I Can, I Will, I Did // Vinnie Hacker

Chapter 7: Singletine's Day

A day of friendship turned to a week to two months as Sarah and Vinnie grew closer and more comfortable with each other. Sarah had also started to open up more to Vinnie but Vinnie was still unaware of Dylan and Tessa. Sarah had mentioned that she had been in relationships before and Vinnie wanted to know what happened to them but he never asked. It was, after all, Sarah's place to tell him about the relationships. He wondered if she still had a boyfriend but if she did, where was he?

Even Sarah's Instagram did not have pictures of her boyfriend and neither did her lock screen or home screen wallpaper. He just assumed Sarah wasn't the type to show off her boyfriend. He wondered if she had broken up with him because that seemed like a possibility but shut them down quickly thinking it may jinx the couple. He never asked and Sarah never talked about it.

There were still some secrets between them. Despite Vinnie's wise words over relationships, Sarah still could not move on. He had opened her eyes but it takes time for the heart to accept what the mind already has. As much as she wanted to escape the shit hole, her hopes that Dylan might call her back pulled her back. Dylan never called and Sarah kept waiting.

It was Valentine’s Day but as a doctor, Sarah was busy treating patients in the clinic. As evening fell, Sarah’s shift ended and she was ready to go home, take a warm shower, have dinner while watching her favourite anime. Yes, she was an adult already but anime had no age limit. “Not like I have anyone to go out with anymore,” she thought. She began to recollect memories of her and Dylan on Valentine’s Day the previous years.

Dylan would text her asking when she finishes shift and by the time she gets out of the clinic, he would be there waiting for her with blue lilies in his hands. She loved blue lilies. Then, they would walk hand in hand together on this very day. She shook her head slightly and told herself those moments mattered very little now, especially after what had happened a month ago, what atrocious action that Dylan had committed against her. As she slung her bag over her shoulder and left her workplace, she smiled to herself as she passed Vinnie’s place and saw the lights in his house were on.

“There is no way this boy would be single on this day, I mean he’s so-. Stop, what am I thinking?” Sarah thought to herself as she blushed slightly, brushing her bangs aside. As she waited for the signal, she began to look around to see if there were any couples nearby. There were a lot, some of them were gifting each other presents while others even proposed which a few passerby’s stopped to look at.

Sarah then noticed a tall well-built boy who looked about the same age as her with another girl who was about her height too. They seemed so lovey-dovey and Sarah cringed a little. They were cute but Sarah was not the PDA kind of person. As Sarah stared hard, her eyes widened in shock as her heart broke.

It was DYLAN and TESSA.

How could they? How could they be so happy? How were they living the best of their lives? Did they not feel any regret or remorse for any of the actions that they had committed? Was the guilt that Dylan showed all fake? All of a sudden she saw that Dylan had pushed Tessa into the back alley and if Sarah was right, they were kissing, passionately.

The phone call she had been waiting for all this time was never going to happen. Dylan and she were done for. Sarah forced herself to stay calm as the signal light turned green, she found her legs feeling like they had been tied to cement blocks, dead weight. She walked as she began wiping tears that trickled down her face. Dylan had moved on but Sarah moving on seemed rather impossible.

“Once a cheater, always a cheater. What did you expect Sarah, you dumbass,” Sarah cursed under her breath as she walked home.

Valentine’s Day. A day for single people to feel more single. She wanted to see Vinnie, talk to him, laugh with him. His smile had a certain kind of effect on her. Every time he smiled, she would smile back as if it were reflexes.