The Man She Betrayed

10. Put A Ring On It

Clara

"Sorry ladies for being late." Mark said and both of our head jerked to him, throwing daggers at him with out eyes. "What?" he asked innocently when he took in our angry faces.

"You're late, gentleman. We thought you forgot." Ava eyed him warily, crossing her arms in front of her chest.

"Forget about dinner in such a fancy restaurant. Are you kidding me babe?" he leaned down to kiss her cheeks.

Mark is Ava's boyfriend and one of the funniest guy I know. They both are perfect for each other and seeing them together always made me happy that she has someone she deserved, someone who loved her with everything he had. But it also made me a little sad because I had someone like him too and I lost him, because of my own stupidity.

"So what are we eating? Don't tell me I'm supposed to order those fancy one bite meals." he chuckled in between eyeing the menu and Ava slapped his arm playfully.

"You can order anything. It's the least I can do after depending on both of you for years." I passed him a sincere smile.

"Don't be stupid Clara. We have depended on you too. If it was not for you, we were still those childhood friends who were hiding feelings for each other." he stated while staring at Ava with adoring eyes and she nodded too, both of them disappointed at my statement.

To lighten the environment, I changed the topic and joked, "Fine. Then we'll split the bill."

The smug expressions wiped off his face as he yelled, "Hell no, kiddo. I ain't paying a buck." With that, both Ava and I started laughing at his horrified expression.

After ordering our food, we waited for it while laughing at the stories of Mark pranking his new boss. He was an editor for a publishing company and he had a really conservative boss who hated Mark from his first day on his radical opinions.

"That's so bad Mark." I said between laughs. Soon, the waiter returned with our food. Mark ordered rib eye steak for himself while Ava and I ordered two different kind of pasta for us. When the first bit hit my tastebuds, I moaned at the deliciousness. It's been years since I had a nice fancy meal and I was not planning on having another one in the near future. I had to save my salary so that I could rent an apartment.

We were busy devouring our food when Ava's phone rang. She picked it up and answered it. From what I could hear, there was an emergency in her office and she had to leave. She was a software engineer and her post in her company was kind of an important one.

"Sorry guys, I have to leave." she pouted, her words followed by an irritated groan. "My boss sucks."

"Aw baby, our miserable bosses are what keep us bonded." Mark teased her as he cooed him and in return, Ava have him one of her hardest glares.

After she left, we finished our food in silence and then asked the waiter for the bill. While he was gone, Mark asked me in a really serious tone, "Clara! There is something I need to tell you."

"What?" I asked cautiously.

His hands went into his jeans pocket and he brought out his mobile, showing me a picture of a ring. The diamond in the ring was just perfect for Ava, not too big as she hated really fancy jewelry.

"Oh my God Mark!" I exclaimed with a huge smile on my face.

He put his phone back in the pocket and leaned forwards to whisper, "I am going to propose her on her birthday."

"That's.. That's just great. God, I'm so happy for both of you." I expressed and stoop up to walk towards him to give him a brief hug and a supporting pat on his back. "You have my blessing." I joked after which I sat back while the waiter returned with the bill.

...

Aaron

The elevator was broken today and each employee on our floor was sweating hard when I walked past them in the morning. It wasn't easy to climb more than twenty sets of stairs and it wasn't certainly easy to do it on a warm day like this. At moments like today, I was grateful for the cardio and stamina building exercises in gym.

Once I reached my office, I took a peek at the standing figure of Clara, breathing heavily as she entered her office. The scene from that hotel made an appearance in my memory and a devious plan formed in my mind.

Leaving my work, I walked towards her office. She sat straight when she noticed me and then eyed me with questioning gaze.

"I left a file near the reception. Can you please bring that file and give it to Amber?" I said in a plain voice and she looked like she was contemplating what to do.

"Um.. The elevator. Its broke." she said, looking at me with her big, green eyes which had somehow became greener over the years.

"So? It's a very shitty excuse Miss. Avery." I said in a dry tone and she gulped.

"Sorry." she said and stood up to leave. I returned to the hallway and watched her retreating figure walking towards the staircase. An evil smile appeared on my face as I went back into my office and waited for her to come back.

Almost twenty minutes have passed when she returned with empty hands, sweat covering her face and her hair sticking to her neck. "It wasn't... It wasn't there." she said breathlessly, trying to catch her breath.

I fought the urge to laugh at her. "It's an important file Miss. Avery. Amber needs it. Go and find in the parking lot. It must have forgotten it in there." I said and she eyed me as if I had grown two heads. The frustration was clearly written on her face but she didn't say anything and stomped out of my office.

Leaving my desk, I reached the window in my office and watched the parking lot through it. Almost five minutes later, she reached the parking lot. She had tied her hair in a bun this time and was frantically searching for the file.

When she didn't find any after searching for almost five minutes, she rubbed her face and sat down on a stool, letting out some deep exhales and inhales.

Logging into the company's website, I searched for her contact and then called her. She answered after one ring and replied, "Yes? How can I help you?"

"Its Aaron Vincent. I found the file. You can come back now." I said and cut the call. Through the window glass, I observed her as she hid her face in between her palms.

Not wanting to watch her miserable state anymore, I sat down and started the video chat with one of our clients. Through the open door of my office, I could watch her limping through the hallway almost fifteen minutes later, her left feel lagging behind and a pained expression painted on her face.

Shit. I totally forgot about her ankle sprain.

_____________________

Are Aaron's actions justified?