Life Without You

Chapter 3 - A Difficult Birthday

It was his birthday today.

His social media was flooded with well-wishers from all over the world. For the past few years, his birthdays were a lonely affair, and this year's was no different. Even his parents could not understand the oddity of this and despite his mother's insistence to come over and celebrate his birthday, he wanted to be left alone, not in the mood for any celebration of some sort, especially with the explosion of the details of the scandal going on about his life.

The doorbell rang. Who could it be, that even his bodyguards guarding at the door did not turn away? Leon went to answer it himself.

"Happy birthday!" cried Rita, Camila and Beth in unison. 

Leon popped open his eyes at the small chocolate cake. It was simple and cute with decorations of buttercream ribbons and strawberries, a cheer-up surprise despite the rough patch he was going through now. Even though he initially wanted to be left alone, he could not bear to turn them away. He had grown attached to them for some time now, even though he could be unresponsive to their text messages at times.

Leon was close to the brink of tears but withheld it well before them. It reminded him of the first and last time Ariel surprised him with her home-baked cake. The store-bought chocolate cake was nothing like her cake, but it still looked appetising. Instead of Ariel celebrating his birthday, it was her friends - down-to-earth, united and caring, and they too were feeling the pain with him of losing her.

They went to the open kitchen where they sang a birthday song for him as he stood before the small cake. It felt like yonks ago that he last experienced such a sweet gathering of sorts.

"Make a wish," said Camila and Leon closed his eyes to do just that.

Later, he blew the candles before garnering another round of simple applause from the small group.

"What kind of wish did you make?" asked Camila with her bright, enquiring eyes.

"It's a secret," he flashed a half-hearted smile. If only that wish could come true...

It was in the middle of the light-hearted, social conversation everyone shared when Beth made a passing comment of not having Ariel for her wedding that Leon suddenly broke down, unable to take it any longer.

"What's wrong? You ok?" asked Rita as Beth took a tissue out from her pocket for him.

"You all have been so nice and kind to me, not pretentious one bit," he blew his nose in the tissue.

"Aw! We all know you're having it hard. Don't worry, we don't believe everything's been said about you on the news," Rita smiled and gave him a pat on the back.

"Well...there was something that actually drove Ariel away, and I haven't been totally honest about it."

All three ladies widened their eyes and glanced at each other in surprise.

"And what's that?" Beth raised her eyebrow.

Leon swallowed hard. He finally admitted the fake relationship with Jasmine Ferne and the one-night stand with the brunette model right after Ariel rejected him.

The brunette model was the latest to join the string of nefarious women tearing Leon's reputation apart, exposing dirty details of their intimate night together to the media. She was obviously delighted by the publicity. Whether good or bad, it was still publicity that boosted her fame.

They dropped their jaws at the revelation.

"How could you do something this rash and stupid!" Beth got upset.

"Well, what do ya'll expect? She rejected me," Leon defended.

"So a sex-capade solves it?" Beth argued back.

"Please, Beth," Rita tried to calm her down. "Not on his birthday."

Leon wrapped his arms around himself and looked uncomfortable. It was already not easy spilling the beans, but did he need another lecture?

"Poor Ariel, being betrayed again. Even if you two were not officially together, what you did cut her real deep," Camila shook her head at him.

"Alright, my fault! Satisfied?" Leon rolled his eyes and slammed his palms on the table, getting agitated. "I'm doing all I can to find her and get her back. I've spent so much to find her and Andy but my private investigators still have no clue as to where they are."

"I can't believe this girl's gonna miss my wedding, all because of you," Beth got visibly upset.

"It's just so not her. She did not behave the same way anymore after she awoke from the coma - withdrawn, agitated, secretive. I wonder what changed her?" Rita rubbed her chin with her fingers.

"Must be the trauma of the incident," explained Beth with her medical knowledge.

"More than that, I believe," said Camila.

Leon rubbed his temples, too tired to guess.

"She's been cheated once, and now twice," Beth remarked crudely.

"We were not seriously together anyway," Leon insisted.

"See? That's the point, Leon," Rita threw her hands in the air at him, "After living together for 11 months, you still have no clue to what kind of person Ariel is?"

Leon puckered his forehead, "What do you mean?"

"Ariel's a sweetheart by nature. When she loves someone, she will give him all her heart and loyalty," Rita explained. "She was really so in love with Darryl back then and was looking forward to start a family with him, but look at what he did. Now look at what you did. Cheesy as you think her core beliefs are, you think you'd stand a chance with her with that sorry attitude you have?"

"Well, it's not like I was gonna marry her. She won't sleep with me before getting married. Cheesy? Absolutely!" he replied firmly.

Beth rolled her eyes and shook her head at him, "You're unbelieveable! Ariel's NOT your whore!"

Leon's body jerked at the mention which felt like a rude slap to his face.

"Then why bother with her anymore since you've made it clear she's not your type?" Rita folded her arms.

"At least you're not as bad as Devil Crews," Camila tried to comfort. "Unlike you, he did not bother with her after leaving her."

"You know what?" nodded Leon. "You're right. I really should not bother anymore. She told me in her letter not to find her anyway."

"Oh, but you mustn't give up on her! She's worth fighting for. After all, she saved you!" Camila reasoned.

"Love's not cut out for me," Leon lifted himself up from his seat, not willing to continue conversing. "I think you guys should go. Appreciate your cake and company." He grabbed a bottle of wine from the minibar, went up to his room and slammed shut his door, leaving the girls and his half-eaten cake slice behind. He was not in the mood nor had the appetite to celebrate anymore.

"What a celebration," Beth said sarcastically. "Good that girl didn't open her legs for him!"

"But he looks so sad, poor thing," Camila sighed.

"Won't he ever learn?" muttered Rita.