IT SHOULD HAVE BEEN LIKE THIS - EPISODE 30

Rominic’s viewpoint

The night was going just fine, really fine, until they ruined it. I knew they would come but I never knew she would be among. And to think that all the years I’d been looking for her, she was under Ethan’s protection. All his indirect insults finally made sense, all the time he made comments about how good her body is, it finally made sense. They were married and from what Ethan boast about before Serenity came and burst his bubble, she bore him sons after years of being with me and getting not even a miscarriage. It was painful because it was true. He made me realize she never planned a future with me, ever. It was always about my money and fame, nothing else. It would have been really painful and unbearable if I really was the failure he mocked me about and the impotent swine, but I wasn’t.

I wasn’t a failure, my company is more successful than his. For generations to generations, our family have been rivals and we always won. My love life wasn’t destroyed, I had Lavender, the love of my life and woman of my dreams. And most importantly, I had five beautiful and intelligent children. With all of that, there was nothing to worry about, right?

Wrong, there is.

After everything Lavender and I went through, after the emotional torture, we were finally together. Years of separation and we were finally a couple again, but Peyton can ruin it. Peyton is capable of ruining everything with just one word, just one. She could remind her of what I did, repeat all the words I said in the past, tell her every single thing we did in bed and everything outside, so many things to remind her why she should never have forgiven me. Her trust in me was newly being mended, it could easily break. I could lose her as soon as I got her back, and that was something I dreaded. And next to the problem was Ethan.

Ethan, he’d always had an eye for her because he knew even before I did that I loved her. Just like Apollo, he would do anything to ruin me, but unlike Apollo, he wasn’t doing it for fun or the joy of teasing. Ethan was out to destroy me financially, physically, mentally and emotionally. And with Laverne, he knew he could succeed. For a start, he stole my place beside Lavender. He had a wife but the wife in question was more than happy to sit with me. There I was at the table, sitting between Zachary and Peyton while my girlfriend sat between Ethan and Rylee, far away from me, him shamelessly flirting with her.

Ethan was known for his innocence so creating a scene would be a bad scandal, especially at the company’s anniversary. I had to endure it.

I strangled my fork in anger, looking down at my miserable food, ignoring Peyton. I hadn’t taken a bite, I couldn’t. At the table was my parents, sister, her boyfriend, Tyra and her father, my kids, Ethan, his bitch and his father, and of course, Laverne. They weren’t suppose to sit with us, but somehow, they found a way to.

“Here, I remember you don’t like fish that much,” Peyton said softly. I looked up from my plate to glare at her, but she was busy smirking at Lavender who was staring at Ethan. I turned my gaze back to Peyton and hissed.

“And I remember you can’t even boil an egg.” The foolish girl never paid attention to me or cared about my likes or dislikes, nothing. I always wonder what I see in her, what pushed me to love her like I did and let her blind me. I never noticed her flaws, not even once, not until Laverne. Laverne knew so much about me, even the ones I didn’t tell her. Yet the one I spent hours sharing information and feelings with, didn’t remember a thing. It was always her and just her.

“But you still love me anyways.” I almost thrust the fork into the table, but then remembered that it was glass so that won’t end well. Plus, I still had to keep myself under control.

“Lady, make due use of your past tense,” Serafina, my darling daughter, replied with disgust in her voice and a scorn on her face, “and tell me why again are you sitting so close to my father? Can you get yourself out of my mother’s seat and go manage your pet? He’s drooling allover the table.” Everyone chuckled, except Laverne who frowned. I have no idea why she would frown, but she ought to be happy.

Peyton scoffed. “Didn’t your mother teach you manners or did you just learn it from her on default? You should know that it’s rude to speak when adults speak.”

“If adulthood is strictly base on the height of humans, then the universe is more messed up than I think.” Zachary spoke this time.

“And the last time I checked, the true meaning of mannerless is you.”

“Serenity!” Lavender shouted with disbelief. Serene shrugged and that was me nodding proudly. “You three, don’t be rude, apologize to her.”

“I barely apologize to my own siblings, why would I go her?” Sera scoffed.

“I will do no such thing.” Serenity said defiantly, folding her arms to prove her point. Lavender looked towards me for help, but death be me if I scold them for putting Peyton in her place when she didn’t. I was genuinely starting to worry more because her silence was eerie.

My parents chuckled, and I caught a smile playing on Earl’s lips. He caught me staring and grinned. “Leave it to your family to be born with great wit and intelligence; clever bunches.” Dad rolled his eyes at the sarcastic remark.

“Let’s pretend like Peyton didn’t just have a showdown with nine years old and talk about what she have been doing all this time. Peyton, what have you been doing with your worthless life? Fucking bastards?” Rylee asked with a very, very, very, sweet smile. Lavender bit down on her smile, turning her head away from Ethan slightly. “Surely, you have been, because you bagged the most bastardy bastard of them all.”

“And what is that suppose to mean?” Ethan growled challengingly. Rylee smirked at him.

“It means what it means, Slug. If you have anything to say about it, do something about it… Oh, wait, you can’t,” she pouted mockingly, “like always, you’re just the scared little boy who would always run back to his failure of a father when he runs out of backup plan…”

“Rylee…”

“Don’t Rylee me, Mom. I don’t know why you all are putting up with them but I never have and never will. If you have a problem with my statement then you can sue me or make it physical and trust me, Honey, a lot of things is going to break and all of it more than your petty little egos. Do yourself a favor and go sit with people that don’t know a thing about your facade and actually care enough to breathe your pathetic scent. I’m trying to eat and enjoy the success of my family but doing it with you three waste products is not good for my health. Leave.” Every year anniversary would have been less painful if Rylee attended. She was never one to keep her opinion to herself. She says whatever is in her mind and do whatever she wants. You hate or love it, that’s your problem. If she attended all the parties I go to, I wouldn’t have to deal shit with bastards.

The table fell into a pregnant silence, the only noise coming from the soft music and chattering. I tapped my foot, impatiently waiting for them to get up and leave, but with every single passing second, they relaxed into their seats. All of a sudden, Serenity clapped her hands in excitement. “I want to sing, but I want grandpa, grandma, dad, mom, Aunt Rylee and Phineas to dance. If you wish, my favorite uncle, you can dance with Auntie Tyra. What do you say?”

“I don’t dance.” Uncle Fabio deadpanned.

“That’s because you dance like a frog with two left legs,” dad sniggered. Fabio glared at him. They never get along. He wanted my mother, his sister, to marry his fellow comrade but she chose him. And dad knew how to annoy him beyond words can describe. “You should have taken that dance lesson.” Fabio’s face reddened. He shot mom a betrayed look. She looked away, innocently sipping from her glass.

“I don’t even want to know the story,” Tyra sighed, “the last time you told me a story of his past, someone ended up in a hospital.”

“Serenity, go, sing.” Serene jumped down from the chair and ran. I watched her run up to the band playing, pulled on the lead singer’s trousers and spoke when he looked down at her. She was jumping up and down in excitement, amusing not just me but everyone else. The leader turned and talked to his band mates. They nodded in agreement then asked her a question. She replied them and clapped her hands again. The leader gave her the microphone, she was still jumping.

“Dad,” Zach whispered, pulling my attention to him, “that’s your cue to get your woman away from him.” My eyes widened in realization. They did it for me. They never seem to stop amazing me with their intelligence and cleverness. Each and every single one of them kept improving, it was useful at most cases.

Standing up, I removed my suit jacket and dropped it on Zach’s laps. I smiled and walked over to giggling Lavender. “Milady,” I said with a gentlemanly bow, stretching my hand out to her. Lavender laughed as she placed her hand on mine. I’d noticed she developed a new habit of laughing when she’s really happy and don’t know how to react or what to say, or when she’s nervous. From the smile on her face, like the night before we left for Hong Kong, she was really happy. She bounced up to her feet, swaying herself towards me clumsily but I knew she knew I would catch her, and I did.

Her laughter was the sweetest music, better than the slow drumming, better than the soft stroke of the guitar, better than my daughter’s humming. She followed me to the dance floor, the very middle of it, smiling both shyly and utterly amuse, looking at my father whispering words of encouragement to my mother. In the past, she was just like my mother, born with two left legs, but she wasn’t anymore. In fact, dancing with me was her favorite thing to do, one of her very favorite. It was for me because I knew she would never feel as happy and please as she does when dancing with me. It was always me, me and me alone.

I wrapped my hand around her waist and leaned forward. “Ready to give them a show?” I whispered.

“Let’s dance like we are aiming to win first position with the grand price of best dancers and a million dollars. Do you still remember that dance we did at our engagement party?”

“I never forgot.” I smiled.

“I’m not one to stick around…” Serenity started.
“One strike and you’re out, baby
Don’t care if I sound crazy
But you never let me down, no, no
That’s why when the sun’s up I’m stayin’
Still layin’ in your bed singin’

Ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh
Got all this time on my hands
Might as well cancel our plans, yeah
I could stay here for a lifetime

So lock the door
And throw out the key
Can’t fight this no more
It’s just you and me
And there’s nothing I, nothing I, I can do
I’m stuck with you, stuck with you, stuck with you…”

Like always, she shut her eyes and let the music lead her body. It was a method I taught her when she first started learning. She was afraid of humiliating herself and people watching her. Their watchful eyes was the reason she could never learn how to dance. She let the fear of embarrassing herself make her a bad dancer, so I taught her to close her eyes and shut out every other sound except the music. She did it perfectly. Whenever she gets into her own little world, she hears and sees nothing else but herself dancing in the dark and the music filling her soul. Her body was always meant to dance, but her mind (like always) was her biggest enemy.

I could never get into the mood like she do. With her, dancing always felt like a stage performance. A simple waltz becomes a much more complicated but yet beautiful. She always finds a way to freestyle and change the steps to more than just two people dancing in a party filled with business tycoons; more than two regular people themselves. Like I said, just like a stage performance. I still don’t know how I could keep up with her unplanned dance moves, but I always somehow knew what her next step is, so I knew what move to take myself. If we were real dancers, we would have won a lot of prices. And if she believed in herself more than I do and see that she is a fantastic dancer, she would have gone far with her dancing.

“So go ahead
And drive me insane
Baby, run your mouth
I still wouldn’t change
Being stuck with you, stuck with you, stuck with you
I’m stuck with you, stuck with you, stuck with you, baby…”

Peyton’s viewpoint

Should I call it ironic how I sat there watching them dance? Back then, it was mostly I that danced with him while she watched from the sidelines, smiling at us like the fool she was, thinking we were just friends dancing. And when he was dancing with her, I would sit and watch with a smirk because I knew that she would feel on top of the world thinking she was with the man of her dreams, oblivious to the fact that the man of her dreams was mine. It always gave me great joy to watch her love and care for what belonged to me, knowing that he would forever be mine and at the end, she would have nothing.

But I was wrong.

If I wasn’t so conceited and pompous, I would have seen what everyone else saw. If I wasn’t so blinded by my false finality that he would always be my puppet, I would have seen the chemistry between them. It was always there, even when they just stared at each other. She had the power to bring out sides of him I didn’t even know he had, had the power to make him laugh and smile more than I ever did.

When they danced like now, I could always tell the moves were unplanned and should have pondered more on why he always knew what she would do and how to support her. I should have taken my time to notice how much he smiled and looked at her the same way Phineas looks at Rylee or his parents looks at each other. I should have noticed the glimmer of emotions in his eyes, should have noticed the smile he gave her which he never gave to me when we danced. I should have noticed how he held her delicately and yet like the world would end if she’s taken away from him. I should have felt what other felt when they were together, especially when dancing. Their connection was like invisible sparks of lightning, zapping all who dare to look at them or fail to. Their bond was incredibly intense and tight anyone could feel it, but I never did.

If I did, I would have stopped it before it grew.

I never felt it before, never ever, and neither did I see it. But sitting there and watching them dance differently and much more entertaining than the others who had stopped and was watching, I finally saw and felt what others did, what I was too blind to see. I could feel it crawling on the surface of my skin and sending waves after waves of shivers throughout my body. I could finally see him smiling and staring at her like she is his world. I could finally feel their bond and unbreakable love. I could finally see that I lost Rominic way before she left him. I lost him the very moment he said hi on the day they met.

“Woah, oh, oh
Baby, come take all my time
Go on, make me lose my mind
We got all that we need here tonight

I lock the door (Lock the door)
And throw out the key
Can’t fight this no more (Can’t fight this no more)
It’s just you and me
And there’s nothing I’d, nothing I’d rather do
I’m stuck with you, stuck with you, stuck with you…”

What did she have that I don’t?

She had kids, the one thing I could never give him. Her children were talented, gifted, special and bright. She secured her position with not just one but five children, five beautiful children that should have been mine. I should have been the mother of those beautiful and clever kids, the future Mrs. Verlice, the owner of his empire. But there I was, stuck at the slave wife of a good for nothing husband, a wayward cheating ingrate. Mothering two ugly dingbats dumber than a bag of hammers, stupider than a flock of dodo birds. They couldn’t sing like the cute one singing with the lead singer, or operate a laptop like the other one. They weren’t sassy and fashionable like the other girl, or at least charming like the other two. No, my own kids were useless. They should have been hers while these five mine. I should have been their mother and his wife to be.

His family loves her, his sisters who never liked me adored her. Even their scary general officer relative, liked her. She is loved everywhere she goes. She had beauty and now a glamorous body. She had men, even my wayward husband, ogling her. She had friends that loved and adored her. But I had none, no friends, no fame, no ultimate wealth, no man that loves me, no future and no children to be proud of.

As I watched them finish dancing with her body gracefully bent and his lips on hers, I finally understood something. Rominic have always been hers and always will be. I can never have him even if I separate them, and they can never be separated or unlove each other by any means, except death.