Chapter 3

I've just walked home and was about to call Rafaela. My phone beeped a sign of a notification, I looked at it was an email. From the one and only, Jane. But it was a new email, not the same one on my phone.

"Hello Dave,

How are you holding up? How's life? Long time no speak.

I am sorry to send you this out of the blues but I just had something I wanted to say to you ..."

I dropped my phone out of the excitement, of course she wants us to get back together! A little late if you ask me but I will take it of course. I hastily got my phone from the floor and continued reading.

" I don't have feelings for you, never have and never will"

Wait what?

"Our time together was great and I had lots of fun but that was it for me, I never planned to live my life with you and you simply wasn't what I wanted, nor good enough for my taste. I am sorry . I hope this gives you closure.

Not yours but nothing else to say ' Yours'

Jane"

To say I was devistated was not even enough, the words felt so... fake. She couldn't say that to me, TO ME..

A lot of people think men don't get emotionally sad and they start to eat icecream and Netflix as a sort of coping. And that's true. I don't eat ice cream in front of Netflix, I eat 3 Big Macs and play some FIFA on my playstation.

After what felt like an eternity, I went to sleep but that didn't come easily. I was just turning around my bed all the time. What Jane said kept running in my mind. Why would she say that? And why would she say after a whole year of our break up? Something gotta be wrong, perhaps she tried to convince herself with what she said to me because she's trying to enjoy her new relationship but she can't because of course she's still in love with me!

Yes, that was the reason behind the email, denial. Now, I feel even more motivated to go after her and tell her I love her back. Yet till, I am not going to go on my own, oh right! Rafaela.

I searched for her number on my phone and dialled.

"Hey, Raf"

"Who's this?"

"It's Dave, of course"

"Are you serious? It's the middle of the night? Mr. Artist doesn't have that 8 to 4 kind of job type but the rest of us do, let me sleep"

Rafaela was the worst person if you woke her up, she cherished her sleep more than anything, one time in high school I woke her earlier than usual and she punched me, like actually punched me.

"Do you think you can take a time off work? A sort of vacation."

"Vacation? Why?"

She sobered up a bit and I felt her moving around. She is fully awake. A miracle.

"Okay, I am just going to be honest with you. I am going to get Jane back, you know Jane my ex? I started dating her in college. Anyways, we dated for so long, seven years but then we broke up. I am still in love with her and she needs to know that before she dive into a new relationship"

Silence.

A lot of silence.

"Raf? You there? Don't tell me that you slept"

"No no, I am awake. And no.

"What's the last no for?"

"I can't go with you."

"What? Why?"

"I can't take time off work."

"Raaaff, I am sure you can arrange something, it will be maximum 10 days, it would be an awesome chance for us to catch up. I am buying the tickets and everything. You just have to come with me. Please, Ben can't go and I sort of don't have any other friends."

"Ugghh, I will try but I am not promising anything."

YES!

"That's the spirit!" I said with too much of an enthusiasm.

"Hey, it's still the middle of the night and I still have to go to work tomorrow, bye." And she hung up.

I slept with a wide smile on my face.

***

We were seated on the airplane. Rafaela and I were on our way to win my love back and I couldn't possibly be happier.

"When will this plane take off? I am starting to get annoyed" Raf said while shuffling in her chair.

"Are you okay?"

" What do you mean?"

"You are afraid of heights." I stated.

"Oh that."

"Oh that?!" I was really surprised. "We skipped two vacations with friends back in college just because the flight is 2 hours long! Only two hours!"

"I don't know but it seems I got over it" she said in a careless way.

"Okay." I didn't know what to say. So I stayed silence.

When the airplane started to move, Rafaela's eyes instantly closed. Her right hand was holding to her stomach and her left hand was about to cut off the fabric of the chair. And the most significant sign that she was afraid or nervous; her nose started to sweat.

If she's afraid why didn't she just say so? I am not going to make fun of her of course. We're friends! I know we still have a lot of catching up to do but we went out a couple of times in these past two weeks. After she agreed to travel with me, we kind of just went back in time. It felt like old days.

I took her left hand and intertwined our fingers. We used to do this when she gets nervous or scared. I kept moving my thumb in her hand to assure her that we are okay.

At first, she didn't move her hands or anything. It seemed like she wasn't even aware of my hand gestures, after a few moments she smiled and let go of my hands.

After that, when the plane was in air and we closed the window, we started just talking.

"So, what will you do when we get there?" Rafaela asked and her voice showed that she was actually curious. "I mean, it's been a long time since you last saw her, what's your move?"

I didn't really have a plan in my mind, and to think about this now was flat stupid.

"Oh my god! You don't have a plan?" Raf said. She then shifted in her seat and her whole body turned to me.

"I didn't think about that part, all I had in mind was to see her and then everything will be alright."

"You have got to be kidding me right now! Of course not! This girl has a BOYFRIEND, a one I am assuming will not just be okay with someone's trying to take their girlfriend."

"I kind of forgot about that"

"How could you possibly forget about that?!"

Of course I didn't know what to say, I was just so into the idea of finding Jane and talking to her that I forgot. I stayed silence.

"No, no. I want to know exactly how you forgot." Then she started laughing. "He forgot". Between her really loud laughs and the giggles she also managed to say. "I can't believe this, what an idiot!" And then continued to laugh even more.

"OKAY FINE! I get that you are enjoying my pathetic and really narrow minded ideas. Now please, could we move on and be productive and think about what are we going to do?"

After staying quiet and looking deep in thought, I got the feeling that she was wrestling between two ways.

"Okay, I think you just have to be honest with her. There's no point in making games or playing with her head. We can go to her as soon as we land if you want."

"Since when did you become all wise and old?" I said with a smile on my face and I know that she was right.

She giggled and said" Always, baby. Now let's get some sleep."

**

"Look how cute they look, they must be going away for a vacation."

"I know, right? Look how they seem so perfect together."

I started to wake up and I was hearing people talking around me, wait? Where was I? Oh the airplane! looks like both Raf and I slept. I focused on the words and do these people actually think that we're a couple?

As I was getting up I kind of understood why they thought that. Rafaela's head was in my shoulder and my head was on top of hers, her hand and arm were on my stomach and with my hand I was holding onto her arm. Looks like we got cosy without noticing.

I started to shift around and my movements made Raf's awake too. Her eyeballs suddenly grew wide and she let go of me.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

"Oh, nothing nothing." She then looked around to register where were we. "Aren't we there yet?"

As she said that, the pilot started speaking signaling that we're about to land.

After landing and getting out of the airplane, we headed straight to the hotel. We had a reservation at a 5 star hotel, that's how I tricked Rafaela to join me. Our rooms were next to each other and after settling in we decided that we don't have to waste anytime.

I went to Jane's house that I got after a hard work and a long conversation with one of her friends. I told Rafaela to come with me, I couldn't just get there on my own. What if she takes me back? What if she doesn't? What will happen if she rejects me? Shall I just leave or try to talk to her more? The possibilities felt endless. I stopped thinking and just rung on the bell.

What happened next I surely didn't expect.

"Hey, how can I help you?" Said a guy who was tall enough to put his arm over my shoulder.

"Yes, I I I am am look lookkk" I stuttered and couldn't finish the sentence. Her new boyfriend surely was a god.

"We're here for Jane, we're old friends. Who are you?" Said Raf. Glad she swooped in instead of me.

"Unfortunately, Jane isn't here at the moment. I am Ricky, Jane's fiancé." He said with a wide smirk.

Hold on? A fiancé?

A fiancé? I am competing with a fiancé? I can't believe this!

I was pacing around in the hotel room, just going back and forth.

"Did you hear him Raf?"

"Yes, I ..."

"Did you hear him the word fiancé? A FIANCÉ! For god's sake, a fiancé. Not a boyfriend, not a lover, not anything but a fiancé."

"Yes yes, I am aware..."

"No no no, you are not aware of anything! I am not here to break up their engagement, break them up when they are just messing around, yeah maybe! but not an engagement!

"You need to calm..."

"I don't need to do anything, I will die alone, won't I? I might as well get a dog and go live in the suburbs. Because no one will ever love me again!"

"Now that's just not true, you will...."

"She broke up with me back then and didn't even give me a chance to win her back, she just vanished. I mean, who does that? I shoukd have fought for her harder, tried to reach her before it's too late. Now I am super late!"

"DAVID EVELYN MARTIN! YOU BETTER SHUT UP AND SIT DOWN FOR A SECOND!"

Horrified was an understatement. She practically screamed at me and at a point I thought she will strangle me. I should have saw that coming after she said my full name. You can never be calm after a full name.

"We just need to think of some way else. We're not here to break up anything. We're only here so you could say what you have to say, so that you'll know that you did your best and what ever comes after, comes."

"No, of course not! I am not here to get my heart broken again, that's for sure. I am here to win her back! What ever way possible."

"You just have to understand that nothing is guaranteed. You can't say with absolute certainty that she will take you back."

"You know what, Raf? I am getting tired and I would love to sleep a bit."

"I am sorry, but did you just kick me out?"

"I said I am tired."

"Fine!" Raf said and slammed the door on her way out.