During the Thunderstorm (Natural Disaster) ✔

Chapter Thirty-Five

She was surprised.

Very surprised. She stood paralyzed for a while.

She blinked at her phone. Still there. The message was clear and short. Her name was written there, so it wasn't a mistake.

And still, she couldn't believe it.

When Federico texted her that he wanted to meet in person, she frowned, skeptical. What did he want to talk about? Why did he need to meet with her? Why now?

After all, Federico hadn't contacted Nina since the breakup. The message was sudden and spontaneous.

The only reason Nina could come up with for his sudden need to contact her was that he had something from her he had just found. Something he wanted to return because he was that good kind of person. She would have burned it if she was in his place.

Not even the thought of him wanting to come back together crossed her mind. It was impossible. He broke up with her because he didn't love her. It was unlikely he had fallen in love with her during their time apart.

It didn't matter either because she wouldn't want to get back together with him.

She'd rather be alone, thank you very much.

She was over him. Over relationships. Over love.

They sucked. And she didn't need an undergrad, a master's, and then a Ph.D. to figure it out. Lesson learned.

However, something about his message made her want to agree to meet him. Discover what this was about because if Nina was something, it was curious.

Damn, that attribute because it had put her in lots of messes.

Her best friend Cole might also be a huge factor.

Yet agreeing to meet Federico didn't sound like a mess.

So, there she was, sitting at a table, waiting for her ex to show up. You know, your usual Wednesday afternoon.

She exhaled, looking around and then at the phone. She shuffled in her seat and straightened her back.

Just when she was going to text Federico, he showed up. He was rounding the corner and entering through the door, his tall frame calling for attention.

Her gaze flickered to him. For the first time ever, her heart didn't stammer, nor her stomach turned at the sight of him. Nothing. It was a relief.

His green eyes scanned the place and when they landed on her, he made a beeline for her table.

He pressed his lips into a tight smile when he approached her and exhaled. "Hey, Nina."

"Federico," She answered, crossing her arms over her chest.

He took a seat and seemed to take a while to adjust. When he settled, he turned to her. "Thanks for coming."

She raised her eyebrows. "Sure."

Any moment now he would pull something from his pocket and give it to her. She didn't know what it could be. She didn't miss anything, otherwise, she would have texted him long ago. Or she would have asked Cole to text him and to pick that thing up because what were best friends for?

Federico's chest expanded again, and he leaned over the table, biting his lip. "Nina," He looked down before gulping and looking up again. He was nervous. "I wanted to apologize for how things ended."

"Okay..." She wasn't expecting it.

"It wasn't nice how I replied to your confession. It was insensitive."