A Chance at Love (completed)

Chapter 17

                “What are you thinking?” He asked me.

                “When will I meet them?” I answered him with a question.

                “When are you available?”

                “I’m available anytime except this Friday.”

                “Are you going somewhere this Friday?”

                I nodded and said, “I’m going to be in an engagement party of a friend from college. Want to come with me?”

                “Don’t you have a date?”

                “That’s the problem. I’ll be going there with Mico. I need you to come with me.”

                I looked at him to see his reaction. But he didn’t have any reaction or expression on his face. “What are you thinking?” It’s time for me to ask the same question.

                “Why do you still have to be involved with him? You could have said no, Arabella. Do you still love him? I would not stop you from loving him. But I just want you to be careful. I don’t want you to do things that will only hurt yourself and other people.”

                I know he was talking about my accident and how it hurt everyone including Monique. “I’m sorry.” Now tears started to flow down my cheeks. It has been a long time since I cried like this. I can’t even remember the last time.

                James faced me and hugged me.”Shhh. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to make you cry. I just wanted you to be careful with what you do.”

                What he said only made me cry even harder. The guilt I felt back then came to me again. “I’m sorry, James. If it wasn’t for me, Monique could still be here with you.”

                “Please don’t cry. It wasn’t entirely your fault. If I only refused to let her drive that time, it won’t end up like this. It’s also my fault.”

                I released from his hug and nodded. “So, will you go with me?”

                “How about Carlos? He’s supposed to be by your side. I told him to take care of you.”

                “I haven’t seen him for a while. He already stopped.”

                “Stopped? You mean he already gave up?”

                I just nodded. I hope Carlos is okay. His exam will be on Saturday.

                “Oh well. I’ll do the same if I were him.”

                “What do you mean?”

                “You know, Ara, I think you can’t love anybody else but that guy. He’s the only person your heart will ever beat for.”

                What he said shot me. “I don’t know about that.  My heart feels tired. I don’t care about anything right now. It’s like I lost something important. Anyway, will you go with me?”

                “Do I have a choice? Besides, I also want to meet that Mico guy. I haven’t met the reason for everything that happened.”

                I just rolled my eyes. It’s true that James hasn’t met him. I haven’t shown him even his pictures. I hope they can get along well to avoid conflict.

                We became silent for a moment. Both of us are thinking of something while looking at the night sky. I decided to change the topic.

                “Is it really okay for you to accompany me to meet Monique’s parents? They might get a wrong idea about you helping me. First, you’re the one who convinced them to drop the case. And now, you’re helping me get their forgiveness.”

                “About that, I have something to tell you. Honestly, I failed to convince them. They were really angry with me. I don’t know what happened back then. I just knew about it after the case has been dropped. When I asked them about it, they didn’t answer me. They just said that they have reasons.” I was shocked with what he said. All this time, I thought he was the reason why they dropped the case. If James didn’t convince them, who did? What changed their mind? I need to know ones I visit them.                 After talking, we decided to call it a night. I know James is tired. I hope he’ll really come with me to the party tomorrow.