ENLIGHTENMENT
“Kristoff,” I called him, breaking the silence enveloping the room. We are in the living room and I am sitting across him.
He looked at me as he drank his coffee. It’s two in the morning and I still got no sleep. We talked about a lot of things already, about our history, how he’s been doing, how his friends are doing, though, I know some because Genevieve tells me sometimes.
This is it. If I am going to give him another shot, at least I have to know the details. If I am going to give him another shot, at least I have to know the truth.
I took a deep breath to prepare myself to talk. “What are you and Bianca?” I questioned. Trust me, I have saved up all my other energy for this question and Kristoff better give me an honest answer.
He gave a look. “What about us?” he asked back.
I didn’t respond. Okay. If he’s not going to talk about this issue, I might not give him another sho—
“We are nothing. Bianca and I.” He began. “We met in China because I was on a business trip for three weeks. Do you remember those three weeks?” he asked.
I nodded. Yes. It was about a year ago.
“When I was able to close the deal with the other company, they asked to me to go and have fun. At first I didn’t want to because what’s the fun when you are not there?” He looked at me.
Okay. I suddenly felt my cheeks burning.
“But then, I missed you so much and I can’t see you until five days because the deal went longer than expected, so I went to a club.” He continued.
Okay. So, if he missed me, why didn’t he call me at all? Okay. I was hurt.
“There, I met Bianca.” He revealed. “Of course, it was a club, so I danced with her.”
“What?!” I asked in disbelief. So, he betrayed me at some point.
He chuckled. “If it’s a consolation, Baby, when I was dancing with her, I was thinking about you, okay?” He beamed.
I rolled my eyes and looked away. “So? What happened next?” I asked him to continue his story.
“Bianca and I got closer because she said that her father is a businessman in Chicago.” He continued. “I asked more details about that to kill time. She thought I liked her. Then I knew from your father that he has another daughter in China.”
I looked at him and narrowed my eyes. It’s been months that I knew that Bianca is my sister but I still cringe at the thought. I never thought I would have a sister with the breed of a cobra.
But the sad thing is that Kristoff knew about it and he didn’t even bother telling me.
“Trust me, Ashanti, I wanted your Dad to tell you about it right away but it was hard for him, too. He wanted to keep it a secret and buy some more time for him to be more prepared.”
I sighed.
Now I’m thinking what the situation would be if dad and Kristoff didn’t hide that from me. Maybe I got time to bond with Bianca and not like this. Maybe I got to accept her better than this. Maybe I was more prepared and not like this. I acted too childishly and I am even disappointed in myself.
But then, I’ve always thought that Bianca is not a good person either.
“I don’t know about the things she said on the interview,” he said. “There’s nothing true about that.”
I looked at him and smiled. Somehow, knowing this story makes a bit relieved.
“And I know you heard our conversation when she went to our house,” he said.
I nodded. It still hurt me when I think about how she claimed that Kristoff doesn’t love me. She was so sure of her words. It was very amazing of her.
“I’m sorry you had to hear it.” He apologized. “She didn’t know my feelings for you.” He continued.
I smiled and nodded. “Well, I didn’t know any of your feelings back then, too, until know that you are confessing.” I shrugged.
He smiled. “I know. I’m sorry I wasn’t showy. It’s just that I was afraid you don’t love me, too,” he replied.
I narrowed my eyes on him. “I did everything when we were kids just for you to look at me, but then you doubted my feelings for you? Way to go, Kristoff Marx.” I shook my head and smiled.
He chuckled. “Well, girls act differently. I don’t assume.” He defended. “And I am not good in reading girls back then.”
I looked at him. “Well, I guess you should learn to read us now, Mr. Marx.” I beamed.
He looked at me and smiled. “As for you to be informed, I have learned a bit,” he said. I raised my brow.
He smirked. “Well, for the years we were together, I can sense if you’re jealous or not. I know if you’re lying or not,” he said.
“Well, how about other girls?” I asked.
He chuckled. “You’re being silly, Ashanti,” he said. “How could I try to read other girls when my eyes see only you?”
I was stoned. This cheesy Kristoff is good but he is creeping me out. He says things that bring butterflies in my stomach and it’s freaking uncomfortable.
He laughed. “Oh. And I just want to clear things with you, Ashanti,” he said suddenly being serious.
“What?”
He smiled. “I was reading your expression when I lied about Bianca being my ideal woman,” he spoke.
My heart fell down. I need it back. Kristoff is slowly killing me. When did he even become like this?
He chuckled. “And I was glad because I saw that you were jealous.” He beamed before sipping his coffee again.
I’m pretty sure I’m as red as tomato again. Damn it!
He laughed at me for a while before turning into serious mode again. He looked at me. “Ashanti,” he called.
I looked at him.
“Are you and Looney dating?” he asked me. His expression was too serious.
I looked at him for a while before laughing at his question.
“Why are you laughing?” he asked again.
“You look funny,” I told him. He frowned. “Why? Are you jealous?” I teased.
He gave me serious look. “What if I am?” He replied as if he was challenging me.
I smiled and shook my head. “Then you’re wasting your time, Kristoff,” I told him as I sipped on my own coffee. “Hunter and I are like best friends. He was there for me before.” I added.
He gave me a look. “What do I know? Maybe he has feelings for you,” he said.
I chuckled. “Well, he does,” I replied. “He liked me,” I replied in all honesty. I need to be, right?
“What?!” He asked in disbelief.
I laughed at his response. “What are you going to do now, Kristoff?” I asked. “I guess you got competition.” I smiled wickedly.
He rolled his eyes. “What competition?” He smirked. I looked at him. What is he thinking?
“You almost forgot, Ashanti.” He started. “You just told me you love me and you want to be with me.” Then he grinned widely.
***
“Ashanti Marx!” Hunter hollered from the other line. And what? Ashanti Marx? He never called me this way.
“What?” I asked slightly annoyed. What is he shouting early in the morning anyway? Damn it! I’m still sleepy!
I heard him chuckle. What’s the matter with this guy?
“I heard you and Kristoff had an incident last night.” He starts to tease me again.
I sighed. “What about that? And where did you hear about that?” I asked as I started to get up from bed.
Kristoff decided to go home after the talk and it was past three in the morning when I got to bed. It was four when I got to sleep, all because of Kristoff’s sweet words that can’t get out of my head.
“Well, I bumped to him a while ago when I was jogging,” he replied.
I scratched my eyes. “So, he told you?” I asked.
“Uhm…Yes,” he replied. “Plus, we had a small talk,” he added.
I narrowed my eyes. “What’s the small talk about?” I asked.
I heard him chuckle. “Give me twenty reasons for me to tell you.” He challenged.
“Fine! If you don’t want to tell me, then don’t!” I yelled at him. It was too obvious that it was a man-to-man talk. Why would I even bother to ask?
I heard him giggle. “You’re a one lucky witch, Ashanti,” he said.
“What?”
“Kristoff just informed me that he would get you back,” he said before ending the call.
Okay. What was that?