Chapter 29: Meeting Roman Again

Chapter 29: Meeting Roman Again
Ever since that night, Anna did not received any more drunk texts from that number. For several days, she wondered what went wrong and why the stranger suddenly stopped texting her until yesterday when she forced herself to text the number and confessed that she was not the woman who he intended to text.

To her shock, she found out that the messages were from Robin, her guy friend in Havana. She had no idea how he was able to trace Willow’s home but he did, and Willow was the one who gave him her number. When they talked on phone, Robin confessed that life was hard for him after he lost touch with her. It was of recent that he found out about her kidnapping incident from Willow, but he didn’t know what to say so he stopped himself from calling the number. He said he had no idea that he had been texting her at night whenever he got drunk.

Anna felt happy to have finally reconnected with her guy friend Robin. She’d sometimes think about him, wonder if he eats well, and worry about his mental health. But now she’s glad to hear from him again.

All of a sudden, Jalan Marco popped into her mind, and she wondered why he hasn’t sent her any parcel or continue to bother her again. Could he have given up?

Anna felt disappointed, at the same time angry at her stupidity for allowing Jalan Marco to continue toying with her mind. Why does his betrayal hurt her so much? It feels as though she was being punished for her own sin_ how she’d played with Roman and all the guys in her past. She only realized she’d been a horrible person now that she was experiencing a similar pain. She turned to her computer and searched through her cloud backup until she found Roman’s contact. She copied his number to her phone and dialed it right away.

“Who’s there?”

“Hey Roman”

“Oh wow... whose voice is this? Seriously? Park Anna? The last time I checked, you were all over the news.”

“Yeah... I’m glad to hear your voice again Roman. I missed you.”

“What? Are you messing with me?”

“No... really, am just glad that you’re okay. I mean you sound okay.”

“So you wanna have a drink sometime? Just like old time?”

“Yeah, sure. I’d love to grab a drink with you, and I wish that sometime could be today. Are you so busy?”

“I am. But a drink with you comes first you know, so yeah, lets hang out tonight. Will text you the address.”

“Okay cool.”

Time Skipped

Anna parked over at the parking space in front of the Casino. She had just left work and was about to grab a night drink with Roman, and possibly have some honest talks with him.

Glancing at her outfit, she made sure she was ready before she stepped out of her car and walked straight into the building. It’d been so long, and she could see that the Casino interior had gone through a lot of remodeling, unlike the last time.

As she passed by lots of slot machines and poker tables, she sighted a guy in a brown suit, sitting far ahead by the wall and staring at her. She went up to the set of table and Roman quickly got up and helped her got seated.

“You haven’t changed one bit” Anna smiled as she stole a glance at Roman who was almost grinning from ear to ear. “I expected you to hate me for everything I put you through in the past. But you look so happy to see me.”

“Of course I resented you a lot, but not because you dumped me. You ended up falling for a jerk who doesn’t deserve your heart. Why did it had to be that playboy?”

“You seem to know him well, don’t you?”

“Yeah... Who doesn’t know the once mute Casanova, Jalan Marco. I learned that he had surgery and got his voice back. He was my senior in high school”

“Oh really, that’s news to me but you know what, let’s not talk about him Roman. Lets talk about you, how have you been doing?”

“Am good, sorry, but I have one more question... Urm... Did you two break up?”

“I dumped him”

“Why?”

“First he played me like a fool, and then he cheated on me with another woman.”

“Urr... Sorry to hear that. Talking about that psychopathic fox Anne, I knew she’s never gonna let him go even after her marriage.”

“Anne?”

“Yeah, Anne... Marco’s ex girlfriend, you never met her? Did she not approached you?”

“No. Why?”

“Strange. Anne was Marco’s best friend and first love. She’s married to his brother now, but she still can’t get her hands off Marco, and she goes around threatening whoever he hangs out with. Sometimes I pity that guy, oh mann... he went through such a traumatic childhood because of that fox.”

“Tell me what you know about his trauma”

“You still love him don’t you?”

“I just wanna know, okay? You’ve already brought up the topic, and I’m curious to know whoever that Anne woman is”

“Well then. I’ll tell you what I’m sure of. I know this much only because Anne’s mother is my Dad’s ex wife, so our lives are pretty much entangled in some ways. Marco used to be obsessed with Anne, he was like a loyal dog to her. She used to go around causing trouble while Marco cleans up after her mess. At one time, she seduced a Mafia boss and Marco almost lost his life saving her from the cruel boss’s wife. Those barbarians tortured the teenage boy with a hot coal that totally friend his throat.”

“Oh my god... That is so wicked and horrible, I thought Jalan was born mute? Oh my god...”

“You literally don’t know anything about Marco.”

“Because he hardly talk about himself.”

“I get that. That’s exactly the kind of asshole he is. He use to be a very nice shy kid but I guess life changed him a lot. He lost his mom and ended up growing in a brutal family that turned him into the kind of man he is now.”