Chasing Possibilities

5 - Of Free Breakfast and Heated Arguments

What he said was totally a shock to me. Did he just say he missed me? If that was right, how come? A person could only miss someone they always thought of. So it was a totally impossible thing for him to miss me. Simply because it was impossible for him to always think of me. I mean, there was no reason why he'd think of me. We weren't even friends. The last time we ever talked was on the summer before sixth grade.

I simply stared at him, a little annoyed, and said nothing. I began eating and he followed my lead. We ate in silence, like we were strangers who happened to share the table.

"So how are you Haeley?" Bryce attempted a conversation.

I just looked at him over the brim of my glass. I sipped the iced tea slowly, took my time before I answered, "Good."

"How long have you been working with the company?" He tried again.

I picked on my food and again answered with a short, "5 years."

He sighed and put his utensils down and looked at me. "I'm trying here Haeley." He said, frustration evident in his voice.

"What do you want from me Bryce? Why are you even here? And what are you doing in our office?" I fired at him.

"First, I just want to catch up with you that's all. What are friends for? Second, I'm here coz I live here. Third, I work in your company." He said raising each finger as he counted the answers to my questions.

My eyes grew big at the answers he gave. His third answer caught my attention more than the rest of what he just said. "Excuse me? You work in our office too? How come—"

"You never saw me before?" He continued my question for me.

He leaned back on his chair and placed his hands behind his head. He looked really relaxed now. I wondered how he could act as if we were very close friends. Did he forget how he dumped our friendship back in grade school?

I raised an eyebrow at him and he continued, "I'm your new accountant. I was hired about three weeks ago. I mostly worked with a flexible shift in the past two weeks. That explains why we never met. However, since the deadline for the filing of ITRs is approaching, I was spending more time in the office now. I had some other work on the side in the morning so I preferred working in the office at night."

That explained it. I remembered the HR sent a new hire bulletin through the email a few weeks ago but I automatically deleted it, just like the other bulletins they sent in the past.

"I saw you by the way during the contest. I was one of the judges. I was hoping you'd recognize me that night but you didn't look up. You looked really nice with your Wednesday Adams costume." He said with a smile.

Then it hit me. "Did you send me that note?"

The smile on his face turned into a thin line and he answered, "Yeah I did."

He was unbelievable. How on earth could he do that? Acted like nothing happened between us. Was it just me? Am I the only one who cared about our forgotten friendship? My mood turned from sour to bitter. I was already pissed at him acting as if our failed friendship didn't matter and now I was outraged at how good he acted like we were really close.

"Thanks for the breakfast Bryce." I said in the coldest tone I could muster.

I stood up and grabbed my bag and walked away and out of the restaurant. I heard Bryce called out after me but I didn't dare stop. I was so mad at him. Why did he ever have to come back? Back to my life. After all the pain he caused me, he just sat there pretending everything was fine.