Midnight Talks

The rain started to get heavier. Noelle was nearly soaked, and Cole had to do one thing.

He reached out for her upper arm and hitched her towards him. Noelle has brought up every wall to stay away from Cole, but whenever she's hurt, he shows up at the right moment, at the right place, where no one was allowed to see them. Just… the two of them.

She looked deeply to his eyes. And with the rain around them, their cold feet got soaked.

The umbrella was a nuisance. This can be a romantic, rainy scene in a movie.

"Cole," Noelle whispered, like it was a relief she found someone who knew her pain.

"Have you been crying?" Cole asked worriedly. He let go of Noelle. They talked straight, no touching, just eyes and mouth communicating with each other. Noelle pursed her lips, wondering how long she had gone to burst her sadness to everyone that is caused by Blake.

"Ah, crying. Um… no, I don't…" Noelle had to find excuses, but she knew it doesn't work with Cole. He didn't answer anything, just grabbed her wrist, and stood close, shedding the umbrella more to her body more than to him. The rain trickled in his shoulder.

"Cole, you're getting wet," Noelle said.

"It doesn't matter," Cole dismissed. And at that minute, he grabbed her towards the other way. Not on her way home, but on some road that she knew she'll experience a temporary bliss. Cole didn't say anything and just lead her towards a parked sedan. It was a small car, but an expensive one.

Right after she signed that offer with Cole, she's going to buy a new car, without anyone's approval, and only her own decision. When she was forced to climb inside, the warmth of the car reminded her of their high school days.

Cole isn't born as a rich pal. He's playing along the average teenager who can buy luxurious things occasionally. One moment of them was on a car, with coffees in hand, talking endlessly, and becoming indulged with their dreams that they want to accomplish.

But today, they're sitting here, in the middle of the annihilated rain, questioning what happened in their lives the moment they separated from each other.

Cole's scent wafted through her nose as soon as he climbed in shortly.

Noelle turned to him, and asked quickly, "Why are you here?"

Cole brushed his wet hair, looked at her, asking back, "What, I can't be here?"

Noelle shook her head, realizing her question was wrong. Cole sighed.

"You have been crying. Is that why you forgot that umbrella is free to use in the lobby?"

She widened her eyes. Cole looked at her with gravel eyes. It's set in the stone that she would get tired of thinking Blake, eventually, and see the one that is beside her. Well, Noelle couldn't jump to conclusions and just… hug Cole and say they can be together now.

"Blake Villano. You broken up with him?" Cole's assumptions were enough to bring his feelings under the limelight. For a while, Noelle thought she's the only one who has feelings for him, but clearly, today, it just went out that Cole felt the same, too.

"Tell. I'm not the guy who would make the news first. You're a valued woman, Noelle, and I wanted to know who broke your heart," Cole conveyed. Noelle bit her bottom lip and did what she had to do.

"I broke up with Blake," Noelle admitted. The tears brimmed in her eyelids.

Cole held the steering wheel, his jaw went rigid, and exactly knew how to control his feelings.

It'll destroy what started before. Cole had to be disciplined. He had to control the desire to punch the man repeatedly, and asked if he was a bastard from the past. How can he hurt her? She's not even the slightest whore in Cole's eyes.

"It's the one who invited and let you in the world of porn stars, am I right?"

She still remembered the day she refused Blake. It was hectic pushing him away. But due to his actions that saved her mother, she had to pay back what she owed. Noelle isn't exhausted of that fact, but if she was just practical and naughty of her own dignity, she would never step inside that world.

"I've been watching Blake in the new headquarters, since I was the one who promoted him."

Noelle raised her eyebrows, looked at him, and blinked.

"I don't want to break your current state, and even dug a deep crater for you, but Noelle, the moment he stepped inside the headquarters, it wasn't you anymore. He's been eyeing Monica, his current partner, to hook up. And I had eyes, Noelle, I'm the CEO of A&E."

Noelle couldn't even glimpse at Blake. He has been cheating that time? Oh, well, Noelle has been fooled completely. Cole sighed exasperatedly.

"I hated to say that, but I had to do it. I don't trust him at first sight. And I know my Noelle will be hurt. It was… sad to see if she's crying again," Cole stated.

Well, the two of them had grown. Sadness was hard to break at this age.

"How is your mother? Is she doing well?" Cole asked, trying to deviate the conversation from Blake to the only loved one she'd cherish forever.

"Tell me exactly what Blake and Monica was doing while I am on hindsight."

Cole doesn't want to press on it further. But Noelle is allowing him to do so.

"Tell me, Cole! How did he cheat on me?! Don't mind me getting hurt. It is perfectly normal."

He shook his head. How can a girl be so brave to ask where her man become so wrong?

"I wanted to know why! Did Monica seduce better than me? Am I just his girlfriend for me to question my worth all the time? I've gotten so sick of this all the time, Cole! I initiated the break-up, but I was never the one who did the mistake first."

Cole wanted to touch her hair, but it's so wrong to be close to her more than usual.

"Noelle, it's better if you just lay it down for a few days, please. It's not very good to have…"

Noelle reached to his coat, clutched the collar, and eyed him close. Her face masked the furious of the woman who hadn't experience being cheated upon. She was still beautiful, but she's mad. Overly mad that she can gnaw a fresh arm and enjoy it.

"Tell, Cole, please." It wasn't a simple plead, but a question of peace.

Cole looked straightly at Noelle, and let her hold his chest. This is the closest they had been without cameras, without someone directing them, without someone trying to film them and see if they made the most sensual scene.

"He hooks up behind the camera every time they got a chance. One of the staffs made sure he's on surveillance 24 hours a day, 7 days per week. He saw it… with two of his eyes… that Monica and Blake were kissing endlessly."

Her mad façade broken down, and it's never the same anymore. Noelle lost her grasp from his coat and looked at him full of regrets.

"I shouldn't have let him enter my life. I should have… pushed him away when he insisted."