The Glimpse of My Past

Liam’s P. O. V.

“Babe, what’s the matter?” Isabelle asked me right after Diane left us inside the elevator. She was smiling like a bitch I never expected her to be.

She then pushed the twenty-second and closed buttons using her right forefinger. I glanced at Leandro and he was also smiling like an idiot-as if being entertained with all this chaos. I stared back at Isabelle, and I ended up holding my forehead because she was indeed giving me some headaches. My expression turned dark, and it was quite a few seconds before I answered her.

“Damn it, Isabelle… Diane is my girlfriend!” I clenched my jaws. I could hardly control myself anymore, causing me to raise my voice here in the elevator. Exclusive content © by Nô(v)el/Dr/ama.Org.

I didn’t usually shout at women but because of what happened-seeing how Diane emotionally reacted to Isabelle’s lies-I couldn’t help but shrug and lose my patience here. I knew that Diane was hurt beyond a reasonable doubt, and that was the last thing I would have ever wanted to see.

“Oops, I’m sorry! She didn’t introduce herself in the first place, and it wasn’t my job to guess anyway. I’m not a fortune-teller, Liam. She didn’t claim to be your girlfriend, so was it a one-sided love?” Isabelle responded like she was mocking the hell out of me. She was about to approach me again, but I held her arms to stop her.

“Then, why did you have to introduce yourself as my girlfriend, and what about that kiss?” I snapped at her. I wasn’t a short-tempered person but at the moment, my string of patience was indeed out of the line and was already consumed.

Isabelle licked her lips as she crossed her arms in front of her chest. “Oh! I guessed that you already forgot about our deal before we parted in the States? Well… let me remind you about that, Liam-honey. You had agreed that I would be your girlfriend as soon as I see you again, remember? You see, I came here for you. So, you’re free to love me now, as promised!”

She looked at me with her puppy eyes and even pouted her lips. “Because the last time I checked our status, you still love me. But being a good brother, you let Leandro pursue me. And it hurts that I had to bite Leandro’s trap, but in the end, he just dumped me over that Hollywood actress!” She rolled her eyes on Leandro, but it was pretty obvious that they were only working in cahoots.

After that, she then draped her right arm around Leandro’s left arm. Isabelle acted as she had already forgotten what they went through before-about how my brother had hurt her and discarded her, not because of another woman, but because he no longer wanted her.

“And the kiss? Why? Didn’t you like it? Tell me… do you want a second round, honey?” She grinned like a whore.

I gritted my teeth. Isabelle was making me lose my sanity, and at the same time, she was disgusting me. I just closed my eyes and shook my head. Pressing my lips into a thin line, I couldn’t believe that I was once captivated by her.

Calming myself would also do me no good, most especially when I knew that they both conspired against me. They planned all of these. Until the three of us reached the twenty-second floor, I did not speak again. 

The Isabelle I was with right now was indeed far from the Isabelle before, with whom I used to harbor my feelings. I had never forgotten what we talked about years ago, but hell, damn it! It doesn’t matter to me anymore, and I never thought that she would take that too seriously. I just wanted her to stop crying at the airport, and that was why I made a promise.

But I never expected that Diane would come into my life again as if our stars were fated to meet each other for the second time around. Of course, I would choose Diane over this woman!

They got out of the elevator first while Isabelle was still snaking her body towards Leandro. My suspicion only intensified that my brother initially planned this all along.

Leandro still selfishly wanted Diane for himself to make this kind of scheme. He would do anything to retaliate-perhaps, setting up a meeting with Steve in the States and even bringing Isabelle here. He already drowned himself into greed.

They thought that I was only at their back, following them. The two were even laughing together when Leandro removed Isabelle’s clutch and placed his arm on her shoulder instead.

When they were quite far away from me, I cleverly pressed the fifth and close buttons. Before they could notice it, the elevator door had fully closed. Impatient, I unstoppably tapped my feet as it felt like this was the slowest pacing of the elevator.

My eyes got bored while staring at the LED signage going down, irascibly waiting for the elevator to land on the right floor. I should have used the stairs, but a total of seventeen floors might drain my energy even before I could see Diane and explain myself to her.

The elevator soon stopped on the fifth floor. Then, I saw Shey when I was about to get out of here. She asked me what happened during our aerial date and why Diane had to leave earlier than usual. I wasn’t able to respond to Shey when she told me that Diane left in a hurry while reasoning out that her stomach ached so bad.

Damn, I was running out of time!

So, I stayed inside the elevator and just pressed the ground-floor button. If I could just make a loud thud here that would make the elevator reached the ground floor instantly without me getting harm, I would have done that.

It was a good thing that I still caught Diane in the VIP lobby together with her best friend. If it was just someone else and if I just didn’t know Lorenz, I would have probably been jealous. I immediately chased them afterwards, but Diane seemed to be obstinate and aloof.

She distanced herself, even spanned her arm across Lorenz’s, and that somehow pained me. I held her left hand, but she shoved it away, and that ached me even more. Hurt knotted in my heart like a spiderweb-intricate and strong. The happy paradise that I was building for the two of us abruptly became a distorted view.

We used to be so happy earlier, but now, I looked like a stranger to her. I knew that it wasn’t yet late to explain my side, but she was not giving me the chance to do so. 

We were starting to be the center of attraction here in the lobby, but I didn’t care anymore. Might as well better to announce to everyone here that Diane was my girlfriend, but she would have never wanted it. I stopped myself from what I planned to do and just continued to follow them.

Until we reached the underground parking lot, Diane didn’t even lend an ear to hear me. Lorenz tried to help, but Diane became hard-headed all of a sudden. She doesn’t want to listen while saying that she was not ready to talk to me yet.

It hurts me a lot that I would rather choose Diane to take a knife under my skin than hearing her speak those words like she never cared about my feelings. She removed my grasp on her hands and it felt like the world crumbled upon me.

A sharp dagger pierced my chest when she turned her back on me, but I loved her so much that I had to respect her decision. Perhaps, what she needed was time, and I would give that to her. At some point, I was willing to do everything that she wanted me to do. After all, it was my fault.

Even though I didn’t want to let her go, and I would have never wanted to end this day without us fixing our problem together, I still did nothing but shed a tear when Diane decided to leave with Lorenz. I looked upwards and used my right knuckles to wipe my tears from falling, but I just couldn’t control them. For one last time, I saw her looking at me… until they drove away and disappeared.

I didn’t want to give up that easily, so I tried to call her number so many times, hoping that she would at least talk to me. Diane might get mad at me even more, but I still took my chances-until it seemed like she turned off her cellular phone-eventually killing the least chance I could have.