A barista in a café stumbles over a black-haired artist often ordering the same: a cup of plain black coffee.
When she ventures to enter his life, who makes her heart flutter like no other, life slaps back with a "not too fast". She discovers his s...
❝You never really understand a person until you consider things from their viewpoint, until you climb into their skin and walk around in it.❞
26
HYPNOTISING 催眠術
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. . .
To say Emily’s cheer was annoying was an underestimate.
I knew the littlest things were important in a relationship but being overexcited over having a coffee with your boyfriend was cringy. She held on to the cup as if it was her engagement ring.
“Hey!” Blake had butted in quickly before she could answer me. I could see his forehead sweat a little. “Emily, this is Cassandra. Cassandra, this is Emily, my girlfriend. You guys know each other?”
Ouch. How could these words leave his lips coherently?
“Of course, we do! Ever since high school, actually!” Emily beamed. Her eyes moved between Blake and me. “How about you two? You sound like you know him, Cass.”
She sounded as if she could be a little annoyed because we knew each other. I hoped she was. It was about time she was going to wake up from her fake fairy-tale.
“He’s a regular here,” I explained, putting on a smile then looked at Blake as if he was my long-term friend. “I didn’t know you had a girlfriend, though, Blake. You never told me.”
They were wordless. Emily’s lips formed a small, rounded ‘O’ as she gazed at her boyfriend expectantly, looking a bit hurt for not being acknowledged. Blake thought I couldn’t see through his mask of composure. Either he was the best actor, or he felt comfy in such a shitty situation, which would be sick.
I wasn’t going to give up my pride like that. I couldn’t be the only one wanting to rip herself into a million pieces there while he enjoyed getting two girls on his side. He was going to get a taste of his own medicine.
“Ah, yeah. I’ve been having my morning coffee here ever since I moved to Cali.”
“Oh, I see.” Emily’s grip on the cup tightened; I could see her knuckles turn white.
Blake quickly interjected before the conversation went further, “Well, Cass, if you excuse us now, we need to leave.”
I nodded and went back to my station.
\
“Come to my place, now,” I commanded sternly through the line.
“But I just got back from work! What do I tell her as an excuse?” he whispered-shouted.
“You think I care?” I snorted. “That’s not my problem. You better come, or we’re over,” I threatened, then ended the call.
I threw the phone on my bed and threaded my fingers through my hair. I surprised myself with the confidence I had in my words; to believe he would come to not lose the thing between us. He could easily ignore it and stay with his beloved girlfriend. The possibility weighed me.
I thought I could do it. I thought I could overcome the feeling of seeing my man with another woman. However, once I got home, the accumulation of the bitter feelings was already huge like a wrecking ball in my stomach. I couldn’t eat, rest, or go on with whatever activity I desired to do.
Why wasn’t he leaving her already? Why was he picking to torture me emotionally? Were relationships normally that painful? I could never tell, judging my dating history.
I threw up all that I tried to eat, even the glass of water I drank to soothe my headaches. I couldn’t feel that shit alone —he needed to come and see how shitty he made me feel. He needed to feel it with me too. He was at my door half an hour later. The moment he was in, I couldn’t stop myself from slapping him hard across the face.
He froze to the side I slapped him to and held his red cheek. “I… I deserved that.”
“Of course, you do! You suck!” I yelled, chest moving up and down rapidly and teeth gritted. “Did you enjoy watching me looking stupid there? Huh?”
He finally faced me. His face and neck were all red, and his eyes were watery, a mixture of rage and sorrow. “I didn’t!” he yelled back. “What did you want me to do? You came to us while I was avoiding that not to hurt you!”
Avoiding? Did he call coming to my workplace avoiding?
“You think this is my fault now?” I snickered. “That wasn’t even supposed to happen if you were a man and fixed this beforehand!”
He didn’t say anything.
Staring at his pathetic, defeated state with a racing heart, I softened. I was out of breath in an instant; I couldn’t take such arguments. A two-year break of relationships left me highly unprepared to fight emotions.
“Do you want me, Blake?” I whispered through the tension. I needed his answer like a wilting flower thirsting for water.
“I do.” He replied at once with zero hesitation.
“Say it.”
“I want you, Cassandra…”
What was I doing to myself? The words sounded like poison, although I demanded them to calm myself down. My fists clenched and unclenched. I bit my lip, holding back a cry. However, if I wasn’t going to allow myself to cry, I was going to explode.
He stepped dangerously closer. “Baby… please, don’t cry. I hate this. I hate myself for making you feel this way. I’m trying to tell her; I swear. I’m just waiting for the right time.”
His words reawakened my anger. I looked up to him with a glare despite my teary eyes and pointed my index to his chest. “No… you’re a coward. You think there’s a way to solve this without hurting anyone. You’re waiting for nothing, then. In this… someone is definitely going to hurt. Right now, you’re choosing this person to be me.”
He shook his head sideways, holding my shoulders. “No, Cassandra. I wouldn’t want that for you! I’d rather be the one to take all the pain for everyone. I already am.”
Did he expect my sympathy for his lies? He pulled me to his chest, caressing my hair: The moves he knew well were enough to make me relax and loosen up about how cowardly he was.
Possibly, he was honest, but I couldn’t care less. I wasn’t going to wait for him to do whatever he thought would fix it and hurt myself in the prolonged process.
I was going to act on my own.
. . .
a few chapters left! leave your expectations 😌
the next chapters are going to reveal some... hidden truths? not sure what they're called, but while cass was busy in her toxic drama with blake, some things went unnoticed. she's going to get that slap.
