The Emancipation of a Fuckboy - Chapter 42: Chapter 42

Valentine
Sitting unnoticed in one corner, I took a sip of Rosé and let its bright and crisp sensation burn my throat. I let my eyes roam around Mrs Warren's backyard, and it's quite amusing to see everyone enjoying their meal and doing their own business. I saw Jack and Aldrin on the table nearest to the buffet table, and they were both like hungry dogs eating as much as they could. Ivana was with Mrs Warren, and they were both playing with baby Axelle sharing their motherly instincts. I'm sure they're exchanging some stories about babies and toddlers. Ivana could use some more advice from a very seasoned mother like Dominic's mom. I quickly moved my sight away from them since I'm starting to remember how irresponsible my mom is, and I don't want that dark cloud to bring heavy rain on my parade. My eyes were eventually redirected towards where Dominic is and instantly saw how gleeful he was. I've let him enjoy this moment with his old gang. They were all huddled in a single spot as they shared laughter.
Dominic's birthday party went exactly how I envisioned it in my head. And I'm highly convinced that I've pushed him deep down the abyss. I was nervous for a while that Dominic might catch a whiff of this surprise, but it turned out the plan is five steps ahead of him. I guess this is the first time that I'm actually a few steps ahead of him. He's always the smart one and is always a few steps ahead of me. That's the whole reason why he got me sequestered right at the palm of his hands and managed to break my heart and get away with it. But this time, he's the one being held right in the palm of my hands.
With the success of this surprise, all credits go to Ivana for editing the plan. She has a lot of things to say. Don't do that, do this instead, blah blah blah. She's almost become my advisor instead of my friend, but I think she's acting on her own anyway. I didn't ask for her help about everything, but here she is offering the best options, and she's even going as far as scowling at my bad decisions. I've got thank her for that. I don't think I'd be this successful with the surprise without her guidance.
Since almost everyone is preoccupied, I've come to a decision to be alone for a moment. I ate the last slice of the cake and sipped the last drop of Rosé before eventually staggering somewhere else private. I lit up a cigarette and thought that the first puff tasted so much like refreshment.
I stared at the sky, and I've got to think of the moment I stared into Dominic's eyes a while ago. Although that was intentional and just a minute detail of my plan, I felt like I was being pulled into a whirlpool without my permission. I felt like Dominic is working his witchcraft, inadvertently pulling me towards him. It's clearly a déjà vu moment from when I was used to be in love with him back in high school. It's the old moment where every time I look into his eyes I get pulled by some unknown energy. I'm not trying to say I don't have any feelings for him now. I admit that I do feel something for him, but I'm confident that that feeling isn't strong enough to stop me from breaking him. I sat down on a stool and continued smoking in silence.
"Can I have some of that?" Someone spoke from behind. From the voice itself, I knew it was Dominic.
"Sure," I agreed as I bent with a little surge of discomfort because of the tightness of the suit. I fished the pack of cigarette from my pocket and handed it to him.
"That was one hell of a surprise," Dominic uttered which momentarily threw me to a panic mode.
"What?" I asked, pretending to not hear him.
Could it be that he knew about it?
Could it be that he already knew about my plan?
Could it be that he finally realized what I was trying to pull off? If so, then kill me. Someone, a sniper perhaps, should just pull that trigger and shot me in the head.
My heart began to pump even faster, and the pins of nervousness somehow took over part of my body.
"My mom once tried to surprise me," Dominic lit up his cigarette and puffed. "It was just a lame attempt. She said I need to pick up something from the neighbor which I did and when I returned home everyone screamed 'Happy Birthday' thinking that I'd be surprised but I wasn't even surprised at all because I saw them scrambling through the window," Dominic continued as he pulled another stool and sat beside me.
"Hahaha," I chuckled, but it wasn't because of the story. I blew a smoke along with a breath of relief. "At least she tried to surprise you. I'm going to give her something for the effort."
"Yeah. I pretended that I was shocked just so my mom's effort won't be wasted." He puffed once again before continuing to speak. "Her acting today however is worthy of an Oscar. God damn it, I thought everything was real. She almost gave me a heart attack."
"I didn't get the chance to see what happened when you got home and found your mom lying unconscious on the floor with blood all over her face but our plans definitely worked. She did an outstanding job." Mrs Warren really committed to the whole kidnapping shenanigan. Even with her old age, it shows how much she's willing to go to make her son happy. I hope my mother was like that but fuck her, wherever she is right now, fuck her!
"My mom actually did that first to my sister. It was Collene's ninth birthday so it naturally worked. She was surprised as hell."
"You know I'm jealous that your mom gets to do that to you," I blabbered. I don't know why did I even said that when I'm already contented without my mom.
"Oh sorry, I didn't mean to. I'm so sorry, Valentine."
"No, it's okay. We are happy without her anyway." I said brushing the rotten thought away.
"By the way, how'd you even get my mom to agree to something like that?" Dominic asked with such curiosity.
"I don't even know. Honestly, I was too scared to talk to her at first. I just thought you have told her about what happened to us and that she'd decline but it turned out that she doesn't....." FUCK! I kept on talking until I realized that I got swept deep into the moment, and I realized how this conversation escalated quickly from being cool to basically awkward. I had to stop really quick and look at Dominic.
"What?" Dominic trailed without a trace of awkwardness in him.
"What?" I spat back, a little bit speechless.
"She doesn't what?"
"I mean; you haven't told her about our past." I said and quickly regretted it. What the fuck am I even saying? I don't mean to bring back the past because I've been hurt enough and yet here I am unlocking those memories with the person who hurt me.
"Yeah I haven't told her about everything," Dominic paused and looked away from me. He puffed and blew the smoke out before looking back at me. "We are good right?"
"Yeah, yeah, we're good."
Silence took reign after that. There was this unspoken thought that we both shared in the midst of this awkward silence. We are good, we both know that but we can't deny the fact that we aren't ready to talk about it. We finished smoking our cigarettes, and now we were just staring at the sky as it slowly bleeds into nightfall.
I just surprised him, and I don't want things to go south after that. I had to change the mood. If I don't, I'll wake up tomorrow and regret that I pushed myself back to square one.
"Dominic,"
"Valentine,"
We both uttered. We even looked at each other at the very same time. And then we both looked away like were shy teenagers attempting to confess our love for each other.
"Hey,"
"Uhm,"
What the actual fuck! Why do we have to repeat the same moment?
"You go first," Dominic spat.
"No, you go first." I said accentuating the word you so he'd be pressured to talk first.
"I've been meaning to ask you this and I thought since you're here that," Dominic held my hand and focused his attention towards me.
"That what?"
"I don't really know how to say it,"
"Just say, it's not like I'm a different person."
"Well, uhm. Do you want to go out after this?" Dominic finally said what he wants to say.
"Is this a date?" I asked with such excitement twinkling in my eye. "Are you asking me on a date?" I replied almost quickly. I just had to. If he's asking me on a date, then that's perfect. That's exactly the next step.
"Yes, Valentine. I'm asking you on a date."