If it's Meant to Be

Chapter Two

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"She kept the handmade necklace he had carved for her when they were kids after all these years. She kept it!" Jasmine gushed, fanning herself dramatically while I raised an eyebrow at her

"I don't even know what book you're referencing but I can name about 5 just from the top of my head that have that exact storyline" I replied flatly causing her exhilarated eyes to morph into a death glare

"I'm just saying" I mumbled, plopping a french fry in my mouth

"It's repetitive sure but it always is able to get my stomach turning" she said dreamily and before I could psychoanalyze her, she looked around probably for something to hit me with til resorting to sticking her index finger at me, "aht aht aht" she tsked, waving her finger, "and before you go trying to rationalize everything, don't"

Smirking slightly at her pouty expression, I rose my hands in surrender, placing my index finger with my thumb and sliding it against my lips before twisting it when I got to the corner of my lips, mimicking a key

Suddenly my phone buzzed, alerting a text message

Ivan: Okay I got it!

Ivan: What if each chapter switches from the guys perspective to the girls? That way, the reader can get to know both MC's in a much more absorbable and digestible way

"Whose that?" Jasmine asked prompting me to put my phone away

"Nobody important" I brushed off, giving her a reassuring smile while she just nodded and further went on talking at length about the love story

I had yet to tell Jasmine about Ivan and was quite adamant on keeping it as so. While I adored her, she had a habit of romanticizing everything and regardless of any attempts to persuade her that he was only but a friend, I knew due to past history, she would only disregard and continue with the narrative she preferred.

I can just imagine it now, "Tinder?!" "oh my God, oh my God, he remembered from a year ago?!" "This is destiny! This is fate! What are the odds?!"

She'd have a full outing, I thought distastefully

"Aurora!"

I looked up to see her giving me an annoyed expression inclining me to hum, feigning a look of confusion

"Are you even listening?" she exclaimed, crossing her hands over her chest

I gave her a guilty smile in return but to no avail as her face mirrored one of annoyance

"I'm going to use the restroom and after I promise you can rant my ear about that book" I bargained, a smile etching on her face at my words before shooing me away so that she could begin talking

These past few weeks, Ivan and I have remained consistently discussing his work. Voice recordings dedicated to larger notions that he would need to decompartmentalize and messages devoted to preliminaries such as characters' hair color, upbringing, and complexion. Throughout the exchange, I had grown quite keen on his wide vocabulary. I had never known one to speak as elegantly as he did, especially on a day to day and for that, I particularly enjoyed speaking to him as I felt as though he was unknowingly expanding my own. In passing, I'd wonder if he spoke like this to everyone or if it was just me since our conversations never bypassed the realms of literature before dismissing the trifling thought. We had a fairly comfortable arrangement of strictly discussing only self-made novels and some random pieces of literature we had stumbled upon thus making me even more confident that there were no other incentives on his end and definitely not mine.