Tia.
"What did you just say?" The man in front of me requested, bringing me back to my senses and I shook my head, ignoring him.
"Never mind," I muttered, cursing myself for appreciating a man after I had just been betrayed by one.
I tried to rise from the ground, but he wouldn't let up. "Why are you trying to hurt yourself?" he asked, his eyes piercing through me. "Is suicide the only option you can think of?"
I threw him a dangerous look as his words got to me but gave him no response, refusing to engage. Who told him I was out there to kill myself? Even if a man was going to break my heart a hundred times I would never hurt myself.
I tried to move but I missed my steps again and I felt his hand quickly wrap around my wrist but this time, I was quick to snap my hand away from his. "Don't touch me," I bellowed, my voice firm. "Let go of me."
I heard him smirked as he gazed around before replacing it with a stern look. "Do you lack manners? I just helped you from dying right now and you're acting like I did wrong." He countered, his face holding an aggressive look. "You know what? Sorry I tried to help. You can as well return to ending your life."
I frowned at his words and watched as he turned to leave. How could he be so obnoxious? Was he blind to see that I missed my steps? "Point of corrections," I probed in order to lay him off. "I wasn't planning on ending my life but thank you for trying to help," I countered, sarcasm laced in my voice.
He stopped in his tracks and turned back to face me. Our eyes locked once again and I couldn't help but drool at his look. He was handsome, it wasn't something to deny but I only wanted to believe how people like him can always be full of deceits. They were never true to their words.
His voice brought me back. "You look mysterious. I suggest you meet with a therapist instead of speaking gibberish and trying to prove no point." Then, he started off again.
What? Was he deaf or what exactly was wrong with him? Didn't I just tell him it wasn't intentional whereas, who was he to call me mysterious? My anger wrecked as I watched him leave. How could he speak so lowly to me? Do I look like a joke to him?
Ready to verge my anger, I stormed after him, hoping to treat his fuck up. He thought he could have his way because of a little compliment from me? Impossible.
Just when I was about to get to him, he suddenly made a stop at a pavement around the corner of the rooftop and took his seat, making it easier for me to confront him. Soon, I was standing right in front of him.
"Just because I complimented you doesn't give you the right to speak to me in such a manner," I countered, angrily and his next words threw me off balance.
"Who the hell is this?" He thundered, aggressively. "Did I ask you for any compliment?" He requested. "I'm not in the mood for this harassment, lady. Please leave here!" His tone was harsh and powerful but it was his words that took more turns on me.
Was he for real? Who told him I was flirting with him? I let out a sarcastic laugh before uttering, "Seems like people can't differentiate between compliments and flirting."
He smirked, replacing it with a stern look. "Compliments? So it is."
I rolled my eyes at his words. I had barely thought he was someone who could receive compliments but here I was receiving an ugly reputation from him. He was rather no different from those boys outside and it made me wonder who he was. Yet, gauging his reactions, I decided not to go further. Leaving him was the best so I spun around to leave but just as I was about to make my way, I sighted some bottles of canned beers beside him that shocked me even more and another thunderous laugh couldn't help but escape from my mouth.
I spoke in between laughter. "Who the hell drinks beers on a sunny afternoon?" He sent me an irritating look that made me laugh harder. "I thought I was the only one with the problem."
He threw his head away and picked up one of the beer cans, opened it and gulped some down his throat that interested me. To my utmost surprise, he stretched his beer can to me. "Care to join in relieving the troubles?"
I wanted to leave so badly but the urge to taste the beers I was gazing at couldn't leave so, I gave in. I took my seat beside him instantly and picked one of the beer cans next to him, opened it, and gulped down the entire contents.
"Slow down," he muttered, "We're still in the daytime. I would be so embarrassed if you'll need help to return home."
I brought down the can beer and chuckled amidst it, forgetting that we both were at war edge with each other. "I bet if it's possible for you to get to the level of how much I can hold my alcoholic state."
"I bet."
Soon, time passed, and I was already on my fourth bottle of beer. The stranger watched me intensely, his eyes never leaving mine. I could feel his gaze, but I didn't care. The beer was my escape, my peace.
As I gulped down the cold liquid, I felt my senses dulled. My heart ached, and the pain was suffocating. But with each sip, I felt myself drifting away from reality. The beer was helping me soothe the pain, numb the emotions that threatened to consume me.
I didn't think about stopping. I didn't think about anything except the next sip, the next moment of relief. The world around me blurred, and all that mattered was the beer, the rooftop, and the silence.
I knew he could see through me but I didn't mind. I didn't care. I was lost in my own world, a world of pain and sorrow. He wouldn't understand, not even when I explained things to him. All that mattered to me at that moment was the beer, and the temporary reprieve it gave me from the pain that threatened to consume me whole.
However, he refused to keep his mouth shut like I wanted him to. He finally went on to ask the question I was avoiding, his voice soft and gentle. "Would you like to share them with me?"
I looked up, and our eyes met again but instead of the stern look that was once plastered on his face, I saw something soft, something that could understand me. At that point, I felt letting them out could really help, and I did.
I took a deep breath and began narrating my story starting from the beginning when I met Jade. The love we shared, the laughter, the tears, and the dreams we built together. I spoke of our desire to have a child but couldn't after much trials and how Jade had promised he wouldn't love me less if I didn't bear him one.
I explained how Jade was all good to me until six months ago when he started acting strange. He suddenly became distant and cold which I was yet to understand his reasons.
With my tipsy tone, I muttered, "Then, last week, I decided to file a divorce thinking he was going to come back to his senses but guess what?" I requested and made a pause, hoping for a response from him but when I waited and got none, I added, my tone rising. "He signed the papers immediately and left with his new fiancee. His manager's daughter." I let out a heavy breath. "It was like he didn't care," I said, my voice cracking. "Like our entire relationship meant nothing to him."
There was a long pause after I finished expressing myself and I tried to gulp down another sip from the beer can, but he was quicker. He pulled it from my hands and placed it beyond my reach.
"You're drunk," he told me and I was forced to look up at him.
"I know."
"If Jade returns back to you and pleads for forgiveness, would you ever give in to him?" he suddenly asked, his eyes locked on mine and I smirked after a few stares.
Yet, I couldn't help but answer. "He cheated on me. I think it'll be stupid for me to return to him."
His gaze didn't waver. "Give me a plain answer." His tone was demanding and it sent shivers down my spine.
I looked up to meet his gaze, and for a moment, our eyes locked again. Those piercing eyes were tempting, and I was forced to look away. They could tell on me since I was drunk.
I finally gave an answer to his question. "Having met someone like you, I wouldn't," I said finally, my voice barely above a whisper.
The air seemed to vibrate with tension as his eyes held mine as if he was searching for something. I didn't know what he was looking for, but I knew I was trapped in his gaze.
"Be my wife then."
I let out another laugh. "Your wife?" I inquired, sarcastically.
He answered plainly. "Yes."