Author's Note: And all of you thought I died or something. Ha! Well, you might as well kill me now with the delay of this chapter. But what can I do? I have myself to feed and clothe and shelter and, well, as you can see, I'm just one of those overworked and underpaid individual...well, onto the chapter...
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Deceive Me Not
Chapter 14: One-Sided
She sighed in irritation as she twisted and turned in bed. Finally, after two hours of trying to sleep, obviously to no avail, she got up and paced back and forth her room, attuned to every little sound.
Goku, her son, named after her grandfather, was already asleep. But that wasn't the problem.
It was Trunks.
It seemed the moment she birthed his son, he had completely forgotten about her. Well, of course, not completely forget her, but she noticed that it just wasn't the same anymore.
He used to arrange his schedule so that they can spend time together – going to movies, eating out, going to the doctor, or even just staying at home.
Now, he didn't even talk to her that much anymore. When he came home, he would always go straight to the nursery (one of the three-bedroom unit of his condominium) and look at their sleeping son. Of course, this was understandable, but the moment she enter the room, he would find a way to get out and not talk to her.
Hell, he even talked more to the babysitter than to her. Yes, they hired a babysitter because it can't be helped when the two of them have to be out the same time to look after their son.
She would not admit it to anyone but she was starting to feel weary of their situation. They don't eat meals together anymore.
They used to eat breakfast and dinner together. Even if she always managed to ruin their breakfast with her morning sickness and mood swings. But now, he would always say that he was late for work and can't be bothered with breakfast. And he would arrive at night way past dinnertime that she had already eaten dinner.
Of course, there was once a time she'd waited for him the whole night so they could have dinner together. But when he arrived, he just told her he'd eaten dinner with Goten and went to his room without another word. She was crying that night while she ate her dinner – alone.
Not having meals together was just part of the problem. Another was his coming home so late at night.
It wasn't quite obvious at first. He would come home late, saying he had to work overtime.
But then, days turned into weeks and weeks into months. Goku was now three months old and he'd never experienced his daddy come home earlier than midnight.
She sighed and stomped towards the telephone. She decided to call his mobile phone. However, she hasn't lifted the handset yet when she heard the turning of the doorknob.
Entered a very red Trunks in a disheveled shirt.
Pan didn't notice any of it. Instead, she frowned at him. "Let's see. What is it, this time? You need to finalize a new contract? You had a dinner meeting? Or you went and ate dinner with Goten?"
He returned her frown, "Don't start with me," he said and made a move to enter his room to avoid any unnecessary confrontation, but she grabbed his elbow and turned him around, preventing him from leaving.
"I'm not starting anything," she hissed, trying to lower her voice so as not to wake up their baby. Then her frown deepened, "Are you drunk?"
He rolled his eyes and crossed his arms in front of his chest. "Alright. I went bar-hopping with Goten. Are you happy now?"
"Bar-hopping?" she bellowed, "What in the world is wrong with you?"
"And what is wrong with you?" he retorted, matching her anger with his, and glared at her. "For someone who's not my wife, you're acting like one quite well. Stop nagging me," he said sarcastically.
She smiled bitterly. "So, is that it? You've been punishing me because I turned down your proposal of marriage?"
"Don't flatter yourself," he said curtly and turned away from her only to face his bedroom door again, determined to ignore her.
"Trunks," she began, though not really sure what she should say. "Please don't do this."
"Do what?" he asked nonchalantly as he entered his room and began removing his tie and long sleeves.
Pan was not deterred, instead, followed him inside, "This," she said, waving her hand frantically, "You're not really like this, Trunks."
He faced her, an eyebrow arched, "Really? How'd you know I'm not acting the whole time you were pregnant? Your moods were horrible," he then sat down on his bed and removed his shoes.
Pan stood on one side of the room, rooted on the spot, not believing a word he said, "Why are you being cruel to me?"
"Am I really?" he asked nonchalantly, then went out of his room, and not caring if Pan was following behind, he continued, "You're free to go. After all, you're now capable of having a job."
She grabbed his elbow just before he could enter the bathroom and escape her again. "Are you kicking me out of the house?" she asked, and looked at him straight in the eye, even when she felt her eyes water with all the cruel words and cold treatment she'd been receiving from him.
"No," he drawled out lazily, "but it surely won't matter to me if you're here or not," he said and moved uncomfortably close to her and tilted her chin up. He was about to kiss her when she jerked away, eyes blazing angrily. "See what I mean? What good are you to me when I can't even get a decent sex from you?"
She gasped, eyes widening as she slapped him – hard. That was the final insult. And now, tears that she was trying hard to conceal overflowed, cascading down her cheeks. "How dare you!" she was about to say something more when a loud scream pierced the silence that suddenly surrounded them.
"Attend to my son," he said coldly, catching her full attention, which, for a moment, was waylaid by the scream, "if you can't be a good lover, at least try to be a good mother."
The door then slammed on her face as he shut the bathroom, and her shoulder shook violently trying to stop the tears and sob from escaping her as she headed towards her son's room – she failed.
She was suddenly conscious of her state of disarray as she tried to eat her breakfast nonchalantly. Why she forgot to brush her hair or wash her face that morning was completely beyond her. All she knew was that, ever since she gave birth to Goku, this must be the first time Trunks joined her for a meal.
She tried to put what happened last night behind. Maybe he was just in a bad mood and if she remembered correctly, she was pushing him too far.
Maybe there was something happening in Capsule Corporation, and it was just a coincidence that it took place right after her childbirth and his proposal.
No, of course nothing is wrong with Trunks.
She wished to god nothing is wrong with him.
"Did you sleep well last night?" she asked, trying pathetically to start a conversation – any conversation just to break the heavy silence surrounding them.
He did not answer. Instead, he continued eating.
She smiled weakly. "Goku's growing really fast, you know –"
"I noticed," he interrupted coldly, and looked at her in the eye that she was once again conscious of the way she looked that morning. She tried to smooth her hair, but still, there were tangles everywhere.
When he looked down at his food again, she unconsciously bit her lower lip, trying not to get hurt because of his callous attitude. Nothing is wrong with us, her mind chanted again and again.
"Are you going to be late again tonight?" she asked, and before he could answer, she rushed on, "Uh, I was planning to go out –"
"Let's go out tonight," Trunks said, cutting her off again, and effectively catching her off guard.
"What?" she whispered, "Go out tonight?" she asked, instantly irritated with the way her heart leaped with joy at the prospect of once again going out with him.
"Yeah," he said nonchalantly, "I noticed that we don't have groceries left and Goku's running out of diapers. So we better go and get some."
"Oh," she said, her excitement dropping tremendously. It was just grocery, and yet Trunks noticed it. "What time will you pick me up?" she asked.
He took one last sip of coffee before answering, "Let's just meet at the coffee shop beside Watson's, alright? Around 8 tonight," he said and stood up to leave.
He was at the door when he turned to her direction," Oh, by the way, eat your dinner before we meet, I don't have much time. I have plans tonight," he said.
"With Goten?" she asked before she could think.
Something flickered in his eyes. "Yeah, with Goten. After all, he's my best friend. Do you have a problem with that?"
"No. Not at all," she said bitterly, refusing to look at him.
His only response was the shutting of the door and only then did she allow herself to pound the table with her fist. Was it possible to get jealous of a guy?
Now, it was always Goten here and Goten there, she was slowly hating the man. Can't he see that Trunks now have a family to look after? He should have known better than to drag him everywhere, especially at bars.
"You don't have to accompany me through this if you're so busy," Pan muttered as they pushed the grocery cart together, mindlessly getting all stuffs she felt they need along the way. After all, she knew Trunks could easily pay for it.
"Don't be stupid. How are you going to get everything in the house if I don't help you?" he retorted, as he, too, grab stuffs from the shelves.
The two have been arguing since the two of them met at the coffee shop that they haven't even looked at each other while shopping.
"That's what cabs are for, you know," she replied then bit her lip when they passed the cosmetics section. She'd been meaning to buy a lotion since hers would almost run out, but she can't do that now. She didn't want him to think that he has to pay even for her personal stuffs.
"And how are you going to pay for all of these?" he asked, sighed and looked at her, "Just grab a bottle and let's go," he said impatiently.
"What?" she asked, confused.
"I mean, just grab a bottle of whatever lotion you want and let's go. I don't have all night," he repeated, now more than a little irritated.
She wanted to retort, and defy him. Say she can buy her things, thank you very much, but this was the first act of kindness she'd received from him, and she would be crazy to turn it down. Beggars can't be choosers, she said to herself so she grabbed the nearest bottle she can and dumped it in the cart.
She turned to tell him that she was okay with the lotion and that they could get going now, only to find out that he wasn't really paying any attention to her. Instead, he looked at the woman approaching them, with very tight clothes; it looked as though it was painted on her.
"TV," she greeted and when she reached him, she kissed him soundly on the lips with no hesitation that Pan's eyebrow shot up.
"I haven't seen you in awhile," she said and now took his hand on hers, "You haven't dropped by our hangout for a year, I think," she continued and pouted her full lips at him.
"Well, I've been kinda busy with life, you know," he said and smiled charmingly at the still-unknown woman to Pan. And she thought in anger, she could have been a wallpaper for all the attention Trunks gave her, who had apparently forgotten that he came with her to do groceries, especially when she realized that the woman's advances were very much welcome to Trunks.
"You haven't gotten married, have you?" she teased, "You're going to make lots of girls cry is you do that, you know."
He let out a loud laugh, much to Pan's dismay, "Of course, I haven't gotten married, sweetheart, what where you thinking? I'm not the marrying type and you know that," he said good-naturedly.
Little did he know that Pan was practically seething with anger. How could he laugh that loud when the woman mentioned marriage? And what was that about 'I'm not the marrying type' piece of crap? He proposed to her twice already! Or had he forgotten everything about that? WHO WAS THE WOMAN, ANYWAY?
"Oh, really? The right woman will change your mind," she said, then looked at Pan, much to the latter's surprise, "I believe you failed to introduce me to her, TV, or have you suddenly lost your manners? She's with you, right?" A girlfriend, perhaps?" she asked, then smiled knowingly at Pan.
He laughed some more before answering, "Come on, darling, you know she's not my type," he said then motioned for Pan to approach.
She hesitated. After all the insults about marriage and not his type, he was motioning her to come to him? But then, it had been awhile since she'd seen him look at her without anger and malice in his eyes, that she complied.
"This is Pan, long-time friend. I'm just accompanying her to do her groceries," he said lightly, then turned to her, "Pan, this is Amy, she had been a special person in my life," he said and winked at Amy.
The woman laughed. "You are such a charmer, TV, I really like you. Anyway, I can't hang out much longer, call me when you're free, alright? We can get together again," she said and then turned to Pan and smiled brightly. "Nice to meet you, Pan."
Pan didn't have time to react, because before she could blink, the woman had her lips on Trunks again. "Call me," she said afterwards, then went on her way.
"Is there something else we need to buy? Let's pay for this and get you home," he said nonchalantly, the warmth in his voice when he was talking to Amy, gone.
She shook her head, then off they headed to the cashier.
The silence was already deafening, so she decided to break it once they stepped into their unit after the agonizing ride home.
"Amy," she began, "was she your girlfriend?" she asked after the babysitter closed the door to leave them. The young woman left the baby sleeping, much to Pan's pleasure. She did not want to deal with her son right now.
"Yeah," he said, "A couple of years ago," he said nonchalantly as he carried the grocery bags to the kitchen.
"And she can easily kiss you like that in public after all these years?" she asked again, not having the ability to stop herself from doing so.
"She's just like that, Pan," he said simply, his tone telling her that he was already dismissing her just like that.
"Just like that?" she asked, getting angrier with the way he was treating her. "She acted to wanton around you and you were welcoming her advances!"
His eyes turned to slits, and when she thought he was going to shout at her, he breathed deeply and calmly, "This conversation is futile. Don't wait for me tonight, I need to go somewhere," he said and turned around to leave.
"You're going to her, aren't you?" she accused him, her stubborn nature not wanting him to have the last say and be discarded just like that.
He whirled and looked at her straight in the eyes, "You know what, when you're ready to start something more than platonic with me, we can talk about Amy and all my girlfriends to your heart's contents," then continued walking away.
"Trunks," she began, frustration building inside of her.
He did not turn around, instead, continued walking – away from her. "Trunks, if you walk out that door –"
BLAG!
The door slammed shut, leaving her behind – again.
She breathed deeply, surprised that her eyes remained dry through the whole argument. "If that's what you want, Trunks, then so be it," she said and headed to her room with a heavy heart.
Author's Note: Well, since I've probably wouldn't keep my promise again to update by some specific date, I would not promise anymore. I admit that this real life is taking its toll on me...so you'll just be surprised when I update...but I surely will finish this fic. I hope that would be good enough of a promise for all of you
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