Pree leaves the country after getting hurt by Rambo's betrayal and Pop's rejection. Pree loses his faith in love and becomes a ruthless yet successful businessman. He comes back after three years, for the birth of his sister Mo's first child. Then h...
“He has your eyes.” Mo peered at the baby boy in my arms. I laughed softly. We brought the him home today.
“It’s too soon to tell that.” I fingered fine tuft of hair in his crown.
“I tell you P’Pree he does have your eyes.” She insisted.
“Okay, okay.” I carefully handed the baby back to her.
“P’Pree, why don’t you stay with us? At least for a few days. We still have your old room. I haven’t touched or changed it. I was hoping that one day you would return?” She looked at me hopefully. She still lived in our old family home.
“Alright, few days then.” I grinned. She gave me a wide smile. Just then Nick came in with a plate of food and glass of milk.
“Time for mommy to eat and baby to come to papa.” He placed the food in the table and wiped his arms. He carefully took the baby in his arms. He’s a dedicated father and a loving husband. I don’t worry for Mo’s future anymore.
“Have you thought about a name?” I asked leaning back on my chair. Nick cooed at the baby softly. He looked up at me and then at Mo grinning.
“Jay” they both said at once. I moved closer and tickled baby's tummy.
“Hey, baby Jay” I murmured.
I entered my old room at Mo's home. It hasn’t changed one bit. Mo had kept it clean and she hasn’t even moved the clothes I left behind. I touched rows of shirts and jackets I left behind hanging in the closet. In the far corner I can see my maroon uniform from my old flight attendant job. I have so may memories tied to that garment.
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I haven’t been to see Rambo despite his father’s request. It’s just that I couldn’t bare to see him like that. He always looked radiant and lively. He was a beautiful boy. He looked pretty even when he was crying. How am I going to see him like that? But no matter how hard I tried images of his frail body laying still on the hospital bed, couldn’t get out of my mind.
I sat on my desk chair and opened few drawers. They were full of dusts. I guess Mo haven’t cleaned them, afraid she would invade my privacy. I took out an old note book. I still had some old pictures inside it. I opened it and found the one I was looking for.
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He looked so vulnerable In that picture. He had always needed someone to take care of him. When I first saw him in the university he had been a scared and timid. It took him some time to come out of his shell.
First time I saw him, he was sitting alone at the back of the lecture hall. He had his head bent over his notebook. He was exuding, do not talk to me vibe. He caught my eye the first time simply because he was beautiful.
I didn’t talk to him that day. I just observed him silently. At the end of the lecture he slipped away from the crowd and dissapeared. I didn’t see him for a few days. I was waiting for the same lecture so that I can see him again.
Then I saw him again coming to university in a red car. He was dropped off by someone. I didn’t follow him, we happened to walk in the same direction.
Crowd of noisy guys crossed our paths. They looked at him and laughed. Someone deliberately bumped on to him and his lecture notes fell from his file and spread all over the asphalt path between lecture halls. The crowd moved away laughing raucously.
He was looking around helplessly at his lecture notes lying about. I shouldered my backpack and walked to him. We started picking his notes together. When we picked everything up I gathered them together and handed them to him. Then only he looked up at me.
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“Thank you na” He smiled. He had a beautiful smile. I smiled back.
“I’m Pree”
“Rambo”
Then we became friends. I became his so called bodyguard because he got bullied a lot. His father was a rich man. So he didn’t stay in the campus dorms. He had a luxury apartment closed to campus paid by his father. So we spent lots of time there studying because we pretty much followed the same course.
When I started to have feelings for him, I can’t exactly pin point. He slowly opened doors to my heart. His innocence, his natural submission spoke to my inner protective self. I’m very protective of people I care. But I’m not keen on making the same mistake twice. So I kept silent until our final year.
Until the day I lost my mind and kissed him.
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I needed to see him. I picked my jacket, wallet, phone and car keys from the bed and left the room.
When I parked at the hospital it was past nine in the evening. I briskly walked to the ICU. His dad was nowhere to be seen. I peered through the glass panel.
Then pushed opened the glass door and slowly entered the room. I took one step at a time and reached the bed. I stared at once beautiful body now lying wasting away in the bed and sat on the chair by the bed.
“Rambo?” I called softly. I didn’t expect a reply exactly. I looked at his shallow face. His discolored skin and sunken eyes made him look unrecognizable. I extended my arm and touched the fragile skin on his face.
“Rambo, wake up baby.” My eyes started filling. “I’m sorry.” I sniffed. I’m sorry I didn’t take care of you.” It’s not exactly my fault. But I couldn’t help but feel responsible. I left him because I was angry and hurt. But I should have given you one more chance.
