The Girl At The Last

Chapter 54

Elaine

It was heavenly, the seducing trace of food danced  on air, as I inhaled a deep whiff of its aroma. The smell of cheese, spices and roasted meat squeezed in between the freshly baked, inhumanely round buns excites my taste buds. Licking my lips like a trained savage animal, I grab the burger with both the hands and took a large, desperate and much required bite.

"The burgers are not in good hands" I don't pause as I shard another chunk out, immediately after I had the initial one down. Not even Nathan's crucial remark was able to tame me. I was starving.

"I never imagined a day when I would feel such emotional consistency towards food. But I pity them, especially the one that goes into the hands of ruthless people like you" thinning my lips at the subtle cause of disturbance I peep at him as he sat in front of me with his right hand supporting his chin upon the black- bronze café table amid us.

"Nathan" as soon as I gulped, I cleared my throat. He watches me intently wiggling his brows.

"Yes El"

"Will you do me a favor?"

"Of course, you just have to ask"

"Are you sure? it's a really hard task. Especially for you" he looks skeptical but nods when I provide him a small smile.

"I'll do my best, now stop beating around the bush and tell me"

"Do you think you can keep that mouth of yours shut till I am done with this?"

The looks of curiosity on his face falls faster than the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. neutrally pouting his lips he slouches back, grumbling something under his breath about seeing me after a month and me still being the ass. But my sole concentration was diverted towards the lifeline clutched on my hands.

When I was done, that would be a good twenty minutes later as I gave my undivided attention to each ingredient of the bite I took, each sip of milkshake I chugged and each second I tried to ignore the cynical gaze of Nathan on me.

Since he was my best friend, he was better at analyzing me, better than anyone else. And right now he gave me the time and space that I might require to collect my thoughts before he gets to a point.

And the point being the one chance encounter of the image I saw four days back.

And it was safe to say that the event followed some depressingly sleepless nights and tasteless days. I was confused, sad, clueless but mostly angry. But with who?

Everyone sensed the three sixty degree flip of my spirit and resolve. Like a plague I made sure to avoid people as much as possible.

Cooped up in my dorm I prepared for the quiz, and by day classes were the only thing I attended.I made sure to act upon on showcasing that I was at the zenith of busy being busy, in an attempt to isolate myself.

And it worked just fair until today, the day of championship.

We won.

Though it didn't resulted in much of surprise among the clique and the few close friends that knew me and Clarissa, they were all happy for us. The final phase was held at the broadcasting hub that was in the outskirts of the city. An hour long drive by the school's chauffer later and numerous brain screwing questions apart, we were announced as the winners.

The smile at Clarissa's face was worth it as she held the object of merit. But me, I was far too afraid to face the crowd and occasional blinding light's that recorded our every move and breath we took.

The gaze of the audience were like a balm of poison upon my skin as most of the time I ducked my face lower and stoically focused on the questions.

"So, now you're going to tell me what happened? Or is there any more obvious strategies to procrastinate whatever the reason is that you texted me to meet you here?" wiping my fingers with the paper tissue I sighed looking at him. It was when we returned did I abruptly decided that it was time I let it out. Before I explode or crumble under the pressure like a molten wax.