TEN

 "Nicholas is on his way here."

 Andrew raised his brows then placed his hands on the table between him and Lana, watching her keenly.

 "On his way? Here?"

 "Yes," she took a noisy sip of her coffee and folded her arms, glancing at the time to mentally calculate how much longer it was going to take him to arrive. "Here."

 Their phone call from earlier barely lasted a minute. It was short, both parties going straight to the point- Nicholas expressing his surprise at her initial cheerfulness, Lana dismissing it and asking him why he actually called her and eventually, Nicholas offering to meet up with her at school.

 "Why?" she had only spent less than five minutes with him so Andrew wasn't thrilled at the thought of someone new joining them. Especially someone he wasn't particularly a fan of. "Why is he meeting you? What else do you both need to talk about?"

 "I'm not sure exactly," her lips twitched. "But we still have a lot to plan and talk about, don't we? Alexander and i- I haven't gotten my revenge yet. And Nicholas is the only person that can help me plan that right now."

 "More like the only person you sought," he replied her in a low tone, immediately snatching her cup of coffee from her to finish the content. "Anyways, it's good he's coming here. I should finally meet him and have a word with him."

 "Please you sound like an old man," Lana laughed. "Tell me, Drew, what 'word' do you want to have with him?"

 He could have replied her right at that moment and once again remind her of how Nicholas seemed suspicious to him. but before he could dive into it, the door to the café let out a jingle, both their heads turning to watch Nicholas walk in.

 "You're about to find out," Andrew cleared his throat and adjusted the collar to his checkered shirt, suddenly wishing he went with a plain shirt or at least a blazer that looked at least tad similar to Nicholas. "Just you watch."

 Mirroring his actions, Lana adjusted her dress, Andrew immediately irked. He watched her move in her seat, obviously making room for Nicholas to sit as she wiped it with a tissue.

 "Do you want to get a new coffee?" he asked, reaching for his bag by his side. "Should I get you a new one?"

 "No," she barely looked at him. "I'm fine."

 "Okay then," he smiled then tossed his bag into the empty space next to her. "Ah, here he is."

 "Lana," Nicholas arrived just on cue, his eyes on Lana then Andrew. He looked at her, the bag next to her and then Andrew again, Andrew gesturing at him to take the seat next to him. "I didn't know you had company."

 "Well I was on my way to college when you called," she replied him awkwardly. "Right, you two haven't met. Um, this is Drew- Andrew, my closest friend."

 The two men stared at each other for good ten seconds, Nicholas eventually backing out of the staring contest by stretching his hand towards Andrew for a shake. Adjusting his collar once again, Andrew rose to his feet, glad at their similar heights and then took his hand, returning to his seat before Nicholas did the same.

 "So-"

 "You seemed excited earlier this morning," Nicholas spoke up, interrupting Andrew. "I almost thought you were really excited to hear my voice."

 "This morning?"

 "Oh, Alexander was there," Lana laughed lightly, Nicholas nodding, Andrew more confused. "He saw that you called. That's why I reacted that way."

 "Did something happen between you two this morning?"

 "So did you get a reaction from him?" Andrew was beginning to feel invisible as once again, Nicholas interrupted him to say. "Me calling. You picking it up with so much enthusiasm- did Alexander react to any of that?"

 "I'm not so sure but I guess," Lana bit her lip. "We had a bit of an encounter so it was hard to know if any reaction I could have gotten from him was because of that or you calling."

 "What encounter?" Nicholas folded his arms, his ears immediately itching to hear the details. "Did you two have an argument?"

 "Actually-"

 "Why are you curious?" Andrew finally spoke up, his voice loud enough to overshadow Lana's easily. His question wasn't directed towards her though, his arms in the same position as Nicholas' as he faced him. "Why are you doing all of these?"

 "Excuse me?" it took a second for Nicholas to realize Andrew was referring to him. "Doing what?"

 "Helping," Andrew didn't lower his voice. "Helping Lana. You barely know her so you'll be bullshitting if you tell me you're doing this because you care about her. So tell me what your actual reason is. What exactly are you gaining from this?"

 "Andrew, what are you doing?"

 Silence fell afterwards, Andrew refusing to answer Lana's question, Nicholas refusing to answer his. They resumed their staring contest, this time filled with a tension so thick even Lana was beginning to feel suffocated.

 "Nicholas- Andrew, I told you already. He-"

 "Alexander slept with the woman I was in love with," this time too, Nicholas succumbed. "That's why I'm doing this. To get revenge."

 "The woman you were in love with?" Andrew held back his laughter. "Joan?"

 "What point are you trying to make?"

 "You have terrible taste in women," the laughter was now written all over Andrew's face, his expression mocking. "Extremely terrible taste."

 Nicholas looked unfazed. "People who live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones."

 "Excuse me?" a switch immediately flickered in Andrew's head.

 "You spent two- three years being just friends with a woman like Lana?" the sardonic look suddenly shifted to Nicholas. "Please. You of all people should know better than to come at me for my taste in women."

 "What?!"

 "Wait a second, what is that supposed to mean?"

 "I don't need your validation or permission for anything," he ignored his little audience's comment and said to Andrew before turning to face Lana. "Lana, if you two had an argument then good. That means progress. Alexander wouldn't even argue with you unless he gives two shits about you. So keep up the good work."

 "Well, um, I-"

 "We'll continue this discussion some other time then," he rose to his feet then gave his blazer a final tug, offering Lana a half smile. "Hopefully, just us two that time. I'll take my leave then."

 Not waiting for her to return the smile, he turned around to leave, leaving both Lana and Andrew speechless for a good while.

 A minute passed.

 And then another.

 And then several others before Andrew broke the silence and faced Lana to speak up.

 "I don't trust that man," he had spent minutes thinking and after been overwhelmed with so many emotions in such a short time frame, that was his conclusion. "And you shouldn't too. He's suspicious. Way too suspicious."

 "Come on, Drew, you're just overthinking this," Lana sighed and reached for his hand, Andrew immediately flinching. "Like a fool, I fell for Alexander. Like a fool, he also fell for Joan. I want my revenge and he wants his too. That's all there is to is. Nothing else."

 "I hope so," he shook his head, refusing to maintain eye contact with Lana. "I really, really hope I'm just overthinking things."