Chapter 4: Hurricane of feelings

Bart could hear his own heart pounding loudly. His thoughts were all over the place as he tried to process what Lola had just said.

"A... date?"

Bart asked as he gulped.

"Yup, let's go on a date."

Lola answered almost immediately.

"wait a sec,not hanging out,an actual date?, like a date date?."

Bart felt like the moment he waited his whole life for finally came, he went from feeling depressed to bursting with joy, although he didn't let it show.

"yupp,an actual date, I have an awesome idea, with this idea we'll get into relationships with awesome people in no time!"

Lola said as she proceeded to eat. Bart came back to reality immediately he understood what she actually meant,he felt bitter, more bitter than he felt when he came home.

"Oh....a date- I'm not interested."

"What's wrong?"

Lola asked as she put the fork down,she knew her best friend too well,he was awful at keeping poker faces.

"I'm not interested,i feel like... I'm never going to be with anyone. It always gets complicated."

Bart felt drained of hope as he spoke.

"won't you atleast hear me out first?, It's fine I guess. I'll just keep my ideas to myself from now on."

she pouted. If there was anything Bart was completely vulnerable to,it was Lola's behavior whenever she acted like a child,she was aware of this and she made sure to always use it to her advantage.

"It better be worth be worth my time."

He placed his right palm against his chin as he looked away.

"Thank you Sir Bartholomew Adamson,i shall make this worth your time."

She spoke in an overly dramatic fashion with a ridiculous tone as she bowed her head in an appreciative gesture.

[Oh Lola, i keep trying to get my mind off you but it's almost impossible when you act so cute like this.]

Bart said in his thoughts as he tried to stop himself from smiling.

"Carry on then, Lady Lola Janette."

They looked at each other and laughed.

[i haven't been understanding Bart lately, why'd his reaction change like that?]

Lola wondered as she pulled out her phone from her pocket.

"Here, what do you think? Is she pretty?"

She showed Bart a picture of a woman on her phone.

"Huh?"

"Just tell me, c'mon!"

Her eyes sparkled.

"She's cute i guess,i dunno maybe."

"Yayy!"

she exclaimed.

"So what's the plan?"

"Ok,I'll run it by you now"

"I'm listening,gosh just split it out!"

He sounded agitated,Lola took a sigh before speaking.

"So, we've always had bad luck in relationships yeah?"

"...is that a rhetorical question? bad luck is an understatement"

Bart mumbled, still looking away with his hand on his chin.

"You have friends right?"

"Umm.."

"Bartholomew!, don't tell me you actually have no friends besides me"

"I do,i do,i wouldn't actually call them friends though. I just have a bunch of drinking buddies,we watch football together."

As Bart explained,Lola gave herself a facepalm.

"Those are your friends!, what exactly is your definition of friendship anyway?"

"Like ours i guess?"

Bart guessed, facing her with a confused look on his face. Lola laughed really hard while punching his shoulder simultaneously.

"No, heck no!" 

She continued laughing.

"Bart, our case is a bit... different from the typical definition of friendship"

"In what sense though?"

"Is that a rhetorical question? we've been following each other around for 20 whole years,from the same elementary school to the same college to the same workplace.We've seen each other naked countless times, heck we took each other's first kiss at age 10 because we were curious.We had our first bottle of alcohol together, and we rolled our first joint together....although we decided to quit smoking."

She looked at him in a strange way. Bart coughed like he had choked on something.

"What's wrong Bart?"

"Its.. it's nothing."

He answered almost immediately.

"You're a bad liar you know,i know what you've been doing,the smell of cigarettes lingers over your jacket each time you come over to my place,it also smells all over your house. I'm quite upset"

"I'm...sorry."

He stared at the floor in guilt,there was no need to deny it because he knew Lola was able to read him like a book.

"You broke a promise Bart, that's a breach in trust. I'm genuinely upset."

As she spoke Bart could see that she wasn't joking. She was hurt and he couldn't overlook this.

"I'm sorry Lola, I'm really sorry. I promise... for real this time, I'll never touch that stuff again. You can trust me, I'll apologize a hundred times if i have to."

Lola looked at him from the side of her eyes. Her arms were folded and she didn't say a word.

"Please Lola. Pretty please Lou Lou!"

He said as he held up his palms against each other. After moments of silence, Lola spoke.

"Firstly, don't call me Lou Lou. Secondly,a hundred and fifty times,that's how much you'll apologize."

He wide smile formed as his lips curved

"Thank you Lou Lou! Thank you."

"Tch. You never listen."

"I learnt from the best"

They both broke into laughter, while laughing they realized that they were forgetting something.

"Ah i was saying something wasn't i"

"Yes, yes you were, something about me having friends."

"Ah yes. Ok here's what i was going to say,lets plan out dates."

"What type of dates though?"

"Dates, romantic dates duh"

Lola rolled her eyes.

"We'll go on a series of dates with each other's friends till whenever we find the perfect partners,then we'll proceed to settle down."

"You're saying it like its super easy,Lola. Why again does it have to be double dates?"

"You're saying "again" like you asked before."

"I was thinking it though."

"So I'm supposed to read your mind now or something?"

".. maybe."

"You're such a baby sometimes you know. As for your question,if we make them double dates then maybe it wouldn't be too awkward. We'd stand a chance of finding partners before next month."

"Lola..."

"Yeah? Like my plan?"

"Your plan isn't bad,its awesome. Why are you in such a hurry though?"

Soon as he said this, Lola's mood saddened,the light left her eyes immediately.

"As you know Bart,my mom's cancer....she doesn't have a lot of time left. Her wish,she wants me to get married. She wants to atleast say him you know."

"...i"

Bart wanted to speak but he felt speechless

"Lola,i don't know how you must be feeling right now,i can't say i understand because i never even knew my parents. You know i was raised by my Aunt"

"It's fine Bart,you don't have to under-"

"However, I'm here Lola. I won't let you feel lonely,so long as I'm here, you're stuck with me till you get married."

He smiled, though it hurt him a lot saying this,he had to. Lola smiled as well.

"Bart, the actual reason i want us to find the perfect people together is because, i wouldn't be able to smile if I'm happy and you're not. I want you to find something that's real,Bart. I know things didn't quite work out with Katelyn, but i also know you had your reasons for calling off the marriage and i know it still hurts you till today....you feel empty"

"Lola, you're..."

"Let's help each other find happiness Bart. You in?"

She lifted her hand and gestured for a handshake.

"Of course i am."

He shook her hand and she gave him a warm smile.

Katelyn sat on the floor of her room,at the foot of her bed. Her eyes looked swollen,like she's been crying all day. This was because she indeed had cried all day without stopping.

She locked her bedroom door right after the call with Bart the previous day. Her stomach growled as she sat there staring into nothingness.

Katelyn's girlfriends came over and tried to cheer her up but she refused opening the door. She didn't say a word as she sat in pin-drop silence on her bedroom floor.

Sarah, Katelyn's closest friend sat by her door with a glass of orange juice. Continuously she talked to Katelyn in hopes of getting a response,but she got none.

"Katelyn...is he worth it though?"

She asked in an attempt to make Katelyn say something, there still wasn't a response.

"This man, you've given everything for him, you've given all of you and yet- you were beginning to heal, beginning to be happy again, and because of the love you felt for him, you still wanted him close,you still focused your life on him."

she sighed. 

"I'm sorry Katelyn, I'm sorry. I owe you an apology because this is all my fault."

Sarah sobbed as tears rolled down her face.

"It's all my fault, everything. If I hadn't introduced you two to each other on that day,years ago, your life would have still been -"

As Sarah lamented she heard the lock on Katelyn's door click. When she looked up at the door she saw Katelyn, who knelt down next to her immediately.

"Sarah, it's not your fault, it's.. not your fault. You haven't done anything."

Katelyn sobbed as she spoke.

"Its all me,i made your life horrible "

Sarah's voice was shaky as she spoke,tears streamed down her face and dripped on the floor

"It's not your fault, don't... don't cry Sarah,i just have incredibly bad luck. I... just want to sit here in silence for a while,is that..okay?"

Katelyn wiped off her tears, using the back of her palm.

They sat by the room door, losing all track of time and awareness.

"I keep wondering, Sarah,was i not good enough for him? was i the problem? Where did it all go wrong."

Sarah kept mute as Katelyn spoke.

"I,i really really loved Bart you know,i still love him with everything and that's the part that kills me. The more he tries to make me hate him,the more attached i get. I was okay with being just friends with him, being able to hang out casually with him like that,i really cherished those moments . To be with him is all I've ever wanted,it didn't matter if we were lovers or just friends."

She sighed.

"Was it something i did or said? Why'd he suddenly push me out of his life"

Sarah raised her head to look at Katelyn's face.

"You know Katie,i think this might be for the best. You'd finally be able to move o-"

"Sarah....i need clarity,i need to see him one more time. I can't be satisfied till i know the reason,i need to talk to him."

"Katelyn -"

"Sarah,in order to understand things and know where i am,this is something that I have to do."

Dried tears were all over her face and her eyes had huge bags beneath them.

"O- ok,i just want...i want you to be fine Katelyn,i don't want you getting more hurt than you already are"

Sarah used her hands to wipe the tears off Katelyn's pale face.

"Promise me Katelyn."

"I... can't make promises, but I'll be fine"

She tried to form a smile on her face,Sarah smiled too. They sat with each other by the bedroom door on the floor, embracing each other.