and shaking my head.
"I'm sorry, baby. I'm just not in the mood right now." One of my hands reached onto my forehead while the other rested on my back.
She looked at me furiously. "You're not in the mood?"
"Yeah, didn't you hear me?"
Her scrutinizing gaze made me realize how harsh that sounded.
I sighed, kneeled down in front of her and took her hands in mine. "I'm sorry, Nati. Baby. I just have a lot on my mind right now, is all."
Her features softened and she leaned in a bit closer, brushing the hair away from my face and clipped them behind my ears. "What's wrong?"
I bit my lip and my stomach began to feel strange. "I was thinking..."
Funny how, as I said that, I was still thinking of how I could divulge the news to her. Knowing Natalia and having been dating her for a year and 2 months, she wouldn't take this lightly.
She was still staring at me, waiting.
"Maybe we should cool off the dates for a while, you know what I mean?"
That was it.
She pushed my hands away, stood up, and positioned herself on the other side of the sofa.
"So it's her?" She growled.
"What?"
"It's Shannon again, huh? I knew you were always into her. I can see the way you guys enjoy each other's company!"
I was staring at her like she was a madman gone loose. "Are you insane?" I asked disbelievingly.
"Oh, now I'm insane?"
"Uhhh, yeah!" I said it with a duh! expression. "Shannon is my best friend, of course we enjoy each other's company!"
She scoffed. "I bet she's more than just a best friend to you! I just know it. The way you always text each other, hang out together like you're inseparable and all."
This was ridiculous. "Hold on a second, you haven't even given me a chance to explain!"
Her hands shot up in the air and suddenly dropped like missiles plummeting to earth. "I don't need an explanation to know."
I felt like banging my head on a brick wall. "It's not about Shannon!"
"Just leave!" She exasperatedly moved her hands up and down as if trying to push away smoke from coming near her.
"What's wrong with you?!" I screamed, wanting so much to tear my fucking hair out (credits to All Time Low for that line).
"Go then! If you care about her so much. Go!"
"Fine, I will!"
So after that useless argument that added to the pile of shit on my list for today, I finally found myself sitting on a bench by the riverside at the park under a bridge with my ice cream sundae in hand and my fries and apple pies beside me accompanied by a bottle of water, which I bought at a convenience store I passed by not too long ago.
The scenery before me was beautiful, and the sound of chirping birds and swishing leaves of the trees gave me serenity.
I decided to stay there for a few more hours so I could calm the storm in my head before I finally go home, and hopefully, not having to face anyone.
Nobody shared the bench I was sitting on, which I was greatly thankful for. Being alone was what I needed right now, and thank God this moment at this place was given to me.
My name is Vina Morgan, and this is where my story begins.