Chapter 6: Two-Face

Chapter 6: Two-Face

One Monday afternoon Nadine went to the river and she was shocked to see a different person sitting under the tree. “Tony have you seen Jeff?” she asked, Tony looked at her and smiled offering a spot beside him. “It’s been a long time since we got to talk, would you want to seat down and enjoy the view with me?” he offered but Nadine shook her head. “It’s okay I would rather stand and wait for him” she replied. “You don’t have to be that cold, I’m sorry for what I have done in the past. Honestly I am trying to change” tony said and Nadine laughed.

“It’s true but that’s the problem no one believes me and I deserve that. I have done so many bad things in the past and I am sorry. What I did to you I did out of anger, I really liked you. You never gave me chance, I know what I did was so immature but I regret what I did and I am really sorry” Tony said and Nadine was silent. She does not want to believe him but looking at him and hearing his words they all seem real and truthful.

“So why only now?” Nadine asked and Tony sighed. “Seeing you with Jeff made me feel so jealous. I thought I was over you but I guess I wasn’t. I don’t want to meddle in your relationship, I just want for us to be friends again. Seeing Jeff, I now understand where I went wrong. It could have been me with you if I was only wiser. I know I did a lot of cruel stuff to Jeff and when he knew about our relationship he wanted to get back at me. He wanted to mock me so he courted you” Tony said and Nadine was a bit surprised. “You are lying” she said and Tony looked at her. “I am telling the truth. Of course you would not believe me now because what is etched in your mind is I am the evil one. Jeff only took advantage; I kept telling him stories about you that is why he knew how to act according to your liking. The result, you and him are together” Tony said.

“Liar! You expect me to believe that? You are a liar!” Nadine shouted and she was surprised as someone touched her shoulder. “What’s wrong?” Jeff asked and Nadine embraced him. “What have you done to her?” Jeff asked and Tony just shrugged his shoulders. “Nadine tell me what he said” Jeff told her but Nadine just shook her head and held his hand. They walked away but Jeff turned back to look at Tony who was grinning at him. “Nadine what happened?” he asked her again but Nadine again shook her head and leaned on his shoulder as they continued walking.

The next day Nadine found Tony again under the tree, this time it was different. He had a piece of paper and he was tapping a pencil on it so she stood closer to him and peeked. “You drew that?” she asked as she marveled at the drawing of a tulip. “Yeah but I didn’t get it quite right” Tony replied. “No, it’s actually good” she said and he handed it to her. “It’s yours, take it” he said and they stared each other in the eyes. “Go ahead take it, I always knew you loved flowers” he told her and Nadine took the piece of paper and looked at the drawing. “Once he sees that he is going to say that he made that, but you would know better” Tony said as he stood up and left her.

Jeff arrived moments later; Nadine kept the sketch and was hesitant in showing it to him. She was scared of what Tony said especially if he was right, she saw him sketch it so it would be impossible if Jeff said that it was his. Nadine saw a different side of Tony, she wanted to believe that he was changing but still she was not satisfied.

For several days Nadine has been acting funny, Jeff was worried so he went to see Maureen about it. “Hey Maureen has Nadine been telling you stuff about me lately?” he asked. “No, why?” she asked. “I don’t know, she has been acting strange lately. Maybe she is bored with me” he said. “Well that happens in a relationship if you do the same stuff over and over again. Try to get out of your comfort zone and say treat her out” Maureen said but Jeff looked at her. “Oh sorry, forget what I said” she told him but Jeff nodded his head. “You’re right, it’s been always her so maybe this time I will surprise her. Do you know her favorite restaurant?” he asked.

“Ah, yes but I don’t think it’s a good idea” Maureen said. “Hey, I know it’s an expensive one, don’t worry I will find a part time job and save up for it” he told her. “Okay, it’s the Lemorange, its expensive there though” she replied and Jeff nodded. “Okay, so now where do I find work” he sighed. “If you want I can loan you the money” Maureen offered but Jeff smiled at her. “No thanks, I want to sweat it out, I want to work hard for this date of ours” he answered and Maureen smiled at him. “You are so sweet, anyway good luck and in case you don’t find work my offer still stands okay?” she said.

That same day Jeff approached Anya and asked her to go for a walk with him. “Anya, I need to ask a favor” he told her. “What do you need?” she asked. “I need a job, a short term job just enough for me to earn two thousand dollars” he said and Anya looked at him. She opened her bag and brought out her wallet. “No, I said I need a job, not a loan” Jeff reiterated and Anya still counted and handed him the money. “Please not like this, I want to earn for it, I want to take Nadine on an expensive date. I know she wouldn’t be expecting it so I really need to earn for it” Jeff said and Anya looked at him.

“I’m giving you an easy way out here take it” she told him. “You don’t get it, I have to work for it or else it’s not going to feel the same. I want to sweat and break bones for the money and in return I’m sure she would be smiling and it would be all worth it” Jeff explained and Anya paused and returned the money inside her bag. “Fine, come to my place this afternoon” she told him. “And I hope you don’t tell Nadine about this” Jeff added and she smiled at him.

That afternoon by the river Jeff and Nadine had a talk. “Nadine, are you bored with me?” Jeff asked and she was surprised with his question. “Of course not, why do you ask?” she answered. “Nothing, I just feel that lately you are lonely even when you are with me” he said and Nadine kissed him on the lips. “That’s not true, I just have a lot in mind especially the semester is about to end. You know school stuff and all those requirements” she told him. “Yeah me too, and after a hard day’s work in school seeing you just refreshes me. It seems that I don’t have the same effect on you” he said.

“Oh Jeff don’t say that, you know that I love and I want to be with you always. Maybe we both have different ways in handling the pressure. I too am happy when I see you, so don’t say that I don’t” she explained. “Nadine, for the next two weeks I might not be able to come here, I have a lot of stuff to do. So I was thinking if we could be together later in the evenings” Jeff said and Nadine looked at him. “What if we both take a break first, lets focus on the academics, now don’t get me wrong, I do want to be with you but look at it this way, we get to miss each other right?” she said and he smiled.

“We can see each other on campus right? We can spend lunch together right?” he asked and she nodded. “So for the next two weeks we both focus on school work, just in time for Spring Break we can get together and you know” she teased and they both laughed. Everything was settled but little did they know there was someone lurking nearby who heard everything.

Jeff proceeded to Anya’s place after parting with Nadine. If Anya had a huge estate, Anya’s family had a bigger one. He was stopped at the gate for his name was not on the list of guests that the family was expecting. After one call by the security personnel he was let in, it took him five minutes to reach the front door of the house and Anya was there to greet him.

Anya was a red haired girl with expressive eyes. She was pretty and only now did Jeff know she had a fantastic figure. “Wow, this is unexpected, greeting me on your underwear” Jeff said and Anya laughed. “What are you talking about? I’m wearing shorts” she replied. “Are you sure? They seem like panties to me” he said as he stared at her long legs. “I was just trying them out, you know Spring break is coming soon so I wanted to prepare for it” she explained.

“So what work will I be doing?” he asked and they took a walk towards the left side of the house and there were twelve luxury vehicles parked nicely. “There, you have to wash, wax and make them look shiny” she told him. “Are you serious? They look sparkling to me” he commented but Anya took a bucket full of mud and splashed it on the first vehicle closest to them. “Now it looks dirty” she said and they both laughed.

“Now I will pay you a hundred dollars per car. So there are twelve cars, so that is good for 12 days” Anya said and Jeff suddenly paused and thought of where to get the rest of the money. “Okay everything you need is here, and I will be supervising you” Anya said and Jeff started to work on the first car. After two hours the vehicle was sparkling again and Anya inspected the car and she was satisfied.

“Hey Anya, after I finish with the twelve cars would you dirty up eight of them again so I can clean them” Jeff said and Anya looked at him. “No, I know you need eight hundred more so I am going to pay you an extra fifty dollars to eat dinner with me and another fifty to spend an hour tutoring me and helping me with school work” she said and he just smiled. “I can do those for free you know” he told her. “Oh so your saying you want to them for free then?” she asked and Jeff laughed. “I really need the money badly but yeah I can help you out on your schoolwork for free, the dinner would be enough payment” he said.

“So that’s going to be a dilemma for you then, and where would you find the other eight hundred dollars?” she asked. “I don’t know yet but don’t worry about it, I’m sure I will find a way” he said. “You really love her do you?” she asked suddenly. “Yeah, I really want to surprise her even just once. I know she understands my situation and she adapts to me but lately I can see she is out of her element. She says it’s about school work but I know she is intelligent and hard working. Even though she won’t tell me the truth I can sense it. Being poor makes you boring since can’t do much really” he told her.

The next day Nadine went to the river even though she knew Jeff wouldn’t be there. She sat down under the tree and a few minutes later Tony sat down beside her. “Here, I wrote you a poem” he said as he handed over a piece of paper. “And why would you write me a poem?” she asked. “I didn’t know what to do with my free period so I thought about you and just started writing it” he said. Nadine read the poem and she liked it, “Wow, I didn’t know you were good at writing” she commented. “Indeed, all you people know is the Tony who is a player, the liar and the no good friend. I can’t blame you since all those were my sins of the past. I’m trying to change, so I want to show everyone a different side of me” he told her.

“I should say I am impressed. First, the drawing and now this? Maybe you are changing” she said. “Yes I am, but there is one thing that I can never change” he told her. Nadine looked at him and he pouted, “I can never change the feelings I have for you” he softly said and Nadine looked away immediately. “Thank you for the poem, I have to go now. If you see Jeff say hi to him for me” she said as she quickly stood up and walked away.

Monday afternoon Tony saw Jeff and Anya leave the campus together. He approached Maureen and asked about the two. “Are they like going steady?” he asked and Maureen laughed. “No, Anya is helping Jeff out. She lets him work at their estate so Jeff could earn money for their dream date with Nadine. Don’t tell anyone I told you” Maureen said and Tony grinned devilishly.

Nadine and Tony were by the river again, he gave her another poem and she was starting to feel at ease with him. “It must be difficult to be alone when your boyfriend is fooling around with another girl” Tony said and Nadine was surprised. “What the hell are you saying?” she asked. “I said what I said” he replied. “Jeff would never do that to me, he is just busy with school work” Nadine told him. “It’s okay if you don’t believe me, I’m just his roommate anyway” Tony added and Nadine suddenly felt ill and suspicious. “I know what you’re trying to do; you are trying to destroy him so you could get back at me. Sorry, I trust Jeff that much and I don’t believe you” Nadine replied.

“Hey, I’m just trying to be a friend here. If you don’t believe me then ask him where he goes every afternoon. Of course he won’t tell you the answer. So ask him if it is related to school work” Tony said and he stood up and left. Nadine didn’t know what to believe, she trusted Jeff but Tony made her even more suspicious. She could a slight pain in her heart and it made her feel worse.

The next day Nadine and Jeff had lunch at the cafeteria; she held on to his hand and looked him straight in the eyes. “Jeff, where have you been going every afternoon?” she asked him. Jeff was a bit surprised but managed to keep his composure. “I can’t tell you, but you will find out next week” he told her. “Why? What’s happening next week?” she asked. “I can’t tell you that either, you just have to trust me on this one” he said. “Jeff are you fooling around my back?” she asked and the more he was surprised. “What made you say that?” he replied. “Well are you?” she insisted. “Of course not, why would I do that?” he said.

“Nothing it’s just a thought. So tell me, every afternoon, what you’re doing is related to school work?” she asked and Jeff paused and looked at her. “Yes it is” he answered but Nadine already was hurt when he paused. Jeff knew she had doubts already so he had to move things faster before he totally loses her.

That afternoon Nadine felts so sad, she sat under the tree and images of Jeff with another girl filled her imagination. “So did you ask him?” Tony asked and she even didn’t notice him arriving. “Yes” she replied. “So what did he say?” he asked. “I think you are telling the truth” she answered. Tony handed her another piece of paper but Nadine quickly placed it inside her bag, “Aren’t you going to read it?” he asked. “I’m not in the mood for reading” she told him.

“Hey listen, whatever happens to you two remember I am always here for you” he said and she nodded her head and remained silent.