Cheating Boyfriend Book I: Nothing is Perfect

Chapter 3 - Greet and Meet part I

    Jerome sighs. He doesn’t want to make his boss mad. He placed his hands behind Rina's back. She looked at him. He nodded. She steps forward towards his boss.

        “ Boss, this is my girlfriend Rina. Rina this is my boss “ as Jerome gestures at each of them by pointing who’s who.

        “ Hello Rina, it was a pleasure to meet you again “ as his boss says that Jerome and his friends were shocked to hear that he knew who Rina was.

    Agustin and the others hold their snickers. They didn’t want to laugh, because that would be rude of them. They all replace their laugh with a fake cough.

        “ Oh my, you also brought Agustin, Brian, Cedrick, Darwin, Elroy and Franklin. It’s a pleasure to meet you too boys. Has Jerome treated Rina well ? There’s no rumor of him doing bad things behind her back ? “ as Jerome’s boss asked Rina and her friends while Jerome himself was shocked to hear his boss accuse him of it.

        “ Ah it’s you again. Gabriel, how are you man ” says Darwin as he did the handshake only he and Gabriel knew. 

    Agustin and the other men knew the handshake too. Gabriel was a close friend of Darwin and the others. 

        “ Gabriel dear, how come you knew about Jerome ? As my boo causes any trouble while working here “ as Rina calmly states her opinion to him even when her boyfriend and the rest were there.

    Gabriel turned to face Rina. He also bows towards her. Omar and the others were quiet. But, their eyes widened in shock. Rina raises her hand as she shakes her head.

        “ Please don’t be formal with me. You are of course family and friends too “ as Rina gestures to him to get up.

    Rina doesn’t want others to know who she was. It was the only way to keep her safe from anyone. Specifically people who take advantage of her. Jerome and the others were gasping in the air. Rina giggles at the sight. Gabriel turned to them.

        “ Jerome, I know Rina. I know that you guys are dating. My parents are friends with her parents and family. So, I’m close to her. Let’s just say we are childhood friends “ as Gabriel lays it down gently without giving them a heart attack.

    Jerome was already starting to find a seat. Rina gestured to her friends to go order food for themselves. Rina follows Jerome, so they can sit together. Jerome’s friends also follow him. His friends sat with Jerome. The others knew that he was taken. So, they make sure no other girls try to get with Jerome. Especially Acadia.  Rina smiled at the sight before her. She watches her bf. She’s happy to see him smiling and having fun. The girls sat down too. Soraya and Acadia sat down next to the guys.

    Rina didn’t sit down. She still doesn’t trust Acadia. She’s not sure if she should trust Acadia’s female friend. Acadia’s friend; on the other hand, she got off her seat. She wants to introduce herself in front of Rina. The guys saw her going up to Rina. Jerome still continues to eat, but he lifts his head up. He wants to check up on Rina. He was enjoying his company with his friends. Jerome asks one of his friends, Oswaldo as he taps his shoulder. Oswaldo turned to face him.

        “ Hey Oswaldo, who’s that girl standing face to face with my girl ? “ as he glanced at his girl real quick, while he made eye contact with his friend.

    Oswaldo followed where his friend was looking. 

        “ Oh her, she’s friends with Acadia. Her name is Soraya Miller. She’s very chill and friendly. And she’s also beautiful. Me and the guys are friends with her “ as the guys agreed to Oswaldo’s response.

    Jerome nodded at his response. He didn’t let his guard down. But, he sighs as he feels relaxed. He was happy to hear that Soraya was friendly. And not out there to hurt Rina. Rina tilts her head to the side as she watches a beautiful girl approaching her. They were now face-to-face to each other. Acadia wasn’t paying attention to her female friend. She was staring at Jerome. She was thinking of a plan on how to be close to Jerome. Even though she knew he had a girlfriend.

    A girl approached Rina as she faced towards her. She held her head high. She felt confident that this would go smoothly. She starts to inhale and exhale before she introduces herself to Rina.

        “ Hello, my name is Soraya and that woman behind me is Acadia. We are high school friends “ as she gestures at both of them when she extends her hand to her for a handshake.

    She didn’t take it. She still doesn't trust them. Instead, she curtsey to them. She doesn’t want to get her hands dirty.

        “ Hello Soraya and a friend of hers, my name is Rina. It's a pleasure to meet you both “ as Rina introduces herself to them.

    Their mouths start to hang open. Soraya stayed silent. It was the first time for Soraya to see a girl with elegance. To her, she felt that Rina is already out of a league to be friends with her. She had an aura that was very ladylike and noble. Even when Rina didn’t really do much to show who she was.

        “ Please, it’s wise not to open your mouth wide. You might catch flies unknowingly “ says Rina as she looked at them watching as they closed their mouths.

    Soraya starts to relax. She starts to laugh at her response. Rina tilted her head to the side as she frowned. She shook her head saying no, trying to tell her that it was a good response. She didn’t want to make Rina sad. She was a very nice person with a good heart. Rina nodded at Soraya’s gesture. She continues to study Soraya for a while. Then, she slowly relaxed only around her. She still doesn't trust Acadia. Soraya gestured to her to sit down with her. So, she did yet have her guard up when it came to Acadia.

    Gabriel came out along with Agustin. They gave out food for Rina and themselves. They sat in another seat. Rina excuses herself to sit with them. Rina came to Agustin’s table with the rest of the guys. Rina sighs a sigh of relief. She was happy that they too are enjoying themselves. At least, she saw that the guys didn’t eat anything that is not healthy. They ate healthy food. It was a mixture of a green salad and then also a veggie pizza. Rina taps the shoulder of one of the guys there. He turned around to see who it was.

        “ Ooo that looks yummy, what food did you have “ as Rina saw the yummy food laid out in front of her.

        “ Do you want some Rina ? I mean you like this kind of food don’t you ? “ as Rina starts to blink at his response when Franklin suddenly heard her stomach growling as he raised his eyebrow at her.

    Rina's face starts to flush at the embarrassment before her. She sighs. Franklin likes her laughter. It was music to his ears. Even the guys agree with it too. However; he had a feeling that something was bothering her. She sighs. He faces towards the others. Rina leaned against his ear. She whispered her concern only to her and the guys could hear it.

        “ Can you and the guys do some research on Jerome’s friends? . I feel like something is amiss. It’s just a feeling that something bad will happen “ as Rina sighs at her response, while Gabriel looks at her with worry.

    Franklin nodded along with the others who also nodded. 

        “ Could you also do some deep research on the girls as well ? I really want to know who Soraya and Acadia really are. I want to see if they are not dangerous to be around with “ as Rina looks at Agustin and the guys through their eyes as she whispers to Franklin.

    They nodded as they placed their hands against their hearts. It was showing her a sign of respect. Gabriel got up from his seat. He stands behind Rina. He placed his hand on her shoulder. He could tell she was really worried about something. Even though he didn’t hear what she said to them.

        “ I’m fine Gabriel. It’s just—“ as Rina quietly voices her worries and concerns only him and the rest of the guys could hear, leaving Jerome and others oblivious to it.

        “ It’s a super blue blood moon isn't it Rina? You’re worried aren’t you ? You’ve told me about it. Like you had a strong feeling that bad things would happen. I know that you are struggling. But, I’m here to support you and help you. You know that. “ as Gabriel leaned close to Rina’s ear when he voiced his opinion to her, while Agustin and his friends could hear it.

    Rina placed her hands on top of his hands. She nodded. She turned around to face him.

        “ I know Gabriel. And I thank you from the bottom of my heart for being my childhood friend. If it wasn’t for you, I wouldn’t even be here “ as Rina's face lit up at him as she took a deep breath.

    He nodded at her response. He left her to sit back down to eat. He waits for Jerome to finish eating. So, he could help the employees with the customers. He knew that the work place was getting busy. He knew it was because of Rina. Her presence alone lit up the atmosphere. It made everyone feel welcome and smiled over nothing. It’s like when they come inside, the stress they had was relieved somehow. As Rina was about to sit down to eat, her phone rang. The ringtone was cute.

    It was playing a Japanese song as the phone continued to ring. She mumbles under her breath. She sighs.

        “ Excuse me girls, I’ll be taking my leave. You girls can have my portion of the food. I insist “ said Rina as she pushed her food away from her as well as giving her food to them.

    Rina gets up. She walks over to Jerome’s table. She tapped his shoulder. She leans in as she whispers something to him. He looked at her straight in the eyes as if they were communicating. Then, she nodded at what he was saying. He sighs.

        “ Okay baby, if you need me; I’ll be here at work. I won’t be done until maybe around two o’clock in the afternoon “ as Jerome watches her reaction to what he says when she smiles and sighs at the same time at his gesture.

    Rina placed her hands on his wrist. She leaned in as she could feel his friends staring at her. She looked down at his cheek. She could see a piece of crumb on the side of his lip. She pecks his cheeks then uses her hands to touch his chin. He turned to look at him. From a distance, the girls start to squeal. They saw them kissing in public. She leaned towards his face. His nose was inches closed in touching. She cupped his face in a loving way to show her affection to him. She heard a beating heart. 

    He gulped as he anticipated what Rina would do to him. His face starts to heat up in a fiery rage. Not the kind where he gets mad. But, it was a feeling of longing. He wants to be alone with her. She closed her eyes for a few minutes. Then she starts to slowly flutter her eyes open. Instinctively, she licked her lips as he forgot to breathe. He was dazzled at her as her actions made his heart thump so hard. She closed her eyes as she leaned forward. He thought she was going to kiss him. However; she licks at the side of his lip in a circular emotion. She moved her face away.

        “ mmmhmm.. babe, you taste absolutely delicious “ as Rina uses her thumb to rub the mess she got from his face.

    She winked at her boyfriend, Jerome. Orlando and his friends start to whistle at the action. Her phone continued to ring again. Jerome was startled at her action. She giggles as she watches him. She moved away, while she blew kisses at him. He ruffles his hair in defeat. She sighs at her phone. She picked up her phone and put it near her ear.

        “ Yes, this is her. Who might you be ? “ as Rina responds in a gentle way, since she doesn’t want to annoy whoever she’s talking to.

    Agustin could feel her emotions. It was an emotion of frustration and annoyance. He grabs food with a fork. He places his hand above the fork making sure it doesn’t spill. He got up and walked slowly towards her. He doesn’t want to scare her as he had a distinctive feeling of who it was. He was now face to face. He didn’t say anything. He lifts the fork up to her and she sees it. She slightly opens her mouth as he starts to feed her a piece of a slice of veggie pizza. She gently chews quietly at her food, while she waits for a response.

    She looked up at Agustin. To others, they would think that they are like brothers and sisters. But, he really cares about her a lot. Not as a couple but as a best friend would do. However; they telepathically speak to each other. He nodded at her and he went back to Darwin and the guys. Jerome trusts them. Even though it's his first time meeting these people. It became serious when the voice behind the phone was talking native language. 

    She walks gracefully outside the pizza place. The guys will keep an eye on these people. Rina breathed in and out. So did the person on the other side of the phone. They both relaxed.

Stranger speaking to Rina

Ni hao, zhe shi kate li na jufeng? (Hello is this Katrina Sawyer?)

Shi de, the shi ta. (Yes, this is her.)

Rina speaking to strange

Ni keening shi shei. (Who might you be?)

    The voice starts to breathe normally. It had a familiar voice.

A! Duibuqi. Wo de ju zhi zai nali? (Ah! sorry. Where is my manners?)

    Rina tries not to roll her eyes.

Stranger speaking to Rina

Wo jiao sidifen ke li de. (My name is Stephen Creed)

Ni hao, sidifen ke li de Stephen Creed, wo nene Wei nin qigong shenme bangzhu? (Hello Stephen Creed, how may I help you?)

Stephen took a deep breath before he spoke to her. He tries to carefully choose a word to say.

Wo shi ni fuqin de pengyou. (I am a friend of your father)

Hao de. Hen gaoxing yu bin jiaotan. (Okay. It’s a pleasure speaking to you.)

    As Rina was occupied on the phone, Acadia thought this was her chance to talk to Jerome. She carefully walked towards him. She starts to fidget around them. Oliver was the first to notice what’s wrong.

        “ Hey Acadia. Are you having fun ? “ as Oliver studied her reaction since he noticed she was starting to fidget like she wanted to say something.

    “ Well I am. But, I was wondering if I could speak to Jerome alone. It’s nothing bad or anything “ said Acadia as she tries to see if she could get a reaction from Jerome.

    However; Rina’s friend recognizes what she was planning to do with him. He didn’t pay attention to what she was saying. He looked up to see Rina. Not at her though. He could feel that someone was staring at him then at her. He turned to face the person. Jerome looked at Oliver. He looked at him. They both didn’t say anything. But, they just smiled and nodded.

        “ That’s okay. I prefer to stay here. If you got something to say then you could say it here. It is not wise for me to be alone with a girl that isn’t my girlfriend “ said Jerome as he tries to reject to her offer without offending her.

    Acadia starts to frown at what he says to her. It’s the second time she got rejected. No one ever reject to her. Oliver snickered silently.

“ Well..uhm..I was just wondering if I would get your number. Since we are all friends with each other “ as Acadia uses the term ‘ friend ‘, she thought that if she does this; he won’t reject her.

    Oliver shakes his head at what she was trying to do. He and his friend could see right through her. Orlando sighs. He tries to convince Jerome to let it be. And let her have his number. He didn’t see right through it. It’s a very typical thing for him not knowing. Elroy shook his head in disgust. They could smell the strong perfume coming from her. She waited for him to move. But, he didn’t. Until he starts to sigh as he sees her ‘ tearing ‘ as if she was crying. Those are the triggers that men are weak against. 

    He doesn’t want to see a girl cry. Rina finishes talking to Stephen. She narrowed her eyes through the window. She saw Acadia holding a small bottle of eye drop behind her back. Rina, on the other hand; she wasn’t in the mood to play games like this. When she gets angry, the weather starts to become gloomy. The sound of lightning and thunder appears out of nowhere. And then earthquakes, hurricanes and tsunamis will come knocking down anyone. A big boom came as the glass started to crack in a dazzle.