Oliver caught up with Aria and held her hand to stop her from going any further. “Wait Aria, where are you even going?” he queried.
“Anywhere away from you,” she replied and dragged her hands off. She tried to take a few steps forward but he caught her again and turned her to face him.
“Alright I am sorry,” he apologized.
“Sorry for what exactly? Letting that lady flirt with you? But you just said that there was nothing wrong with it, so why are you apologizing?” she queried, trying to keep a poker face and look everywhere apart from his eyes.
Oliver sighed and placed his hands on her shoulders but she pushed them off. “Don’t touch me,” she warned
“You are right, I shouldn’t have let her flirt with me, and in front of Lena too, so I am really sorry Aria,” he apologized again.
“You can’t always just say sorry and then everything resets to how they were before, perhaps you didn’t know that,” she said softly and sighed.
“Then what do I do? Tell me what I have to do to make things right, Aria?” he requested in an emotional tone. He put his arm under her jaw and raised her face to look him in the eyes, she didn’t try to fight
“I don’t know, Oliver… that is left for you to find out,” she replied sadly and turned away from him.
He held her arm again. “Alright Aria, while I try to find out what is the right thing to do, why don’t you pretend to be friends with me? we could act like everything is cool between us,” he suggested.
“But nothing is cool,” she muttered and turned back to face him. “Nothing is cool between us Oliver, and I doubt that things would ever be cool between us,” she stated in finality.
“We would talk about that later, but as for now, let’s be friends,” Oliver said and offered a hand of friendship.
“As an act, yes… but only for as long as I stay here, the moment I leave the United States, don’t try to contact me again, deal?” she asked.
Oliver was silent, and then he smiled. “Deal,” he muttered and she accepted his hand; he held onto it firmly. “Because you would not even need to leave again, Honey Bunny,” he added, with a smile on his face.
Aria scoffed and drew her hands off his. “I doubt that, and don’t call me honey bunny again, Aria would do.” She muttered and turned around, heading towards the left direction.
Oliver smiled and ran after her, he caught up with her and put his arm around her neck. “You know that is not how friends work,” he said and chuckled.
“So why don’t you teach me then, Mr. Gomez… teach me how friendship works,” she replied with a poker face. Oliver chuckled again.
** * * * * * * * * *
“So tell me, how often do you go shopping in London?” Oliver queried as they walked past the snacks shelf.
It’s quite funny how those snacks were packaged to look fancy with freaky price tags on them. Some of those things could be gotten for cheaper prices at roadside grocery shops and kiosks.
The only difference was the packaging. Even the smallest things were made to look special and attractive, I guess that is the business.
“Not often at all, why asking?” Aria asked bluntly, while checking a powdered milk in a tin.
“Oh, well… that’s what friends do right? Get to know each other better, and knowing how often you shop is part of that,” Oliver replied.
“I see… I am not used to having friends with three legs, so this is new to me,” Aria replied and threw the tin into her mobile basket, then she pushed it forward.
Oliver followed immediately. “Okay, well what about Mike, wasn’t he your friend?” he queried.
“Mike, oh… good Mike… Well he was more than just a friend, he was special, we had a different sort of bond.” Aria replied and smiled for the first time since they agreed to be friends.
“Yeah… special indeed,” Oliver muttered in a mocking tone and Aria chuckled softly.
“So… do you have any idea on what I should get Lena, I don’t think I have any,” Oliver asked softly, while trolling behind her.
“Oh, you should think of something then, she is your daughter after all,” Aria replied bluntly.
“Yeah, she is my daughter but I have only been with her for two weeks. Aria, you have been with her for seven long years, so please help me out… I am sure you know the kind of things she loves,” Oliver pleaded in a soft tone.
She acted like she wasn’t hearing him and kept walking but Oliver caught hold of the basket and stopped its movement. “Please Aria,” he pleaded.
She sighed heavily and exhaled. “Fine, why don’t you get her some banana flavored ice cream, she loves that. Also get her some nice mobile toys,” Aria replied.
Oliver’s expression changed immediately. “What?” he muttered with a look of surprise.
“What? Is there a problem? I just gave you some suggestions of her favorite things,” Aria replied.
“Really? Is that what you did? Because I clearly remember asking Lena earlier and she said I can get her anything nice aside from banana flavored ice cream. I also know that Lena hates toys that are not Disney princesses.” He replied with a crumpled face.
“Oh,” Aria muttered and looked away. “Is that so?”
“Yes Aria, and I am sure you know that, so why did you lie to me?”
Aria swallowed hard and tried to push the basket further but Oliver held her back. “Answer me Aria,” he said in a stern voice.
“Fine, you got me! I lied to you because I wanted you to upset Lena with those presents, then she would be closer to me than she is to you,” Aria confessed.
“What?” Oliver muttered with wide eyes. He couldn’t believe what he had heard, so she was trying to separate him from his daughter. “Why would you want to do that?”
Aria sighed and turned to face him. “Because… because I am jealous and I am scared. Ever since we came back here, she has been obsessed with you, always looking for a reason to come and meet you. I hate it when she leaves my side and chooses to be with you,” Aria confessed.
Oliver was quiet for a while, staring keenly at her, and then he burst into laughter. Aria crumpled her face immediately, “What?” she queried.
“I… I just can’t believe it, I can’t believe that you were actually jealous of me.” he said amidst laughter.
She hit him on the shoulder and he groaned, then continued laughing. “Stop it, it’s not true,” she protested.
“Yes it is, I mean… you just said it now,” he replied and chuckled. “You know there is a solution to that,” Oliver added.
“I know, I have to take her back to London,” she replied
“Oh, I was actually going to say, come back to me, be my wife again,” Oliver said and she scoffed, then pushed the basket further. Oliver followed immediately
“You already asked a thousand times and for the umpteenth time, my answer is still no!” she said, almost in a whisper without looking towards him.
“Okay… chill pal,” Oliver replied and laughed.
“Don’t call me pal, I am not your fellow man,” she argued.
“Ahhh!” Oliver groaned and hit his palm on his forehead like he had seen Lena do several times. “I shouldn’t call you honey bunny or Pal, so what friendly name can I call you then?”
“Aria, just Aria,” she replied and scoffed, then walked faster.
Oliver waved his head in disappointment and walked faster to get to the same pace as her.
To be continued!!