chapter 26

Everyone got up with the exception of Vukan who continued to toggle through his phone before Peter Douglas sat to his right and Oliver landed on his left.

Being in such close proximity with Oliver sent a bitter feeling down his gut. He wiggled and moved uncomfortably in his seat without looking up until the waiter returned with the drink.

"Finally", Henry Adamson sounded delighted as he motioned for the drink to get served.

The waiter leaned over to serve their cups while trickles of cold water from the bottle dripped onto Vukan's shirt.

"Can you fucking watch it!?" he snapped at the waiter with reddened eyes.

Confused as to what he had done, the waiter apologized.

"Your apology does no darn good, now, does it?" he shot back at the young man who was beginning to look scared. "This shirt probably costs more than your entire… ".

"Vukan, come off it!" his mother interjected almost immediately.

She apologized to the waiter who turned around with an unhappy look sprawled across his face even though he managed a smile at them before he left.

"Shall we?" Gemma Douglas incited the need to have the toast done as she eyed her drink.

Everyone lifted their cups, while Vukan managed to do so too with a blank expression.

"A toast to our kids for their graduation and towards more success in the future", Vukan's father began by saying.

They took a sip and Peter Douglas went next. "A toast to families united".

They followed similar patterns until it was time for Oliver to give a toast and speak of something he was grateful about.

"I would like to give a toast to family, love, support and forgiveness", he said.

Everyone cheered and drank from their cups while Vukan barely lipped him. The attention around the table turned to Vukan, who seemed rather perplexed as to why they were all looking at him. In his defense, he had not paid attention to anything they were doing. He had only followed their hand signs and actions blindly, with no interest to take in the details.

"Give a toast, son", Henry Adamson tried to hide his anger towards his son.

Vukan shot his father a blank stare, slowly drifted his gaze around the table and then settled on Oliver. He snorted subtly, shook his head and left raised his drink as though he was on the verge of giving a toast, but took a subtle sip from it and returned the glass back where he had picked up from.

"I don't have anything to toast on or to", he said, before paying his attention to his phone again.

His actions drew a lengthy silence around the table, with nobody willing to speak after what he had done.

Vukan finally looked up. "If the toast is so important to you, then I guess I have to do it".

His mother sighed in relief while his father looked indifferent. Vukan motioned for them to lift their glasses as he did his before getting on his feet.

"Toast to betrayal, to being used and to be made the fool of", he said without looking at anyone in particular.

He took a subtle pause to see who would drink with him but nobody did. Vukan gulped down his drink without stopping until there wasn't any left in his glass.

"With that sorted, I sincerely hope this toast nonsense finally stops", he said before taking his excuse and walking away from the table to use the restroom.

Everyone tailed him with their eyes as he waddled along carelessly. Vukan couldn't be bothered even in the slightest by their eyes. With his back turned to them, he focused on relieving himself and that was precisely what he wanted to do.

Shoving the restroom door open and without caring if there was anybody in there with him, Vukan leaned his back into the door and slowly dropped to the ground. He let off a huge sigh of relief as pent up air, previously built in his chest, slowly began to ease out. He had done the best he could while he was out and around Oliver and his family.

He had managed to keep calm and hold everything in but it wasn't working. He needed his rage out and he needed them to see he was hurting. Seeing Oliver cackle and laugh as if nothing was wrong, really steamed him up.

His eyes watered dearly and his lips began to wobble as he held himself back from crying. He had cried the night before but not as much as he was about to. Having Oliver around him just wasn't making it easy. The sense of feeling used, the guilt associated with being labeled a pervert and the fact he had done everything he did for the right reason just made the feeling worse.

"What more did he want?" he asked himself. "What more was I supposed to do?"

He had never put in as much effort into anything as he had done with Oliver. The inspiration to finish Caldridge School of Art came from wanting to be with him. They had studied together all through their exams and Vukan even made it a habit to drop Oliver off for his exams when he could.

He marched to the basin and washed his hands as well as splashed some water into his face. Glaring at himself in the mirror brought an image he wasn't comfortable with but he was hoping to change it real soon.

"I am done playing nice", he told himself through the mirror. "I am done being the one getting bullied."

He wiped his face clean with some paper towels, tucked his hands into his pockets and walked out of the bathroom like a man on a mission.

"Keep your cool and state your points", he mumbled to himself.

He would do his best not to get bullied or intimidated by Oliver's presence. Vukan dusted his seat, helped himself into it and looked around the table. Everyone seemed to have fallen silent since he came back.

"We should order the soup now", his mother said, distracting everyone from him for a moment.

***

The waiter arrived with the bowl of soup. He was definitely different from the one that had served them drinks. Vukan noted the sigh of relief on his mother's face just before she asked the server to begin serving their plates individually.

"That would be six bowls", the waiter muttered to be certain while he served the rations.

He served the first three bowls successfully, before tripping and letting his serving spoon fall of his hands. A loud sigh of worry escaped the lips of more than three persons on the table as the waiter realized he had messed up someone's shirt.

Vukan with his clenched fists, looked at the spoon still lying on his shirt and then slowly exchanged gaze with the server.

"I am sorry… I am so sorry", the server apologized. "This was a mistake that never happens".

Vukan let off an initial smile as though all was good, before jumping up abruptly and grabbing the server by his wrist.

"Do you have any idea what kind of shirt you just fucked up? Have you the slightest idea how much this costs?" he asked.

The terrified server shook his head without trying to forcefully retrieve his hand yet.

"You just ruined a shirt worth enough to feed your family, not to mention the pants you most definitely soiled too", Vukan hissed.

His mother got up from where she sat and tried to unlock his arm from the server's. "He didn't do it intentionally. It wasn't on purpose son, so let him go".

Vukan initially resisted, cursed and swore some more before letting go of the server's hand.

"It was a mistake", the young man said once again.

Vukan was tired of hearing people not own up to their doings. The premise of hiding under the word "mistake" sounded sour to his ears and triggered his anger some more.

"This is no wonder people like you never amount to anything other than serving tables", Vukan said. "You obviously aren't fit for high profile jobs and would most likely die working as a soup server".

The harsh words prompted gasps of surprise and discomfort from those around the table with him.

"You need to calm down, son", Peter Douglas said after finding Vukan's words a tad too harsh and unwarranted.

Vukan ignored the man while he cleaned his cloth with a napkin.

"It could have happened to anyone", Gemma Douglas cut in.

Vukan scoffed as he looked back up. He made certain to avoid making eye contact with Oliver who couldn't peel his eyes off of Vukan.

"Well, it is expectable to see you defend your kind and those within your status", Vukan said, insulting Oliver's parents right to their faces.

He paused for a moment and looked at his parents. His mother looked livid and disappointed while his father's expression could not be accurately quantified.

"I understand the need to sit there and act as if you belong when this might be your only true chance to marry or pawn off your son to wealthy people like us", Vukan continued. "While you sit there with no dignity, no self-respect and an absurd level of ignorance, it is fine. Just don't wait on us to foot the bills".

The words definitely struck as nerve as Oliver motioned to get up from his seat but his mother cautioned him against it.

"What under the heavens has gotten into you?" Vukan's mother asked.

His father stood up and walked over to look him in the face. "That was not only rude but quote stupid and insensitive of you".

Vukan hisses and motions to sit back but his father drags him back up.

"You don't have a seat here until you apologize to them!" his father yelled.

Gemma Douglas sought to intercede but Vukan's mother prevented her from doing so.

Vukan snickered in a rather insulting manner. "I don't recognize these people and I don't owe them shit".

He motioned to sit again and his father yanked at his shirt, before smacking Vukan right across the face without any forewarning. The entire floor seemed to go dead silent as Vukan held his cheek in shock. His mother had gotten up to appease her husband while the servers were drawing close to avoid further conundrum.

Peter Douglas called for security before things would escalate or get out of hand.

Vukan's eyes shot blood red and his pride felt trampled on. He looked to Oliver with tears in the corner of his eyes, before looking back at his father.

"You dare fucking slap me?" he asked, barring any respect he had for the man.

Their rather sensitive relationship was in full view now and everyone seemed to be waiting for the worse to happen.

"I don't care what you say and I don't give a damn about your pompous and over indulged ass!" his father shot back.

"You slapped your own son over these nitwits!?" Vukan asked again, provoking his father to no end.

Henry Adamson raised his hand to send through another slap before feeling his wife restraining him from doing so.

"Please stop hitting him", she pleaded.

Henry boiled red and began to exude copious amounts of sweat too. "Get out! Leave this place and don't fucking come near me! I don't want to see you! I don't recognize you as my child!"

The man shoved Vukan hard in the chest, sending him stumbling backwards as he fell into Oliver and could only break his fall because Oliver assisted him.

Looking over his shoulder with his glassy vision, he whispered to Oliver, "I hope you're happy now?"

He got back to his feet, squeezed through the bodies already gathering and walked out of the restaurant feeling ashamed and angry at the same time. He managed to kick some tables in his path and topple them over without caring for the consequences attached to damaging such properties. Vukan needed a place to cool off and he knew just where he had to go.