VII

The chaotic evening was making its way as the office hours were finally over. Impatient honking and flickering headlights of the car, painted the roads as the only expression which was evident on the face of the drivers was restlessness. The afternoon sun was also hiding into it's blank of clouds, hoping to get some rest, before it again had to come out and provide its services the next morning. The sun bid farewell in a grand way by spreading it's color over the blue sky, turning it crimson.

Sasha stared at Aiden with shock evident on her face. His words seemed undecipherable and her brain seemed to be unaware of the process of decoding them. Her cheeks copied the sky and her brown orbs stood frozen to it's spot, as her eyelids refused to close. Aiden stared at Sasha as well, slightly puzzled by her glued reaction. His words repeated inside his head as he got an idea of the glitch. He moved his hands in a frantic gesture to clear the misunderstanding.

"That's not what I meant! I was referring if we could be friends?" He said moving his hands in explaining gestures.

A stabbing pain hit Sasha as he declared the boundary. She was well aware that this boundary was forbidden for her to cross. There was a limit to everything and this was her limit. No matter how hard she tried, the only thing she would get in return is failure and distress. A little hope in her, however, still existed, that an unexplainable and marvelous supernatural force would help her overcome this and cross the line that was set so strictly.

"Yeah I understand...I was just a little taken aback" Sasha replied in a small voice.

"Great...so what do you think?" Aiden asked.

"Think of what?" Sasha asked feeling confused making Aiden huff in annoyance.

"About being friends." Aiden said as if it was obvious.

Sasha looked at him intently, printing each and every action he took in a matter of seconds into her brain. Her gaze was analyzing. She noted how he pushed his black hair to the back with his veiny hands every other second and how that would make his forehead appear bigger. She observed how his face crinkled every time he put it for a stretch, how his philtrum would flatten when he bought in his peach lips into a straight line and bit them. His brown orbs had nothing but superior confidence which made everyone around him feel smaller.

"I will think about it..." Sasha replied quietly looking away towards the big window they sat beside.

Her eyes set upon the sunset which seemed sleepy and was almost falling into the embrace of the loving clouds, unlike her who had no loving embrace to hold her, just her cold hands. Her brown irises became more outlined as light from the streets shone upon it. Aiden raised an eyebrow slightly puzzled by her response.

"Think about it? What is there to think about?" He asked. His voice portraying clear annoyance and his face replicating it by furrowing his eyebrows.

Sasha looked at him to be met with his daunting expression. He found her response unnecessary and his facial expressions made it clear. She tilted her head and spoke to him in a stern voice.

"Whether or not I would like to be friends with a guy who did nothing but insult me for four years" She taunted.

A look of realization flushed over his face as he understood where she was coming from. Externally he gave a look of discomfort but internally this whole matter seemed very unnecessary to him. It was a complete waste of time in his opinion to hold onto something which had passed by and this is a trait of her that irritated him to no end, she remembers every small detail. But he knew he was in no position to lecture her. Afterall they just began to speak. Sasha once again looked at him with a scrutinizing stare and she knew exactly what he was thinking.

"It may seem unnecessary to you but I believe I should be granted some time before I make this decision. Cause what you did was unnecessary as well" Sasha declared sternly.

Suddenly, Aiden scoffed.

"Only if you knew" He said looking at her with a mocking smirk

"Excuse me?" Sasha asked suddenly

"Well that's a talk for another day" He said intentionally bothering her.

A wave of curiosity took over but she decided not to push it, that would further give him satisfaction. She was never someone to get things out of another forcefully until and unless it was something she knew the person wanted to inform. In case of him, she was well aware of his disinterest to go into a deep conversation with her.

Their order soon arrived cutting the tension between them. They dug into the alluring meal. They did not speak much as they enjoyed the meal and the silence that came as a complement with it. They were soon done with the food and then suddenly Aiden spoke taking Sasha's attention.

"So you're majoring in?" Aiden asked raising an eyebrow.

Sasha felt hurt knowing that she knew every information about him but he had no idea what she was majoring in.

"Economics.." She replied in a small voice.

An expression portraying how impressed he was took over his features as he said.

"As expected from the smart kid" He spoke with a chuckle making Sasha smile too.

"What about you?" Sasha asked, despite knowing it. She did not want to bring any discomfort into the conversation, so she just went with the flow.

"I am studying marketing actually" He said with a slightly excited voice

Sasha nodded with a small smile as her eyes travelled to the wall clock. It was almost half past the six. She sighed and looked at Aiden.

"I should be leaving. It's almost six-thirty" Sasha informed making Aiden nod in understanding.

"Okay. Thank you for coming I guess..." He said ending the sentence with an akward tone.

"Your welcome. Thank you for the meal, really appreciate it" Sasha said standing up, gathering her things.

"Don't bother" Aiden said waving her off.

"Bye." Sasha said as she began to walk past him.

"Wait!" Aiden suddenly called out for her, making her turn her heels to him.

"Yes?" Sasha asked

"Want me to drop you off? I bought my car.." Aiden offered

Sasha looked at him with a hit of surprise and his gentlemanly gesture. She was not very used to this side of him. The only behavior she had seen of him for the past few years were him degrading her and she had grown somewhat accustomed to it. So this new behavior seemed like an odd number in the crowd of even.

"Uh no it's fine. Thank you for the offer though" Sasha said politely declining.

She might be longing for him but comfort comes before any desire. If sitting at an huge café with a good distance made her feel this suffocated, getting into a car with closed windows didn't seem like a very good option. Discomfort still existed within her and she preferred to stay away from it until it fades away itself.

"You sure? I mean your house seems far from here" Aiden said

"Uh yeah I am. Plus my mom wouldn't be too happy to see you" Sasha said stating an obvious fact. This made Aiden's face scrunch up as a memory flashed through his mind.

"Yeah....Your mom. She is indeed a handful" Aiden said chuckling as he remembered her activities back when he and Sasha were together.

Sasha just gave an awkward smile and said.

"Bye then I guess" She said

"Yeah see you around" Aiden replied

With that without exchanging another word she walked out. The roads were still busy and people were coming out of their offices, their attires screaming proffesionalism.

Sasha soon reached an area by the park where few girls and boys around her age were fooling around. She looked at the huge group of people and wandered how they were able to maintain such a good relationship with each and every one. It takes a lot of effort for her to maintain even five people, let alone such a huge group.

'Disadvantages of being an introvert' She thought to herself sighing.

Throughout her walk, the only thing lingering in her mind, making its way past her brain were the moments from the café. How much of a gentleman he was for the first the first time. It felt nice to finally have a civil conversation with him, a direct one. Not any indirect insulting.

Night had fallen as the stars twinkled in the dark blue sky, and Sasha reached her home just in time. The rest of the night, she couldn't contain her excitement for the next day. She was impatiently waiting.

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

The next day Sasha entered the university with a brightened mood. For the first time in her two years, that she actually put an effort into her outfit. She was wearing a pair of blue ripped jeans coupled by a black sleeveless top, which was high by the collar. She had put light makeup and wore a pair of sneakers to top it all.

As usual, going in through the crowd, the first thing she spotted was Noelle and Aaron. Aaron seemed to quietly stand with a sheepish smile on his face while Noelle looked like she was narrating a series of curse words at him. Sasha went forward with a smile on her face.

"Your such an idi-" Noelle was cut off from giving out another rant of hers

"How come every morning the first thing I come and see is you screaming at him?" Sasha said smiling.

Noelle looked at Sasha with annoyance visible on her face. Sasha looked at Aaron who just gave a sheepish smile to her and looked which she returned.

"He is just so annoying!" Noelle snapped

Sasha just smiled and looked down to her feet chuckling.

"He always has been to you" Sasha answered making Noelle roll her eyes

"You look good today!" Noelle exclaimed eyeing her outfit.

"Thanks..." Sasha said fiddling with her fingers as a small blush crept upon her face which she attempted to hide. She hoped it was good enough to impress.

She looked and her eyes wandered around the place. Suddenly her eyes fell upon a certain table where two figures were sitting. She squinted her eyes a little, to clear her assumption. They were right.

Suddenly everything seemed useless. Every effort she put in, felt unnecessary as she felt her attempt to look good in vain and heard her heart break. On the table were two people talking to each other very interestedly, breaking her heart into two. It was..

Aiden and Nicole were conversing with each other very intently.