“I don’t have feelings for her, Alisha. I just like her. I enjoy her company. She’s smart and intelligent and the sex was good,” Devon said and sat back dejectedly in his chair. Just talking about Belle made him sad. He wasn’t used to feeling powerless, he wasn’t accustomed to not getting what he wanted. Alisha was still staring at him. Now her look was turning from curiosity to sympathy.
“You know, Devon. Not in a million years would I have imagined seeing you this broken up over a woman,” she said finally, after a minute’s silence.
“I’m not broken up over her!” he said, losing his patience now. Alisha ignored it. She was going to say what she wanted to say.
“I’m sure you know that I spent the better part of our friendship being in love with you. Till I realized that you were impossible to love, or rather you yourself were incapable of the feeling,” she said and Devon stared at her in surprise. He hadn’t expected Alisha to ever speak this way.
“Oh, don’t look so surprised. I have feelings too! I’m not made of stone. And you don’t have to feel sorry about me either, I got over you pretty quickly,” she added and Devon relaxed a little. He still didn’t know what to say to her.
“But I was satisfied in knowing that nobody could have you, it wasn’t just me. But I’m starting to believe that you are capable of feelings after all, Devon,” she said and he looked away from her. He had his jaw clenched and his eyes focused on the view outside the restaurant. This was not the kind of conversation he wanted to have. The less he acknowledged Belle’s hold on him, the better it would be, but Alisha didn’t want to let it drop.
“Don’t worry, darling,” she continued, “you won’t have to feel like this forever. I can attest for it from first hand experience.”
Devon looked back at her without a word still. He regretted inviting her to lunch with him. He hoped that she would manage to distract him, but he had forgotten that she knew him better than anyone else.
“You know what might work to cure these blues?” she asked and Devon raised an eyebrow at her.
“What, Alisha?” he said and her face broke into a wide smile.
“A good old fashioned romp in the bed with me. How many times have I managed to lift your mood?” she said and over the table she reached for his hand. Devon drew his hand away from her and stood up from the table.
“I’m sorry, Alisha. I value our friendship and your advice, but that side of our relationship is over,” he said, probably a little harshly. Alisha was laughing again, and she stared at him with mockery in her eyes. Almost like she was enjoying herself, watching him suffer over a girl.
“Why? Just because I confessed that I once had feelings for you?” she asked as Devon took out his wallet and counted the money.
“No, because I know now what the real thing feels like and I don’t want to find an easy solution to my problem,” he said and placed the money on the table.
Alisha sat back in her chair lazily and looked up at Devon, her smile had turned sour.
“Suit yourself. I’m not the one who is a lonely bachelor living up in his ivory tower without any actual friends. Best of luck getting over your heartbreak,” she said and picked up her wine glass again.
Devon said nothing but turned and walked away from her. He couldn’t believe that Alisha too, of all people, wasn’t the person he had thought she was.
Belle
When Belle returned to the apartment that evening, her eyes were burning and her shoulders were aching. She had spent the whole day trying to do her job well. As an intern, she was not only required to produce well researched market surveys, but she also had coffee runs to do and errands to run for others in the office. At the end of the day, Belle was tired and feeling heartbroken. But she still remembered that Jesse had a new job and she needed to support him.
When she opened the door, she found Jesse in boxer shorts and an old t-shirt. She was surprised, but tried to hide it with a chirpy voice.
“Hey! How’d it go?” she asked, shutting the door behind her.
Jesse was on the couch, playing on the console again and he looked up at her with a bored expression in his eyes.
“How’d what go?” he asked and Belle felt her heart sinking. She walked up towards him and softened her voice. It had obviously not gone well.
“The job interview,” she said, trying to sound as neutral as possible. Jesse paused the game, placed the control on his lap and looked up at her like he detested her for asking him that question.
“How do you think it went?” he asked and Belle shrugged and looked away from him. Of all the times he had been in a bad mood, this had to be the worst.
“You said you were excited about it and they pay well, so I don’t know…” she said and met his gaze again. Jesse rolled his eyes and looked away from her, as though she had said something offensive.
“They don’t want to hire me, alright?” he said and stood up from the couch. Belle followed him into the kitchen area.
“Why not? What happened?” she asked and Jesse ignored her. He went over to the mini fridge and extracted a can of beer for himself. Belle looked at the beer in his hand quizzically. What was he turning into?
“Nothing happened. I went for the interview. They interviewed me and said that they don’t want to hire me,” he said and walked past her again towards the couch. Belle whipped around to follow him back to the couch. She had her doubts about whether he did actually go to the interview.
“What questions did they ask?” she asked, folding her arms over her breasts.