Between North and South

CHAPTER 16 - FIRST

Julia's brother, their oldest Natividad cousin named Iñigo—a twenty-eight year-old lawyer and unmarried like the rest—brought all of them to a club. In that same club, Azren’s friends were present too. Well, they actually planned on meeting tonight.

"I missed you." Gavin pulled her into his arms.

"I missed you too!" She returned the gesture and shortly, Ramona and the rest of her friends swarmed around her.

Being there with two groups, Azren moved from her cousins to her friends and often danced with Gavin. At one point, he told her to not go back to CDO yet.

"I can't, Gav. I promised them."

He pulled her closer, locking the space between them. He caught her eyes and looked at them intensely. “Is it your family or that guy Martinez?”

Her brows met—unsure if she should make a big deal out of his tone. "I went there for my family and I will keep coming back for them." She released a forced chuckle. "I told you, he was as shocked when we saw each other."

"But he likes you."

"Yeah, so? I'm not committed nor in a relationship, so seeing him is fine."

"It's not fine with me."

Wow! Since when did he have a say to my love life? "What?"

This time he let her go. "Never mind, let's go back to our table."

So, he's dropping the topic. Fine, then.

"What was that? Why'd you guys suddenly freeze on the dance floor?" Ramona intrigued as she sat beside her.

"Nothing."

She raised a brow. "I can feel the changed atmosphere."

That’s inevitable. She and Gavin were inseparable and now… instead of being beside her, he's seated across and never looking at her.

The night ended without them speaking to each other again. It bothered her but she decided to let it pass thinking that it was just all because of alcohol. She doubted it, though, because of all the times that they partied, this was the first of such scenario.

"You know, Az, I'm really thinking that you have fallen in love with Uriah."

It's Friday and the squad are gathered at Ramona's condo for a sleepover since Azren will be flying back to south on the coming Monday.

"Why? Just because we're always exchanging gifts?" She replied, pouring the spaghetti sauce to the pasta noodles.

Ramona crossed her arms. "That's one thing."

"And the other thing is you're always out together," added Brian, who's making the Mango-Graham cake.

"We're just friends. We barely know each other but he keeps me company."

The discussion about him ended there and they moved to queries about her other family. A moment later, Ramona announced that she might visit CDO within the year.

"Whoa! Really? Why?"

"To visit. Because, gosh, I'm already this old yet I haven't set foot on that place. Besides, to be fair to my cousins, I guess it's time for us to do the spending."

"When is that?"

"Well… I’m choosing between end of March or early April."

Azren grinned. "I'll see you then!"

The group was completed at exactly six-thirty. Ramona's boyfriend joined too since for the past year, he's become part of the squad. They chattered through dinner and they're all complaining about how stressful their jobs were.