First Installment for the MAYHEM series
"Innocence was never meant to be addictive."
Addiction has been a part of Kyson Montenegro's nature, and women, in particular have always been his favorite obsession. Being the lead singer in a band has its pe...
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Hindi sumipot si Lucas sa trabaho ko noong Lunes, pero tinext niya ako ng maraming beses. Kailangan niya raw pumunta ng Laguna para sa tatay niya sa mga susunod na araw. Hindi na niya ipinaliwanag kung para saan iyon, kaya hindi na rin ako nagtanong.
There is something about his text that made it seem like he's trying to avoid an explanation. Two dates and a few doughnuts didn't make me his girlfriend. I have no reason to ask for an explanation from him.
Kyson, however, showed up for dinner that night with burgers and fries. We ate at the table as usual, he asked me about work and made me laugh with stories about his band members. I'm always sad when it's time for him to go, but I don't let him know.
* * *
Tuesday at eleven fifteen, I went to Starbucks. I was extremely nervous about meeting up with Kyson's sister. I spoke to her for maybe ten minutes while we were in Indigo. If she starts asking about Kyson and me, I can answer honestly, but I'm afraid my rosy cheeks would tell her something else.
The hope that she could be a friend and possibly my first true friend outweighed all my other fears. I want to do this. I just need to prepare for the questions she'll ask about my friendship with Kyson.
Upon entering the restaurant, I immediately met Tatiana. Her brown hair and gorgeous face were hard to ignore. She waved at me and I explained to the hostess that I was meeting a friend before walking over to where Tatiana was.
"You came," she said, smiling brightly at me as if she thought I wouldn't have shown up. I found it hard to believe people ever turned her down. Male or female.
"Pasensya na kung medyo na-late ako. Nag-extend ng lecture yung isang professor namin."
She shrugged as if it was no big deal. "No worries. Kararating ko lang din naman. I had to take some cupcakes to Millie's class. It's her birthday today. Millie's my daughter," she explained.
Tatiana didn't look older than twenty-four at the most. I couldn't imagine how she had a child in school already.
Her smile grew, and she leaned on the table toward me. "Alam ko kung anong iniisip mo. Millie is actually my youngest child," she said with a twinkle in her eye. "Leighton is ten and Clyde is thirteen. My Millie turned nine today." She paused as I let the fact she had a thirteen-year-old sink in.
"Stan and I adopted them two years ago," she said with a happy sigh. "You met Preston at Indigo the other night. The beautiful guy with the long hair. Remember him?"
I nodded. That had been the guy with his arm around Emily. He was hard to miss.
"Leighton, Clyde, and Millie are all his younger siblings. His mother was . . . she wasn't mentally healthy. She had some addictions, and the only reason they lasted with her as long as they did was because Preston sacrificed everything to take care of them. When his mother passed away, he was going to take them all in, but Stan and I had been trying to get pregnant, and the doctor had just recently told us it was impossible. I wanted those kids," she said as tears welled up in her eyes. "Millie hadn't even been able to talk plain back then. She had been neglected by her mother, and she clung to any attention she got from females. Now, don't get me wrong, in her eyes Preston walks on water. She loves Stan and even calls him Daddy, but he knows that Preston is her number one."
