Tangled Affairs

Chapter Two

I sat still beside him all night, checking his pulse and the steadiness of his breathing. I couldn't even call the ambulance because how would I explain the situation?

I thought I had knocked him into a coma and was really scared he wouldn't wake up in the morning.

My heart skipped a beat anytime his breathing became irregular, but I just sat there waiting for the day to break, I didn't have a wink of sleep.

Around eight o'clock in the morning, he began to move slowly, and it caught my attention. He slowly woke up, and I heaved a very heavy sigh of relief knowing I didn't kill anyone after all.

He writhed in pain as he grabbed his head with both hands. That should be the hangover, right? It took him minutes before he took in his environment and started to look around until he saw me.

He quickly backed away from me as if he had seen a ghost before questioning me.

"What am I doing here? Did I sleep here last night?" He looked down at his body, patting it over. Seeing his dress still intact, he curiously asked, "Did anything happen between us?"

"What?! It's so cheap of you to think about me in such a way." I scoffed. "Your ass was drunk and wasted last night at the club, you phoned me, telling me all sorts of nonsense that I had no choice but to come get you.

I solely brought you home to my place when you refused to tell me where you stay, and now all I get is a finger pointed at me blaming me for assault." I blurted out.

David looked at me puzzled, his expression like he had stepped on a landmine.

"I'm so sorry, I didn't know, sorry for the inconvenience I caused," he said, getting up and wanting to leave. His sincere apology slowly melted away my anger. I stood up too and stopped him from going.

"Alright, wait a minute, I'll make you some hangover tea. It's Saturday you probably have some time to spare, right?" I said and walked away to the kitchen, not waiting for his reply.

From the kitchen, I could see him looking around the room nervously. While I waited for the tea to steep, I walked up to him and gave him a new brush to clean his teeth.

"You could wash up too, I have some clothes you could change into," I said as I led him to the bathroom.

Before he was done, I had placed the neat set of clothes on the bed. He came out of the bathroom wearing my sweatshirt and joggers, which fit him perfectly as if they were his. I've always been fond of baggy clothes, so I had them in handy.

He sat on the dining table, and I served him the tea. He mouthed me a thank you before he took a sip of the tea.

"Uh," he started. "I'm once again very sorry for the inconvenience I caused you last night--"

"Midnight," I interrupted. "Carry on."

"I was just going through a series of depressions; I'm so sorry I had to drag you into this."

"Oh, really? What kind of situation could you be in that warrants you to drink so much?"

He looked down and took another sip from the cup. "I don't wanna talk about it."

"Yeah, yeah, it's all good, it's fine." I want to ask him about his parents, but what if that's the exact thing he doesn't want to talk about? I'm so curious, but I'll respect his privacy.

The silence grew between us, although it was a comfortable one, David and I were not always silent around each other, so it was kind of weird.

It lasted for a few minutes until David adjusted in his seat and leaned forward.

"I have a question, but you don't have to answer if the answer is too weird," he said.

"Ask away," I answered.

"Ok, I have this bad habit of spewing nonsense when I'm very drunk, so um, did I perhaps say anything weird yesterday, sorry this midnight?"

I looked at him, thinking carefully whether to answer his question or not, and then I decided not to, because I didn't want the conversation to get any personal. "No, you didn't," I lied.

"Oh, c'mon, that's not possible. You can say it, its fine," then a realization seemed to hit him. "If it offended you, you don't have to say it, and I apologize."

"No, it didn't offend me, you were just crying and talking about your parents. I'm so sorry about them."

"What?" David burst out laughing, and I wondered what was so funny. "I really did that?" He continued to laugh.

I didn't find anything funny about this situation, so I asked him, "What's so funny?"

Trying to curb his laughter, he started to explain, "I had lost my parents since I was 7, so I barely knew or remembered them. I practically grew up at an orphanage home."

"Although I have no one to mentor or look after me, I'm doing just fine. I only say that when I'm very desperate to get something, maybe a job, it's like my access card, and I use it only when I'm at a corner. I can't believe I went on crying about it," he chuckled.

"Really?" I asked sincerely shocked. "You created a fuzz and made a big deal out of something that isn't even real? I even had to knock you out for you to stop screaming and making a scene." I had said the last part before I realized I shouldn't have.

"You did what?" David asked calmly with a crooked eyebrow.

I smiled nervously, "Nothing."

"You knocked me out? With what? How?"

"Well, you wouldn't stop screaming, so I just did what I had to. Although it wasn't on purpose."

"No wonder my head hurt two times that it used to."

"That is more of your fault."

He looked at me seriously before letting out a muffled laugh. "I bet you were satisfied you finally took your revenge of our first day."

"I wasn't, because I was scared as hell I might have killed you or something, but now that I think about it, I think I am," I smiled satisfactorily.

David and I went on further cracking jokes about other things, we played games and enjoyed each other's company, we even ordered food and had a good time.

When it was evening, he left for his own dorm, and that marked the beginning of our intimacy. We visited each other's room occasionally and even did assignments together. Once in a while we slept over at one another's.

After graduation, we decided to apply to the same company, we were called for interviews together, and luckily we both got accepted, but to different departments, which kept us apart, but we still found time to bond, sometimes during lunchtime and at times on weekends.

As time went on, I started to develop feelings for him, which I didn't admit to at first, but I soon stopped lying to myself and accepted the truth.

I decided never to let my feelings show, as it could ruin our friendship, and I didn't want that to happen, so I just continued being friends with him.

Then the happiest day of my life came when David made a confession of love to me. Earlier that day, he had suggested we have dinner together; I agreed, not thinking much about it, as it wasn't a new thing.

The restaurant he'd chosen was a very classy one, and surprisingly, there wasn't anyone inside, which made me silently question myself.

We were having our dessert when he told me he'd love to tell me something.

"Aubrey, I have wanted to tell you this for a very long time, but I just think this is the perfect time to do so."

"So...I have been a very quiet man all my life until I met you. As an orphan, I did most of my life things myself, and because of this, I didn't have the luxury of time to make friends."

"The first time I met you, and you made a comment about my dressing, it made me really mad, but when I thought about it, I actually felt happy because I was delighted someone noticed me, you know, not just noticed, you took the time to take in my appearance before you said something about it. It might seem like a meaningless act to you, but it meant the whole world to me."

"You were like the ray of light that brightened my dark world. I wanted to be nice to you since then, but I just couldn't help it, I didn't want to seem like a weirdo."

"That night I called you at the bar, I wanted to tell you how I felt earlier that day. I practiced how to say it, but I failed miserable, which led into my 'moment of depression'. It was the reason you were the one I called first-not like I had anybody to anyway."

"I noticed we started to get closer, and it was why I didn't bother to confess again, 'cause I didn't want to ruin everything. But I don't want to hold it in any longer."

"I love you, Aubrey and I would love to spend the rest of my life with you. You don't have to give me an answer right away, I'll wait till whenever you're ready."

"Also, if you've decided now to reject me, I swear to you, I would never bother you again, and I'll make it seem like this conversation never existed."

I was already in tears by now. Oh my, he's so cute. He looked so nervous, and there was a visible fear of rejection in his eyes.

I stretched my hand over to the table to reach his. Smiling at him, I said, "I love you, David. I love you too more than you could ever imagine." He looked surprised at my answer, but that soon cleared off as he beamed with joy all over.

"What? No, I mean really? Oh my God, you just made the happiest man in the world," he said, and then stood up, making his way to me. He pulled me into a hug that felt way different from all the ones we've shared. It was like our souls entwined at that moment. It was intimate.

All of a sudden, two waiters marched into the room, one was holding a cake with flares on top, while the other was holding confetti, which filled the air as it popped.

When the cake was placed down, I saw that it read 'she said yes'. After a short while the waiters left, I asked him, "What if I had said no?"

"I cleared the whole restaurant for that purpose, so the embarrassment will be for only me to deal with," he chuckled. "And I also cleared it out, so the happiness would be ours too, without any interruptions," he added.

"I love you, David."

"I love you, Aubrey."

The rest of the night was filled with sparks and butterflies. It marked the beginning of our happiness that led to a devastating end.