Chapter 16

"What did you say?" he asked, grabbing hold of my wrist to stop me from walking away. 

I glared at him and pulled my hand away. "Don't touch me." 

"What did you say, Zuri?" he asked again.

"Freya cheated on you," I said, matching the look in his eyes. 

If he was angry, so was I.

He stepped back, shaking his head. "You're…you're lying." 

"I'm not," I said, crossing my arms across my chest. "She's with someone else. That's why she broke up with you." 

"How do you know that? This is insane. You're lying," he said through gritted teeth.

"I saw them together with my own eyes. I heard them talk. I saw them kiss." I sighed. "And she came to the cafe with that guy once, but as soon as she saw you, she left." 

"This is not true. No. What the hell?" He fumed with rage, a crazy look in his eyes. "Do you have any idea what kind of a person Freya is? Before I lost Liza, I lost my parents in a car accident. Six months. Just within six months I had lost my entire family. And it was Freya who had stood by me through it all."

His parents died too last year…I had no idea.

Kol continued. "Freya saw me at my worst. She has seen the most vulnerable side of me, the defeated me. But you know what? She did not leave my side even once. Even when I had tried to push her away to save her from the hell that she was being unnecessarily put through just because she was my girlfriend. She stayed by my side. She saved me from destroying myself. And now you're telling me that she cheated on me?"

I swallowed, fearing him all of a sudden. He somehow seemed different now, more intimidating. 

Time seemed to have stopped between us.

A million emotions flickered through his eyes, and he began to pace around, disheveled and freaked out.

I stayed quiet, not knowing what to do or say.

After long minutes, Kol began to mumble something. At first, only he could hear his words. Then his voice grew louder.

"That's why…that's why she—" He paced around here and there, his chest heaving because of stress. "It makes sense now. The distance, the ditching, the excuses. Everything makes sense now." 

His eyes snapped towards me. "Why didn't you tell me earlier, Zuri? How long have you known?" 

"I-I didn't want to interfere," I said, wishing that I had not let my anger take over, wishing that I had not told him.

"Interfere?" He scoffed. "I thought we were friends. This is not called interfering. You saw me running around like a fool getting everything ready to surprise her, but you did not say a word. You let me embarrass myself." 

"You seemed to love her so much. Would you have believed me? And I didn't want to break you guys apart. What if I had been wrong? I was only sure about it once she broke up with you," I said, trying to make him see my point.

"I don't know." He was shaking his head and moving back at the same time. "You should have told me." 

Then he went inside and banged the door shut. 

***

Staring out the window at the smiling moon, I sighed deeply.

A week had passed since Kol had slammed his door on my face. 

I had not seen him since then. Neither did he show up at the cafe nor were there any messages or calls. There was absolutely no effort put in from either one of us in contacting each other. 

I wanted to take the first step, but I could not bring myself to do it. This was not because of ego. It was guilt and shame…and fear that he hated me now.

I felt horrible now that I knew Kol had lost his parents too last year. That's why he wanted to hold on to Freya. She was his last connection to his past life. No wonder he was so devastated.

And what had I done? I had only contributed to breaking his heart more. In a fit of anger, I had told him something that he was better off without knowing.

I hated myself for my actions. I was sure that Kol hated me too now. I had been the cause of our friendship snapping into half. If only I had kept better control over my emotions.

Over this past week, life had become a repetitive cycle of mundane activities and internal conflict. My days were spent at the cafe and nights at home.

Daylight was still bearable and a lot easier to deal with since I was focused on work and did not have much time to lose myself into the tornado of overwhelming emotions clawing at my soul.

The nights were a completely different story. No matter how hard I tried to get myself into bed and just sleep, I always failed miserably. And then I either lay in bed or sat by this window, defeatedly allowing the unforgiving thoughts and millions of shades of emotions to consume me raw and whole.