Dedicated to idkwhyamihear
***
New.
"Babe, I'm assigned for a pre-wedding shoot today. Can you come with me?"
I heaved a deep sigh as I remembered Namtan's message last night. I didn't even tell Tay about it because I was sure he'd tell me not to go see her.
But I wanted to.
Something was telling me to go.
"Babe? Babe?"
"Huh?" I was immediately pulled out of my thoughts when Tay shook my arm. We were on our way to work and as much as I wanted to concentrate on whatever he was telling me, I just couldn't.
"Were you saying something?"
"Are you okay? You're spacing out."
"Yeah, I'm fine. Just a bit of a headache," I lied.
"Do you want me to send you back so you can rest?"
"Nah, I'm just fine. You don't have to worry about me. What were you saying earlier?"
"Oh, I was thinking if you can come with me to the pre-wedding shoot but never mind. You just stay at the office so you can rest as well."
I just didn't say a thing and smiled at him.
One message received:
Please, New. I really need to talk to you but please don't tell Tay about this. I'll be waiting for you.
I heaved a deep sigh as I read her message. I didn't even know how she got my number but the fact that she didn't want me to tell Tay made me suspicious of what she wanted to happen.
Wasn't her conversation with Tay enough?
"Uh, babe."
"Huh?"
"Would you mind getting my bag from the backseat?"
"Oh, sure."
I quickly reached out for his bag from the backseat, stretching my arm as far as I could before successfully grabbing it.
It was then that I felt a kiss on my cheek.
"Huh?"
"You've been spacing a lot since this morning. Are you okay?"
He was looking at me softly and I could see he was worried about me. I didn't even intend to show it at all but it seemed that Namtan's message had been bothering me ever since and I didn't even know if I should tell him about it.
"You didn't even notice we're already here."
I immediately looked outside and discovered that we were in the parking lot already.
"I'm so sorry, babe. I, I'm just not feeling well."
"Come here. I'll give you a hug so you'd feel better."
I broke into a smile as he unbuckled both of our seatbelts and grabbed me into a tight hug.
"Should we just skip work? I wanna take care of you."
"Nah, I'll be fine. You don't have to worry about me. And besides, I don't have a lot to do today. I just have to go over the scheduling of the events we've received so far."
"Okay, but call me when you don't feel better, okay? Ugh, I really wanna cancel the shoot."
"Tss. Come on. I'll be fine. I swear. Okay?"
"Okay. But promise you'll call me."
"I promise."
"I love you.
"I love you more."
"I love you most."
"Tss. Come on, we're gonna be late," I immediately pushed him away and readied myself to go out of the car.
"Where's my kiss?"
I rolled my eyes as I looked at Tay who had his lips puckered.
"Tss. You greedy monster," I snorted before leaning closer for a quick kiss but he instantaneously grabbed my nape and went in for a longer, deeper kiss.
"Ugh. I just can't get enough of you. Can we just get married already today?"
"Tss. I want the most expensive ring first," I teased as I pinched his nose. "Come on. We need to go."
"Yes, my love."
***
"I'm coming with you."
I may have snapped my neck with the way I turned to look at Gun whose nostrils were flaring as he looked intently at me.
I needed someone to tell about Namtan's message and Gun was the only candidate.
"No. I'm going alone."
"No!" he retaliated as he slammed his palms on my table making me flinch on how affected he was compared to me.
"No! No! No! I'm not sending you to the battlefield on your own. You need backup and since Tay didn't know anything about this, I'll be the man on standby for you. What if she kidnaps you so she'll have Tay for herself? Or pour acid on your face so you'd get ugly? You shouldn't go alone. You need me!"
"Uh, you really should stop watching TV series, Gun."
"Ugh! What are the chances, right? You shouldn't trust her. I mean you already said that she did something that made Tay hate her. She's definitely capable of doing things. You shouldn't be too complacent. You can't trust her."
"Yeah, but I don't think she'll do anything to me."
"You think. You don't know what a person desperate in love can do, New. You don't know."
***
"Hey babe. Are you okay now? Do you want me to come and get you?"
"Just concentrate on your work there, babe. I'm fine. You don't have to worry about me."
"We're currently on lunch break. Where are you? Have you eaten already? Is Gun with you?"
I rolled my eyes in the air.
"Babe, just answer me. Stop rolling your eyes."
I stilled. How did he know?!
Don't tell me...
"I already know you too well. You're rolling your eyes at me."
Okay, that made me panic for a while.
"I've eaten already, babe. Just finish your work there so you can come home early, okay? I love you."
"I love you, my love."
"I'm gonna end the call now. Bye."
"Bye."
"Ugh. You sound so in love," Gun commented as he made puking sounds.
"As if you're not."
"Yeah, but we don't talk like that on the phone. We do the talking in bed," he giggled.
"What the hell would you talk in bed then huh? How Off solved his cases?"
"Tss. We talk dirty, New. Dirty talking! You know, like fill me up to the hilt with your dvxk and make me lose my mind, dadddy. Destroy me and spill all your juices insid—"
"Okay, stop! Goodness, I know you're lewd and all but keep them to yourself, okay! Ugh, you're making my skin crawl."
"Wow, you're such a virgin darling. But trust me, talk dirty to Tay in bed and you'll know what kind of beast he is."
"Let's, let's just get out of here and get this done!" I frustratingly replied and got out of the car leaving Gun who was starting to make lewd noises again.
"Oh, just shut up will you?!"
***
N
amtan was already waiting for me when I arrived at the coffee shop she texted me. I was fidgety and nervous inside given that I was meeting her without Tay's knowledge and approval but I figured I should put on a strong facade or I'd eventually be defeated.
Gun settled just two tables away and I could see him already cocking his brows at Namtan like he was telling her he was gonna go and fight her despite Namtan being unaware of the fighting stance he had put on ever since we got inside the coffee shop.
She hadn't seen me yet as she was scrolling through her phone so I decided to clear my throat to get her attention.
"Oh, hi, New. Take a seat!"
I tried to suppress the grimace that was slowly creeping on my face as I noted the lively tone of her voice and the huge smile on her face, a total opposite of what she had shown to Tay.
"I already ordered you iced coffee. Is it okay with you? I was thinking you wouldn't be able to handle anything hot so I got you that one."
If only my eyeballs could talk, they would have already reprimanded me for not rolling them over and over again as I observed Namtan's pretense.
Instead, a gave her the fakest smile I could muster.
"Oh, thanks for your concern. That's so kind of you."
"Okay, I won't beat around the bush. I don't like you."
I cocked a brow.
"Tay deserves someone way better than you. So I'm here to offer you a deal. Name your price. How much would it take for you to leave Tay?"
I tried to process everything. She couldn't be serious, right? After all, I've only seen this type of scene in movies but it's always the mother who strikes a deal, not a childhood friend!
I watched as Namtan slid a blank cheque in front of me before crossing her arms and leaning on her chair.
I let out a chuckle before doing the same thing as she did but with my legs crossed.
"Hmmm. I'm quite pricey. You know, for someone who already had sex with him, you gotta pay me extra charge."
I stifled a laugh as I watched her eyes widen and her face became red in rage.
"I don't believe you. Tay wouldn't have the guts to do so."
"Why don't you ask him?" I confidently replied. I knew it wasn't appropriate to flaunt my sex life but she was already getting on my nerves.
"Oh, but sweetie. We already did it even before you."
I stilled.
What does she mean?
She then scrolled through her phone before sliding it in front of me, showing me a picture of her in bed with a sleeping Tay, and to make things worse, they were obviously both naked inside the sheets. She even had her head leaning on Tay's chest while she captured what seemed to be an after sex selfie.
That picture was enough to make my mind go haywire. I could feel my hands trembling as I slowly lifted the phone and stared at the picture intently. Something inside me was telling me to stop looking at it, to tell Namtan that the photo didn't matter but the more I looked at it, the more I could feel my heart crumbling into thousand pieces. My chest constricted, disabling me to breathe properly as I could no longer find the words to throw back at her. The strong facade I put on earlier already faded as I admitted to myself that a huge part of me was defeated.
"That was when we were in the States. We would hang out every night and spend most of our times in each other's unit. And you know, things just happen when a man and a woman are alone in a room. Gosh, he was even so tired that time that he eventually fell asleep right after."
None of her words seemed audible to me as shock was still creeping into my system, slowly crippling me with the fact that Tay didn't even tell me about it. But should he?
Despite my foreboding breakdown, I swallowed the lump in my throat and slid the phone back to her.
"And then? You said it yourself. That was when you were in the States. It doesn't even matter," I fired back but in actuality, I was trying to make excuses for myself.
"Well, I tried to keep it to myself but I don't know what will happen if our families found out about this. They can be a bit sensitive about things like this and might end up marrying us so I'm just trying to give you a heads-up. You know, so it wouldn't hurt that much when Tay leaves you."
My fists clenched as the thought of Tay leaving crossed my mind. Just the thought of it was enough to send tears into my eyes and the more I think about it, the more I couldn't breathe, the more I couldn't think properly. I admit, I may not have fallen in love first but I'm too much in love with him right now that if he ever leaves me, I definitely wouldn't know what to do.
"Oh, I'm sorry. I sent you the photo by mistake! Well, you just try to save that one. You know so you'll have something to look at when you're bored," she cackled.
Ugh! That's it!
"Oh, really, never mind. I don't think I have the luxury of time to look at that because Tay and I would be busy doing something in bed. You know, something that you wouldn't be able to do now because FYI Tay is mine and there's no way he'd be coming back to you!" I retaliated because apparently I was so done with her that if she ever say another word, I might end up thrashing the entire place.
I internally smiled victoriously as I saw her flaring nostrils and aggressively got up from my seat.
"Oh, one more thing," I gasped before grabbing the iced coffee and for some reason, she winced as I glowered at her with the coffee in my hand.
"Oh, such a pity. The ice's all melted now. This wouldn't taste great already. Well, you ordered this so you pay for this," I sneered before putting the glass back on the table.
"I'll go ahead. I'm pretty sure Tay's looking for me," I said one last time before strutting my way out of the coffee shop completely forgetting Gun who was tailing closely behind me.
"What happened? What did she say? I couldn't hear some of you conversation!" Gun immediately interrogated the moment we got inside the car.
But I was already too weak to answer. The tears I'd been suppressing started making their way down my face, completely showing what I truly felt inside, a total contrast of what I just did before leaving Namtan.
"What happened? What did she do? Did she hurt you? Ugh! See? I should have sat with you earlier! This wouldn't have happened!" Gun nagged making me sob even harder as I smashed my head on the steering wheel.
"Holy sht! What the hell are you doing?! Come on. Say something! Don't just cry on me! You're scaring me!" he continued while shaking my arm aggressively.
"Okay fine, if you're not going to talk I'm gonna call Tay!"
"No! Don't you dare!"
"Ooops! I'm sorry but I already sent him a message of where we are earlier and he might be in... Well, here he comes."
And as if on cue, a car parked just beside us and out came Tay who had his phone over his ear.
Babe Tay calling...
"What the hell did you do, Gun???"
But he just shrugged at me before going out of the car and calling Tay.
"Ugh! To hell with it!" I groaned as I started the car and left them both flabbergasted and with Gun screaming about his car that I apparently just ran away with.
***
Hi! As you've noticed, I'm starting to dedicate chapters (though formats may vary as I use my phone most of the time).
This is my simple way of saying thank you to all of you. Though my dedications will be done randomly, it doesn't mean that I don't appreciate every single one of you. To be honest, your votes and comments are the reasons I strive hard to write. There were times that I wanted to put my stories on hold but reading your comments just made me realize that someone out there is reading my works and I couldn't be more thankful for the time you've dedicated to read them.
And don't worry. We're not even halfway there. This is gonna be a long bumpy ride. 😁
Till then! 💙💕
_ladycrookshanks