Underestimated
You’re so beautiful, but that’s not why I love you. I’m not sure you know. That the reason I love you is you, being you, just you. Yeah the reason I love you is all that we’ve been through. And that’s why I love you.
–– I love you, Avril Lavigne
• • •
AFTER HIS indirect confession last night, I couldn’t wipe the smile off my face every time I recall his words. Earl finally recovered from his cold. He’s still nonchalant at everything but I gained awareness that it’s an act out of anger he’s pulling off. He doesn’t hate me, knowing that fact is enough for me. I didn’t pester him into talking to me anymore.
When he passes by my direction, I just smile casually, in which he’d reply with a glare.
"You’ve been smiling the whole time, Zoe, what’s the hunch?" Jackson inquires.
"Nothing."
"That expression on your face ain’t saying nothing!" he exclaims.
"For a man, you sure like to gossip," I comment.
"I don’t gossip, I just want to know the facts," he replies defensively.
Silence falls between us, I find myself staring intently at his face. And I suddenly had this urge to pinch his cheeks, and in the end, I did anyway.
He winces. "Ouch! What arrreee you doing?!"
I continue squeezing his cheeks. And after two minutes, I finally let go. I give him an apologetic smile, accompanied with an apology "oh... Sorry, my hand kinda moved by itself!"
He gently caresses the pinched part of his face, still groaning from the impact of the pain. "It’s alright."
I feel someone staring at us. A cold aura radiating from behind. I turn around and there I saw Earl, giving Jackson and I a look of daggers. Uh-oh. That probably pissed him off. In the most ironic way I could respond, I grin lopsidedly, which makes his ire rose as I see the crease forming from his brows.
Work hour is finally over. I’ve spent the whole day feeling euphoric. I stretch my arms after re-checking the entire manuscript of the story I was assigned to.
"I’m finally done!" I exclaim in relief.
"Zach!" I hear a familiar voice shout from a distance. I cock my head in the direction of the voice.
It’s Mira.
I don’t know why, but I’m pissed. I just want to violently thrash the chairs at her. I know that it’s really unreasonable for me to have these thoughts, but for an unknown reason, I just do. I breathe a deep sigh to calm myself. Calm down, Zoe. I chide.
"Ah, Mira," Earl says, acknowledging her presence. "Thank you for taking care of me last night."
"Huh?" A bewildered look crosses her visage, "What do you mean?"
"Weren’t you the one who took care of me last ni––" He cut off his sentence as his gaze lands on me. "Ah, it’s nothing. Nevermind."
YOU ARE READING
If We Love Again
General Fiction[COMPLETED / 1st series] "6 words, 1 regrets: I shouldn't have let you go." - Zoe found herself stuck in the past; ten years ago when she lost her first love to circumstances. On one fateful day, their paths cross once again. She was determi...
