"My goodness," Amy exclaimed in pure joy as she went closer to Kayla and pulled her into a hug. "I'm so happy for you,"
"Me too," Kayla replied as she held her tightly.
They pulled apart and Amy pulled her towards the couch. "Tell me what happened. I want to hear everything," she said.
"Well," Kayla began as they sat down. "He faked being hurt just to have me come over and then, he said I wasn't properly dressed for the occasion. Before I knew it, I was handled by stylist and a dressmaker. Then, I was blindfolded to a dinner. Into the dinner, in a blink of an eye, Paul asked me to marry him and viola!" She finished off enthusiastically.
Amy hugged her friend once again. "I'm so happy for you," she said and continued as they pulled apart. "You really do deserve this. It's been so long,"
"I know right. Thank you," Kayla replied happily.
"But, I thought you were playing it safe with Paul,"
Kayla heaved. "So I thought, but it turned out I wasn't. Perhaps all those tightened up anger I kept in was because he wasn't making an move towards this direction and now that he finally did, my joy knows no bounds. I just can't explain it," she replied with a smile.
Amy smiled back. "It's okay. As long as you both are happy. Especially you,"
"Aww, thanks bestie," Kayla said, hugging her.
|||
Amy took a deep breath as she walked into Liam's tech company. She vowed to remain focused, but as usual, her mind wandered back to Cole's father's visit.
She walked into the elevator and inhaled. Today was Friday and the last day of coming to work this week. She couldn't wait for the day to be over.
She got out of the elevator and headed to her desk. "You've got a bouquet from an admirer," Tiffany, her colleague said with a smile.
"Really?" Amy asked, puzzled. Then, her eyes caught on the freshly cut roses placed on her desk.
She was baffled and as she got closer she picked up the flowers and inhaled the scent. It was indeed nice. Then, she noticed the card in it and pulled it out.
"I hope this brightens your day like you brightened mine," Tiffany read out loud in a singing voice. "I wish someone will send me this," she said with a sign.
Amy chuckled. "Stop it, Tiffany and go away,"
Amy looked around. "I wonder whom this is from," she muttered.
Her mind immediately went to Liam. After all, he had dropped her a call and had sent texts to her to make sure she was fine.
She swallowed hard. Wasn't she going about this the wrong way? She wondered. What will people think of her if they heard she moved from Cole to his best friend? After all, since Shantel's interview, there has been some negative comments about her.
Wasn't she giving Liam the wrong signals too? She heaved. She needed to clear the air between them, so has not to be in between two friends.
She dropped the flowers and turned around to leave for Liam's office. She was about to take the turn that led to his office when a familiar voice stopped her.
"Did you like the roses?"
His voice brought an abrupt stop to not just her legs, but her heart. She felt a lump in her throat as she gulped hard.
Straightening up, she turned around and her eyes met aquamarine ones. There was Cole, standing in a black suit, his hair tousled on his head. His eyes lacked sleep.
'Hell, Amy! Are you really going to let us let go of that?! ' her wolf screamed in her head.
"Uh," Amy said nonchalantly. "Was that from you?" She asked.
Cole shrugged. "Were they good enough for you?" He asked, not ready to admit that he got her the roses. Not even from a store, but from his late mother's garden, that was still well kept. That was one thing his father ensured.
Amy swallowed. She had a belief it was from Cole. Here she was thinking Liam got her the roses. She did love the roses, but she wasn't willing to admit that to him. "It would have been better if they came from someone else," she said instead and she could see the hurt his eyes mirrored.
"Someone else? Like Liam?" He asked.
Why would he ask her that? She wanted to rebuke his words. Instead, she found herself saying, "Yes, someone like Liam. He's a great guy. He has not deceived me into thinking he's in love with me, meanwhile he has a girlfriend.. "
"Oh, wait," she continued as she remembered something. "The love of his life, rather," she retorted. She recalled one of Shantel's picture Cole had captioned that. It was part of the pictures Shantel posted during the interview.
"Amy, it's not what it looks like and she's not the love of my life. She posted that picture herself!"
"Listen here, Mr. Cole. This is my workplace and if you'll excuse me, I'll like to get back to work and please, take your roses with you or I'll trash them," Amy said and turned to walk away.
She could hear murmurs from the other staffs. "How could she reject a gift from Cole Darrel?"
"The moon goddess knows I would have swone at his feet,"
"Ish. She wants Mr. Liam obviously. She's done with Mr. Cole and is now going after his friend,"
"Crazy how Mr Liam is interested in her too. What do they see in her?"
These were the comments made, but Amy squared her shoulders and walked away till she got to the corner that led to Liam's office. As soon as she was out of sight and not hearing them anymore, she rested her back on the wall and placed her hand on her chest as she heaved, trying to steady her breathing.
As if the back talks they've always had about her wasn't enough, this time around, it was said in her presence and it hurt her even more.