x
"Hey, long time no see."
Ashlyn looked up from her cup of coffee, and saw him. After ten years, it was him. She couldn't believe her eyes.
Caeden Jones, her ex-crush, was standing before her, casual as ever. He seemed unfazed by her sudden ghosting, somehow.
"Who are you?" she asked. Her acting had definitely improved, she thought.
"Shouldn't you remember that, Delegate of France?"
Delegate of France. It sent a shiver down her spine, and she couldn't deny it.
Wait, no, she could. "I'm sorry, what? Were you in the debate club in my college in France... or something?"
She was glad he was not really at her college at all. In fact, she enjoyed her time at France because she could escape from him. Well, not only that, of course.
"You can say that..." he replied, with a smirk. "So, what brings you here to New York?"
"I'm actually from here. I only went to college in Paris. My brother has settled down there though."
Caeden nodded. "Cool. What about you?" He realized that she was probably pretending to not know him, but decided to play along anyway, till she couldn't deny she knew him.
"I'm considering moving cross-country. This place brings back bad memories..."
"Bad memories... what were they, if you don't mind me asking?"
"School. I actually lost touch with an old friend... and the reason I cut off communication with him was pretty dumb."
"Let me guess... he confessed to having a crush on you but you didn't accept him, or even reject him politely, and now you can't face him again."
"That's... very freakishly detailed."
Caeden shrugged, and smiled. “I have a knack for reading people, and situations. And I have a feeling that I know who that old friend is.”
Ashlyn felt a pang, and a flutter. She wondered if he knew, and if he cared. She wondered if he still liked her, and if she still liked him.
"I honestly don't know how to reply..." she grumbled, after a long pause.
"Gotcha." he said, with a small laugh. "Your acting sucks, by the way."
"Ouch..." she joked. "Now you get why I get bad memories of this place?"
"I honestly thought you'd have moved on, and found someone knew though. Wait... have you?"
"I've moved on, but I'm staying alone. It's just better that way."
"You just watch too many movies where everything goes wrong. I suppose you never were the optimistic type, Lyn."
Ashlyn nodded, and took another sip of her coffee. "Still, that was over the top, don't you think? I genuinely couldn't handle the pressure. Everyone basically expected me to say yes. I don't know. I really do not know. Maybe my response would have been more... decent... if we did it alone."
"All right, then. Can't turn back time, but better late than never, huh?"
"Actually, my dad's company is working on it."
Caeden rolled his eyes, and smiled. "You know the drill. I like you, blah-blah-blah, Yes or no?"
"You can't just say 'blah-blah-blah' on a MUN speech though, delegate."
"Yes or no?!" The suspense was killing him.
"Um... maybe I'll say-"
Ashlyn was about to answer, when her phone rang. She looked at the screen, and saw it was her dad. She felt a surge of relief, and guilt. "My boss. I have to take this."
"Yeah? Okay, I'll be there in five." she said into the phone. "Thanks, Mr. Winters." She hung up, and left the cafe, leaving her father confused as to why she called him 'Mr. Winters', and Caeden confused as to whether she would have said yes or no.
ns 15.158.61.54da2
