Lissa's POV
My mind kept replaying yesterday, over and over. I had even told Jeremy everything, but surprisingly he wasn't surprised or Shocked. He just shrugged and said, "Isn't it obvious?" I didn't know what that meant, and it didn't help. I decided to call Megan, maybe for advice, but before I could, Sebastian appeared.
Is this the only restaurant here, why is he here again?
He ordered for two plates of grit. This time, though, I wasn't as scared as the first time.
"Sit. Eat with me," he requested which was surprising.
"No, thank you," I politely declined.
He was the only customer I had now, and it felt awkward with just him and me.
The silence was heavy and uncomfortable. His eyes turned toward me, making every nerve in my body tingle uneasily.
"Do you remember what we did every Friday?" he asked abruptly.
All of a sudden? damn you Sebastian!
I felt my chest tighten. Fridays… they had always been ours. Even with college schedules, we always found time to go on dates and have some fun together. I swallowed hard, forcing my breath to steady before the memory hit again, and my stomach turned.
"Do you remember the first time we met?" he continued, a chuckle in his voice. "It was raining that day… you slipped in a puddle while trying to carry Megan, your shoe flew off, making you slipped, but you laughed so hard I couldn't stop laughing either. I thought you were… so funny."
I blinked, feeling my heart twist painfully.
"And the last happy memory of us…" he said, his voice softening. "Buying those shoes. I read somewhere… if you gift someone shoes, they'll leave you and go far away."
I froze for a moment, it hurt so badly. I didn't want to hear anything about my past, knowing fully well how dirty it was. Did he come here to humiliate me?
"Why are you here? To shame me? To laugh at me?" Tears burned in my eyes. "Please… leave me alone, Sebastian! I've already suffered so much. Please leave me alone and stop coming here. Do you know my biggest regret? The first time we met… because that was the start of all my ruin!"
He looked hurt, but I couldn't stop.
"I've moved on from that past! Please… just leave me alone!"
I ran past him, and past Jeremy, who was slightly confused—into my room, my legs trembling. Once inside, I collapsed, squatting on the floor, and went straight to where I kept our things together. The shoes were still there. I unwrapped them, clutching the shoes he had bought me. I let the tears fall freely, crying so hard my chest ached. I just couldn't stop.
---
After crying my eyes and heart out, I didn't even know when I fell asleep. But when I woke up, it was already noon. I mentally slapped myself. I had left the store to Jeremy alone. Today was Sunday, and we usually had a lot of customers during the day.
Coming downstairs, I was surprised to see Sebastian still there. They were sitting together, and Jeremy was whispering quietly. I couldn't hear what they were saying, but immediately they sensed my presence. Sebastian quickly excused himself and walked away.
I turned to Jeremy. "What were you both talking about?"
He hesitated for a moment
"Nothing, nothing," he shrugged.
"Nothing?"
---
Sebastian's POV
My hands locked tightly around the steering wheel, my knuckles turning white from the strain. The engine took longer than necessary to die before I shut it off and stepped out.
"Good morning, sir."
"Welcome back, sir."
The voices followed me as I walked in, but I didn't respond or even turn to look at them.
My mind drifted back to yesterday—the conversation with my mother.
Aria had always said it, that she never liked Megan and always called her two-faced. I never paid attention to it. But my mother… she was different. She liked Megan and trusted her a lot. But yesterday, she didn't sound so sure of what she had believed all this while.
"I think I made a mistake," she'd said, her voice quieter than usual. "Something about everything… doesn't feel right anymore."
Then she told me about the first time she met Megan.
It was years ago, at a grocery store near my school. She'd gone there because I had gotten into an accident and wanted to get a few things to cook for me.
That was where she saw Megan.
She said Megan was walking in her direction but was focused on her phone. When she got closer, she accidentally bumped into her, making her phone fall. She picked it up to give it back. Luckily, it wasn't damaged, but something caught her attention—it was a picture.
Me and Lissa.
My mother said she hadn't meant to look, but the caption caught her before she could look away.
Slut Lissa. Two-timing two friends.
When she tried to hand the phone back, Megan just smiled sadly.
"Romantic, right?" she had chuckled dryly.
She told my mother Lissa was her best friend who was struggling financially, but instead of handling it properly, she started getting involved with different men. Worst of all was when she started dating two friends to get money from them.
She said people already knew and were talking about it, and she was getting dragged into it because of Lissa.
And she had cried.
She said she had warned Lissa to stop, especially because of me.
Because I was "a nice guy." But Lissa didn't listen. She also mentioned how I got drunk and got into an accident, and Lissa didn't care. She apologized, saying she didn't mean to rant, but she was overwhelmed—and then she left.
By the time my mother got to me that day, she already believed everything. When she went to the hospital, she met Megan taking care of me, and Megan was shocked to find out the grocery woman she met was my mom. Ever since then, my mom has taken a liking to Megan.
She had looked for Lissa, but she wasn't on campus. Unfortunately, she found Lissa's home address and went straight there. She didn't let her explain or even give her the chance to talk.
She insulted her, slapped her, warned her to stay far away from me…
…then threw money at her and called her a slutty beggar, in the presence of more than a hundred people.
"I didn't know any of that," I had said, clenching my fist, trying to suppress my anger.
But my mother just continued, with guilt lacing through her voice.
She told me she saw Lissa again later, with Kaylee, but didn't recognize her at first.
But things started feeling off. Immediately Kaylee mentioned Lissa and talked about Megan, her mind drifted to the past and she remembered.
Kaylee had commented, after Lissa left, that she was a talent, a beautiful flower she had noticed but never had the chance to bloom. According to her, she regretted not going to Lissa immediately after she returned to the USA.
"So Megan didn't change, still bitter? Because there was no way she would forget to tell Lissa about her offer."
"Bitter?" my mom had asked.
"Yes. When they came to audition, I gave them a script to interpret and act. Everyone came up with their own interpretation, but Megan… she copied Lissa's. I didn't accept her. A few days later, she came to me asking why I accepted her friend and not her, saying she was obviously better. But I told her she was following Lissa's dream and not hers, copying Lissa instead of finding herself and left angrily."
But Lissa came back later… and turned the opportunity down.
That part didn't make sense to anyone. Lissa loved acting. But suddenly, her mother didn't want her doing anything related to acting. Her mother, who had previously called and thanked Kaylee for accepting Lissa, didn't want her to act anymore. Then Kaylee said she tried reaching her again later but couldn't.
That was when the doubt started in my mom.
What if that first meeting… wasn't a coincidence?
Jeremy's voice came back to me.
He didn't tell me everything, but what he said stung.
He said Lissa's mother's last wish was for her to follow her dream. That if Megan could be on screen, she should too. That she regretted ever stopping her.
Lissa's mom had laughed dryly. "She traffics girls… and you're with her. Not scared?" Her eyes were fixed on the TV screen, where a video of Kaylee and Megan was playing.
Jeremy said he didn't understand what she meant back then. But after seeing Megan physically, he understood something—Megan is no good news. He didn't like her.
He had told Lissa that before. But she always defended her.
My mind drifted back to seven years ago. I didn't know what to believe anymore.
I clenched my fists, trying to process it all, before reaching for my phone.
And called her.
Megan.
She picked up almost immediately.
"Sebastian?" she said, her voice lighting up. "Is this a dream? Sebastian calling me?"
I exhaled slowly.
"You know my house, right?"
"…Yes!" she screamed excitedly.
"Come."