Puppets on a string

CALL OUT MY NAME

Later on the same day I recieved a call from my childhood best friend, Pamela Knight. Pamela got admission in a university in Chicago and left after high school. We still talk on calls and texts but haven't been able to meet. She knows a lot of the stories of my life but not all of them cause she sometimes judge me.

" Hi girl, guess who's back in Cali" She said excitedly on call.

" OMG! Please tell me you are back" I replied with equal excitement. Well I missed my bestie. We have known each other since we were in kindergarten and became friends in middle school.

"Yes. Wanna meet up tonight? I have so much to tell you" She said

" F*ck yes. Our usual place ?" I asked

" Yes, be there in 10 minutes" She said hanging up the call.

I quickly changed to a loose t shirt and jeans, grabbed my purse and ran out of the door.

I arrived at our usual place, our favorite Cafe near the beach. They have the best Chinese food.

There I saw her sitting at the corner seat. I went to her and sat beside her. I really wanted to hug her tight and tell her how much I miss her but I can't. She is not someone who expresses her feelings well. She says that these things are too cheesy. And she hates hugs. Who hates hug ?

" Hey babe" I said with a huge smile on my face.

" Hey, how have you been doing?" She asked with the similar smile

" Forget about me. How are you back this early? You weren't supposed to come back before Christmas " I asked

"I am moving back to California. I have had enough of Chicago. I missed beaches and my family and you too" She said shrugging.

" Great! I was missing my best friend too" I Said back almost squealing having her back.

" ah don't get too excited. I am going to UCLA. So, I won't be basically in the town but I will be here every weekend "

" I think I will manage with that"

Soon we both chatted for a while. She told be about a guy she met in a conference and now they are in long distance relationship. I have already told her about my relationship with Samuel.

When we were talking, I felt her eyes continously going towards the door, she looked nervous.

As I lifted my head to look what she was looking at, she grabbed my arm shaking her head not to look there. I looked at her confused. What is there that she is hiding so bad?

"Don't look there. Paul is here with his friends" She said and I froze. Firstly Owen and now the devil himself. I was in a great mood and I didn't want to ruin it any cost. I nodded my head in a yes not wanting to see his face.

" Did he see us?" I asked hoping that she will answer in no.

"I don't think so. If he would have seen us, he would come here and beg you again to take him back. You know that he has been desperate " She replied

I sighed

"I don't think he will try to get me back again" I said back and told her all about the Owen incident that happened this morning.

"Damn, your boyfriend is bold, isn't he?" She said smirking at me making me blush and I giggled.

"After eating, we paid our bill and stood up from our seats. As we made our way outside the cafe, I came face to face with none other than Paul. God!

" New boyfriend huh! Didn't you move on too fast Ashley" He asked with a look of hurt and anger in his eyes. All of his friends were standing behind him looking at us amusingly including Owen.

This guy didn't wait more than a few hours to tell his friend about Samuel and I.

"Back off Paul" I said back rolling my eyes at him. I grabbed Pamela's hand, who was standing beside me looking at him with same hate as me, pulling her out of their little herd.

Thankfully, the bus arrived the same time. Bus stand was like 10 feet away from the cafe.

Firstly I boarded the bus with Pamela soon following behind. The door were closing when we heard Paul's voice from outside. I couldn't hear what he said but I guess Pamela heard it as her expressions turned into angry one. She turned around quickly but it was too late because the bus already started moving. She turned around again and we made our way to find seats.

" Did you hear what he said?" She said with a look of pity and awkwardness on her face.

" No. Did you?" I asked her.

" Yeah! I wanted to beat the sh*t out of him but the damn door closed " She said angrily while gritting her teeth.

" Calm down first and please come straight to the point. What did he say?" I asked her again

" He said that you are a desperate sl*t and a b*tch" She said in a barely audible voice making me gasp out loud.

How dare him? How can he say such things to me after knowing me very well. Yes he tried to cheat on me with none other than Pam, but he was never disrespectful towards me. Even when we had little arguments, he never said these kind of words to me. He claimed that he respects girls alot and I believed it. But now, he was behaving like an a**hole. There is no way that this guy was respectful. I was really hurt but didn't show it on my face.

" Leave it Pam. I don't really care about him. I have a boyfriend and I am very happy with him. It doesn't matter anymore what that b*st*rd thinks about me" I said shrugging but inside I was really hurt and angry.

Soon Pam and I bid goodbyes and left for our respective homes. I was still feeling angry.

I recieved a facetime call from Samuel which faded my anger in a second. Just a call from him and I am already feeling calm. I am sure he is a magician or wizard from Harry Potter universe.

"Hello love" He said smiling at me while he was lying on his bed shirtless.

" Hey" I said a little too enthusiastically trying my best to not show emotions I felt a few minutes ago on my face.

He frowned suddenly. Damn, he knows me too well. Only Adrianna and Paul knows the real me.

" What happened? And don't tell me that it's nothing." He said with a sterness in his voice and serious look in his eyes. Ugh! Sam never gets serious.

" Everything is fine baby. Just a little headache " I said feeling guilty for lying.

" You know Ash that I can read you like a book. I have known you since only 2 months now, but I know you very well. Tell me what's wrong. How would I solve it if you don't tell me?" He said this time calmly with a sweet voice.

" Paul happened" I said signing trying to keep my anger inside.

As soon as I said his name, I could see the angry look in Sam's eyes.

" What did that m*th*rf*ck*r do?" He asked clenching his teeth.

Then I narrated the whole beach cafe incident to him. I could feel the anger radiating from him even when we are miles apart while Facetiming.

" I will f*ck*ng kill him. How dare he? He doesn't have any right calling you names. I will have his head and cut off his d**k" He said angrily suddenly standing up.

" Give me his number now Ashley. I will go and find him now" He said grabbing his shirt.

" Calm down baby. We will deal with him tomorrow. It's already 11 now. I swear I will give you his number. Please calm yourself" I said with a soothing voice trying to calm him down.

"How can you ask me to calm down? He said rubbish about you. I can't calm down" He said running his hand through his hairs.

Okay. Now I know that angry Samuel is scary. Was it wrong that his angry look was arousing me and him being shirtless was like a cherry on top.

I didn't reply as I was staring at his perfect toned chest and gulped down.

"Take a picture babe. It lasts longer" He said with a smirk on his face. Sh*t! He noticed. I blushed a little looking down embarrassed making him chuckle.

" Seriously baby. I was getting angry here over your ex and you were perving over me" He said with fake angry look trying his best not to smile. I just put one of my eyebrow up looking at him with 'whatever' look making him chuckle.

" Not the right time to be romantic baby. I have a problem down here and you are not here to fix it" He winked at me making me blush more.

I was already embarrassed after he caught me staring at him. I was still speechless and didn't know what to say.

" Okay. Now give me that Paul's number and I will deal with him" He said this time calmly getting back on his bed.

" Not now babe. I promise we will talk about it tomorrow and deal with it properly. I don't want to make the quick decisions in the heat of the moment. I am also really angry but we need to deal with it like adults" I replied calmly

" Fine. But tomorrow I want the whole Paul's chapter out of our lives. I don't want anyone between us" He exhaled loudly and pouted.

" Noone is going to come between us. We need to trust each other"

He just hummed in response. Then we fell into a comfortable silence just looking at each other on the phone screen with a lot of love in our eyes.

"I love you" He mouthed after a few minutes

"I love you too" I mouthed back with a look of content on my face.

Then he gave me a flying kiss and wished me good night. I wished him back and hung up the call.

I was really angry after the Paul incident and I thought that I won't be able to sleep tonight but Samuel helped me with just a call. I never thought that love would be this beautiful.