CHAPTER 47

“Sen?” Laarni shouted as she entered the Nichols’ house. Broken pieces of glassware lay on the floor, the plants had not been watered and had wilted. The furniture was in disarray. Empty beer bottles were strewn on the living room.

“Sen?” she repeated as she reached the stairs. Slowly, she lifted her feet up and climbed the stairs, her Manolos clacking against the floor. As she reached the second floor landing, she heard soft sobbing. She called out Hansen’s name one more time as she entered the master’s bedroom. She found no one. Slowly, she made her way to Louie’s bedroom.

“Hansen?” she said as she entered the bedroom. He was seated on the corner, sobbing uncontrollably. Empty beer cans lay scattered all around him. For two weeks, he had secluded himself in the house and refused contact with anyone outside. It was out of concern that Laarni dropped by the house and by luck that the front door was unlocked.

She rushed to his side and hugged him. He reeked of perspiration and beer, having not taken a bath for three days, but Laarni did not care. He cried in her arms.

“It hurts.” Sen managed to say. Laarni understood.

“Remember when I said that trust and love involved betting on an unsure? The feeling becomes a collateral. We get hurt, yet we must move on.”

“Everything I hold dear is gone- Cris, Louie, Van…” Sen said.

“You still have you friends.” He looked at Laarni. Her smile reassured him.

“I do not know where to go. I am so broken.”

Laarni hushed him. “You’ll pick up the pieces. Move on.”

“Hansen, before you love anyone, you have to love yourself first. Otherwise, how can anyone else love you. You gave yourself too much to Van that you neglected the other people you hold dear.” Hansen felt the words stinging his heart. “Van is not the be all and end all of you. You have to live your life.”

“Where do I go from here?” Hansen looked at Laarni, his eyes swollen, his stubble was very evident, a rough moustache was growing above his lips. Laarni looked at him with affection and smiled. She brushed the hair covering his face. Even in this situation, Sen still looks very much like the charmer that he was seven years ago.
“Only you can answer that, Sen.” Laarni replied as Sen rested his head on her chest. “Only you can answer that.”