His Mistakes

"Excuse me... but what are we doing again?", Nate peeked through the menu he was using to hide his face.

"We're just here to keep an eye so that nothing wrong happens with Mika", Grace whispered. 

"And you think these wigs and glasses from drama club are actually helping?", he looked at them trying to disguise but turning out to be really stupid. 

"It was a smart move wasn't it?", Noah was somehow proud of it. 

Nate was out of words. There wasn't anything he could say about Noah being this dumb for the first time. "What happened to you", he sighed. 

"Shhhh", they might not recognise our face but would definitely realise our voice like this", Grace placed her finger on her lip. 

The three of them were sitting two tables away from where Ryan and Mika were. They were just a camera away from being called an actual stalker. 

ONE HOUR AGO:

"I trust her. I don't trust him", Noah told Grace. 

"I get you. But don't worry, she's not some kind of a scared cat who would not stand up for herself", she tried making him understand. 

"It's obvious. I've even seen that from my own eyes", Nate spoke. 

"Seen it?", Grace got confused. 

"Nothing nothing!", he chuckled nervously. 

"I know all of that. Trust me with this", Noah interrupted them. 

Before Grace could say anything she was stopped by the look on Noah's face. He wasn't joking or being stupid. He was sure of what he was doing. 

"Hey dude-", Nate started speaking. 

"Alright", Grace cut him in between. "I was concerned about her anyway", she smiled generously. 

"What?!", Nate yelled. 'Am I the only sane one left here?', he wondered to himself. 

"Good", Noah smiled back. He knew she was able to see it. "Let's go to the drama club first. I need to pick some stuff up", he said. 

"Alright", Nate sighed. "But how do you plan on knowing where she is? Don't tell me we are going to follow them like some creeps", he frowned.

"Oh that won't be a problem", Grace scrolled up on her phone. "We share location on map", she showed them the screen. 

"That's convenient", Noah nodded, "I was just planning on hacking her account", he shrugged like it was some normal stuff to do. 

"Why do you have this location sharing stuff?", Nate asked while all of them were waking to the drama club.

"Well...", Grace looked down being a little shy.

"Hmm?"

"She started doing it because I always use to get lost when we go to crowded places", she spoke in a low and slow voice. She didn't look him in the eye but it was easy to tell her embarrassment. 

Nate chuckled at her. He came behind her and hugged her tight, "ahh how could you be this cute", he sighed. 

"Wha- what?", she was dumbfounded. But still being her, she didn't drive him away. 

"We're here", Noah said as he was trying his best to ignore them. 

PRESENT TIME:

"So, it sure has been a while huh", Mika said as she took a sip of coffee from her cup.

"Yeah", Ryan chuckled. "How's your dating life going on?"

"It can't be more good", she answered formally.

"I see", Ryan replied as he put his cup back on the table. "What about Grace?"

"She's the same Grace. So mind-numbingly stupid but the cutest", she smiled in aw thinking about her. 

"Not surprised", he chuckled. 

While two tables far Grace was pouting on her seat. "What the hell does that mean?", she frowned. 

They talked for like half an hour catching up and chatting. No one could have ever told that this same guy was the most toxic thing in Mika's life.

"What did really happen between these two?", Nate asked while their chit chat was still going on. 

"I can't really say something specific did", Grace looked up imagining. 

"So it was just a fling?", Noah asked, unexpected from him to jump into some conversation like that.

"Oh no. Never a fling. She was head over heels for him", she replied in a sad voice. 

"It didn't go well huh?", Nate wrapped his arm around Grace's to comfort her a little.

"I guess he asked her out casually with no idea of how to take care of a person. I still remember that hard time", she sighed sadly. "It was becoming common for me to see her crying over something he did. The pain in her cry would make my heartache. He was just never there. Always making and breaking promises. Treating her like some toy in front of his friends and always getting into fights. It was endless".

"How did it end up?", Nate asked. Somehow he could feel her pain in just these sentences.

"She reached her limit", Grace took a pause. "She finally stood up for herself and left. I can't imagine how much hard it must have been when she was so in love with him".

"But wasn't she greeting him like some close friend when he came to university first?", Noah asked. 

"Well, a lot had happened since then. He realised his mistakes. She was finally able to be in the same room as her. They somehow got through", Grace took the last sip from her cup.

"So what did you REALLY want to talk about?", Mika came straight to the point. 

"You don't beat around the bush do you?"

"Well you very well know how bad that is", she smirked. 

"Mika...", his voice started becoming sadder and more cracking. "I'm sorry", he got it out. The two words sounded like bags of pain and guilt that one carries for such a long time. "I'm really sorry for everything".

"Apology is accepted", she smiled brightly. "But haven't you done this before too? Why apologising all of a sudden?"

"I...", he took a pause to collect some courage, "I want you back".

"What?", Mika was expecting this.

"WhAt?!?!", Nate whispered loudly on the other side. 

"Ryan, you do know that I'm already dating someone right?", Mika frowned. 

"I know. I know it very well. I just can't change the fact that you were the only one in my life who actually cared about me. After you were gone, all of that was just making no sense", Ryan said in a deep tone. "The friends and group I was proud of were just too shallow. Everything was somehow empty".

"Well I am happy that you know the true faces of people in your life", Mika smiled. "But what does it has to do with me?"

"Mika... I want you back. Please be my girlfriend again! Or not that, just be with me!"

Mika crossed her legs and the smile from her face faded away. She spoke in a serious tone, "I'm not yours to want Ryan".

"YES!", Grace whispered loudly on her table. 

"Why not? Can't you give me one more chance?", he asked like he was expecting yes as an answer. 

"What do you mean? Don't you remember how things were back then?", she frowned. "I had never felt so bad myself like that".

"It was my fault I get it! But I'll be better!", he was almost begging.

"I don't think you get it, Ryan. Just because I forgave you doesn't mean you are the same for me. I don't carry the bitterness of those days, neither do I carry hate for you. But that doesn't mean you have any right on me or my decisions."

"Do you mean you don't feel anything anymore? Was it that easy to move on?"

"No. Neither I have feelings and neither was that time easy. I told you before too, when I leave, I never look back again"

"It's this Noah guy, isn't it?", Ryan asked in arrogance. 

"Whoever it is, it doesn't concern you. Please stop making things complicated Ryan", Mika said as gently as possible.

"What's so good about him that I can't give you Mika?"

"You are being unreasonable. I think you need to cool your head off."

"No tell me!", he was starting to snap out. "What's so good about him that you're ready to go with him but me?"

"That's it, Ryan. I'm leaving", Mika packed her phone in her bag. "I can't talk to you like this"

"Yeah, sure! Like you leaving me is something new. If your feelings were that shallow then why were you with me in the first place?!", he was almost yelling. 

Mika has had enough. Once again Ryan had triggered her limit of tolerance. "You really want to know!? Then listen here! I gave you every chance I could but you just kept destroying it! I gave my all to you at that time! Every time you hurt me I gave you another chance. I was crying because of you but I still gave you a chance. You treated me like shit and I gave you a chance." She took a pause and sighed deeply. 

Ryan wanted to say something but he didn't have any argument against it. "I'm out of chances. And to be honest I don't like you even the least bit! I have a boyfriend and I'm crazy about him. I have a new love blossoming in my life. HE is the one I'm with!"

"Mika...", he tried saying something before she cut him off. 

"I'm leaving", she got up. 

"Mika listen to me!", Ryan wasn't giving up. He grabbed her hand tightly with all his force.

"Let go", she stood there with a serious look towards him. 

"Listen!"

"No, I'm going", she tried getting up. 

At that moment he lost it.

He pulled her with all his force making her fall on the chair and hitting her shoulder with the edge of the wooden chair. "I said listen to me!", was all he got out.

A cry left out Mika's mouth. She hit her shoulder hard. 

Noah, on the other hand, was burning with rage, His eyes were filled with anger as if he could kill anyone in front of him. 

As soon he was about to get up Grace grabbed his hand. She looked into her eyes and shook her head, telling him to let her handle it. 

It was a ghost quiet silence for some time. Ryan was apologising telling her how she wasn't listening. But Mika unheard it. She quietly got up, not uttering a single word. She turned to Ryan.

Her steps approached him as he stood still hoping she would forget about this. But no, he was wrong. 

She came as close as she could and this time, did what was right.