Just friends

'I want him to know. But. . .just friends don't say these kinds of stuff to each other. They don't have butterflies and dragon wars in their tummies seeing each other."

. . .

It's nine in the morning and instead of having my daily dose of morning coffee, unwinding with a book or even equipping myself for my Monday mock, here, I was.

In this foundered café, one that only me and Alas used to suspend ourselves into. Only recently, he come back after years and decided to introduce this place to a strange girl, he recently met. Well, not recently I guess. Not pretty recently. Just two years ago.

I recall reading romance novels, how the doting guy is always ready to run the whole nine yards for his girl, just to make her smile. The prince charming always has to be paramount, Romeo if you will, for his Juliet.

"Oh my god Alas, you took that?" Her joyous giggles made me turn to my front. We all were inside 'Piquant and peppery' now. Hanging out with one another after years, first thing in the morning.

Sitting before me, Alas and the new girl were both engaged in their little earth of something. Something, they both found amusing, but none of us did. Not really.

"What do you guys want to have?" Julia came with her small pad and pen, clothed in a pink T-shirt and light green pants, with a red cap and apron on her, both of which had the initials of '

"a cup of yum mocha,"

She looks at me and Alas as she says, "And you two, 'hot milk furrowed with choco chips'?" She questions, almost knowingly .

Feeling muddled and almost frustrated, I deny ordering anything. Julia glances at me with her ageing apprehensive eyes, "Is everything alright, Lisa?"

"Yeah uh, everything is fine." I soothe her, summoning the normalised smile I could muster, "I am just, not feeling too well today."

"Tell me when you want something, okay?" I nod at her, smiling.

"You feeling unwell?" Lucas turns and looks at me. "Yeah, just a bit unwell." I shift my eyes to the other side and from the corner of my eyes, eye Alas.

He was still talking to her, but he was also glancing at me from time to time. "You wanna go home?" I look at him and contemplate what to say. Like 'huh? After so long you finally dared to talk to me?' Or this, 'Are you that happy without us?'

Alas was also acting so weird, something I had never seen in him before. Maybe people do change? After you have not been with them for years.

I guess, they do. Don't they?

But. . . was I just pissed off that he forgot about me? Or more about that he replaced me with someone else. Or is it the fact that I am someone so insignificant that he can forget about me so easily?

Or is it all of these?

"Yeah and then he just threw it all out."

"Out what? The window?"

And with that, she started giggling again.

That's just how the day was going for me. Yesterday and today too.

***

And after all this time, I think I finally understood something. I don't want to ask Alas, 'Are you that happy without us?'

I want him to answer if he is doing just fine, even happier, without me in his life. Should I? What might his answer be?

No?

Not at all?

Or… "Yes, why not."

I turn my head to the front and see Alas speaking to someone on the phone. "Sure, I'll be there."

"Bye," Saying that he ended the call, and looked forward. Looking at me, he smiled, and something in me. . .twinkled. Like REAL hard.

At this moment, as I am staring at Alastair Klenkel, the one thing that is circling in my mind is, 'How can someone be THIS gorgeous, all with a terrific disposition?'

"Guys umm," Glancing at her phone Olivia says, "I have to go back now, I have some work to do."

"But you don't even know the roads," Maria asks, concerned.

"Ahh don't worry about that, I have google maps downloaded. " Showing her phone, she smiles, "Additionally my phone has a tracking system installed, it can be tracked by Alas' computer system."

She turns and hugs Alas, before waving us all goodbye.

"Bye pal," Lucas hugs Olive as he waves me and Maria goodbye.

Looking at me, she says "Bye Lisa." But when she says, "Have fun," I felt something shiver in me, but I couldn't understand what it was.

Walking a couple of steps, she turns around and says as if she just remembered something, "Oh and by the way, please plan for the sparkling city tour. I so wanna go there."

"Sure, we will." Maria smiles, as they both take their leave, leaving all four of us alone.