"He was just leaving,"
He heard Nicole say. No, no way was he going to let her get rid of him like that.
"I am not leaving, I am here to talk to you,"
He replied raising his voice to make sure they both heard him, the two of them shared a glance that made him feel like an outsider, he shook off the feeling, waiting for the dude to do the needful and get the fuck out, the man seems to take the hint.
"I will let you both talk, you can lock up after you Nicole,"
"No, Aron, you don't have to leave, we were going to leave together since your car is faulty,"
Nicole said, she had concern in her voice, she was concerned about the dude, he hated it here, hated the feeling of jealousy that built up even more inside him.
"Don't worry, I can take a cab, looks like he has a lot to say,"
Aron, Rafael hated the name, said and touched Nicole's hair, Rafael's hand-formed into a fist, the fucking dude didn't stop there, he pulled her closer, and Rafael could only watch.
"Are you sure about this Aron?"
"Yes I am sure, just lock up after you are done and I will get the keys from you tomorrow,"
The dude said and hugged Nicole, he wanted to pull them apart so bad and he barely kept himself in check, the dude even had to the gust to Pat her back and touch her cheeks in his presence and Nicole, God forgives his soul was smiling, not just smiling but fucking smiling as if her life depended on him touching her.
"Control, control,"
He mouthed to himself, he didn't have a right to be angry, he didn't, he was here to get those rights and he wasn't going to mess it up by being a bully, so he watched them talk after a while the dude left and Nicole finally ushered him in reluctantly, as if she didn't have a choice but to do it, she sat down and urged him to seat opposite her he looked around the inside of the studio which was a lot more smaller than he thought, he wondered why she would give up her large studio to work here.
"What do you want Rafael?"
She asked when he didn't say a word, he looked at her.
"Are you dating him?"
He asked, he didn't like him, didn't like how Nicole hugged him and was smiling at him when all she did was frown at him when she had seen him.
"What did you expect? Huh? A hug? Get over yourself,"
The voice in his head mocked.
"That's none of your business, so why do you want to see me?"
"Because I want to talk to you,"
"Okay, what do you want to talk about?"
She asked, she didn't even look at him directly, she was avoiding his eyes or maybe she wasn't just interested.
"How have you been Nicole?"
"I have been fine, as you can see, so what do you want to talk to me about? I am a very busy person you know,"
She said sparing him a look.
"Congratulations on opening the hotel and the gallery, I saw it and you did an amazing job,"
He said. He didn't know what else to say, all the words he rehearsed, he suddenly couldn't remember them.
"That's a little late but acceptable, thank you, is that why you came to see me?"
"Why are you being so vague and unaccommodating?"
"What do you mean by that? See Rafael, it will be better if you go straight to the point, this place ain't mine and I have to lock up and leave soon,"
Rafael was lost for words, he didn't even know what to say to her, he missed her face so much, she got even prettier, purple-haired wasn't the style he was used to her with but it suit her, it grew a lot longer too.
"Rafael? Aren't you going to say anything or you don't have anything to say? I really need to lock this place, I have to be home before six, I need to speak with my parents and I don't want to go home late because of you, I already spent the minutes I should use to work sitting here with you,"
She said in a calm voice that wasn't calm at all, she was talking through her teeth and was barely keeping her cool.
"I have something to talk to you about but you seem to be in a hurry, I will let you go home and we can talk again when you have much time,"
He said he didn't want to waste her time as everything he had thought of telling left him and all he could do was stare at her.
"Say whatever you want to say now Rafael, I don't have any intentions of meeting you again,"
She said.
"Can we do this next time? It's going to take a lot of time and I don't want you to be late home,"
"Well, in that case, if you don't mind I will like to lock up, please can you leave?"
She asked getting up, he stood up too.
"You will give me a chance to speak when we meet again right?"
"I gave you a chance now and you didn't have anything to say, don't expect me to next time, I am a very busy woman you know,"
She said and walked off to inside the studio, leaving him there, he stood there for about five minutes before deciding it would be better for him to leave, it was clear she was waiting for him to leave before she packs up and he didn't want her to go home late, he walked back to his car, got in and drove off, this was only the first day, even though he didn't like how things turned out and how distant she was, at least she talked to him, he could leave with that and it made him even more determined to get her back...