Effeminate Within

Chapter Twenty-four

Chapter 24

THE ENTIRE CLUSTER was glad to have finished the project three days before the submission date. Now, everyone was waiting with crossed finger for the awarding of the winning cluster which was two days away from now.

I got home right immediately after the exam, excited to get to bed for a sleep but my phone rang right before my foot touches the room, so I quickly got back to sit on the couch at our living room.

"The whole things feel like disaster. With the project and the final examination, I don't know what to do in life now." I lamented as I talked to mom on the phone when she asked me how the exam today went.

"Tomorrow is the last day of exam, Dominic. It just needs a little push. Imagine you've already finished a year!" She shrieked which partly annoyed me but I liked her anticipation that I chuckled. "And, Greg... He's graduating this year, right?"

"Not yet. He missed three courses so he still has to take it for another semester." The thought that Greg was graduating and eventually leaving gave a faint but itching pain somewhere in my chest.

"And a semester comes in a flash. The next thing you know, Greg is on the stage wearing his graduation robe. And then it's you after another 2 years. Shouldn't you be happy for that?"

"Mom, two years is 730 days. You're way too excited." I sighed.

"Ok, I don't know how to inspire you." Mom remained silent at the other line, seemed to be thinking. "Just think that when Greg lands on a job and earns good money, then he can bring you to classy dates. That's, I guess, something to look forward to."

"Or he can find a beautiful co-worker and realize that what he really wants in life is a real family—a wife and kids." I was aghast and unaware how my mind built up that event and how it came out from my mouth. Why would Greg even do that at the first place? I thought my trust to him wasn't fully back.

"You are horrified Dominic." Mom's voice was a reminder, telling me how I'd always been terrified. "But let me tell you this; we have no assurance of everything. We can't control what will happen around us. We only have ourselves. Greg is a good guy, I see it and I know it when I visited you there last day. I see how he takes care of you and how happy you are together. And by that, I don't think there's really something that must frighten you every time. Lay your trust to Greg. Faith must come along with love. Don't you see? I entrusted you to him and look at you. You look healthier and better, to be honest."

I smiled to myself, imagining how I'd turned paranoid. "I think you're right, Mom. Thank you."

"Always, sweetie. Just call me when things go wrong because as your mother, I must be the first one to know of what's going on your life. Tell Greg my regards. Bye."

When Mom hung the call, I hurried inside the room to check myself in the mirror. How did she know I looked healthier? Uh, maybe because I looked a little chubbier now. Why wouldn't I be when I barely left food for Greg? We bought groceries weekly and I seemed to be the one who consumed it all.

I turned to Greg who was sleeping on his stomach, shirtless. Surely he was trying to escape headache which I also had a while ago during exam. I crawled beside him carefully, not wanting to disturb him from his dream. He looked cute even when he was sleeping. His arm was over the comforter and I tried to remove it slowly and tuck half of my body under the comforter. Luckily his sleep was deep that it didn't bother him when I lifted his arm and placed it over me. I wrapped his hand in my both hands and kissed it.