Chapter 10
1300 Words
Catherine
One month had passed ever since that terrible incident.
Goodbye, Ricardo.
Those were my last words to Ricardo. My unplanned farewell words to him.
I’d never seen him again ever since he called me. Well, of course, because I blocked his number and I even changed mine.
He came to my house a few times but I’d always asked mom to tell him that I was not in the house. I knew Ricardo wasn’t stupid. He probably already knew what I was in the house but I refused to see him. After one week, Ricardo never showed up anymore. I heard from Jason he went to New York to continue his father’s business there.
And I had never seen him again.
He had scratched a large scar in my heart.
What did I do anyway that made him say those horrible things to his friends? Was that the real side of Ricardo that I had never seen before? When he was with me, he became a different person? I don’t know. I didn’t want to know. I didn’t even care to know.
I didn’t care about him anymore.
I hated him.
I hated Ricardo Williams.
And the day had finally arrived.
The day where Linda would leave the state and depart to the Netherlands.
Today, I came for her. I wanted to see my best friend one last time before she goes. I would miss her a lot. Even I spent a night with her last night.
“Why today has to come so fast?” she complained.
“Come on, Lin. Just consider it as a new adventure in a new place.”
“You’re right. I hope I can meet someone there. Because if not, I will die,” she joked and I laughed. “When I start college there, I will get myself a boyfriend!” she exclaimed. Sometimes I felt embarrassed with her typical scream. People would listen to her.
“Don’t you think it’s too fast for you to get a new boyfriend, pumpkin?” Jake-Linda’s father asked.
“Seriously, dad? I’m eighteen. I should get myself a boyfriend.”
“And that’s the problem. You are still eighteen. You’re still too young to get a boyfriend.”
“Oh, gosh! You are so outdated! Even girls at our age already got married and have children.”
And they continued to attack one another.
Linda and her father were always like this. Even when I visited their house, Jake would always tease his daughter. He was so protective of her.
Although sometimes, I found myself wondering about Jake’s looks. He was her father; however, his looks were like a young adult. The advanced gene.
“Come on, you two. Knock it off,” Eveline-Linda’s mother broke in. Separating her husband and her daughter’s quarrel. Even Eveline was the same as Jake. She was like being unrestrained by time and her looks were pretty much like girls at our age. I remembered Linda told me before that her parents got married at a young age because they were so in love deeply with each other and Jake had to marry her immediately. That time, Eveline was still twenty-three and Jake was already twenty-eight.
To me, Jake was really attractive especially with his blue eyes and those dimple on his cheeks while Eveline had blonde hair with a pair of green eyes. Linda inherited her looks from Eveline, for sure.
“Say something to him, mom! It’s time for your daughter to have a boyfriend,” Linda shouted.
“No, dear. Listen, our daughter is still young. She has to wait for at least she’s thirty and then she can have a boyfriend,” Jake intervened.
“Ew! Ten years! I’m wrinkly already at that age before I got a man,” Linda countered.
Seriously, Lin?
“Hey! I don’t have any wrinkles when I married your mother!”
And I should say even though Linda was beautiful just like her mother on the outside, but on the inside, she was like the copycat of her father.
“Whatever. I’m so sorry, Cathy. You have to watch all this shameful moment,” Eveline said.
“It’s okay, Eveline. It’s fun watching them and I’m going to miss this,” I stated while keeping on watching the drama between my best friend with her handsome father.
“Oh, we’re going to miss you too, dear. Please do come over, okay? I’m sure Linda will be very happy.”
“Of course. I would love that.”
“Oh! You can come with James if you like. Have you met him?”
“Not yet. Linda tried to introduce us before but I—” Oh, jeez. And I remembered something that I thought had forgotten.
About him.
If this happened, I should have accepted Linda’s invitation to go shopping with her and then I could meet James.
No.
I couldn’t be that naïve again.
The incident with Ricardo had made me trauma already. I once considered men who tried to get close to me didn’t have any bad intentions and just wanted to be friends with me. Everyone was right. I should be careful with them because I didn’t know when they would show their true colors.
I had to be more aware of my surroundings.
“Cathy?” Eveline called.
“Oh, sorry, Eveline! Yes, maybe I can go visit with James someday.”
“Great. It will be a lot easier if you’re coming with James. Tell us if you want to come, okay? You are welcome to visit us anytime you like,” Eveline said and we hugged each other.
“Thank you, Eveline. I’m going to miss you.”
“I’m going to miss you too, dear.” She let me go and I went to Jake. Hugging me as well.
“Take care of yourself, Cathy. You’re Linda’s closest friend but I already considered you as my own daughter. Please do take care and don’t look for a boyfriend now.” I giggled.
“Okay, Jake. Take care too.”
“You don’t need to listen to my dad, Cat,” Linda said and both of them were debating again. Eveline had to stop them again before their fights would appear on CNN.
When it was time for them to check in, it was time already.
“It’s time, Lin,” I said.
Sadness overflowed me immediately.
Linda looked at me. “Are you going to be okay, babe?”
“Of course.”
“Don’t forget to call me, okay? If anything happens to you, anything, just call or text me. Let me know if that jerk bothers you again.”
“I will be okay, Linda. Just relax? I will definitely call you. Let me know too when you’ve landed.”
“Sure!” We hugged each other.
This would be our last time. Linda had told me before that she would come to the state when she was not so busy and when she was on her holiday. But I was sure going to miss her like crazy and waiting for her to come back would take so long.
I didn’t want her to go but…I had to.
“I’m going to miss you, Cat.”
“I’m missing you already, Linda.”
We let go of each other. Looking at each other. “Goodbye, Cathy.”
“Goodbye, Linda.”
And with that, I let Linda go and she walked into the check-in room with her parents. When she was inside, she turned and waved her hand at me. I waved back and then she walked away.
I sighed, trying to hold back the tears.
Until we meet again, Linda.
And without my notice, four years had passed.
- Writer
