chapter 10

For the umpteenth time, Vukan took another look at his watch and cursed the fact that he had showed up at all. There were hosts of other things he would rather be doing than allow himself get shown off like a priced hog to someone he wasn't even sure he would like. To make matters worse, his father had chosen the spot for him and the mystery date to meet up.

Vuken cast his gaze around, wondering what had made their parents pick that particular restaurant in the first place. Asides the overly brought features of the room, it was drab and dour in every other aspect.

"I should not have come here", he mumbled to himself. "I should have stood my ground and told them I don't want to do this'.

It would have been tough, but it was something he was sure he could have pulled off regardless. More so, his mother had been the one to encourage him into giving in.

"For peace's sake, do this and don't let things get out of hand", she had pleaded with him.

Regardless, Vukan wished he had declined the offer promptly.

Adjusting his tie and trying to breathe, he cured underneath his breath, "Why the fuck did I even dress like this in the first place?"

He wasn't accustomed to dressing officially for dates, but his father had somehow done his best to manipulate him into dressing "Decently and looking responsible" as the man had labeled it. He had gone out to get a new suit, specially made, and paid double the amount for a normal suit.

"Hopefully, I can tell him about how he had wasted his bloody money", he muttered to himself in tiredness as he continued to struggle with the tie his mother had insisted on knotting for him.

The entire scenery had been embarrassing from the moment they came knocking on his door that morning, to how they had stood by the door and waved him goodbye until his car disappeared into the corner of their street. To make matters worse, his father wouldn't stop texting and it was prompting Vukan towards turning off his cellphone.

"Stupid suit for a very stupid date", he complained for the entirety of the time he had been there.

Checking his time once again, five minutes had successfully passed like three hours since he arrived at the fancy restaurant. The waiter slowly approached with the menu in hand as he had been instructed to do after five minutes by Vukan.

"Are you ready to place your order now?' the gently spoken waiter asked.

Vukan looked up at him and demanded for the menu.

"By the way, the gentleman over there paid for a bottle of drink on your behalf", the waiter said, pointing towards the east side of the restaurant.

Wondering who it could be and almost paralyzed by anxiety, Vukan nodded his head and waved the waiter away as the man made his way to the winery to bring the drink he had been offered.

"Has he been here the whole time? Did he arrive before me and decided to watch me all through?" he queried himself endlessly.

Too frightened to turn his head and look, Vukan shielded his face with the menu he had been given and tried to breathe inside the suit he was struggling with. The waiter finally arrived with the drink and laid it to rest atop the table by Vukan before disappearing from sight.

"This cannot be happening to me", the young man thought, feeling rather bothered and troubled at heart.

He finally managed to summon some courage towards peering his gaze in the direction of his benefactor, but the individual, who was seated with two other men and a woman, had his back to Vukan. His curly blonde hair hung downwards from his body and his slightly long face did well to hide from Vukan's view.

Feeling both flattered and insulted at the prospect of his date being the one chattering away with people while he had been waiting patiently, Vukan upped himself from his seat and marched ahead with the menu still in his hand.

"Make your stand and leave", he told himself.

It was the least he could do, considering he had been waiting for about seven minutes and his date still had not done him the favor of gracing himself as agreed.

"Hello", Vukan called out upon arriving at the table, but slowly swallowed his tongue as the figure turned around.

It was the last person he had assumed he'd be seeing but the individual was no stranger to him either. He wondered if his father would allow someone he obviously had profound dislike for, be his intended date.

'Vukan", the blonde boy smiled with his childish looks lighting up more than ever.

There was a time those looks used to cause Vukan some major heart palpitations but he had gotten over them now and knew how to control his emotions.

"Hello, Bean", he greeted back vaguely.

Kelvin Bean, his ex, beamed right back at Vukan as though he had not seen the fellow in years.

"Did you send this over?" Vukan asked.

Kelvin Bean nodded. 'I saw you sitting all by yourself over there and thought to do something nice for you until whoever you are waiting on shows".

The response showed he wasn't the one Vukan had been waiting for and to some degree, the latter felt pleased at heart.

"Sorry for disturbing your meeting, and thanks for the drink by the way", Vukan smiled and turned around with a sigh of relief.

Bean's episode was one he was glad he had gotten out from and as he returned to his seat, realizing he had arrived at the restaurant fifteen minutes earlier than their originally scheduled time because of his parents' hassles, Vukan hated himself some more. He hated the fact he had given in and while he sat there, stewing, he watched the ballet flag down a car and attend to the driver.

He immediately recognized the car. It wasn't one he could forget even if he dearly needed or wanted to. Vukan wondered what the car was doing in front of the restaurant as he watched the driver slowly get out of the car with flowers in his hand.

"Oh my God!" he exclaimed to himself.

His heart began to tear into his chest and threatened to force its way through, while his feet tapped into the ground nervously underneath the table. He hurriedly opened the bottle of wine and poured himself a glass before gulping it down and pouring another glass to help relax his tensed nerve.

"Oliver Douglas", the word rang through his head without halting.

His father had mentioned his friend's name to be Peter Douglas, but nothing about the son's name. The secrecy might not have been intentional, but Vukan could not contain himself as he watched the finest boy he had ever laid eyes on, dressed in a perfectly gorgeous leather jacket and tight jean pants, walk through the front door.

He upped himself from his seat out of courtesy and waved the young man over. Oliver caught sight of the waving figure from afar, and obliged by heading over. Each step he took closer to Vukan se the latter's heart on fire.

"This should be the best date ever!" Vukan felt like screaming.

Even while Kelvin Bean, his ex, was in the same restaurant with them, Vukan didn't seem to care one bit. He would rather have Oliver sitting with him than anybody else in that moment.

Oliver halted his steps halfway while he struggled to make out the face of the individual he was heading towards. Everything about the physique brought tingles to his spine.

"What has my father done?" he thought to himself while his lips stiffened.

Slowly, and less in haste unlike when he walked into the restaurant initially, Oliver approached the designated table with a heavy heart. He knew who he was going to meet. He was no stranger to the individual and he couldn't help but wonder if it was just another manipulative trick from the fellow. The coincidence was rather too alarming for him to want to believe.

"Hello", a joyous sounding Vukan greeted while he extended his arm towards the chair in front of him.

Oliver remained mute, managed to slide himself into the seat and never broke his gaze away from Vukan. Vukan could sense the discomfort in the gaze being leaned against him. He motioned to pour his date a drink but Oliver declined with his arms crossed over his chest.

"I was beginning to doubt if you were going to show up", Vukan stated.

Oliver tossed his head to the side while he weighed his options. While he had come to an arrangement with his father, there was nothing in their agreement about him staying put even if he wasn't comfortable with the situation. Being there made him feel trapped. Sitting before the young man made him feel uncomfortable and if he had his way, he would be far away as soon as possible.

"Would you like to talk or should we order first?" Vukan inquired.

Oliver looked around again and shook his head.

"Okay… we… ", Vukan continued but got interrupted when he watched Oliver slam his hands into the table.

"How did you manage to pull it off?" he asked.

Vukan wasn't sure what the question was about and while he was hoping to engage the young man, he didn't have the best response. "How did I pull what off?"

Oliver pointed at the table and extended his hand towards the entire restaurant by pointing up. "How did you pull this up between our parents? You truly are sneaky, morally inept and manipulative, aren't you?"

Vukan, short of words and unsure of what to say, shook his head. "I have no idea what you're talking about… I didn't pull anything off".

Oliver cackled aloud and rather sarcastically. He didn't stop for half a minute before slowly standing up from his seat and leaning into the table until his breath could somehow warm Vukan's face.

"You see, I don't trust people easily, but I don't trust people like you ever", he whispered. "I don't understand what sort of game you've been trying to pull off, but I will not be blackmailed emotionally or allowed to fall into your pit of madness either".

Vukan parted his lips but clamped them shut again. Oliver wasn't done and his words weren't any better either.

"Isn't it pitiful for you and embarrassing that you still went ahead to set this up?" Oliver asked.

Vukan stuttered as he attempted to defend himself. "I don't… I really don't understand what this is all about".

Oliver snorted derisively and tossed the flowers he had gotten for his date to the ground. "I bet you wouldn't know. First, you embarrassingly propose some bogus love to me the other day, taking advantage of my mental and emotional instability after the accident and now you pull this cheap stunt?"

Oliver slid out from his seat, shot Vukan another glance of despair and shook his head.

"You really need to get a life and do something meaningful with it too", Oliver fumed before marching away.

Left seated where he was, dumbfounded and insulted as Vukan tried to understand what had prompted the barrage of insults, the waiter slowly approached. He raised his hand and warned the fellow against attempting to come over, as his heart swelled with anger.

"What the hell just happened?" he asked himself.

He had done nothing but act nicely and the excitement on his face had preached love and no form of hostility. The fact he had been ridiculed that badly only caused Vukan to question his actions some more. It felt quite surreal to be lambasted in such a manner, talk less of being referred to as an emotional manipulator.

His cellphone rang from within his pocket, bringing his attention to his father's call, no doubt to ascertain how the date was going. He decided against picking the call and would rather tell them when he got home. It was a crazy day and a rather disturbing experience for Vukan already. It was better if he didn't allow himself the opportunity to break down outside.

***

Counting his breath for the fifth time while he stood on the front porch, Vukan wondered what awaited him behind the door. His ever hyperactive father with a penchant for being nosy, no doubt, wanted answers, while he wasn't in the mood to give any.

In contrast to how he felt on the inside, the day looked beautiful. The sweet scent from the garden roses filled the air, while the melodious sound from humming birds in the nearby tree soothed his heart. Vukan wished he could stay out for as long as possible. Regardless of how hot and somewhat troubling the day was, he wished he could be by himself without anyone around attempting to bother him.

The incident with Oliver had played through his head until he arrived home. Wondering if Kelvin Bean had witnessed the entire melee, he felt like dying of the embarrassment he felt.

"Vukan? Is that you?" his mother called out from the living room before her footsteps drew nearer as she opened the front door. '

Vukan managed a thin smile at his mother before walking into the house. The woman's face lit with questions and curiosity no doubt but he wasn't in the mood to answer any just yet.

"So, how did it go?' she finally asked.

He pretended not to have heard, before picking a cookie from the stash his mother kept on the table.

"There you are! Been waiting all day for you to get back!" his father joined in and plunged himself into the couch nearest to Vukan.

Vukan looked at the duo, smiled tenderly and took one more cookie before heading up for his room. In the distance, he could hear his parents giggle with the assumption that things had gone well. He wished he could tell them though. He wished he could tell them about just how embarrassed he had been and how he never wanted to be in such a situation again.

Oliver's words still cut through him and no matter how badly he tried to keep them off, they messed with his feelings.

"Does he have someone else?" he has asked himself through the journey home.

The possibility that Oliver had someone looked slim, considering he had arrived to the date with flowers. More so, he was neatly dressed, well shaven and looked receptive to the idea before spotting Vukan.

'Whatever is going on with that guy, I really hope he fixes himself", Vukan sounded defeated as he slammed his room door.

He wished he had someone to speak to about his woes, but instead, he decided it was best to sleep it off, if that was possible. It would definitely come off as the worst day of his life.

***

Having chosen to remain silent and not to mutter a word of how the date had turned out to his parents, Oliver wished he had told them how terrible things had gone after hearing his mother relay the newest development to him.

"You are joking, right?" Oliver asked with a frown. "You guys are kidding me or trying to mess with me, right?"

Peter Douglas shook his head from side to side and slowly wrapped his arm around his wife as he vocally responded, "No. Seeing how you didn't have any complaints about the date, your mother and I decided we should have dinner with the Adamsons tomorrow".

Oliver wished he could pick death over having to go anywhere near Vukan, taking less of his family. He stuttered and found the right words to use impossible as his parents waited for his response.

"I already did as you asked with the date and you gave me your words", Oliver reminded them.

"Yes, we did and we recall telling you if you didn't fancy the date, you could speak up about it", his father replied. "More so, this isn't about you entirely. I was simply thinking about paying my friend a visit and what better way to do it than to have our families meet?"

Oliver could not believe his ears. He had literally walked into another trap set by his parents.

"Tell them about the date", the voice in his head rang.

It was a viable option, but it was bound to open him to ridicule and terrible assessment too. More so, lying against Vukan would open their parents to negativity if his father confronted his friend about his son's alleged uncouth behavior when Oliver had been the terrible one.

"So, what do you say about dinner with the Adamson family?" his mother asked.

Oliver gave off a fake smile and left their sight with a bitter heart. He wished his sister was around to pester them into allowing him to be by himself at home while they had their dinner with the Adamson family. He would seek her assistance and bribe her if he had to. It seemed far fetched but if there was anyone capable of manipulating his folks, it was their daughter, his elder sister.

He picked his phone and dialed her digits immediately. Within minutes, he explained his predicament to her and hoped she was going to see things from his end of the ordeal. Afterwards, she had something against Vukan too from the pub when she caught him kissing her boyfriend.

"What's in it for me?" she asked.

Casting out a subtle sigh, he replied, "Name your price".

She was his last hope and the only one he had to help sort things through. If she failed, then he was defeated too. Yet, she wasn't one to never have her way. He trusted in her abilities that much and would stake a lot on her.

"Agreed", he muttered upon hearing her terms.

He figured it was a small sacrifice to pay instead of having to peer into the face of the heinous creature he was slowly beginning to despise.