He Belongs To Me

Chapter 10

Celine's POV

I step into my apartment and meets darkness, maybe Gina has gone to bed.

Deciding not to wake her up, I reach for my phone and turn on my flashlight.. I head for my room.

But I stop abruptly when the lights suddenly turns on, I turn off my flashlight and turn around.

Ray and Gina sits on a sofa, with their arms crossed on their chests... they have the detective look on.

They are both staring at my face seriously, as if I have committed a grave offense.

"I thought you've gone to bed already!" I said, referring to Gina.

She shakes her head and continues staring at me more seriously.

"Er.. why were you two sitting here with the lights off?"

"Waiting for you!" Ray replies.

I stare at them feeling a little bit confused.

"Where are you coming from?" Gina asked.

"Work!"

"Work?!" She asked and I nod.

She exchange looks with Ray, then turns back to me.. she narrows her eyes down at me.

"Last time I checked, you are jobless and that coffee shop is our only hope!" She said.

"I have a 30minutes job and...."

Ray gets up with a deep frown.

"30minutes job?" He asked.

I nod. He stares at me briefly, walk towards me and perceives my body.

"What kind of job requires just 30minutes of your time?"

"Sleeping on someone's bed!"

"What?!" Ray and Gina exclaimed.

They look so shocked and surprised. Gina looks like she died sitting down and Ray, hmm...

He fell on the ground.

"Y-you... you're sleeping on someone's bed?!" Gina asked.

I nod and she frowns.

"Celine, why?" She shakes her head. "That's not the right way to find Jack's bills.. ok?"

Ok, now it's my turn to be surprised.. I frown.

"What's not the right way?" I asked.

She gets up and walk towards me, she stops in front of me and holds my shoulders.

"We can find any other way to raise money, you don't have to sell yourself for it"

"What?!"

I gently push her hands off my shoulders. What are they thinking?!

"Wait... did you misinterpret what I said?"

"No! I understand why you are doing it.. but Celine, you have to stop it before it tarnishes your reputation!" She said.

"What are you talking about? Do you think I'm sleeping around with men?"

She covers my mouth with her palm and shakes her head.

"Don't say it, don't let others hear it.."

I wanted to speak but she's covering my mouth and not removing her hand.

"....I know you're desperate for money right now, but you can..."

I remove her hand from my mouth.

"I'm not sleeping with anyone for money!" I said.

Ray whom I thought had passed out quickly gets up... I see tear lines on his cheeks.

Was he crying?! I shake my head and ignore him, I should clarify somethings with Gina.

"But you said...."

"Forget what I said, I'm not sleeping with anyone..." I sigh. ".. you guys don't know what I'm going through recently"

"Then let us know what you're going through!" Ray said.

Gina nods in agreement.

"Yeah, Celine, we're your friends and you shouldn't be suffering alone.. let us know what is happening.. and we'll go through it together!"

I think about it and sigh.. they're right, keeping everything to myself isn't the best option right now.

At least, I should talk to someone about my situation.. it might make things easier and lighter for my head.

I sigh and slumps onto the couch nearest to me.

"Guys, a lot has happened recently.. Jack's condition isn't as simple as I make it seem!" I said.

Gina quickly sits next to me and Ray sits opposite us.

"What do you mean?" They both asked at once.

I close my eyes as I recall my conversation with doctor Christopher.

"Jack's condition is getting worst, he has only... 4months or..." I trail off.

"Or what?" Gina asked.

A lone tear runs down my cheek, I don't wanna say the word but I must say it... saying it makes me sadder.

"Celine..."

"If we don't do the operation in 4months, I'll.. I'll lose Jack" I break down.

"Oh my God, Celine...." Gina trails off.

I guess I have been holding back my tears for too long, I should have cried in front of doctor Chris.

My mouth opens wide as I cried bitterly, I guess I'm not as strong as I was trying to prove.. talking about Jack with my friends makes me realize how weak I actually am.

"Gina, do something... Make her stop crying, she'll have a headache!" Ray said.

Gina simply pulls me closer and rest my head on her chest, patting my back softly.

"She should cry, she needs to cry out her pain.. crying is all she needs right now!"

And that's what I did, I cried to my heart content... like, I am satisfied with how much I cried.

Ray hands me a handkerchief and I wipe off my tears.. I hiccups.

"Thanks, guys!"

"It's fine, don't worry, Jack will be fine... We'll work the money and Jack will be healthy again!" Gina said.

I nod and smiled at her. Ray clears his throat and scratches his neck nervously.

"Em.. you haven't tell us about the 30minutes job yet.. you know, the part where you sleep on someone's bed... "

Gina and I chuckle, of course that's what he's worried about... After all, he's always been like that.

He doesn't want me to be a sl*t.

"Ok, it all started after I left Jake enterprise yesterday....."

They listen silently as I narrate what happened after I left the hospital yesterday.

Their expressions changes from shocked.. to surprise.. to amazed.

"... and that's how I ended up getting that 30minutes job!" I concluded.