Love Me, Again?

Chapter 17: Guilt, Sadness, Regret, and.... Jealousy?

Chapter 17: Guilt, Sadness, Regret, and.... Jealousy?

Leila stalked towards him and felt a smile come upon her face. He immediately pulled her into a hug. His eyes roamed all over her face and stopped when they landed on her eyes.

“Still beautiful,” he whispered, causing her to chuckle and pull out of the hug.

“I see that you’ve gotten more and more handsome over the years,” she grinned widely.

“Well, being a self published author does not excuse me from working out,” he stuck his hand out and ruffled her hair. She fixed her hair and glared playfully at him.

“You haven’t changed one bit,” Leila mumbled as she sat down.

“I can say the same thing for you,” he took off his jacket and put it on her. “Still trying to collect more of my jackets for your big collection, eh?” He lifted one of his brows. She blushed slightly and punched him on the arm. “That hurt!”

“With those huge biceps of yours? I doubt it,” Leila rolled her eyes.

“Sorry I couldn’t visit. I had a long flight from my last book tour and I was totally knocked out when I arrived. Your call actually woke me up,” he stared down at her and gave her his charming smile.

“It’s okay. But how’d you find out?” Her parents didn’t tell her about contacting him.

“Mason told me,” he played with his fingers nervously.

“I thought you never liked him?” It was true. Flashbacks of the Spring Ball came flooding into her mind.

‘I never trusted Carmichael,’ those words repeated themselves over and over.

“I...Uh…Sorry, I forgot about you losing your memory,” He looked at her with guilt.

“No, it’s okay. The nurse said I should talk to people, to help me get them back. Back to my question though, why are you suddenly talking to Mason? You guys couldn’t stand each other,” Leila frowned at his nervousness. She placed her hand on his and felt him relax. “Just tell me the truth.”

“I…You see…Mason’s a good friend of mine,” he looked at her nervously.

“I see that you have a lot of things to explain to me. How and why?” She looked at him expectantly.

“Do you remember the weeks after Louis passed? You started to get home schooled?” Leila nodded her head. He continued, “Things actually started to change in school… Mason seemed depressed… He was failing every class miserably and he even stopped playing sports. The popular crowd showed no sympathy towards him at all. All they cared about was getting him back on the team. The teacher got really worried, so they asked me to tutor him and help him get back on his feet. I helped him try to move on and stop blaming himself for… everything. We became good friends and he’s not bad at all. He never meant to hurt you, Leila. He’s always loved you and I knew that you felt the same way,” his voice cracked at the end.

“It was his entire fault! And no, I hate him!” Leila fumed as she clenched her fists. “It’s not fair!”

“I know. I lost a loved one too and witnessed the love of my life marry another man,” he looked at her sadly and shrugged his shoulders.

“I’m so sorry! She must be very stupid for not seeing how much of a wonderful guy you are,” this made him laugh uncontrollably. “What’s so funny?” She frowned at his silliness. He didn’t take her seriously, when she was dead serious.

“I… Sorry… You just have no idea at all,” he sighed.

“I want to visit him,” she whispered, suddenly changing the subject.