Chapter 94 - 93
"My name is Daryl Chen," he said as he smiled. "Your name is pretty, too!" Chesca said as she giggled. "Why, thank you," he smiled at her.
Daryl suddenly remembered the reason why they were walking around. It was to find her mother and brother. Truthfully, he could have gone to the security guard and asked the staff to help him find her mother, but that slipped his mind.
"Chesca!"
A familiar voice that he has almost forgotten made Daryl turn to the direction where it came from.
He could almost feel his heart stop when he saw the face that he missed the most for the past five years.
It was his best friend.
"Chesca, oh my god! Mommy told you to sit and wait for us. Why did you leave?" Justin said, almost raising his voice as he held his daughter in his arms. "Mommy was so worried! Don't do that again," he said as he hugged her even tighter.
"Mommy...?"
Justin paused when he realized that there was someone else there.
Justin looked up to see who that person was, and before he could even speak, he felt his blood draining from his face. His body turned cold from nervousness and shock when he saw Daryl.
"Daryl...?"
*****
"For five years... You left and never returned for five long years because you got pregnant with Tristan's babies. That's the reason why, isn't it?" Daryl said as he stared at Justin.
Justin remained quiet, unable to tell him the truth even until now.
They're currently at a nearby cafe to chat for a bit. As they talk with each other, the twins are also busy eating what's left on their cakes.
"You wouldn't even be able to deny it, Jus. Chester is an exact copy of Tristan except for his hair," he continued as he glanced at Chester.
Justin swallowed hard and took a deep breath before he spoke. "I'm sorry for suddenly disappearing on you," Justin said and bit his lower lip. "Come on, you don't have to apologize. I admit that I was hurt when you suddenly vanished without saying anything, but you had your reasons. At the time, you probably thought that leaving was the best option there was," Daryl said as he smiled at him.
Justin felt his heart ache when he saw how Daryl still understands him after what he did.
There were a lot of reasons for him to be sorry. He thinks he was being too selfish for leaving them alone, including his best friend. The guilt of doing that haunted him for five years, and now, his guilt was eased a little because of what Daryl said.
"Does Tristan know about this?" Daryl asked, seeing how Justin couldn't respond to him. Justin shook his head and said, "No, he doesn't. He's probably living his life without dwelling in the past, so I don't think it would be nice to suddenly introduce my kids to him when I literally ran away to hide them from him."
"How are you able to say that he doesn't dwell on the past?" Daryl said as he stared at him. "He's the CEO of a company, right? Well, I work with him now," he said as he held his cup with both of his hands. "We had a welcoming employee for new hires like me last night. Coincidentally, he was there at the pub, too, so my superior invited him to our table to come and join us for dinner. During the entire meal, never did he once looked at me like I was still something to him. He probably only looked at me just once and that's it. The whole time he was there, he didn't seem to care about my presence. Because of how indifferent he was, even I could tell that he has already moved on. Plus... he was the one who broke up with me. Why wouldn't he be able to move on?" Justin said and smiled bitterly.
Their breakup left a bitter feeling inside him, even until now. For the past five years, Justin never once met with anyone else because he didn't have time for that. He was busy taking care of his children that he couldn't find any time to date someone new. Moreover, he knew that even if he did try to date someone, he would just end up comparing them to Tristan.
Daryl had an uneasy look on his face. He knew about the story where Tristan wasn't able to get to the cafe which was the reason why they broke up, and he felt uneasy and sad because Justin didn't seem to know the reason why Tristan didn't show up.
Even though he wanted to tell him everything, including how Tristan is still crazy for him after all this time, he knew that he wasn't in the right position to do that. Tristan should be the one to say all of those things to Justin, and not him.
"Wouldn't it be awkward for you if you keep seeing him at work?" Daryl asked, trying to avoid the topic about their breakup. "Well, I never saw him there until the welcoming party, so I think that wouldn't be a problem. Also, I heard that he arrives at work 30 minutes early and leaves at exactly 5 p.m. I can just avoid him easily," Justin smiled and took a sip from his coffee.
Daryl wanted to smile, knowing that Justin wouldn't be able to avoid Tristan easily. He knew that Tristan would literally chase him until Justin becomes his lover again. There was no way that an alpha wouldn't be as persistent as that, especially since he knew how much Tristan longed for him for so long.
He pursed his lips to stop himself from smiling and said, "Well, I guess you could do that."
Justin glanced at his phone to check the time and saw that it was already past 7 p.m.
"Dar, I have to leave already since it's getting late now," Justin said as he smiled. "Oh, um... Could you give me your number? I... I want to catch up with you some other time," Daryl said as his ears turned red, feeling shy from asking Justin for his number.
Not knowing his best friend's contact only made him feel distant from him.
"Oh, sure. Give me your phone," he said as he extended his arm as he asked for it. Daryl fished his phone from his pocket and handed it to Justin after putting the password on his lockscreen.
Justin typed down his number and called his phone with Daryl's so he would know his contact too.
"Thank you," Daryl's face brightened as Justin gave his phone back to him.
Justin stood up and as he did, Daryl stood too. "We'll get going now. Take care on your way home and..." Justin stepped closer to Daryl and wrapped his arms around him tightly.
"I missed you so much..." he whispered as he hugged him. Daryl felt like he'd tear up any moment now, but he stopped himself from crying and hugged him back. "I missed you too, dummy. Take care on your way home, too," he said as he hugged him even tighter.
When they broke free from the hug, Justin went to the twins to wipe their mouths and eventually left after that.
When they got home, Justin cooked them dinner and ate right away. After that, he took them to the bathroom and took a quick shower together.
Truthfully, there were a lot of things that he wanted to say to Chesca about the incident earlier today, but he decided to keep his mouth shut and save it for tomorrow. He knew that his daughter might just sleep with a heavy heart, and he didn't want that.
"Mommy, how do you know Uncle Daryl?" Chesca asked as Justin blow dried her hair. "Your Uncle Daryl is mommy's best friend," Justin smiled. "So, Uncle Daryl is like Jace? He's also our best friend," Chester said as he watched his twin getting blow dried.
"Yes, honey. Uncle Daryl is like Jace," Justin replied. "Why did we only meet him today? I thought you're best friends with Uncle Daryl?" Chesca asked. "Well, before you were born, mommy moved to another place and lost contact with Uncle Daryl," Justin explained.
"Done!" He exclaimed as he combed Chesca's dry hair. "Come here, Chester," he said as he patted the chair where Chesca was sitting on after his daughter stood up. Chester sat there and had his hair blow dried, too.
After that, he put them to bed and kissed them good night.
Their night ended well, so as their weekends. Of course, Justin didn't forget to scold Chesca for coming with a stranger and leaving without permission.
It was a new day at work again, and Justin just arrived at the company.
The moment he stepped foot in the building, a woman who was wearing a corporate attire approached him right away.
"Oh? You're that lady from the cafe, right?" Justin said as he smiled at her. "Yes, thank you for your help last time. I already had your suit jacket and handkerchief dry cleaned. I'll give it back to you later," she smiled at him.
"Because for now, you should come with me. The CEO is requesting for your presence," she continued.
"Huh...?"
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