Louisseena

Chapter 18

Lunch time came and we were at the usual canteen with the usual gang. Today, though, we have someone new join us. It was the two mutual friends, Nicole and Max from Friday that joined us in the club.

Nicole is a small-sized girl with fair skin and has long, straight black hair with streaks of dark gold. Nicole sat opposite me and Jerry was sitting close beside her. They were all chatting happily and I felt myself leaning a little towards Elliot, as if putting a little distance between myself and them. Nicole seems to be a very friendly and chatty girl. She is an extrovert, while I’m totally the opposite. She keeps striking up conversation with me though. Asking a lot of questions about me, what kind of jobs I have worked in the past, what are my hobbies etc. Sometimes Max chimed in a few comments, making us laugh.

Now our lunch gang has gotten bigger. Nicole and Max joined us every day for lunch. The seating somehow is always the same. Nicole sitting directly opposite me with Jerry by her side. Max sits beside me and Elliot sometimes sits beside or opposite. The rest sometimes sit at a different table, depending on the lunch crowd in the canteen. It has become a norm that the 5 of us sit together.

Nicole and Max also play the game that we’re playing on mobile. As a veteran in the game, Max is giving me a lot of pointers. We added each other to the game and started playing together.

One night as I was in my room playing the game alone, I saw my name being mentioned in the game's public chat. I opened the chat and read that Nicole was teasing Max to date me. I raised an eyebrow and scoffed. This girl that I barely knew is trying to match make me.

The next day, at lunch time, I headed to the canteen first. Elliot was a little held back at work and I told him that I'd go over first. As I was about to cross the road, I saw a couple at the entrance of the canteen. I soon noticed it was Jerry and Nicole. They were holding hands and Jerry patted her head before letting his hand go and he went in. She follows closely behind. I was shocked ! So Jerry and Nicole are together ! Why haven’t I realized that before? When did it happen?

I thought back about the time he had stopped sitting beside me in the canteen. That was just a little while before I met Nicole at the club. Nicole is a good girl, I believe. It warms me and makes me happy that Jerry is finally with someone. He always complained about being single. Someone like him who is always caring for me even though I’m older and treats me like a little girl, does deserve good love.

At the table, I pretended everything was normal. I wonder how many of us knew that they were together. Maybe Elliot and Max know. But how come they didn’t tell me anything? That’s weird.

As usual, we 5 are sitting together. Nicole keeps on talking and now, she is teasing Max and I to be together. Jerry chimes in and agrees, saying that he would be happy for us if we’re together. He said he knew that I wanted someone older than me and Max fits the bill. I blushed and didn’t know how to respond. Nicole kept nudging me and I felt so pressured by her. Finally, they both gave up and called us two blocks of wood.

That was so embarrassing. I barely know Max either. It’s weird that they keep matchmaking us. And it’s not like I don’t have anyone. I have the prince…. What am I thinking again? I have no one. The prince isn’t mine. But sometimes I allow myself to indulge in a daydream. What would the prince do when he hears this conversation? He’ll definitely hold me to his embrace and tell them I’m his, get your hands away from my girl. I chuckled at that thought of an angry bald man.

Since the day he saved me at the nightclub, I’ve caught myself daydreaming about him. A bald prince in shining armour saving an ugly damsel in distress. I kept daydreaming as if he were to be mine. The supposed things he would do for me if he were mine. Sometimes I had to forcefully stop myself from daydreaming. He'll never be mine Lou. Nobody wants you.

I guess it’s my coping mechanism to keep myself away from similar dangers that I have gone through. I will never want to put myself in that situation ever again.