Introvspect

Chapter 24 (Pure Malice)

It was the day of their mall date as Clyde and Laura treaded towards the department store for some clothes shopping.

Their one year anniversary was coming up next weekend so they each decided to exchange handpicked outfits as their gifts.

Clyde was wearing a white one-tone shirt with a matching jacket and suit pants. He even wore those pale colored rubber shoes his girlfriend had chosen for him and for herself as a couple set, their first ever presents for each other.

He had grown two more inches than before and now he looked like a professional model for the Vogue magazine. Laura, on the other hand, reached only almost the tip of his shoulder if they stood side by side so she often wore high heels to enhance her only flaw.

She had been formidable at calling and texting him at every single day when she was still courting him.

It took her more than three years, three bitter years to make him decide if she was worth her shackled drudgery.

She contacted him just like conforming to the number of meals to be consumed per day. It became a routinized struggle asking him what he was doing or if he wanted to meet up sometime.

She humiliatingly pledged her loyalty emphasizing her desperation of the need to connect with him. Needless to say, she was becoming more human that way.

That time when Onil informed her about Jasie who was proclaimed as Clyde’s beloved one, she became lethally envious.

She tampered with her contacts and social media accounts to investigate who the heck she was up until her mother saw her Facebook profile. She only updated her profile picture and nothing else could be found there.

She recognized her as Marie’s daughter, that of her aunt which meant that they were cousins. It was such a small world.

When she sensed that Clyde was her soul mate after recovering from a previous heartbreak, Jasie just suddenly came into the picture.

Why a relative of all people?

Why did she have to ruin her resolve to begin anew?

Despite that, Laura knew she had to use her to lure Clyde in, fabricating ideas to make her his ally to show Jasie that he was desirable.

It was the only way they could try to work.

Maybe in the long run, he might change the course of his feelings if she was always around him. Of course, that hasty decision would easily backfire, striking her one chance to be with him.

But presently, no major conflict had arose just yet that threatened their still flourishing relationship as long as he did not see her.

“Do you want a dress this time or still a coord set?”

Clyde already became accustomed with the varied options that governed current styling trends. Laura had really been a big influence to him.

“Oooh…I need a dress since it would be prettier and whatever you’ll choose would be fine with me. You know what my tastes are.”

“That’s what I thought. I’ll accept anything you’ll pick for me since you know mine too.”

They went to separate aisles to proceed along with their gift browsing as Clyde was supposedly in a hurry to meet Raphael. That was his intention from the very start, to torment him inexplicably.

He had been scheming his retaliation in such a long time but because of Laura, he could not push through with it much earlier. She was just a hindrance to his sought ambitions.