JANNAT'S P.O.V
I FELT FABULOUS. The night air was fanning my face as the car rolled down, my hair was parted in the middle and was tied up immaculately in a low bun, I was going to a gorgeous Asian restaurant, and I was about to help rekindle the love between two best friends. I was living my life.
"If you're done looking out of the window and pretending that you're in a music video," Sinclair's annoying voice floated in. "Can you pay some attention to me? Your boyfriend?"
"You're so annoying," I remarked as I turned towards him, lifting a single brow. "What happened? Did you finally realize that no matter how much fiction you read, you won't ever be able to wholly escape this harsh, cruel reality?"
He scrunched up his face. "Wow okay, that was rude," He paused. "And I was asking, can I eat these chocolates? I love chocolates. But these look kinda expensive so I thought I'd ask."
"Don't worry about the price," I said, holding up the box of Richart's chocolates. "But they are really, really tasty. And I also brought them for you, so please feel free to eat them."
His animated face went still for a moment. "You bought them for me?"
"Look, don't make a big deal out of it," I said, sighing. "It's just a box of chocolates."
"I don't know, these look kinda expensive," He said.
I shoved the box of chocolates in his arms, narrowing my eyes on him. "Will you really not eat the chocolates I brought for you — while thinking of you — just because they might be a little expensive? Would your favorite character do that, Sinclair? Would your favorite character brush aside their frenemy's feelings like this?"
"Percy Jackson certainly won't do that," He said, sucking in a breath. "But, I feel bad taking this. These look imported."
"So if these were found easily in the domestic markets, you would have eaten it?"
"...Yes."
"Why?"
"Because of the sentimental value," He said. "Ah, I see your point."
"Exactly," I nodded. "I am always right. So now eat them without further ado, if you want to. Plus, they're also a compensation for booking reservations for all of us without telling you first — for which I have a perfectly fine reason — because you'd have denied, but I feel obligated nonetheless."
"You're my dream girl," He said after a beat.
"I am everyone's dream girl," I corrected.
"Cocky much?" He inquired before opening the box, and quickly popping in a piece of chocolate in his mouth. "I mean yeah, you're right, but you literally have all the haughtiness of a princess of some distant, rich land."
"I also have their charm as well, so I think it's justified."
"You're feeding me these delectable chocolates knowing that I won't bad-mouth you, huh?" He said, closing his eyes for a moment as he swallowed the chocolate. My eyes traced the shape of his face — lit up against the dark night and the skyscrapers rushing by — for a minute, before I got ahold of myself and looked away.
He let out a chuff. "God, you're absolutely right, Walter. If you keep feeding me these chocolates, I won't ever be able to bring myself to insult you again. I don't know if I should be pleased or disappointed about that fact."
"You're adorable," I mumbled before I knew what I was saying. His head snapped towards me as soon as the words left me and while quickly coming out with a sharp retort, I choked on my spit. So there I was, sitting in the back of my car, choking and coughing on my spit after calling my fake boyfriend and known arch nemesis adorable. And the shocked look on Sinclair's face had soon morphed into panic as he saw me choking, and he was patting my back with one hand and had the other extended towards me with a bottle in grasp.
"Thank you," I wheezed out, blinking in tears because I couldn't let the mascara and kohl run down. My makeup was too damn costly and gorgeous to be ruined by some stupid tears.
"I had meant, you're annoying," I said as soon as my cough subsided and I could breathe properly again. "I had said you're annoying before I choked on my spit."
He looked at me for a hot second before giving me a knowing smile. "Uh-huh, sure."
"You're annoying!" I repeated, clearing my throat. "I said you're annoying!"
"Obviously," He said, a small smile curved at his lips. "You said that, obviously. We all know that. Now the real question — are you okay? You choked pretty bad."
"Eh," I said, shrugging and pulling my coat closer over my shoulders. "It happens. Don't worry about that. I like spoiling people. You're annoying."
"Okay," He said. Pause. A longer pause. He spoke up again. "On what occasion did you invite everyone?"
I cleared my throat. "Why, it's a treat to our friends in celebration of you & I finally getting together."
He stifled a laugh, and looked like he wanted to say something more, but before he could, the car rolled down to a stop — and there it was. Our destination. Topaz.
I slid the door open and got out of the car, before aptly going towards Sinclair's side and pulling the door open. He stepped out, with a funny look and a small mocking smile on his face.
"How chivalrous of you," He commented before he shut the door and I waved off our driver. "Will you pull out the chair for me as well?"
"If the gentleman wants, then yes, why not? I want to treat the gentleman with the most respect — what he deserves," I replied in an equally mocking voice before bursting out into laughter. Sinclair joined me and for a minute, we both stood on the sidewalk in the dark of the night, laughing at our silly jokes. It felt warm, even in the crisp & cool NYC autumn air.
"If you two are done laughing like mad ghosts in this dark place," Came a familiar voice and we turned towards the entrance of the restaurant to see Adri standing there, waving at us. "Come on over here! Neil is here too!" At the mention of his name, he appeared in our line of view and waved too.
"My God, looking at you makes me feel so underdressed that for a moment I considered the option of flinging myself in front of one of these fancy cars passing by so that my ego doesn't get hurt when I stand next to you," Neil remarked, looking at me intently as we walked towards them.He remarked, rolling his eyes good-naturedly. I observed the outfit he was donning — a white T-shirt, black jeans and a denim jacket. I wanted to comment but didn't, because hey, maybe it was his style. Even though it left a sour taste in my mouth, just by looking at it.
"Good one, mate!" Sinclair whistled. I rolled my eyes not so good-naturedly.
"I thought we were having a casual friends dinner," Adrienne commented as she took in my outfit and I took in hers. She was wearing a white and navy blue striped shirt with navy blue jeans, and a pair of black sandals.
"It appears we have different meanings of a casual friends dinner at an upscale restaurant," I replied.
"The diversity of style in our group is astonishing," Sinclair piped in. "Now only Estelle is—"
"I am here!" A voice called from behind us and a running Estelle approached in our direction. "I am here! Don't leave without me!"
"Run faster!" I yelled. "Running is good for health!"
"Don't run!" Sinclair yelled instead. "Running is the worst thing in the world!"
"Opposites do attract," Neil exclaimed. I turned my face, and gave him a well deserved glare over my shoulder. He shrugged.
"I took the bus," Estelle huffed as she got closer.
"Why would she take the bus?" Neil inquired. "Isn't it… crowded?"
"It's more environmentally friendly than a car, in which she'd be riding alone," Adri answered.
"Wow, she is committed," Sinclair whistled. "Good for her. And the Earth."
"We were about to enter without you," I remarked, taking in her white high waisted trousers, white crop top and baby pink jacket. Oh, this was definitely her style.
"Oh please," She drawled out between her huffed breaths. "When we make plans for dinner together, you never not wait for me. Even if it means slapping a hundred dollar bill on the palm of the attendant's hand to keep him away from buzzing around y'all. Like the last visit to that Indian restaurant."
I gasped, looking at Este and then to Adri, and then back to Este. "Adri told you?"
"Yep," Este grinned. "As soon as you got to the washroom to powder your nose, both in the figurative and idiomatic sense."
"I hate you guys," I grumbled, and then looked back at Este. "Next time I won't elongate the reservation when you get late because you ran on the street to save a wounded kitten and almost caused accidents."
"I never do so won't be a problem for me either," Adri butted in from behind me.
"I feel like a fourth wheel in this trio," Sinclair declared his thoughts aloud.
"Me too," Neil added to Sinclair's words. "I feel like we are interrupting."
"My God, look at the time," Sinclair gasped out of a sudden, and he did it so audibly that for a moment, I feared that he'd collapse on the street because of whatever thing had shocked him. "We are late!"
"Because of Este," I pointed out.
Sinclair stared at his watch, eyes wide.
"I think being late might have broken him," Neil voiced his thoughts after a few seconds as Sinclair continued to stare at his watch. "Maybe we should get inside."
"Absolutely," Adri murmured, and then threw me a sly glance. "Drag your boyfriend in, Jannat, come on. Don't be too caught up just because you two would get a bit of alone time because we've gone ahead."
My mouth twitched. That bitch. I watched them file inside and when Sinclair didn't respond even then, I strode forward and smacked his arm. His still demeanor shattered but his gaze was still eerily earthbound. I frowned.
"Have you seen a ghost or what?"
"Yes," He replied quietly after a beat. "I am being haunted by the fact that I'm already late to an appointment — to which I was equally dreading and looking forward to, and now that we are here with Lucas & Ava probably already inside, I have been haunted once again by the thought that maybe Lucas hasn't requested my presence here after all, but so that he could end our friendship for once and for all. Maybe he thinks it has run its course. Do you think so?"
I paused for a bit, basking in the foolishness of this five foot eleven boy standing in front of me. "No, I don't think so," I admitted. "In fact, if anything, when I had called Lucas… for the invitation, his voice had cracked and he sounded like he'd cry when your name came up in the conversation."
"What else did he say?"
"That you blocked him which led him to thinking that you don't wanna talk to him anymore that Ava is back in his life," I admitted. "Which is ridiculous because you both think the same thing. He doesn't hang out, and you blocked him. Idiots. This is clearly a miscommunication."
"I know, I know," Sinclair said gently, sidling up to me and sighing. "I just… I don't know. I feel like I am trapped in a room and the door is just within my grasp and I know I can go outside but a part of my mind won't let me open it, fearing what's waiting outside might turn out to be worse than staying inside."
"So, will you spend all your life cooped up inside because there might be something outside the door that won't go your way?"
"I mean, it will be like being in a lockdown, but basically, yes," He joked. "It will be a good practice for the time a global pandemic comes running our way." I smacked his head.
"If you stay cooped up inside—" I said, pausing and smoothing out the lapel of his jacket which he had somehow creased. "—You won't be able to perform your duties of being my fake boyfriend. So shut up, and come on."
"Someone is in love with me," He cooed.
"I will sucker punch you in the throat without hesitation," I replied. "So, shut up."
"Make me." Sinclair grinned.
I patted my purse. "I have my needle and thread in here, but no anesthetic. Still willing to sew your lips closed if you want me to make you shut up, though."
"People usually kiss the other person to make them shut up," He said coolly, his shoulders and face visibly relaxing. "But I should have known I'll get only violence from you. Not kisses."
I turned around and started walking, turning my head and beckoning him to follow me with a stern glance over my shoulder before replying. "Look who's in love now."
● ● ●
SEEING LUCAS ALL CLEANED UP didn't do the things to me now like it used to do, once. I frowned a little as I took in Lucas' combed to perfection copper hair, his simple white shirt clinging to his broad chest and his black pants. Maybe somewhere along, my crush had faded away a little, and I was honestly a little bit displeased, and very fairly surprised at the fact.
"God, you're seriously overdressed," Ava said, a smug smile curling at her lips. "Is that your style? At least I am not as dramatic as you are."
"Bold of you to say that when you're wearing such underwhelming clothes," I smiled at her, soft and slow and infuriating, as I finished assessing her outfit. A simple, little blue dress, with spaghetti straps and a single layer of ruffle at the end of her mid-thigh dress. "The outfit you're wearing right now, for a dinner at an upscale restaurant — might I add — is something I'd wear for a little stroll to the nearest ice cream store on a breezy, summer morning. We are not the same, so don't make yourself ashamed further by putting the two of us on the same pedestal."
"Not everyone is running to be the same as you," She added.
"Because they know they can't be me," I replied. Sinclair cleared his throat loudly. "I agree with Walter, by the way," He said.
"So do we," My friends piped in. Lucas tucked his bottom lip between his teeth, not adding any comment.
"I can see why Christian got with you," Ava directed her voice at me, looking between the two of us. "You're just as infuriating as he is."
"Must be lovely, not having a life, yes?" I smiled at her. "Always sticking your nose in other's businesses. Always taking a hit at Christian because you're so insecure yourself, huh? Rich of you to do so, Ava Marianne Blake."
Her lips curled up, her blue eyes darkening with rage. "You—"
I cut her off, smiling. "Let's just have a civil dinner tonight instead of quarreling further, Ava. You won't want to cause any more trouble when I am throwing a little treat to celebrate our happiness—" I said, motioning between Sinclair & I. "—now, will you? Come on, no one can be that heartless. Not even you."
"Now if you two are done greeting each other," Lucas interjected, jumping quickly into the conversation, flashing an easy smile at me, and then at Sinclair — who visibly perked up to be at the receiving end of his best friend's smile. My heart melted a little. "I think we have got our tables."
"Finally," Adri sighed as she slipped into the table next to us, along with Este and Neil. "I thought the confrontation would never end."
Lucas motioned for us to get settled into the seats opposite to them, and Sinclair positioned himself right in front of Lucas, leaving me to sit exactly opposite to Ava. I flashed her a colossal smile.
Our waiter came up, smiling, his tab poised and ready in his hands. "So, what will you all have today?"
Adri ordered first — Beef Pho, and a sea urchin and ossetra caviar spoon. Este ordered a plate of sweet chilli Sriracha hot wings and a customized bowl of cat rice with Bonito flakes. Neil's Indian roots jumped out and he ended up ordering a plate of Samosas for appetizers, a couple of Naans, and some Bhuna Gosht, and some butter chicken. I ordered Ifumi, and a small pot of Biryani which Sinclair promised would have with me. He added an order of some pork belly with radish and miso. Ava insisted on two plates of Burmese Khao Suey for her and Lucas — who didn't really look like he wanted to eat that — but like always, he didn't object. He didn't object either when she ordered green curry chicken patties with Thai noodles salad for the two of them.
"He hates green curry," Sinclair whispered in my ear, leaning in. I frowned. What was wrong with Lucas? It almost looked like Ava was controlling all of his moves, and he didn't have any way to object. What was up with them?
Neil's plate of Samosas was the first to come. I smiled, picked up one from his plate before he could protest. And before I could protest, Sinclair had taken a huge bite out of my piece. Neil snorted, and offered me another piece as Sinclair ate all of the first piece.
"You two make me sick," Adri commented, her gaze on me. "So lovey dovey."
"So lovey dovey indeed," Lucas finally spoke up, eyes glittering as he fixed his gaze on his best friend. "Who would have thought?"
Sinclair blinked. There was a low thud from under the table. Lucas yelped.
"Anyway," Sinclair said, quickly steering the topic in a different direction and a quick glance at his face did indeed confirm that he had kicked Lucas under the table. I shoved my elbow lightly in his chest and he gave me a quick side eyed glance and a little smile that curled up at the left edge of his lips. "Here comes our food."
And our food did come. The smell of Samosas and Bhuna Gosht had instantly flooded my senses as the waiter placed two plates full of the spicy meaty goodness, and fried slices of heaven in front of Neil, who was sitting right next to me on the table next to us. I hardly paid attention to the Ifumi when it was placed in front of me — a big mistake on my part, because while I was ogling at Neil's spicy food and he had sighed and given up and served a small portion of Bhuna Gosht and two Samosas on my plate — Sinclair had gotten his cutlery ready, and had taken a huge chunk out of my ordered dish. At my protest, he put on a little show of slowly savoring the thick, crispy yet soft noodles and then had the audacity to take a showy, audible sip of the broth from the portion he had stolen from my plate. I narrowed my eyes on him. He grinned, and then his eyes fell upon his best friend, who had still not been given his order, and then I saw something I really wasn't expecting, because Sinclair didn't part with his food easily — he gave up some of the stolen food to Lucas. Lucas' eyes lit up, and I watched quietly as Lucas dug in the small portion too. I rolled my eyes, holding up my plate and adding more to their… stolen portion. Sinclair turned towards me, some broth covering his lips, and then gave me a heartstopping smile. Thankfully, Ava interrupted.
"Christian, stop feeding Lucas your stolen greasy shit. Our orders are already on the way."
"Look around," Sinclair pointed around at all of us. "Everyone is sharing their food with each other. Except with you, of course. Because no one likes you."
My eyes observed the waiter coming, and then I widened my eyes ever so subtly at Adri, who was sitting next to Ava on the nearest table to us and was observing the drama going on at our table. At my expression, she nodded. And when the waiter came in closer towards Ava, to give their food, Adri stuck her leg out and the waiter tripped. And accidentally spilled a plate of Burmese Khao Suey on her lap.
"Fuck!" She muttered, shooting up from her seat in an instant. Lucas sprang to his feet as well, ready to help Ava. Adri subtly dragged her leg back in, raising her forkful of beef pho — which was absolutely delectable by the way — at me, in a sign of the mission being accomplished.
"You're going to regret this forever," Ava muttered, her mouth twisting into an ugly sneer. "I will talk to your manager!"
"I am so sorry, ma'am—"
"Argh!" Ava waved her hand at the poor waiter. "You just wait and see. When I am back after cleaning up myself, you'll see my wrath." And that was the only thing she said before stalking off towards the washroom, muttering stuff to herself.
Sinclair fished out a hundred dollar bill from his pocket, handing it to the waiter. "Don't worry about her, mate. We won't let her complain to the manager over such a measly thing. Will you get this cleaned up, though?"
"Right away, sir," The man nodded earnestly, giving Sinclair a genuine smile. "And I apologize once again for the mess. This was a pure accident—"
"We know it," I added, shooting a smile at the nervous waiter hoping it's somewhat comforting. "Don't worry about it." The man nodded at me, and then turned back, calling for the cleaners, who came in the blink of an eye, scrubbing off the mess. I made a mental note to praise the staff services of this place in the review.
Sinclair turned back towards Lucas in a jiffy, his palms slapping the table top with a loud smack. "Spill. What happened? Are you okay? Does she have some sort of leverage on you?"
Lucas however didn't seem at all fazed at the bombardment of questions. If anything, he looked ready to answer them all. "One, a lot happened, but I don't know if it's the right time to jump into details, seeing that Ava will be back in like two minutes. Two, I am not fucking okay. You blocked me, Christian, you blocked me! You idiot! Do you know how much I was dying inside, not talking to you? I was ignoring you the first two days because I didn't know what to say to you about Ava's reappearance in our life and your clear dislike of her — but then I see that you've fucking blocked me! Everywhere! You weren't even taking my emails! And three, yes! She has something pretty big over me that I can't afford to have released in public!"
Now that piqued my interest. Leverage? Drama in the upper east Manhattan side? Interesting. Sinclair's jaw tightened. A glance at the table next to us told me that all three of them were observing the conversation with rapt interest as well. Lucas didn't seem to mind. Sinclair leaned in further, his jaw tightening so hard that for a second I feared that his jaw would shatter.
"One, you're a fucking wanker! Give me the outline. Right now! Two, it is all your fault you bloody dipshit" Sinclair whisper-yelled, his accent jumping out all of a sudden. "Do you know how gutted I was, thinking that my best mate didn't even fucking like me enough to give me a call back now that his girl was here? I knew that it wasn't the case and that it seemed all dodgy, but my anxiety was so bloody high! I blocked you because I was scared of waking up the next day and getting a message from you saying — hey I think our friendship has run its course. You rubbish! And three, I knew something was up! What does she have on you? We can work it out together! But if you ignore me again, I swear to fucking God I will kill you."
"That was a whole lot of… British," Neil commented. The waiter returned with Ava's and Lucas' orders. After the waiter was out of sight, Sinclair flipped Neil off.
"How crazy do you have to be to think that I would ever not want to be your best—" Lucas stopped as Este yelped, her eyes widening, and I followed her line of vision to see the familiar figure emerging from the restroom, brushing off something from her dress. "Oh shit, Ava is coming."
"Okay look," Lucas said in a no-nonsense tone this time. "Christian, I still want to be your fucking best friend, but Ava doesn't let me go on calls with you because she doesn't like you and she is pretty much controlling me. She has so much stuff that I don't want out there in the public for the sake of my family." He sighed, his eyes nervously darting in the direction of Ava, who was checking something on her phone. "So in short, she is blackmailing me and I have to abide by her words until I find some way to destroy the material. Christian, do you remember the last time when my mother had to go to the… Hamptons? If the information that Ava has gets out, things might have the same outcome."
There was a heartbeat of silence as Sinclair stared at Lucas, his eyes wide. Now I didn't know what this whole Hamptons business was, but judging by the expression on Sinclair's face, it was nothing good. A tense silence settled in as everyone here still processed the whole intense, information packed exchange between Lucas and Sinclair — when Ava came back.
"Why so silent?" She inquired, a suspicious tone in her voice which was gone as soon as she took in the sight of her ordered food. "Finally, it was about time they came in with my orders. What an incompetent staff."
"Can I kill her?" Este murmured aloud, much to everyone's surprise at the tables. Even Ava was taken aback. All she could manage was a, Wow, rude.
"Not in public," I replied to Este, beaming at her. I was a really proud mama. "Don't worry, you'll get your chance later sometime. But there are too many witnesses right now."
Este nodded earnestly, looking down quietly, as if already plotting her next move to wipe off Ava's existence from the face of the earth. I teared up a little. Like I said, proud moment for me.