"You need not accompany me all the time, you know that right?" Jessica eyed Ryan while he drove and they headed towards the main office of Celestial Skills, their business partner. The collaboration so far had been convincing for both parties, and work was running in full throttle, much to the contentment and peace of Liam, who had been calling Jessica several times a day.

Ryan winked. "Accompanying? No. This is me being a personal chauffeur to you, because apparently, you have been too busy. So much, that office chairs are you latest bedding."

"Woah." Jessica sighed. "It's all for this week. The more stuff I get done, the earlier I can be free. Come on! I am finally in a different country and now I won't take some me-time out for a little adventure? IMPOSSIBLE." She made an X-symbol with her arms and pouted like a pufferfish. At least, that was what Ryan thought. He could not help but smile wider.

"Whenever you get free, text me. I've to introduce you to someone." 

"Aren't you a little fast?" Jessica gave him a knowing look, and he grinned. It screamed 'Guilty as Charged'.

Their conversation where Ryan had assured Jessica of finding a suitable companion for himself had actually bore some interesting results. 

People might have different opinions of the matter, but to the young man in question, love was a thing of a lifetime. Love, was a force that would shoot up to the stars in a man's lifetime, provided he was willing to let that happen. Many a men fall in love with multiple things, humans, and souvenirs, animals. Nothing can necessarily bind them to love a person, and to lock their love for only them. 

What better example then the side characters of a TV series, which is often seen as the annoying second lead who tries to break the couple off? Or be the mature person and step back? They sometimes do wrong, sometimes they do everything right, and not receive the love they deserve. Then, they live with that love for their beloved. They live lives which are fulfilling in every way, with the commitment each individual relation in their lives needs, and do they then forget about the love they were in?

Probably not.

Like a chronic disease, they live with it.

Ryan had chosen to do the same.

He would live with it. 

Like he lived with it. When Larry was lost. Like he lived with it, when Jessica was gone. He would live. And live well.

Now that he had decided so, the next few seasons were to be scheduled in an effort to find a suitable someone to go on a date with, and possibly walk down the aisle. He did not have many demands, yet not one woman, not of any nationality, ethnicity, familiar or unfamiliar, managed to strike a cord in his heart.

Fate played better, and two days later Mary called him over. He scolded himself for not knowing better and wondered why he didn't just ask Mary out when he had the chance. If it were solely for good sex, he probably could. But as lovers, as probable marriage prospects, they were just not compatible. Instead, he met someone he once had a childish crush on.

******

"Portia?" Jessica's face grimaced and the temperature outside the restaurant gate dropped down to absolute zero. A sudden look of disgust spread all over and the need to puke grew stronger, she almost let all her stomach out when the woman held out a hand to shake. Courteous as she was, Jessica responded with taking the hand and shaking it lightly and firmly at the same time.

Bitch.

She announced in her head.

Portia was a beautiful woman. Ironically, to Jessica and only Jessica, the smile she held on her face was the single most ugly thing God ever created. 

Who would believe you? 

No one. Not a single soul she knew would.

Crazy how some are loved by all, yet with the glasses we wear, a different shade of evil flashes in our heads.

Even crazier is what we think we got over with, we probably did not. 

And the craziest of all- 'patience' in Jessica's heart when this woman called Portia strangled her with her arms, in the name of a friendly embrace. "I missed you." What was meant to be a murmur, came out to be a phrase loud enough to reach Ryan's ears.

I need to have talk with Ryan! 

"Yeah, me too." 

"How have you been? Ryan here told me you have been rather busy with affairs?" Portia refused to let go Jessica's hand even when she had changed positions to hang on to Ryan's arms.  She would often glance over at him and look at him with such promise of true love- there was no opportunity for even a spectator to doubt the authenticity of their connection.

"Ryan, is this your-"

"Yes." Ryan grinned. "It's all thanks to you though." He leaned over to Jessica, "If you hadn't motivated me-"

Portia nudged him and blushed. "Yeah." She chirped. "Ryan and I have just started dating. Honestly, it's all by chance. Not even in my dreams did I think we could ever, ever be together. School sweethearts end up a nightmare, you know?" She caressed Ryan's cheek with her thumb. "Some crushes just end up being a one-sided affair." Her gaze fell back to Jessica, and if Jessica's prior experience with social anxiety did not teach her to read the subtle signs of people's face, she had barely witnessed the smirk that flickered over the woman's face for a mere second.

Some people just don't change.

"Yeah." A truly cold wind engulfed the three of them, and they finally decided it was time to go inside and have hot Chinese food.

The three sat in the spot that was reserved by Ryan, offering a grill in the center where fresh meat and was grilled for them. 

It was heavenly.

Besides that, Ryan and Portia sitting across Jessica did not help much to ease the atmosphere that the poor man was failing to decipher. He found absolutely no issues with displaying affection to his new girlfriend, which included him hand-feeding her, or rather, chopstick feeding her, pecking her on the lips, and wiping the oil off her lips with tissue.

Jessica would usually not mind couples showing their love off to the world. Liam and her had been intimate on occasion that were not their own private place more than a couple of times. Yet, something about them... something about Portia... irked her.

She hated the sweet remarks the woman passed about her looks, clothes and life in general.

She hated the way Portia squealed 'Oh, try this one.' and placed pieces of food in her plate.

She hated the way Portia showed she was... friends?... acquaintances? with her? 

All the while Portia would laugh covering her face in a womanly fashion when Ryan would crack jokes. She would talk of times when they were in school. Of all the years, including the ones that were forbidden to talk about with Jessica. She did it so subtly, Jessica knew Ryan did not understand her intentions.

But then again, not one thing had Portia done wrong.

Maybe it was Jessica who was turning evil, still jealous of Portia after so many years.