Read Between the Lines

Chapter 20: TOTGA

5 years after...

ANNTONIA's POV

It had been five years since she graduated and she was doing pretty well in life. She and Freen, her old roommate, had started a law firm 3 years ago and had been quick to gain popularity as the two female sharks in the business, which was exactly the kind of reputation she had always wanted for herself.

Her career was thriving.

Her personal life? Not so much.

"Wait! Are we talking the same Irfan who always shadows you? The one that was so afraid other people might come over and talk to him?" Freen asked, sipping on her coffee, wrinkling her nose at her story.

That description made her laugh as she absentmindedly played with her own coffee cup.

"The very same. I never thought he had it in him. And in my office, nonetheless. With my assistant. How cliché is that?"

"Like a tasteless 90s movie," her friend agreed, shaking her head. "How are you handling this cheater though?"

She just shrugged. She wasn't fine with it, obviously. She was cheated on and by someone of the likes of Irfan. He was an underdog and that was why she had gone for him in the first place. He was a safe choice, a safe haven, a steady presence in her life. They'd dated for two years. And before that, she had dated few people after breaking up with Michelle, but Irfan was the first serious one, the one she'd decided to put her trust in after all that fiasco, and look where that had gotten her.

"I'm coping," she told Freen, pursing her lips. "My self-esteem took a hit again, but other than that, oh well... I gave him a piece of my mind but I don't want this to be a step back for me again. After all, I'm the one who made the choice of putting myself out there again, with a more open mind. Sure, I got it wrong the first time, but I won't let this stop me from trying. I learned all these years that people aren't perfect no matter how you try to make them one and no matter how they try to be. We're bound to make mistakes no matter what because that's human nature. And at the same time, I learned that it's too impossible not to break trust, or crack it a bit. I can't always build walls around myself and trap me inside because it's too tiring. It's tiring being paranoid, being scared, being suspicious at all times." She explained while her eyes were nailed at the cup in her hand.

When she lift her gaze, she saw Freen looking at her through narrow eyes.

"What?" She asked with a frown.

"Nothing," the girl shrugged. "It's just weird to hear you talk like that. Because, you know... if you only realized that few years ago— ...I'm sorry." She immediately cut herself and cover her own mouth to stop saying anything more.

She laughed a little and cleared her throat, ignoring the tight feeling in her chest that came every time she thought about a certain person.

"Then maybe things really worked out for me and Michelle?" She completed the sentence that she knew was supposed to be said.

Freen nodded cautiously.

"Well, yeah. With how things were before and how bad it ended, I thought you'd never be able to trust anyone ever again. I'm glad you did, but I'm sorry it turned out like this."

Yeah, so was she. She felt sorry for herself too because she'd been looking for answers to certain questions for a long time after Michelle. She felt as if their whole relationship had just proved her right. That some people were foul creatures who weren't to be trusted and who will most certainly break you and let you down. But like she said, she's more open minded now. She learned a lot of things and she keeps learning not to be a victim of it.