Chapter Four

ROEDEN offered to take her home, but Avon turned it down in the end. There was this awkward atmosphere between them. Avon felt like she was out of breath. So, she got out of his car when they reached the city where she lives, and instead of going home, she headed to one of her best friends’ house to seek comfort.

She hugged her best friend Erika the moment she emerged from the house.

“What’s the matter, Avon?” Erika asked worriedly and patted her back. “Let’s get inside.”

She distanced herself and followed her best friend.

Avon plopped down in the middle of the sofa when they got in.

“Don’t you dare lie to me, Avon. I know you wouldn’t come here unannounced if nothing happened.” Erika folded her arms across her chest.

“I…” She heaved a sigh. “I met Roeden today.”

Erika narrowed her eyes. “I thought you are giving your heart a break so that you can move on. And now, you’re telling me that you met Roeden? Seriously, Avon? Are you kidding me? Five years have gone to waste.”

Her best friends no longer support he love life goals. In fact, they were Roeden’s number one basher since then. Whenever her heart gets broken because of Roeden, her best friends will always tell her to move on regardless of the circumstances. They even had a bet; Avon betted on a happy ending and her best friends on a sad ending. They were sure that her love life would not end happily because Roeden already friend-zoned her. But little did her best friends know, Roeden told her something that made her hold on.

Avon held onto her feelings for him until one day, her best friends finally convinced her to move on. Because moving on was the best remedy for a heart that was broken and bruised.

“It wasn’t intentional, okay?” She pouted her lips. “I didn’t know that he was the owner of that company my publisher’s collaborating with. Believe me, if only Sir Nate had mentioned anything that will give me a hint it’s Roeden’s company, I could’ve avoided meeting him…”

Erika heaved a sigh and shook her head. “Now, you’re back to square one.”

Avon looked up at the ceiling to prevent her tears from falling. Her love life was far from those stories with a happy ending. And that was the main reason why she became a writer. She wanted that happy ending so bad, and the only way to get that was to write her own. But no matter how many versions of happy endings she writes, those were never enough.

“I think I have to call Vince—”

“No, please don’t.” She grasped her best friend’s arm.

“Why? We both know that you need words of wisdom with beer on the side.”

“No need for that—”

“SPO2 Cid Vincent Vicencio at your service.”

They both turned in the direction of the door. Erika’s cousin, who happened to be one of their friends, was now marching towards them.

“Cid…” she said with pouted lips. “How did you know that I was here?”

“Well, I saw you get out of the taxi.” He sat on the sofa’s armrest.

“I’ll leave you with Vincent for a while, okay?” Erika left and headed to the kitchen.

“Is this about Roeden?”

“Hmm…” She nodded slowly.

Cid heaved a sigh. “Do you still need space? Well, it’s not that I’m pressuring you. It’s okay if you still need it.”

“Perhaps I was wrong.” Avon looked up again when she felt her eyes sting. “I thought if I distance myself from him, I will mend my broken heart. But now, it seems that things only got worst. For five years, my heart yearned for him. Whether the memory is bitter or sweet, it makes me miss him even more.”

“It seems that there’s no moving on again this time around.”

“I’m sorry, Cid.”

“What was that for?”

“I always say that my friends are my moral compass. But then, I always end up not following your advice.” She wiped her tears that rolled down on her cheeks.

“You don’t have to be sorry. You followed my advice to stay away from Roeden. You did that for five years, Avon. It’s just that it wasn’t enough for you to move on. Perhaps you just made yourself believe that you’re doing good. It’s just the mind. But I can’t blame your heart, though. You cherish that love for too long…”

“What should I do now?” She turned her gaze on him.

Cid beamed. “Free your mind from worries and follow what your heart wants. We never know… Maybe love would be sweeter this time around.”

“You think so?”

“Let’s hope for the better, Avon.” He gave her a pat on the shoulder.

Erika returned to the living room with pints of ice cream with different flavors. She grabbed a pint of vanilla ice cream and a spoon as soon as the tray landed on the table.

“Did you come here just to eat ice cream?” Cid asked jokingly.

Avon halted from eating her ice cream and glared at him. “How dare you!”

“At least, she’s not getting drunk,” said Erika.

“Yeah. I’m always worried whenever she gets drunk.” Cid grabbed a pint too.

“There’s nothing to worry about. I don’t spread my legs when I’m drunk,” she said with a grin.

“We never know,” they said in unison.

Avon’s eyes widened as she coughed exaggeratedly.

“Are you all right?” Erika caressed her back.

“Y-yeah.”

Cid came back from the kitchen with a glass of water that he handed to her.

She took a few sips of water.

“Ah…” Avon turned to Erika afterward. “Is it okay if I stay here for tonight?”

“It’s okay with me. But is it okay with your parents if you don’t come home tonight?”

“I had a meeting in the office today. I’ll just tell them that the meeting ended late in the afternoon, and I decided to stay at my co-writer’s place near the office.”

“Why don’t you tell them the truth that you saw Roeden today, and you’re here in my house emoting like a high school teenager who broke her heart for the first time?”

“No way!” Avon pressed her lips together.

They just laughed.