"Why can you guys not leave me alone?!" yelled Kael, exasperated, as he fumed at us.
"It is not like we followed you!" Elio jutted back and I zoned in at how their hands simultaneously gripped at the sparkly bag.
"Let go," Kael raged and Elio placed his other hand on the bag too. "No. I'm taking this. Dude, please. Let us not cause a scene here." -We caused enough scenes already for a day- "Let me ask if there are any other bags-"
"That is the last one from the collection," came a meek voice from behind me. A saleswoman peeked from a rack of lingerie, hesitantly looking between the boys who were fighting for the LV bag in the women's section.
This little piece of information only caused the boys to tug the bag towards them even more, and I was worried that the bag might be strapped off its pearls. "Boys, boys, calm down, please!" I tried to barge in between them.
"Elara," Elio whispered to me from behind me when I came in front of him, "Find a way to distract him."
Distract him? What do you expect me to do? Jump on him again?
Nevertheless, I flailed my hands in front of Kael, who fixed his angry green eyes on me. "Does it have to be this bag? Many others in the store would be better than this! I promise you!"
His grip on the bag tightened. Well, shit.
"Listen, Elios," -he did not just feminize Elio's name to call me that! How rude!- "I want this bag and this bag ONLY. I would've already bought it if you hadn't wasted my time jumping on me like a hooligan earlier!"
"My name is Elara. Also, I apologize again for what happened. But I promised to fix your phone! It does not relate to this! We saw this bag first and we are going to take it!"
"Because of you, I don't know where my girlfriend is. I had just gotten a message from her but before I could read it, you made me drop my phone! I have to leave soon after buying this bag so I can find her in the mall. I have no time for this! You dropped my phone so I reserve the right to have this bag as compensation!"
"Hmph, pray tell which of the laws depict such an absurd thing?" Elio mumbled from behind me.
I bit my lip, trying to think of something else before my eyes lit up devilishly. "Oh, man. I think you forgot to take your SIM card from your phone, didn't you?"
Kael momentarily halted in tugging the bag, making my heart dance a little in victory. "Shit. You. Give me my SIM card. I don't trust you with it."
I rolled my eyes. Of course, he will find a way to round the fault on me especially when I tried to help him. I shrugged indifferently, "You could be more polite, you know. Your phone is in my hands right now. You should watch your words or else I might do something illegal with it."
"Please, Eliora, give me back my phone," he said through gritted teeth and my fingers itched in exasperation.
"Wrong. Call me by my right name."
Kael helplessly looked at Elio and he sighed, "Her name is Elara."
"Right, Elara. Please give me my phone," Kael said, looking physically drained and done. My eyes took in the tight hold he had on the bag once again.
Distraction, huh?
Well, this was the last chance I'd have.
"If you want it, clasp your hands together and beg for it," I laid out, holding his phone from the tip of my fingers.
Kael laughed sarcastically before he squeezed the strap of the bag in opposition, "Clasp my hands and what? Do you think that'll I let go of easily? You cannot outsmart me-"
I prayed for the Gods before squeezing my eyes and dropping his phone right onto the floor.
I heard a squeak and popped open one eye, only to see that Kael had managed to catch his phone that was inches away from the floor, his body almost losing balance as he did so. I let out a deep sigh of relief, thankful that he had saved his phone and my allowance from crashing.
I could not believe that I had to go to extreme lengths to help my best friend.
But all was well since Kael no longer had his hands on the bag Elio wanted.
"I owe you so much," whispered Elio into my ear before he swiftly disappeared with the bag, leaving me to fend for myself. I blocked the path Elio retreated to with my body.
Kael was inspecting his phone with wide, panicked eyes before he vented his spleen loudly, "What the hell were you thinking? How dare you drop it like that? Are you out of your goddamn mind!"
Say something before he realises that both Elio and the bag are gone!
"Sorry, you took too much time! But now, you can take the card from your phone!" I urged enthusiastically and the ugly sneer on Kael's face did not disappear as he extracted his SIM card and memory card from the phone.
"I am so done with today," he mumbled as he passed me his phone and pocketed his cards. My heart beat aloud in dread as he began to face the empty shelf, "Now, all I have to do is to buy-"
Oh no, he has seen it. He will cause chaos again! What will he do if he sees the bag gone?
But he had not cut himself off because he saw the empty shelf. Instead, Kael was looking at something behind me with a dazed expression, looking a little lost and confused with his lips parted in surprise. Kael pushed past me and started towards the exit, his eyes on something that was outside the glass walls of the store.
I curiously followed him, wondering what was wrong and what had garnered his attention.
A giggling couple who was swaying their hands together was passing by the store and heading towards the escalator when Kael rushed behind them and took hold of the girl's hand.
What was he doing?
He spun the girl towards him rashly and they locked eyes. "Natalie?" Kael asked, looking pointedly at her hand that was entangled with her boyfriend.
The girl, Natalie, immediately let go of her boyfriend's hand and hesitantly gave out a broken chuckle, "K-Kael? W-What are you doing here? I thought that I sent you a text saying that we couldn't meet today?"
"I got your message but I couldn't read it since my phone broke at that exact moment. But that is not the problem. If you couldn't meet here today, why are you here and why are you holding hands with him?" Kael interrogated, his hands fisting and jaw clenching.
Oh, so this was the girlfriend he was waiting for?
The boy who was with Natalie stood slightly in front of her in caution, "I am her boyfriend. Who are you? Why are you harassing her?"
Kael let out a humourless scoff, "Is that so? As far as I know, I was her only boyfriend for four months and we were supposed to meet today. Looks like that is not the case."
The other boy looked down at Natalie who sported a freaked-out look, "Natty, what is going on? Did you not break it off with this guy? Maybe he did not get the hint?"
"Uhm...I-" Natalie trailed off, likely lost in making excuses.
Kael shook his head. "We were supposed to go on a date today and here you are, cheating on me with another guy!" He foamed at the mouth as he tried to get onto Natalie's face, his hair falling onto his face in distress, his expression begging her to deny all of it even though the truth was thrown at his face harshly.
Natalie took a deep breath before composing herself and smiled at Kael as if they'd just met in the street on a sunny day, "Babe, this is all a misconception. You know that I would not cheat on you like that!"
The other boy's expression morphed into a mixture of betrayal, hurt and surprise, "What?"
"No, don't take me for a fool, Natalie." Kael huffed and looked at the other boy, "Please take your Natty away. I am done with her."
Just as Kael turned to walk away, Natalie jumped in front of him and clutched his chest, her doe eyes pouting up at his face, "Kael baby. Don't you trust me? I had to take a rain check on our date because I had to show my cousin around the mall. He is new here! He just introduced himself as my boyfriend because he thought you were a stalker or something!"
My eyes searched out for the 'cousin' in question, but the constipated and crushed look he had on his face told me otherwise.
Yeah, I hated cheaters. Especially when I broke up with both of my exes because I had caught them cheating on me. Nobody deserved to get cheated on. I rather you break it off with me first before getting into someone else's pants. Was that hard to do?
I walked up to them in firm strides and stood with Kael with my arms crossed. "Sorry not sorry to butt in, but it is even obvious to these mannequins around that you were cheating on Kael. Please have the decency to accept the plain truth without stringing anyone along."
Natalie turned her glossy eyes and pursed her bright pink lips as she scrutinized me from head to toe. "Kael? Who is this? Don't tell me you came here with her?"
Noticing the jealous glint in her eyes, my hand wrapped around Kael's arm before I could comprehend it. "He was kind enough to politely reject me because he told me that he has a girlfriend, but it appears that I have my chance since the said girlfriend is no more."
Both Kael and Natalie stiffened at my words, both appearing as surprised as ever. I locked eyes with Kael, attempting to hint at him with my stare. His surprise wore off from his face, but he still looked unsure as he cleared his throat and looked away, probably contemplating his options.
I blamed my actions on my extreme hate of cheaters.
But Kael did not attempt to move me or correct my words. I took that as a sign that he was okay with what I was doing.
Apparently, Natalie was not having it.
"No!" she screamed and reached out and pulled me away from Kael. "He is still my boyfriend! We are not breaking up!"
"Natalie," the other boy came in between, looking like the sun in a misty and foggy sky. "Fess up, you are evidently cheating on both of us. I am not your cousin and I will not stay here anymore. This is pathetic and embarrassing." Then he turned back to look at Kael, "I am sorry this happened. Clearly, you got to her first but I was led on in the end. I hope you make the right choice." After that statement, he left towards the first floor, not even sparing a glance at Natalie.
Kael kissed his teeth and looked at Natalie in distress, "Well, Natalie, seems like there is nothing else to talk about. I am breaking up with you and that is final."
"No, you cannot do this to me! I treated you well and gifted you with many things! We are perfect together! I will not have you break up with me!" she screamed and I looked around the area, not wanting to be the centre of attention for the second time in a day.
"Do you have no shame? If we are so perfect together, then why were you hanging off another guy, huh? You cannot still expect me to want you when I caught you guys! I saw you kiss him, Natalie."
Oh? Maybe she did that first when I was focusing on Kael instead?
"K-Kael, no baby, you have it wrong!"
I rolled my eyes, tired of them arguing back and forth. I saw someone trying to catch my attention from the corner of my eye, and I turned my head to see who it was.
Elio was out of the store waving his hand at me, the bag purchased and mouthing the words, "Let's go."
I gave him a slight nod, my heart light with gratefulness that I did not have to witness the former couple's quarrel any longer. I backed away slowly and quietly, gliding across the floor to meet Elio.
Soon after that, we bolted away towards the fire exit and left the mall, our tops clinging to our skin. Elio wiped the sweat from his head, "That was close."
I agreed, "Yeah. What a coincidence to meet Kael again like that. Today was such an unlucky day. I want to go home after you buy me tons of ice cream."
"Yeah, yeah, sure. What was that about anyway?" he asked, referring to Kael and Natalie.
"Kael seemed to have tough luck today. He caught his girlfriend cheating on him."
"That sucks, I know you hate cheaters."
"With a passion. Now, all I have left to do is fix this phone and forget everything that ever happened with Kael."