Raymond walked into the bar and found Bosco waiting for him. When he saw Selena sitting next to him, he could not help but smile and tease, “I guess I should get used to having you around Bosco.”

Selena didn’t crack a smile at his joke as she gave him a killer look then turned her eyes away from him.

Raymond frown at her hard set expression and gave Bosco a questioning look.

Bosco shrugged and patted the seat next to him for him to take and said, “We have something to discuss with you.”

Raymond looked between the two and noted their serious expressions. “What is it?”

Bosco handed Raymond a beer from the bucket and said, “Be honest with me: did you already know Charmaine before you came back?”

Hearing the name Raymond could feel his emotion running wild again. He was irritated by the question and he quickly masked it. He didn’t understand why Bosco was even asking this irrelevant question. Instead of denying it, he simply asked casually, “Why does it matter?”

Selena saw the flash of emotion cross Raymond’s face and opened to speak but Bosco grabbed her arm to hold her back. “Can you just answer me?” Bosco insisted. “We want to know.”

“You tell me why it’s so important and then I’ll answer you,” Raymond countered lazily.

Bosco chuckled nervously and said, “It’s because…”

Selena held up her hand for Bosco to stop and said, “Let me tell him.” She turned her full gaze onto Raymond and said, “I’ll start by telling you something about Charmaine that no one knows except for me. Well Bosco knows now.”

Raymond didn’t want to hear anything that had to do with her. In another few days, he would be gone and hopefully all their memories together would be too. With great effort he made himself appear relaxed and smiled cheekily at them, and said, “I’m sorry but since I don’t really know her, you shouldn’t be telling me her secrets.”

Although Raymond appeared to be at ease, Selena noticed the subtle clenching of his jaw at the mention of Charmaine. She was now positive that Raymond was the guy in Charmaine’s past. Angered that Raymond was still denying their relationship she retorted, “I think you know her very well. At least well enough to hear what had happened to her in the past.”

Raymond stood up and said curtly, “I’m leaving.”

Selena was not to be daunted. She grabbed his arm and ordered, “Sit and let me finish. You can leave after I finished telling you the story.” Her eyes held onto his with challenge and her hold was unrelenting.

Raymond was amazed by her stubbornness and he did not want to cause any rift with Bosco by offending Selena. Reluctantly, he sat back down and sighed dramatically. In a dull voice to demonstrate how he felt about this, he said, “Go on. Say what you have to so that we can get it over with.”

Selena was relieved that he was going to hear her out but that did not diminish the fury she felt for him. She kept her eyes on Raymond as she began recounting what had happened to Charmaine five years ago. When she was done she expected to see shame and guilt on Raymond’s face. Instead, he remained motionless, his face blank.

“Are you done?” Raymond asked after waiting a few beats. “If yes, then I have to leave.”

Selena’s anger rose at his nonchalant attitude. “Didn’t you hear a word that I just said?” she shrieked then lowered her voice when the patrons of the bar turned their attention to her. She calmed herself down and hissed, “You’re that guy! I know you are!”

Raymond didn’t want to lie about it any longer. He leaned back in his chair and quietly said, “Yes I am but what you just said isn’t the truth.”

Bosco looked at Raymond in stunned silence as Selena slammed her fist onto the table, “That IS the truth!”

Raymond turned his hard gaze on her and bit out coldly, “The truth is that she didn’t want to be with a low life like me so she aborted the baby and then asked for a divorce.”

Selena shook her head, “No, you’re turning this around to make it her fault because you didn’t want to be stuck with a wife and child. They were in your way!”

Raymond got up and said, “I don’t want to debate this with you. I know the truth of what happened and whatever she told you are all lies. She’s good at acting and can play the innocent card extremely well. But the truth is, you shouldn’t believe anything that comes out of .”

“She is telling you the truth,” Steven said as he approached their table. When they turned to look at him in surprise, he explained, “I came in and saw you guys and didn’t want to interrupt so I stood nearby and eavesdropped.”

Raymond felt as if the wind had just got knock out of him. He grabbed Steven’s shoulders recklessly and said, “You told me that she had an abortion!”

Steven nodded his head slowly, “I’m sorry but her father made me do it. He set it all up.”

Raymond felt dazed by what he had just learned. He dropped down on his chair, his mind racing over from the first time he met Charmaine up until their recent encounter. He looked up at Steven and urgently asked, “Does Charmaine know?”

Steven sat down next to him and answered, “Yes. I told her the truth a few days ago.”

Raymond thought about her calls to him. She must have wanted to tell him the truth and he didn’t even bother to return any of her messages. He stood up abruptly realizing what he had done. She had left a message for them to meet at 6:00 pm tonight. He looked at his watch, it was almost 7:00 pm. Without a word to the others, he ran out of the bar.