s o u l b u r n s

ii ~ don't embarass yourself

IF ADELAIDE COULD BLOCK HER EARS, she would. "I can't believe you didn't leave immediately you found you out that wasn't the resource office." Sam exclaimed loudly, again. She could swear that she had heard that line over 10 times that afternoon alone.

"I know, it still has me wondering."

"Okay, you guys can shut up now." Adelaide finally says in exasperation, she had to put up with their banter the whole day and was tired of the back and forth talk.

She was having lunch at one of the new restaurants that served really good vegetarian food a few blocks from her house with two of her best friends. She'd known them since university, Samara and June. They hadn't been out in a while because June works in a multinational company that requires her to travel most of the time. Sam, on the other hand is busy with her family as she just had her second daughter. So, times like this weren't taken for granted.

They were catching up and Adelaide had decided to tell them about her encounter with the mysterious man that she didn't recognise. "I just couldn't get a good look at him, though."

"At all?" June asks curiously.

"Zero." She confirms.

"You are applying to be the creative director for the most talented artist ever, Ade. Some weird guy should be the last of your worries." Sam says as she takes a small bite of her salad—unaware of Adelaide's worried glance her way.

"Yes. For once, I agree with Samara. I think you should at least call for another interview. Who knows, you might be lucky." June shrugs as she takes a bite of her food before picking up her phone to text.

"Alright, I hear you guys."

"Anyways, next time we're going out, I get to pick the restaurant, I can't believe I'm being forced to eat this, Adelaide. We aren't all veggie lovers." June complains.

"Shut it, June. It's not bad at all." The buzz of June's phone cuts off Sam's sentence which causes them to cast a disapproving look towards her.

"You're leaving, aren't you?"

"I'm so sorry! I'll make it up to you, I promise." Gathering her bags, she tucks her long black hair behind her ears as she rushes out.

"One of these days, we have to throw her phone into the ocean." Adelaide says with a wide smile as she watched Sam laugh quietly.

"Well, I hate to eat and run. But I have to get the kids from a friend's. We'll hang out some other time?" Adelaide was disappointed that Sam was leaving because she had planned on having a conversation with her—she was very worried about Sam's well being; her radiant olive skin was turning into a very dull colour, her brown curly hair didn't shine and her collar bone was becoming too prominent.

"Okay, Sam. Give Charity and Charlie a kiss for me." Adelaide says with reluctance. Once she's left alone, she tries to ignore some people's stares as she contemplates whether she should leave—she hadn't eaten much but she also didn't want to spend the afternoon sitting alone.

But all was decided for her the moment she choked—for no reason. She had just taken a sip of her water when she had started to choke. If Adelaide had been in any other situation, time or place then her fate would have been rather humorous —but she was not. Her eyes were beginning to redden and her throat was burning immensely. Adelaide was already attracting attention and finally, the waiter came to her aid, lightly hitting her back and trying to calm her.

"I'm fine, thank you very much." She thanks the waiter for his help as she moves away from his touch.

"It's no problem. Are you done with this?" He asked politely as he pointed to her half eaten meal.

"Yeah, yeah."

She snuck a look around, only to confirm that more eyes were on her. Now the stares were not about her lonely dine out but rather her quirky behaviour. Feeling extremely embarrassed, she waits impatiently for the waiter to return her credit card so she could grab her belongings and leave.

The walk from the restaurant to her car wasn't a long one but she wished she parked closer. Her eyes wandered from a little girl chattering happily with her dad to two teenage girls laughing at something on their phone while they sat under a big oak tree. She was about to cross the street when she heard the sound of someone letting out a throaty cough.

"Adelaide?" It was quite windy outside and it felt like it blew the sound of her name right into her ears, so instinctively she turned towards it.

It took her a while—not to recognise her caller but to say his name. "Felix?"

"It's..been a while. What are you-u doing here?" He stood awkwardly in front of her and made no move to come closer. His swaying stance oozed of nerves, along with his fidgety hands in his pocket and stammering words. Adelaide wondered why he stopped her to talk if he was so uncomfortable.

"I live here now."

"Listen, Adelaide. I just want to say I'm sorry, I never meant to hurt you. I still–" He slowly walked towards her and Adelaide didn't even realise it till he was right in front of her.

"I don't-" She willed her burning eyes to calm down as she cleared her throat and continued. "I really don't want to hear anything that you have to say. Goodbye, Felix."

Adelaide takes a deep breath and returns to her walk back to her car. But before she decided that her day really couldn't get any worse than it already was, she watched the road carefully as she crossed to the other side.

A/N:

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