「10」Suspicions and A Sad Memory (2)

LEON


I RAN to a nearby dark alley and there, I staggered and panted.

「I can’t breathe!」 I exclaimed in my mind.

My vision started to get blurry, and I could feel my head spinning. It was way too early to doubt my boyfriend. We haven’t talked much lately because I became busier at work, so he must have changed his job and didn’t have the chance to tell me.

“That must be it,” I convinced myself while trying to catch my breath. “Sheldon was always the one who considered my situation and went along with my one-sided requests. And not once did I ask if he was really fine with all of it.”

Realizing all of these now scared me. What would I do if Sheldon grew tired of me?

After that brief overthinking, I decided to go to his place so I could talk to the person himself. We’ve been lovers for more than six years! How come only now I would realize that I knew so little about Sheldon?!

━━━━━━ ◦ ◦ ━━━━━━

I ARRIVED at his place faster than I expected. Was it because of the adrenaline rush that I experienced earlier? Doesn’t really matter. I needed to see my boyfriend.

Sheldon had given me a spare key to his place. Glad that I brought the key with me today. I took it out from my bag and unlocked the door.

I low key hoped that I would see Sheldon casually lying on his bed, reading a random magazine, and would flash his loving smile at me the moment I entered his room. But, he wasn’t there.

“Sheldon?” I called out, but no one answered.

「He left his phone,」 I thought when I saw it left on his desk. I took it to see if it was on. It was.

I was about to ignore the fact that he left his phone open the whole time, but didn’t bother to answer my messages earlier this morning. I informed him ahead that I was planning to come over, so I assumed that he must be still at work. But as it turned out, he left it behind and left somewhere. Sheldon never left his place without telling me.

“It’s unlocked,” I uttered to myself. I accidentally swiped Sheldon’s phone when I was about to put it down. I didn’t want to assume anymore, but my head was filled with suspicions. Suppressing them was getting hard for me to ignore. “I am just going to take a peek,” I said while holding onto it with trembling hands.

There was one notification. It wasn’t from me. Apparently, he already read all of my messages, and he didn’t reply on purpose. The name of the sender and message content didn’t register on the notification banner. I had no choice but to open the message itself as it raised questions in my head.


Alynna:
We need to talk.

Sheldon:
Why should I come?

Alynna:
I can’t take this anymore, Sheldon.
Seeing him suffer hurts me.

Sheldon:
Then stop interfering in our relationship.

Alynna:
You don’t understand.
We must tell Leon the truth already.

Sheldon:
Don’t you dare say a word to him!

Alynna:
Then meet me at the usual place.
Make sure you show up.
-seen-


“What kind of relationship do you guys have?” I asked while staring at my boyfriend’s phone screen.

I wanted to leave right this instant, but where would I possibly go? Alynna said in the message that they would meet up at the usual place. Just how many times did they see each other without me knowing?!

Nothing would come to mind. I could be wrong, but I could also be right. The best thing to do was talk to them both, and hopefully they wouldn’t deny the evidence that I found.

Just when I was about to leave, my phone beeped. I immediately picked it up to see who sent me a message and was surprised to see that it came from Derrick. I opened his message and read it.


Derrick:
Come to the studio tonight, 9 PM…
-seen-


I frowned. 「Why the studio? Was there a change of schedule in our movie shooting?」 I thought with a frown. I went back to the messaging app and replied to Derrick.


Leon:
Why? Is there something wrong regarding
the shooting this morning?

Derrick:
No.
Just come.
Can’t tell you the details…

Leon:
What’s that supposed to mean?

Derrick:
Trust me, Leon.
Tonight, 9 PM.
You will see them at the back of the studio
-seen-


“Them?” I uttered with my eyebrows furrowed. “Who is he referring to?” I asked in confusion.

I’ve known Derrick for a while now. He wouldn’t make such a joke. He seemed serious and concerned. We already stopped talking about that encounter in my dressing room, but I knew that he was still bothered by it. But, he knew that he needed to cooperate because we had a movie to finish.

I went back to my place to get some rest. A lot had happened in a single day. And lately, whenever I felt so down or stressed, I could feel the black entity growing stronger. Why did it want me so badly? What did it see in me?

━━━━━━ ◦ ◦ ━━━━━━

「FLASHBACK」

“MOM, why do you have to die?” I asked in a sad tone.

「Why am I remembering this moment? It was a memory that I locked somewhere in my heart.」

“Will you be sad if I’m already gone, (.....)?” my mother asked me with a smile.

「That was odd. Why can’t I hear her say my name? Why does it sound static?」

I was only ten when my mother was diagnosed with cervical cancer. It was already too late when we found out. I barely remember how long she stayed bedridden in the hospital. Despite the hardship that we were going through, she still urged me to focus on my studies. Everyday, after school, I would come by at the hospital to visit her and tell her about how I did in school. My mother was really lively. I never saw her cry or get sad, that’s why I also did my best to support her. I knew she only had little time left, but it only dawned at me when she slowly deteriorated.

I didn’t want to see her go through such pain, but there was nothing I could do. She was all I had. Ever since I was little, my mother had always had my back. She helped me face the challenges in life with a positive attitude. She was my source of strength. So instead of moping around, I made sure to make the most of it.

“Of course, Mom!” I exclaimed, and became teary eyed.