Masked

CHAPTER 11 DUPE

We woke up late the next day. I woke to from the sound of my coffe machine and found Addy in the kitchen, all clean and tiddy.

“Morning Aly!” Addy said with one of his cheerful smile.

“Morning Addy.”

“Here, your coffee.”

“Thank you buddy.”

We chatted a bit and decided to eat breakfast in a near by café.

“So Addy, now where are you going?”

“Me? Us.”

“What do you mean us?”

“You and me are going to ruin our weekend just like old times.”

“And who said yes on my behalf?”

“Ofcourse me. Now finish your breakfast. We have a lot to catch up.”

Typical Addy. You can’t fight him. I feel worried for Henry like how does he handles this stubborn brat.

For the next hours we did what we used to do when in college. Roam around the streets of NY, shop for each other, buying books and clicking lots and lots of photos. Addy bought a lot of thingd for Henry too.

Henry video called in our “excursion”, as Addy called it.

They gave each other the updates of everything they did without each other. Me and Henry greeted each other and he said he will be returning soon.

Henry is a sweet man, have always been sweet, but extra sweet when it comes to Addy. I still remember the first day we met him, practically saw him in a café near our college and Addy would not shut up about him. We were in second year and he was a senior in our college. He had the same personality as Addy, but whereas addy is introverted, he had a dark aura.

We saw him daily from the next day , “coincidentally”, for four months!

Then one day Henry came on out table and asked if he could sit as the whole café was jam packed. Addy kept eyeing him from corner of his eyes and kept begging me with his puppy eyes to start a conversation, which I was least interested in.

“Hello. I am Alina alonso. And you?” I finally gave in and said.

“Henry Larsen.” He said in his deep voice and just met my eyes for a second.

“Are you a student in Columbia University?” I asked further as Addy nudged my feet under the table.

“Yes.” Henry replied, he, as much interested in our convo as I was.

“Which major?”

“Fine Arts.” He replied, this time looking as his watch and then watching over the counter for his order. Sure as hell universe was not in our favour that day. Though it indeed favoured Addy.

“Which year if you don’t mind telling?” I asked with a forced smile.

“Third.” He replied with a sigh, obviously minding our intrution in his peaceful afternoon.

“Do you have a girlfriend?” Addy asked. I shoot him a stare, wondering if he has always been this crazy or some spirit has taken over him.

“What the f**k are you thinking?”

“It just came out. I should apolozise.”

“Certainly yes.”

We had this silent conversation from our eyes. We could always get whatever other has in their head just by looking at each others eyes. Perks of being best friend I guess?

“I-I’m sorry I didn’t mean it.”

“No.” Henry replied, finally looking at Addy for the first time. Addy’s face grew red. From embarrasement or blush, I couldn’t make out what it was.

“Sorry?” Addy asked with a confused face, his brows knitted together.

“I don’t have a girlfriend.” He replied taking a sip of his coffee, that finally came when Addy asked that stupid question.

“Why?” Addy regreted asking it out loud because he clutched his mouth with his hand as soon as the words left his mouth.

Wait. Did I saw a smile on Henry’s face? Certainly not, right? But I sure did saw a curve-

“Because I have a boyfriend. Now if you will excuse me.”

Henry left, leaving a shocked Addy beside me.

For the next hours Addy did not stop rambling about how he was happy that Henry was interested in boys but at the same time disappointed that he had a boyfriend. He literally tracked Henry and his boyfriend’s history geography. For others Addy is just a business major, nerdy looking weak guy, but underneath that mask is a dangerous hacker that could trace even the seven generations of a person. He could even easily hack government confidential webs.

“James brown, a third year major in sports our Uni, a tall masculine boy, a basketball players and f*****g handsome as hell.” Addy gave me history of Henry’s boyfriend, in which I was as interested as watching paint dry. I did shoot him a glance when he cursed because Addy rarely cursed.

Addy lost hope after few days and aborted his “Mission Henry”. Finally.

We still visited that café regularly, but Henry was no where to be seen. Addy acted as if he didn’t care but his searching eyes and frowned eyebrows were easy to read. Then suddenly after two weeks, a bot came and sat next to me. Henry. Addy’s eyes were open wide in shock, while I myself was a bit surprised.

“Is the seat taken? Mind if I sit?” Henry asked with a straight face, eyeing Addy and not even looking at me for a second as if he just did nit came in the middle of the day, sat next to me and spilled my coffee cup that stained my white skirt. Forget sorry, not even a courtesy nod or something. Asshole.

“It-It is completely empty.” Addy pasted a smile on his still confusedhappysurprised looking face.

“Well there are plenty of seats. I think you can better occupy them.” I said with a tight smile, fires in my eyes. f**k being my best friend’s crush, I don’t take disrespect.

He finally saw the coffee that he had spilled and said, “Sorry for that. I’ll order new one for you and also pay fot this one too.”

“Nope. Thanks. It would be enough if you leave us alone.” I said while typing at a speed of rocket because some asshole just now spilled the coffee on my project that was due tomorrow. He stood up and left without a word. I avoided the irritated looking black headed boy sitting across me untill he closed my laptop screen with his hand.

“What the f**k Adam!” My voice, a little too loud, attracted attention. Addy started picking up my things and dragged me to a near by park. It wa still afternoon so there were not many people, just a bunch of college students.

“Why did you do that Aly?” Addy asked in his angrysweet tone.

“It was him who did! He ruined my profect Addy. It is due tomorrow.” I said in a annoyed manner as if he did’t saw what acrually had happened. He just walked away without a word.

“Fine! Go away!” I yelled at his back.

The next day Addy didn’t sit near me. We took separate routes for same lectures. It was out first ever fight, that to over a boy, that made me more annoyed. I went to grab a coffe and sandwich for my lunch and saw a certain black headed boy sitting near his beloved blondy crush. Addy saw me and I gave him an eye roll. I left the café with my lunch in hand. Addy followed me, to my surprise.

“Why are you here Adam Casser. Go talk to your crush, he’s right there.” I said with annoyance avidently showing in my voice.

“I’m sorry Al. But you know I need you more than him.” Addy said with his puppy eyes, filled with tears about to fall, the same eyes that I saw when I first saw him crying in the corner of the liabrary.

“Hey. Don’t cry Addy. I’m sorry for over-reacting.” I said hugging him. Addy hugged me back and I could feel he was smiling.

“I’m sorry Aly. I was just irritated and frustrated and I know that’s not an excuse but I’m sorry.”

“That’s fine Addy. We both had shitty weeks.” I wiped a tear from his eye and saw a blond hair with athletic figure, hiding behind a branch that was too big for him.

“Well, I would like to hear what did I missed?” I asked Addy , pointing towards his crush.

“Oh well, he’s asking me out.” Addy replied as if it was not the most shockingamazing news in the world.

“Wait! What the f**k! How did that happen?”

We sat on a near by bench, and by WE I mean me, Addy and Henry. Addy explained how Henry texted him when he got home and apologized for his behaviour. Well, which he should have done to me but I don’t mind that anymore. What I care for is the idiotic smile the i***t infront of me had the whole time telling about his would-be-boyfriend. The boyfriend that Addy mentioned was just his friend, nothing more.

“Addy, do you allow me to take Henry as my Boyfriend?” Addy asked me as it was our oath that whenever we had anyone, we would first ask for each other’s permission.

“Only on one condition.”

“What?” Henry finnaly spoke for the first time in the last one hour.

“If you break my best friend’s heart, or if his smile disappears even for a single day, trust me you’ll be swollowing your own teeths infront of whole university. If you don’t believe me, then you can ask around about how dangerous I am.” I spoke what I had too.

“I assure you ma’am that I won’t hurt your boy. I would rather die by your hands than hurt him.” Henry said with confidence in his voice, that I liked.

“Good. Now I announce you both boyfriends.” I said with a chuckle.

Henry and Addy hugged and kissed each other. People were staring, but who f*****g cared?