Eighty Days of Heartache

the forty-first day; [3]

THE FORTY—FIRST DAY;
» PART [3]

"YOU'RE ABSOLUTELY DELUSIONAL."

"Fawn, she said she'd help us out."

"Kathleen? Helping me? Yeah right."

"She told me she agreed with Forrest!"

"You already knew about Forrest's opinion?"

"Partially —"

"You're so hypocritical!" Snapping, I fold my arms over my chest and lean back on my chair, anger piling up in the pit of my stomach and seeping from my pores. "Calling me a liar, when you already knew about Forrest's opinion!"

"I didn't knew he thought I was a better match for you," Theo instantly rebuts, leaning across the booth and pointing his finger lowly. I want to bite that finger off. Snap it. Break it.

"You frustrate and annoy me, beyond reason," I seethe lowly, making sure I have the last word before Kathleen makes it over to our table.

She's smiling with deviance, her hands folded in front of her thighs as she glances over Theo and I with a somewhat unnerving stare. "Judging by the tense atmosphere, Fawn didn't know I was coming."

"No, I didn't," I sulk, petulantly sinking down in the chair as she slides next to Theo. The pair of them look like a couple, edgy and mysterious with a side order of extreme sexual tension.

Wincing, Kathleen hangs her bag on the chair behind her, and draws the chair closer to the table. "Theo said he wanted to talk about... You and Nero, which is never going to be my favourite topic of conversation."

Desperately wanting to say something pointed and sharp, I open my mouth to make a childish jab. But the warning look Theo possesses makes me act otherwise, so instead I let out a deep huff of irritation.

Although a silence of awkwardness envelopes us, I can't help the slight bitter jealousy that courses through my veins as Kathleen turns to Theo and starts talking animatedly to him — as if they never had the drama they did.

Hellos and how are yous are exchanged, the brief touching of hands and the longly anticipated hug happens. I can see Kathleen smile, eyes closed as she breathes in Theo's signature cologne.

I open my mouth to say something sarcastic, but stop myself when Leena places our breakfasts down. Her eyes notice Kathleen, who receives a kilowatt smile, before Leena says, "did your friends not order for you?"

Gripping the table at the word friend, I shoot Theo a look. Shrugging, he adverts his eyes away from me, and back to Leena. Bless her soul, she waits patiently for an explanation. "I ordered the Italian breakfast... for two."

"Oh," Leena's eye's widen in surprise for a fleeting moment, before she cautiously gazes over to me. "I thought you would be sharing with your girlfriend..."

Tensing up, I grit my teeth as I look towards Theo and find myself wanting to harm him. Throw the milkshake at his damn—good shirt and stain his skin with it, but I must act with decorum.

Theo only smirks, leaning back in his booth as he throws me a wink. My temperature rises. "She isn't the... sharing type," he taps his fingers against the table top, and all I can think of his how annoying he's being.