"What the hell is wrong with you?" Lily asked when I got out of the class finishing the test. "Are you having temperature?"

"I'm fine, Lil." I said, smiling a little to get her off the hook, but she only clung to it more.

"Is there any problem at home?" She asked pulling me to a corner. "Is your Dad okay?"

"Dad is fine." I said, plastering the same smile on my face, hoping against hope that she might let me go. "He's even agreed to go to the therapies. I'm planning to take him this Saturday."

"Then, is it about Robert?" She asked and my heart sank a little.

There was a time when I would have told everything to Lily in the blink of an eye, but today, I stumbled on my own words, trying my best to give her the answers she was looking for. Her eyebrows scrunched together in concern as she looked at me, waiting for me to speak up.

"You guys had a fight, didn't you?" She concluded on her own.

And suddenly, I felt like I was in Robert's shoes with me asking him questions. Though this didn't irritate me to the extent that I had to bad mouth her, I had seen a light on how he might have felt when the inquiries were thrown at him.

He didn't have any friends when he was taken in and I was sure he wouldn't have opened his mouth about his problems to the strangers that he met. Now, with me being around, was he having problems to open up? Especially when he knew I was close to his family?

"What is it this time?" Lily rolled her eyes, thinking that it was similar to one of our banters. "He said your driving has sucked since last time?"

"Lily, not today." I said, walking away from her.

Though I was up for chatting with her, I was not emotionally okay to chit-chat. Lily called me twice before she stopped herself from reaching out. She had always respected to give me space when I needed, and I hoped that she understood.

With English class being next, I took a deep breath to get in without any trouble. I reached a minute before the teacher came in, leaving no time for Brian to come haunt me. I sat at the last row as usual, bending my head low and keeping things to myself. The teacher came exactly when the bell rang, making us open our book to the page where she had left in her last class.

"Psst!"

I didn't acknowledge the hum, but buried myself in my chair, underlining the sentence that our teacher was reading out loud. I heard a chair drag the floor deliberately next to me. I stuck my eyes to the book that was opened in front of me and tried to concentrate on the lines and prose that was being read out.

"Scar!" A specific male whisper shouted and I had known that it was him. I tilted my head away from him and put my head on my palm, resting my elbows on the desk. "What's happened to you?"

The question alone took me by surprise. Brian never asked me what happened unless he wanted something in return for that question. A kiss or a wink or a little something more than just that, at least that's what the whole cheer-leading group always talked about, about how honored they were when that happened to them.

Though I wanted to turn around and check if it was Brian Thompson who was actually talking with me, I sat still, ignoring all my nerves to check on him. I scribbled harder on the poor paper leaving an imprint on the previous pages as well. The dark lines that I had just drawn seemed to mock me with its bold attitude.

"Seems like trouble in paradise." I could hear him smirk. His voice was so low and taunting that I hoped he could raise his voice to get noticed by the teacher so that he could get that detention that he deserved. "Did you and Lily fight over that petty thing?"

I rolled my eyes at his suggestion. It had hardly mattered and it bought the least wreck to our ship. All I wanted for him was to shut the hell up and let me be. But it was too hard for him to follow.

"Okay, guys." I heard, Mrs. Leila clapped her hands together, making me lift my head up and see what she was up to now. "Since we have completed our Shakespearean novel, Romeo and Juliet, I want to put up a small play."

"Play?" Someone from the front asked very enthusiastically. "Are we doing a costume thing for this?"

"What if you become Juliet and I'll be the Romeo?" Brian asked next to me. I hadn't felt a strong urge to kill someone till then. "I could talk to the teacher if you will."

"Shut the fuck up." I said, looking front.

"No, Amanda." Mrs. Leila said with a proud smile at her doting student. She looked at the whole class and started addressing. "Your previous batch students had done that. It had come out so well that we had recorded it."

"So we can't do it?" Amanda asked and I had to roll my eyes at her.

"No, you can. But it won't be under the school plays." Leila said. "So, anyway, I've planned to make you watch the play now, instead of the movie. Personally, my students were better than the movie stars."

"Shit." Brian said. The smirk in his voice was too hard not to miss. "Just missed."

Soon, the whole class was turned into an auditorium, as all the curtains were pulled down and the lights were switched off. Few students cuddled together thanking the darkness. The play slowly started and those voices filled the silence of the class.

As soon as the lights were off, I felt a strong arm loop around mine and hold it tightly. I felt nauseous and when I tried to get out of it, the hold only tightened.

"So, where were we?" Brian asked and I knew he was just waiting to torture me with his questions. With the current condition in the class, he was sure that he wouldn't be able to get a good slapping from me. "Oh, yes."

Coward.

"You didn't tell me what's wrong, baby." Brian said. His voice was so low and so evil that my scream internally subdued. "Lily and you?"

I didn't answer as I tried to get out of his hold.

"No, that's not possible, is it?" His breath was closer to me and I started to wonder how in the hell he had managed to get that close to me. "I saw you two together today. So that rules out."

"What do you want, Brian?" I hissed. "Why don't you leave me alone? Or do you want to have another purple cheek?"

"Feisty." Brian chuckled. "That would only mean one thing... trouble in paradise two?"

"Shut up." I said, knowing exactly where he was going. "Just shut up."

"Then, that is it!" Brian said, happy that he had found it out. "I mean, I understand your plight. He's not spending the nights with you, right? I can understand your cravings."

I struggled to get out of his hold. He had the guts to come and shout about his thinking while he expected me to stay quiet. I was not ready to sit mute. As I moved, my chair moved along with it, shaking and making a screeching sound. A few heads turned to our side and at that exact moment, Brian let go of my hand. After a second of staring at me, they turned back front.

"You okay there? Or were you just getting ready?" He asked with a smirk and without much thinking, my hands rose to give him a good slap. But unlike last time, he was prepared. He held on to my hand and clutched it tightly. "Oh, I'm scared."

"I should have understood it when I called him at two last night." Brian said. "Maybe I was interrupting something?"

Robert had got a call last night? I hadn't known even though he was with me the whole time. I didn't care what he thought about me because the ones who knew me well knew me for who I was. But his words stung me.

"But when I saw him at my doorstep at five in the morning, I knew I had definitely disturbed." Brian said.

So, that was where he was all the time after he had dropped me at the studio. Why didn't he tell me anything about it? I hated the fact that I had to learn about his whereabouts from people rather than him. I wanted him to trust me to want to tell me stuffs about him.

"He had given me all the goods and had stayed back some time too." Brian continued. "I don't know what you see in him, though. No muscle, no degree, he's just another regular garage boy. But, hey!" He put his hands up in mock surrender. "I'm not the one to judge."

I gritted my teeth together from shouting at him. Without his parent's luxuries, Brian was nothing but a spoilt kid. He knew nothing about the troubles the life had to offer if there was one misstep. His revelations only meant that Brian's brain was still in the pea size and hadn't matured at all. But then again, he didn't know Robert like I did.

"Hey, you okay?" Brian asked, feigning as if hew as actually concerned about me. "I mean, I can take over that garage boy for you."

I wanted to kick him in the place where the sun didn't shine. For one, Robert and I, weren't sleeping together and if that alone made Brian stay out of my way then so be it, I was okay to keep things that way. Two, Robert was not a garage boy. He was more than that. And for three, Brian was nothing compared to Robert. He didn't know the ways of life outside his fancy home and parties.

This time, I didn't wait long for him to figure out what I was about to do. I pushed my desk to the other side such that the wooden slab fell on his fingers which were kept on his. With the loud thud, he screamed like a kitten.

"What's that?" Mrs. Leila was more than quick to turn on the lights. "Oh my, God. Thompson. What happened?"

"His fingers got stuck on the hinge of the desk." I said innocently.

This time though, there were no cameras to take in his plight. Such a shame.

---

It was frustrating to know that Robert hadn't called me all day after our fight. I agreed that we both had said some mean things to each other, but I wanted him to come back to me.

Then again, why would he? He never cared in the first place.

It had been a busy night at the café. Though we were back in business, it was different when Mira wasn't there behind the kitchen counter baking something or the other. Monica was too persistent to keep her in the bed, taking rest, but Mira, being the stubborn woman that she was, had argued to come back.

Now, Mira sat in one corner, reading a magazine as Monica and I handled the kitchen. Monica had taken a few work from home slips to help her mother out. She stayed in the café, managing to wait the tables, brew coffees and also do her official work at the same time. Being the multi-tasker that she was, I wasn't surprised.

I tired to manage without her, trying to give her more time to concentrate on her official work while I handled other stuffs.

With a few days off for the café, I guessed that the regular customers were a little thrilled about the news of us reopening. I didn't remember the last time I had forgotten everything to just focus on my current work. I hadn't noticed the time when Clark had entered the shop.

Clark had become regular around here, given that Monica was at home rather than at dates with him. With him around, the constant bickering of the mother daughter had also come down. As for me, well, it didn't hurt to have a handsome guy around the corner.

I had made it my job to constantly remind Monica that Clark was great and sometimes, I often found myself wishing for a guy, so open and honest, to be in my life too, unlike the one I already had.

"Hey, you are still working here?" Clark asked as he entered. "I thought you would be long gone by now. Hi, Mira."

Mira smiled back at him and went back to look at her magazine.

"Trying to get rid of me that soon?" I teased, as I put the chairs on top of the table. "There's no way I would miss that face of yours."

Clark laughed at my open lines of flirt. He reminded me more of James and when I knew he shared the same kind of bond that I shared with James, I was thrilled.

"Where's Mon?" He asked, trying his best to hide his left hand behind him. "She's in a good mood, right?"

I rested my hands on my hip and studied him. He was a little nervous in contrast to the confident aura he usually had around him. His French beard and his military cut hair stood straight anticipating the his next move.

"What's up?" I asked, still looking at him, trying to figure him out. "What are you hiding behind?"

He let out a nervous laugh. "You'll know." He said, looking away. "I'll be humiliated or very happy today."

"Huh?" I asked, confused as ever. "What?"

"Nothing, where is she?" He asked again.

Monica came out wiping her hands on the kitchen cloth, too obvious to notice him. Her laptop was open next to the counter where we took orders, as she tried to multitask. When she looked at Clark, all her tension lines vanished.

"Hey, when did you come?" She came over and hugged him while he kissed her forehead. "I hope Scar didn't torture you this time."

"Hey!" I cried. "What is that supposed to mean?"

Mira laughed at her daughter. "Stop it, Monica. Why are you always taunting her like that?"

"That's right." I said, leaving the two love birds and going to Mira. I sat next to her and put my arms around her neck as Mira put her hands on top of mine.

"You are only trying to get to her good books." Monica said to me. "Buttering my mother all up. I know all your plans."

"Do you remember that I'm still here?" Clark asked, with a tender smile of his own.

"Sorry, honey." Monica said, putting her hands around his neck and pecking his cheek. "How was your day?"

"Good, I guess." Clark said hesitantly.

"Hey, what are you hiding there?" Monica asked. She went around and saw him holding some flowers hostage. "Oh, my God, you didn't. Tell me you are not going to, Clark. God!"

"What happened?" I asked Mira, trying not to spy on the two.

Mira patted on my hands, waiting for the things to unroll on their own.

The next moment, Clark was on his knees, holding out the bouquet and a ring box in front of Monica. I gasped at what I was watching. Mira's hands on mine held tighter and I swear a heard a joy of cry from her.

"Clark, you..."

"Before you open your mouth, I want to say what I have to say." Clark said. He was still in his knees as Monica wiped her eyes. "You know I have done this like a thousand times already, but each time I'm nervous and I'm planning to do something different than the last time. This time, I've asked for Mira's permission."

I looked at Mira, who only shrugged, taking a napkin from her table. "I love that boy."

Monica let our a snort, as she wiped her tears away. "So, Monica Kapoor, will you marry me?"

"Say yes!" I shouted before Monica could react. "I'm going to kill you if you don't!"

At my confession all of them laughed while Monica nodded her head at him. I let out a big scream knowing that after two whole years of effort, Clark had finally made Monica agree to her. Clark got up and put the ring to her fingers and they both kissed.

"Oh, my God!" I shouted, hugging Mira. "I can't believe it! Monica and Clark! They are going to be so cute!"

"They deserve everything best." Mira said wiping her tears away. "Come let's go up, I've secretly baked a cake for this."

"Wait, you knew about this?" Monica asked and even though she made it seem as if she was angry, I could tell that she appreciated her mother's approval. When Mira only nodded her head, she hugged her mother. "Thank you."

"I did it, finally!" Clark said. "That means no more flirting with me, Scar. I'm going to be a married man."

I laughed at him as I went forward and hugged him. "Congratulations."

Suddenly, the room was turned into festivities. Thankfully all of our customers had left and we had the privacy of ourselves to enjoy the moment.

"I'll just close the shop and get going." I said, feeling that I was overstepping their private moments.

"You are not going anywhere, Missy." Monica said. "I'll close the door while you arrange the chairs. We will all go up and celebrate together." I hugged her while she only smiled back at me. "I've always considered you as my sister, Scarlet. You don't have to feel that way here."

I nodded my head, not trusting myself to speak with so many emotions swimming at my bosom. I did as she told. Clark took Mira up the stairs while we locked the café. As I kept the chairs up, I heard Monica talk.

"We are actually closed now." Monica said.

I couldn't see the person on the other side, as Monica was standing just ahead of them.

"Please, we wanted to have a cup of dark coffee. We did make a long journey to reach here." The other person said.

Monica looked at me, giving me a what-should-I-do look at me. I shrugged. "Let them in, I'll take their orders and be right with you."

She mouthed a Thank you to me as I put back the chairs back in its position to accommodate the new comers. I put on a smile, as I welcomed them. But my smiled turned pale, as I saw the person whom I was hosting.

Monica patted my shoulder and went up the stairs to her family and I was left all alone with three more people to attend to. I felt a shiver pass through me as I felt all my body parts go numb. With trembling voice, I started.

"What are you doing here?"

---

A/N: What do you think of Brian's actions? Is it jealousy? And Monica said yes to Clark! Yay! And last but not the least, who do you think has come to the café?