Chapter 62

Chapter 62
Bella heard a car honking. She looked up to see Charlotte's car. She stood and walked toward her, but stopped as the car got closer.
Bella breathed a sigh of relief. Finally.
Charlotte popped her head out, waving. "Hi, bestie."
"Hi," Bella waved back, walking closer to her. "I've been waiting for you."
Charlotte parked her car and followed Bella into the house. On their way, they talked.
"Have you seen the news on April's wedding? It's all over social media. Everyone is talking about her dress."
Bella's eyes brightened up. "Really? I haven't seen it. I will check it out."
Bella logged into one of her social media profiles. She saw a post that she was tagged in. It was one of April's.
"Look, she tagged me," she showed Charlotte. "How did she find me?"
"Finding you online is one of the easiest things to do. She must have typed your academy's or personal name."
Bella smiled. "She looks beautiful in it."
Charlotte nodded. "Yes, she is."
They entered the house and sat down.
"Eleana?" Bella called. "Charlotte is here. You can go on with her food."
"Isn't that too early?" Charlotte asked. "I just got here."
Bella smiled. "It's not." She stood up. "Is there anything you want me to get you before your food is ready?"
Charlotte shook her head. "I'm good."
Bella nodded and sat down. Eleana came out of the kitchen, greeted Charlotte, and returned to the kitchen.
"So how has the break been so far?" Charlotte asked.
"Boring," Bella answered. "I wish I could go back to work, though. But my body is too weak to do that. I know I need some rest."
Charlotte nodded. "I'm glad you know that. So any news about the competition? Were you able to talk about it with Jordan at your last dinner?"
Bella rolled her eyes. "Don't get me talking. There wasn't much information about the competition yet. He said he would let me know when the theme is out. And dinner..." Bella sighed. "It did not go as expected."
"You still don't want to talk about it?" Charlotte asked.
Bella sighed. There isn't any need to keep that from Charlotte anymore.
She explained everything that transpired between her and Jordan.
"I was shocked to hear that he called Jade to ask for me. He did not call me or send me any messages aside from the apology message."
Charlotte took a deep breath. "Well," she began. "I really don't know what to say here. Maybe if he had shown he was angry, things wouldn't have turned out that way. The same way it wouldn't have, if you had sent him a message. I think both of you are wrong in one way or the other. You did something wrong, and you apologized. He also did something wrong, and he apologized. Maybe you both should look past what happened and open a clean slate. Or meet to speak about it. Didn't you say Jade said he hasn't been in a good mood?
Bella nodded. "Yes, when she called today."
"Or don't you want to talk about it with him?" Charlotte asked.
"Maybe that's not a bad idea," Bella said. "But how am I supposed to talk to him? Call him?"
Charlotte shook her head. "You're not doing that. You're going to reply to his message, telling him the reason you couldn't reply."
"My head could not come up with any reply. Am I supposed to tell him that? Wouldn't that worsen the situation?"
Charlotte smiled. "You're not telling him that. You were busy. That's the reason. You already told him you had urgent work and you would be at the academy all through the night."
Bella chuckled. "I told him I would be at the academy by ten. He sent the message before then."
"It doesn't matter when he sent it. What matters is when you see and reply to it." Bella nodded. "So," Charlotte continued. "You're going to ask to meet up. What you say to him when you meet is entirely up to you. Just make sure you let him know what you think. Don't keep anything bottled up. Encourage him to do the same."
Bella nodded. "And if he does?"
"You get to know what went wrong. You clarify whatever needs clarification. Just do your thing."
Bella nodded. "I will do that. Thank you." She took her phone from the table. "I will send him a message now."
Charlotte nodded. Bella sent a short message to Jordan, giving a short reply as to why she did not reply and also asking to meet up.
"Done," she mumbled, and Charlotte nodded.
"Any recent news from Daniel? Has he called you..."
"He called and sent a lot of messages. He seems to have learnt some new lines. I took screenshots of his messages before blocking him."
Bella opened her images, scrolled to the screenshots, and then handed over the phone to Charlotte, who took it and went through the messages.
Charlotte laughed. "Now I get why you said he learned new lines. What's this?"
"He really thinks I'm still the naive girl he knew some years back who can be easily swayed by words."
"Have been thinking," Charlotte said. "What could be the reason behind his constant disturbance. And he doesn't even do that every time."
Bella nodded. "I thought about that too. And I planned to investigate him."
"Maybe he encounters trouble and thinks you're the only one who can help, or..." Charlotte stopped.
"Or what?" Bella furrowed her brows.
"Do you think he still loves you?"
"Love?" Bella scoffed. "We both know he doesn't."
"I was just wondering. I can't think of anything else."
"The last time he called me, I rejected him. I heard he got into trouble and needed some money. Finding out I was doing better, he thought he could extort me, but he failed."
"So how did he overcome that?"
"Met with a rich girl who was willing to pay off his debt. I thought I told you about it."
Charlotte shook her head. "We did not speak about that. Maybe it happened during one of our busy periods."
Bella nodded. "Maybe it does. He disturbed me for over a week, begging that we get back together. Despite the rejection, he did not give up, so when he suddenly stopped calling, I knew something was wrong. I investigated and found out he needed money. His business failed, so he came to me."
"And when he could not make you come back to him so you could pay his debt, he moved on to someone else?"
Bella shook her head. "I was never his only option. I wasn't the only one he was calling and asking to get back together with him."
Charlotte frowned. "And he has the mind to come back again? Doesn't he have a face to save?"
Bella nodded. "He doesn't, because he has nothing to lose."
Charlotte nodded. "I can't agree more. I..."
A message popped into Bella's phone. "Sorry," she mumbled. She picked the phone up and opened it. It was Jordan. "He wants to meet tomorrow, so he wants to know if I'm free."