Saturday morning. It's almost seven in the morning and I wonder why the house is lost in silence. I searched the fridge for something to drink when I found a few pizza slices and a Tupperware of baked macaroni. Looks like the guys had a takeaway last night. I took a bite when Lattrel walked past me.
"We spared you portions of the food that Ms. Zarene brought last night." Lattrel informs me.
"She was here last night?" I asked feeling a little surprised.
"Yeah, she was. We even played truth or dare and --- how come you didn't know that she was here? She was even dared to go and fetch you from the bedroom." Lattrel protests.
"Ah, yeah, yeah. I remember. I'm just a little sleepy, that's why I forgot about it." Beads of sweats are already forming on my forehead.
"Shit! Shit! If she was here last night, she must've heard me moaning in pleasure." I hit my head in my stupidity. I'm fucked up. I feel the need to apologise to her and dialed her number. One, two, three up to seven rings but she hasn't picked up the call yet.
Is she mad? Is she disgusted? My chance of having her is now totally ruined.
"Please, let me expl---."
"You're being stupid again, Henry!"
"It's you, Jess!"
"Yeah, none other than the beautiful Jess! We just got off Euston and heading to the hotel near your place. I'll call you again once we're already there. I miss you my baby brother."
"Don't call me that. I'm a man now!"
"Courting a twenty-six year old woman doesn't make you a man, baby brother." I could imagine how she rolled her eyes in disagreement.
I ate the remaining slices of pizza and headed to the shower. I need to wash away the traces of the coition. I'm even disgusted with myself. I hate myself for succumbing to Isabel's enticement. Orgasming to thoughts of Ms. Zarene would never exculpate me from my sin. She's an untainted offer to the Highest.
Rings from my phone withdrew me from my thoughts. I picked it up to a call from Jess asking me to meet them at The Atlantic Hotel located across the Casa Filipinas Restaurant.
I saw my older sister running to hug me with our mum and stepdad behind her. I squeezed her tiny frame into embrace. It's been six months since I was with her and I terribly missed her. She withdrew herself from the embrace and her eyes started to wander around the lobby.
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
"Where is she?" Her brows knitted in curiosity.
"It's sad that she can't be here today. She's got things to settle." I answered with sadness in my voice.
"Alas, I brought her strawberry pies because you mentioned that she loves strawberries." My mum releases her frustration.
"Then I guess, I'll just have the pies." I smirked.
"These are for her, you can't have them." My mum protests.
"I'm just kidding. She'll whack my head if she learned I've eaten her pies."
I spent the entire morning with my family, catching up with each other. I feel motivated and overwhelmed by the support I'm getting from them.
My stepdad and mum left for the London Eye while I ate lunch with Jessica. I took this chance to have an intimate conversation with my sister. I'm going to explode if I don't take this chance.
Before I could say anything, tears are already flowing in my eyes. I could no longer suppress my emotions and just broke down in front of my sister.
"I'll never have her!" I blurted out in between my sobs.
"She's entering the convent once the competition is over. I've never loved someone like this before and I'm hurting because I will never have her."
"Foolish boy!" She hit my head sharply.
"That's it? You're breaking because she's entering the convent? She's entering the convent but she isn't vested yet. You still have a chance!"
"A chance? I told her, I love her but she already turned me down for several times now!" I nullified her statement.
"Words are not enough. Court her properly. Take her to romantic places, give her flowers, make her feel like a princess."
"And do you think I haven't done any of those? I took her to the park, bought her flowers and candy floss and wrote her a couple of songs."
"No wonder why Ms. Zarene turned you down. You're such a boring lover. That doesn't stop there. You can't win her heart if you stick on that game plan. Think of simple yet effective ways."
"I really want to express my feelings to her but I'm having second thoughts because I feel like stealing her from the church."
"She's not a nun yet, so you're not stealing anyone. Fight for your chance while you still have the time."
Those words from my sister are still echoing in my head. While I still have the time.
"Are you going to cry again, cry baby!" Ms. Laurie snatching me from my deep thoughts.
"Cry baby? No, no, never. I'll never gonna cry again in this studio!" I sarcastically responded.
"Ms. Zarene is right. You're a little cute when you are slightly annoyed."
"Did she really think I'm cute?" My eyes grew wide, excitement in my voice.
"Yeah. She said that. She said that you're at your cutest state when you cry. She almost wears out the tape where you cried due to nerves. But don't get her wrong. It's not like she's going to date you."
"I'm gutted that she can't be here tonight. Her presence would somehow relieve the tension."
Three more hours and the first live show began. I was pacing back and forth in this tiny dressing room, trying not to be taken over by the amount of pressure that is slowly invading my system.
"I'm actually waiting for you to cry again." A very familiar voice echoed from the door. And there she was, clad in a little red lacy dress and white Converse standing by the door frame. I ran to her direction and locked her in my tight embrace resting my head down to her shoulder finally finding my serenity.
