The Court of Love

Chapter 12

Seconds after Zoilo turned off the ignition of his car, he received a phone call. He answered, knowing who it was without having to look at the caller ID.

"Hey, just wanted to make sure you were alright," said the woman.

"Yeah I'm fine," he said as he exited his car. "Just got home."

"Alright then I'll see you tomorrow at work."

"Goodnight, Veronica."

"Goodnight, Zoilo."

At that moment, he heard it. He heard her say what he knew was 'I love you,' but without having to say it. He frowned as he felt his chest tighten.

Nostalgia overcame him. In most cases, people are reminded of the happy moments in their lives. Those memories often brought tears of joy or smiles as if they somehow relived the memory in just a matter of seconds.

But to Zoilo, it brought him pain. It came to him, one after another, the moment he was told those same three words by the same woman.

And that woman wasn't Arabella.

"I care about you." The woman said as she held him in her arms.

That's how it started. When she first said those words he knew she cared about him, but he didn't know the deeper meaning to her words.

He stared at her, waiting for her response. He had just confessed to her that he loved her. He only hoped she felt the same.

She answered, not with words, but with her actions. The moment she laid her lips on him, he knew. He knew she loved him just as he loved her.

While words may seem to be overrated, they were one of the ways you could know how someone felt. Sometimes you needed that confirmation because nothing else was enough than to hear the words yourself.

"I love you, Zoilo," she said as they laid within each other's naked embrace. Her head laid on his chest, listening to the sound of his heart. A heart that held a special place for her. While she was unaware that he had woken up just moments before she spoke, he continued to silently lay there watching her in awe. "I love you," she said once more.

Nothing was more painful that remembering the times you spent with someone you loved. The times you gave them everything you could all because you loved them. All because you saw them in your future and no one else. All because you thought it would last.

He hung up and decided to check his phone for any unanswered calls and messages. The moment he reached the entrance to his home, he unlocked it before looking back down at his phone.

He had a call from his mother and another from Nino from earlier in the day.

He then saw that Arabella never answered his text messages.

He placed his things on the kitchen island and picked up the sticky note that laid just inches away from him.

I made dinner tonight, your favorite. I thought it's the least I could do since you made dinner all of last week.

Instead of eating first, he headed upstairs towards their bedroom which he had let Arabella stay in after he told her about the divorce. Zoilo detested when she said she would stay in their guest room and much less when she suggested at a hotel. It was her home as well so there was no need for her to leave. He had told her that he'd stay in the guest bedroom. However, sometimes he didn't come home due to his business.

It still amazed him to this day how even when he thought his business wouldn't get any bigger, it did. This meant he needed more employees and room. In just a matter of seven weeks his third building would be finished.