“Oh! Come in. It's been a while”.

“Yeah…thank you…for letting me um..stay”.

My ex is here. I heard his friend got into an accident and he's admitted in the city hospital.

“Is it raining? You're drenched!”

“Yes. It is.”

As always his answers are always short. “Oh I didn't notice. You should go get changed and…dry yourself”.

“Yeah”

Apparently, his friend David was going to let him stay at his place, but for some reason he forgot about his friend and went on a trip. David is my friend as well so he called me yesterday and asked me if my ex, Aiden, could stay at my place. I denied at first but then he explained the situation and that it was urgent. But how come he went on a trip in this urgent situation, and how can someone forget about a friend who's going to visit because of an urgent situation?

Well I agreed because it's not like our relationship was that bad that we called it quits. There were no problems but ironically it was me who cheated on him because.. well… I was bored. We were teens and I wanted excitement and he was too mature for his age and after 2 years of our relationship, I cheated on him with another guy which I regretted very much. I would have dated him if he met me now or if we met a year after our breakup. Anyhow, it's awkward.

“Do you have a dryer?”

God he looks heavenly. When did he get so big? I didn't notice it earlier when he came maybe because of his jacket but god his muscles? He has grown so much from the last time I saw him. Wait.. he asked for a hairdryer. “Oh! Yeah…wait.”

No way did he notice me staring at him? He must be feeling more awkward than me right? Now where did I put my hair dryer? Found it.

“Here”.

“Thanks”

“So…who's admitted at the hospital?”

What? He scoffed just now but after a blank stare. Did I ask something I shouldn't have?

“Shall we go together?”

That was unexpected. Should I go? I mean he invited me himself but then why did he scoff earlier? And what was that blank stare? Who's admitted? Is it someone I know?

“Can I join?” Yeah. I want to go.

“Yeah sure. If you want to.”

“Shall I get ready or are we going later?”

“In an hour.”

Okay. “It's almost lunch time…what would you like?”

“You're cooking?”

“Yeah. Or do you want to order something?”

“No!”

What does that mean? Is he eating or not?

“Eggs. Make something with eggs”

Oh…so he was thinking about what to eat.

“Sure.” I nodded.

After finishing the most awkward lunch I've ever had in my entire life, I got dressed and…

Oh gosh! He looks so fine in everything. Come on Ren, it's a normal white t-shirt. But how can someone look so good in a normal white t-shirt? His biceps are somehow visible but not totally exposed. His chest… all together he looks clean. Very. Now I really regret cheating on him .

“You ready?” He raised his eyebrows.

“Ahem..Yeah.. let's go.” I was staring again right?

“You…”

“Yeah” Am I not looking good? Or has he changed his mind and doesn't want me to go?

“It's just you… dressed very formally.”

“Oh.. since I don't know who's admitted so I just thought I'd dress formally?”

“I see… then let's get going.”

We're in the lift and I really hate it that I live on the sixth floor. Is the lift broken? Why is it taking longer than usual? Should I say something? Oh! It stopped. It's over. Wait…it's just the second floor. Oh no! This weird guy again? A weird guy came in who always stares at me like I don't know it's creepy. I hate it whenever we're in the lift together. He checks me out I'm sure of it. Gosh he's standing next me now. I should move a little but then Aiden is at the other side. I should move forward. Oh!

Aiden just moved in between me and the other guy. Did he notice I was uncomfortable?

“You shouldn't stare at women so freely Sir.”

What?! I looked at him. He was staring at this weird guy and that guy is now avoiding his eyes?

“Sorry, I didn't mean to.”

Aiden is looking at me now. I'm looking at him too. Should I say thank-you?

“He's apologizing”

What? Oh! “It's alright Sir, but please don't do it again.”

“Yeah”

“Thank-y__

“We're here.”

Oh! Finally, “I'll go get the car”

“You have a car? I didn't know that”

“Oh? Well…I bought it recently. Did you book a cab already?”

“No, but I was going to. It's convenient to have a car in a big city. Let's go.”

“Do you want to drive?”

“Yes?”

“You liked driving.” Did I just say that out loud?

“Yeah right. I still do.”

Okay. He's driving.

We're in the car. He's driving. I'm looking out of the window. And it's awkward. I should say something.

“What about you?”

He talked first? But what's that question all of a sudden?

“Sorry?”

“Do you like driving too? To some people it might be just driving but you know.. to me, it's more than that. I just feel free when I drive. I don't know why.”

“Well…I do like it.”

“I thought you'd more than like it since you were not really allowed to go out very often.”

Right. My parents didn't let me go out. Because I was a girl and I once ran away to attempt suicide which they don't really know. They just thought I simply ran away and then I was just allowed to go to school only.

“Since I didn't go out much, I'm more afraid of vehicles and don't really drive unless I go for work. I do hope to go on a long drive at a peaceful place, unlike the busy city where there is traffic everywhere so I won't see many vehicles.”

“That's a valid reason. We can go together sometimes.”

What? Did he say together? What do I say now? Yes?

“We can… Thank you.”

“What? Why?”

“About earlier. At the lift.”

“I'm assuming it was not the first time?”

“Yeah.. I thought I was just being sensitive and I just moved there..”

“I thought a lawyer would be more courageous.”

“Yeah.. I should have been.”

“David told you? That I'm a lawyer?"

“To be exact, I found out a long time ago. I don't really remember who told me but someone did.”

“I see… What about you?”

“I'm going to do a start-up here.”

“Here? In this city?”

“Yeah.”

“That's great.” Does that sound like I'm too excited? “What I mean is… it's a nice city and you… will surely succeed.”

He laughed?

“Thank you. I hope I do.”

What the hell is going on?

We arrived at the hospital. We're in room 103 and… I see two people here who are not strangers to me. To be precise, one of them I'm assuming is his girlfriend, which I'm not really sure about since we have not talked after entering this room but the air in here is heavy.

The other person is his friend who also used to be my friend but we lost contact years ago. And the last time I checked on my ex, I remember this woman was his girlfriend. And if they're still dating, why am I here? Why did he ask me if we should go together?

Both of them look severely injured, it looks like they've both fractured their arms and legs. Seriously, what is going on?

The look Aiden has on his face is scary.

“This is Samantha. My girlfriend.”

He smiled but it didn't really look like one.

“Oh! Hello. I'm Rena, Aiden’s… friend.”

“Nice to meet you. Thanks for coming.”

"Oh! It's fine. Just here to help."

She's really pretty. Everything seems normal and not normal at the same time. I'm unable to read the room at all.

“Hi Josh! It's been awhile. Do you remember me?”

“You…you're the one who fucked my friend right… hah.. hehe”

What the hell?!

“Oh! He was given anesthesia. Don't mind him” said Samantha.

So he's talking about me cheating on Aiden...but i never slept with him. His friends just started calling me whore and what not.

“I see.”

I sat down next to Josh’s bed since I didn't want to disturb a couple.

“So we can talk comfortably,” Aiden spoke.

“I'm sorry. It just happened. I…”

“Let's end this then. I didn't come here for your explanation anyways. It'll only hurt more. So stop talking.”

“Look Aiden, we might have had moments but it was not love. I jus-”

“Just what? You wanted to try something new since I'm boring? I know I'm not the most energetic or interesting person you'll see but then you should've just told me that you wanted something or asked me to do something or you should've broken it off then and there. Now it's all messed up and you're giving me this bullshit? Love? Are you serious?”

I don't know the context but she messed up real bad. She's crying. I'm not looking at them. I'm actually facing my back at them but I can still hear it all. They're both silent now.

*********

“I'm sorry Aiden it's my fau-”

“Yes it is. It's your fault. I don't want to forgive you and let this go and wonder in future about what you did this one time. So I'm not forgiving you.”

“Let's go.”

“Ren?”

I turned around. I didn't realize he was standing right behind me. It's over?

“We're going?”

“Yeah.”

I looked at Samantha and she was still crying. It's really awkward. I should say something.

“Hey Samantha, if you need anything, call me. Okay?”, I said, giving my business card. “Since I live here, and you're hospitalized and I didn't see your family members here so I'm assuming they haven't arrived or not available, so you can call me if you need something. I'll come.”

“Thank you so much. You're really kind.” she said, wiping her tears.