CHRISTIAN

What the hell is he doing here? I asked myself, glaring back at him with the same intensity. The enraged look on his face makes me awe at his audacity. What right does he have to project that scowl? His glare screams a jilted lover for which relationship I wonder.

Damn him! I scanned for Ben and when I spotted him, I legged it.

I am here, but not here. Some things Ben is saying are flying over my head because half my mind is on Alex. The tingly feeling on my belly is making me jumpy, and I think my facade is falling. Ben is bound to pick up on it if he is as perceptive as I think.

“ Is she here?” I managed to mumble regarding Ben's girl. Just as we predicted, he can't stay away.

“ No, but her shift starts in ten minutes.”

“ Mmhh…” I hummed softly, wondering what right I have to judge my friend when I'm just the same. Well, not completely the same, since I have to stomach sh*t rather than make a fool of myself.

" She will be here…” he said, eyeing me suspiciously.

“ I know.”

“ You disapprove.”

“ I am not, I just don't want to see you hurt, again.” Ben gave me a sad smile and I grabbed his hands in mine. “I am sorry, babe.”

“I wish I could stop feeling this way about her. "

“ You can, with time.”

“ You think?” No, I wasn't sure any amount of time would get Alex out of my system. “I hope,” that's the alternative.

“ There she is,” Ben gushed as Eva approached our table. She leaned in for a peck, making Ben blush to my pleasure.

“ Who is your friend?” Eva asked.

“ Chris, a friend from work. “ I extended my hand as she shook mine delightfully, which made me think maybe I had misjudged her. “ Nice to meet Chris. “

“ Same here Eva,” I grinned back

“ I will be by the bar,” she said, mostly to Ben, who nodded. “ What are you having? Will keep the drinks coming.” Ben gave her our choices and she was gone. Eva works as the bar manager here, which explains the drinks flowing. With Eva gone, I remembered Alex and turned my head to look, I wish I hadn't. His narrowed eyes found mine and I wondered how long he has been staring. Before I could look away, a guy grabbed his face with such familiarity, and Alex's attention turned to him. Who the f*ck is he?

I turned hesitantly, only to find Ben gaping at me with incredulity. I tried to play dumb, but he wasn't the one to let things go.

“ How long?”

“ How long what?” I frowned.

“ You and him,” he said, edging his head towards Alex. “How long have you been together?”

“ We are not together,” I argued.

“ Of course. " He scoffed, grabbing a sip of his beer. I did the same, stalling the ultimate. Ben was no fool, I could decide to lie, but then I would be risking his friendship. Which means a lot to me.

“ We are not dating, if that's what you mean,” I muttered bitterly.

“ So you are just f*cking?”

“ No,”

“ I am not stupid," he hissed, his face contorting suspiciously.

“We were, but not anymore, we stopped.”

“ Why didn't you tell us? We are your friends.”

“ What could I have said?”

“ How about, 'hey I am f*cking our boss, but it's not a big deal. You could have said anything instead of lying through your teeth. "

“ I didn't lie.” This is true, I just omitted facts because I didn't want them to think differently of me.

“ Is he the mysterious guy who broke your heart?” They knew my heart was recently broken, but they didn't know by whom. As much as Amy tried prying, I kept it only to myself until now. I nodded yes, and Ben turned and looked at Alex.

“ Who's that with him?” Ben asked, referring to the gorgeous guy holding on to Alex's hand.

“ Probably his new lay” I shrugged.

“ That asshole!” I turned my gaze to look at the said asshole, but his gaze was somewhere else.

“ Can we just have some fun?”

“ Sounds good. “

After the sixth cocktail, I was done. Ben was supposed to wait on Eva, so I decided to head home. When my Uber called, Ben accompanied me to the parking lot.

“ I will take it from here.” Alex bellowed, startling us, for we hadn't seen him approach. I turned hastily and saw his car parked just a few meters away. Ben chickened and muttered a quick goodbye and left. Not that I blame him, Alex can give a mean look when he wants to.

“ My Uber is here," I started stubbornly.

“Don't make me drag your ass to the car, Christian! " He threatened, “you know I will,” he added firmly. I have never seen Alex look so furious. I compensated the Uber driver for the inconvenience and followed Alex to his car. Instead of me and him in the back seat, it was me and the other guy, the one who was on his arm earlier.

I said a quick hello to Yusuf and buckled up.

“Introduce us,” the guy next to me whined glaring at Alex who dismissively said, “Liam, Christian. Christian, Liam.” And he turned and face ahead, leaving Liam scowling at him while Yusuf chuckled.

“ Alexander Anderson!” Liam called threateningly, making Alex turn and face us warily. “ Liam, this is Christian, my P. A,” he clarified, obviously afraid of whatever threat Liam had conveyed by using both of his names. And to me, he said, "the cousin I told you about. “ A relief I didn't know I needed washed over my body as the said cousin extended his hand with a mischievous glint in his eyes and shook my hand warmly, after which he eyed his cousin in the rearview mirror. Alex just grunted and busied himself on the phone.

“ How is it like working for my cousin?” Liam asked,

“ Great,"

“Mmhh…” he hummed

Silence fell, and that's how it was the whole drive. Since he was in the passenger seat, Alex was the first to jump out of the car, and off he went. Yusuf followed and when I was about to, Liam spoke up. “ He likes you.” And he got off.

I was left gawking at his retreating back since there was no confusion on who he was talking about. Could it be true?