Why Me?

Chapter 18 - last meeting

-four months later-

"So... you have any baby names prepared yet?" I sipped on my coffee while I looked at a very heavily pregnant Jess.

"Since we don't want to know the gender, we have two boy and two girl names. For boys, Jacob, Benji and for girls, Ali or Sunny."

"Those are very cute names. I like Benji or Sunny."

"Me too, the other two were picked by Mark. So how is your grandad?"

"He's doing well, him and his puppy are so cute, he keeps sending my very low quality photos of them together. Do you want to see?" I got my phone out and showed her.

"Oh wow so cute!" She awed.

We chatted happily for another couple of minutes before screaming started.

"JACKSON!!" Five girls ran to the door of the cafe.

"Hi everyone."

I didn't want to turn around and see him. I just pretended not to hear and continued to drink my coffee. I saw Jess look up to see him and she immediately looked at me as if checking I was okay.

It's been four months. We hadn't spoken or seen each other. I didn't know whether I should acknowledge him or just ignore him.

I heard him agree to photos with the girls and he went to go order at the counter.

"Do you want to go?" Jess asked me.

"Why would I leave? I was here first." I was just being stubborn but I really had no reason to leave. "Plus I haven't finished my coffee yet."

Jackson had finished ordering and happened to sit on the table two away from ours.

I couldn't help but glance over. He looked great.

I knew he hadn't seen me yet so I didn't make any big movements. Before I knew it, I was staring at him.

He hadn't changed at all. He looked exactly the same he did four months ago. His jawline was sharp, his hair was unstyled and he was wearing black.

"Suzy, Suzy, Suzy!" Jess shouted which made Jackson turn his head.

We made eye contact briefly before I turned away.

"Why are you shouting?" I said.

"You didn't listen to me at all. I was telling you about how stupid Mark was acting yesterday."

I saw a shadow over me and I knew who it was.

"Suzy." Hearing his voice say my name was hard.

I turned slowly and forced a smile.

"Jackson." I greeted.

"It's been a while." He said.

"Yep."

The air around us was tense and I could tell how uncomfortable Jess was feeling.

"I'll just go to the bathroom." She said and stood up quickly before I could glare at her.

"Is it okay if I sit down?" He asked.