The Billionaire's Daughter

35 - The Past

Saphira's POV

Four months have passed since that day but the pain is still raw in my heart.

Reminiscing Franco and I's usual banter at school and at the cafeteria always made me smile.

Flashback

Every afternoon at 4 pm after school hours, we always go to the café he was working. He will work his daily four hour shift during the days when my parents were out of town, which is most of the time, I will wait for him in a corner table of the café studying or browsing the net.

"Hey besttie, are you ordering the usual or want to try something else?"

"Just the usual."

"Hey, you need to try our new best seller. Please? I will make it myself."

"Why do you even ask me if you will insist to choose for me anyways?"

"Well, because your choices are boring! Awww!"

"You're such a dummy do you know that?"

"That hurts! That book was thick! How can you hit me with that!"

"Just go and work! Don't mind me, Ill wait for you then you can have dinner at my house for a change. Please?"

"Saphira, you know my answer to that."

"How come you never want to even step inside our house? We have been friends for several months now."

"I have my reasons."

"Same reason as you always reject my offer to give you a ride home and to treat you to lunch or dinner or coffee? This is silly you know."

"Of course you are silly!"

"Not me you dumbass! Our friendship setup is silly!"

He looked behind him and signaled his supervisor to give him few minutes break, I guess he felt the need to discuss this thoroughly.

"Tell me Saphira, what could be silly about our friendship?"

If serious looks could kill maybe I'll be dead now that he was looking at me that way.

"Ahhhm.... Look. We have been friends and I know we have this unbreakable solid bond now but you still haven't met my parents simply because you don't want to go to our house. You don't want to accept my offer to give you a ride to your house. Even if we eat to lunch out together you always pay for our meals. I can afford it and still you never let me pay when we are together. It's a good thing at the cafeteria, the food are already part of the school fees or else I might think that you will always want to pay for my food."

"Saphira. . ."

"Zip it! I'm not done yet. We do this daily. I wait for you since you said you want to see me even if you can't spend time with me. I accepted since I don't have anything to do at home but stay in my room. So it's better as you've said to spend the day outside the house than inside since I'll be doing the same thing anyways. Well, you have a point there that's why I always wait for your shift to end so we can go home together and spend some time outside school."

"Saphira . . ."

I had to touch his mouth to keep him from talking and I felt this strange electricity on my fingertips when I did.

"I'm not complaining. I like waiting for you. Just seeing you do your thing is cool. I mean, even if I want to work like you, I'm not allowed to. Your independence is cool. But sometimes, you are too independent.

Friendship is a two way street.

I already met your mother. You invited me last month to your house on your birthday. That was the only time you made me drive you to your place.