54

Leo

I guessed I must have stepped on her toes by kissing her 'cause the expression on her face was one that was capable of swallowing a person without much effort.

"Are you crazy?" Her voice shook as she looked around impatiently as if in search of something or someone. She raked her fingers through her hair, restlessly.

"I think I am," I confessed. She returned her gaze to me.

I shut my eyes. "You know, when I first found out that you were Nathan's mother, I couldn't believe it right away..." I opened my eyes to see whether she was listening or not. She was.

"I couldn't just believe you were a mother...and more, the mother of a boy who I had become fond of. As if that wasn't enough, Henry was also in the picture. I knew you guys were a thing since that day..."

She looked like she was stifling an outburst as get face was fully red and the veins on her neck trembled.

"We are a thing...yes. It definitely shouldn't be a bother Leo, we broke up a long time ago. We have moved on since then...I have moved on!" She fired at me.

"I stopped moving on when you reappeared in my life...and I can't say our break-up was a mutual thing."

"Oh, of course it was..." She grimaced.

"No, it wasn't. You wanted it. You asked for it, Layla!"

"I asked for it 'cause you weren't ready to fight for us!" She retorted. "You were such a coward, I wasn't that naive to remain with a coward." She sniffed and looked away.

"I looked for you afterward..."

"It doesn't matter anymore. There's no need for you to justify yourself." She was indifferent.

"This isn't about justifying myself, Layla..."

"Then, exactly what is it about, huh?" She yelled.

"Look, I don't want to argue with you..."

"I don't want to argue with you either. So let's just go our separate ways and live separate, disjointed lives we've lived so far, okay?" She frowned.

"Fine..." There was no way I could win today.

"Yeah, thank you." She softly said and turned to leave.

"But I can't promise to stay away from Nathan. It's obvious he needs me."

She stopped walking.

"Are you serious? Who are you to say that?" She gritted. She had grown a terrible temper over the years.

"I'm his friend...a very good friend and friends are supposed to help each other out, don't you think?"

She scoffed.

"Friends my foot. You think you have some major influence over my son, don't you? Seriously Leo?" She clicked her tongue.

"It's nothing related to our past at all. I met him before I met you, you don't have the right to separate us." I watched the lips I had just kissed shake.

She bit them and I sighed.

"I don't want the bond between you two to exist...our break-up wouldn't be worth it if you were to reappear in my life and sync yourself in, Leo. I don't want to pretend to be friends with you because of my son, I don't want to pretend not to have known you before whenever Henry was around..."

So that was it!

"It's all about him after all. Your boyfriend, you are scared he would find out about us."

"Yes, I am. I am meant to be..."

"Everyone has a past Layla!" She was starting to upset me.

"Not when my son wants you to be his father in spite of Henry being always there for him!" She didn't attempt to restrain the yell. "Oh, this is driving me crazy!" She ruffled her hair.

"I am not at fault here."

"Then who is?" She sucked her teeth.

"What am I supposed to do? Run away...and like you said, be a coward again? I can't do that...not to Nathan. He might be your son but I'm his friend, okay?"

"I..."

"Layla?" Henry appeared out of nowhere. I could see the shock on Layla's face. Was she that scared of the truth coming out?

"Henry..." She sounded calm in comparison to a few minutes ago. "Mr Cooper was just leaving." She said, stealing a glance at me and walking out on both of us.

"Is everything okay?" Henry turned to me, quite puzzled.

"Yeah, sure." Everything must be okay, he must believe that.

***

Sofia

I heard the football team cancelled a match that was to come up that weekend but I never knew the reason until someone gossiped about it in my English class.

Eugene's mother had passed away in the early hours of the previous day. It took me by a great surprise and I didn't know it was all over the news before that time.

Eugene's family was quite popular but I never knew they could feature on tabloids. His mother had died of diabetes. I couldn't believe he had managed to wear a smile and put on a cheerful expression when he was going through a lot.

I immediately felt guilty for having treated him in the way I did. He had suffered even more than I did, I guessed. Now, he must be devastated. I must see him after school.

Would I be welcome though?