To Matter To You

CHAPTER 34

I think I've grown up. I don't know. Liam just texted me. He asked me out to dinner. It's been a week since our reunion dinner at his place. And after a week's silence, he popped up again, asking to go out to dinner with me. I sighed as I looked at his text, a slight flutter in the pit of my stomach.I really want us to try again. I mean, we were so into each other in college. He's my first boyfriend, my first kiss..You don't just forget things like that. Those things play a part in helping you make a decision. But it's not that easy to make a decision. Liam is a big deal. He's fifth avenue penthouse+Ivanka Trump-is-his-neighbour big deal. He's not the same sweet guy in white t-shirt, riding a huge bike on campus. He's slick, worldly and cultured as hell. Suddenly I felt frumpy and insignificant. And that feeling sucks because it lingers constant in the back of my mind. My heart sinks every time I looked him up online. He's surrounded by famous beautiful people who I only see on tv. And he's even on the first name basis with the likes of Mark Zuckerberg, Ryan Reynolds and Merryl Streep. They're regular patrons of his hotels all over the world. Like, come on. That fact alone scares the shit out of me. So, why is this hotel magnate calling me for a dinner date? When he once accompanied Zendaya to the Oscars...I gulped. Nope, not gonna happen.

"Hey, what's up?" Trey said suddenly and landed on the sofa beside me, startling me back to reality. I looked at Trey who looked refreshed after a shower. He looked expectantly at me as he reached for the tv remote. It was Friday night. I was still in my work clothes when I got a text from Liam asking to take me out to dinner. 

"Um..uh..Liam asked me out to dinner." I blurted out of the blue. Trey stopped channel-surfing to look at me. Our eyes met. Then he looked away and continued flicking channels. I had a feeling that Trey kinda resented Liam for leaving me on a limb. I already told him why Liam did that but he just rolled his eyes. 

 "So, are you going?" Trey asked evenly. His tone neutral and did not sound disapproving at all. I sighed and laid back on the sofa, my arm leaning against his. Trey looked over at me for a few seconds and put his arm around my shoulder. We were silent for a few moments. Trey continued surfing channels until he stopped at Ina Garten's cooking show. Weird as it seems, Trey loves watching cooking shows. He said he liked to pretend it was his mum cooking and his dad's her husband. Sounds sad, especially since Trey was actually a foster kid. His last foster family consisted of 2 mums and a girl. He didn't like his 2 mums. They kinda abused him. He got to leave when he turned 18 and became emancipated. Thanks to his prowess in basketball, he earned a basketball scholarship to our college and worked really hard to keep it. Now he felt he's free to be what he wanted to be. But there were a lot of parts in his life that he didn't get to experience. A home-cooked meal for example. That's why I indulge him in cooking for him his favourite food. To him, that felt like being with a family. 

 "I don't know. I mean..should I?" I asked, wringing my hands and sighing. Then I glanced at Trey. He was looking at me. He didn't say anything. He was just looking at me. I looked pointedly at him, waiting for his response. All he did was look confused and took a swig of water from a bottle.

"Um, I don't know. If you want to..sure. I mean, it's just dinner right?" Trey said and shrugged as he pulled his gaze back towards the tv. I sighed in slight exasperation.

"Ok, say I do go to dinner. Will we pick up where left off, or are we starting fresh? As friends." I said uncertainly.

"Sure, why not. Being friends first is always a good idea, I mean no need to rush this right. If it doesn't work out, at least no one gets hurt. If it does, well..you know..." Trey said a little dismissively, which kinda made me feel uncertain. Although he does have a point.

"I guess. It's just weird you know. 1 minute we're all hot and heavy and stuff. And the next he just disappeared.Like it was nothing." I said and took a deep breath. Trey kinda cleared his throat.Trey didn't say anything. He just glanced at me and took my hand. Then he sat up and looked at me squarely in the eyes.I sat up straighter, waiting to hear what he was about to say.