Page 29 of Between Love & Ruin

She gives me a questioning look, and I take a sip of my water. That didn’t come out right, I suppose.

“I get it. I shouldn’t have done it. But he didn’t take offense, and we can move forward. I promise I won’t push his buttons anymore.”

As long as he doesn’t push, mine is what I don’t say.

“Aisha is right,” Reyansh adds. “I work with him too, and I know he doesn’t play when it comes to money and his business. This is why he has made his name so big in such a short time after taking over from his grandfather. I am surprised he hasn’t put down his foot with you. And if he has asked to work with you personally, I think you should be careful and not push it too much.”

“I know,” I say. “You are right. I won’t do it again, I promise. But tell me one thing, Reyansh?”

He hums, stuffing his face with his soup. Who eats soup at lunch?

“Why are you men so annoying?”

He chokes on his food, and I pass him the glass of water while Aisha rubs his back, trying not to laugh.

“What?”

“It was a simple question,” I shrug, and he wipes his mouth.

“I mean, I guess it’s in our chromosome or whatever it is.”

“Is it about Mark?” Aisha asks, and I shake my head in a no.

We haven’t even talked ever since I practically declared that I will be staying here. He was being unreasonable, and the audacity of him to demand things from me when he hasn’t done anything substantial for me ever.

“I told you he didn’t take this news well. He was being unreasonable, and I have lost the patience to argue with him.”

“No offense, Sienna,” Reyansh says, and I don’t think he knows that he isn’t in enemy territory now. “But I think you should dump him. Based off what you’ve told me and what I have heard from Aisha, I think there’s nothing left to fix between you two.”

I gulp. That is something everyone keeps telling me, and I don’t know why I have been prolonging it. I know that one day I will snap and do it. I just need the courage for it.

Because as much as I try to go back to the girl who maybe fell for him, I am just not able to feel the same way about him. Yes, there are moments where I like him, where I feel those giddy emotions for him, butterflies too.

But that isn’t enough for a lifetime, is it?

“I guess you’re right,” I say, and I thought saying that out loud would wreck me, but funnily enough, none of that happens. There’s no pain in my chest, and there’s no hesitation in my body. There’s no anxiety anymore.

“I know one day I will need to rip off the band-aid, but not right now. Not when I am enjoying the dream I once had.”

He nods in understanding, and Aisha’s eyes soften at the edges.

I know they understand. In fact, these are the two people who understand the most, considering that they have been through much worse than what I am going through.

The only difference was that they loved each other, despite acting otherwise. Reyansh never gave up on Aisha. And Mark never even tried for me.

“Just know, Sienna, that I am here for you always,” Aisha reassures me, and I smile at her. I know she is.

She is the friend I never knew I needed.

“And if you try to piss off Dominic too much, I will kick your ass.”

That makes both me and Reyansh laugh out loud, and I realize this is exactly why Reyansh calls her a ray of sunshine in his life.

* * *

“So you are telling me you will be working closely with Dominic Wolfe? The Dominic Wolfe?” Laura asks me as she lies sprawled upon my bed with a tub of cookies and cream ice cream in her hand that she swears she brought for me but won’t let me eat.

“Yes, and what’s with the surprise?” I say, scrolling mindlessly through my feed. It is filled with books and movies and fan edits of my favorite celebrities. Just what I like.