This whole time, has he been withher?
Has he made me the otherwoman?
No, no, no, no, no.
Everything that happens afterward, it’s a blur. In slow motion and in high speed all at once.
I don’t even feel my feet moving forward, my fists balled. The only thing I register is Rafayel’s shocked expression, before the words pour like a violent landslide from my mouth.
Words, singing along the lines of “I cannot believe you” and special chorus of “what the fuck is wrong with you?”
All I can see is a fury of red, lies staining my mind like blood in snow.
The girl pushes me back a little. Probably because I look like an absolute madwoman right now, screaming at her boyfriend. That’s when I turn on her, and pity washes over me.
“Did you know that yourboyfriendhas been flirting with me,playingme these last couple of months?” I tell her, my voice a little more even, steadier than how I feel, “Asking me for my number, calling me pet names? I’m sorry, I’m so sorry. If I knew he had a girlfri - If I knew you were his - I -”
I blink away the seering tears that spring to my eyes. I never imagined myself in this position. To be the reason that two people could potentially break, even if Rafayel deserves it. To have been played, and used.
“Leave him. He doesn’t deserve you.”
Rafayel is coming around the counter now, hands up, as if in surrender. I back away from him, everything about him suddenly twisted, ugly.
His green eyes are like venom to me now.
“Valerie, I don’t even know this girl -”
I watch as the girl - Valerie - slaps his face. He stumbles, against the counter, likely out of shock. Valerie begins to chorus similar words as me.
“This is the girl on your phone, isn’t it?” she cries out. “The one you told me was part of agroup project? You made me feel stupid for thinking - God you made me feelpathetic -”
Turning away, my vision begins to blur. Everything feels like a blur, but all I want to do is get out of here. Get as far away from Rafayel as possible. To forget he ever exists.
I push through the doors, the sunlight from outside shining much too brightly.
As I surge forward from the steps, and onto the footpath, my body pummels into another. I stumble backwards, shocked by the impact, but arms incase me almost instantly.
I should punch away from this person, this stranger who’d just hugged me. Except, there’s a familiarity in his embrace.
In these arms.
They feel warm. They feel safe.
“Garcia.”
Marlon?
What is he doing here?
His hands cup my cheeks, bringing my gaze toward his. As soon as his eyes meet mine, they are blazing with dangerous fury. I’ve never seen his eyes blaze before.
His thumbs brush just beneath my eyes, catching a tear.
“Jaslene, what did he do,” he asks. His voice is a strain.
He’s acting like yesterday didn’t happen. Like I didn’t say those horrible things to him. I don’t deserve his comfort right now. I don’t deserve Marlon.
He’s holding me in his arms, encasing me, as if he wants to shield me.
