Luke held Naomi’s wrist and pulled her outside the venue. “What the hell was that?!” Luke asked with eyes raging with fire. Naomi looked down; her eyes started watering. Luke punched the wall and gripped on Naomi’s shoulders. “Answer me!” he added. Naomi sobbed while feeling Luke’s hand compressing in her shoulders.
She answered, “I don’t know anything about it”. Luke scoffed and got over Naomi’s shoulders. “So, you are saying that you are also a victim here? Did you see how JL reacted? I sensed that it is not his doing” he replied. Naomi answered him back, “I told you, I have nothing to do with it”. Luke raised his eyebrows and chuckled; “I get it now. You planned this to revenge on me after knowing my secret affair?” he speculated.
Naomi greeted his gaze. “Is that what you think of me? Do you think I am that shallow? To tell you honestly, if I have given the chance then I would do it! Everyday became heaven when we got together but as time goes by, your mask slowly fell. Now, I hate living with you! I want to call the wedding off!” she uttered.
Luke slapped her; he realized what he did is wrong. He tried consoling her again but Naomi refuses to listen. “I didn’t mean to do it. Hush now, someone might see us” he whispered. Naomi pushed him away from her. She stepped one way apart when she saw an unfamiliar pair of shoes standing straight in front of her. She looked up to see a tall emotionless man in front of her. He usually dressed well, and his spicy scent was enticing. His attractive attire usually made him look younger than his actual age. They were swooning in the halls as his scent swirled about them.
“J-JL?” she unbelievably asked. Deep inside, she knows to herself that she missed calling his name. His cold eyes spotted to Luke who is looking bolts at him. His smile was like a burst of sunlight brightening the dark pathway. He walked near Luke and greeted, “What’s up Luke? I heard you’re getting married with Naomi. I just want to extend my best wishes to the both of you”.
Luke chuckled, “You haven’t forgotten about is, yeah? Finally, you have admitted that Naomi is already a part of me” he replied. JL smirked, “Quite surprising. But I didn’t say that I am admitting it. If Naomi really is a part of you, why is she sobbing like that?” he asked. Luke pointed him his finger, “Don’t you dare meddle with our problems!” he warned. JL pushed Luke’s finger away, “Are you scaring me? Well… the old JL whom you have beaten up few years ago won’t allow to be beaten again this time”.
Luke circled his eyes; he thought of JL being aggressive. “What do you want me to do? Fight with you?” he asked while folding his sleeves up to his elbow. “I will fight you. I’m not a coward anymore” he answered. Luke abruptly threw a punch to JL but JL is way bigger than him. He dodged even before it landed to him. JL placed a punch on his abdomen that made him groan in pain.
He held Luke’s collar and banged him in the wall. “Thank heavens the sound system is loud… or else they will hear me cursing at you” JL said while pressing Luke more on the wall. “You already cursed me? Is it that quick?” he sarcastically asked. “Yeah, I still haven’t. Here it is… you son of a b*tch! You’re just a pitiful man scared to get caught by his own parents” JL answered.
He punched Luke’s face and got off him. Luke landed on the ground with an aching back. Naomi just stood there; it satisfies her knowing that JL can fight back at Luke. He grabbed her wrist and pulled her away from Luke who can’t walk properly. JL ran with his hands holding Naomi’s. The alumni homecoming hasn’t ended yet but they already left. They stopped in the middle of the town; neon lights lighting up their faces. “You’re away from him now. I have to go” JL said. He was about to go when Naomi stopped him. “You can’t leave me here alone after dragging me! I am not familiar with this place anymore” she said.
JL looked back at her, “What do you want me to do?” he asked. His voice is cold enough to make her feel that he is not the JL she once knew. She sighed; she went near him and requested, “Take me to a bar”. JL’s eyebrows furrowed, “What will you do there?” he asked. “I’ll drink. I did not enjoy the drinks in the homecoming” she answered.
He was about to refuse when Naomi pulled him to the nearest bar house. Loud sounds and flickering lights greeted them. Naomi pulled her card out and sat in the bar table. “Give me a whole bottle of Jameson Irish whiskey” she ordered. JL looked at her; she is quite wild for a woman in her early twenties. “Why did you tag me along?” he asked. She looked at him with her eyelashes curled, “I want to catch up with you. How are things going for you?” she asked.
JL casually answered, “I am a general surgeon now. I’m quite busy but I managed to insert this homecoming party in my schedule. Things are going well for me. And you?” he asked back. Naomi sighed and answered, “Disastrous, very disastrous actually”. JL got curious and so he asked, “Do you care if I ask why?”. The bottle of liquor was presented in between them.
Naomi answered, “Actually, that is the main reason why I wanted to drink. That bastard guy… my fiancé… I caught him cheating on me. I want to call our wedding off but he refused. He threatened me by his words and he usually hurts me”. JL pretended that he doesn’t care but deep inside he pities her. She poured him a glass of whiskey; she drank to the bottom of her cup. JL stopped her, “Go easy. You don’t want to stay in this bar for the night” he said.
Naomi playfully smiled, “Why? Aren’t you going to take me home?” she asked. JL chuckled, “I hate to think about driving you home” he answered. They finished the whole bottle and was about to go home when Naomi ordered another round. JL who lied low, still got the effect of the alcohol in his body. Naomi’s words are already slurry and both of their heads are already spinning.
Naomi handed over her card on the waiter. “You… book me a VIP room using this card” she commanded. JL took the card away from her, “No, let’s just go home”. Naomi pulled it back and gave it to the waiter for it to be processed. JL still refused, “I told you let’s just go…”; he failed to finish his sentence when Naomi gave him a kiss on his lips. She held JL’s chest and said, “You still taste the same, my love”.
JL’s eyes widened; the waiter handed back her card with two room keys. Naomi pulled JL up to the second floor of the bar’s building. She still can’t get off JL’s lips. She kissed him on the way to the room she rented. She pushed him to the king sized - bed and sat on top of him. She felt JL’s erection in between her legs. “I see, it is our first time to do this. Are you sure you want to do it with me?” JL said. He is hesitant but Naomi hushed his lips.
“This time, no one will stop us. Besides, it is not my first time” she replied. Her tongue roamed on JL’s earlobes. JL interchanged their positions. He unbuttoned his royal blue polo. Naomi smelled the mixture of alcohol and his perfume. JL pulled down her dress’ zipper and cupped her breasts. Naomi’s eyes focused on his; her lips is yearning more of his lips as if she is already addicted to it. They both got naked as they enjoyed each other’s offer of romance. “I missed you, JL” she whispered. JL did not know how to respond. When they got each other’s pleasure, Naomi hugged him from his back. “Do you know that I am damn insecure?” she asked. JL chuckled, “You? Insecure? How can you be so confident and insecure at the same time?” he asked back.
“Your friends are way sexier than me. I became thinner and there are marks of abuses from Luke in my body. Do you still think I am confident?” she replied. He caressed her hands wrapped in his waist. “You don’t need to feel insecure. I know there is a man out there who can make you feel the most beautiful thing you have by loving” he answered. Naomi smiled not until JL added, “That man is Luke. I know what you are experiencing right now is just a trial for your relationship”.
JL removed her arms wrapped around his waist. He wore his clothes back; Naomi asked him, “Are you sure you can go back home by yourself safely?”. JL just nodded and left the room. Naomi tucked her naked body under the white comforter; she reminisced every move she did with JL. She can’t believe that she is seeing him now and that something happened between the two of them.
The intimacy happened between the two of them is something new considering that she became loyal with Luke. She did it because Luke managed to do it also with a different woman. A tear fell from her eye; she doesn’t know how will she face Luke tomorrow morning. She doesn’t know how to get outside Luke’s trap. She is confused of how she will make things easier for her and Luke. He missed JL’s presence but more than that, it is Luke whom she loves. He who is constantly betraying her but remains to be strong. He is confident that Naomi will dare not to speak about the affair he did.
JL wiped his sweat away. He is being hysterical; he is half drunk, half sober. He stopped a taxi cab and he is now looking at the lamp posts from inside the vehicle. Lorenzia called him, “Where have you been? We’ve been looking for you!” she said. He pinched his nose’s bridge and answered, “I was just in the corner. I am on my way home”. Lorenzia tsked, “You punched Luke, didn’t you?” she asked again.
“I did” he simply answered. He heard Lorenzia gasping from the other line. “That scumbag deserves it. Anyway, have you seen Naomi? I bet she is somewhere you know” Lorenzia replied. JL is hesitant whether he will or he will not tell Lorenzia about their one - night stand. “I am already sleepy. Let’s just talk tomorrow” JL answered and immediately dropped the call. He glanced at his smartwatch; it is two in the morning.
He leaned on the taxi’s soft seat and regretted what he did earlier. He knows that what he did is the same as Luke’s mistake. He considers their one - night stand as an affair. The taxi drove past Naomi’s house; he saw how it bloomed from one that is abandoned to one that is reconstructed. When he got off the taxi, he saw a man - bunned guy standing in front of their house.
The guy lit a smoke in his hand. It faced JL’s way. JL called up his attention, “Luke, I thought you were knocked out in the venue?” he asked chucklingly. He smoked and exhaled it in front of JL. He shoved the smoke away as it was unpleasant for him to smell. He asked, “Where did you take Naomi?”. JL looked away; his conscience is unclean now that he is facing Naomi’s fiancé.
“I’ll tell you but promise me that you won’t hurt her again” he answered. “Yeah right” Luke replied. JL added, “To the bar in midtown; VIP room in the second floor”. Luke threw the cigarette stick and stepped on it. He looked glaringly at JL with his face stained with dry blood from his loud punch. JL entered their home with a crumpled polo; everyone is asleep while he lied down in the sofa. He reflected on what he did. For him, doing something in the bed with an engaged woman is a serious offense. He closed his eyes shut; the anxiety it caused him is undefeatable.
Luke maneuvered his car to the location where JL pointed. He knocked to the room’s door multiple times. Naomi kept asking who he is but he never dared to answer. Naomi opened the door with the bar’s bathrobe covering her naked body. Luke’s eyes widened; he asked, “Why are you wearing that?”. Naomi looked away and answered, “I was about to take a shower”.
Luke entered the room and saw Naomi’s scattered clothes below the bed. “I wish you are saying the truth” he replied. He is speculating since he saw no JL inside the school’s multipurpose hall up to the time where he saw JL’s crumpled attire. “Do you perhaps take JL on your way here?” he asked scaringly. Naomi entered the bathroom and answered, “No, is that even possible?”. For the second time, she denied having encounters with JL.
She turned on the warm shower while caressing her body. Her body that was caressed by JL’s hands earlier. Luke removed his clothes and entered the bathroom with Naomi’s warm bath. He combed Naomi’s hair using his fingers. He kissed her nape only to smell a man’s perfume on it. He evilly smiled as he whispered through Naomi’s ear, “Once I caught you having an affair, I will be the one to disown you as my fiancé”.
Naomi felt shivers in her spine. It is Luke who first had an affair yet when she was the one being suspected, Luke acted all possessive of her. There Naomi knew what she did with JL will completely lock her up inside an invisible cage called guilt. She turned around and caressed Luke’s cheek. “It is only you whom I love even if you suspect me of having an affair”. Luke tugged her close as he replied, “Good. Everything will go well if you stick with my plan”. She feels like she is a traitor but now, she calls it quits.