What about her (1/2)

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.“What about Kim, man?” His friend Matt asked him.“Yeah, man, what about her?!” Gerald Anderson said mockingly. Hurt filled his eyes.“You’re drunk already, pare!” Matt Evans said. “You don’t know what you’re saying!”Gerald ignored him. He raised the shot glass filled with pure, expensive Tequila to his eye level. He inspected it. His hand lightly trembled. He sneered at himself and his drink. “This glass ain’t full! Hey, waiter!!!”A waif of a waiter came scurrying over. Matt signalled him to ignore Gerald. The enthusiastic waiter hastily turned around, disappointed.“Pare, Don’t you think you’ve had enough?” Matt suggested. He was looking at him with so much pity. Poor, Gerald. He has never seen his friend in this kind of a state before.“Enough?” Gerald said, turning to Matt, smiling. “I’m just getting started, my friend!”Matt counted the number of shot glasses on the table. There were 14 all in all, including the one on his hand. Knowing Gerald these last few years, Matt knew he was over his limit. He never even had seen him with a drink in his hand in public before. He would take the occasional sip here and there, and even those were very rare occasions.“This is not the solution to your problem, man!” Matt frustratingly said, trying to grab the drink away from him.Gerald shielded his liquid courage away from him. He turned slightly, managing to down the shot despite of Matt’s protestations. Almost immediately, images of Kim came flashing back to his mind, haunting him. He shivered at the thought of not having her near him. Most of the time he had Kim on his side to discourage him from drinking. She was not here now.“You don’t understand, man!” Gerald said. “I need this...”“Man, whatever problems you have with Kim, you work it out! Turning yourself into a drunken bastard won’t solve anything!” Matt said, his voice a tad more irritated.“Kim...” Gerald mumbled. “I lost her, man...”“That I gathered...” Matt said, recalling the phone call he received from his girlfriend, and their mutual friend, Melissa.“And she hurt me,” he added. “She hurt me really bad...”

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Matt reminisced the day he introduced Kim to Gerald. How their story started was really not at all that special. Boy meets girl in a private bar party. Boy gets her number, right then and there, they hit it off... Next thing you know, they’re a couple --- your typical love story.“Kim, this is Gerald. He’s a good friend of mine from my old high school.” Matt introduced him to her.Gerald moved over to her and shook her hand, much more eagerly though than she anticipated. She blushed lightly.“Gerald, this is Kim, she’s my new best friend here in Manila,” Matt said of Kim.“And by best friend, you mean someone you can copy off at exams?” Kim joked, her eyes never leaving Gerald’s.“Something like that...” Matt replied.“So, now that you had found someone else you can copy off from, that means I’m no longer your best friend?!” scoffed Gerald. “There’s a term for you, my friend, parasite!”Kim laughed.“No, man!” Matt explained. “Best bros for life, right?”Gerald nodded.Matt initiated their secret bro-shake. Gerald responded, completing their ornate ritual. They ended up with a high-five of sorts. Kim laughed even more at the juvenile gesture.“Wait,” Kim interrupted. “You guys have that thing...what do they call that again....it's called Bro-mance!”“Bromance?” Gerald muttered,seemingly puzzled.“IT’s what they call uber close relationships between guys nowadays!” Kim explained, giggling in between. “It’s basically a non-sexual, mutually benefiting, testosterone-ridden, hormonally charged relationship between two guy friends!”“Oh, no, no, no!” Matt said, immediately dropping Gerald’s hand.“Hell, no!” Gerald responded. “We’re not any of those things!”Kim eyed Gerald fondly. He was such an eye-pleaser. The way his hair was cropped neatly, fits his kind face really well.“So, why don’t I leave you two alone for a minute, grab some food, while I need to look for my next victim!” Matt said, tapping Gerald on the shoulders.“Who is it this time?” Gerald said.“There’s this Melissa chick from Fine Arts,” Matt regaled. “I heard she had the hots for me!”“Urggh...you’re disgusting, Matt!” said Kim fondly, shaking her head in dismay.“Nice, bro!” affirmed Gerald.Matt took off excitedly leaving Kim and Gerald by the corner. The music blasted all through out the bar. It was a rowdy end-of-semester party for university students. Kim and Gerald were both invited there by Matt. For those few moments, both of them managed to find themselves alone. They were left with no choice but to make face time.Gerald gently appraised this girl in front of him. Her almond eyes sparkled with her every word. She has this innate cheerfulness that seemed to reside in her skin. Her colourful dress was a dead give-away of her bubbly nature. She was very pretty --- in a pixie-like kind of way.“So...are you anything like Matt?” asked Kim, shyly.“In terms of what?” Gerald replied. “Just being confident with women or more on treating women like dirt?”“Are they not the same?” she asked.“I’m more of the first...” Gerald said. “But, I don’t think I would ever treat a woman badly.”“That’s what all men would say,” she answered.“Well, I’m different from most men,” Gerald winked at her.Kim almost laughed at his antics. He was confident but not overbearing. She, in fact, found him endearing.“Well, Mr. Confidence Gerald Anderson,” Kim said suggestively. “I don’t think I believe you.”“Give me a chance to prove it then!” Gerald said, moving his head closer to hers, his eyes smouldering.“What do you have in mind?” Kim asked.“Do you dance?” Gerald said, pitting her nose against hers.“You’re on!” Kim said as she grabbed him by his neck tie, dragging him towards the dance floor, almost choking him.“Hey, I’m not a dog!” Gerald exclaimed.Kim just giggled on.

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Those were their happy times. Matt can’t believe that was 3 years ago. A lot had happened in the three years they were together. Their relationship had become more intimate. There were no days wherein you can see one without the other. They were always together. They met each other’s parents. They were included in each other’s Sunday brunches and other family gatherings.

However, what struck Matt the most was, they never seemed to argue. Not once had he seen them disagree. Matt had never seen any relationship that was that perfect until he saw theirs. However, they crumbled easily after their first major fight. Maybe, no relationship can be that perfect after all.Matt shook his head as he sees his friend about to take another shot of the alcohol. His eyes were now filled with recalcitrant tears. If only Matt can wiggle out all this senselessness away from him. But he was only there for one thing, and that was to be a friend to him. And being a friend to him right now, means to just listen and be that emotional sponge he needed. That is what he was there for.“What happened, Ge?” Matt inquired.“Honestly man, I really don’t know...” he answered.“What did she say?” Matt pried once more.“She said...she saw through me....”Gerald replied, downing one more painful shot.“What did she mean by that?” Matt asked.“I wish I knew, Matt...” Gerald said. “I wish I knew...”What happened that afternoon will forever be engraved in Gerald’s mind. Painful as the memories were, he inculcated them in his mind, holding on to the last images he had of her. Fat tears escaped his eyes as he made the recollection. It might as well be his death day. The day he lost her for good, was the day he ceased breathing.

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Gerald made the early afternoon trip just to catch Kim on her way home. She had not spoken to him for days. He just came home from a photo shoot in Boracay and he made it a point that his first business was to see her right away. He needed to know why she had gone cold all of a sudden. He needed to know why he received a break up text from her. He needed her explanation. He even needed her to inflict him with more pain. Maybe such pain can wake him from this bad nightmare.

Gerald had to practically beg for Kim’s dad to let him enter their condo. IT was no easy task. It was like pleading your case to a biased judge, begging mercy for your wretched soul.He waited patiently for her. After what seemed like forever, he saw her park her pink car downstairs. She slowly entered the house. She immediately stopped at her tracks, when she caught a whiff of his familiar scent. She looked over to the living where he was standing, his eyes were pleading. Kim, at that point, didn’t know whether or not she had the strength to see him like that. Her heart tells her to forget everything...just to kiss and hug him and everything will be alright. But something in her mind tells her to be cautious. She immediately felt cross at herself for being too weak. She had to be strong...or at least, appear like it.“What are you doing here?” Kim asked.He moved closer to her. Kim motioned him to stop. His pleading eyes devoured every inch of her being, every strand of sanity she had left.“Kimmy, what did I do?” he begged to know.Kim almost passed out from hearing him call out her name. Kimmy was his nickname for her. More than that, it was his special term of endearment for her.“You know what you did!” Kim cried out.“Kimmy, that’s why I’m here...I really don’t know what I did wrong. Don’t you think I need to explain myself?”“Ge, you don’t need to explain...” Kim said, exasperated.“Damn it, Kimmy! What did I do?” Gerald said.“Please don’t raise your voice...”Kim whispered. “My dad will kick you out if you do.”“I know that,” he declared obstinately. “But, I will continue to do so, if you will not tell me right now what I did...”“Please, Ge...” she begged. “Let me go...”“I can’t!” Gerald exclaimed. “Three years, Kimmy!”Tears she had been holding on for so long, finally fell from Kim’s eyes. They fell down with reckless abandon.“Three years...” she sighed inwardly.“Kimmy, I beg you one more time,” he pleaded once more. “What is it? Don’t you love me anymore?”“God knows, I really do,” she admitted. “I still love you so much, that’s why it hurts even more.”“Kimmy, just tell me,” he said frustratingly.“It’s over, Ge. I can’t be with you anymore.”“But why?” he asked, this time like a caged bird begging for freedom.“I saw through you...” she replied cryptically. “And I didn’t like what I saw...”“What did you see, damn it?!”“The real you...”He uttered more expletives to himself. Kim almost died right then and there.“Kimmy...please, just tell me. What did I do wrong?”She didn’t answer him. Instead, she turned her back away from him, wiping her tears away. When she gained a little bit of composure back, she faced him once more.“Remember, years ago, when we first met...you said you can never treat women like dirt,” she eyed him, assessing his reaction.“Never had, never will. Especially not you...” he answered confidently.Kimmy walked over to the kitchen counter. Gerald followed her, confused as ever. She grabbed a magazine and handed it to him.“I believed you...with all my heart I believed you. You said...no, you promised. You promised never to break my heart...” Kim said with tears blinding her. “But you did...”Gerald just stood there, bunged up with so much hurt and guilt in his heart. As he held the magazine that manifested his guilt, his hands shuddered as he had confirmed his offence.In it was a picture of him kissing a well known actress in Boracay. He did that, he can’t deny it. The circumstances as to how such came to be, was not as clear to him as it was for Kim. Gerald could only remember briefly, as he was sufficiently inebriated.“Kimmy, I can explain this...” he implored her mercy once more.“A picture is worth a thousand words...” she said mockingly.“Believe me, Kimmy, there is an explanation to this!”“Ge, just go...” Kim answered. “I don’t want to see you anymore.”“Kimmy, I didn’t mean it, I swear.” Gerald said. “I was drunk!”“You don’t drink,” she said curtly.“But I did!” Gerald explained, moving closer, holding her hand. “Sorry, if I broke my word not to drink, but I did! I couldn’t refuse. Then, everything happened so fast. It was just one kiss! I didn’t even realize they had cameras there. I know it sounds incredulous, but that’s what happened. Kimmy, that kiss? It didn’t mean anything!”“It meant everything to me, Ge...” she said, prying her hand away from his.“It was only for a second,” he countered.“But, enough to break your promise...”she retorted.“Kimmy, come on. She was just a random girl...” he blurted out.The moment he said that, Gerald wished he could take it back. Kim’s eyes once more welled with tears. Only this time, there were anger and ferocity added to the mix. “Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned” was the first thing Gerald thought of. So, this was what hell looked like, he thought to himself.Kim bravely wiped her tears away with the back of her wrist. She never felt so much pity for herself.“Ge, you’ve officially treated me like dirt...” she said, turning away, running towards her bedroom.“Kimmy wait!” he shouted after her.All he heard back was the hollow echo of his broken plea.

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Matt can only empathize with him after his painful recollection. He pitied him. He truly felt sorry for him. What he did was wrong, of course. But seeing him now, reducing himself to this level, can only mean one thing. He really loved Kim, and hurting her was his biggest sin.“Did you try talking to her after that?” Matt asked.“Several times...” he answered brashly.“Did you tell her how you feel?”“She said she could no longer trust me,” Gerald answered.Matt was all of a sudden silent. Frankly, he didn’t know what to say to him anymore. Moments later, he found the courage to ask Gerald the truth.“Did you ever truly love her?” Matt asked.“Yes, I did.” Gerald answered succinctly. “And God knows I still do!”Gerald banged his fist on the table, sending the shot glasses flying in all directions. People began looking concernedly at them. The club bouncers were ready to kick them out.“Maybe, it’s about time I take you home, my friend,” suggested Matt.“No, wait! One more shot...” Gerald begged.“Come on, you’ve had enough.” Matt said, taking his droopy arm by his shoulder. “I’ll give you a ride home.“No, wait, I have my ride home...” he said, laughing emptily.“Who?” Matt wondered.As if on cue, she came in... blasphemy in a red dress --- Nina.“Sorry, I’m late...” she announced.“Hi, Nina!” Matt greeted her.

“Oh my Gosh, he’s such a mess!” she said, seeing Gerald draped over Matt limply.“How perceptive of you!” Matt said sarcastically, struggling to keep him up.“Why did you allow him to drink so much?” Nina said in the most irritating voice Matt had ever heard in his life.“Because I knew you were coming...” Matt said with much meaning. Too bad she didn’t hear him say, “I got him so drunk so you can take advantage of him...”“Matt, where are we?” Gerald asked cluelessly. “Nina!”Nina felt Gerald’s forehead. He was burning. She turned to Matt immediately.“Well, just bring him to my car,” she screeched at Matt.