Ego's Trap | ✔

52 | Like Him

☆☆☆ Chapter 52 ☆☆☆

Like Him

"I've liked that tiny redhead since the first day we met, Ane── since my last days in uni. University, Ane! Can you believe it? Back when I would come home with a latte on me every day of the week, and you would find your way into having it all for yourself. Remember that, Ane?"

While rubbing some shea butter on my arms, I said "sure," but after thinking 'bout it I added, "you can't blame me, you asked for it. You knew I liked caramel iced latte, and that's all you brought home."

Teresa shrugged as she spread herself on my bed. There was a smile on her round face, one that grew wider by the minute. "Bought it downtown, at the coffee shop on Mead Street. Used to go there to study. I mean, until the day I met her. Going there became a pastime after meeting her. I would watch her, and she would smile at me, and I would smile back, give her a wink. We would talk when she wasn't busy. She was a nice, cute barista, Ane, that's all she was, but I thought she was a gem. She knew my name at some point, winked back at me sometimes. And then one day she wasn't there anymore."

I pulled up my long skirt to rub the rest of the butter on my legs. "Are you tryin'a tell me another sad love story again?"

"No, no, let me build up to my point, Ane," Teresa grumbled.

I groaned. "No, no, I know what's up, and I get it already. Woe is you. Cursed with unrequited love. Cursed with cheaters and unwanted love triangles. Cursed with people whisking away those you love away from you." I immediately bit my lip, realizing the weight of my words. I tried to think of a special way to apologize, but nothing came up. "Sorry."

Sorry for what, really? For whisking Daniel away from her? For hurting her feelings? For not hearing her out? For the three years' worth of projection and bullying I've done on her? Sorry for everything? Ha, as if. A sorry isn't enough. How much dumber can I get?

Teresa shrugged again, without a second thought. There was still a smile on her face. Her eyes were staring up at the ceiling, wide and in the middle of something. "And then, all of a sudden, I see her here, as a maid. I thought it was fate. Who would've thought I would see her again? Oh, Honey. Such a nice, cute girl."

"So... is this a love story? A happy one?"

She shook her head. Her damaged, permed hair limply moved along with it, counting down the days they would all fall off. "I don't get her. She's sending me mixed messages. I'm here thinking about her and I have no idea if she does the same. You would think that by this point I would know, but I don't. It's so frustrating. Meanwhile, Sasha's getting on my nerves. She keeps going on and on about me getting it over with. She wants me to tell Honey about my feelings so that I can move on, but Sasha doesn't understand. It's not that easy." Teresa lifted herself up from the bed and sat on its edge, leaning forward. "Look, just think about it. Here's an example. I may not have confessed to Daniel, but I know my chances with him are nonexistent. You're with him. He's all yours, and that's all he has ever wanted, so good for him. But does that mean I have moved on from him? Maybe, maybe not. I don't know. It's not that easy, it's just not that easy."

I breathed in deep, and let the air go once my hands reached the metallic-green nail polish on my dressing table.

"Ane, I know I shouldn't be telling you this out of all people, but I see him sometimes and it... it makes me swoon on the inside. Still. Other times, I look at him, and I feel nothing but the obligatory sense of wonder, because let's admit it, no matter what anyone feels for him, that man is aesthetically pleasing."

I tucked in my shirt. "What do you mean?"

"He looks good."

"Yea, true. He's a handsome beauty." I gave my nails a fresh coat of metallic-green before a question dared to slip out of my lips. "Is that why you liked, uh, like him? Not for anything else?" Knowing my place, was I being insensitive by asking that question?