Secret for Vinhelm #2

by L. Marcelo

  The family moved to Los Angeles without Vhynce. New York being the place he started his career and the place he became famous, he didn’t want to leave. He wanted to continue his career where he started it.

  At first, Natalie was against it but Vhynce who had always been stubborn and who always got what he wanted, stayed. As the move got closer, she gave up but she made him promise to visit them every now and then.

  Later that year, the family moved to Los Angeles while Vhynce remained in New York.

  He sighed as he remembered what happened 10 years ago. It has been a while since the last time he had dreams and thoughts about it. He had a lot of since he found out Meahri was one of his million fans two nights ago.

  He haven’t went back to RMM since that night and whenever Rayle and the others asked him why, all he told them was ‘I have some things I need to take care of.’

  He was in his bed staring at the ceiling thinking about everything that had happened in his life. He realized he had one hella fucking interesting life.

  He spent the past two days just lying in his bed.

  He thought about his family, his dad’s affair and even about Meahri’s secret.

  Maybe if that fan didn’t give me those photos, things could’ve been different. My life was probably as great as it had always been. Maybe I would still have the perfect family I always had. Maybe I would still think of my dad as my hero, someone I want to be when I grow up. Vhynce thought. He put his arm on top of his eyes and sighed.

  He started to get tired of everything.

  Everything in his life changed just because of what that fan did, of what that fan gave him. If she didn’t give him those photos, his dad having an affair wouldn't have crossed his mind. He never doubted his dad because he had been a wonderful dad in his eyes.

  He always thought that he was someone who would never do such thing but he did.

  And the worse part was he didn’t have a tiny bit of suspicion. If it weren’t for that fan, he wouldn’t know that Gabriel had been lying to them all those years.

  He wished that the fan never existed but at the same time he couldn’t. If she didn’t come to him, he still has his perfect family that he didn’t know was actually a lie.

  Maybe it could’ve been better if he and his family didn’t know about it. But whenever he remembered how his dad lied, he can’t consider going back in time and not doing the exact same thing that he did. There was no way he can act like he never saw those photos.

  He realized there are really things in life that are best kept unknown. Now that he knew everything, there was no way to unknow it.

  He hated complicated things and ever since that incident, he hated it even more. That time, he finally understood how things could get complicated when rockstars and fangirls are involved.

  In the past, he thought that Ryan, Peter and the others were wrong whenever they told him that rockstars and fangirls were meant to not be in the same league. He never believed them but that was when he was still an innocent rockstar. It was still during the time when he was still new, when he was still not aware of the reality of being a rockstar.

  That same time, he accepted the fact that no matter how great something was, it could be ruined by one single fucking lie.

  One second, he was living a great life with his perfect family and the next second everything was ruined. Because of his past experience, he learned to not just hate liars but despise them.

  Chapter Two

  Meahri was having a talk with Vhynce’s friends at her place. She called Therry, Thiara, Rayle, Tyler, Ryan and Peter to come by her house. She told them she had some things she needed to discuss with them. When the guys from RMM received the invitation, they started to have thoughts that something was wrong.

  First, Vhynce stopped coming to RMM saying he had some things to take care of when he never did that before. Second, Meahri told them to come to her place all of a sudden when she can just drop by the studio if she needed to talk.

  Without knowing that what their guts was telling them was true, they went to Meahri’s place.

  The first one to arrive was Thiara and Therry. The moment she opened the door there was no mistaking what she had been doing for the past few days. It’s too hard not to know especially with her swollen eyes. As soon as they saw her, they got worried. They were so worried that they froze after they saw her.

  For a moment, they didn’t want to ask what happened. They didn’t even want to know if it was Vhynce who did it to her. Right now, all they want to do was take her in their arms and comfort her hoping it would lessen the pain she was going through.

  Since the night that Vhynce knew about her secret, she had been crying so much that it was probably the time she cried the most in her life. She knew she looked like a mess. She tried to fix herself and even tried to put some make up on but it didn’t work for her. It wasn’t her at all. She never applied any make up in the past so why did she thought of applying one now?

  She didn’t want her friends to worry about her. She knew how much they love her, how much they treasured her but ever since that night, nothing seemed to worked for her.

  Nothing.

  She gave up and decided to meet them like she always did.

  “Hey sweetie, I missed you.” Thiara didn’t want to ask or say anything that might trigger whatever that thing that made Meahri suffer so she greeted her like she always did.

  She hugged her and Meahri tried her best to stop the tears. She didn’t want her to worry more than Thiara was worrying now. She thought she can stop it but she couldn’t. It was the first time she met someone again, the first time she was in someone’s arms again since the night with Vhynce.

  “Hey… Thiara…” She was crying again. She pulled away but Thiara didn’t let go. She continued to hug her.

  Just seeing her, Thiara knew she was in a lot of pain. She may not know what caused it but she wished that at least with her hug, she could share her pain. The girl shook in her arms so how can she afford to let go?

  Therry stood behind Thiara. He saw everything and it broke his heart. He saw the look on her eyes. It was filled with so much pain.

  She looked like she just lost her soul, that the girl that stood in front of them was nothing else but merely a corpse. The Meahri he knew was nowhere to be found. He may not know what happened but he had a feeling it was the reason why she called them.

  When she was a bit calmer, Thiara let go. “What’s wrong?” Her voice was filled with worry and sadness. It was the first time she’d seen Meahri in such state.

  “Sorry…”

  Meahri shook her head, wiped her tears and just smiled. She wasn’t ready to tell her yet. If she’d be telling Thiara, it was better if everyone was here. Not only was it easier but also less tiring for her.

  After crying so much for the past 2 days, she barely had strength to eat or even think about anything else so how much more telling the story that caused all these?

  When they were in the living room, Thiara took a seat and when Meahri was about to take a seat, Therry pulled her into his arms. He couldn’t stop himself anymore. The moment he saw his littler sister’s face, he was worried as hell. He wanted to protect the girl like she was his own daughter. The second she was surrounded by his arms, she started to cry like a baby.

  When he felt the girl trembled in his arms, he cursed in his head.

  What happened to her that she’s trembling this much? He thought as he continued to brush her back while she looked at Thiara. He saw that his own sister was also near to tears but he shook his head. He told her to not cry because if she did, it would be harder to stop Meahri from crying.

  Therry and Thiara looked at each other in silence. They had a conversation with no words needed.

  Both of them wanted to know what happened but both of them also didn’t want to force Meahri to talk if she didn’t want to. Much as they want to know the story, they can’t be selfish and push her. The girl was obviously not ready.

>   When her phone rang, she was pulling away from Therry but he didn’t let her. Thiara took her phone and checked who it was. It was Rayle. Therry asked her to give it to him and he answered the phone. Meahri was still in his arms. “Hey Rayle. It’s Therry. Do you mind waiting around 10 minutes?”

  When Rayle heard his voice, he was surprised. He didn’t expect that Meahri also called Therry. And while the older man spoke, there was something that he can’t ignore. It sounded like someone was crying in the background. Worry hit him. He didn’t answer Therry’s question and asked instead.

  “Is that Meahri?” Worry was too obvious in his voice.

  “Yeah... Rayle, just give me 10 minutes.” Therry sounded serious.

  “What happened?” Rayle asked in concern. He started to get worried as hell. Obviously, there was something wrong.

  “10 minutes, Rayle.” Therry insisted.

  “10 minutes Therry. The next second after that, I’m going in whether you like it or not.” Rayle was dead serious. He didn’t care if he had to break Meahri’s door just so he can enter her house.

  Therry ended the call. He pulled away. He held her hand and pulled her to the sofa. “Meahri, I’m not gonna ask what happened, okay? But I’m gonna ask you something else.” He asked. She didn’t say anything but only nodded. “Are you sure you want to do this? If you’re not ready, we can come back another day.”

  Despite the fact that he knew the answer to his own question, he still asked. He only gave her a chance to back out if she wanted to.

  “I have to do this Therry.” She wiped her tears as she tried to calm herself down.

  “Sweetie, you don’t have to force yourself if you don’t want to.” Thiara went to sit on her other side and placed a hand on her arm.

  “It’s fine... I need to do this Thiara.”

  She looked at her and forced a smile. It broke Thiara’s heart. The girl was obviously forcing herself. She hated it but if that was Meahri’s decision, she didn’t have any other choice but to support her and be there for her. The two let her calm herself as they waited for the 10 minutes to pass by.

  When it was time, Rayle wasn’t joking. The next second after the 10 minutes pass by. They immediately heard a doorbell. It was Therry who opened the door for them.

  Rayle started asking questions but all Therry said was, “I also don’t know what happened but let’s not ask. She doesn’t need to do this but she is. Let’s listen to her and at least be thankful that she’s doing this much for us. “

  When Rayle heard what Therry said, he was about to argue but after he saw the look on the man’s face, he decided not to. He saw the look on Therry’s eyes. It was the same way he felt but mostly, he looked devastated and that was more than enough for him to give up. He knew how much Therry treasured Meahri.

  When they arrived at the living room, the moment Rayle laid eyes on Meahri, he too was devastated. Not because he gave up on her didn’t mean he didn’t love her anymore.

  He wanted to run to her and pull her in his arms but Therry knew what he was about to do and he caught his arm. There were no words between them but with one look from Therry, it was enough for the kid to understand.

  It wasn’t that Therry didn’t want anyone to go near Meahri. It was more of because right now, a mere touch can make her cry. She was that vulnerable so as soon as possible, he didn’t want anyone to touch her. He didn’t want her to cry in front of everyone especially when it took up all her strength to fight the tears.

  Both Therry and Thiara were against the idea but they had no choice but to support the girl’s decision.

  “Hey guys…” She greeted them with a smile.

  “Hey.” Everyone greeted and smiled despite the fact that they knew something was wrong.

  “Have a seat.” She hoped they didn’t notice how much her voice tremble. They did as told and there was silence. It was too hard not to notice how heavy the air was around them.

  Meahri knew she was the source of it. She knew she needed more time. She goddamn needed more time to cry. Two days weren’t enough. 1 week may not even be enough. For all she knew, even a month won’t be enough either. But right now, her lies has to stop.

  Now that Vhynce knew everything, there was no reason for her to keep lying anymore. Especially to her friends, to the people who treated her like family.

  She looked at the four men in front of her.

  They were worried but they tried their best not to show it. They didn’t want her to feel that they feel sorry for her, that they didn’t know something was wrong. But when she looked at Rayle, she almost burst into tears once again.

  Rayle hurt for her.

  She knew she needed control so she walked towards the fridge. She knew if she stayed there and looked at Rayle longer, there was no way to stop her tears.

  Everyone’s eyes followed her. They almost asked where she was going but they stopped theirselves. They knew it was her way of killing time, her way of saying she was gathering all the strength she needed to tell them what was wrong.

  It took her a while before she spoke again. “Do you guys want any drinks?” She asked.

  “Sure. What do you have?” Rayle answered. He fucking hope he didn’t sound trying too hard to sound normal.

  “Water.” She smiled.

  “Oh… Surely that’s a lot of choices to choose from.”

  Everyone laughed at Rayle’s comment. He was happy the others understood what he was trying to do.

  “I’m kidding.” She laughed but everyone knew how forced it was.

  They want to tell her to stop but they remembered what Therry told them before they meet Meahri a while ago, “at least be thankful that she’s doing this much for us.”

  “No you’re not. I’m sure you only got water to offer us.” This came from Tyler. He was his usual self and for a bit, she felt relieved.

  “I have some soda, iced coffee, juice and some Red Bull but that’s already off limits for Tyler because he’s having water.” She joked and everyone laughed. This time, it was more sincere than the one before.

  Everyone chose their drinks.

  When she took out the drinks from the fridge, she took some with her and planned to go back to get the rest but Therry helped her.

  “Thanks Therry.” She smiled.

  Therry smiled back. He knew the girl enough to know that she wasn’t only thanking him for helping her with the drinks. It was more than that. She was thankful to him for being here.

  The two distributed the drinks and when Tyler received his, he complained. “You’re kidding, right?” His eyes went wide when he asked.

  Everyone burst into laughter. Meahri being Meahri, they knew she was dead serious.

  “Everyone pretty much took all the drinks in the fridge, so yeah, there’s only water left for you.” She flashed a grin. She was grateful to have these people around her. They seem to always know how to make her laugh, how to make her feel better.

  When she went back to her seat, suddenly everyone became quiet and the air felt heavy once again. She thought she could do this. She thought she was ready to tell them everything but will she ever be ready? There was no way in hell she’d be ready for something like this.

  She wanted to run away from them and cry like there was no end to her tears but she couldn’t. She owed it to them. They came to her when she told them she needed to talk to them. If they didn’t care, they wouldn’t even bother to come but they did. All of them did. She needed to do this. If not for her, at least for them.

  No more running away. She said to herself.

  Everyone didn’t say a word. They looked at her, waited for her to talk. All of them knew there was something wrong and that it took up all her strength to not run away from them. They understood her but will they still understand her once she told them everything?

  “So… What do you want to talk about?” Ryan asked. There was a hint of concern in his voice but despite that everyone glared at him. He whitened.

  If peopl
e can die from a simple glare, he could’ve been dead by now. Not to mention, looking at the way Therry and Rayle glared at him, he knew they could kill him the moment he stepped outside Meahri’s place.

  He was Vhyncent Vinhelm’s fucking manager but it didn’t seem to matter to the two men. That moment, he finally realized it.

  Meahri Lyfheld was love by these guys. So. Much.

  While everyone was busy kill-glaring Ryan, she spoke.

  “I’m a fan of Vhynce... Ever since 5 years ago…” Every word sounded like it was being forced out of her.

  Silence.

  Ryan stood up and it made her look up at at him. He didn’t say a word. He just turned around and headed for the door. A second later, Peter followed behind him.

  When Therry looked at his little sister, he cursed in his head. She was clenching her fists so much that her hand was almost white. He cursed nonstop when he saw the look on her face.

  Rayle tried all his best to stop himself from rushing to her and take her in his arms. It took up every bit of control in his body not to. It looked like none of her words registered in his head but it wasn’t that.

  He just didn’t give a damn.

  She looked at Tyler and Rayle who sat in front of her. They were silent. She waited for them to leave just like Ryan and Peter but they didn’t seem to have any plans of leaving.

  When she looked at Rayle, she couldn’t help but stare at him. He looked at her with eyes filled with something that she had never seen the man look at her before. It wasn’t pain nor was it betrayal.

  It was love.

  The man loved her. She thought it was how Rayle was. They were like cats and dogs but the boy knew when to stop, when to say sorry. The boy had been so nice to her but she’d never taken it more than that.

  Suddenly, she felt her hands getting wet. That was the only time she realized she had been crying. She looked down and more tears fell.

  Silence filled the room.

  There was nothing else but her sobs. No one moved. No one tried to reach her nor touched her. Not even Thiara or Therry who was seated beside her. They all wanted to but they shouldn’t.