"Do you really need to have all of those softwares installed?" When I agreed to drive Axel to the mall, I thought that we would be done in no time. He would buy his laptop, and we'll be back at the condo before lunchtime.
That didn't happen. Aside from the heavy traffic, Axel decided to buy all those software and games and have it installed on the store. It would take at least an hour before it's done.
It's not like I was in a hurry. Well, Damien did call and said that our lock ran out of battery, but didn't sound worried at all. He told me to take our time.
"Why couldn't you just install it at your place?" I complained as we look for a place to eat.
"I could've, but then we wouldn't have this opportunity to hang out and have fun." He replied with a sheepish grin.
"Yay. This is so fun." I said as sarcastic as I could.
"What do you want to eat?"
Ha! Ignoring my irritation, are you? "Anything is fine with me."
"Anything...?" He chuckled. "My ex-girlfriend always answer the same thing every time I ask her where she wants to eat. I'm not falling for that. If I pick something I want, and you don't like it, you'll just get sulky and nag me."
"Huh? Why are you comparing me to your ex? I'm not a girl." I complained.
"Just pick something." Axel insisted.
"Just choose what you want, I can eat anything."
"It's not about what you can eat, it's about what you want to eat."
Why is he being so stubborn? I give up. "Lechon and paella."
"Great. Let's eat." He said with a smile.
Axel chose the restaurant and ordered the food for the both of us. I hate the fact that he had taken control of the whole thing, and I hate the fact that I was letting him take the lead.
We were waiting for our food when a couple sat down on the table across ours. "Shit..." Of all times and places, why now, why here? The only consolation I had was the fact that the guy had his back turned on me.
"What?" Axel asked as he turned his head. "Do you know them? Your ex-girlfriend?"
"The guy used to be my friend." Telling Axel right away was way better than him bothering me the whole time for answers.
"Used to? You're not friends anymore? What happened?" I don't get why Axel has a certain fondness in meddling with someone else business.
"Let's not talk about it." Frankly, that topic was still a sore spot for me. It was a painful memory, and I would be lying if I say that it didn't bother me anymore.
I would eventually get over it, but not anytime soon.
"If you say so." Axel complied, quite surprisingly.
Our order came and I tried my best to ignore the other table, but it was really bothering me.
"What's his name?" Axel asked. I should've known that he wouldn't let go of the issue that easily.
"What? I just said, I don't want to talk about it."
"You didn't want to talk about it, but you kept staring." Axel added. "You haven't even touched the food, and you're the one who wanted to eat all these." He was right, ever since that couple came in, I became preoccupied. "If you don't want to talk about him, just eat." He said as he filled my plate with food.
I looked at Axel, and he had that smile on his face. He had filled my plate with all the good stuff; lechon skin, seafood from the paella, and meaty crab claw. Is he trying to cheer me up?
He might be nosy at times, but Axel is surprisingly thoughtful. Together with his good looks, and amazingly great scent, that thoughtfulness of his would surely make him popular with the girls. Why am I even thinking about this? I must be crazy.
Axel begun talking enthusiastically about his love of games, he was so passionate about it that it became engaging after a few minutes. Surprising enough, he actually helped me get my mind off that old friend of mine.
Axel had to go to the restroom at one point, the restaurant's toilet was out of order so he had to go out and use the mall's. I was busy fiddling with my phone that I didn't notice someone approaching our table.
"Clark...?" I still know that voice very well. Seeing after a while made me sad, but hearing him call my name made me mad. I can't believe that I acted when I saw him. I almost forgot how I hated this punk!
"You got the wrong person." I looked at him with a blank expression.
"What do you mean 'wrong person'? It's you." He insisted with an awkward chuckle. "How have you been?"
Wow, what a shameless guy! Fuck you! "Can you stop bothering, please?" You're the one who wanted to cut ties! Why are you approaching me now, bastard?! "Just go back to your date."
"She went to the restroom."
So what?
"What about you, who are you with?"
"It's really none of your concern." I told him as coldly as I can. Why is he trying to talk to me? It's really bothersome.
"You're so cold, are you still angry at me?"
Can I punch you right now?
"I know that I must've hurt you, but there's no choice. I didn't want you to continue misunderstanding..."
"Stop it." I told him with sharp eyes. "If you have nothing else to say, just leave."
"Clark, can't we be friends again?" My blood boiled at his suggestion. How dare he say that? He's the one who ended our friendship, he can't bring it back whenever he wants to. It's not a light bulb that you can turn on or off anytime he wants.
"We could've stayed friends before, but you chose to end it." Because you care too much what everyone would say, because you're a coward? "There's no use with us being friends again, I'm way over it." I don't need someone who would throw me away without a second thought. I was clenching my fist to stop my anger from bursting out.
"That..."
"Why don't you give up, dude?" Axel suddenly appeared. "Clark obviously doesn't want to talk to you anymore.
"Is he your new...?" That bastard asked me, ignoring Axel.
"It's none of your business." I told him.
"Can you please leave? You've upset Clark enough." Axel glared at him. All day I've been complaining about Axel, who knew that he would end up being my savior.
"There's still something I need to say to Clark."
"He has nothing to say to you, though." Axel replied arrogantly. "Just go back to your table, your date might come back soon." Axel added. "Go..."
"I'll see you around, Clark." That bastard told me with a smile. How dare he smile at me?!
"Don't count on it." Axel told him sharply. "It's better that way." Axel added before sitting down.
After our lunch, as we walked back to pick up Axel's laptop, he made a small comment that made me feel a lot better. "That guy is a jerk. Good thing you're not friends anymore, you're way too good for him." Axel said in passing.
I made sure to hide my smile from him, it was just too embarrassing.
Every time that bastard is near me, I would feel so small, so useless, that I lose my courage. I couldn't properly fight back, or push him away. Whenever he is near, I feel so insignificant, after all, if I am someone of importance, he would never throw me away.
Not only did Axel stood up against that bastard for me, he also made me feel a lot better about myself. That's why I am really grateful that he is by my side at that very moment.
As Axel picked up his laptop, I got a text from Damien. Apparently, they were locked inside Teo's room, they tried everything but they couldn't open the door. He didn't want to break the door, so they'll just wait for us to open it from the outside.
For someone in an emergency situation, Damien doesn't seem fazed at all. In fact, I couldn't help but think that he doesn't mind being locked in there with Teo. Why else would he tell me to 'take my time with Axel' rather than 'hurry up and rescue us.'?
If anything, Damien was making it seem that he's glad that they were locked in there.
Well, I'm really not surprised.
"Are you all done?" I asked when Axel walked out of the store.
"Yeah. Do you want to go somewhere else?" He asked.
"We need to go back. Damien and Teo got locked inside Teo's room."
"Really?" Axel's reaction was totally odd. He didn't seem worried at all; he looked quite excited, in fact. "I mean, that sounds bad..." He tried to change his tone, but I could still him trying to hide his smirk.
"Your friend just got locked in his room, why don't you seem worried?" I asked as we walked.
"What are you talking about? I am worried..." He replied defensively.
"Really? Then why are you slowing down?" I turned back to him with a raised eyebrow as he lagged behind me.
"I just texted Teo, he said they're fine. They're watching a movie. No need to worry." Why do I feel like he's lying? "Damien texted you, right? What did he say?" He changed the subject as he caught up to me.
"Nothing much; just that they're locked in Teo's room and we need to help them get out of there once we got back." I sighed, "He said that we should take our time."
"He doesn't seem like he's in a hurry to get out of there." Axel said with a smirk.
"And you seem too happy about this situation."
"Whaaat??? That's crazy talk..." Axel replied defensively as he held back a chuckle. "They've been apart, for more than a year, because of really bad misunderstanding. This is the perfect situation for them to catch up. Don't you think so?"
"You have a point..." Albeit, quite a twisted one. "Still, we should help them."
"Of course." He smiled. "Let's take our time, though."
The traffic was really bad, on our way back to the condo. Teo and Damien would have to wait a little bit longer.
"Thank you." Axel said as I drove my car. "For helping me out today. I would totally get lost without you."
"Don't mention it. I still owe you for helping me out with the banner." I should probably thank him too, for helping me out with that bastard. "Back at the restaurant... umm... thank you... Nelson, that bastard, is really persistent."
"So his name is Nelson..."
"Shit..." I whispered.
"Don't worry. I won't pry any further." Axel said with a chuckle.
That seemed very unlike him, though, I'm glad about it.
It's weird, I wouldn't have minded if he asked about Nelson any further. I would hate talking about that bastard otherwise. If I told Axel everything, he would sympathize with me, he's a good kid, so I was sure he would.
I would like it if he did.
We got back to the condo, and I noticed that Axel had a wide smile. Was it because of his new toy or the situation that Damien and Teo were in? I'm not totally sure.
There's only one thing that I am sure about, though; his smile is beautiful.
He's even more handsome when smiling. I didn't want to say anything, but even back at the mall, Axel would turn heads while we walk.
It's not surprising, since he's really attractive. Shit, what am I thinking?
I checked our lock as we passed by, and it was working perfectly fine. Why did Damien say that it was broken, then? Did it really malfunction or did he make it up? There's no reason for him to make it up, though...
We got to their unit and Axel found the key to Teo's room. It was quite surprising what we saw, when we finally opened the door.
Damien had his back on the headboard of the bed while Teo's head was resting on his lap. It could've been an innocent sight, but Damien was squeezing Teo's cheeks with one hand, making Teo's lips pout, as he leaned down with a smile.
"What the...?" I thought that Axel was mad, but he was grinning.