The Emancipation of a Fuckboy - Chapter 28: Chapter 28

Valentine
I stared at the list that Ivana just gave me for almost an hour the moment I got home. First of all, this is utterly a lot for me to take in. I'm not angry at Ivana for keeping this list for a long time. I mean, I was somehow enraged when she first pulled it out of her old notebook and although her reason seemed unconvincing at all, there's just no room for me to hate her. She's been always there for me and even until now she's spoon feeding me with ideas that I will never think of.
If Dominic had Yhannie beside him then I'm going to say that I have Ivana on my side. And much like Yhannie herself, Ivana is a little bit annoying sometimes but she's always there whenever I needed her.
My mind is so fatigued that I just cooked eggs and bacon for my dinner. Pizza parlors and Chinese chains were just one call away but I'm feeling the vibes of having breakfast for dinner. After eating my dinner I resorted back to looking at the list. And just by looking at the half a decade old paper, the unavoidable feeling of pain and anger coalesced together to form an unpleasant swirling sensation that won't stop stirring up at the pit of my stomach. Reading the list again for the hundredth time made it so much easier for me to believe that everything Dominic did was precisely done with such cold-hearted calculation. A small part of me wanted to believe that somehow, just somehow, Dominic had learned to love me at the very least but the another part seemed to grimly accept that he's just a cold-hearted heartbreaker and nothing else. I know there are a lot of good bones in Dominic, I just know that but this list is a wildcard.
This fucking list is unquestionably effective, at least to me. There's no question that I was completely obliterated in a way that I never saw it coming my way. And my competitive self admits that evident defeat. I guess I truly deserved all of that. I guess I deserved to finally be fixed just to be shattered into smithereens. I guess I deserved being the one who falls in love with someone who had no intentions of loving me right from the start. I almost don't want to believe that Dominic wasted a lot of his precious time just to destroy me.
One part of me wants to let the tears cascade from my eyes but the other part insists that I shouldn't. That latter part of me had its own voice and whispered that crying is a sign of weakness, at least for this part. I went to the fridge and grabbed a bottle beer before bringing myself to the balcony and lighting up a stick cigarette. I easily opened the beer using my teeth and out of my uneasiness, chugged almost half of it. The ice cold sensation of the beer washed my throat all the way down to my stomach. The accumulation of acid made me burp loud. After puffing my cigarette and finishing the beer I went back to my bedroom now having a perfectly clear canvas of mind. I looked at the list once again, reading what's written on each number like it was just a simple instruction. One final scan and I realized that Ivana is a genius. This list is the key for me to get what I needed. I've got to get back at Dominic. I just have to if it will make me feel better for the rest of my life. I will do everything, no matter what the cost if it meant that I will forget him for good this time. It might be difficult but I am done with Dominic motherfucking Warren.
Even after that horrible night, Dominic still controlled my life as if I'm his puppet but now I'm going to cut the strings and set myself free from his control. I took a quick shower and retreated to my bed. I spent the rest of the cold night planning and plotting my own revenge using the very same list that Dominic used against me hoping that it will be effective in reverse. I am very hopeful that I will succeed.
I was excited to wake up the next morning and execute the plan that I plotted using my own brain. I'm not a smart person and I admit that but the pain and anger that I have is more than enough to provide efficient fuel to my head and let the gears turn. I jumped right into the shower and then went to Ivana's apartment.
Steal his attention.
That's the first thing I'm going to do today. I needed to steal Dominic's attention and I just knew I needed Ivana's help for this part.
When I arrived to Ivana's apartment unit, it took me almost fifteen minutes knocking on her door. I thought that she's still deeply asleep but it turned out that she's just having a trouble calming her baby down and she can't hear that I was knocking on the door because of the noise.
"Valentine! What brings you here?" Ivana spoke aloud so I'd hear her. Baby Axelle is just screaming and crying and she can't even calm him down.
"Why are you crying little hero?" Completely disregarding Ivana's warm and welcoming question, I was quickly sucked up by baby Axelle's overloading cuteness. Even in his crying state, he still looked cute that I just had to carry him. "Did mommy forget to feed you?! Come to uncle!" I said and gestured Ivana to hand me her baby which she did.
Baby Axelle paused from crying and stared at me as if he's trying to remember where he'd saw me and then went to cry again but this time his cry is a little bit softer and bearable.
"Aren't you going to let me inside?" I leered at Ivana while deliberately bouncing baby Axelle hoping to make him feel better and stop from crying.
"Okay, come in" Ivana huffed. "Hmmm. I'm going to guess why you are here"
"I'm here because after spending the whole night about thinking,"
"Very good, at least you're thinking now," Ivana cut me off mid-sentence just to insert that insult.
"Shut up! I just came here to tell you that I finally have a plan"
"Oooh! That's going to be juicy. Come on spill it!" Ivana spat as she slowly led me towards the kitchen area where she was busy baking some cookies and muffins.
"So here's what I'm planning" I was about to begin when suddenly I noticed baby Axelle stopped from crying and shifted to making a baby blubbering sound as his tiny little hands pointed on something. "What? Do you want this muffin?" Shifting my attention from Ivana real quickly back to baby Axelle, I picked up the muffin and showed it to him.
"You want the muffin?" Ivana said and nonchalantly grabbed the muffin from my hand. She teased baby Axelle with the muffin eventually giving it to him. Baby Axelle held the muffin and threw it back on Ivana's face.
"Hahahahaha" That was so good.
"What was that for?" Ivana complained and picked up the muffin from the floor.
Baby Axelle seemed to be entertained by throwing some of the muffin into his mom's face that it made him stop from crying. He was giggling and cooing and it was so damn cute that it melted me instantly. The baby eventually stopped crying when I place him on his crib giving him a toy to play with.
"So, where were we again?" I asked Ivana.
"Uhm, about your plan" She replied.
"Oh, right!"
"So here's what I'm thinking." I began and subsequently briefed her about my first plan to steal Dominic's attention.
Three hours later, Ivana and I along with her baby found ourselves having a stroll at Dominic's neighborhood. The initial plan was to let Dominic see both of us strolling around his neighborhood. That will somehow steal his attention and will make him think that we already have a baby together. That will make him go batshit for sure. We acted as if we were a couple just strolling around the area. I'm hoping to somehow meet Dominic once again if fate will let it slide that way but we never saw not even a sign of him. We stood by in front of their house for quite a while hoping that he'll see us in one of the windows but then it eventually hit me that it's quite obvious. I never thought this plan will go down to waste but there's always another chance to do this again. We decided to head home and change the plan. We were about to leave the neighborhood when we accidentally crossed path with Dominic's younger sister Collene. The odds are somehow betting on me today.
"Hey, Valentine?" She stopped in front of me the moment she recognized me.
"Collene?" I mouthed acknowledging her presence. "I've never seen you in a while. You look just like your mother now" I continued noticing the drastic changes with her.
"No one says that but I guess yeah," Collene replied.
"How's your futsal career going?" I asked.
"Well, it's going pretty well. My team just won the junior tournament last week"
"That's wonderful! Keep doing what you're doing." I said and then an idea quickly entered my mind. "Oh, by the way this is my girlfriend, Ivana. Ivana this is Collene1"
"Hi, Collene" Ivana smiled to Collene.
"What brings you here?" Collene asked and I scrambled for a moment. I didn't know how to answer that. Luckily enough, Ivana was quick on her feet to cover me.
"Oh, we're just looking to buy a new house" Ivana lied and it's pretty much effective.
"Oh that's great!" Collene chirped.
"I heard your brother is back home already"
"Yeah! Why? Did you miss him?" Collene spat and then there was a moment of awkward silence. "Just kidding! Yeah, he's back here"
"Hahaha, that was a good one!" I faked a laugh and gave Ivana a look that she understood.
"By the way, can we take a picture together?" Collene suggested fishing her phone from her pocket.
"Sure!" I nodded, a little bit confused.
We took a quick photo and then subsequently bid goodbye with each other.
"This is such a fucking waste but I guess your plan worked." Ivana opened her mouth to speak when we finally got into my car. Baby Axelle was comfortably buckled up at the backseat and was just making cooing sounds while sucking on his milk.
"How'd you say so?" I replied knowing clearly that my plan failed. In my mind, that plan worked seamlessly.
"Dominic's sister will surely show that picture to Dominic." She continued.
"And then?"
"Dumbass! Of course she'd tell her brother that she saw both of us and that she'd probably gossip that we already have a baby and all of that thing. So, technically your plan worked!"
"You're right! Why didn't I realize that?"
"Jesus, Valentine! I thought you already planned everything?"
"Well.... Yeah, but I didn't know this would happen today."
"That's why there should always be a plan B all the way up to plan Z just in case something doesn't work out the way you initially planned it."
"Oh my god. I'm so sorry. I'm such a fucking dumbass!"
"Damn right! Oh and by the way I've stalked Dominic's twitter account and I noticed that he always tweets whenever he goes out to party"
"Really? So that means we can quickly move to step 2" I trailed.
"Make him kiss you" Ivana said and I paused driving for a moment to give her an accusing look. "I've read the list as well you know"
"Right, right!"
"So are you really ready to do this?"
"Yes. I'm ready to break some heart again!"