Love At Last

WHAT YOU MEAN TO ME

Still in shock, I walked over to Cayden’s car hurriedly to avert his question even though I knew he was going to still ask. I laid Jacek gently in the back seat and made my way to the passenger side.

In no time, we hit the road. I could sense the intense urge in Cayden to throw questions at me from all directions, but seeing how he repeatedly took glances at the back seat made me realize he was waiting for Jacek to completely fall asleep. I personally hoped Jacek wouldn’t fall asleep but that hope was far from being realistic because Jacek was already halfway gone.

“Who was he?” he blurted and I turned around to check on Jacek only to find out that he was then asleep. I heaved a sigh knowing I was in for some drama with Cayden.

“Never mind, Cayden. Just drive,” I said wishing he’d listen to me for once but that wish was far from being fulfilled.

” I ask again, who…was…that…guy?” I could sense from his tone that he was boiling.

“Can you just drive?”

“No I can’t! What exactly do you mean by that? Do I not deserve to know who he was and why he thought to disrespect me the way he did?” he scolded, already on the warpath.

“For that, I’m sorry, okay? Just let it be already. He’s not important so just keep driving,” I retorted a bit on the sarcastic side.

He hit the brakes suddenly, the impact causing us to jerk. I turned back to check if Cayden still lay properly owing to what just happened; he was still very much sound asleep.

“I demand an explanation Lily,” he said glaring at me.

“I thought I said this already. He’s not important so just forget about him and drive, okay?” I pleaded which only got him crazier.

“‘Someone unimportant’ wouldn’t give you a nickname, Lily. Start talking.” He was still staring intensely at me who tried hard to avert his piercing gaze.

“You want to know who?” I turned and returned the stare audaciously.

” I sure do,” he replied almost at once.

“Just an old friend. Happy? Now let’s go,” I sat comfortably signifying I was ready to hit the road again.

He scoffed repeatedly. “I hope you really didn’t say that expecting me to buy it?” he asked with every iota of doubt.

“Why not?”

“What do you mean ‘why not?’? Take a good look at me very well…,” he pointed himself, “do I look like a child? Or an idiot?” he completed.

“I never said you were an idiot, neither do you look like a child. You asked who he was, now I’ve told you. What else do you want from me?” I replied angrily.

“Lily listen to me. He called you ‘Lil’ and the way you froze back there tells me otherwise – you were completely defenseless before him! He insulted the hell out of me, and you still said nothing!” he stressed the last part of his sentence. “Now if you would please do me the honor and tell me who the fuck that was,” he barked, hitting his hand against the steering wheel multiple times, laying emphasis on ‘fuck’. He totally lost it.

I raised my hand and covered my ears with them. “Can you just stop screaming already? I’ve told you who he is and you still don’t buy it?”Content from NôvelDr(a)ma.Org.

He turned away from staring at me, rested his head on the chair, closed his eyes and used his thumb and index finger to press both sides of his head in a bid to express his frustration. “Lily, Lily, Lily you really are getting on my nerves.” He turned to me again and said: “I’ve never been insulted like that before, you know?”

“Why do you keep saying you were insulted? He only ignored you so what’s the big deal?” I lashed out as I could no longer contain my anger.

“Seriously? Is this all you have to say?” he reduced his tone. “I defended you back there Lily!…,” he heightened his pitch again. “I deserve to know what happened back there!” he completed. “You know what I think? I think there’s a rather dirty past between you two and I need to know who he was at least so…,”

“You defended me, you defended me, you defended me!” I cut him off abruptly, gesturing with both my hands going up and down to convey that I was fed up. “You keep using that as an excuse to want to pry into every little detail about me,” I scolded. “Listen and listen real good, mister,” I pointed at him, “You’re not special enough to demand any thing from me and expect me to spill,” I stated clearly. “You have to first get that engraved somewhere in your head,” I gestured by poking my own head. “Don’t delude yourself,” I added while shaking my head.

He looked a bit hurt by what I just said seeing how he calmed down a bit. “Fine. Even though we’re not special as you say, we’ve been through so much together to call ourselves friends, right? And friends share everything with each other, right?” He asked, feeling frustrated.

“Friends!…,” I stressed the ‘s’ as I paused, “have limits, Cayden,” I continued.

“Really! Am I the one overestimating our friendship? What do you really take me for?” his voice sounded broken.

I paused for a while and thought of what to say but nothing came to mind. I decided it was best to excuse myself and pervert the issue from escalating beyond that level. I exhaled and said: “I really don’t have the answer to that question. Have a good night.”

I opened the car and alighted. After I did that, I went to the backseat to get Jacek who was still sleeping amidst all the shouting and scolding – he was being quite a deep sleeper. I took him in my arms and stood by the roadside to board a cab to take me home as I didn’t want to hear any more of Cayden’s nagging. All the while, Cayden just stared without saying anything. In no time, I boarded a cab and went on my way.