Winning Back Mr. Right

Chapter 31

•Nate's POV•

I brought Airie to dinner with my colleagues from Sacred Heart. We're finally off duty so we decided to meet up. At the restaurant, one of the guys spoke about this girl he met off Craigslist.

"How's that going for you?" I ask, tapping his shoulder.

"I'm not so sure, man. Her name's Maya." We are all laughing about how exotic the girl's name is.

Airie overhears and goes "Maya?" and then raises an eyebrow and grins.

"You'll never know until you meet her, right?" I encourage him and we fist-bump.

I can really see that Airie's trying to at least have some fun. I can also sense that her mind is wandering in between. She keeps looking at her phone every fifteen minutes like she's waiting for someone to call but no one did. I must be crazy nuts snooping at her every move, following her with my eyes. Last thing I want to do is lash out violently or irrationally over some petty strange actions or waste our time on some silly argument.

"Nate, where's the wash room?" Airie asks, moving uneasy.

"First door to your right." My friend answers for me.

"Thanks."

I tried to stay calm so I took a deep breath and maintained a cool head. I can't pick a fight with her here, especially if it is for nothing. I should have a good reason for popping in at an odd time so it doesn't look like I'm prying.

When she came back, she was less enthusiastic with the party, with my new buddies, with everything in general. Her mood suddenly just dropped negative degree and it made me want to glance at her phone, on the sly, all the more.

"Sweetie, can I talk to you for a second?" Her eyes are unusually sad. We took a few steps away from the crowd. "Are you ok?"

"Yes. Why?"

"I don't know. You're just a little...off. That's all."

"Really? I'm sorry."

"You sure you're alright?"

"Of course." She replies.

It didn't take an hour for her to face me again, this time her expression is totally in the loo. "Nate, I want to go home. Can we leave soon?"

"But I thought you're having fun?"

"I am. I was but I'm tired now..."

"Tired? Airie, what's going on?"

"What do you mean? I'm just exhausted."

"You're exhausted?!" I repeat, totally annoyed at her answer.

"What's wrong with that?" She snaps at me unexpectedly.

I hash out on her too. "How can you be tired? You're just sitting there eating Lasagna and listening to my friends talk all night? And could you stop checking that cell phone. I'm right here with you unless you're actually waiting for someone else to call."

Everyone is staring at us now. I literally forgot to take a step back and not cause a scene. My short patience made Airie slowly walk away from the party and slam the door behind her.

I swallow the lump on my throat. "I'm sorry guys. We gotta go." I tell them. They all sit in there quietly, figuring out what to reply. No one said a thing.

The night ended with me driving her home and watching her on the side giving me the silent treatment. She steps out of my car as soon as I pulled over and closes it behind her without even blinking or even uttering a word. I wanted to follow her. Instead, I just continue watching her unusual behaviour towards me. Airie takes a quick glance at me before closing the door.

With no other plans ahead of me, I went straight to Julio's studio. He opens the door and stares at me with the expression – 'YOU LOOK LIKE SHIT, MAN' which I happen to get a lot these days.

I help myself with two cans of beer on his fridge.

"I'm not sure what to do. I feel terrible lashing at her like that. What the hell was I thinking?"

"What did she say to you?" asks Julio.

"Nothing. She just left."

"Oh. That's bad."

"What do you mean that's bad?"

"Girls normally fire you with words. That's what they do. They're mouths are like machine guns. But not saying much? That's another story." He explains to me as if he is an expert on women.

"Airie is not the type of girl who talks a lot. She doesn't like fighting. She's always calm and demure."

"Sure, whatever you say. But the way I see it? It's more dangerous. It's dangerous because it's safe." Julio quotes the word safe with his fingers. "Nate, girls ALWAYS want attention. If you don't give it, they'll try to find it somewhere else."

"No. Not my Airie." I say on my defense.

"Just saying, brah. You can't be too confident."