CHAPTER 17: The Torture

KATE’s P.O.V.

“So, where should we go?” I asked curiously right after all of us are finally inside of the car.

“I’ll bring my wife to a special place,” Darren stated.

He reached and held Claire’s left hand. His other hand is still focus on the wheel. I wanted to take his hands off of Claire’s but I couldn’t do it. I know it will probably just caused some complicated things that will only get me farther away from the truth later on.

“Where are we going exactly, Darren?” Claire asked, but he didn’t answer.

Darren just gave her a small kiss on the back of her hand. I rolled my eyes. That’s when the torture started. It felt like I was crumbling in pain for I wanted to stop this stupidity and just went home. But I can’t. I need to finished what I started.

“It’s a secret... Though I’ll give you a clue. We are almost there.”

I sighed, before resting my aching head on the window. By the time the car came to stop, I looked amused, seeing a park for the first time since we arrived here in the Philippines. I don’t often go outside if it’s not necessary so seeing a place like this really brought an amusement to my heart. But of course I tried to hide it.

“Surprise.”

Claire instantly hopped down the car, followed by Darren. They both started to breathe the fresh, cool air coming from the unpolluted place.

“Do you like it? Do you want us to go to the bridge?” Darren asked, holding Claire’s hand. I can see it through the tinted window.

“Claire... I’m–” Darren was about to say something when I decided to cut their cringe moments.

“What are we doing here? Is this the kind of date that the great Darren Herrera wanted? In this kind of place? What the heck?” I finally hopped down from the car.

“It’s not the place, Kate. It’s the person whom with you that matters the most,” he murmured.

“Duh... Whatever,” I muttered under my breath.

“This is where Claire brought me at our first date. That’s why this place is very special to the both us. Also, I don’t want to share this with someone else. Though because you wanted us to prove our love for each other, so I’ll let you enjoy this place just for once...”

I rolled her eyes. As if I need to know about that. I don’t want to hear about their history. All I wanted to find out is if they’re telling the truth or not. Darren snaked his arms around Claire’s waist and pulled her closer to him.

“Darren...” God, her voice is so annoying.

“Hmm?” Darren asked.

“Nothing.” Tsssk.

“Let’s talk later, wife.” Darren planted a kiss on her forehead.

I pretend to look as bored as I can for I wanted to know more about them. And I’m not going to find out the truth if we continue to walk here like an idiot. It’s just a shame that I wasn’t been able to enjoy this beautiful place because of my mission.

“This is so boring...” I called them.

Darren and Claire stopped walking before turning their gaze towards me.

“You want us to have a date, right? This is how we’re dating. If you have a problem with that, then you are free to leave,” Darren scolded me.

I rolled my eyes, trying to look for an answer at the back of my brain.

“Can’t we just eat first or something? I’m hungry,” I demanded.

Claire looked at me knowingly, and it was as if he remembered something that happened a long time ago. Maybe it’s one of our high school memories when I’m the one who always asked for food first.

“If you want to eat–” Darren sentence was cut short when Claire said something that made him stopped.

“Darren, maybe she’s right. We should eat first. My stomach is also growling,” Claire stated. He look at his wife unbelievably, like it’s a miracle that Claire favored what I wanted.

“Please...” she pleaded.

“Why didn’t you say so? Come on. We’ll grab some food.”

Claire smiled at him. What a very manipulative woman. They held hands before pulling each other to come back to the car. I followed them around, still trying to look bored.

From the small park, we drove all the way to a small family restaurant nearby. I don’t know why we are here, but I imagine that their date is going to be in a more fancy place just like my Dad’s colleague’s newly opened restaurant.

“Again, what’s this? Did you really stoop down this low for this woman, Darren?” I complained.

“Don’t judge the place if you haven’t tasted their food yet. Elijah and Claire introduced me to this restaurant.”

“Whatever.”

As we walked towards the entrance of the building, the scent of different delicious foods bombarded us. I closed my eyes, secretly sniffing the good smell. But I think Claire saw me doing that for I caught a glimpse of a small smile playing on her lips.

“Not bad...” I whispered.

We found a seat in a round table. One of the servants gave us the menu, and my face instantly lit up as soon as I saw the gorgeously looking food plating in the pictures. My mood instantly lift up.

After a few minutes or so, the waiter came back to us just to take our orders. He told us to wait for a few moments before our food is to be served. We just nodded and smiled at him. I tried to be nice, of course. They have nothing to do with this deal, anyway.

“What a slow service,” I hissed, wanting to try and get their attention but to no avail.

Darren didn’t mind me. He’s currently sitting beside Claire while staring intensely at her face. I can feel the awkwardness lurking in the silent air.

Darren and Claire started to murmured something to each other. I wanted to scold them for not including me in their conversation but I know that I can’t. Who would want to talk to your enemy, right?

I stared at them blankly and then rolled my eyes. Before I could finally open my mouth again just to say something, the servant approached us and delivered our foods. Tsssk. What a perfect timing. Note the sarcasm, please.

“Thanks,” Darren stated before giving him a tip.

I raised one of my brows out of confusion right after I saw my food. It’s definitely not what I ordered.

“This doesn’t look like anything I saw in the menu,” I complained.

“Just taste it. I’m sure that you will be amazed.”

I shook my head before picking up my phone on the counter. I decided to just watch their every move while using my phone. Besides, I’m not really that hungry. A few moments later, I received a call coming from Mom so I instantly picked it up. I excused myself to them before leaving the room to answer the call.

“Mom?” I answered.

“Kate! Where are you? I have to tell you something! Your Dad just reconciled with Mr. Herrera! And he even decided to put his shares back to their company!” she stated, hysterically.

I wasn’t too surprised to find out about that. I knew that Dad will probably do it. He doesn’t have a word when it comes to his bestfriend.

“Let him be, Mom. I don’t give a damn about it anymore.”

“But Kate! They’ve caused you too much humiliation already! You should be mad and tell it to your Dad!” I can hear that she’s furious on the other line of the phone.

“You know we can’t do anything about his decision. Let’s just keep quiet for now, Mom. I have a plan. Just trust me on this one.”

“What plan? Are you sure about that?” she asked, worried.

“Yeah. I’m doing it right now. I have to go, Mom. See you later.”

“But Kate–”

I ended the call. Telling her about my plan will only make things worst. So I decided to limit what she knows about me and my every move. I decided to come back inside of the restaurant, only to see Darren and Claire... Kissing. I thought I wouldn’t be affected but seeing my old bestfriend happy makes my heart ache in pain. I should be the one in her place right now. This scenario is definitely a torture to me.

“What the heck?” I shouted, interrupting their moment.

“Kate,” Darren stated, looking at me with a surprised expression plastered on his face.

I looked at them unbelievably, making them realized that I’m really mad right now. Tears started to stream down from my eyes down to my cheeks before I intensely shook my head. I looked at Claire’s direction furiously, before stomping out of the place.

I ran away from them, only realizing that my car is still on Herrera’s residence. I instantly get a cab to take me to that place before Darren and Claire can get home. Thankfully, they’re still outside enjoying themselves when I arrived at Herrera residence. I paid the cab driver before getting my own car.

After that, I drove almost a mile just to personally see one person. A person who can help me answer all of my questions. I dialed his number, unable to waste any more time just to talk to him.

“Hello? It’s me, Kate. I wanted you to do me a favor. I’m going to pay you the amount that you wanted. Just name your price.”

“Whoah... That’s... Great, I guess. Then what can I do for you, Ms. Frias?” he asked, using his raspy voice.

“Please do an investigation about Claire Braganza and Darren Herrera. I wanted to know everything about them. Do it now. I’m coming over to your house to talk about this personally. Bye, Detective Suarez.”