Now I knew the new woman was named Amelia. We exchanged pleasantries but I felt something was off. She still had that big smile but it didn't reach her eyes and her eyes were hostile when they looked at me. We walked back to the bar while Amelia had her arms linking Jake's arm and her whole body leaning against him. I could feel he was uncomfortable with that closeness but didn't say anything. When we entered the bar, Amelia went straight to the bar to get herself a drink and Angela joined us. She kissed him on the lips and while I looked anywhere but them I saw Amelia looking at them, the hostility that was in her eyes morphed into rage. She arrived, stomping her feet and grabbed the hacker's arm with her hands.
"Who's that?" Her fake smile was back and Jake ran a hand on his hair, looking even more uncomfortable than before.
"Angela, my girlfriend..." Amelia immediately dropped Jake's arm and stepped back.
"What? You have a girlfriend? I thought with everything that happened between us and that you were now free we could finally be together!"
Jake tried to speak but she left the bar without another word. Jake turned towards us, looking worried then he left to run after her. I looked at the woman next to me and smiled. I didn't know what else to say or do but she did.
"What's your relationship with Jake? How come you can make him calm down when I can't?"
I looked at the woman next to me, she wasn't mad or angry at me, she actually looked sad, sad that even after the months they have been together, she can't pass through the walls that Jake had built up after all these years on the run.
"We met months ago by text messages when they were all looking for Hannah. I guess we managed to trust each other without actually meeting in real life." She nodded and stared at the front door expecting her boyfriend to come back.
"I see. So this is the first time you guys actually met?" I hummed.
"He has feelings for you." It wasn't a question, she was stating a fact. "I knew when we met there was someone else but I thought that with time, his feelings for that person would disappear and he could have feelings for me." She sighed. "Do you know who Amelia is?"
I shrugged. "No, I don't. Apparently, she helped him get his freedom but that's all I know." I heard Jessy called me from the bar so I excused myself and joined her. "Hey! What happened?" I looked at the door as Jake was entering the bar. "Jake is breaking some hearts over there." She giggled and handed me a drink. "I bet he is!" We walked back and we mingled with our other friends.
Finally, it was time to go home. We had a nice time, drinking, dancing, talking, laughing. Jessy knew how to hide her pain very well from her friends and now that I knew how she really felt, I saw the signs when she would try to hide the tears that threatened to spill from her eyes. Then when one of her friends wanted her attention she would plastered a smile on her face that didn't quite reach the eyes and she would be her happy self again. As we were about to leave, Jake joined us.
"Can I walk you home?" I looked at him, a bit surprised. "Sure but what about Angela?" He looked at her, a bit sad. "Lilly is giving her a lift." I nodded then smiled. "Sure, you can." So after we all said our goodbyes, the three of us left the bar. Jessy was giggling non-stop, she probably had too much to drink...
"Jessy? What's up?". She stopped then pointed a finger at Jake.
"You! You need to tell us everything! No hiding!" She approached the man, slowly but wobbly.
"Who's Amelia? Why are you staying with Angela when we all know, even her, that you are clearly in love with someone else? I see the longing in your eyes, the glances even now! You want to be as close as possible as you can get to MY friend. I heard Amelia talking, why did she think you would ever be with her? How many times are you going to break hearts? Huh?"
