Three sets of eyes on me, waiting, wondering. I could feel the stagnant weight of the silent questions being thrown at me from the gaze of both Tony and David. Curious why I seemed to have nothing to say to the man standing in front of me and why his greeting seemed so familiar, but those weren't the eyes or the questions that bothered me as I felt all the muscles in my shoulders start to tense. I was slowly sinking into those facetted hazel pools filled with vivid memories: whispered words under the cover of night, gentle caresses, stolen kisses, promises, and proclamations. He was waiting. He was hoping those would be the memories that stayed with me, the memories I went to first, I could almost see it in those fathomless eyes, he was hoping I'd drown in the best parts of our past, but the worst parts of our time together were tied to my ankle, keeping me firmly attached to the shore. He wanted a happy reunion, a casual reuniting of... friends? lovers? For the briefest of moments I allowed myself to sink farther, remembering how that delicate line of hair above his lip felt as his full lips  journeyed over my skin, how different those lips would feel after a day or two of not shaving, how proficient fingers would smooth over the tantalizing sting left in the wake of his stubble.  It felt as though I stood there studying those painfully familiar browns and greens for an eternity, as if he was willing to patiently wait a lifetime for whatever words were going to tumble over my lips. His patience seemed never ending, and almost convincing, but for a split second where his left eyebrow ever so briefly twitched up in silent question only to be met with my steady and level voice.

"You motherfucker." 

"Sydney?!"The tone of David's voice louder than anticipated and almost lost in Tony's exclamation.  

"Hey!" As expected Tony tried to interject on his bosses behalf, moving as if to come forward in his defense, but the only eyes in the room that mattered didn't move an inch, still locked on mine, his expression unfaltering. "Do you have any idea who you're talking to?" Tony questioned, his tone heated, as if he was used to playing the roll of attack dog for him. 

"It's an old nickname she had for me Tony, its ok." his silky voice cut through the tension of the room, the left side of his mouth pulling up in a quick, nervous smile. "Gentleman, could we have the room for a minute." 

"P are you. . ." his eyes finally left mine, shooting a glance at Tony.

"Wait in the car." And without another word, but a brief worried glance in my direction, Tony turned on his heals and walked out to the oversized, black vehicle.  

"Sydney are you ok with this?" David stepped closer to me, his voice lower, nearly a whisper of concern, as Prince busied himself with picking a small piece of lint off the sleeve of his smooth looking black jacket. 

"Yeah," my voice coated in a thick layer of cynicism, "he doesn't want you to hear just how much of a motherfucker he really is." His head still down towards his sleeve, his eyes flew up to mine, giving me a cold, stern look.

"Sydney." his tone cautionary.

"Well I'm not wrong, or have you forgotten the last time you talked to me." my voice was so calm I could barely believe it was my own, my eyes narrowing at him. "I sure as hell haven't, so if you need a refresher I could walk you through what was said."

"Sydney please." smooth fingertips reaching across the counter, landing on the back of my hand before being unceremoniously shaken off.

"You should leave David." Out of my peripheral vision I watched him nod before heading out the front door. And suddenly there we were, alone in my empty bakery that was so full of awkward silence not another soul could fit in the building. "What the hell are you doing here?" crossing my arms over my chest as he turns his back to me.  A few quick strides with his cane and he's at my front door, turning the lock and flipping the sign to read 'Closed'.

"We need to talk Sydney." taking a seat at one of the tables as though he was holding some important meeting causing me to raise an eyebrow at his actions.

"Oh I think you're a few fucking years late for that." laughing at the ridiculousness of his words.

"Please don't use that language, I don't like it." his voice soft, level, and serious as I'd ever heard it.

"Fuck you!" Indignant as I picked up the towel I'd been wiping the counter down with and throwing it at him, hitting him square in the chest before it fell to this lap, littering his perfect attire with little crumbs. "This is my business, which you just came into and apparently closed early, so I'll talk to you however I fucking want little man."

"Bill me for whatever is left in the case, " eyes flicking up to the clock, "I'm sure that will more than make up for any loss of revenue in the last 10 minutes of your day." His head cocked to the side, presenting a smug air about himself that I'd never seen before.

"I don't want you're goddamn money," returning the distasteful look he was giving me, "Unlike every other woman you've ever known. How  did you find me?"

"I've missed you." those long, agile fingers pushed the crumbs off his pant leg as he tried to brush off my question, igniting a new pit of rage in my gut.

"I asked you a question Mr. Nelson." closing the distance between the counter and the table he was sitting at. "How did you find me?"  Drawing a deep breath, he straightened his back, crossed his legs, intertwined his fingers, and rested his joined hands in his lap.

"I wasn't looking for you if that's what you're implying Sydney." His demeaner suddenly cold to me, as though I was something insignificant to him. As if I was simply in his way. "I had an apple pie and it reminded me of our time together, and I thought maybe you were here. Maybe we could talk. Maybe we could resurrect our friendship." His words were a sucker punch that left my mind reeling and gasping for air. To not even acknowledge what we were or what happened. In an instant I wanted to laugh in his face and break down crying at the same time, but neither were something I was willing to do.

"Our friendship?" I questioned in disbelief while bringing my right index finger up to tap at my bottom lip as though I was thinking through what he'd just said. "So hold on," placing my hands on the back of the chair across the table from him as I leaned slightly closer to him, "Is that what you call it when you're fucking a girl, who isn't your pregnant wife, is that friendship?" my voice starting to raise as it came to the end of my question.

"Sydney you know what..." shaking his head at me.

"No, the friendship part must have been when you accused me of being sent by the devil to ruin you, right?" The color in his cheeks increased as I watched the frustration grow behind his usually so controlled expression.

"Stop."

"Oh, I got it." yelling as if I'd just made some historic discovery. "Friendship is when you find out your side piece of ass is knocked up, so you accuse her of manipulating you and you completely fucking vanish!"

"That's enough!" standing to his feet, his baritone voice boomed through the space.

"Well that's the friendship you gave me you self important piece of shit!" Picking up the chair only slightly off the ground before slamming it back down to punctuate my words. His cheeks now a hot pink color, eyes narrowed on me, as he rolled his lips in momentarily as if you keep the wrong words from slipping out.

"I didn't know what to do..."

"Oh! I'm so sorry your fancy little ass didn't know what to do." Finally stepping toe to toe with him, looking up slightly because of his damn heals, and yelling in his surprised face, "I'm so glad I had all the fucking answers by myself!" There was only the briefest flash of what I assumed was regret behind his eyes before his ego stepped in.

"I don't need your shit Sydney." He turned and headed for the door. His entire body moved as though every muscle under his skin was coiled tight, ready to pop at any second.

"Run away Prince, that's what you do best." I continued as he unlocked the door. "Go home and hide behind your new wife and your new religion." He never looked back as I stood there, watching him quickly disappear into the confines of the overbearing black vehicle, only to speed away seconds later. And there I was alone, my heart pounding so hard I could hear it, hands trembling, and the cool streaks on my cheek told me I'd been crying, though I couldn't remember when I'd started.