Almost Maybes

Chapter 4

He said yes, he would come. I'd been keeping an eye on the entrance, checking each face that had come and gone in this place. We were already seated at our table, each having a fun conversation. The set of food and drinks were served and still Rex was nowhere to be found. He had not shown up until this time. The room had a thousand eyes in it, and his laughing black eyes hadn't emerged from somewhere.

I tried to phone him up a couple of times. He had been ignoring all my calls. Prix texted him a lot of time and there was no response. I could replace the guard on duty in front just so I could wait for Rex and make sure he would be here tonight. Hours had passed and I'd lost hope that he would be here since there wasn't any message from him. I had no idea of his whereabouts. We didn't have an agreement that he would pick me up from work today. He was on leave, so I presumed he was just staying in his room.

"Stop sulking right there, Ivy. He sure has a better reason for being late," Prix was trying to console me. "Perchance, something came up. I've been trying to get through his line, but I couldn't reach him."

All of us had sent him a message and neither one got a reply. We were supposed to have fun tonight as we would celebrate my post-birthday plan, but the person that I'd looked forward to seeing here was not present.

He said he would come. He said 'sure', but what was keeping him busy right now?

"Well, it's kind of strange for him to skip a get together event like this. Especially that Ivy's part of it," Sten pointed out.

"I'll just eat his part so it will not go to waste," Fourth volunteered. He was completely done in waiting for Rex. He got uninterested in talking about him anymore. He had his final say, if Rex had really the intention to show up, he would. End of discussion for Fourth.

I wonder if this was about his pet turtle, and the way I had offended him with my question. Could it be that there was something going on and he had to deal with it? It could also be about work. Had he been asked to work something up at home, since he took a day off. If so, he could have sent us a message and we would understand. He kept us waiting.

"What's with the faces? We're here to celebrate Ivy's birthday, not Rex's absence. Cheer up, you guys. The food is awesome. Who picked this place, by the way?" Prix was full of energy tonight.

I was playing with my fork, toying with my food, twisting the basil pesto in it, while torn between deciding to eat the pasta or just stare at it until the person I wanted to see tonight turned up. Sten, on the other hand, was enjoying her meal. She booked the dinner, it was her idea to celebrate my birthday with them. No girlfriends, no boyfriends invited, just the original college gang.

"I was the one who booked the reservation," Sten replied. "Why? Tell me, Prix, you want to bring Celine here, sometime?"

"Who's Celine?" asked Fourth.

I watched the three of them talk. Sten looked at Fourth, askance. "I'm surprised. You didn't tell him who Celine is?" she told Prix.

He shook his head. "It just happened that you saw us together, that's why I introduced her to you and Edward. We just started to see each other; things aren't that serious between us. We're taking the relaxed pace to build a stronger connection, then maybe after that we could move forward."

"Wow!" Sten exclaimed in delight, with a spoon in hand. "Where did you hide the real Prix Sebastian? You're an impostor. Fourth, please, take this guy out. He's possessed."

Angelo was laughing at his seat. "What did that Celine gal do to you exactly, bro?"

"You just talked like someone who takes relationships seriously, Prix. You haven't had a serious one back in college," Sten declared.