Escape || Mena Massoud

Chapter 4

When I heard my name I pulled back, startled, and turned around to see Thomas standing behind me. He looked mad, probably because I hadn't replied to his last ten messages. Or maybe because he'd just seen me nearly kissing a really attractive guy. Probably both.

"Thomas, what are you doing here?"

"Can we talk?"

"Right now?" I glanced back at Mena, whose face was unreadable. "I'm kind of in the middle of something."

"I can see that." His jaw was clenched.

I was annoyed by how possessive he was acting. He wasn't my boyfriend – we'd gone on a few dates months ago but I wasn't feeling it, and then he started acting weird. Recently he'd tried to ask me out again, but I knew it wasn't a good idea. It seemed that I was right.

"Can we go over there and talk?" He motioned to the couch near the door.

I sighed. I didn't want to go – I'd been having a very good time with Mena before he showed up and killed the moment. Would we have kissed if Thomas hadn't interrupted us? But I knew that Thomas wouldn't leave us alone until I talked to him, and I didn't want to cause a scene.

I looked at Mena apologetically. "Sorry. I'll be right back."

He nodded, and I walked over to the couch with Thomas, but refused to sit down. "What is it, Thomas?"

He was wearing a shirt that was a size too small – he always did that to make his muscles look bigger.

"Why haven't you been replying to any of my messages? And why are you here with that guy?" He shot a scornful glance at Mena.

"Okay, first of all, he's my friend. Second of all, I told you I wasn't interested any more, which apparently wasn't clear enough. What the hell are you doing here, anyway?"

He looked away. "I know you usually come here on the weekends."

"Wow. So you're stalking me now. That's great." I shook my head incredulously.

He leaned in. "Avery, just give me another chance. You know we were good together."

"Did you get a head injury or something?" I knew I was being rude, but I was fed up with this conversation already. He was acting like a child. "I don't want to date you. Now if you'll please let me get back to what I was doing before you swooped in and ruined my night, I'd appreciate it."

He snorted. "Get back to what you were doing? What, having a date with that guy?"

I turned and saw Mena watching us.

"He's not good enough for you. You can do way better," Thomas said, reaching for my hand.

"I'm not having this conversation with you. Please leave me alone." I think my hair hit him in the face and I spun around to go back to Mena. I hoped it did. Thomas called my name a few times, then gave up.

Mena was swirling his drink around in the glass when I sat back down next to him.

"Sorry about that. Thomas is just–"

"It's alright, you don't have to explain."

I smiled gratefully. He was so understanding. "Thanks. Anyway, what were we talking about?"

"Uh, actually it turns out I have to work tomorrow, so I'm going to call it a night."

"Oh. Okay." I tried not to let my disappointment show.

His friend from earlier appeared behind him. "Hi, I'm Naomi." She smiled and shook my hand. "Ready to go?" she said to Mena

"Yeah." He set his drink down and stood up. "It was good to see you, Avery."

"You too." I gave him a quick hug and then they walked out together.

I sighed and went to find my friends, thinking about me and Mena's almost-kiss. It was just as well it didn't happen anyway – I was wearing red lipstick.

~Mena~

"Was that the girl you've been talking about all week?" Naomi asked when they were in the Uber.

"Yeah."

"She's cute. I saw you guys flirting." When Mena didn't reply she said, "Why are you so quiet?"

"She has a boyfriend."

"Oh." She paused. "Sorry. That sucks."

He shrugged. "It's alright. Did you have a good time?"

"Well, I don't want to rub it in, but..."

"But you were dancing your ass off in there," he laughed. "I'm glad you had a good night."

"Thank you my love," she said, putting her hand on his arm. She was a very affectionate person, which made some people think she was being flirty when she wasn't. He supposed Avery was the same way. He'd thought... "And don't worry about Avery. You could get any girl you want. And you guys can still be friends, right?"

"Right," said Mena. He couldn't tell whether Naomi's pep talk made him feel better or worse. Either way, he was glad to have someone to talk to who understood – in the last few months she'd become one of his best friends, and now he couldn't imagine his life without her.

She smiled at him as though sensing his thoughts, and punched him in the arm. "Come on. Let's order pizza when we get back to the hotel and have a dance party. Then you'll feel better."

He had to smile at her persistence. "Thanks, Nay."

"What are friends for?"