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And I could have actually been happy for her if I knew he was treating her the way he should instead of going out with other women behind her back.
I groaned in frustration and shoved a hand into my hair. If only she would believe me, though. She didn’t have to get back with me because really, we lived in two different worlds right now. She’d made it pretty clear to me that day at the café that she loved it here in Georgetown and she didn’t plan on going anywhere, anytime soon.
I just didn’t want her wasting all of that love on somebody who didn’t deserve it. She was too good for him. She deserved better than that.
I took my phone out of my pocket and debated on whether or not I should call her up again. She’d most likely just ignore my call, if she hadn’t blocked me already.
Besides, she was still probably in the kindergarten, surrounded by a bunch of kids, all of them clamoring for her attention.
I sighed and dialed Julian’s number instead.
“Hey, man.” I wished I didn’t sound half as much the loser I felt I was today. “Are you busy?”
I could almost see him rolling his eyes at me. However, it turned out that my best friend wasn’t half the bum I thought he was.
“As a matter of fact, I am a bit busy,” he replied. “There are a couple of things holding me up in the office right now, but we can go grab a quick lunch in an hour.”
I had just eaten but I was dying to talk to just about anyone sane who wasn’t trying to decorate me with a bunch of healing crystals, so I replied in the affirmative. I dropped by the house to grab my bike and made sure I had some cash in my wallet before I rode over to the fancy architectural building my best friend owned.
They probably designed that thing to serve a marketing purpose of some sort. I imagined clients walking up to it and going, “Wow! That’s how I want my building to look like.”
The security looked at me suspiciously as I walked up to the front desk. I had arrived on my bike, looking like I was only fifty percent human. I was pretty sure he was expecting me to ask for money or some other stuff.
Fortunately, Julian had informed the people at the front desk beforehand of my arrival and someone actually walked me into his office, where he was talking to one of his architects—Bryan Palmer, one of our high school classmates, if I wasn’t mistaken. He looked up at me for a brief moment and grinned.
“Hey, Oliver! It’s been a long time since I’ve seen you!” he greeted. “You back here for good?”
“Nope,” I shook my head. “I’m just here for my sister’s wedding and I’ll be back in London after a couple more days.”
“Bummer.”
I laughed. “Hey, I have to work, too, you know?”
“You know what they say—all work and no play will kill your libido.”
Julian frowned. “I’m pretty sure that isn’t how that saying goes. So, what have you got there?”
I watched as Bryan and Julian snapped back into business mode as they went over the technicalities of their latest project. I had known them when we were teenagers but we were very immature back then. It was quite different seeing them the way they were now, going over projects that probably ran into the millions.
By the time they were done, I was shaking my head. “Who would have thought I would live to see the day I’d see you in a suit acting like a topnotch architect?”
“If I had a choice, I’d be in the outdoors right now,” he grimaced, pushing the door open. “I know a great Italian place near here. We can talk there.”
“Great. I love Italian!”
But so did Amanda. We could eat pizza and pasta for days.
I sobered up at the thought and followed Julian to a cozy place with a nice, homey vibe. Instantly, I was hit by the familiar scent of Italian cooking. It looked like Julian was right, judging from the way the entire place smelled.
It was a pretty sunny day, so we decided on an outdoor table. The waitress led us to the adjoining garden, where a few tables had been set up. To the side, I could see neat rows of potted herbs. There was ample shade so that it wasn’t too hot, and a soft breeze blew through the area. It all felt like walking into an Italian grandmother’s garden.
We sat down and ordered one of their bestselling pizzas and cannelloni.
“So, how did she take it?” he asked me with a knowing look as soon as the waitress left.
I groaned and buried my head in my arms. “It was a disaster! She didn’t believe me, and even accused me of trying to ruin her life because I was a bitter and jealous dumb ass idiot.”
“I figured out as much,” he said dryly. “You weren’t exactly the picture of sanity when you rushed to tell her the good news.”
