Broken Strings novel Chapter 9

MELISSA QUIZON

I was so stupid to give you all my attention. ‘Cause the way you played me. Exposed your true intention. ‘Cause one day I’ll have you beggin’ on your knees for me. Yeah, one day. I’ll have you crawling like a centipede. You mess with me. I’ll mess with her. So, I’ll make sure you get what you deserve. Yeah, one day! You’ll be beggin’ on your knees for me [Song: Beggin’ On Your Knees]

"Victory!" Nadine shouted and then she gave us high-five. "Hello everyone! We are CriMeNaL, we’ve set this stage on fire! Good night!"

We are backstage now because we just finished our gig. I put my drumsticks in my bag and then put on my shoulder. The name CriMeNaL is derived from five female names.

‘Cri’ stands for Crissa, our band leader and vocalist.

‘Me’ stands for Melissa, obviously its me, I’m the drummer.

‘Na’ stands for Nadine, the lead guitarist.

‘L’ stands for Ellyza, the base guitarist and she’s the youngest in our group.

The three of us are Twenty-Six years old, while Ellyza is Twenty-One years old.

How are we formed? They are my co-teachers at the school I attend. And when they found out I was playing drums, and we’ve thought of forming a group. Crissa and Ellyza both have a boyfriend, while Nadine doesn't seem to have any plans to fall in love, because she doesn't want to be tied down.

They also knew about my situation. They knew about Reid but not about his father. I don't want to let them know, it's okay that only Eugene knows. It's not that I don't trust them, it's just that it's better to be careful.

"Oh, here are your payments." Crissa distributed the small envelopes to us. We get five thousand pesos per gig, it’s not much but it’s better than nothing. "Let's party, ladies!"

"I'm going home. Reid still has a piano recital tomorrow."

Ellyza rolled her eyes. "That's why he’s here to picked you up."

I was surprised to see Eugene walking towards our direction. I looked at my wristwatch. It's midnight, but he's still awake. It’s Sunday and I know its his day off, he should be resting today.

I notice how he grabbed the attention of another group of women who would also be performing. I heard a woman say ‘Hi’ and when Eugene said ‘hello’ she blushed profusely.

Her friends also shouted and then jumped. Look at the effect of his charm. So many men are jealous when he is assigned as their wives’ OB.

‘If he didn’t own a lot of hospitals, he would be poor now because no one wants to take him as OB.’ I smiled at what I thought.

"Hi, ladies. Beautiful ladies." He smiled when he stopped in front of us.

"Hello, doctor." Nadine hooked her arm around Eugene's. Then, she leaned her head on Eugene's arm. "Are you here to take your princess home?"

Nadine does this every time he comes to pick me up. I sighed and shook my head.

Eugene chuckled. "Yes. The king gave his command before he slept."

"Bye, girls!" One by one I gave them a kiss on the cheek and then pulled Eugene out.

We walked hand in hand to the car. We talked about my gig earlier and what happened. I asked him why he found out where I did the gig. I also asked him why he was day off today but by midnight he was still not sleeping. But he only answered me with a smile.

When we reached my home, I got out of his car and so did he. I inserted the key into the doorknob then unlock the door.

"Thanks for taking me home, Eugene." I said as I handed him the coffee. I sat down next to him.

"The pleasure is all mine." He said before sipping coffee.

Such a nice guy. I didn’t know anyone would love me like Eugene does. Even though I was devastated, he still accepted me.

Suddenly the door of Reid's room opened, and he ran out then greeted me with a hug. "Mommy! I'm glad you're home!"

"Why aren't you sleeping yet?" I said curiously as I stroked his hair.

He bit my lower lip that made me even more worried.

"I'm nervous, Mom. The judge is said to be a famous person." He mumbled.

He showed me the message of one of his teachers who had a tomato as his couch. I picked up his phone and read what was written there. It just said there was a celebrity judge but didn’t say who.

He turned to the one next to me. "Hi, doc! Thank you for taking my mommy home. You can go now."