CHAPTER 15: Reminiscing

He's eyes were welling out of tears but I gently wiped it for him. I hugged him tight then rubbed my hand gently on his back to comfort him.

" It's okay Mat, you don't have to tell me if you're not ready." I gently uttered

" I think, I am ready now babe and besides I don't want to hide any secrets from you." He replied

While sitting on the swing, he told me a story about his mother.

" I was a little kid back then, dad was always busy with his business so he barely went home. But I didn't know that he was involved in shady transactions and businesses. Mom, was so sick about my dad's actions even though we have a lot of money. She's just longing for my dad's attention and we're like invisible to him."

I held his hands and kept my ears on him. I was paying attention to every detail of his story and made him feel that I'm always there to listen.

"That night, it was raining heavily, I saw mom prepare her luggage. I asked her where she was going. But she didn't say any words, she just hugged me while her eyes were welling out of tears. She asked me to stay in my room and never get out. So I did, but I heard gunshots outside our house. I rushed in to take a gaze outside. Then, I saw the guards having gun fights with some unknown gangs. They took mom, I was bursting out of tears while watching them drag her into a black van. I couldn't do anything cuz' I'm just a little kid."

Mat was crying while he was telling me about her mom's kidnapping incident. My heart breaks as I see him cry that much for the very first time. All I can do is to comfort him. But he wiped out his tears and continued telling his story.

"I blame dad about it cuz' he's the reason why mom got kidnapped. But I can't do anything but to accept that she's gone. Dad tried his best to search for her but she's nowhere to be found. I'm still worried and wondering until now, If she's alive somewhere out there."

I gave Mat a tight hug while he cries on my shoulder. At that time, I knew that he was longing for a mother's love and care.

" It's okay babe, I'm always here for you. " I uttered

He smiled and felt delighted that I was on his side. While having a heart to heart talk with Mat, we didn't notice that time passed by too quickly.

" Oh! babe it's already 4:30pm, let's go to Emily's birthday." I exclaimed with excitement.

But I have realized about what happened lately, about my mom talking about Emily as my childhood friend.

"Oum, babe I think we should not go if you feel uncomfortable attending. I'll just inform her that I'm busy and I have some reporting to do tomorrow."

" It's okay babe, I think we should go." He replied confidently.

" Are you sure, you're gonna be fine?" I asked

" I promise, I'll be fine." He uttered then he smiled at me sweetly.

After having our conversation, Mat and I prepared for Emily's birthday.

I called Ari and Jenna too, Mat also called his friends Nate and Ark to attend Emily's Birthday.

We have arrived at her dad's old villa. Such an elegant house, made of glass. Not all were made of fiber glass, some parts of it were concrete.It was a two storey house and at the backyard is a wide rectangular pool with palm trees on its sides. But wat caught my attention was the beach nearby by the house. It's so majestic while I gaze over the horizon.

" Oh! there you are guys!" Emily was surprised to meet us.

I greeted her back and introduced them to our friends.

" Emily, I want you to meet Ari and Jenna, my friends from highschool, you barely cant remember them cuz' you transferred to a new school too early." I uttered

Ari and Jenna greeted Emily for a happy birthday.

" And what about these two guys here?" Emily curiously asked?

" Oh! my bad, this is Ark and Nate. They're Mat's friends" I replied.

I breathed deep as I saw Vinz approaching.

He looks super similar to his dead brother Merick. His smile was so alluring. But I felt uncomfortable the moment I saw him. While upbeat music was playing, Emily introduced us again with Vinz. But I have noticed that he's staring at me intensely.

"Okay guys, this is my boyfriend Vinz." She uttered.

Everyone greeted him except me.

" So are there any drinks you could offer?" I asked Emily teasingly.

" Of course, we have our mini bar here, you could actually ask the barista for a drink." She Replied.

"Oh! thanks Emily." I smiled at her and continued our conversation with my friends.

"By the way guys, enjoy okay!? Don't mind these people here, they're just my relatives." She uttered.

I took a glass of champagne and went outside the balcony. I saw Mat staring into the horizon.

" It's beautiful, isn't it?" I asked

" Yup, super, one day we'll travel all around the world and create happy memories together." He replied in a gentle tone.

" Oh! there you are guys we've been looking for you both." Ari and Jenna are approaching.

" So, what are you guys talking about.!?" Jenna exclaimed with excitement, curiously wanted to know what we were talking all about.

" Nothing, we were just talking about how beautiful the horizon is." Mat uttered

" Omg! how romantic of you Mat?" Ari exclaimed in a sarcastic way.

Then I saw Ark and Nate approaching. Suddenly, Ark quickly rested his chin on Ari's shoulder.

Ari was shocked but actually she blushed a bit.

"Can we be that romantic to babe!?" Ark teasingly asked.

Ari pulled back and she glared at him, but we knew she was not serious about it.

" Shut up! Ark! it'll never gonna happen duhh!!!" Ari exclaimed.

" But, what if?" Ark replied while showing an annoying smirk on his face.

" One more word and I'll smack you on the face!" Ari exclaimed and looked so annoyed with Ark.

But I've noticed that she's blushing.

" Let's not talk about me, let's talk about Jenna instead." She teasingly uttered.

" Hey ! bitches don't start with me okay?" She replied

But still, we continued teasing her.

" So bitch, how are you together with Pete?" I asked. She knew that, if she answers that question, we won't stop teasing her.

Her mood changed as we mentioned about Pete.

" Actually, we already broke up.

" What!? I thought,You guys were happy together." I replied

" We did, but I caught that bullshit cheating on me!" She exclaimed furiously.

We gently tapped Jenna's back just to make sure, she has friends she can lean on.

I drank my last glass of champagne and excused myself then I headed to the bathroom. I haven't noticed that Mat followed me. No one was using the bathroom at that moment, because most of Emily's friends and relatives who attended were girls. I quickly rinsed my face , then suddenly, someone rested his chin on my shoulder blade.

"Babe, not here someone might see us."

He hugged me tight while I was feeling the warmth of his body. But suddenly we heard gunshots outside.

Everyone was panicking, they ran for their lives. Mat and I went outside the bathroom. We saw our friends docking into a concrete wall. We approached them and we told them to leave.

" Are you guys okay?" I uttered in low volume.

" Yes we're fine, Omg! what's happening again!?" Ari was in panic.

" Girls, calm down okay? We're gonna get you out of here." I replied hesitantly

" There's a back door of this villa you can use to escape." Mat uttered.

They followed Mat's order.

We sneaked a peak to see who those guys were, and yes, probably Bradley's gang again. Mat! was getting furious at that moment.

" Damn! These bullshits won't really stop pestering us huh!"

He unveiled a gun on he's black linen jacket. I was surprised he came ready.

Suddenly, I saw my friends being dragged down on the ground downstairs. Ari and Jenna were crying and trembling in fear. Ark and Nate were also there, they've been captured by these gangs.

" I need to save them!"

" Babe wait! there's too many of them.We cannot defeat them all." May replied.

" But they're my friends and your friends too!"

"Yes but we cannot attack with haste." He uttered

Mat was right we cannot attack hastily. As we stood up and moved slowly someone pointed a gun at Mat's head.

" Vinz!?" I exclaimed

Mat and I don't have any choice but to concede. Vinz took the gun on Mat's hand. Then he led us downstairs.

" I should've let you hunt the moment I knew you had a twin!" Mat exclaimed furiously.

" Vinz? but why, I thought you were kind." I uttered

"hhh! Well, I guess you heard the wrong side of the story." Then he laughed sarcastically.

They dragged us down on the ground where our friends were, while their guns pointed at us.

We heard a slow clap and clatter of red stilettos coming towards us.

" What!? Emily!?"