"Oh my god, Naruto.." I picked up the phone call from my best friend and this was how she greeted me. I had my shoulder raised and pressed against my phone to support it against my ear so that I could have both my hands to wash up the cups in the sink.
It was now nearing 4pm and the crowd in my cafe has started to now die down.
I only started my shift at 12 because the coffee beans stock only would arrive at 11 in the morning. And it was overwhelmingly busy as half our staff had to arrange and check the stocks to make sure everything was accounted for and the remaining half would be serving up the lunch crowd.
We usually do this every end of the month.
But Sasuke had to go and purchase a month's worth of coffee beans..
I was reluctant to even sell it at first but hearing that the profit increased by thrice the amount, and my boss immediately agreed to it over the phone.
"What's wrong?" I asked, continuing to scrub the cups clean from the inside out.
"Answer me truthfully first, did you and Sasuke have a big fight over the situation yesterday?"
"No, why?" I raised my eyebrow, confused by that question.
Did Sasuke say something to her during their meeting?
I was aware that ARX Bank would be employing Sakura for some project as Sasuke filled me in on the way home yesterday.
Sakura also announced the good news of the huge project last night after I got home, but was puzzled at my lack of reaction.
"Oh, that's weird.. Well.. Sasuke joined us for lunch and he was being sarcastic to a female colleague of mine who kept bugging him throughout lunch. It was odd, because she.. has a boyfriend." I listened to Sakura carefully, but I was unsure with where this was going.
With Sasuke's name being mentioned, everything becomes so unexpected.
Because this man is unpredictable.
What makes it worse is that, I can't ever read him and what he's thinking about.
"... he managed to silence her by telling her not to speak while eating if not she'll choke. I almost burst out laughing!" I realised I had drifted off into my head half way through her explanation.
"So.. after lunch, I was looking for In- ..m-my colleague as she doesn't own a car and need a ride back to office after lunch. And you'll never guess what happened!"
"What?" I was still uncertain of what to expect and where this was leading. I dried my hands on my apron, walking over to the racks to place the clean cups down as I anticipated her response.
"It's most likely a joke, but.. I witnessed Sasuke asking that same female colleague if she was single in private after the lunch-" The rest of her voice dissolved, blending into the background chatter. My feet halted in place, my eyes blinking a couple of times as my mind processed what she said. I felt confused, my heart subtly dropping into my stomach.
"Tha-that's good to hear. He's finally moving on!" I faked a laugh, and continued to move towards the rack again but the cups slipped from my fingers before I could place them back onto the rack.
"Naruto?! Are you alrig-" She panicked, hearing the shattering of the cups.
"Crap! Sakura, I-I'll have to ring you back." I quickly ended the call before she could finish her words. I sighed out loud, shoving my phone into the back pocket of my skinny jeans, picking up the broken ceramic pieces on the ground.
"I'll do it, don't come near. It's dangerous." I instructed my team not to help me as they rush over upon hearing the noise. I flashed them a reassuring wide smile, but that heavy smile took an unusual amount of effort to form across my face.
Turning back to the ceramic fragments on the ground, I once again couldn't focus properly.
My best friend's words replayed in my head again. It didn't make sense to me.
Sasuke.. asking someone if she's single?
That doesn't sound very like him.
There must be some sort of a misunderstanding, right?
But I couldn't come up with any excuses realistic enough to assure the heaviness in my heart.
But why am I feeling this way?
He's my ex after all..
We're not together so he can date whoever he wants.. It shouldn't be any of my concern.
I swept the remaining tiny pieces and dump them in the trash bag. I decided to clear the trash bin, worried that the ceramic shards would tear through the material and hurting one of my team members.
I left through the kitchen's back door to the alleyway where the dumpsters were. My brain was definitely not cooperating with me as images flashed vividly in my head of running into Sasuke's arms right here after I learning that Sai cheated on me.
What was that, then?
All that talking about not letting me go..
I tossed the trash bag into the dumpster. The more I thought about it, the more frustrated I got.
I decided to stay out here for a while more to get some fresh air and grabbed my phone from my back pocket. I unlocked it and realised I had a text from Sasuke about two hours ago.
2:55PM - "Having my lunch now. What did you have?"
He also sent a picture of his lunch, that seemed to an expensive plate of seafood pasta.
How could he act like everything is normal?
If he's moving on, the least he could do was tell me. I mean.. we're still friends, right?
Damn, I felt this feeling way too many times recently. And I hate it. That miserable feeling of betrayal creeping up on me.
But.. Why do I feel betrayed?
I'm not being logical or rational.
But it sucks so bad to know the truth from somebody else.
Just then, for a second he reminded me of Sai.
I closed the register after making sure the cash tallied according to paper. It was finally the end of a long day, I can't wait to get home and wrap myself in my sheets.
I was exhausted both mentally and physically.
No matter how busy I was, my mind kept wandering back to Sasuke and all the questions I had.
It was almost impossible to distract myself from any lingering thoughts about him.
It was extremely tiring to keep pulling myself away from the haunting thoughts of him.
It almost felt similar to the months after we had broken up and I had to painfully adapt living life without Sasuke, where I had to keep running away from any trace of him I had in my mind.
It was too sudden, without any warning signs to mentally prepare myself for impact.
He just dropped me a text and disappeared.
It was that easy for him.
While I was locking the doors to the cafe, someone honked gently at me but I was caught so off guard, I dropped my keys as I jumped. I could hear the driver roll down his windows as I reached down to get my keys and shoved them into my bag.
"Did I scare you?" A familiar voice called out to me.
Crap, it can't be..
He was the last person I want to see right now.
I stood up and turned around slowly, my trembling hands clenching the strap of my bag tightly.
"Why are you here?" I questioned, trying to seem normal.
He arched one of his eyebrow, "I told you I'd drive you home. Did you forget?" He leaned out of his car window, his arm resting on the window ledge.
Dammit. I totally forgot about that!
It took a few seconds to decide what I should do next. I shouldn't be so bothered about this.
If he's moving on, I should be supportive of him.. I.. I just have to play it cool.
I reluctantly dragged myself into the car, shutting the door. "Gosh, I'm tired!" I laid back to rest my head, pretending to yawn as I closed my eyes.
I can't look at him.
He'll look right through my pretence.
He's too good at seeing right through me.
"Are you unwell? You don't look too good." His hand reached out to me, and I could feel his warm touch my forehead. I instinctively withdrew myself further away from him and closer to the car's door.
I fidgeted in my seat nervously. "H-how was your day at Sakura's office?" I decided to switch the topic. With my head still tilted back to the headrest, my eyes peeped open at him.
There were a few seconds of silence before he shifted his gear and started to drive.
"Nothing special."
I clenched my teeth, painfully forcing a small laugh before changing the subject again.
Hearing the answer, I was even more disappointed in him.
He failed to answer truthfully.
Don't I deserve the truth?
After all he did to me, shouldn't I know the truth this time if he decides to vanish from my life again?
That thought ached my heavy heart as I clenched my teeth.
I turned my face away from him and towards the window, but even with my eyes closed I was not confident enough that I'll be able to hold myself together.
I..
I don't want him to disappear from my life again.