Bitter Sweet Life

Twenty six

Twenty Six

We stood there in silence for a moment until Tony and Rob breaks the tension.

"Excuse me, is there a problem here?" Tony asked, his voice calm, yet there was an edge to it.

"No, there isn't a problem here. I was just saying hello to my ex-girlfriend here." Lance answered, making me shiver when he mentioned that I was his ex.

"You're done with your hello... now, leave her alone." Rob said, standing between me and Lance. I couldn't see his expression since his back was to me, but from the sound of his voice, he might looked pissed off.

"Well... It was nice meeting you again, princess. I got to go since prince charming here is making me. I hope we'll meet again." He said, walking backwards towards the exit a few pace and turned around, raising up his hand to wave goodbye.

I felt myself shiver from his parting words. Lance had always been sweet to me before that night happened. It's hard to see something so real in front of you that you've always dreamt to be a nightmare. Seeing him again face to face, I felt like the past me was being revived. I was scared and vulnerable, like I just stepped into a trap.

After Lance wasn't anymore in sight, Rob turned and faced me, his face soft and worried. I gave him a small smile in return, hoping that my eyes didn't gave away what I was feeling in that moment. He took my hand, giving it a gentle squeeze and pulled me towards him. I was shocked at the sudden gesture that I didn't have much time to react and went along with it. We got out of the store and decided to eat somewhere outside of the mall. There was a newly opened pastry shop that Maddy and Chloe wanted to go, so we went there.

I rode with Rob since he brought his car with him. The drive was silent, though there were times I wanted to say something, but I couldn't choke it out. I sighed in relief when we got to the pastry shop. He notice my reaction and looked at me questionably. I close my eyes and smirked, waving my hand dismissively and slowly got out of the car. Rob got out as fast as he could and open the door for me, which was already half way opened. Tony's car drive up beside us after a few second and we got inside the shop together.

When we were inside, Rob and Tony ordered for us while we find a booth to seat. As we settled down, there was a moment of silence until Chloe broke the silence with a question that would break me down and open up.

"Nat, who was the guy? Well, you did say he was your ex-boyfriend, but even I don't react that way when I see my ex..." Chloe said, mumbling. "So, who is he really?" she asked, suspiciously.

"He... He is who I say he is and nothing more..." I said, slightly taken off guard. "That guy was just my ex." I added nonchalantly. Though my voice sounded uninterested, yet my heart was beating so fast.

"Right...?" Chloe said, still looking at me suspiciously.

"Chloe, let just drop it. If Nat doesn't want to talk about it, we should respect that..." Maddy interjected, tsking at Chloe and look at her sternly.

I felt bad for not being able to tell them. Even though we've known for quite some time, I sometimes felt that I wasn't being true to them as a friend. I sighed in frustration, debating whether to tell them or not. I looked at Maddy, who gave me a small smile and to Chloe, who was still eying me suspiciously. I smiled at them in return and took a deep breath before telling them everything about my situation.