Stuck At Default

SHE IS NOT MY GIRLFRIEND

Liv and Alex left a while ago for their date. I really hoped Alex wouldn't mess up the proposal. It was a huge feat decorating his entire apartment. Hopefully, everything will go as planned.

I was now home alone so I called Trevor to ask him to come over. But he didn't answer, even after the second ring.

So I gave up and made myself some Caesar salad for dinner, and sat down to eat. As I was about to take the first bite, I heard my phone ring.

I thought it was Trevor calling, but nope. It was a friend of mine from the uni, Rishika. We had some classes together and we became friends. We still kept in touch sometimes.

Rishika was part Indian part American. She was the girl everyone loved and wanted to be friends with. She was now working in LA with some law firm.

We talked for sometime, catching up on each other. She was surprised to hear that I now had a boyfriend. But our conversation was cut short because I had another call at waiting. An unknown number.

"Hello."

"Hey Mia, it's Ashton."

No. Not again. How many times am I supposed to deal with this?

''What do you want Ashton?"

"Well, that was rude to conclude that I just wanted something from you."

"Well in that case, to what do I owe this pleasure of being on the receiving end of your phone call?"

"I just wanted to tell you that I got discharged from the hospital today."

"Good for you."

"And I wanted to ask you something."

"Go ahead. Ask your heart's desire."

"Why did you leave so abruptly that day. At the hospital?"

No. Anything but that. I don't think I can answer that. Even I don't understand myself why it mattered to me, seeing him with another girl. Its been a long time since we broke up.

"I had some errands to run. Important errands. And anyway, I didn't want to interrupt your time with your girlfriend."

I shouldn't have said that.

"Wait, what? She is not my girlfriend."

"Oh well. Do random women just go around telling you they loved you?"

"She is not my girlfriend. She is my cousin, Mia. My only cousin whom I can stand being in the same room with."

The ground was supposed to open up and swallow me inside to save me from the embarrassment I was feeling. I shouldn't have jumped to conclusions.

But no, wait. Why am I supposed to feel embarrassed. It is no business of mine whether she was his girlfriend or cousin.

"That doesn't matter. I didn't want to interrupt in general."

"I'm sorry Mia. If I gave you any wrong ideas. She is just my cousin, a really good friend."

"Why are you being sorry? It's none of my business whether she was your girlfriend or your cousin. You are, by no means, bound to explain yourself to me."

"..."

"Well, it was nice talking to you. I hope you recover soon. Goodbye Ash."

"Goodbye Mia. And I'm sorry."

With that he hung up. I sat staring at my phone for several minutes before getting up and putting my bowl and fork in the sink. I had nothing else to do. I didn't want to think about mine and Ashton's conversation.