Holding On

Thirty-Six

It'd been three days. Three long days, and Emma had been avoiding him like a contagious disease. He was restricted by security the first day of the three. They told him they'd been given strict orders by the CEO to not let him in. He'd tried to call but her phone never reached through, he'd gone to the restaurant they usually ate and she wasn't there. It'd been going on for three fucking days.

And it was pure torture being deprived of her. Goodness, why couldn't she understand that the only thing he wanted to do was make her happy.

Chucking down his beer while sitting with his best friend at the table situated at the quiet spot in Andrew's bar they liked to sit most, Zain looked at Kevin who was drinking his own cold beer, looking quite grim. Things in his marriage wasn't going so well because his wife insisted on having a child.

Kevin had been telling her for quite a while now that he didn't want a child, but the truth was he quite did and was only hiding a secret from her. A secret he feared would destroy his marriage.

And yet, his silence was also wrecking more havoc than he'd imagined.

Zain realized there wasn't much to do about Kevin's situation, but then he was the one who stood the potential of getting some help from his best friend. But of course he couldn't come off so directly. "You know, things between Emma and I have been going quite great."

"Hmm, has it?" Kevin asked nonchalantly even though Zain sensed the curiosity in his tone.

He smiled. "Yeah, I finally told her I was still in love with her and planning to get her back."

Kevin glanced at him as if he was a bragging child that a parent was forced to listen to. "What happened to waiting for the right thing?"

"I don't think any other time would've worked better." He prided, hoping his broad smile would emphasize his almost nonexistent victory. "I told her after she kissed me."

"She what?" Kevin asked, flabbergasted.

"She. Kissed. Me. It was on the day I took her to see her father at my house. After leaving, she came back and that was when it happened." He frowned. "But after that she started giving excuses like she did it only out of impulse. An impulse of gratitude or that sort of thing."

"Peharps it truly is. After all, you helped her to discover some facts about her past." Kevin said exhaustedly.

"Come on, bro, you're also going to give me that shit? It's obvious that she only said that to escape from what she feels."

Kevin took an impatient swig of his beer. "Emma has never even mentioned anything to you about how or what she feels."

"Sometimes, you don't need to be told to be able to read a person's emotions, most especially if you have an emotional connection with that person."

Seemingly exasperated, Kevin glared at him. "Why the fuck do you always share these nonexistent progresses with me anyway? You know I'm not a fun of that particular zeal of yours in capturing a married woman."

Wanting to thaw his frustration, Zain took a drink if the cold beer from his bottle. He couldn't get angry if he expected Kevin to help him. "I share it with you because you're my brother, and you're there to understand my needs and to support me."

"Why, Zain? Why can't you forget about her? I understand that your love is so strong it survived 5 years of distance, but she is married Zain. It doesn't matter how much you love her, sometimes, love is all about sacrificing for the other person's happiness."

Feeling bitter, Zain retorted condescendingly. "You mean sacrificing even when you know that the other person isn't completely happy in her new life?" He sighed. "Love can be about sacrificing, but sometimes too, it's about persisting and not giving up when the other person is being reluctant."