Touché (Complete)

Date Gone Wrong

When Flor was a child, she got trapped in this abandoned farmhouse in the province. It was the end of summer and most of her family had gone home.

She was very small. At the age of six, she was the smallest in her class. So, nobody noticed when she walked inside the large farmhouse.

She had been inside for two hours, calling out into the empty field. She thought nobody would come in and she'd be trapped there forever.

Then, that's when her knight in shining armor came in

Marcus.

He had heard her, instantly coming to her rescue, and kicked the door, impressive for his age. He didn't pull her out at once, he stayed with her until he calmed down.

Since then, she had always liked him. She wasn't the cutest boy she'd seen but he was charming. Something was soothing in the way he talked. Even at a young age, he evoked a sense of security. As if she was going to be safe when she's with him.

The two of them became friends with him for the week, and it became her happiest childhood memory.

It was inevitable that Flor would develop a romantic interest in him.

That time, however, felt like a quick one. Eventually, he had to leave her but he promised her that they would see each other again. She held on to that promise; he was the last guy she ever wanted to be with.

Romance soon became the last thing in Flor's mind. She saw how her stepfather had bitterly left her mother. Men were assholes, she thought. Maybe not all, but most of them at least.

Yet a little girl still lived somewhere in her. The little girl who still believed in the beauty of things, in the truth of love. Flor knew she needed to find some closure. Was she going to continue keeping that little girl or was it time to finally let her go?

Flor let her imagination go. She had never allowed herself to think so freely. Her thought had always been restrained, she was afraid that she'd get too carried away. In her mind, she painted a scene of how she's going to meet Marcus. He could still be the boy in the blue vest. With deep and thoughtful eyes.

The reality, however, was often more disappointing.

Marcus did come. But Flor almost didn't recognize him.

He had grown so much taller and he walked to her with a strange expression, like he couldn't care less.

Flor saw how Marcus changed. He wasn't the same humble, sensible she knew. He talked with a hint of arrogance, although Flor reasoned to herself that he did have every right to be proud of himself. He graduated with the highest honors from a premier university, something even she couldn't afford to do. Now, he was working as a manager in a big company even at such a young age.

"How about you? What have you been up to?" he asked.

"I'm a freelancer," she said.

"Ah. What do you offer?

"Graphics design."

Marcus frowned. "Didn't you say you wanted to be a doctor before?"

She just smiled. At least, Marcus remembered something about her. She told him that she tried to pursue it but she found a deeper passion for arts.

"Oh." Marcus gave out a phony smile, and his eyes looked cold. He returned to talking about himself, boasting about the new resthouse they had just bought near the beach. Flor wondered why he was buying so many houses and that's when he mentioned that it was for his family.

"Ah, I got lucky," he told her. "Although she's a bit too much sometimes. Loud. I needed this coffee break, you know. It's a good thing you remembered me."

Flor felt a pang in her heart. She felt a little stupid, blaming herself for not checking it earlier.

"Yeah. Does your wife know I'm here?"

"Of course not," he chuckled. "I told you she's a bit too much. She gets jealous easily. Toxic, I'd say."

Toxic?

It was a weird thing to say. Or maybe it was true, Flor told herself.

The two of them continued talking until the skies turned red. Marcus started showing more interest in her, asking her about her life.

"How's Uncle Steve?" he asked. It was Flor's stepfather back then. She hated him. She remembered the nights he would ask her strange questions, make sexual innuendos in front of her. He didn't touch her but he would always look at her with malice. And she was just a child. Just remembering it made Flor boil with anger.

She told Marcus the truth, that it was one of the reasons she left home when she was younger.

Marcus listened but Flor regretted it in an instant. She didn't know why she opened up to him. Marcus listened but didn't appear to understand.

He only stopped for a moment to look at her but didn't say anything more. She regretted even opening her mouth. She felt a little embarrassed as he continued to stare at her.

What was he thinking?

Things got a different turn when he loosened up and attempted to make a dirty joke, which kind of threw her off. Why would he say that?

He didn't seem to notice it, and Flor wondered if she was just overreacting. After all, she was never a social person.

The night came. Marcus started to invite Flor to a bar.

"Won't your wife mind?" she asked, feeling a little guilt.

"Why would she? We don't do anything," he said with a wink that said more.

She was about to follow him out of the café when a voice called out her name. It was Carl. He came to her, panicking about losing his hotel key.

"Who's he?" Marcus asked.

But Carl was in a panic and blurted out about his predicament of losing the hotel key.

"You two are staying in a hotel?"

Flor shook her head.

"That's not—"

But Marcus quickly jumped to the conclusion that Flor was sleeping around. He looked at her like he was judging her.

Marcus said the night was over and he left.

Flor tried to chase him but Carl held her. She got so mad at Carl and she didn't talk to him until they got back to the hotel.

She realized she wasn't mad at Carl. She was mad that all her fantasies were just that. Disappointing.