Nostalgia

3·5

Kong didn't go for the Noah Sanchez party. In his words, he couldn't bear looking at James. I was scared that I'd created a hatred in Kong's heart for James and the second he knew the truth, he'd transfer that hatred to me.

That was probably the reason why I'd still not told him about anything. I just couldn't picture myself without my best friend.

I picked up the hand towel off its hanger and dried my hands on it before picking up my ringing phone, answering the call and holding it in place between my shoulder and ear.

"Hi, Mum," I said into the receiver, picking up the two plates of spaghetti Bolognese I'd prepared and placing them on the table where Kong was furiously rubbing his hands together in anticipation. The second his plate was dropped in front of him, he mouthed a thank you and dug in.

I dropped my own plate in front of my seat and settled down, holding the phone properly with my hand. "How are you?"

Mum and dad had taken my outburst to heart since I'd never been like that before. So they concluded that I'd meant every word. They weren't wrong.

Now, they were trying to be better. Almost everyday, Mum called to ask how my day went and how Kong was while dad kept texting me inspirational quotes and "I love you" stickers. It was kind of funny.

"I'm doing okay, honey. How are you? I hope Kong isn't eating all the food again," replied Mum.

I took a quick glance at Kong, he was almost halfway done with his food. "Yeah... You said you were doing okay?"

Mum laughed. In her background, I heard a ceramic clink. "I just got back from the office, your dad's still there though. We're about to launch a new game and we have a pretty good feeling about this one." She sounded exited. Giddy even. It was good to see them build the business up. Reminded me of when they'd just built ARCane. "Infact, major gaming companies already want a bite of the game."

"That's awesome, Mum. I'm so happy for you and Dad. What are you calling it?"

"We're not sure yet. I'll update you. And if everything works out the way we think it will, we won't have to worry about bankruptcy. And you can leave that ridiculous job you're doing."

"You know it keeps me busy."

"Whatever you say, honey," Mum conceded.

I sighed and took a mouthful of spaghetti.

"We got a letter from Grants and Co yesterday, Avery."

I almost choked on the spaghetti, eyes bulging out. "What?!" I didn't understand. Was Mr Grant trying to play another one of his games. "What did it say?"

"Calm down, Avery. The letter wasn't signed by Mr Grant." She paused. "It was signed by James. He wants to offer a a partnership. Did you speak to him?"

I bit down on my lip and stared at my food, leaning away from it. Kong paused eating to study me.

I hadn't even seen James in almost two weeks. He'd stayed very far away from his apartment ever since the incident. And Pat never talked about him around Kong or me so speaking to him was a stretch.

"No," I replied. "I haven't since the Grant's and Co. incident." My gaze flickered to Kong who was still staring and I gave him a reassuring smile. He smiled back.

"Avery, I'm sorry for what I said to you. If I'd known that Mr Grant was-"

I cut her off. "No, Mum, it's fine. Really. I'm just glad it worked out
in the end."

"But did it really? Look what it did to you and James."

"I don't want to talk about him, Mum."

I pictured Mum biting her tongue. "I'm sorry."

"It's fine. I'm fine"

There was a pregnant pause before mum spoke again. "Come home soon? We need to properly celebrate everything we've endured in the past months."

I smiled and exhaled. "Sure, Mum. I'll be home right before exams begin."

"Good. I'll call you tomorrow, honey. Love you."

"Love you, mum."

As I placed the phone down and picked up my fork, I felt Kong still staring at me. I caught his gaze. "What's wrong?"

He smiled. "Nothing. It's just good to see you get closer to your parents."

Something flashed in his eyes, but he looked away before I could point it out. Kong never talked about his parents. It was an unspoken rule between us. I understood though that they sent him to school here all the way from South Korea without any proper guidance. They hardly ever called. Sometimes once a month. The only sure proof of their existence was his monthly allowance.

I decided to steer the conversation away from parents for now. "How's Pat's apartment going?"

That's brought the smile back to his face. He dropped the fork down to his now empty plate. "We're putting up the final touches for decorations today. If all goes well, she'll move in on Monday."

"That's great."

"I know, right?"

He got up, heading to the sink with his plate and began cleaning up. I finished up my food and went to meet him, grinning and handing mine over. He took it while muttering, "the things I do for you."

The sound of the doorbell going off drew both our attentions. Kong furrowed his brows. "It's probably Pat. But she's here early."

"I'll get it." Before I'd even gotten all the words out, I was already skipping towards the door and throwing it open.

Adam grinned on the other side of the door and waved. My breath caught in my throat when I saw who was behind him. James.

My brain was still stuttering when Adam spoke, pushing past me into the house and giving me a full view of my ex. "Hey, Avery. Where's Kong?"

I cleared my throat twice and stepped back, ignoring the fact that Adam had just called Kong Kong. James was staring at me with his gaze darkened. Those clouds in his eyes were sucking me in with each nanosecond that went by.

I cleared my throat again.

"May I come in?" he asked.

This was a bad idea. My subconscious screamed for me to bang the door shut and curl myself up into a ball on the floor of my room. This was a terrible idea.

I nodded silently and ushered him in, shutting the door behind him.

Kong materialized from the kitchen and the moment he noticed the two people in the room, confusion settled on his features. Adam on the other hand, whipped up a smile and dropped the magazine he'd been scanning like.two seconds ago.

"Asia!"

Kong rolled his eyes. "What are you doing here?"

Adam pouted. "You didn't show up to Noah Sanchez's party so I just wanted to check in. See if we're cool." He bit his lip and pulled his brows together. "You know, since everyone knows nothing actually happened between Avery and I. We're cool right?"

The confusion thickened on Kong's expression as the horror settled on mine. My eyes went wide and my body froze. Kong turned to me, slowly. He raised a brow, still frowning.

"What's Adam talking about, Avery?"