Above & Beyond ✔

27. The Taste of Jealousy

August was approaching. While people were busy gushing over vacation or plans on visiting some cool summer events, my days were all about work, helping Mom settle in her new apartment, and being Lea's second-in-command during her final weeks of moving-out preparations. I dreaded the day of her departure which was coming very close. Her absence would feel brutal.

After weeks of doing the temporary job, I finally got the grip on how to pull it out in a good balance. I'd finally learned how to answer the phone in a robotic mode, and making schedules had become my routine. Since there weren't any Master's students on duty during the summer break, I needed to help with the test administration, which I found quite challenging.

Surprisingly, I hadn't seen Blake since our last encounter on the day I met my dad. From our correspondence, I'd learned that he had been appointed to handle a career promotion project in an oil and gas company, one of our biggest clients, which was executed at the client's office. I was only given the list of what I needed to prepare and Betty would have it ready at her desk every Friday morning. I had no idea which one was better: having him around while acting like strangers or not seeing him at all.

I supposed it was the latter because of the saying 'out of sight, out of mind'. At least that was what I'd learned about repetition and memory. His absence should help take my mind off him so that I could go back to the old Jen, especially when I started to go out again, like now.

Eric texted me this morning, saying that he was heading to the city to drop off his sister at the bridal store. He asked if I was up for a quick brunch before work. In the next hour, we were sitting at the terrace of my campus coffeehouse, enjoying the sun while filling each other in on our current updates and plans.

He was still the same person I remembered back in high school; friendly, easy-going, but smart enough to mess with. He might not be the hottest one —not that he was ugly either, but he was the brain of the group. At least that was what Lea and I believed. It was then confirmed with the news that he was accepted into one of the top engineering institutes in the country, majoring in Chemical.

I didn't expect that our morning chat would flow so easily. No awkward moments like when we had to search for topics to keep the conversation going, or when we stole glances at the clock while praying for the time to run faster. Something about him reminded me of Dean, but I wasn't sure what it was exactly.

After an hour of chitter-chatter and having a good laugh, Eric checked the time on his phone before gulping down the rest of his coffee. "It's almost twelve, you need to start soon and I gotta get back to the store. My sister has been there for two damn hours. I wanna go home and sleep."

"The wedding is in three days. This is the vital moment to do the last fitting and some last-minute changes," I chided. "You should give her all the time she needs."

"I know. But still." Eric took off his glasses and rubbed his face roughly before putting his glasses back on. His droopy eyes and pale face screamed the lack of sleep. "It would've been better if she didn't pick the day after the bachelor party night."

"Especially when a stripper cop is involved, huh?" I retorted, followed by him laughing.

"That was the only thing I couldn't complain about, yeah." He grinned as we cleaned up our table before making our way out of the terrace.

"I'll walk you to your building," he said.

"Uh, you don't have to, it's the opposite direction to the parking lot."

"It's fine. A little walk keeps me awake anyway."

"Alright then."

We walked across the empty grass field where students usually sat down for chit-chat or just enjoyed the sun while reading their notes. One big tree stood proudly in the middle of the field and a flock of birds was busy hovering over it, probably wondering where everyone was.