Surprise invitation

"Wo-hoo! It's finally done!" Betty shouted in the cafeteria from excitement.

"Shhh!! Jesus! Can you stop screaming everytime we meet in cafeteria. Look, everyone is now watching us." Ayana shushed Betty feeling embarrassed and covered her face spontaneously.

"Hmm? Since when did you became such an introvert? Don't you remember the time in mall when you-"

"Okay! Okay! Fine. Will you please pipe it down already?! Why don't you tell me about that thing you've typing on phone since the lunchbreak started. It's quite bothering me." She said with eyes flickering sideways and a finger on her lips begging to be quiet.

"Tch! Fine. But I won't tell what I was doing on my phone. You'll find out soon." She clicked her tongue after putting her phone back in the pocket.

"But why? Is something the matter?" Ayana glanced at her out of concern but Betty smirked teasingly as response.

"Hmm, maybe. You'll know pretty soon."

*Ting!

"Oh shoot! It seems I gotta now. See ya!" Betty immediately jumped off her seat upon receiving a notification and left with a mischievous smile at the end.

"Hey wait!...and now I am left all alone. Sigh." Ayana was left speechless over Betty's excitement. Could it be she got a boyfriend? Ayana guessed, but for strange reasons a mixed feelings emerged in her heart. She felt happy for her friend but just the word 'love' made her heart ache from betrayal.

-------

Days passed by and workload on Ayana increased as the appointed meeting with the advertising company kept getting delayed from their side. Not only they were lacking on staff, but they also lacked proper guidance since their boss was too busy nitpicking over small matters.

It was fifteenth of December and Friday. Exactly two weeks had been passed since Ayana's breakup. Even though she worked like a slave on these exhausting eight weekdays, on a positive note, she didn't got the chance to overstress over her ex.

She crossed paths occasionally with Jake, but he ignored her as if she didn't exists. Seeing him act like this, rather encouraged Ayana to get over him and she gradually began hating him. Never once in her life did she thought her lifelong crush would be such a horrible person.

The feelings could've been neutral but recently even her colleagues started to look at her with an awkward gaze. As if the workspace wasn't negative enough, the absence of Betty in cafeteria since that day made her even more anxious.

Everything was turning south. And to make her feel even worse, the bad omen of thick black clouds were covering the sky drastically. The history was repeating itself. And seeing the turn of events today, she feared something really bad might happen to her today.

She managed to finish her today's chores and ride back to her home safely. She refreshed herself and prepared her special Latte with sprinkled cocoa powder on it, waiting for snowfall while sitting next to her window.

As she stared blankly, suddenly a small notification interrupted her daze. She almost flinched from alarming sound on such a short notice but managed to handle her cup of coffee well.

'MEET ME AT 6 PM, DELICIA CAFÉ ʕ ꈍᴥꈍʔ/'

It was a message from Betty. Which looked very sus.

"Not again." Ayana sighed upon the nostalgic feeling for recieving sudden invitation that day. Thankfully it wasn't a party, but rather a cafe hangout, which looked quite expensive from it's name.

'BUT WHY?'

Ayana texted and waited for sometime. Her user was still showing active but apparently there still wasn't any text from her.

"So that's how it's gonna be huh? Fine, even I'll stay here until she doesn't reply." Ayana pouted irritably.

Time flew by, and only ten minutes were left for six o'clock, yet Betty hadn't replied even once.

"Just look at her confidence. How can she expect me to come over when she ignored me completely for two weeks!" She complained.

She was very angry upon Betty's betrayal, especially in the time when she needed her support the most. But even so, a small spot in her heart wished to see her today.

Maybe she too was very busy with her work. Since the head directors and other higher ups arrived in this branch, many couldn't help but complete their task which had been piling up for a long time. Unfortunately, Betty was a tardy person unlike Ayana so it made sense for her to be in a rush hour now.

But couldn't she atleast meet her on break time occasionally? Ayana noticed it absurd, as it wasn't like her. Could it be that's related to today's meeting?

Ayana jolted on her place upon sudden realisation and immediately rushed to her closet to clothe.

"F**k!! Why didn't I realised it sooner?!! I am already so late!" She cursed as she got ready to leave in her car.

She fixed her hair bun in rear view mirror and checked her outfit for one last time.

A loose grey hoodie upon sky blue jeans suited perfect for the casual meet. She had her orange tint on her lips and a slim bracelet on her wrist to give an aesthetic look.

"I look like Eric today." She complimented herself recalling the joyful evening that day. It was nice meeting such a nice person, but there were still many doubts which lingered in her mind.

It was quite hard to believe the man who helped her last night and the man she chatted next day were the same. Their personality looked almost contrasting to each other. Maybe it was because of their getup that day that Ayana felt unsure of his true nature.

"Well, it's not like I'm gonna meet him anyway. Coincidence occurs rarely afterall." She said while searching the location on internet.

'.....KM ; 1 HOUR 14 MINUTES.'

Ayana's eyes widened from shock as she was extremely late by now. She immediately send a message to Betty and asked her if they could meet some other time.

It turns out, Betty was already active on her phone, as if she was waiting for her response. Her status changed to typing which remained for quite a while.

"Just what on earth is she typing for so long?!" Ayana's anxiety grew from suspense and finally the message popped up on her phone.

'SERIOUSLY?! EVEN THO I TOLD U SO EARLY, YOU ARE LEAVING NOW?! UGH! I SHOULD'VE SEEN THIS COMING [facepalm emoji] '

'NOW THAT YOU'RE DRESSED ANYWAY, COME TO THE RESTAURANT IN THE SAME LOCATION. I'LL C U THERE' Betty ended her text and abruptly went offline.

"This bi-!..just you wait. I'll come and take full refund for everything you've done to me till now Betty. Just you wait." Ayana clenched her jaw from frustration as she read her message.

She pressed the peddle hard to hit the road and grumbled non-stop on her way.