Amori

Chapter 9: Intermission

"You wouldn't believe it either if you were there."

He muttered trying to keep himself contained, balancing his mouth between eating and talking. I haven't been to a nice restaurant in a while and I thought it was a nice change of scenery. After spending the whole day with those three kids, I don't know what to think anymore. Lies. Stories. Perspectives. It all made my head hurt trying to piece together different versions of their testimonies. There was an obviously great amount of people in the restaurant tonight but I can't seem to hear whatever they are chattering on about. Everything seems so quiet in my head. It was like watching the television on mute.

Snap.

"Are you okay?" my companion sitting across the table snapped his fingers right in front of me. He waved his hand as I tried to keep a steady gaze at him. "Oh, I'm sorry," was all I could reply.

"Is there something wrong?"

I shook my head frantically trying to dispel any worry he might have. "Nah, I'm fine."

"You've been like this since I picked you up hours ago, what's the matter?"

"Nothing, really. It's just… I had this recent case. And I don't know, I'm not sure of what just happened."

He looked at me with that discerning gaze and I knew I'd have to explain myself.

"I know we had this deal that we're not going to talk about work over dinner, but yeah, if you're looking like that, you might as well just tell me." He just knew what was on my mind. His eyebrows both raised as if they're telling me that I can start anytime soon. And with that, I prepped my chair slightly closer so I can talk at a volume lower.

"Okay, what if three kids came to your office one day, barged in very early, and told you that they're in a relationship?"

It took him a full minute to absorb what I just said. He even stopped his hand from putting the spoonful of corn and carrots in his mouth. "Like, a movie love triangle? He loves her she loves someone else?"

"No. Like a three-way sex scene. But a relationship."

His eyebrows met even closer and lines started crumpling his face, "You mean those polyamorous partners? What do you call that… there, open relationships?"

"No, no, like a real, legitimately closed one. Like a couple, but with three of them in it."

His mouth just formed the word "How?" without actually saying it. All I could do was give a big smile that finally he understood what I meant. "Exactly what's messing me up."

"So… is this like, what do you call it then? A threesome? And what are they like."

"If you're asking for their genders, yeah there are two boys and one girl."

His jaw was dropped for a few seconds until he put down his spoon and wiped his lips with the table napkin. "A sandwich?"

I couldn't help but let out a slight chuckle from what he just said. "Yeah, yeah, that's beside the point."

"So what do they want from you?"

"Apparently, they're having problems and they want it to be resolved"

"Please don't tell me, there's a… fourth party in this."

I only gave him a blank gaze as I bit the thin film of skin on my lower lip. "There's a lot more to the story."

Thinking back to their testimonies, I still couldn't figure out whether it was one big prank or something. Well, if it was, it was hell of a good one. They left just like how they came. In silence, I had no choice but to watch them stand up from my couch seemingly dissatisfied at how our sessions ended up. Maybe it's just me. Maybe what we did allowed them to understand more of each other's points. Or I might have made the situation worse. I still have to review all the tapes before we meet again tomorrow. I don't know but I feel like whatever happens to them is my responsibility. Hearing everything they had to say about each other just made me wish I was there to witness it all. It would have been easier if I was some hidden camera in their reality television program. One of them is lying. One of them is trying to protect the other. And one of them wants it all over. I can't pinpoint among them which applies to who. All I know is that they weren't…

"Hey"

Once more, he waved his hand at me to catch my attention. "I'm sorry, what?"

"I said 'don't think about it too much'. It's just people and their complicated web of emotions at full display."

"How? This is the weirdest shit I've had."

"I understand. But it's just another case."

"It's not just another case, we're talking about three kids here who say they're in love or something. They walk into my office filled with a baggage of stories they've kept to themselves for months. One minute they talk about how much they love each other; the next minute they're slandering each other's testimonies. I don't get it, man. How can they love each other like that? They start something like this and expect no trust issues to come in? It just doesn't make any sense to me. How can you equally love two people at the same time? How do you even have the guts to tell me that? It's not right. It shouldn't be. You can't have the same amount of love, affection, and desire for someone. And to find two more people to have agree with you. These kids are on some shit and I don't know if I'm more concerned or I wish to be a part of it because I have to and I feel responsible. What I know is that it's not right. It's not love they think they have."

I realized my voice was getting louder and people around us were already looking.

"Well… what do you know about love?" there was a hint of disappointment in his tone as he dropped his knife and fork on the plate. I couldn't answer his question. As I tried to fumble with words, he asked me, "Are you telling me that the 'right' kind of love is solely between a man and a woman, with a low age gap, coming from a similar race, faith, and political ideologies? That this perfect idea of a relationship is about not having too much arguments and loving the same things as each other. That they should go and make babies, preferably a boy and a girl and they can be one big happy suburban family."

"…I didn't say that."

"Then, what do you know about love?"

There was nothing I could say.