Chapter - 5 : His Past

Rose and I sat on the long couch with our arms crossed over our chests. We were staring at John, who was sitting on the opposite couch. His expression was clear that he knew he couldn't escape this time. When I'd told Rose about today, she had fired question after question at him, but he hadn't answered one.

When Katherine had refused to leave, Mike had left the office. Momentary happiness had washed over me when I'd realized that the meeting had been canceled, but I'd been horrified when Katherine had glared at me. She had been mad at me because she still thought that I was Mike's girlfriend.

I didn't know why but I had avoided eye contact with her. I'd felt like I had done something wrong when I had done nothing. She had left, ignoring me.

"Are you going to tell us or not?" Rose demanded.

John glared at me for putting him in this situation but I didn't care because I was desperate to know about Katherine. My only option was to get the truth from him through Rose.

He sighed heavily before he began. "Mike and Katherine were friends in high school and dated in college. They broke up on his, let me see, twenty-second birthday? Anyway, it's because she said that she couldn't make it to his birthday party, and said she was sick. Mike was so worried about her that he canceled his birthday party to make sure she was alright."

He fixed his gaze on the ground as he continued, "She cheated on Mike on his birthday. I wish he hadn't witnessed it with his own eyes. It broke his heart into pieces."

His eyes flared and there was pain in his voice. "If I had known I would have lost Mike that day, I would have never allowed him to leave. I still regret letting him go."

Rose moved to him and took John's hand in hers and gave it a comforting squeeze.

"I'm sorry. I didn't know this would hurt you. If I had any idea, I wouldn't have forced you to tell us," Rose apologized.

I should have been the one who was apologizing but I couldn't say anything because guilt was suppressing the words in my throat.

"It's nothing compared to how Mike was hurt. You used to ask me, right? Why Mike is so mysterious and why he doesn't have a girlfriend? It's because of that bitch. At first I thought he just needed a couple of days to move on, but I was wrong.

"Do you want to know how Mike used to be?" A small smile formed at the corner of his lips. 

Rose nodded. I did, too, unconsciously growing curious to know more about him.

"The Mike you know now is a workaholic and strict. But the Mike I used to know was joyful, cool...flirty."

He laughed softly when he said flirty. Rose and I chuckled.

"He used to have more friends than me but he stopped trusting people after what she did. That bitch broke his heart, his trust, everything." 

I'd never seen John disrespect a woman in the past two years. The way he addressed Katherine was enough to acknowledge how much hatred he had towards her.

Rose looked at me and gestured to me that she needed some time alone with John. I nodded before going to my room. Rose took him in her arms as I was closing my room door. She was the best at comforting people.

I slumped on my bed. My mind couldn't stop thinking about Mike. God! He had gone through so much. I hadn't seen him celebrate his birthday in the last two years and I couldn't even imagine how much it had hurt him to stop celebrating his birthday. I was starting to despise Katherine now.

Did she really have to do that on his birthday?

It didn't mean she was supposed to do it another day but…Damn! It's his birthday. One of the most important days of life.

How could she?

The rest of the night was terrible. I couldn't fall asleep because I had forgotten to take my pills. I couldn't even ask Rose for some. I didn't want to disturb them, especially John, after what had just happened. 

A part of me wished—hoped—to see the old Mike, the way John had described him. I didn't know why but I wanted to. Shaking my head, I reminded myself that I shouldn't have been thinking about him. But somehow my mind diverted to Mike over and over, no matter how much I tried to stop it. 

The next day was like any other work day, though Mike didn't look good. He was a mess when I went to his house in the morning. Even though he managed to pretend that he was okay, I could tell by the look on his face that he was having trouble sleeping. 

I pretended as if nothing happened the other day because I didn't want him to feel embarrassed. I didn't want him to feel any worse than he already did.

Right now, I was sitting on a small stool across from the coffee machine on our office floor. I came to get some coffee after I finished the presentation successfully without Mike's help. It was good when I did it alone but I wasn't satisfied because if Mike had helped me, it would have turned out better.

A gentle tap on my shoulder startled me. 

"What's up?" John asked, taking a mug from the cabinet.

"Nothing." I placed my mug into the sink, which was next to the coffee machine.

He flashed me a smile like he always did whenever we met but this time I couldn't smile back after putting him in such an uncomfortable situation last night.

He took the stool next to me after getting his coffee.

"I'm sorry," I mumbled, avoiding eye contact.

"It's okay. Now smile. You don't look good with that sad look on your face," he teased.

"Does that mean I look ugly?" I frowned.

"With that expression"—he pointed his finger towards my face—"yes." He scrunched his nose. I smiled finally. 

"That's better." He smiled back and took a sip of his coffee before he added, "Thanks for last night. It felt good to talk about it with you guys."

My smile widened. It felt as if a huge weight had lifted from my chest knowing that John wasn't mad about last night.

"I want your help with something. Can you help me?" he asked.

"Yes, anything," I said without giving it a second thought.

"Can you keep pretending to be Mike's girlfriend?"