Chapter 18

Saturday morning, two days after Carlo spoke with Franco over the phone, Carlo set to meet Jane at a fast-food nearby. Jane put on her sexiest black dress and flat shoes. She's excited to meet Carlo again. It's been a week since they last talked. They've been seeing each other again for the last three months but not as a couple. They normally just drink together once or twice a week and Carlo would be spending the night in her house. Her parents are both abroad so she can do anything she wants.

Jane smiled sweetly when she saw Carlo at the far end corner of the store, but he only glanced at her for a second and focused on his phone again. She sat beside him and was going to kiss his cheek when he moved his head away.

"Why?" she asked.

"What did you tell Isabella again?"

"Nothing!" she said warily. "Are you accusing me of anything?"

"I'm not accusing you because I know what you did."

"What are you talking about?"

"You tell me. What did you tell her this time?" he is trying to keep his voice down but his tone is very upset. He held her arm tightly and asked again, looking straight to her eyes. "What did you tell her?"

"You're hurting me!" she said, threatening to louder her voice. He let go of her arm when the couple on the next table looked at them.

"What did you tell her?"

"She texted you when you were sleeping in my house so I replied and told her that we're together."

"Why did you do that? Why do you have to always reply to her messages whenever she texts me?"

"Because that's the truth."

"You know how much I love her and with what you did, she might be gone from me forever!"

"You love her? Then what are you doing in my room every time that you need someone to talk to? How can you lie to her that she's the only one when in fact, you're seeing someone else? Is that what you call love?"

"Shut up!" he said, feeling the guilt from what she said.

"Your forever with her has long ended, Carlo! Whatever you had in the past will always just be in the past. It will forever be a memory, one of your could have beens and should have beens. She's never coming back to you."

"She's not coming back because of you."

"She left you before even without me entering the picture yet. Now, you're upset with me? Me, who has always been here for you when no one else is? Me? Who has sacrificed my own happiness so you can be happy even for just a few hours? Me? Who only did the things I did because of my love for you? You're blaming me for what happened to the two of you?"

"You're the biggest mistake that I've ever done in my life."

"If that's what you think, then fine. I just did the right thing, and maybe you are the worst thing that happened in my life, too. Just like how you feel for Isabella, I hoped and wished that one day you will love me the way you loved her. As for you, you were so stupid to believe that she will love you the way you love her."

"Shut up, Jane!"

"Yeah, goodbye Carlo! Good luck to you." Jane stood up and left him.

Carlo was confused. He can't let Isabella think that way. He can't let their future be ruined by his stupidity and his mistakes. He tried to call her number after Jane left but she's not answering. He was furious. He wants to break everything so before he could no longer control his anger, he went home and stayed in his room. He tried to reminisce every single moment he had with Isabella. All the love that they shared in his room. He loved her for so long but their moments together were so few. He hated himself for being so weak, for giving in to what Jane wanted, for letting his sadness take over him and cheat on Isabella. He can't lose hope now. Just one more year and Isabella will graduate and she will be free from Franco. She will have her own choice, her own decision to whether be with him or stay with Franco. He looked at his finger with the ring on it. He wondered if Isabella is still wearing hers after what Jane told her. He dialed her number again but she still refused to answer. He went to their balcony and sat on the chair that they used to share. One more year Isabella, please hold on, he whispered into thin air.