________________________
~•~•~ Mean's POV ~•~•~
________________________
I can feel it happening again, this heavy feeling... There were days that I can't handle what I feel inside and tonight is one of them.
I grab my meds at the medicine cabinet and when I was about to return to the couch, the invitation inside the opened box caught my attention.
It's for tonight... I can get drunk for free...
and maybe it might help me sleep without using these pills.
My roommate was right, this was a high-class party. The venue was at the most popular sky bar herein Bangkok and the crowd was consist of rich university students and celebrity models.
I went straight to the open bar and started doing what I came here for. There were a few familiar faces but I didn't mingle with them, I'm here to get drunk not socialize.
After a few hours of drinking alone by the bar, I went towards the glass railing and just stared at nowhere.
Why am I not getting drunk?
I sighed
I was staring at some far away building when I started to feel it again.
I feel tired and empty...
Bright lights, loud party music, people laughing and talking but I suddenly stopped hearing all of it.
Suddenly it was silent and dark. It was too silent that my ear hurts... then my chest... it feels heavy and painful.
It hurts! Make it stop!
Then I heard a voice... pulling me out of my dark dazed.
"Hey, Excuse me..."
I turned to the direction of the voice.
I saw him smiling brightly at me.
"Smile!" He shouted lifting his phone in front of me.
I stared at him wondering what exactly is he doing?
"Let's try this again, I'll take your picture... I need you to smile for me." He said
Why are you taking my picture? Why should I smile for you?
"Hi, I'm Saint!" He said stretching his arms to me for a handshake
I stared at his hand and bit by bit it was noisy and bright again.
I ignore his hand.
Soon I felt him tapping my shoulder
"Hey! What's your name?" He asked
The emptiness that a felt a few minutes ago was replaced by annoyance.
Can't you see I'm ignoring you? Leave me alone!
"Hey! Do you want to hear something funny?" He asked close to my ear
His warm breath at my ear made every hair at the back of my neck rose. I stepped back and glared at him.
"Dude, chill! You're so gloomy. Why don't you try smiling?" He said
I got no reason to smile. Just leave me alone!
***
________________________
~•~•~ Saint's POV ~•~•~
________________________
I slammed one of my pillows to my face then screamed.
I hate this!
That dream is now appearing almost every night. P' Jo said it could be a memory or something I wish/fear to happen.
It's just hurting my head more just thinking about it. I checked my phone and it was only 2 am. I suddenly felt hungry so I went to the kitchen to cook some ramen. On the way to the kitchen, I saw Peak who just returned. We live in the same house but rarely see each other since we are always out, last time I saw Peak was two weeks ago at his party.
"Peak, you want ramen? I'm gonna cook some." I said
He nods
"Let me change first." He said
When Peak arrived at the kitchen I was done cooking already and putting instant ramen into bowls.
Peak started eating as soon as I handed him the bowl.
"By the way, do you know this person?" I asked showing the picture on my phone.
He nods while slurping the noddles
"That's Mean. He helped me in one of my projects last semester. Why are you asking about him? And why do you have a pic of him on your phone?" Peak said in an intriguing tone
"It's a long story. What do you know about him? I need info." I said
"All I know is that he's a Journalism major on TU. He was just introduced to me by my ex-boyfriend I don't personally know him." Peak said
He's from TU! Same as Tonam... I knew something was fishy. I was scammed by Tonam!
***
The next day after my afternoon class I went straight to Tonam's University. We're meeting at a cafe near his faculty building. He's gonna get an earful from me and I plan on getting my Ducati back.
I entered the cafe and I saw Tonam holding a cup of coffee walking towards a vacant table. He smiled and waves his hand as soon as he saw me.
"You!!!" I said as soon as I sat in front of him.
His smile disappeared and raised one of his brows. "What??" He said sounding confused
"Give me my Ducati back. Scammer!" I said
Tonam laugh
"What? You lost the dare. Why would I return it to you?" Tonam said
"You cheated! I already knew you conspired with that weird guy." I said complaining
"We don't know each other I swear." Tonam said raising both of his hands
Tonam's a good actor that he almost convinced me that he was telling the truth.
"I don't believe you." I said
"I swear... I saw him for the first time at the party. I just noticed a couple of times that girls would approach him at the party and he would totally ignore them and the whole time he was there he never smiled not even once... not even at Peak." Tonam explained
"You're really good at making up stories. You want me to believe that you're watching him the entire time we're at the party?"
"What? I was bored! He looks familiar, I was thinking where I saw him before." Tonam said defending himself.
"Fine!" I said standing.
I saw Toman smirk before I turned around and walked to the cafe's counter.
As I got nearer and the line becomes shorter that's went I notice him. A familiar face behind the cash register. He still has that blank expression on his face.
I turned to look at Tonam but he was busy with his phone.
Asshole Tonam! He lied to me again!
Finally, it's my turn to place an order. I stared at his eyes and smiled
"Hi!" I said
"What's your order?" He asked in an annoyed tone
"I'm Saint! Do you remember me?" I asked smiling
He furrowed his eyebrows.
"What's your order?"
"Your Mean right? Do you know the guy there at the corner table?" I asked pointing at Tonam.
He ignored me and tilted his head looking at the person behind me.
"What's your order?" He asked the girl
I felt irritated.
"Fine! Give me double shots of espresso." I said
"150."
I sighed and handed him the money.
This dude is a tough nut to crack! I wonder how much Tonam paid him?
I walked back to our table and as soon as I arrived I hit Tonam at the back of his head.
"Awww!!! What was that for?" Tonam screamed in pain
"How long do you plan on lying?" I asked then pointed to Mean at the counter
Tonam smiled while rubbing the back of his head. "I never saw him working here before! Today is also the first time I found out that he's from this uni." Tonam said trying to explain again.
"I won't fall for your lies again!" I said
"Come on... When did I ever lie to you?"
I raised one of my eyebrows
"Ok... Maybe a lied a couple of times already but this time I'm telling you the truth. I really don't know him!" Tonam said in a convincing tone.
I stared at Tonam and then Mean... he still has that blank expression.
I feel frustrated...
"I want to continue this dare! Keep the Ducati, I want something else if I win!" I said
Tonam laugh
"You're crazy! Let's stop this. It's boring. I'll return your Ducati so stop sulking." Tonam said
"You started this! I'm not stopping until I saw that weird guy smiled at me." I said
Tonam laughs and shakes his head.
***
I tried to visit the cafe almost every afternoon. I don't bother him though, I just sit and observed him. The only time that I talked to him was when I placed an order.
There were also days that I don't show myself to him. I just watched him from outside the cafe. I was curious to know if he was just acting when I was around but I got the same result. I never saw him smile, he got only two kinds of facial expressions... a blank stare and an annoyed one.
Looks like Tonam wasn't lying after all. I wonder what's wrong with him?
It's been two weeks already and I've decided to talk to him today. I'm really curious about him now and my curiosity is sometimes giving me sleepless nights.
I was waiting for Mean to finished his shift when Tonam arrives. He sat in front of me with an annoying smirk on his face.
"I knew I'd find you here." He said grabbing my coffee and taking a sip.
"I told you I'm serious about this." I said
Tonam rolled his eyes
"Stop this, it's not even fun. Let just do a new one?" Tonam said trying to convince me
"I told you I set my mind into this so I'm not stopping until I get the result that I want."
Tonam sighed
"Crazy! It's a waste of time! Just don't forget that we're still going to Melbourne this weekend, It was hard for me to get us a slot to join that Paragliding group." Tonam said
I nodded
"Yah, don't worry. I won't forget." I said
After reminding me about our trip, Tonam left. I went to look at the cafe's counter and Mean was nowhere in sight.
Damn Tonam got me distracted. Did he leave already?
I immediately stood and went to look for him outside the cafe.
________________________
~•~•~ Mean's POV ~•~•~
________________________
That weird guy is here again, is he some kind of a stalker? He's always staring at me. What's his problem?
I got in trouble again with the manager, he said it's my final warning. It seems I got alot of complaints from customers.
I sighed
Annoying!
"If I get another complaint from a customer that you're rude, I will fire you." He said
I gave him a slight nod
I suddenly got worried...
I need this job.
After getting an earful from my manager, I gathered my things and left the cafe. It was late already and I was feeling tired and hungry. I was walking towards the corner road where the shuttle service usually pass when I heard someone shouting.
I turned around and I saw him from a far. The weird guy is waving his hand while running and shouting at me.
Why does this guy trying to bother me?
I ignored him and continued walking.
"Mean stop, wait for me!" I heard him shout
Instead of stopping I walked faster.
"Slow down please..." I heard him say
Slow down please... Slow down please...
Slow down please... Slow down please...
It kept on ringing inside my head...
The next thing I know... I was inside a car driving. "Slow down please..." I heard P Zee's voice
I felt his hand grabbing my arm then I turn to look at him staring at me with a worried expression on his face.
My eyes started to shake...
I felt a great amount of guilt.
"P' Zee... I'm sorry..." I felt my tears falling
Suddenly it went dark and I was in a lot of pain. I can feel someone's arms on my shoulder and shaking me.
"Mean! Mean! Mean!" I can barely recognized the voice calling my name
P' Zee???
I slowly opened my eyes and it was blurry...
I saw a person holding me... I was lying on the ground and he was kneeling beside me.
I must have thought he was P' Zee because I immediately wrapped my arms around him.
"I'm so sorry..." I said as I cried hugging him tightly
"It's ok..." He whispered hugging me back
~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~
Thank you for reading.
Don't forget to vote and comment if
you enjoyed this chapter.