Word count: 2439

Diego's POV

*

Kara arrived with Stephano a few hours ago. After some chit chat, he excused himself to go up and have a discussion with my mom in her room and so far, Adrian had been trying to get Kara to talk about their sex life.

Or lack of therefore, because I could very well tell that she still acted and spoke like a virgin. Even her body language was awkward immediately my girlfriend brought up the 'dingly dingly' topic.

Sighing, I fumbled with the Rubik's cube in my hands.

"Addie?"

She stopped mid speech and sat well so she was facing me. "Yeah?"

"Help me get something from your room. I dropped my wristwatch somewhere on the counter the other time."

She frowned. "I didn't notice any wristwatch there when I-"

"Then check the drawer beside your bed. I must've dropped it somewhere there."

She nodded and went to check it but not before giving Kara a mischievous stare. "Avoid the topic all you want but I'll get what I want from you."

She huffed and climbed up the stairs.

I went to join Kara on the couch. "Hey little sis."

She rolled her eyes. "Hi big bro. Sage. Grandpa. Since you want to stick to calling me little like you yourself are so big."

"How's life treating you? How does it feel being engaged?" I patted her head.

My question brought a smile to her face. "Very nice actually. I can't believe I'm now engaged. Also to a caring, loving and understanding man like Stephano. He's always attentive to my needs. It's just so...beautiful."

I side hugged her. "I'm so happy for you. I want you to always be happy and I know Stephano is a good man."

"Yes. Sometimes, I feel like I don't deserve him. He's so spontaneous and likes fun things while I'm just lil 'ol boring Kara and like to read documentaries and articles and ugh. There's sometimes the fear that he might get tired of me, you know?" She casted me a worried glance and I gave her a look of bewilderment.

This twin sister of mine was really clueless.

"Don't over think it Kara. Stephano is into you and you alone. If I had a woman looking at me the way he was looking at you, with that I-want-to-worship-you-and-also-bend-you-over-all-the-time look, I'd have put the ring on their finger." I told her truthfully.

An image suddenly flashed before my eyes. An image of Adrian in my room, in my shirt and boy shorts, smiling up at me with her face bare of makeup.

Her radiant smile always found a way to melt all my worries.

My breath hitched.

But then my heart was calm as realization dawned upon me. Adrian was definitely my final stop. I could never look any other woman the way I did her.

Adrian's light footsteps followed as she alighted the stairs and Kara looked her way, then her brows furrowed.

"You dropped it on the bed. Careless thing." She pointed the wristwatch at me.

"Adrian, please help me with a cup of milk. It's in the freezer." Kara told her ever so sweetly.

"Am I your servant now or what? You both are courting death!" She commented and threw the wristwatch on the chair before walking to the kitchen.

Kara grabbed my arm. "Diego, I have a serious question to ask you. And I need your sincere answer."

"What's that?"

"What do you think about Adrian?" She whispered, wiggling her brows.

I squinted at her, observing her body language to determine what she was probably driving at. Kara could be smart sometimes, luring one into an uncomfortable situation with her innocent expressions and mock obliviousness.

"Well she's friendly, for one."

Kara gave me a deadpan. "We both know she's not the friendliest. Just be truthful and don't sugarcoat words."

"It's not in the freezer!" Adrian shouted from the kitchen.

"Oh! Just help me with a cup of fruit juice then. Thanks baby." Kara called back before giving me her full concentration once again.

"For real, I think she's cool, she's caring, she has a kind heart despite her nonchalant exterior. And she's super hot." I smirked, licking my lower lip. "I'd totally do her if-"

Kara slapped my shoulder. "Perv! Don't think I've forgotten about the day I caught you flirting with her in my ensuite after she cried. Adrian is so precious to me and she's practically my sister. If you won't take her serious, then don't mess with her. She's a softie despite how tough she actually comes off to people."

My expression turned serious and I played with Kara's fingers. "I would never take advantage of her. I like her actually."

I mentally scolded Adrian for wanting us to keep this dating a secret. What was she even afraid of? Kara knew we liked each other. And my mom even told me she knew we were having more than a fling. To be honest, my mom is literally one of the coolest women I've ever known. She's so open about everything. I think this has a lot to do with her imaginative mind and passion for writing stories.

Kara gasped at my words. Then a bright smile spread on her face. "You like her? Have you asked her out? What did she say? You know, I think she likes you too. Her eyes are always quick to light up whenever you're around us-"

Adrian, who had been tiptoeing her way towards us suddenly put an arm around Kara and chuckled, dropping the glass of juice on the table. "Are you guys talking about me?"

Kara faced me and Adrian who was still behind Kara, used the opportunity to shake her head when I opened my mouth to talk, giving me a pout. I huffed.

What was she afraid of? Why didn't she want Kara to know about us? Hell, we already started dating for a while now and had also gotten intimate thrice!

"What's there to discuss about you? We were talking about one of my ex girlfriends who recently wants to get back with me." I checked the time on my wristwatch and got up. "I should be on my way home now. Take care ladies."

Panic flashed in Adrian's eyes.

"Wait, I'll see you out-" she got up but I shook my head.

"No need Adrian. You ladies should have your own girl time, I know you have a lot to talk about. I just remembered Cindy is still in town and I should do some catching up with her." I stated dismissively though it was a lie. I didn't have any plans of seeing Cindy.

"Cindy?" Adrian and Kara chorused.

"Yes, the lady I introduced you to at your graduation." I faced Adrian while speaking. She bit her lower lip and I looked away. "Well, have a restful night."

Adrian's face fell. And Kara didn't miss the drop of her shoulders.

I saw myself out.

Immediately I drove out, my phone rang. It was from Dylan, one of my colleagues at work.

"Hey man, wanna go grab a drink?"

I shook my head. "Nah, I'll pass on this one. It's still quite early anyway."

"We're moving over to watch a match after we leave the bar. Let's just do some catching up. Besides, it's past six and we'll just have some drinks before the other guys leave do do their thing. Even I am calling it an early night so we can leave together later."

Well, a drink wouldn't hurt anyone. "Alright man. The usual place?"

"Yes. We're just parking to head in. See ya."

I dropped my phone in the center console.

Changing my route, I drove to the bar I was usually at with some of my friends from the office. They were five at the table, four men and a woman.

A woman I was very familiar with.

And who would have thought that this woman would be none other than Cindy? She already visited my work once but I didn't know she was now this close to my colleagues to be hanging out with them at the bar.

I approached the guys and gave them bro hugs or hand shakes. Then looked down at Cindy who was sitting comfortably between them.

"Hi Cindy, what are you doing here?" I cut to the chase immediately she opened her mouth to say something. Probably to acknowledge me.

Brant, one of the guys chuckled. "Cut the pretty women some slack, Matthews. She's a nice company, okay? Don't be too hard on her." He told me, dressing me by my surname.

I rolled my eyes at his unnecessary pluralization. "She's my friend. We go way back so mind your own business and focus on your drink, Grant."

He raised his hands up in surrender. "Okay okay. And it's Brant, not Grant."

He avoided me after that. Taking a seat beside Cindy, I nudged my chin. "How are you? What have you been up to for the past year?"

"Well just as I told you at my graduation, I decided to sit up and be more serious with my life. I got back to school and I sometimes help my uncle at his law firm back in California whenever I go there. Other than that, I've just been living life to the fullest."

"That's great, it's good to know you're doing okay."

She gave me a sultry smile. "You're not doing bad yourself. I heard you've gained a good reputation in the company and should be expecting a promotion soon."

I cursed under my breath. I knew inviting her over to my office after I repeatedly missed her calls that day was a mistake.

Even though she'd sounded frantic on the call, she'd only wanted to know where I was working...and see me.

As a man, I understood what kind of advances she was making towards me. But I was no longer interested.

Now all I wanted was this spitfire lady that'd somehow managed to capture my heart.

We started talking about so many things after that. She told me about her cousin who was getting married soon and also her brother who got into an accident and sadly broke his leg two months ago.

After three drinks, I felt the urge to pee and excused myself.

Adrian's hurt face resurfaced in my mind and I cursed under my breath. I didn't like fighting with her. My mind wouldn't be at peace. I'd been trying to shut the thought of her out for a while now but here I was, still thinking of how sad she'd looked when I mentioned my ex girlfriend.

I'd just said that in the heat of the moment. Didn't I already tell her that the last time I had a girlfriend had been when I was in highschool? It had  just been a childish affair, one I didn't even remember anymore.

How come she believed me when I mentioned such a lie?

Sighing, I zipped my pants.

I would have to call her and clarify things immediately.

Immediately I got back to our table, I caught Cindy eyeing my phone with a smug smile on her face.

Frowning, I approached her but her eyes widened when she saw me. She looked pale...

Was she okay?

She picked my phone and started clicking but I speedily grabbed it from her.

"Di-Diego..."

"What are you doing Cindy? And why do you look so pale?" I looked down at my phone to see she was on my WhatsApp. On my chat with Adrian!

I saw that Adrian was typing, while Cindy had clicked on the delete option and WhatsApp was asking for confirmation to delete. Curious, I scrolled up to the last time we chatted and my frown deepened when I saw that there were more messages.

I glared at Cindy who had her face in her hands. "Now's not the time to be pale." I threatened.

I started reading their chat.

Baby: * baby I'm so sorry, I've tried reaching you several times but the network is really bad. Please call me when you see this.* 

Baby: *I'm not ashamed of you, I just have some insecurities...can I come over? Let's talk about this.*

Baby: *You declined my call twice. I already apologized.*

Diego: *What did you do to him?*

Baby: *Pardon?*

Baby: *Who's this? And what do you mean?* 😡

Diego: *I understand that you guys are on a break but he shouldn't take the anger on me.*

My gaze turned frosty with each word that followed.

Baby: *What are you talking about? Who's this?*

Diego: *Now my body's all sore and ugh. Handle your issue with your man so he won't feel insecure and run into another woman's arms...bitch*

Adrian: *typing...*

"Bitch?" I snapped. She yelped and looked up at me. "You called my girlfriend a bitch."

"Diego, I'm sorry. I...she hurt you. I would never be ashamed of you and judging from her apology, she was. She hurt yo-"

"Cindy!" Why would she do such a despicable thing? "Your act was disgusting. Even if you were jealous, you went too far. How dare you call my woman a bitch? Do you even know her? She's nothing like you. She's not sleeping with me and two of my friends while telling everyone she likes me!" I hissed in her face, not wanting those at the table to hear even though I was furious.

Her eyes widened further, if that was even possible. "Diego! I-I'm real-"

"Oh, you think I didn't know that? Because you kept coming and I kept taking you to bed. I later found out, that's what drunken confessions can do when you're with your friends."

"You were different." She murmured.

"No, we're all the same to you. Men who can fulfill your sexual fantasies. I hope you fix your messy life because this isn't a healthy way to speak to or think of others, especially those you don't know. Lose my number!"

I stormed out of there while she just sat rigid, her face as white as sheet, her hands clenched as they rested on the table.

She crossed the line tonight.

No one abuses the love of my life, not even a so-called friend.

*

Yay! This wasn't what I'd planned for this chapter. But then my fingers just kept going and going. And here we are :-)

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