âTeresa! Come out! NOW!â He yells.
âNo! Youâll shout at me.â
âOf course I will. You told me wouldnât meet him and you went to have dinner with him? And top of that, you even lied to me!â He shouts.
âI lied because I knew youâd freak out... And you told me to stay away from him because he wants to use me against you but he clearly told me itâs not that and he genuinely....â I trail off remembering his confession. What the hell? I need to reject him properly, but before that Iâve got a demon outside for me to face.
âHe genuinely what Teresa?â He asks in a threatening tone.
âHe is just investing on my dadâs company.â
âGet out NOW! OR Iâll break this damn door!â He bangs on. I need to do something before he actually breaks it.
âOkay but first promise me you wonât lecture me.â I shout.
âWhat?â
âYes!â
âOkay fine, get out now.â I hear him sigh.
âYouâll not shout at me?â I try to confirm.
âI wonât.â
âOkay, then let me have a bath first, then Iâll come out.â
âYou!â
Last night I just stood under the shower and I still smell a little so I need to have a nice and warm bath. Hehe, itâs almost like before, me taking the bathroom first and he banging on the door. I grin. After rinsing my self clean I look around, OH Damn! My clothes?! I slowly peak outside popping my head out of the door and see the devil smirking at me with bag of clothes on his right hand.Now I know why he stopped banging the door.
âRyouma please can you pass me my clothes?â I flash my teeth at him.
âNo. Take it yourself.â He smirks.
âYou know I canât.â
âThen thatâs your problem not mine.â
âplease.â I plead.
âOh donât give me that look sweetheart. Itâs not going to work.â He narrows his eyes at me.
âIt wonât?â He shakes his head. âFine, what do I have to do?â I sigh.
âI wasnât going to shout at you if you quietly came out when I asked you to but now Iâve got few hours to lecture you.â He glares at me.
âNo, you promised...â
âYou want your clothes or not?â He threatens.
âArgh! Fine, fine Iâll let you lecture me to your heartâs content. Now please?â I extend by hand out.
âHurry up, the more you delay more Iâll lecture you.â He says as he places the bag on my hand.
I quickly take the bag and start to dress.
âIâll count to ten.â I hear him through the door.
â1...2....4.......6â
âHey thatâs cheating whereâs 3 and 5?â I shout to complain.
âYouâre getting yourself delayed Teresa, 7....â He continues to count turning deaf to my complaints.
âArgh!â I hurriedly put on the pant and the shirt and spring out of the door. âIâm out, Iâm out.â I shout.
âGood, now....â He glares at me and walks to me as a tiger walks to a goat or deer or whatever itâs prey is. I gulp as he takes every step closer to me. Iâm an idiot! I close my eyes preparing for the long lectures.
*****
I slowly peak at his face as he drives the car. He literally lectured more like shouted at me for hours. Mental note: Never provoke/test his jealousy. God!
âAre you still mad at me?â I ask.
He glares at me.
âWrong question, of course you are.â I look at the road and sigh.
âIâm sorry.â I turn to him and look at him with puppy dogâs eyes.
He halts the car with a jerk as we reach home.
âGet out.â He says coldly.
âIâm saying Iâm sorry.â
âGet the hell out of my car Teresa. Do not make me repeat.â He glares at me gritting his teeth.
âYouâre really going to break your teeth and by the way what are you getting so angry at?â I snap at him.
âI think Iâve lectured you enough on that! You got drunk with a guy and not just any other guy but the guy I hate the most. Now get the hell out.â He shouts.
I get out off the car, âIâm sorry.â I mutter placing my hands on the window but he glares at me and draws the glass up. âOuch.â I immediately pull my hands back and he drives off. déjà vu . I sigh and turn back to go inside my house where Iâm greeted by my best friend crossing her arms and giving me whatâs-going-on-explain look. I run to her and squeeze her into a hug.
âWhy wasnât I informed about that guy being her? and what the hell were you doing with him?â Rina paced back and forth across the room while I was on my knees holding my ears.
âIâm sorry Rina.â I look at her making puppy dogâs eyes.
Rina narrowed her eyes at me.
âArgh! Iâve alreagy been lectured by mr. monkey today so please spare me the torture.â I whine. âIâve already gotten him mad at me, so please best friend at least you listen me out.â
I narrated everything to her.
âArgh! Why am I so stupid? Everything was going so perfect. He was here, I was making him run after me, it felt so good but I messed up everything now heâs the one whoâs angry!â I whine rolling on my bed. âItâs all that Mr. Rivalâs fault, why is he always creating problems between us?â
âTeresa, you were the one who lied to Ryouma and went for a dinner with this Mr. Rival. Stop blaming others for your own mistakes.â Rina shakes her head.
âWait a minute Rina. Did you just take his side?â I blinked at her. âAre you okay with me meeting him?â
âIf he can make you go back to yourself, who am I to hate him when my best friend loves him?â She sighs sitting down on the bed.
âI love you.â I squeeze her into a hug.
âBut why is it always me? Why does everything back fires at me? Why canât things just go the way I want? Does this mean now I should be the one to go after Ryouma saying sorry? Why? It was supposed to be the other way around.â
I open the first drawer of my dressing table and take out a small hand mirror and walk to the window. âWhat the hell? Even the nature is on his side.â I pout looking at his roomâs window.
âWell Iâve still got torch.â I switch on my phoneâs flashlight and shine the reflection of the light on his window. âCome on, Mr. ex-husband!â I mutter.
âWhat do I do Rina? Heâs really mad at me.â I cry sitting on the bed.
âWow, you can literally go up with whining, blaming, smiling to crying in a minute huh?â Rina laughs at me.
My phone rings. I look at the screen and frown. âWhat the hell does he want? Youâre the last person I want to talk to right now.â I shout at the screen displaying Mr. Drewâs call.
âTeresa, calm down! Answer it, maybe heâs worried?â Rina shrugs.
Suddenly the door bell rings.
âThen you talk to him.â I throw the phone at her and run down the stairs and open the door.
âGet ready, you have 10 minutes.â Ryouma orders me pointing at his watch and enters the house.
âWerenât you angry?â I follow after.
âI donât have the luxury to get angry right now I only have a week. I canât afford to lose a single minute.â He narrows his eyes at me.
âThis is the first time Iâm happy about you being a businessman.â Values time and canât afford any loss. Thanks to that saves me the trouble to run after him saying sorry. âBut where are we going?â I ask.
âYou have a date with me today remember? Or did your Mr. Drew made you forget that too?â He mocks me.
âHeâs not mine okay? He is yours youâre the one whoâs obsessed with him. and of course Iâll get ready in 10 minutes.â I run upstairs.
âWear some comfortable clothes and shoes.â He shouts.
After 30 minutesâ drive, he stops the car and changes his shoes. I look at him and wonder what is he up to? He walks ahead and points at the hill.
âAre we going to hike?â I widen my eyes in shock and shout.
He nods and walks ahead.
âYeah, I should get used to it, your surprises are hell of shocks to me.â I roll my eyes and sigh but he is walking ahead leaving me behind.
âHey! Donât leave be behind!â I shout and run after him.
âNo need to get your revenge like this.â I pant reaching up to him, he fakes a smile at me and goes ahead leaving me behind again. Is he planning to kill me or what? âWait! You stupid ex-husband!â I run after him again.
Running, falling, panting I finally manage to reach the top, I look around but I canât find him anywhere, the sun is also about to set down. Where the hell is he? Heâs literally making me run after him! That jerk!
I finally see him at a distance, âOi, ex-husband!â² I shout and run to him.
âWould you stop with this ex-husband?!â He yells.
âBut thatâs what you are.â
âI have a name.â He glares at me.
âOkay, relax! No need to be angry young man. Ryouma. Happy?â I sigh and finally notice the surrounding. A bonfire is placed in the middle and two bean bags on itâs left and a barbecue at the right.
âOh!â I look at the arrangements and back at him. He finally gives me a big smile. Oh thank god! I didnât think I would see his smile anytime soon. I sigh with relief.
He holds my hand and makes me sit on one of the bean bags. I stare at him in awe. âI donât mind you staring at me but youâll miss the view.â He turns my head ahead as the sun slowly sank low behind the hills. My eyes smile at the beautiful scenery, sky reflected beautiful shades of red and orange then turning dark blue and finally darkness took over the sky. I am brought back to reality by the sound of the shutter. I immediately turn my head to the direction of the sound and find him holding a camera in his hands and clicking my pictures.
âWhat are you doing?â
âCapturing you.â He smiles at me.
We have our dinner in the moon light beside the fire. Come to think of it, when did he manage to arrange these stuff?
âWhy am I the only one having pictures clicked? This isnât fair, give me the camera.â I try to take it but he gets up âNo.â
âThatâs not fair.â I get up and try to take it from him but he holds the camera high. âMy camera.â
âMy pictures.â I narrow my eyes at him and jump to take it from his hands but he smoothly shifts the camera to his left hand and sticks his tongue out. âMr. ex-husband!â I glare at him. âNow youâre not giving this at all.â He glares back. âOkay, Ryouma please.â I try to sweet talk him.
âOh no youâre not.â He grins.
âYouâre enjoying this, arenât you?â I pout crossing my arms.
âOf course I love to bully you.â He clicks another picture of me, light flash on my face. âYou look like a monkey, look.â He teases me showing my picture. âFine, if youâre going to get your revenge on me like this Iâm going back. â I turn around to leave but he suddenly lifts me into his arms, I yelp and reflexively wrap my arms around his neck. âNo, youâre not.â
âPut me down.â I narrow my eyes at him. âNo.â
âBully!â I pout and pull my arms back and turn to the other side.
âAnd you look so cute when I bully you.â I hear him laugh, my anger melts in a second, but now Iâm angry at myself. He hits a stone, leading to be a little unsteady and I immediately wrap my arms back around his neck. âYou think Iâll let you fall?â He arches his eyebrows. âWho knows? Youâre a bully after all!â
âWell I guess I do love to annoy you and bully you.â He winks at me and drops me on the ground. âOuch!â It didnât really hurt because he dropped me on my bean bag but still he dropped me. âYou jerk! Youâre so dead!â I glare at him. âI was just kidding Teresa!â He runs into the forest. âYouâre dead today.â I shout and run after him.
âWhere the hell he ran off to?â I look around but I see nothing but trees. Thanks to the moon light itâs not that dark. I hear a rustle. âRyouma is that you?â I walk to the direction of the sound but thereâs no one. Now Iâm starting to get scared. This idiot! Why did I have to run after him into this wild forest?! I walk ahead but I freeze on the spot and gape at the view in front of me. Numerous fireflies over a small lake. The water reflecting the lights. WOW! I hear the camera shutter beside me. I turn my head to see Ryouma holding the camera with a wide grin. I canât help but smile at him. âYou could have just brought me here instead of making me run after you.â
âI wouldnât have got a perfect shot then.â He pouts. âYou liked it?â
âI loved it. Itâs amazing. How did you find this place?â
âMiss Teresa Scarlet, itâs my hometown too. Iâve lived here before and I came here when someone used to follow me around the whole day and used to annoy me as hell so much that I had to run from my own house, that was when I discovered this place.â
âYouâre trying to get me angry again?â I glare at him knowing that the certain someone was me. Come on, I didnât followed him around as much as he says.
âNo, I just wanted to make you smile. Just like these fireflies and the moon light,â He points at the moon and walks towards me, âyour smile lightens my world up.â He points at me. âAnd just like Iâve captured your smile on this camera I want to make you smile your whole life and cherish them forever in my heart.â He adds with a wide grin and holds out a flower to me.
âYou sure know how to talk.â I take the flower and smile at him. âWait, you as a kid came here? climbing up the hill? this late? Mom and dad let you?â
âWho said I climbed the hill?â He shrugs. âBut thatâs how we came here.â I blink at him in confusion. âCome now, letâs get you home, Rina has called me more than 10 times already.â He pulls me by my hand and walks ahead. âHey, thatâs the way we came from right? Why are we going opposite?â He doesnât answer me and just moves ahead. As soon as we come out of the forest I see the road and halt pulling back my hand from his. He looks back at me and smiles sheepishly.
âYou made me climb that hill when we could have just come here by the road?â I glare at him.
âI was angry and plus you would have see the lake if we came from here.â He shrugs.
âYou really are THE number one jerk, no youâre number one evil jerk.â I roll my eyes at him.
âI love to bully you.â He winks at me.
********************