Haunted

Chapter 10: More Than Life Itself

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The man in blue faded jeans and green polo shirt was heading towards a coffee shop to take out a few snacks before he proceeded to his destination. He wasn’t really in a hurry, in fact, he was relaxed and he carried himself so casually that he didn’t care a twit, even when a small boy fell by in front of him.
The blonde man could see at the corner of his eye that the little boy’s mother was glaring at him for not helping her son. The man was already inches away from her son and the least thing he could have done was ask the boy if he was okay.

The blonde man continued walking towards the door and got himself inside the café. Once inside, he went straight to the ordering area and waited for his turn.

“I won’t make it in the meeting tonight,” a man said in a low whisper behind the blonde man, “tell our Canadian clients that I’m off to an emergency meeting… okay… good... Bye.”
The shut his phone while he waited behind the blonde man.
“Next please,” the blonde man heard the lady behind the border and went towards it.
“What’s your order, sir?”
“It’s a take-out, give me two brewed coffees.” He said briskly and the lady nodded,
“That would be 500 yen, sir.”
The blonde man gave out the money and waited for his coffee at a table a few feet away.

The man behind the blonde one was next in line,
“Good-evening, sir. May I take your order?”
“I’ll take… one cappuccino and a brewed coffee—take-out.” He added.
“That’ll be 600 yen, sir.”

The blonde man, who was waiting at his table for five minutes now, was brushing his hair through his fingers and was patiently waiting for his brewed coffee.
The one behind the blonde walked towards an empty table, just one table away from the blonde’s.

In a few minutes, new customers had started pouring in.
There were three teenage girls giggling, laughing and talking about boys.

As soon as these ladies had ordered their food, they sat between the two men's table.
“I cannot believe that Jessica thinks Andy is coming back to her,” the brunette scoffed while twirling her hair and dangling her foot in mid-air.
“Dina, you are such a bitch,” the red head said rolling her eyes heavenward, “you know Jessica is still our friend, and she needs our support.”
“Leah’s right,” the black-haired girl cut in, “I think we should help Jessica get him back.”
“What for, Jean?” Dina drawled, “Andy deliberately dumped her. If I were Jessica, I would certainly go for the new guy courting her.”
“Who? You mean Mathew Farelle?” Leah asked astonishingly.
“The rich guy?” Jean asked
“Yeah. That guy’s totally better. Unlike Andy.” Dina said disgustingly, nauseated at the thought of the boy’s name.

In truth, these girls’ conversation was so loud that the whole café could hear their cliché. Not to mention the blonde man and the other man next table.

“Okay,” Leah began, “how about, let’s ‘differentiate’ Andy from Matthew. What does Matthew have that Andy doesn’t?”
“Money?” Jean proposed,
“Andy’s also rich, but not that rich—
“You guys,” Leah barged in, “let’s not count the money, okay? What I mean is the personality-- the good attitude.”
“Okay,” Dina said, “Andy is an asshole and Matthew is a sweetheart. Period.”
“Dina, I don’t think that’s much of a detailed reasoning.” Leah countered,
“How about,” Jean started, “Andy is cold while Matthew is—
“Hot.” Dina cut in and made the three of them laugh,
“No, not hot,” Jean said, “but sweet. You see, from my observation Matthew is more forward with his feelings and Andy is more… well…”
“Shy?” Leah said,
“No way!” Dina protested, “Once, I saw Andy hauling Jessica against a wall and making up with her in a public area. I say he’s not shy but aggressive.”
“Omigod! That is so unbelievable! Did you watch them do it all the way?” Jean asked her frantically,
“Eew! That’s like so insane.” Dina fired,
“You guys,” Leah stomped, “stick to the topic, okay?” she said and drew a long breath, “So, Andy’s not shy, but quiet. He’s aggressive but also cold, while Matthew… is sweet… is that all?”
The three girls were quiet and Jean broke the silence,
“I’ve seen Matthew getting aggressive once towards Jessica. He tried to kiss her but Jessica wouldn’t let him.”
“What do you mean?” Dina asked.
“You see…I heard Andy had these problems with his family and I think that kind of affected his ‘growth’, and he had a very dark childhood…”
“How ‘dark’ are we talking about?” asked Leah,

Jean grew closer to them to tell the story in a whisper and the two other girls leaned forward.
But despite Jean’s effort of being quiet, her whisper was still loud and low enough to be heard by the blonde and the other man.
“I heard that Andy had this father-like figure before, you know ‘cause his real father died when he was still a kid, and then this guy, he was like so nice to Andy, but one day, he tried to…” Jean broke off and tried to imply what she was trying to say by enlarging her eyes,
“He tried to do what?” Dina asked in a complaining tone,
“You know… it.” Jean whispered.
“‘It’?,” Leah asked, “What ‘it’? Wait a minute… you don’t mean…”

Dina was left in awe and so was Leah. Both girls covered their mouths from the outrageous gossip they just heard.

“That is so inhumane!” Dina exclaimed.
“Ssshh!” Jean said, looking at all directions, making sure that no one’s listening, “don’t make it look so obvious.”
“Duh, no one can hear us.” Dina said.
“But that’s impossible,” Leah cut in, “they’re both men. Why would that guy wanna do ‘it’ with Andy?” Leah asked, “and to think Andy looked up to him as a father.” she added, feeling sick that she felt bile rising up from her throat,
“The guy was a wacko,” Jean explained, “he’s really demented. I have my sympathy for Andy. Maybe that’s why he’s so strange.”
“Oh crap, what happened with Andy?” Dina asked horrifyingly, “what did he do? Did he agree to do it?”
“God, no!” Jean said, “Andy shot him in the head before the guy could touch him. It turns out that the wacko had a gun and it was just on the table near Andy, so Andy snatched it and fired as soon as the guy started charging for him.” she explained, proud that she was able to deliver a well-detailed ‘information’.

But repulsed because the gossip itself was unbelievably horrid.

The three girls were silent for a few minutes and Dina spoke,
“I feel so sorry for Andy… his life is so sick.”
“Yeah,” Leah agreed, “maybe that’s why he’s so cold. With his background plus that revolting incident with that wacko rapist. I wouldn’t ask why he turned stone cold afterwards… knowing that he just killed the man he saw as a father.”
“Eeew!” Dina complained, “do you really think that Andy would still see that filthy old man as a father?”
“No, stupid,” Leah said, “what I mean is, I’m sure that Andy looked up to him very much that maybe, just maybe, he started blaming himself for that man’s death… I mean, he did shoot him and all.”
“But that was the right thing.” Jean countered, “the man was bad, as in really bad. He deserved to die.”
“So what Leah is trying to imply to us is that Andy’s behavior towards Jessica is excusable due to his anomalous raising?” Dina said, “I say that’s bullshit. I don’t care how Andy lived his life, because when it comes to loving someone, it’s different.” she concluded, bitchily defending Jessica.
“Dina’s right,” Jean added, “even if his life was a total crash, he shouldn’t have treated Jessica that way. I mean, Jessica loves him. She’s like head over heels for him. She would do anything for that guy.” She added pityingly.
“And how about Matthew?” Leah reminded her friends, “what’s up with him?”
“Oh, he’s a normal kid,” Dina assured her friends, “was raised in a good compact, stable family and had a nice upbringing—unlike Andy.”
“Are you guys centering your opinions about Andy and Matthew based on their upbringing?” she asked meaningfully, “because if you are, you’re not doing what I told you to do. I said distinguish the two of them based on their personalities—
“Oh for pete’s sake, Leah,” Dina drawled out exasperatingly, “let’s just conclude already: Andy’s a cold bastard and doesn’t deserve Jessica, while Matthew, well, he’s our winner—that’s it. No more questions, no more specifications, that’s all there is to know. P-e-r-i-o-d.” Dina persisted but was disappointed when Leah shook her head,

“That’s just not the way it’s supposed to be. For one thing, I know that Andy has a little ‘goodness’ in him someway—
“Yeah sure, if you’re his computer.” Dina said with a disgusted sigh,
“What do you mean?” Jean asked curiously,
“He’s a weirdo—and a nerd to sum it all up. He loves his gadgets, and I bet he loves his PC more than he loves Jessica—no, wait—I bet he loves his PC more than he loves life itself!” she stammered.
“That is not true.” Leah said, unable to believe.
“Oh yeah?," Dina challenged, "Well have you seen him walking around without the latest gadget from the stores? Even when he was out in a date with Jessica, she told me once that he always checks his mobile phone and his palm pilot every fifteen minutes. Now how’s that for a clear picture of your precious Andy.” she finished with a loathing tone

Unable to suppress a smile from the unknown gentleman behind them, the man behind the blonde a while ago, who’s actually silver-maned, was deeply interested with the ladies conversation.

The blonde man on the other hand was looking quite uncomfortable and unbelievably harassed, because for some reasons, he was probably biased with one of the boys from the ladies’ gossip.

“You know what,” Jean started, “I think Andy is so lucky to have had Jessica, because somehow, even if he’s not aware of it, Jessica actually made him happy… though he doesn’t say that’s true.”
Dina looked at her friend in an appalled manner and slowly accepted what she said.
“When you put it that way… I guess I can agree with that as well… he had his chance, and now he lost it. That’s his fault, not Jessica’s.” Dina said haughtily and held her chin high.
“We know…” Leah said caringly, “but I can see so many talents from Andy… not that Matthew doesn’t have one, but Andy’s a very persevering guy. He loves to work and he’s bound to be a rich entrepreneur someday—
“If he gets lucky.” Dina added,
“But he smokes!” Jean interjected.
“Then he’s ‘bound’ to die someday… or sooner.” Dina said with a thoughtful smile.
Leah looked at Dina and couldn’t help but chuckle.
“You are such a bitch, my friend.”
“Why, thank you.” Dina replied in an appreciative manner.
“So you guys,” Jean said, sitting straight from her chair, “from what we’ve gathered about these two boys… who do you think best fits our Jessica?” she asked.
The three ladies were silent for a while, but since Jean was asking the question, she was expecting an answer from her two friends,
“Matthew.”
“Andy.”
Dina and Leah said in unison.
“Are you out of your freaking mind?!” Dina exclaimed towards Leah,
“Well Jessica loves Andy more than Matthew. And I believe that Jessica only sees Matthew as a friend.” Leah reasoned,
“And does Andy love Jessica? It’s not a question whether Jessica loves Andy or not—that’s obvious,” Dina drawled out, “but the question is: Does Andy love Jessica?”
The three girls were silent for a while and out of the blue, unexpectedly, a baritone voice answered Dina’s question.

“Andy does… count on it.”

The blonde man wanted to hit himself for saying that. Deep inside, he could relate himself to the boy.

And he could compare a ‘certain someone’ to this Jessica person.

The blonde man sulked on his chair, looking so bored in the exterior side, but astoundingly penetrated by the gossip.
"Impossible.” The silver-maned man said and looked at the blonde man.
The blonde man looked at the man who was just right behind him a while ago, and slowly, he remembered him.
“Seige Mushimoto. ‘The hell are you doing here?” Yuki asked bluntly.
“I think that’s because coffee shops are open to the public, Mr. Eiri.” he replied as if Yuki Eiri was such a dumbass.
“Aren’t you supposed to be in a hotel or something? You wouldn’t want your suit to be messed up by spilled coffee, now would you?” Yuki shot back, lying back on his chair in a cool manner,
“And how about you, Mr. Eiri? Why aren’t you at home doing your…er… what’s that again?” Seige asked in a mocking way, deliberately provoking Yuki, “ah yes—romantic novels.”

Yuki Eiri didn’t reply anything to that but simply sighed, as if Seige Mushimoto’s statements only amused him.
“Well?” Seige continued, challenging the famous Yuki Eiri.
Yuki looked at him exasperatingly and answered,
“What can I say?” looking at Seige and looking at the three dumfounded ladies beside them, “I’m a hopeless romantic dude who loves his gadgets more than life itself.” He said, quoting what one of the ladies said a few minutes ago.

Acting as if he won this argument, he stood up and got his coffee, which by the way, just arrived.

“You’ll never win Shuichi back now.” Seige spoke in a seething tone without looking at Yuki Eiri who was already pushing the door towards outside,

Yuki smirked and replied,

“Who said I was trying?”

He then left three puzzled faces and a pissed man inside a café.


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On his way to his car, Yuki couldn’t help but swear under his breath and think about the gossip he just heard a while ago.

That Andy’s life… it was almost exactly the same with his.

And to add it all up, Yuki was so sure that if he ever had the chance to meet this Andy, they would have so many things in common.
Including the smoking habit… and the love for gadgets… most especially for computers… and the love for endless work…
The only difference with their stories, was that Yuki was betrayed by a man whom he looked upon as a teacher and this Andy, he was betrayed by a man whom he looked upon as a father.

Yuki guessed he wasn’t really alone in this world.

And he also guessed that if there were other people in this world who have the same exact situation he has and had gone through, or almost close to it—then the world is filled with contempt.

Just like him.

Hearing that gossip was like hearing his life. That Jean girl somehow narrated his childhood using a different person’s story.
It was like Fate reminding him of his horrible past.
And present.

And that Jessica… hell, she sounded like Shuichi!
And of course the Mathew dude… who else would he be compared to than Seige Mushimoto?
‘Well-brought up’, came from a rich, kind, ‘stable’ and ‘normal’ family. That’s what Seige’s background was.

And as for Yuki,

It was as shitty as Andy’s life was.
For people like Andy and Yuki, the world wouldn’t give a damn about them. If it did, then maybe they could’ve had a better life right now. .

But what Yuki Eiri didn’t know, was that he had the chance. Fate gave it to him. And he declined it. He pushed it away and brushed it off.
What he didn’t know was that he let go of something too precious that he will regret for the rest of his life.

And the saddest part about it?

Is that he’ll never know what he lost.

And he’ll never know what hit him.


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