“Hi, I’m Paige,” a soft and tender voice woke me up from insanity, “I’m gonna be your waiter for this evening. Are you ready to order?”

It was as if every hair in my body stood after hearing him talk. Not from a recording in a video but in person.

I looked at him and I swore, everything just vanished. The surrounding, the noisy chattering of the people in the restaurant, everything.

Right now, the only thing I can see was him in front of me.

It was the same thing I felt when I first saw him 12 years ago. I couldn’t see anything else but him.

He’s making me crazy.

“Hiro?” Clark called but I ignored him.

Nothing changed. After 12 years, nothing changed.

Paige.

God fucking damn it, I want him so bad.

I want him so bad it’s making me crazy.

“I remember you!” Clive exclaimed, getting everyone’s attention.

“Huh?”

My fists trembled. Fuck, his voice sounded like lullabies.

“You’re the guy in the video, aren’t you?!”

I saw his reaction darkened as he stared at Clive.

It irked me.

Only look at me.

“Excuse me,” he muttered.

Cleo gasped as well and said, “you’re right!”

I saw Ishmael pulling out his phone but my gaze was focused at Paige. He wasn’t looking at me and it was annoying the fuck out of me.

I heard laughter coming from Ishmael’s phone. I finally peeled my eyes off of him to look at the video playing in his Facebook and my eyes widened after seeing Paige, face stuck on the ground while eating what seemed like scraps of food while the people recording him kept cheering and laughing as if it was the most entertaining thing in the whole world.

Rage consumed my whole being but I tried my best not to let anyone see it.

“...I…I’m sorry…I don’t…I’m…I’m sorry!”

Paige abruptly turned his back against us to run away. Something inside me pushed me to say something, anything, just to get him back.

What should I say to make him not forget me?

What should I say to make him think of nothing but me?

What should I say to make him crazy about me?

“Hey,” I called, earning back his attention, “you’ haven’t taken our fucking orders yet.”

Everyone in the table got quiet. Anthony and Clark were the only ones who were looking at me.

I saw Paige’s wavering eyes looked around to see who it was who talked.

I stared right at him. I was eating him alive in my mind, undressing him, making him cry, making him gasp for my name. I wanted to love him, to fuck him senseless, to make him think of nothing else but me.

I wanted Paige all to myself.

“Thank you for saving me. You’re my hero. If possible, I hope we can meet him again.”

His smile brightened my dark world and from that very day, I fell in love with him.

But Paige had easily forgotten me.

He didn’t even bother to remember me. I’ve been suffering all these years because of him and he’s been living in his own world without a care for me.

Disappointment clouded my thoughts.

I wanted him so bad it’s making me crazy.

I wanna hurt him, I wanna make him cry, I wanna see him suffer too.

“Don’t tell me you’re so incompetent you can’t actually take a simple order,” I said in a harsh tone.

I saw the pain in his eyes and I quickly regretted it.

Nevertheless, I kept pushing him to the edge.

Pulling the mask I’ve been using to hide my face from the public, I said, “don’t tell me you’re so incompetent you can’t actually take a simple order.”

I wanna hurt him, I wanna make him cry, I wanna see him suffer too.

The air around us got tensed and everyone were anxiously looking at me except for Anthony and Kenneth.

Clark narrowed his eyes at me but remained quiet, just observing me with his bright, blue eyes.

“S-sorry, I…I just don’t feel good,” Paige said, trying to defend himself.

“So? You came to work not feeling good? Is that supposed to be our problem?”

Some of them hid their laughs but I ignored their reaction from what I said.

I took the phone out of Ishmael’s hand. With one simple squeeze, I managed to destroy his iPhone without batting an eye.

Everyone gasped. I saw Clark pursing his lips, brow raised at me.

But Paige’s reaction was the only thing that mattered.

“Hiro, you ass! You just destroyed my iPhone, bro!” Ishmael cried out loud.

“Shut up,” I snapped. “You can buy a new one.”

I stood up and willed myself to walk towards Paige. The disappointment in my face couldn’t be hidden and I was glaring at Paige.

I saw him trembling, afraid shitless of me.

That’s good.

“Are you gonna hide again so that you can squeal like a pig?” I whispered in his ear.

His smell sent shivers down my spine and it made me want to push him on the wall and ravage him until he’s nothing but a pile of melted goo.

I smirked and added, “fucking pathetic.”

I walked out of the restaurant, feeling proud of myself.

That’ll give him a reason to think of me.

Paige, I want you to be crazy for me too.

And I would do anything to make you feel the same way I’m feeling for you.

Even if I had to hurt you, I don’t care.

Ever since we met, you’ve been mine and you’ll be mine even if you die.

--

“You know what? You really are an idiot.”

I ignored what Clark said while I drove back to the hotel that we’re staying in for the moment. Maria had given me permission to get out of North Vale with a couple of members in my gang to do some work for the Torres-Shao. Since she’s pretty close with Carlos for a reason I don’t know why, she agreed to letting me out. Usually she’s strict with me ever since I moved here in the Philippines and I bet it was because dad told her to keep an eye out for me.

Parking the Range Rover in front of the hotel, I took the keys out and ushered Clark to get out. He was glaring at me but thankfully, he didn’t say anything.

We both got out of the vehicle and as I locked it, my phone vibrated inside my jean pocket. I saw Maria’s name flashing on the screen. I answered the call while walking inside the hotel with Clark.

“What?” I snapped.

“Hiro, you idiot! I told you not to bring Clark with you!”

Her deep voice shrieking at the other side of the line deafened me for a second.

“Relax. He’s with me and he’s safe.”

“I’m not worried about that! You know how protective his parents are! If they know Clark left North Vale, they’ll be furious!”

I rolled my eyes. I walked closer to Clark, giving the phone to him.

“Talk to her, she’s going to bust my eardrums,” I said, deliberately letting Maria hear the insult I just said.

Clark took the phone from me and began talking to my cousin. I could still hear her scolding Clark for letting me take him with me but Clark was just silently listening to her without saying a word. A few minutes later, he muttered an apology and gave me back my phone.

I put it on my ear and said, “what now?”

“Just please go home tomorrow, okay? I know you finished your business with Carlos. I don’t want to face their wrath. You know how they are with Clark.”

“Yeah, yeah, we’ll go home tomorrow.”

We arrived in front of our hotel and I watched Clark open the door with the keys he had.

“Okay, I’ll see you tomorrow then. Please be careful with Clark, Hiro.”

I rolled my eyes again. Maria’s being paranoid with Clark ever since he arrived and it was irritating me. It’s not like I’m going to let anything happen to him either.

“Yeah, shut up.”

I didn’t wait for her to answer. I hung up the phone and hid it back in my pocket.

“I need to apologize to her personally tomorrow,” Clark commented.

We entered the room and I went straight to the bed on the right to lie down. I didn’t want to book two rooms for Clark and I since I’m overprotective of him, knowing full well of what happened to him in the past. I ought to never let him leave my sight and his parents knew that.

Clark sat on his bed and I saw that he was thinking about something.

“What is it?” I asked, curious to what was inside Clark’s mind.

“I’m just wondering, what does it feels like to be in love?”

I was caught off-guard with his question. He’s not an emotional guy, hell, he doesn’t show any emotions at all except when he’s in the job. I only saw him get attach with his family and my family but other than those people, I haven’t seen Clark make any friends in school. My gang tried so much to make him like them but nothing’s working. He just sees them as people who’s working for me, nothing more, nothing less.

“Why are you asking?” I asked.

Clark shrugged his shoulders.

“I don’t know,” he replied, lying back on the bed while staring at the ceiling, “maybe I’m just worried that I wouldn’t know that I’m in love already because I don’t know how it works.”

I gave him a dead stare.

Paige’s face appearing in my head, I pulled a smile and stared at the ceiling as well.

“Dad told me that you’ll know you’re in love when you can’t fall asleep because reality is finally better than your dreams.”

It was a quote from Dr. Seuss that my dad used to love. I’m not sure why but he said it had a special meaning for him and the old man.

Which was kind of creepy in some ways.

Clark made a face.

“So basically, being in love means you cannot fall asleep. That’s horrible,” he commented and I couldn’t help but laugh at the distaste in his voice.

“Just go to sleep, we need to wake up early tomorrow. The ride back to North Vale is gonna be long.”

“Okay.”

--

I was woken up by the sound of my phone ringing and echoing throughout the room. I blindly searched for it even though I could clearly see in the dark and when I found it hiding under the pillow, I grabbed it and read the name calling me so early in the morning.

It was Kenneth.

I grumbled.

What the hell does this idiot want in five o’clock in the morning?

I pressed the answer button and put the phone on my ear.

“I’ll fucking kill you if you woke me up just because you need a ride back to your hotel,” I threatened through my gritted teeth.

Ever since we left North Vale, Kenneth, Anthony and the others kept on hanging out in different bars and clubs, picking up girls and guys to have sex with, which I don’t have any intention of doing.

“Chill, dude!” Kenneth groggily muttered and I know he’s dead drunk just from the sound of his voice, “dad called, he said we have a new…job,” he said, slurring his words.

I rubbed my face and grunted in annoyance.

“We’re supposed to be going back to school today,” I said.

“A job’s a job. And right now, you’re working for him…so…so you better…get your ass back…hey, stop sucking my cock, bitch!”

I stared at the wall in front of me, fighting the urge not to chuck my phone on it.

“...please…pick us up…we can’t drive…drive for shit!”

I heard Anthony’s voice in the line and he was moaning and grunting and I had to rub my temples to ease the incoming headache.

“...sorry, dude…hic…Toni’s getting his nut -- ”

I hung up on him and threw the phone on the night table which woke Clark up. His eyes went wide and he stared at me in confusion.

“What…?” he asked.

“Call Maria and ask her where the two idiot brothers are. We have a job.”

“...again…?”

“Yes. Again.”

--

I entered the club where Torres-Shao brothers were and the scent of cigarette and other stuff I wish I didn’t smell hit my nose as soon as we got inside.

The whole place was sabotaged, as if a hurricane passed by and destroyed everything. There were employees cleaning up the mess and when they saw me, they pointed the room where Anthony and Kenneth were.

I stepped over a broken chair and walked to the door where they had pointed us. Opening it, I saw the two of them sprawled naked on the floor, with five girls lying beside them, all naked as well. Their limbs were all tangled with each other and they were all sleeping. Dozens of empty bottles and cans of beers were scattered on the table, on the couch and on the floor.

Clark blinked at the sight.

“Are they still alive?”

“I hope not.”

Pulling a random girl by her hair to move her out of the way, I tossed her on the floor but she was too drunk and high to even feel the pain of what I did. I kicked another girl out and stood in front of Kenneth whose phone was still in his hand.

I grabbed an empty bottle, using it to hit him on the head. He instantly woke up, rising from the dead while gasping out loud.

“WHAT?!” he screamed.

“Wake your brother up and let’s get the hell out of here,” I ordered, not waiting for the two of them and just walked out of the room with Clark.

--