Chapter 7

My sleep got disturbed when I heard that my phone is ringing nonstop. I grab it and answered the call eyes closed without bothering to look who is calling me this early.

"where are you?" I heard Je asked.

"in my unit, sleeping when you called" I said and yawned.

"it's already eleven and we are waiting for you're here for about an hour" I heard him sighed in frustration because they waited for me for an hour?! I opened my eyes and looked at the clock beside my bed and he's right. I thought It's still early but I guess I'm wrong.

"shoot, I'm sorry I'll just change my clothes and I'll head over there." I said and stretched my arms while walking towards my cabinet.

"April's mad, ready your ears" he said and laughed. "Ciao" he added and hung up on me that made me shook my head.

I hurriedly picked up the clothes I readied last night for our meeting and went straight to the bathroom to take a bath. I had a good sleep last night that I even overslept. I didn't have any dreams last night that's why.

After putting on my clothes, I grab my bag and called a cab that will take me to Cafe Amann where we decided to meet up and talk about the manuscripts I sent them two days ago.

"I'm here, where are you?"I asked Je when I arrived at the cafe. I looked around and saw April waving at me.

"hey girls" I said and kissed them on their cheeks and sat beside April.

"girls? Je is a masculine man, don't call him that" April said and winked at Je who made a face and acted like he was gonna throw up but April just laughed at him.

"how are you? You lost weight" April said when he faced me and roamed her eyes in my entire body.

"I'm busy finishing the stories that I even skip meals without realizing it." I said an chuckled. "Je said that you are mad" I added and looked at Je who's rolling his eyes at me.

"why would I be mad? I read your story, and I guess you worked hard for it that's why you overslept" she said and chuckled. "Anyway, your story is so good, the plot, the plot twists in the end. It's perfect. We just need to proofread it and edit some typographical error but overall? It's good. I can feel it already, It'll be a great hit." She said and held my hand.

"I'm glad that you liked it, we worked so hard for it"

"Well, I really liked it but Je wants you to change the ending and the names of the characters." she said, still chucking and glanced at Je who's poutting while looking at my printed manuscript in his hands.

"Why? Do you want Jerome and April to get back together in the end?" I asked and raised my eyebrow at him. I purposely named it after them when I decided that it'll not end happily.

"why did you use our names? You should have just stick with the previous one" he said and shook his head in disbelief.

"well, I've decided that it suits the story better and about the previous names, I've decided that I'll be using that in my next novel that I'll be working on in the next few days" I said and shrugged.

"don't mind him, he's into your story this past days that he always texts me to pursue you to change the ending but I loved it, and I'm sure that people will love it also"

"do you want April to end up with you?" I asked Je while staring intently in his eyes.

"w-what? W-when did I-I say t-that? W-why would I-I want t-to end u-up with her?" Je said , trying to avoid my gaze. "I d-don't like her."

"I mean, in the story. Do you want them to end up together?" I asked him trying to stop my smile because he was too obvious.

"let him be El, anyway excuse me for a min. I'll just have to call someone, he'll be joining us for today." She said and stood up and walks towards the door near the cashier.

"you are too obvious Je" I said and smirked at him.

"o-obvious about what?" he said, stammering and still trying his best to avoid eye contact with me.

"nothing. Relax" I said and laugh at him. "wipe your sweat"

I looked at April who's walking towards our table with a man beside him.

"guys, this is Sebastian Marquez, a good friend of mine and he's the owner of this restaurant" April said but I can't take off my eyes on Seb who's also staring at me eyes wide open.

"S-seb" I call to him and stood up.

"E-el" he said and smiled at me slightly. I walked towards him and threw myself at him for a hug but he just patted my back slightly and gently pushed me away from him.

I can't take my eyes off on Seb who's sitting infront of me. His eyes are glued in his hands and he can't look at me straight in the eyes. I know that he's afraid that I'll just get hurt when he try to show me his face.

"w-where have y-you been? We've b-been looking for you" I asked.

"I j-just got b-back from Paris. My p-parents bought this restaurant and put it on my name. I'll be the one to handle it."

"how are you?"

"I'm good"

"I missed you" I said and waited for his response but he chose to stay silent.

"don't you want to talk to me?" I asked, trying to stop my voice from cracking up.

"not n-now El. I'm sorry" he said and that's my cue to leave.

"a-alright. I-I'm sorry" I apologized and left his office. I want to talk to him, to ask him questions, 'cause I know and I believe that I have the right to know everything what happened between us. I deserve an explanation but no one dared to give me that.

There are many questions running in my mind. Why did he choose to leave me? Who's my fiancé? I'm positive that he knows him. Where is he? Why don't they just tell me everything? I know that they are just afraid of what might happen to me but I want to know everything. It's frustrating to be kept in a dark where you can't count on someone but yourself.

"I'll get going, I'm s-sorry. Just send me your suggestion regarding the book and I'll edit it as soon as possible. Take care." I said to Je and April who's clueless at the moment. I know that they are curious on what's going on but it's not the right time to explain to them, I can already feel my eyes tearing up.

I grabbed my purse and head outside. I didn't dare to look back because I know that Je and April went after me but didn't try to follow me.

I found myself sitting at the Peak of Nospitz Mountain. I'm the only one here, so I guess It's okay to pour my feelings here. I just stared at the view infront of me that's breath taking while letting my tears fall from my eyes.

I closed my eyes trying to calm my mind. I want to sleep to stop my mind from over thinking but everytime I'll close my eyes, i'll remember my memories with Seb. He's the only one who stayed by my side when everybody left me behind. He's the only one who held my hand and stayed when I needed someone to cry on, when I needed a shoulder to lean on.

He's my bestfriend and he promised me that whatever happens, he'll always stand by me and that he will not leave me. But look at us now, he can't even look at me in the eye. When my sister died, our family stumbled in the ground but Seb stayed, he held me tight and helped me stand up.

I called my mom and when she answered it I didn't even wait for her to speak when I started to rant.

" what happened to Seb and I? why did he chose to leave me when I needed him the most? Why did he broke his promise?" I said letting my tears fall down from my face

"h-he said that he'll s-stay by m-my side whatever happens. H-he said that he will h-help me recover my memories but why did he l-left me the n-next day?" I added while sobbing.

"I needed him. He's the o-only one who understood me mom, but why did he have to leave me hanging without explaining? He j-just vanished without saying anything." I cried nonstop while burying my face in my knees.

"I w-want to k-know everything. P-please tell m-me everything. I-I can't take t-the p-pain anymore. It's suffocating mom. I felt empty."

"where are you?" Minutes later, when my sobs subsided, I heard Black asked from the other line that made me stopped.

"B-black?" I asked sniffing. I looked at my phone and that's when I realized that I accidentally called Black.

"where are you?" he asked again.

"I-I'm sory. I-I didn't notice that I a-accidentally called y-your number instead of my mom's" I said and face palmed. I'm so embarrassed. How am I going to face him then?

"just tell me where you are right now"

"at Mount N-nospitz" I answered while wiping my tears.

"where are you exactly?"

"Malbun Tali route, under a tree"

"alright wait for me there" he said and hung up on me. I lean at the tree behind me and closed my eyes.

"make it stop" I'm screaming loudly as I can while pulling my hair.

"E-elise" I heard Seb called my name and stooped my hands but I just pushed him away. My head hurts so much. I can't take it anymore.

"please m-make it stop. S-seb it hurts" I said while crying loudly.

"nurse" I heard him shouting but I don't know what's happening. All I want to do now is to stop the pain.

"please make it stop" i started banging my head on the wall, thinking that it's the only way to stop the pain but Seb hugged me from behind and he tried his best to calm me down.

"i-im here E-el. P-please stop h-hurting yourself. I w-won't leave you like w-what he d-did. I'll s-stay here." I heard him whisper in my ears and kissed my head before I passed out.