by Jayrin Park
My phone buzzed on my dresser. I smiled as I looked at the caller ID. It was from Mike. I placed the phone on my ear and waited for him to speak. I liked listening to his voice. It was like a different kind of music to my ears.
"Hey." His voice was deep and hoarse. It made my stomach tie into knots.
"Hey."
"Just checking to see that you haven't forgotten our date." His voice was so relaxing and calm. I was tempted to sit down back on the bed and listen to him talk all day.
"Why would I forget?" I chuckled.
"Well, if I'm truthful, I just needed an excuse to hear your voice again."
"You miss me already?" I teased him.
"A lot," he sighed.
I smiled and looked at my red face in the mirror. My cheeks were hot. I felt like a schoolgirl again. I held back the giggle that threatened to come out of my mouth.
"I missed you just a little bit," I joked.
"I can hear you smiling, so I know it's a lie."
"You wish. If you want me to be on time, you better hang up."
"Sheesh, I’m glad you always try to be early. I remember those days of your lateness to the gym. Probably the only time I ever disliked you, but I let it slide because you’re pretty," he said. I chuckled.
“I was only late because I was busy. You know this,” I defended.
“I know, Baby. Get dressed, okay? I’ll be waiting for you at the gym.”
"Okay, I'll see you soon, Mike."
"See you soon, Lela." He hung up the phone. I placed my phone on my dresser and brushed my hair. I took one more last look at my outfit. It was simple. A red skater gown with tiny straps. It showed a little cleavage.
I shoved my phone into my black purse and put on some black shoes. I was ready for my date with Mike. I left my apartment and headed to Mike's gym. I hailed a taxi and nervously tapped on my purse.
The taxi stopped in front of the gym. I paid and walked to the entrance. Mike wasn't waiting for me at the entrance like he had promised so I was sure that he had been preoccupied with something. I searched my purse for my phone to call him. It rang a few times, but he didn't answer. I pushed the gym door and decided to look for him so I could help him with whatever he had to finish.
I smiled at the gym like a weird woman. This gym was where I had met a man that I was certain I couldn’t go a day without talking to. I remembered bickering and flirting before we actually became a couple and how my father had a fit when he found out we were dating. He was on his way to the toilet when he caught us ‘shoving our tongues down each other’s throats’. That was how he had described what he saw. He threatened to kill Mike – it was quite entertaining to watch actually, but now my dad is cool with the both of us dating.
I heard some voices as I got closer to the office in the gym. One of the voices belonged to Mike. I could tell. I finally arrived in front of the door of the office. The door was transparent, so I could see Mike and a woman. Mike had his back turned to the woman. She had brunette hair with blonde highlights. She was beautiful. Her skin was tanner than my pale skin. She was curvy.
"What do you want me to do? Answer me, Camilla," Mike asked her. She turned to face him.
"I'm sorry, Mike. I panicked after I found out you were looking for a ring, okay? I wasn't sure if I was ready," she pleaded.
"So, you decided running away was the better option?" Mike asked her.
Mike had told me about his ex and who broke up with him out of the blue one morning, but he had never told me about wanting to propose to her. I felt rude listening to their conversation, but my legs didn’t move from the spot I stood in. I was surprised that they hadn’t noticed me standing there.
"I-I was scared," she stammered.
“B-but now I realize I was wrong. I love you, Mike, and I want to spend the rest of my life with you.” She moved closer to him and held his hand in hers.
It broke my heart to see that Mike didn’t move his hand away from her. A part of me was scared that I was going to lose Mike to her.
“What if he realizes he still loves her and leaves me,” I thought to myself. I couldn’t let that happen. I pushed the door and announced my presence. They both looked back and stared at me. Mike immediately removed his hand from Camilla’s hold. I smiled internally, but I still didn’t like the fact that he let her hold on to him for long. Camilla looked at me confused.
“Who are you?” she frowned at me. I was tempted to frown back at her, but I ignored her and faced Mike.
“You said you were going to be waiting for me outside the gym, Babe,” I said, making sure to emphasize the word ‘babe’. Camilla’s eyes widened a little. She looked confused. I walked over to Mike and stood beside him. I wrapped my hands around his torso. He hugged me back weakly. It made me sad that he wasn’t hugging me the way I wanted.
“I’m so sorry…I was just about to lock up when she showed up,” he said a little shocked. I nodded and pulled away from him. Camilla’s mouth was still a little open.
“Wh-who is she, Mike?” I saw her shoot me a disgusted look. “One of those female clients? This is why I didn’t want you to open the gym in the first place!”
I counted one to ten in my mind. I wasn’t going to allow my anger make me do anything irrational.
“Just leave, Camilla,” Mike sighed.
“Not until you tell me who she is?” she said pointing at me.
“Yes, Mike, who am I?” I asked him and folded my hands across my chest.
I sucked in my breath as I awaited Mike’s answer. I didn’t know what to expect. Mike could either accept me as his girlfriend or deny me in front of her. I wouldn’t be surprised if he did. He told me they were together for two years, and I was just finding out about a proposal. Meanwhile, we’d only been together a little over a month and a half.
Mike opened his mouth to speak but closed it immediately. He rubbed his head, vigorously. I wasn’t surprised that he couldn’t tell her who I was.
“You don’t know who I am, right? I was just passing through your life. I’m no one special,” I said.
Mike stayed silent. My heart shattered. I was hurting so much. Mike couldn’t tell his ex-girlfriend who I was. I was a nobody to Mike.
I felt tears threaten to fall from my eyes. I sighed and walked out of the building. I was going to make it easier for Mike. He couldn’t even introduce me as his girlfriend. I felt so stupid thinking he was going to be the one.
“They’re all the same,” I sniffed and pushed back the tears.
I heard him call out my name as I swiftly found my way out of the gym I had come to love. I was never going to step foot in this place again.
“Lela, wait.”
“What do you want, Mike? You don’t know me remember?” I said harshly.
“Lela, I’m sorry.”
“What exactly are you sorry for?” I asked him.
“I-I’m sorry,” he stammered.
“You’re sorry you couldn’t call me your girlfriend because you’re still hungover your ex. I get it, Mike. I made your decision easier. I’ll leave you alone.”
“It’s you–”
“Save it Mike. Your girlfriend is waiting for you inside.” I wasn’t ready to hear any of the crap he was going to say.
I was glad that a taxi stopped in front of me so Mike couldn’t see me cry my eyes out like a baby. I slammed the door of the cab and let out the tears I had been holding back. I turned back to see if he was still standing outside, at least feeling guilty, but he had gone inside to meet Camilla. I was just in his life to fill Camilla’s space until she came back. I sobbed like a baby till I got home. The driver kept checking back to see if I was okay.
I was glad I had broken up with him. I didn’t want to be deeply in love with him and then see Camila show up at his door one day, professing her love for him. I was headed to my parents’ house. I didn’t want to be alone tonight. Not tonight. I didn’t want to spend the night crying over a man by myself.
The driver droppe
d me off and I carried myself to the front door with tears still streaming down my face. I rang the doorbell and waited. My mum answered the door with a look of surprise. It then registered to her that my face was puffy from all the crying I had just done.
“Darling, what’s wrong?” she said and hugged me tightly.
I sank into her, weak from my tears, and hugged her back. The only word I could muster was, “Mum…” before the water began to flood down my face again…
Chapter 14 - Thoughts
Mike Pearson
I tousled my hair before I walked back into the gym. I didn’t know why I had hesitated to introduce Lela. I just panicked. I took one last look at the cab that she had entered before turning to heading inside. I could only blame Camilla for showing up unannounced into my life. Everything was already going good for me, but she had to show up.
“Mike, she’s joking, right?” Camilla moved closer to me. I moved away quickly like her touch could burn me. She looked hurt. I didn’t know what to do. I was confused. I would be lying if I said I didn’t still have feelings for Camilla. I almost proposed to her. I was ready to spend the rest of my life with her, but she had blown me off.
“Mike, answer me.” She tried to touch me again, but I moved away
“Camilla, I think you should leave.” I sighed. I needed to think straight and clear my head. I needed to figure out what I wanted.
“But Mike…”
“Just go Camilla. You’ve caused enough damage already okay!” I yelled at her. She moved back from me when I yelled.
“‘Mike? You’ve never yelled at me before. I’ll go but you know where to find me when you’ve calm down,” she said, picking up her bag.
I watched Camilla leave the gym. Tonight was supposed to be a perfect night for Lela and me. I’d had everything planned out perfectly. Now Lela hated me.
“What made you panic you fool?” I thought to myself. I sat on the chair in the office and placed my head between my palms. I heard footsteps making me lift my head.
“Did she come back?” I got up from the chair. No one was supposed to be at the gym today. All my brothers had plans. I had stayed back to help out with the paperwork. I stepped out of the office and saw my brother Shawn. He was making out with a girl in the gym. I rolled my eyes.
“The gym?” I startled them. They jumped away from each other. The girl looked shy while Shawn, on the other hand, couldn’t care less. I turned around to go back into the office.
“Stay here I’ll be back,” I heard him tell the girl. He whispered something into the girl’s ears that made her giggle. I could hear his footsteps behind me as I walked back to the office.
“One of my fantasies?” Shawn shrugged.
“Aren’t you supposed to be out?” Shawn asked me. I sat on the seat in the office and sighed.
“Something bad happen?” he asked me.
“Things went from great to terrible in a minute,” I sighed. Shawn saw the look on my face and sat on one of the seats in the office.
“What happened?”
“Camilla happened.”
Shawn looked at me, confused. Everyone thought I had been over Camilla since I met Lela. I was sure too, but seeing her today made me question everything.
“Camilla? She came back? When? How? Are you two are back together? Does Lela know?” Shawn looked overwhelmed by the information.
“We’re not back together. She showed up out of the blue saying she wanted to get back with me.”
“Woah, and do you want to get back together?” Shawn asked me.
“I don’t know Bro, I’m so confused right now,” I groaned.
“How does Lela come into it everything?” Shawn asked me.
“I hurt Lela by not introducing her as my girlfriend.”
“Oh wow, she saw Camilla? Dude, even I know not to do that. Lela’s never going to forgive you.” Shawn shook his head.
“I know, I panicked. I was put on the spot okay. I didn’t mean for it to happen,” I told Shawn, “Tell me what to do, Bro, I need some advice.”
“Well, first you cannot tell Steve I was here with a girl. He warned me about it since someone decided to snitch,” Shawn said. I stared at my brother in disgust and nodded.
“This isn’t maths, Mike. You just have to go after the one your heart wants the most,” Shawn shrugged. I should have known that Shawn wasn’t going to be of any help.
“That’s it?”
“Yeah? What were you expecting? You wanted me to quote the Bible or something? If you would excuse, I have a woman waiting for me,” Shawn said, leaving the office. I sighed and shoved my phone into my pocket. I was leaving the gym. I wasn’t ready to see Shawn shoving his tongue down a random girl’s throat.
I walked past them and shook my head. They didn’t even have the decency to stop making out as I passed. I got into my car and sighed. I was going home to think things through.
Chapter 15 - Choices
Mike Pearson
“I never want to see you again, Mike.”
Lela had surprisingly pulled up to my house the following morning.
“Wait, Lela, let me explain,” I said.
“Don’t bother, I just wanted to come and say, don’t try to see me. Don’t’ try to sort this out. We’re over, Mike.”
Her words, ‘We’re over, Mike’ echoed in my head. Not again.
A car pulled into the driveway interrupting the echo. A familiar figure stepped out.
“Mike, what is she doing here?”
“Camilla?”
“I was just leaving, you can have him,” Lela scoffed as she began to walk away.
Both girls glared at each other.
The rays of a blood moon suddenly filled the sky and cracks began to form in the ground as a rumbling sound energized the air. Lela and Camilla looked around in horror and began to run towards me. The ground seemed to laugh as it opened its mouth where they were standing. Both girls began to fall.
I lunged towards the ground and managed to grab Lela’s hand on my right, and Camilla’s on my left. By some miracle, my body was still on solid ground. My chest began to feel the weight of the two girls against the ground as both girls dangled in midair. I started to sweat, and my arms began to tire from the combination of overhanging from the ledge, the extra weight on each arm, and the blood flow that was being cut at my shoulders.
“I’m not letting you guys go!” I shouted at them stubbornly.
“How are you going to pull us up then?” Lela shouted back.
“I don’t know!” I cried. Tears began to form in my eyes as the wind howled.
“Mike, I’m sorry but you can’t pull the both of us up. We’re too heavy together, and you need one arm to push yourself off the ground…” Camilla cried out. “You’re going to have to let one of us go.”
“Can’t one of you grab onto the other’s leg or something, and I’ll pull the both of you up?” I screamed.
“If one of us does that, the sudden shift in weight will make you fall as well! Look can’t you see you’re already slowly going over?” Lela answered me.
She was right. My body was slowly shifting over the edge. I didn’t have much time.
“You have to choose Mike!” Camilla called out over the wind, “Me or her!”
“Choose!” Lela roared in agreement.
I was frozen. Tears streamed down and hit my hands, loosening my grip with both girls.
“Hurry up!” Camilla shrieked.
Lela looked at me. Tears filling her eyes. “I’ll make the choice for you Mike.”
“No!” I screamed.
“You love her, don’t you?”
Time paused for a moment as I heard Lela say those words. Did I love Camilla more than I did Lela?
“Goodbye, Mike. I love you.”
Lela looked one last time into my eyes, before she looked away, her tears dripping like waterfalls down her face. She sniffed.
My vision clouded from the water in my eyes and dropped into my h
ands again. No. I grabbed her hand tighter. Her hand loosened from the moisture and she began to slip. She didn’t even try to grasp back onto me.
“No, Lela! Please don’t do this!”
