Chapter 52 The favor
Of all the news Irene had heard since she got to this universe, this so happened to be the fourth most surprising one she had heard, and she had heard a lot of surprising things.
The third was Lawrence being the Rence, Irene had been cheating on her husband with.
The second was Irene... The her of this universe being married to Nelson and even giving birth to a son for him.
And of course, the first and unbeatable most surprising thing she had heard since she arrived.... Was the fact that she arrived here, seven years into the future, in another universe.
This news...
It was.... Just wow.
"His wife?" She repeated, asking Nelson, her eyes still widened. Then she turned to look at Miles, her chair scraping the floor. "Your wife? Wait... Your married Victoria? How? When? How?!"
Seriously though... How?
This was another huge thing, something that differentiated this universe from the one Irene came from. Because, in her universe, Tori... Her alive best friend, wasn't friends with Miles, talk more of her dating him.
Sure... She had a crush on him. And so did dozens of other girls in their high school. They only spoke once in a while, he never even noticed her like that.
But in this universe they were married?
Wow...
Irene who had been previously worried by the stares she got from people at the restaurant, didn't seem to mind that she was a bit loud, drawing more attention to herself.
She completely ignored everything, her gaze fixed on Miles.
Nelson let out a sigh, he shook his head before pointing at the empty seat beside him, gesturing to his best friend.
"Miles come seat with us."
He should have known Irene would behave like this. Because in her head, she was eighteen. She was just behaving like a normal teenager would, especially a teenager who has just heard a surprising news.
"Yes, seat." Irene nodded, pointing at the same chair Nelson pointed at. "I need to know this."
Were they childhood friends in this universe? High school lovers? Or did they meet few years ago?
She needed to know everything.
Miles on the other hand coul barely understand what was going on. He walked towards the seat Nelson had asked him to seat on before turning to look at Irene again, confusion filled in his face. "Why are you acting so surprised Irene?" He asked, unable to understand why she has just yelled like that. "You came to our wedding."
Fuck...
It was only after Irene said that did she realize something... She had gone out of character.
"I did?" She asked with a nervous laugh, leaning her back to her sit. "I mean, yeah. Of course I did. I was just... I forgot for a second there."
Like that was a believable excuse.
But it was better for Irene to just admit to making a mistake than for her to start explaining how she wasn't this Irene and was from another universe.
Miles of course didn't believe her excuse. She sounded suspicious.
How could she have forgotten that he was married?
He glanced at Nelson from the corner of his eyes, the man didn't seem even a little bit confused. As though he knew Irene would do this.
Miles then shook his head. Trying to understand that woman... His best friend's wife, was impossible.
As soon as Miles though about that, he remembered something. The expression on his face became serious, and he shifted towards the end of his chair, his gaze fixed on Irene.
Irene noticed the sudden chance and became wary.
"I've been meaning to talk to you Irene, but Nelson wouldn't let me." He began and the air suddenly became suffocating for Irene. Something told her that she wouldn't like whatever he was about to say. "Do you think what you've been doing to him is fair."
"Miles..." Nelson's voice was low and threatening as he glared at his friend.
"But she..."
He interrupted him again. "It's my business, I said I'd handle it."
He knew what Miles wanted to say, and as glad as he was that his friend had his back, this wasn't the right time to say whatever he wanted to, and Irene...
Well...
She wouldn't understand it.
Miles greeted his teeth. He didn't understand his friends infatuation with this lady. After everything she had done to him... Why don't he just let her go?
It was no use saying anything now. Nelson was firmly against it.
Mikes stood up, pushing his chair back.
"Fine then, I have to go." He said, "I left the business men at the table to come say hello." Then he turned towards Irene and muttered "Bye, Irene."
Irene could feel the hostility and insincerity in his tone, she suddenly felt vulnerable.
"Bye." She whispered back, her self-consciousness returning, and she lowered her head.
Miles didn't stay one more second, after saying a goodbye to Nelson he left, returning to whatever part of the restaurant he came from.
Irene fiddled with her food after Nelson sat down, she played with it on her fork for a few minutes.
"Speak." She heard Nelson's deep voice suddenly say.
Irene looked up, surprised, and as soon as she did, her heart skipped a beat. Nelson was looking right at her... Not with anger or annoyance, just a calm gaze. "I know you have something to say, just say it." His voice flowed into her ears.
It was deep and beautiful... Maybe it sounded better because he was calm.
'Aish... Irene' Irene mentally shook her head, forcing those thoughts to the back of her mind before speaking again.
"He knows about everything Irene had done to you doesn't he?" She said, lowering her gaze again. "I could sense the hostility in his tone. He sounded just like my parents... Irene's parents."
"But I'm not her. I don't think I deserve to be treated like that." She finished.
She could tell that Miles probably wanted to warn, advise... Or rather threaten her to stop trying to sabotage his friend as that was what the Irene of this universe had been doing. Irene felt a bit hurt.
Thankfully, Nelson stopped him on time before he could speak.
A sharp breath escaped through Nelson's nose.
He had a feeling she would be worried about that.
"They don't know that..." He began, referring to her last statement. "Nobody do, and they shouldn't. I need to stop telling me people you're not Irene. I thought you didn't plan to stay here for too long?"
Since she adamantly believed that she was from another universe, Nelson had no choice than to use it as a term when he was trying to get to her. "Wouldn't it be best if they didn't notice you were ever here?"
So when she returned to normal, he wouldn't have to explain too much.
His words made a lot of sense to Irene, and it wasn't that she was planning to tell Miles the truth about her anyways. "Yes, I guess." She mumbled, her gaze still lowered, fixed on her food.
It just felt so painful to be hated by people. By people, Irene thought of the other Irene's parents. The way they stared at her like as though she was a monster... She couldn't get that out of her head.
Nelson watched her for a while, her shoulders slumped as though she was sulking. After a while, he spoke "Hey..."
Irene's heart would have probably skipped a beat if she wasn't so depressed at that moment. "What?" She murmured, answering him without raising her head.
"Remember that favor I wanted to ask from you?" Nelson asked and Irene nodded. Of course she would remember, he had asked her a bit over an hour ago in the car. "Hm... What about it?"
The next thing she heard was a light 'clink' sound, as though he has dropped his cutlery.
Irene looked up to Nelson, and he began.
"The main reason we have to return to California tomorrow morning is because I have an event to attend in the next two days. It's a charity gala, and I can't turn that the invitation."
"Okay..."
He didn't have to explain to her, she wasn't his wife or his mother, and it wasn't any of her business, but okay...
Nelson let the words rest for a few seconds, as though to build up suspense before he finally said, "I want you to come with me... As my plus one."