Life Without You

Chapter 11 - Reunion

Ariel took a deep long breath as she stared at the morning clock to make sure it coincided with evening time in North America.

The long stay in Japan was making her miss her friends so dearly that the loneliness was getting unbearable.

Her friends must be so angry and upset with her for cutting them off, especially after she reappeared on the world radar. But she needed to know if they were alright, and she was sure they would want to know how she was too. It would be unfair and cruel for them to find out things about her from the news without knowing it firsthand from her. And much of the latest gossip on her were untrue too.

Before she left for Japan, Ariel blocked Leon's phone number and email as she was adamant not to have anything to do with him again. But her friends were a different matter. They were her soul sisters. For her to deactivate her email and cancel her phone subscription to "take a break" was painful enough and she knew it was only for the moment, and now the time is up for reconciliation.

With one huge puff, she dialled Rita's number through WhatsApp on her Japanese mobile phone.

"Hello?" Rita answered.

"Hello Rita? It's me, Ariel."

"A-Ariel? Is it you?"

"Yes, it's really me," she winced, expecting a huge scolding.

"ARIEL!! On my goodness! We miss you so much!! How've you been?" Rita was ecstatic.

"I'm ok. How's everyone? I miss you guys so much," Ariel choked with tears.

"We've been dead worried on end. Beth's wedding's approachin' near so she's clearly upset that you might miss the happiest day of her life."

"I know. It's not fair to everyone."

"So, fill me up what happened since the day you left..."

——————-

The ladies were glad to have their old friend back after months of absence, and were much more understanding and forgiving after a lengthy explanation on group Skype with tears in her eyes as to why she did what she had to do. She rejoined their WhatsApp group and had her email reactivated. It felt a load had lifted off her shoulders.

"We're sorry, Miss Beautiful. If I ever did make you feel being pushed into something you did not want, I won't do it again," sobbed Camila.

"Yeah, me too," sighed Beth.

"We even ignored enquiries from the press about you right after you disappeared. So don't worry, you're still safe with us," Rita assured.

"That's great to know," said Ariel. She went on to share about her and Andy's lives in Japan, the culture shock and all those amazing weird stuff that the country offered, even going on to speak a few Japanese phrases to impress her girl pals.

Camila excitedly shared that she had began dating Ryan after months of getting to know each other via texting and meeting on weekends as and when it allowed them. Their relationship was long distant, but they were hoping to work it out.

"I can't believe he's not gay," Camila added with a giggle, "In our field of work, many men are, but not Ryan, so lucky me."

Meanwhile, Rita admitted she had been seeing Evan a lot in the weekends with his daughter, Imogen whom she grew very fond of. Although they had been on a few friendly dates, only now was she starting to develop strong feelings for him. She was unsure of how Evan felt about her as he had not confessed nor hinted to her anything yet.

Their online group conversation was filled with laughter and happy chatter. Ariel was glad that her friends had found their soul mates, but not without a tug of envy - it seemed that she kept being attracted to men who were a mess while pushing away the good ones like Hiroshi.

"So Ariel, anyone new in Osaka to your liking?" asked Camila.

"Huh? Erm...not really."

" "Not really" means some 'yes'! So who's he?" she pried with eager eyes and a cheeky grin.

"No one I fancy, really!"

"Is it Hiroshi? Pictures of you and him together keep showing."

"He's my boss, of course I have to follow him," she insisted, without revealing Hiroshi's true feelings towards her. "Plus he teaches me Krav Maga once a week. He does treat me and Andy very well."

"Oooooh," cooed Camila. "Sounds like a good catch, eh?"

"Oh, Camil..." Ariel shook her head.

"I think Miss Beautiful still have feelings for Leon," Beth guessed.

Ariel's twisted her lips in annoyance.

"Beth, I don't think Ariel needs to know anymore about him," Rita told her off. "Leon's also made it clear to us that he-"

"Wait a minute, you guys are still in touch with him?" Ariel interrupted, clearly upset.

"Yes...in a way," Beth said carefully.

"We even celebrated his birthday at his house. Just the three of us and him. We never expect he would be alone on his birthday - a famous person like him - which is sad. I never knew that about him before. And since you were gone, he was company for us. He was pretty upset about it too, so much so he hired a private investigator to look for you and Andy," explained Camila.

"Oh..." Ariel's voice drifted off, shocked by the revelation.

"He confessed to us what he did with that model that drove you away. What a bastard," continued Beth. "I had a go at him on his birthday and he deserved it!"

"Beth, please..." Rita rolled her eyes.

Ariel pursed her lips without a word. She was determined to not have anything to do with Leon, and she made it clear in her last letter to him. Why did he, a proven playboy, even bother wanting to find her? He broke her heart after all and she was not interested to have it broken again.

"As far as it goes, Leon is history to me and I don't wish to have anything to do with him."

"Understand. We won't mention him again," assured Rita.

"But he did show he was remorseful unlike Devil Crews," added Camila. "He cried, in fact."

Ariel's heart tripped when Camila mentioned the last part. It reminded her of Leon's vulnerabilities behind closed doors, the real Leon that the world never knew about. Back then, she really wanted to help him and be his listening ear, but his playboy ways and alcohol addiction was far too much for her to handle.

"That's enough, Camil. Ariel needs her space, remember?" Rita reminded.

"You prefer us to cut ties with Leon for your sake?" asked Beth.

Ariel paused. For sure, it was upsetting that they still kept in touch with Leon, but two of her friends are now dating his employees, so it was obvious that alienating them from Leon would not be totally possible. She did not know what to make out of this. The way life fashions itself was truly odd.

"Well, the way things are right now, I can't control who you befriend, just as you guys can't control who I date. But I definitely appreciate if you guys can respect my boundaries with him."

"Alrighty then," said Camil. Rita nodded.

"So Miss Beautiful, does this mean you're now able to make it to my wedding?" Beth asked in an interrogative tone.

"Seems that I've no choice."

"Yesss!" Beth clapped excitedly with a flashy, victorious smile.

"I'll apply for leave around that time to see you guys. By the way, promise me something, all of you. Please do not mention to Leon or his workers that I'm returning back."

"Yes, Miss Beautiful," her friends reassured.