thE welcome FOR jericho
It’s your fault. You gave him the chance to enter your life, now you have to pay the price, Sophia’s conscience was scolding her, as she was seated beside Enzo in his truck. He was taking her home now, after the stroll in the park, and Sophia was still wondering how she and Enzo became officially lovers. She was, by now, trapped in Enzo’s seeming appetite to own her.
“Whose truck is that?” Enzo asked her when he saw the black Ford truck in the driveway.
“I don’t know.” Sophia wondered too, looking at the strange vehicle. It seemed totally new.
“You must have a visitor,” he said.
Sophia didn’t provide him with any response, and she couldn’t wait to imprison herself in her bedroom and to regret all the things she’d been doing.
The moment Enzo stopped the engine, Sophia didn’t glance at him. She was still in shock... and full of regrets.
Minutes passed, and there were still no words from her, and this tempted Enzo to play the nasty roles.
“Aren’t you gonna invite me in for at least a glass of water?” he challenged her.
Sophia turned even more quiet, nodding half-heartedly. She seemed under his spell and she couldn’t say no. She felt helpless.
They walked through the quiet pavement with their strides resounding. And Sophia… if only she could read Enzo’s plans once they get inside the house. Certainly she was scared. Scared he would announce to everyone that they got hitched. How would they react? Especially her brother Alex? She knew great walls were bordering each of them.
When they got to the main door, Sophia dropped in, bursting with shock upon seeing Jericho in the living room, talking with every member of her family, including Grandma Lucy.
Philippe and the rest of the family were disconcerted, but they seemed to have adjusted themselves for the situation.
Seeing Jericho with her entire family nearly made Sophia’s heart leap out from her body. Jericho’s face was poised. It seemed they just had a warm and welcoming conversation.
“Hello. Are you Enzo?” Grandma Lucy paced fast, towards them. She acted way too hospitable to Sophia’s new companion.
Sophia gazed at every member of the family, full of questions, trying hard to ask silently with her hard, intense gaze. She wanted to begin asking, why was Jericho there. But how silly of her to inquire—knowing he was actually a son of her father. The scene was far too disturbing. And heartbreaking.
“Sophia, honey, I believe you haven’t introduced your new friend yet.” Grandma Lucy chirped.
Apparently, Sophia’s gaze was focused on Jericho, and soon, she felt she would pass out. She wasn’t ready for this, a fast turn of events. And each time, she’d drawn a blank.
“Sophia!” Grandma Lucy repeated.
At last Sophia was alerted and shook her head, her eyes blinking rapidly. “Yes!” she responded, just from the aftermath of realizing Jericho was, indeed, inside the house. “Grandma, this is Enzo. Enzo, meet grandma.” Undeniably, Sophia was in emotional turmoil. It turned out worse when Enzo had called her peaches, a nickname she didn’t find sweet, rather she found it sickening.
Everyone was not surprised, and this shocked Sophia. It was as if everyone liked Enzo for her. What is this? A planned move? She asked herself silently, while at the paramount of pretending everything was acceptable… and normal.
But, it was Jericho’s confident display of himself that horrified Sophia tremendously. Did he just get over from everything we had? Why didn’t he react about Enzo? Am I nothing to him now? Sophia shut her eyes close, so tight, and forced herself to calm down for the situation, while Enzo was there. She didn’t want, of course, to be impolite. Somehow, he was still a visitor and oh heaven help, her new boyfriend. She couldn’t even look at him whenever the word popped into her head.
“Oh! Enzo, sweetheart, would you like to join us for dinner?” Grandma Lucy then offered, looking strangely at Sophia, and it added more stress to her. It was like the living room only revolved around Sophia, Enzo, Jericho, and Grandma Lucy, and the rest served as secondary characters.
Enzo agreed to the offer, as his own portrayal of nobility. Having a pleasing personality was now mandatory, to make good impressions.
Face afire, Sophia was silently refusing, her stomach rebelling against all that was happening. If only Jericho wasn’t in the house, she could play cool with this, but his unexpected appearance seemed to be her very poison ivy. She couldn’t react, and what’s more was… Enzo was still not in good terms with Alex.
What is this? A festivity for the lost, unknown son? Sophia thought while she was now seated beside Enzo in a table full of people. And Jericho got his own chair, facing them.
“So Enzo, why don’t you tell us something about you?” Grandma Lucy commenced as everyone began serving themselves. It seemed the diverse culinary menu captured everyone’s eye, except Sophia’s. Her head was drifting somewhere else, wondering how Jericho could pretend to be calm about all of this. And everyone, as well.
“Well, I…” Enzo was clearing his throat for the right words. He had to blend in. One unpleasant talk, and he would be out. Out of Sophia’s life.
“Call me Lucy, by the way.” Grandma Lucy slanted a friendly smile at him.
“Tell us something about your parents,” Philippe intervened as though Enzo was on a hot seat.
“My parents are into business, sir. We’re into managing hotels and restaurants.” Enzo fairly knew the details to share so as to keep along with the Vabuerettis.
“That’s very interesting!” Grandma Lucy looked at him as if it was great news.
“And his family owns that Filipino restaurant we stopped by at the Eighth Avenue,” Elizabeth told Philippe, and this turned Enzo’s ego a notch higher, even as it irritated Alex.
“Yes, ma’am. My father is a Filipino,” he said.
“But you don’t look Asian?” Nadine snooped, attempting to intersect with the older people’s boulevards of chatter, but this made the adults feel bumpy with her frankness.
A wide smile was Enzo’s initial and ensuing response. He simply stared at everyone and said, “I’m adopted.”
Sophia nearly choked in disbelief. So he was adopted too, and he hadn’t told her, beforehand. She risked a look into Enzo’s eyes. She felt really disappointed and mad but it was childish of her to question him, knowing they’d only known each other in a few days.
“All right, who wants some cake? I just made it this morning,” Elizabeth then offered and headed to the kitchen. It was too early for a dessert, but everybody seemed in need of something sweet anyway, especially now that the situation was turning bitter.
As the talk lingered, with Enzo as the center of attention, Sophia couldn’t, by far, avoid taking a look at Jericho, who seemed quite interested in listening to Enzo. Watching everyone, it seemed they had moved on and had been forgiving towards the secrets and lies of yesteryears. And as she watched her siblings, seated in a row opposite her—Nadine seated between Alex and Jericho—it was suddenly clear to her, now, that she was the real outsider. She couldn’t wait for the dinner to end so that she could run to her bedroom and weep and weep.
“Sophia, honey, are you on a diet? Your plate seems untouched.” Grandma Lucy stirred her, and Enzo rescued her by putting at least a piece of fresh lettuce and a few pieces of tomatoes on her plate.
“I assume you’re a vegan,” he whispered, trying to be caring.
“Oh, so sweet. Is this some kind of romantic movie or something?” Again, Nadine rolled some comments but she was genuinely pleased for her sister.
Sophia couldn’t help but feel embarrassed. It was too much, now that Jericho was smiling mysteriously from across the table. This wasn’t what she asked for. Anyhow, she was able to thank Enzo in the lowest tone she could muster.
“By the way, Jericho will start working in our hospital this Monday,” Philippe announced, with some visible excitement in his eyes but with some sense of woe for Sophia. Too bad Jericho would now be linked to her like the lace to the shoe.
“Is he gonna live with us here?” Nadine asked her parents in anticipation.
“Oh, no! I’ll be staying in my house.” Finally, Jericho broke his silence and winked at Nadine after saying it.
“Really? You have a house here, bro?” At last, Alex spoke too, facing Jericho. Certainly, Sophia got questions of her own, too, but she couldn’t ask Jericho.
Now, Enzo couldn’t help himself, any longer, from speculating that Jericho might be the one Sophia was referring to, in the park. He could guess, though, each time Sophia looked at Jericho. Then, from that moment on, he’d followed Sophia’s eyes and they never failed to confirm so. But, he wasn’t the only one noticing it. The rest of the family did, too, and this made Enzo want to grab Sophia’s hand and place it in his lap, gripping it so tight that she could feel the pain. She could pretend it wasn’t hurting, though, and she would manage a quick smile.
When the dinner was over, Sophia quickly stood up and went to the front porch as Enzo expressed his appreciation for the wonderful meal.
“Why in a hurry?” Enzo hurried, chasing her.
“Because you were hurting me back there.”
“Hurting you? Sophia, I wasn’t hurting you.”
“Really?”
“I was just touching your hand. That’s all.” Then Enzo eyed her with a flash of realization. “He’s the one you were telling me about, right?”
For ages, Sophia did not provide any response, and she hoped he would just leave right now.
“This isn’t about the tight grip of your hand, isn’t it?” Enzo now dared her. “This is about him!”
“What are you talking about?” Sophia turned to him, wooden.
“You still love him?” Enzo approached her with a sharpening look, like a wolf attacking a puppy. “I won’t leave unless we settle this tonight!” He tried hard to tone down his ragged voice.
“There’s nothing to settle.” Sophia also sent him a fierce look, and turned even braver when she saw the frustration in his eyes. “I want you to leave now. I’m tired.”
Incalculably, he was hurt, and he suddenly left in both rage and disappointment, which was too bad for the first day of their relationship.
It was the worst moment for Sophia. Crying wasn’t sufficient to get rid of all the emotions plaguing her. She spun away from the house and walked without a sense of direction. She couldn’t be seen crying. She made her way through the sidewalks, with several people still out at night, then a truck harshly pulled over beside her. Jericho, who was on his way home, saw her and came toward her. He was cold.
“What’s with those tears? Did your boyfriend just dump you?” His unusual conduct was not expected by Sophia, and she was provoked. He was obviously using this opportunity for a payback, for replacing him that fast.
Frozen in disbelief, Sophia only looked at him. “How could you say that to me?” she said, her tone low, almost like a whisper. “How could you, after all of the things that happened between us? It would be easier for me to forget you if you hadn’t come back! I was trying to move on.”
Despite all the bitterness, he couldn’t help feeling sorry with the way she cried out at him, because of how he had hurt her. It was too late to draw back his words now; they’d already escaped his cold lips. He was shushed into realizing how much of an idiot he was. Then he lifted his head to look at her again and caught the way she squeezed her eyes in pain and sorrow. God forbid, he was madly in love with her again.
“Here,” he said under his breath and handed her a handkerchief from his pocket, still perfectly folded and unused. Too bad, for Sophia shook her head in rejection. And too late, he knew he’d been a complete ass.
Sophia slid a mournful glance at him and left, having in mind that the engaging Jericho she used to know and had come to love had utterly changed.