LOVING YOU BENEATH THE SURFACE

COLLISIONS

CYNTHIA’S POV

I spent several days and night on the reports I loaded in my car at the company just to be updated about the situation of the company. Although the manager did so well that I almost founded no fault, I didn’t like the way he was relaxed in launching the products. They were all too far apart and it affected the supposed revenue although not with a very wide margin.

I drafted another calendar and plan that would benefit the company more and sent it to the planning team for confirmation so there wouldn’t be clashes in schedules and overworking of the employees and they promised to get back to me in few days’ time.

After three days of proper rest, I was informed by Pete that I had been invited to a hotel owners’ conference in Malta.

My brows raised in the air, “What do you mean by a hotel owners’ conferences? The manager in charge should go” I yawned

Pete rushed to stop me from leaving and punched a few times on his phone before showing me.

“Your mother has always gone without sending anybody. It’s an important conference so you have to go by yourself” he stated

“That’s because she has trust issues and she loves stress. Why should she go when the managers are there to represent? I don’t have any time for that so forward it to the appropriate quarters” I insisted but he wouldn’t budge

He swiped the page on his screen and showed me again.

“You got a special invitation carrying your real name. Your mother has been one of the sponsors over the years so you need to honor her by showing up, at least for this once” he persuaded further and I sighed in defeat

“You are always so annoying” I scoffed and he laughed

“In a good way I guess” he remarked and that made me scoff again

“I will take it as the sign that you will be attending so I will send a confirmation mail to them right away” he added and ran off

My right leg kissed the floor as I stomped it in protest. I was so exhausted that traveling was not in my plan for the time being.

“Can I just get a break?” I lamented and a voice sounded behind me

“Not yet!” Paul said with a small smile as he handed over a file to me

“D&RG is suing us for not continuing the partnership with them as promised” he informed me and I just slumped into the sofa in tiredness

****

The conference ended and I loved it that I attended because I was able to reunite with Aurora, my only friend in the university. She left the country when we graduated and went to the United States. I never thought I would bump into her in such an event since she was a medical major. We were able to be good friends because she studied psychology and claimed to understand all my emotions even though I didn’t know how until she proved it.

“I came here with my dad. He’s a hotel owner in Jamaica” she revealed and I exclaimed because she never mentioned it for once

“Well I didn’t need to mention it to you. It’s not like we are in a battle of who is richer” she chuckled and I nodded

“That’s right” I responded

We talked at length and stuck together throughout the event. If not that I needed my privacy so bad, I would have invited her to be in the same room with me. Nevertheless, we had a lot of fun and even picked out our dinner dresses together.

***

We entered the hall that was decorated for the party and saw several outfits that got us wowed. People came fully prepared to flaunt their fashion and fed our eyes to the brim.

“Let’s get something to eat” Aurora pulled me along as we joined the buffet queue.

“Everything here looks so tasty. What should we get? I bet they are all delicious” she giggled and I just smiled

She had always been like that. Food was her happiness. She loved to eat and eat which made me wonder why her stomach haven’t turned to a round baseball but I guess she has a way of getting them out of her system.

“I will have a pie and milkshake” I muttered and a short yell rushed out of her mouth, startling me of course

“I know you are crazily obsessed with your body and figure but eating something yummy, creamy and fatty just this one night will not make you get pumped. Don’t you dare” she warned sternly while I just watched her with amusement

We took our foods finally and marched to the empty chairs around a table. I placed my food on the table and was about sitting down when my legs paused at the sight of whom I saw.

My ex-husband!

Never did I dreamt of meeting him there. He was always in the news but I never cared to catch up about him. I dissociated myself from anything that would remind me of him and thankfully, the universe cooperated. I didn’t run into him ever since we got divorced and he came to my mother’s funeral but here was he, right in front of me.

“Why are you not having your seat?” Aurora’s voice jolted me back to life and I blinked severally in the span of few seconds

I couldn’t bring myself to open my mouth or move even though I wanted to do both. I just held my tray tightly on the table and struggled with composing myself. He was also staring at me, making it difficult to make a decision.

“I will take my leave now” he suddenly cut through the tension, stood up and left the table

Aurora, who was confused about the drama quickly rushed up. “If we are making you uncomfortable, we will move tables” she proposed and Chris just gave a little smile

“Not at all. I was done anyways” he quickly responded and motioned for her to have her seat before rushing off

I managed to sit down with the help of Aurora who dragged me down by my hand.

“You get easily carried away. Are you in love with him now? Well, he’s handsome so I understand” she chuckled but nothing was funny to me

“He’s my ex-husband” I blurted out and the pasta in her mouth flew out in surprise

Series of cough followed and I quickly opened the bottle of water for her. She never expected that scenario and since she was a dramatic ass, the reaction was expected.

“He’s the mad man…” she paused, took a deep breath and rephrased her words

“So you mean he’s the asshole…” another pause, closed her eyes to cool down and blew some air out of her lungs

“Ok… ok.. you mean he’s the shithead!” she screamed but thankfully, the music was loud enough to conceal her voice

“Can you just stuff yourself instead? You are causing an unnecessary scene” I gritted and stuffed some pasta in her mouth

She swallowed it in a whim and gulped down all the water in the bottle before crushing it, making my eyes bulge.

“You should have said it earlier. I would have broken this ceramic plate on his head. Arrgh! I was excited from the thought of enjoying the food tonight but he made me lose appetite already. What a way to ruin one’s mood and evening” she growled while I just raked my pasta with my fork.

I was not in for the food before and seeing Chris now made me lose my appetite completely. The situation was so awkward. I had always thought about how seeing him again would like but I didn’t expect to get hit like this.

It was so unexpected!

I didn’t even know what to feel. Every emotions in my body were clashing against each other. The tiny resentment showed but my heart was beating too fast to register the hatred. I couldn’t explain my feelings. He felt familiar yet distance, I wanted to curse him but couldn’t, I still couldn’t bring myself to be cool with him to the extent of striking a conversation.

I was still accessing my emotions when Aurora tapped me and raised her empty plate.

“I will be back soon. I need to get more. The pasta is so delicious. Oh my gosh, I have never tasted something so heavenly” she blabbered and a belch followed making my nose scrunch

My mouth still hung in shock, I blurted out “I thought you had no appetite?”

“Yes, I have no appetite but I have to stuff my belly so I can have the strength to fight” she responded

My neck titled in confusion, “Fight who exactly?”

“Your ex-husband of course. He deserves to have his hair pulled out” she responded sharply

I didn’t know when I burst into laughter. I laughed so hard that she also laughed with me.

“Now I feel better that you can smile. Shoulder up! Don’t let anyone ruin your mood. It’s been years after all” she said with a calm voice and patted my shoulder

I kept nodding at her consolation. Why wouldn’t I love Aurora? She certainly knew how to make me feel better.