12.

-HER-

I soon looked away from them and sank deeper into silence. I felt Theodore and Valter’s eyes on me for a couple of moments before they were back talking in hushed voices.

“The two of you have decided to split this transaction, right?” Mr Toles asked, still not looking up from the papers.

“Yes,” Valter answered. It was one of those few times when I had heard him talk. Otherwise, he’s mostly silent. All I had ever gotten from him were glares and mean looks.

“Can I know what led to this decision?” Mr Toles continued to ask. This time, he looked up from the papers.

“I just wanted to have a separate place of mine,” Theodore spoke beside me. I stole a glance at him through the corner of my eyes. I looked at his wrist to get another look at his bizarre watch but it was now hidden under the suit sleeve.

“Okay,” Mr Toles murmured as he took a last look at the papers, “Have you talked to the owner?” It was the first time Mr Toles talked to me in this meeting.

“Yes, Mr Toles. He said he’ll send me the property papers by the afternoon,” I answered professionally. He nodded at me.

“Mr Tolentino, have you looked at the property?” Mr Toles asked Valter. The latter replied, “Theodore has looked into it. I trust him,” At this, Mr Toles stares at him for a second longer before he nods slowly.

After a small discussion on the transitions, the meeting was over. I felt his eyes on me as I walked out of the office. He and the other guy followed me out as well. I heard Valter speak something in that strange language before Theodore grumbled something.

They instantly left the office afterwards. I didn’t know why but I was somewhat disappointed by how distant Theodore seemed. Or maybe I was growing attention-hungry. I tried to concentrate on work for the rest of the day.

As expected, Mr Toles visited me at the end of office hours and gave me a small lecture for being late. After that, I went straight to home. Nana had gone out as usual to meet some of her friends. I was again home alone.

I checked my phone while I ate lunch that Nana had prepared for me. Derek’s messages were already waiting for me. He wanted to go out tonight so I decided to go with him.

I texted Nana before I left the house. I had to pick Derek from his apartment before I drove us to a local bar to have some drinks. Again, most of the time it was him talking. He talked about Amanda, football, Amanda, Video Games, Amanda, his job at the call centre, Amanda, the new movie releases, Amanda, his friends and Amanda.

I listened to him patiently. I tried my best to keep up with his talking but for the most part, I found myself drifting in my own thoughts.

“I feel like quitting,” He blurted out. This snapped me out of my daze before I looked at him in bewilderment, “What?”

He rolled his eyes at me before he repeated, “I feel like quitting my job. I don’t like my boss,” He complained.

“What will you do then?” I couldn’t help but ask, “I meant how are you going to pay your bills?” He sighed at my question before he looked out of the window.

“I feel like I have worked enough. I want to settle down with you,” His words made my heart race. It took me some moments to realize that he had spoken those words.

“Er… what about, Amanda? You said-“

“Lately I have been thinking about us a lot,” He interrupted me before continuing, “You have a decent job and a decent house. If you have someone like me, your life would be complete,”

“But do you really want to be with me?” I asked him and instantly a frown climbed on his face, “The only person you talk about is Amanda,” I told him.

“Why? Are you jealous of her?” He asked me pointedly. I was taken off guard for a moment before I clenched my jaw and concentrated on the road instead.

“What happened? Answer me. Are you jealous of Amanda?” He asked pressingly. I pressed my lips in a thin line before I answered him calmly, “I don’t have any reason to be jealous of her, Derek. I have never met her,”

“And you’re never going to meet her,” He muttered more to himself as he crossed his arms on his chest and looked ahead as well. “I am trying my best to deal with this situation but you don’t seem like you really want to help me,” He complained.

“What do you want me to, Derek?” I asked him politely. I was doing everything to put up with him. My patience was being stretched thin day by day but still, I was determined. I didn’t know what else he was expecting from me.

“Just don’t ask me questions. You give me headaches,” He grumbled as he took out his phone and started to type away on it. I sighed and drove silently. He was still fiddling with his phone after we got to the bar.

“You’d have to pay. I am short on money,” He told me as soon as the bartender served us the drink. At his words, the bartender gave me a lingering look before he disappeared to attend to other customers.

I watched him sip from his drink while still at the phone. I looked at the rest of the place instead. People were dancing to loud music and generally seemed to be having a good time. Everyone seemed happy here, unlike me.

“Do you want to dance?” I asked him after finishing half of my drink. It was slowly starting to have an effect on me.

“No,” He answered sharply, still not looking away from his phone. I leaned in a bit to see what he was doing. I caught a glimpse of Amanda’s picture before he snatched his phone away and glared at me.

“Who are you talking to, Derek?” I asked him.

“Why are you so nosy?” He scowled at me.

“I just asked you what were you doing? It was your idea to come here but it doesn’t seem like you are really present here,” I told him politely but my words instantly angered him. He glared at me with his jaw set.

“This is why I don’t like going out with you! You should be grateful that I am here with you in the first place,” He gritted at me. I was stunned for the moment. My vision got blurry due to the unshed tears I was trying to hold back.

I tried my best to blink the tears back as I turned to my drink and pretended that nothing happened between us. The bartender gave me another lingering look. When I finished my drink, he filled my empty glass again even though I didn’t tell him to do it.

Derek stayed on his phone while I finished my drink and looked around the bar. I froze for a second when my eyes spotted a tall figure with horns. I stared at him, wondering if it was part of my imagination but when his grey eyes stared right back into my hazel ones, I knew that I wasn’t imagining him. He was actually there.

It took me some moments to notice the woman beside him, clinging onto his arm. The sight instantly pinched at my heart. I couldn’t help but look away, feeling somewhat worse about myself.