I love you three
“Diano.” It was Brian. “We need to check in our bags. It’s time.”
Diano gave Andy a sad smile as he walked back towards the crowd, signaling that their private chat was over. Sky walked behind Andy who followed Diano.
Brian handed Diano his suitcase and they started towards the counter.
“Wait.” It was Nyle. “Don’t go yet.”
“Don’t leave me.” Oliver joined in.
Diano paused for a moment. He was about to walk on when Andy spoke.
“I don’t know how you could live without me but I don’t think I can live without you.”
It brought tears to Diano’s eyes. What did these guys think of themselves? He turned back in anger. Brian tried to stop him but he walked back to the crowd.
“What do you guys want? Is it not enough that you have hurt me already? Yes, I know we had a good time together but that’s history now. I loved you three with all my heart but I got nothing in return.” Diano broke down.
“Let’s go.” Brian tugged at Diano’s arm.
“No, Brian. I’m not finished with these people yet. I need to make it clear to them. I can’t carry this burden with me any more.” He turned around to face the crowd.
“Okay, I can’t address all of you together. So I’ll go one by one.”
He looked at Nyle first.
“Nyle. You’re too late. I’ve no feelings left for you. I’ve spent a long time getting over you and I’ve succeeded. I’m not going down that route again. So, yes, you can go and catch that plane to Vancouver. I’d have loved to stay your friend but I know you still have feelings for me. If we become friends, you’ll never get over me. I don’t wanna weaken you and so I give you up.”
Nyle looked away. Diano could see tears in his eyes. He walked up to Nyle and gave him a hug.
“Take care, Nyle. Be good.”
Then Diano turned towards Oliver.
“Oliver! Where did we begin and where did it end? Such a shame. Not to take anything away from you but you’re straight. It takes a lot for a straight guy to understand a gay guy. You’ve been sweet, caring and protective towards me. You’ve given me strength when I was looking for Andy. You’ve been the reason why I could stop thinking about Andy. But a love relationship does have a physical side. You need and seek much more action than I can give you in that department. That’s my problem, not yours. We tried. It didn’t work. And it ended in an ugly way.”
“But—” Oliver wanted to say something but Diano held a finger to his lips.
“Don’t say a thing. Just listen to me. It’s my turn to speak.” He paused for a second. He wanted to choose his words well. “Summer is a great girl. She loves you very much. If you can forget what happened on that horrible night at your place and start afresh with her, I’m sure she’ll take good care of you. You need to give yourself that chance. If you decide against it, let her know because she’s still waiting for you. Please, don’t wait for me. I’ve given you up already. If you stay with Summer, we can be friends. But if you want something more than that, I cannot give it to you.”
Oliver wanted to say something but Energy stopped him.
“All the best to you, Oliver.” Diano shook his hand.
Then he turned to look at Andy and Sky.
“Today is the second time we’re meeting face to face.”
“Really?” Sky looked surprised.
“Yes.” Diano looked at Sky. “We’d met right after you had dumped him to get married. I don’t know what happened to that but it looks like you came back for him. That’s good.”
“I called off the wedding,” said Sky. “I cannot live without him.”
“Andy. After our first time together, when I returned to Hong Kong, we’d stayed in touch. I’m telling you this because you can’t remember the details any more. We’d spent a lot of time talking to each other on MSN, on the phone and via email. At one point, we realized we loved each other. I was supposed to meet you on the day after Valentine’s Day but, like I mentioned to you a few minutes ago, you had decided to go with Sky. It broke my heart even though I felt happy for you. End of story.”
“But what about those dreams?” asked Andy.
“Those dreams cannot be explained. But again, they’re just dreams. Nothing else. Thank you for coming to find me. I feel special and I hope your dreams will go away now. You said you’re in a relationship with Sky and you feel it’s your duty to stay with him. The question isn’t whether I love you, the question is what you should do given the situation we are in. Unfortunately, I’m not God. I have no control over this situation. But looking at the way Sky has taken care of you over the past few months, I’d want you guys to be happy with each other. Trust me when I say this was the toughest decision for me to make today.”
Diano looked at Sky.
“Take care of Andy for me, please.”
Diano walked up to Andy and gave him a hug. He shook Sky’s hand and turned towards Brian.
“Okay, Brian. Take me away now. I can’t handle it any more.”
Brian put an arm around Diano and they walked towards the counter.
Diano felt as if his heart was going to burst. During the past few minutes he’d realized he still loved Andy very much. He had, in a way, made use of Oliver to pull himself out of the misery he was in. And Sky loved Andy so much. Diano had met Andy once while Sky had spent half of his life with Andy. It would be unfair to break them up. Walking away was the best thing to do. And yet his heart ached. He longed to rush back and hug Andy again.
Brian seemed to have sensed he was breaking down. He drew him closer. Diano smiled but tears rolled down his cheeks when his eyes caught Brian’s. Brian shook his head and they kept walking.
“Wait!”
They continued walking.
“Wait!” It was Sky. Andy was right behind him. Sky turned to ask Andy to wait.
Diano stopped as Brian handed him a fresh tissue.
“Don’t go. What you think about Andy isn’t true.” Sky looked uneasy. “Andy didn’t leave you. I took him away.”
“What do you mean?” Diano asked surprised.
Andy had joined them disregarding Sky’s instruction.
“I have something to confess.” Sky spoke with a sad voice.
“What do you mean?” Andy asked.
“On Valentine’s Day evening, I was waiting outside Andy’s office to pick him up. He’d told me he was quitting his job that day. When he didn’t show up at the appointed time and didn’t answer his phone, I went in to look for him.”
“Then?” Andy asked.
“You were lying in a pool of blood at the bottom of the staircase. Your stuff was all over the floor.”
“Oh my God.” Diano shivered as he tried to imagine the scene.
“I rushed him to a hospital and he was kept in the ICU for some time.” Sky turned towards Diano. “While he was struggling in the ICU, I made the decision that I would take him back to Guilin and take care of him there. I couldn’t leave him in that state. I could not leave him again.”
“Wait. Andy wrote a letter to his flatmate saying he was moving back to Guilin.” Diano was puzzled.
“That was me again.” Sky said with a low voice avoiding eye contact with any of them.
“Why did you do that?” Andy asked.
“You were badly hurt. I did what I thought was the best at that moment. Unfortunately, I ended up hurting the three of us instead. I’m sorry.” Sky avoided Andy’s glare.
“What about his phone? Did you get my messages and voicemails?” Diano asked.
“Yes, I got the messages and I heard the voicemails.” Sky said meekly.
“Why didn’t you just let me know he was in the ICU?” Diano demanded. “What have you done!” He sighed.
“I’m sorry. I’m guilty and I feel more remorseful than you can think. I’ve been living with this lie hoping I’d get my Andy back. I love you, Andy.” Sky looked at Andy’s face.
“No! You don’t love me. You don’t love me at all. If you did, you wouldn’t keep me away from Diano. You hid the fact that you knew about Diano all this time. Do you know what I’ve gone through? Do you know how it feels when somebody has lost their memory — when they can remember a face but nothing else about the person? Do you know how much pain I’ve felt every time you had sex with me? How can you say you’re sorry? Is a sorry enough to erase all that?” Andy glowered in anger.
“I just wanted to keep you safe and away from the rest of the world.” Sky had tears in his eyes.
“I hate you,” Andy hissed.
“I hate myself. There’s nothing worse than that. I’m sorry, Diano. I’m sorry, Andy. I don’t know what else to say. At this moment, I just wish you two would get back together.” Sky sank to his knees.
Oliver, Energy and Nyle had moved closer and heard most of the conversation. They stood speechless as did the crowd of passengers that had built around the small group.
“Do you love me?” Andy asked Diano as their eyes met.
“Yes, I do. And you?” Diano asked softly. “Do you love me?”
“Yes, stupid. Of course, I do.” Andy hugged Diano.
Diano looked at Brian. They were getting late but Diano didn’t want to leave Andy and go to Malaysia.
“It’s okay. You don’t need to fly.” Brian winked. “But I’d better get going. I have my own demons to face.”
Brian gave Diano a hug.
“I feel happy for you both.”
Then Brian hugged Andy.
“Welcome to the family, Andy. Take care of Diano.”
As Brian walked away, Diano took Andy’s hand. There was so much to catch up on. There was so much to do. Would Andy like to move to Hong Kong? Or should they both move to Shanghai?
Andy squeezed his hand. “Don’t think so much. I have done enough thinking in the past few months for both of us.”
“I love you,” Diano said.
“I love you too,” Andy said.
“I love you three!”
They laughed.
