Catnip [romance]

Balinese

Freya absolutely couldn't believe that she had just said that out loud.

Her breath had stopped the moment she told Hugo that she had missed him. Now he was going to think she was going to take him back.

Hugo simply smiled like the past two months didn't happen, and she was waiting for some effect to trigger in her, like there always was when they were together but... nothing. It felt kind of weird, seeing that whenever he'd do something unforgivably wrong, he'd give her the look— his eyes would soften, he'd give a gentle smile that could still light up the whole world, erase the anger bubbling up in her and melt her heart, and the worst part of it all was that he knew that he had that effect on her. Now that it didn't effect her the way he wanted it to, he knew something was wrong.

Freya pulled the stray strands of her hair behind her ears, closing her eyes. "You're not supposed to be here," she said in a softer voice that only she and Hugo could hear.

"Do you know what I came back to two months ago?" He questioned. "The cat was gone, your clothes were nowhere to be found and you disappeared without a trace. The only thing I found was the ring on the table with the roses."

Freya sighed, waving him off as she got ready to leave. "I don't want to talk right now—"

"Freya, I still love you." Hugo said firmly as he grabbed her by her wrist. "I gave you everything, and yet you packed up and left. What did I not give you?"

"Hugo, stop. It's my birthday today, and the least you can do for me is not stress me out right now." She pleaded. "Please, just stop. I promise we'll talk, but afterwards, I don't want to see you hung up on me like this anymore. Wasn't two months enough to let the fact that I left you sink in? Why are you still holding on to this? I don't love you like I used to."

"Because this isn't like you," he argued.

Freya glanced around her. The crowd seemed to be minding their own business, except for a pair of eyes that she could recognize. She immediately looked away, took another sip of her martini and looked at Hugo in the eyes.

"You can stay at the party and adjust to New York, but don't talk to me for the rest of it." She told him steadily. She turned on her heel and walked away into the crowd, where she was going to the bar for another drink when she felt a firm grasp on her wrist. She gasped, turning around. "Hugo, stop—"

Nathan stared at her reaction. He'd been wondering who that man was, but there had been some rumors spreading like wildfire throughout the party. He'd heard that the man was her fiancé. Not that he recalled a current fiancé for Freya, but there was only one past fiancé that he'd known about. Now, his suspicions had been confirmed.

"Oh, Nathan. It's just you." She faked a smile. "You scared me a bit."

He'd never seen her as submissive as she was right now. Her aura was simply easy to catch— she seemed oddly submissive, unlike how he had first picked a fight with her. Everything felt out-of-place about her at the moment.

"Do you want another drink?" She asked, holding up her martini glass. She eyed his empty glass and tilted her head. "I'm heading to the bar for a refill."

"Yeah, I'm coming with you." He told her, then started walking in front of her.

Freya followed right behind, finding Laurel at the bar too as she chatted with the bartender she had her sights on. Laurel glanced at her, then widened her eyes when she realized it was Freya.

"Babe, where's your fiancé?" She asked. "I didn't know you even had one! Why didn't you announce the engagement to us?"

Freya shook her head. "I'm not—"