smile can bring you near to me

chapter -6 I'm sorry too!

Vegas regretted it. 

He regretted touching Pete like that. 

He regretted speaking to her that way. 

He regretted bringing her past and the trauma she was running from.

She even once told Vegas that the guy she was supposed to get married to, is still searching for her. This was the reason she was constantly moving away and was not on any social media and keeps changing her number. Now when he realizes that Pete is a girl, it all makes sense.

It must be terrifying to get molested by a 60 year old man. Forced to get married to a guy 15 year older than her. It must be difficult to be poor. Thankfully Pete was an intelligent girl. She topped the class in her high school and even got a scholarship in the university. She had to work really hard and maintain the standard grades to keep getting scholarship, while working at part time jobs. She worked at convenience stores and at hotels as a waiter. 

Vegas read all those text in which she told that she was too tired to even breathe sometimes and how sometimes she wished to be dead. 

He read the text in which Pete told him that she was thrown out of the hotel, because a drunk customer tried to grab her. When she complained to the manager, the wife of the customer argued that she was trying to seduce her husband. 

That one time Pete told him that she doesn't even have rent to pay. How continuously for a week she ate bread to save money for rent. Vegas read it all again.

He didn't even doubt that this could be a scam because he could feel really bad for his friend. He even offered to give her money but she always refused, saying You, talking to me is enough. Money is temporary, talking to you is permanent.

All these years she struggled a lot. It was only after she did an internship into some famous company when she started getting paid well. He read the text  which said, "Hey, Vegas. Congratulate me. Finally I have enough money to rent an apartment that does not look like a train compartment. She was so happy while telling Vegas that the new home has a separate kitchen and also a window. It was a big deal for her.

Vegas didn't realize when he started sobbing re- reading the old conversation. Whatever she told about herself was nothing in comparison to what Vegas told her. Vegas told her a lot of things about him making a huge deal of his tiny problems but Pete never looked down at him. She always embraced his flaws. She always supported him.

Vegas shouldn't have said all those things. She was still too young to understand things. She didn't even have anyone to rely on. She should hate men after her grandfather, after his grandfather's friend, after her too old fiance. She should hate Vegas. But Pete was loving. She was pure. She was precious. She was Perth. His friend. Someone Vegas thought he could never have. 

Vegas regretted it. But he had to forget it. He had to forget Pete, Perth. A relationship that starts with a lie can never bloom. Pete had to come out of her fantasy world. And Vegas had to accept the reality.

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After three months

Even after three months, Vegas still re-reads the conversation. Pete didn't contact Vegas after that. He sometimes thought of contacting her, looking for her whereabouts. He had some contacts in the company in which Pete was working and he found out that she was regularly coming to the office. This information was enough for him. And he never tried to be nosy and give her false hope. Pete was finally over him. He did not need to drag her back and put her in hell. Pete was earning good, she had friends, she has been managing since so long so she will.