AISHA
“REALLY, RICKY?” I spat out right into my boyfriend’s face. Heat rushed through the corners of my eyes. It was so difficult to keep talking while preventing myself from crying upon realizing what he had been doing behind my back. “The entire time we were on the plane, you were flirting with your workmate on your research team back home?!”
Anger flared up in my face as I looked at my boyfriend right at the arrival spot of this foreign city’s airport.
He and I stood right in the middle of people roaming around the building. Each one was pulling their luggage behind them.
Ricky Desmond has that horrified look scrunched up from his forehead to chin, like a deer caught in headlights.
Slowly, he hid his phone behind him. He was typing on it earlier, sending an update to his side chick. I saw it with my own eyes—the freaking cringe heart emojis on each message sent on their convo.
With the sudden turn of events, I didn’t know where to lay my attention. Should it be the white noise of people’s ruffling footsteps or the sound of my heart churning into pieces that only I could hear and feel?
“Look, Aisha—” His rough hands tried to caress my arm, but I squirmed at his attempts at affection.
“YOU! You set up this so-called vacation here in Greece just to make amends for your f*****g cheating ass!”
“Look, pancake. It’s not that I wasn’t remorseful for what happened—”
“You did it! In all consciousness you f*****g did it! God, Ricky. I have been a good girlfriend to you. H-How could you… b-betray me?”
“Hey… shh. People are already staring at us—” Ricky nudged his elbow onto my side. In an attempt for me to shut my mouth.
The look of shame lingered in his eyes. “Can we talk this out at the hotel?”
My eyes widened with disbelief. How could he still have the guts to even care for his reputation? While he just tainted mine? Now, there’s a high chance I’ll be the topic in everybody’s mouth at the office once they learn the news of how I ended up being cheated on by the same “accomplished and loyal” boyfriend I always brag to them about.
I shrugged my head. I let go of my luggage and crossed my arms across my chest. I have dedicated time, effort, and even money to keeping our relationship intact, but everything will just go to waste.
Behind the tough façade that I was showing him, my soul was crushed. If I was alone at the moment, I was sure I’d be curled like a ball onto the floor and cry my heart out.
“Aisha, will you forgive me?”
I looked at him. For a few minutes, memories of us together rushed through my head. Each one felt like knives piercing through my heart nonstop.
No words came out of my mouth. I was just looking at him thinking deeply. Maybe I could forgive him. But would it take away the pain?
I saw Ricky’s expression change, from being at ease to somehow looking at people around us while containing his rage.
“Yes, I flirted with another woman, but it’s nothing serious…” He admitted, but guilt did not linger in his eyes.
My fingers balled into fists. As my heart continued to break, my mind was plotting from which angle I should punch this man just to get even from the pain he was putting me through at the moment.
Being the people pleaser of a man that Ricky is. He couldn’t take the fact that I wasn’t saying anything. He stepped towards me and gripped my forearm.
“Let me go!” I snarled at him. That made him lose his cool. He gripped my arm even harder. “You’re so immature! Stop overreacting or I’ll break up with you!”
“Let’s break up then!” I did not back down from his glare.
“Huh! You’re so confident, little Aisha. Did you forget we just stepped foot in a new country? I booked our flight, hotel, and itinerary. You don’t know a thing.”
“I don’t care!” I prayed that he didn’t hear the way my voice shook. It would only boost his ego. I actually don’t know if I can, but who f*****g cares?
He let go of my arm and grabbed his luggage. “You’re a woman with a distasteful attitude.” With that, he turned his back to me and started walking away back to the airport's lobby, probably booking his ticket to go home.
“Cheater!” I shouted, then raised my middle finger at him. But he did not dare look back.
I palmed my face, taking in the heartbreak and what was happening at the moment.
I thought of ways I could thrive in a foreign city with only my luggage and some cash. Since I picked up the wrong wallet, we already had to rush to the airport immediately several hours ago.
What a turn of events. I filed for a one-week leave at the company I was working at. It came as a shock to everybody since they all knew me as a workaholic. There would be an earthquake and I would still be reading through emails and replying to the last one I could still squeeze in before running out of the office building. Upon hearing my request for leave, my generous and elegant manager approved it with all smiles.
“Good luck to you and your boyfriend…” she even said.
All of this compromise is just for a cheating man!
“You haven’t taken any vacation for the past 4 months—grab the chance.”
“I wish I also had a boyfriend who would pledge an all-expense-free summer vacation like you, Aisha.”
I didn’t tell them I would still have to pay Ricky half of all our expenses for this supposed vacation. I can’t go home right at this moment and have them ask questions about what went wrong with our supposed vacation. I am such a mess!
My brows raised when I heard somebody talking just behind me. A deep baritone voice with a lot of restraint and charisma even if he was obviously on his phone complaining.
I did not mean to eavesdrop on the conversation, but I heard something that made me stop in my tracks.
“I thought I would board the plane right at that moment. I already handled wait—what? Do they f*****g want revisions? I should have sent you here, Randy. They are testing my f*****g patience and wasting my time!”
Yeah, it seems I wasn’t the only one who was in a mess at that point.
“Alright… have the presidential suite at the Vermone hotel booked…”
Vermone hotel?
Wait, that was the hotel Ricky booked for us both.
Something inside me leaped. What a great timing! I could probably hitch a ride from this person if he was heading there too.
“Um, excuse me…” I said, my voice was polite and gentle. I even made a smile, but it disappeared as soon as the man turned to me and looked into my eyes.
My mouth went ajar, and I stepped back like I saw a ghost.
“Spencer?”
“AV?”
We spoke at the same time.
What an actual f**k.
“It’s Aisha Vernice n-now,” I managed to say despite the sudden dopamine that rushed through my system.
I blinked several times just to be sure if this human being was actually real.
Amid the busy lobby at this airport, I felt like no other distractions could pull me away from staring at this man that is also looking at me intently. And I wasn’t probably the only one shocked because he was speechless as well.
Spencer Feignor… he looked professional, charismatic, and mature.
His suit was crafted with exact measurements that hugged his perfectly toned physique. Strong hands clasping his phone and a black briefcase in his other hand. But that perfectly familiar curl of his hair falls effortlessly onto the sides of his forehead. It remained. His eyes were darker now and serious. Even his breathing.
He hid his phone in his pocket and reached for my hand. His movements were careful but he did not hesitate. His intense gaze towards me and familiar presence radiated through me and I couldn’t help but gulp down the tension that lingered between us.
He had grown so much from that high school boy that I dated—the very first person I dated who shaped my teenage years—in the WORST POSSIBLE WAY.
I gulped. But it didn’t help because my tears were about to fall from my eyes.
Huh.
No tears for the breakup I had just gone through minutes ago, but lots were spared for Spencer.
“You ghosted me 4 years ago… How could you show up like this once again?” I mumbled with my lips shaking.