Chapter 35 Becoming Us Again
“Alex,” she said, softly.
“Hi,” I replied.
“I was thinking of coming over tonight… I will sleep over at your place,” she said casually.
For a second, I told myself I didn’t hear what she said very well.
“What?” I muttered, my grip tightening around my phone.
“Do you want to say no?” she asked.
“I’m at work,” I replied, trying so hard to stay calm.
“I will call you when I’m done.”
I didn’t wait for her call before ending the call.
After dropping the call, I exhaled sharply, dragging my hand down my face.
“Unbelievable,” I muttered and returned to work.
After work, I didn’t go home, because if I did, I wouldn’t be able to contain my anger if Cassandra showed up unannounced.
So I drove straight to my mother’s place.
When I got there, I pushed the door open without knocking, and I saw her in the living room. She looked up, her brows raised at how hard I had pushed the door open.
“Alex?” she said.
I didn’t greet and I didn’t even allow her to finish whatever she was about to say.
“You need to warn Cassandra,” I said, my fists clenched beside me.
“What’s going on? What should I warn her about?” she asked, her brows pulled together.
“Tell her to stay away from me… completely,” I said, my eyes turning red.
“Okay… calm down. I will,” she said, looking at me as if she had never seen the man in front of her before.
“You have to, because if you don’t… I swear I will report both of you to the police for conspiracy,” I replied, my voice now higher.
“Police! Calm down, Alex,” she said, her eyes widening and gesturing for me to breathe.
“I’m calm,” I replied.
That was a lie. I wasn’t in any way calm.
My fists were clenched so tight that my knuckles hurt.
My mother sighed and walked closer to me.
“Please sit. Let’s talk,” she said.
“No!” I snapped and shook my head.
“Just do what I asked. If I see her at my place this night, I’m afraid I would you would have to bail her out at the police station tomorrow morning,” I added.
With that, I turned before she could say anything and walked out, slamming the door behind me harder than I intended.
When I got into my car, I slammed the steering wheel hard.
“Was I too harsh?” I muttered to myself.
“I don’t think so… She caused all of this,” I answered myself, rubbing my temple.
Then I realized I needed something to make my head lighter.
I reached for my phone and called Marcus to meet me at our usual bar.
I got to the bar and saw Marcus sitting in a corner like he owned the place.
“What is the problem?” he asked in a low tone as I walked up to him.
Then he filled the second class on the table and pushed it slightly towards me.
I dragged out a chair, sighed, and explained everything to him.
By the time I finished talking, my drink was half gone.
“Guy… I get why you are pissed,” he said as he shook his head slowly.
“But you have to calm down a bit. You know your mum is involved and you can’t just escalate it like that,” he added.
I scoffed, but I didn’t argue.
He didn’t say further either. He knew me too well to read me when I was too angry to listen.
After a short while of silence, he nudged me.
“So… you and Joan? Are you still getting along?”
My face lit up immediately before I could even give a reply.
“Wow,” he muttered and burst out laughing.
“What?” I said, feigning ignorance.
“Look at your face! Just because I mentioned one name,” he added, still laughing.
“I don’t understand what you mean,” I snickered, reaching for my drink.
“So, it’s serious now?” he teased.
I didn’t reply, I just smiled.
“To Joan…” he said and raised his glass.
“… the only woman that can make you human,” he added and laughed again.
I rolled my eyes but clinked my glass against his anyway.
We took a few more drinks before we called it a night.
Several days passed and I didn’t get a whiff of Cassandra.
No calls, no messages, no sudden appearances.
“Good… mom must have warned her,” I told myself.
Work became smoother and of course, my mind became clearer.
And Joan?
She was becoming the best part of my day I looked forward to every time.
I found myself smiling at her messages, dry humor, and the way she pretended to be indifferent even through texts.
I really wanted her to be my girlfriend again, but I didn’t want her to keep her distance again.
JOAN COLE’S POV
Days passed, and I still got random flashbacks of the way he touched me that night.
Sometimes the memory would hit me out of nowhere and I would have to steady my breath.
Sometimes I would find myself imagining another night in his bed.
Alex and I started texting more often after that night.
At first, we talked about work… site updates, design approvals, and supplier complaints.
But slowly, it shifted to random check-ins, memes, voice messages, video chats, and late-night texts.
Though he didn’t ask me out yet, I found myself smiling at my phone more than I would like to admit.
One evening, I was lying on the couch replying to his message when Lena walked past and paused.
“Why are you smiling like that?” she asked, staring at me.
“Like what?” I turned my screen down and looked up quickly.
“Like someone who just got proposed to,” she said, folding her arms.
I scoffed lightly and looked back at my phone.
“I was just watching a funny video,” I replied.
“Hmm… okay,” she said, glaring at me for a while before leaving.
Then it hit me.
“I haven’t seen Dave at the site in a while… I hope he’s fine.”
A few minutes later, I heard a soft knock at the door. It was so soft that I wasn’t sure the knock was coming from our door.
At that moment, Theo stepped out of his room and was already walking towards the door.
“I’m going to the Game Center,” he said and opened the door.
I didn’t hear the door close, so I looked back and saw Theo standing at the doorway.
“Can I come in?” a familiar voice said.
“Wait… is that who I think it is?” I said and peeped through the small space that was left beside Alex.
On seeing who it was, my breath seized immediately.