Aurora's Heart

Part 16: Someone's Mistake

Aurora

I get off work just in time to see Chad on a date at my favourite cafè, with who I am assuming is his girlfriend. They are deep in conversation,  till his eyes meet mine at the door. A curl from my afro falls in my face and I house it behind my ears, looking away.

Shit! Did he see me? Of course, he did, our eyes made four just now!

I turn to the counter and sit on a stool, my back to them. What the fuck!

Okay, act natural Rory. The last thing you need is Chad thinking you are bothered by him. But I  am... he represents a very significant part of my life, the part that changed everything...

So? That doesn't mean he should be privy to seeing my feeling on my face.

I glance around to see if he is still looking at me, and the little I saw before turning around was him deep in conversation with his girlfriend. Good.

"Aurora!"I hear from around the corner. 

I look to my right to see Benny's excited face approaching me. He is old, full head of grey with a thick pair of glasses hiding his blue eyes. I think he's Italian or mixed with Italian. I don't really know to be honest. He's short and has a big potbelly, the only part of him that actually has on any weight.

"Oh, hey Benny!"I smile back as he approaches me around the counter. He takes my hand. "I come here almost every week and I haven't been seeing you."

Benny laughs and holds his forehead,

"I have been so tired lately, I just left the runnings up my wife for a while. Took a little well-needed break," He sighs, "but I'm back and kickin'"

"Good to see you and good to know you're kickin' Benny, "I smile. "What do you say you give me a de-caf  with two bagels and cream cheese with a bottle of water to go, while you are still 'kickin'."

Benny laughs.

"I'll never stop kickin', I am older than Jesus-"

"Now wait a minute, Jesus was-"

"A young virgin when he died."Benny laughs and holds his pot belly, while I try not to blaspheme. But I'll be damned if I didn't acknowledge that the was right and that it was also funny.

"This is a fact." I smile with a shrug, "Now shush you rude old man, and get to my order,I am famished."

"Right away Aurora," He smiles while splitting the bagel into two halves. " Say, where is your other half as of late?"

Huh?

Oh...
The realization that he's talking about Sebastian.

My heart sinks a bit in my chest, and I take a deep breath, maintaining my cool.

"He's- we've, he's doing okay I suppose." I shrug, taking my phone from my bag to mindlessly scroll through it and avoid eye contact with Benny.

"Oh, I see, you suppose." He sighs, "Well whoever is causing this little rift between you two, I hope forgiveness is near. For whoever is being stubborn in forgiving the other is going to be the cause of the end of a great friendship, and not so much the person who was wrong in the first place."

I nod, acknowledging what he's said. But I keep my head on my phone.
My fault?
Does Sebastian deserve forgiveness? Am I being stubborn?
No! I don't feel that I am wrong.
I feel that I am justified in my anger, in my stubbornness, of any. I refuse to allow my mind to dwell on an idea like this.

"Hey, can I get a  large coffee please, no cream."I hear beside me on the stool. My eyes as if they knew the repercussions of looking right, close tightly.