Miss you, not.

XXI

"Eddy?"

"Joanne?"

The surprise was equally apparent on their faces. What were the odds of accidentally meeting your ex at a carnival while on a date with your boyfriend?

"Hey, long time no see! Fancy meeting you here." She smiled genuinely.

"Yeah.. Has it been over a year now?"

"Time sure flies, huh? Waiting for someone?"

Eddy hummed and smiled as he looked away, not knowing what to respond. Well if it wasn't obvious enough, they were at a carnival. She could tell what it was. "A date perhaps?" She raised her brows teasingly.

"Something like that." He laughed, and rubbed his neck shyly.

"Let me guess, was it Brett?"

Eddy's eyes widened. He stammered, "Y-yes.. I'm actually a little amazed by how you guessed everything right."

"We dated for almost 6 months. I can tell that much, Eddy. Give me a little credit will you?" She joked and nudged his arm. The air was not at all uncomfortable. Things ended on good terms between the both of them. It simply felt like meeting an old friend.

"But wow, you look amazing. How's life?" He looked at her up and down. Joanne looked different somehow. More radiant and glowing.

"Great, great. I just finished my doctoral degree. And oh, guess what? I'm getting married!"

Eddy gasped. "Oh my god. That's amazing. Congratulations, I'm so happy for you." They shared a quick hug.

"Actually, I'm in town for a little visit. I was going to stop by the dorms to meet you and give you the invitation. Makes things easier now that we met like this." She said as she took out a letter from her purse, handing it to Eddy.

Eddy took the letter with his name written on it.

"You had better come." She jokingly threatened, pointing her finger at him.

"Definitely." He smiled, genuinely happy for her moving on to the next phase of life.

"Oh, I gotta go now. Don't wanna keep the "Mr" waiting." She was about to leave when she suddenly turned around for one last word. "Oh, and Eddy."

"Yeah?"

"I'm really happy for you and Brett." She smiled warmly, squeezing his shoulder, before leaving, disappearing amidst the endless crowds.

What Eddy didn't realise was a certain pair of eyes watching from afar.

—

Eddy was driving Brett back home. He was unusually quiet throughout the whole ride. He was clearly in a mood and Eddy couldn't figure out why. As soon as they entered the apartment, he decided to ask him about it.

"Brett, is there something wrong? You didn't enjoy the carnival?" Eddy asked with concern.

"I'm fine. The carnival was great." He said coldly as he went to his room to change into loungewear.

That was a lie, Eddy could tell. He followed Brett, trying to probe an answer out of him. "You've had this expression since a while now."

He turned around to Eddy. "Gee, I don't know, Eddy. Maybe the fact that I saw you secretly meeting your ex girlfriend during our date?" Brett said, cynicism dripping at every word he spoke. There was really no point in beating around the bush, he thought. Might as well just confront him about it.