Relationships in the Workplace

Unexpected Encounter

Mano arrived at the park in his joggers, sweat hoodie, and runners along with Ari who was sporting a similar style. He noticed that there were a bit more people than he was used to seeing previously, "Huh? I guess people felt the same way I did about wanting to come to the park." He leads the way towards the path he usually likes to go on when he goes to the park when Ari taps on his shoulder, "Why are one of our bosses and several of our co-workers here?" Mano looked at Ari and then followed her gaze to see their coworkers in sporty wear under a pop-up canopy with the company logo, "Uh I guess volunteer hours?" 

Mano and Ari watch from a distance to not call too much attention to themselves from their coworkers as they are weary of being dragged into the event. A group of people was inquiring about the company's services with one employee while another group received promotional swag from a different employee. A young woman with a side-parted pixie hairstyle, plaid long-sleeve hoodie, black slim distressed jeans, and black boots walks away from the curious crowd and looks up towards Mano, "Mano?" He looked back at the lady and his heart skipped a beat, "Lia?" Ari glanced between him and Lia then stared back at Mano whispering, "Who's she?" Mano looked at Ari as if trying to find the words, but the cat got his tongue. "I'll speak for him" Lia kept walking until she was an arm's reach from them.

Ari looked at Lia with disbelief as she dared say she could speak for Mano. "Mano why did you ghost me?" she had her hands in her hoodie pockets waiting for Mano to respond. "Lia you know why..." his heart begins to race not knowing how this is going to turn out. "I wouldn't be asking if I knew now would I?" she gestures with a nod towards Ari, "Tell your friend here how you abandoned me when I still needed you." Her tone bit at him as his face hardened, "That's not what happened and you know it... We already had this conversation. I couldn't take it anymore." Lia's hands shot out of her pockets and shoved Mano, "Screw that! What about me huh? My friend just dips out of me at random?!" Ari got in between them and glared directly into her eyes, "Don't touch him... If you want to get something off your chest then get it off but don't. touch. him." Ari was tensing her body up expecting to defend Mano.

Lia noticed that and gawked in disbelief herself this time, "Who is she?!" Mano didn't know if he should answer, so he put a hand on Ari's shoulder as a sign for her to calm down. Ari got the message but stayed in between them. Since they both stayed quiet Lia got the message, "Are you kidding me... How could a fake ass like you get a girl?"

SMACK!

Before Mano could react Ari had slapped Lia across the face. Thankfully the nearby event drowned out the sound of the smack, but the atmosphere tensed up. "Ari!" a shocked Mano exclaimed seeing Lia holding her own cheek that was smacked. Ari already fuming shouts, "He's had one hell of a week and you're not helping damn you!" Lia looked at her with wide eyes seeing that Ari was ready to tear into her if given the chance. Lia glanced at Mano and then back at Ari, "I'm going to give you a warning..." She glared Mano down something fierce and softened with Ari, "You chose wrong..." and with that, she walked away from Mano and Ari.

Once Lia was out of sight Ari turned to face Mano who went back to his expressionless face. It's almost as if he was shut down. "Mano... I'm so sorry..." she walks over to him taking his hands and looking up at him. Mano snapped out of his shutdown and looked into her eyes as if he had just noticed she was there, "I-it's- it's um..." Tears lit up in his eyes as he finally said "It's f-fine." He tried his best to hold it back, but he began to break down. The walls he built to brave through the stress at work have ruptured thanks to Lia. She hugged Mano tight as she felt his body shake and started to hear him crumble, "Let's go over here away from everywhere love..." She held him afraid he'd lose strength in his legs with how much he was crying. She leads him to a bench under a tree out of the view of the majority of people.

Mano sits on the bench and hides his face by bending forward over his knees. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry" he repeatedly says as he brushes his face but the tears keep coming. Ari rubbed his back and kneeled to get a look on his face, "Stop apologizing so much... No matter what she says I still care for you, Mano..." Despite his wet cheeks from his tears, she kissed it. His crying quieted down, but hiccups started, "Is she right though? I don't want her to be, but what if-" Ari grabbed his shoulders and shook him, "Don't you dare finish that sentence Mano Sheratan!" Her shout shut Mano up as he hiccuped and bit the bottom of his lip in frustration. "S-sorry Aria..." he finally meets her eyes, "How have I deserved you..." Ari softened her expression and held his face in her hands, "By being you Mano... By being funny, kind, true, dorky, stubborn, hard-headed, and maybe a little annoying." He laughs lightly and raises a brow, "I don't know if that's a good or bad thing." She smiles at him glad to see that she was able to make him laugh.

"Whatever kind of person you were in your history with Lia is clearly not how you are right now with me..." She cleans his face of his tears. "And you clearly accepted me for how I am no matter my history with Dom..." She kissed his forehead. "If we can't accept our bad, how can we love what good?" she takes both of his hands and kisses them. "Good or bad, I am still here for you" as she looks into his eyes. He tilts his head with a half smile, "Are we doing our wedding vows now? Isn't that a little too early?" She laughs with a light blush, "See? That's what I love about you, doofus"

After Marno built himself back up again he stood up and went on his walk with Ari. She allowed half a mile to pass before asking Mano, "Wanna talk about it?" Mano knew what she meant and sighed as he nodded, "Sure. What do you want to know?" She looked behind them and then back forward, "Why did you leave Lia?" He took a deep breath and exhaled, "She has been in an on and off toxic relationship with her partner.  Two years of the same nonsense. She was abused mentally, physically, and verbally by not just her partner but also by their friends and family." Ari nods processing all that he shared, "Okay I can now understand her a bit more now. What else?" He continued, "I just got tired of telling her the same thing over and over. We had several heated arguments about the topic. And then there came a day when I just stopped caring. We've been friends longer than she dated that person and I hated that I couldn't bring myself to care anymore. I almost wanted negative things to happen for her to see my point, so something in me just broke. I blocked everyone involved and moved on with my life." 

Ari kept quiet and nodded expecting him to continue which he did, "We've been friends for so long. We did a lot together and when she started dating this person in the beginning things were fine, but then her partner started getting upset we were hanging out as much as we did. And she just started to distance herself from me. I'd be considered lucky to even hang out with her period." He took another deep breath to calm his nerves and not get emotional again, "It infuriated me that she chose abuse over our friendship. It's not even just about me. She neglected her other friends and even her family for this person and it boiled my blood! I was friends with someone that I held in such high regard and she fell off hard" Mano had ranted so much that they reached the mile-and-a-half mark. 

He exhaled and looked at Ari, "Hope that helps paint a picture." Ari nods satisfied, "I can see why you dipped. From what I understand two good friends, started arguing, and things were escalating between you two, your mental health was in play due to you not caring about her anymore, which by the way does not sound like you at all, so at the time what you thought was your only out was ghosting everyone involved. Mano nodded impressed she got all that, "Pretty much. You're good" She gives him a wide smile, "I try!" She looks at the trail ahead, "Let's jog the rest of the way!" Mano rolls his eyes, but with a smile jogs right after her.