CHAPTER 38
Fate slowly entered the shopping mall with a feeling of uneasiness. Norman allowed her to go out on her own. And somehow she was already feeling that something was wrong. She was already asking herself why Norman was suddenly being nice and was actually letting her have some freedom. She sighed heavily. “Maybe he’s just feeling guilty all of a sudden,” the thought quickly rushed into her mind. She then started to look around. “Maybe he just sent someone to look after me secretly,” she then thought again. She then lightly laughed. “I am beginning to be paranoid.”
She had already bought several items when something caught her attention. It was a light blue baby dress. It was like a knife instantly struck her heart. A very deep and numbing pain filled her whole body. She immediately turned away and tried to forget what she saw. But a small voice was somehow echoing in the back of her mind.
Tears quickly formed in her eyes, and she rushed out of the shopping mall. But before she could call for a taxi, a familiar car suddenly stopped in front of her.
“Get in… please,” the man inside the car said as if begging. Fate looked at the man and was about to turn away when…
“Get in! I need to talk to you. If you don’t talk to me, I will do something both of us will surely regret in the end,” the man said again with a more forceful voice.
Fate couldn’t help but look at the man again. She instantly saw the desperation and she quickly knew that he wasn’t lying. So she quietly got into the car just to avoid any problems.
“What do you want Max?” Fate uttered quickly as soon as she was inside the car. Somehow she didn’t have any plans of talking to him longer than needed.
“Why are you still so cold to me?” Max asked with a low voice. Fate couldn’t help but laugh bitterly. “Now you’re asking me such a question? Don’t you think you got it all wrong? You were the one who acted so coldly before. And you did it because of all the wrong reasons. You know I still can’t forget how you treated me. So don’t go acting so sweet and nice on me because it won’t work.”
Max felt like something suddenly got stuck in his throat. He knew that Fate had a reason to hate him. But he was still going to try to win her back, no matter how hard it was.
“Look, I want to talk to you… I heard you’re getting married in a few days. Please let me talk to you… even if it’s the last time. I know you can’t forgive all the horrible things I did to you. But please just let me have some time to explain and to ask for your forgiveness,” Max uttered while still trying to concentrate on driving.
Fate looked straight at the road they were going. “Where are you taking me?” she suddenly asked.
“Somewhere… don’t worry. I won’t do anything stupid. Just like what I said before. I just want to talk to you. So please just give me some time, please hear me out. I really want to clear out a few things before… before…” Max stopped talking. He couldn’t continue what he was supposed to say.
“Before I get married and I finally get you out of my life?” Fate said sarcastically. Max felt a sharp pain in his heart. His sweet Fate has changed. And he was the one to blame. He knew he had totally destroyed the life of the only woman he had loved.
“Can’t you even try to be civil with me? Am I that repulsive now in your eyes?” Max asked suddenly.
Fate suddenly felt pity for the man sitting beside her. She still loved him, but there was a big wall between them now. A wall that wasn’t easy to get over.
“Please Max, just forget everything that happened. I am already trying to move on. So you should also do the same. It’s not only for my sake, but also for your own sake as well… and for everyone’s sake. Just find a new girl, and forget that you ever met me,” Fate tried to say even though her words were like knives that were cutting her slowly.
“I have a surprise for you,” Max suddenly said, as if trying to change their topic.
“Surprise?” Fate asked, quite surprised. She knew that Max was acting very weird and somehow she was getting worried. “I need to go back Max. Please stop the car,” Fate uttered with a low voice. But he just kept on driving as if he didn’t hear anything, somehow his mind was somewhere else.
“Max, please let me go back. What’s wrong with you?” Fate asked with worry. It was only then she noticed the smell of liquor around Max. “You’re drunk?”
Max smiled bitterly. “So now you notice,” he said as he suddenly laughed in a mocking manner.
“You’re getting yourself drunk now? Don’t you even care about your reputation anymore? What if the media finds you drinking in a bar and suddenly takes your picture again? Aren’t you concerned that your actions will surely affect your friends too?” Fate started to lecture Max.
“I really don’t care about what the others think. All I care about is you,” Max replied.
Fate suddenly didn’t know what to say next. Somehow she was lost for words. “Where are we going Max?” she then repeated.
Max just stared straight at the road again. He was acting like he wasn’t hearing what she was saying.
“Max, I need to go home now!” Fate shouted. She was already feeling nervous with the way Max was acting.
“Just relax. I just want to show you something. Can’t you at least trust me?” Max said with a hurt tone in his voice.
Fate felt a sharp pain in her heart and somehow she pitied the man sitting beside her. She slowly looked at him. If only she could hold his face like the way she used to. How she wished she could still hold him in her arms and caress his hair whenever they were close to each other. She quickly turned away. She didn’t want to remember those thoughts. She needed to forget. She needed to pretend that she was already moving on. She needed to hurt him in order to save him.
She then stared out of the window of the car. Somehow the place was starting to look familiar. It was then something suddenly made sense….
“We’re going to the race track?” Fate asked curiously.
Max couldn’t help but smile. “I just want to bring you to a very special place. And somehow the race track is the only thing that comes into my mind.”
Fate slowly looked at him. “Why Max? It’s over. We can no longer get back what we have already lost. Let’s just stop before we end up hurting each other again. I already forgot about what happened. Please don’t make me remember them again. It’s too painful. Can you please just let me go?”
Max bit on his lower lip. Somehow he didn’t expect to hear those words from Fate. He was hoping that she would forgive him and give him another chance.
“Are… are you really sure that you want to forget… about us? Are you sure you want to forget me?” he asked with a quivering voice.
Fate closed her eyes. She didn’t want him to see what she was really feeling. “Oh Max… if I can only hold you once again… Do you know how much I miss you? Do you have any idea how long I have been dreaming of being close to you again? Can’t you feel the longing in my voice?” she couldn’t stop herself from thinking all those things.
“We’re here,” Max said as he slowly parked the car.
Fate opened her eyes again. And this time she looked straight at him. “What do you want Max? I am already getting married in a few days. Can’t you just be happy for me? Can’t you give me what I want? I don’t love you anymore. So please just leave me alone. You don’t have to bring me here so that I can remember our past. Honestly I would rather forget the past than remember it. Because no matter what I do, when I see you… I remember the child I lost. And somehow I can never forgive you. Even if my heart and my mind keeps telling me that I already forgave you… there is still that small part of me that always hates you. So you see… there is nothing else to return to. The love you’re trying to get back is no longer there. Please… for everyone’s sake, just let me go back. I no longer belong to you. You should just find another girl….” Fate suddenly stopped talking. Somehow it was quite difficult for her to say the words that she wanted to say.
Max shook his head. “I can never let you go. I know I was a fool when I did those things. And I admit I was wrong. But everyone deserves a second chance. Why can’t you just give me another chance? I am really sorry for all the wrong things that I have done. Just tell me what you want so you can forgive me and I will do it immediately. Tell me… please…” he begged.
Fate felt her heart had suddenly felt heavy. She quickly got out of the car and was about to walk away when Max suddenly grabbed her by the arm and embraced her tight.
“I love you Fate. Please… let’s start all over again. I don’t think I can live without you. So please come back to me. I promise, this time I will take good care of you. And I will never hurt you again. Please… please say you will take me back…” Max said with the most pitiful voice.
The familiar scent of Max’s favorite cologne made Fate’s heart skip a beat. She was so close to him now that she could almost hear his heart beat. And it was making all her senses go wild. She tried to push Max away. But he just kept on holding her tighter.
“Max, please let me go!” she shouted.
“No! I promised myself that I will never let you go once I have you in my arms again. And I plan to do whatever it takes to keep that promise…“
And with those words, Max quickly placed a wet handkerchief over Fate’s face. After a few minutes, he carefully placed the unconscious Fate back into the car. He knew what he did was the worst of all the things that he had done. But he had no choice. He knew that he couldn’t convince Fate to return to him, so he had to do it. He had to do something even if it meant doing something bad.
“I am sorry Fate. But I can’t lose you. I won’t let another man take you away from me…”
No comments:
Post a Comment