Lexa's POV
We had been served our dishes. I was thankful I chose what I chose because when I saw my food, my lost appetite returned.
Drinks were served with our food and we started to dig into it.
"It's been a while , Lexa," she said, eating to her heart's desire.
I smirked. "Just a few months... But you changed so much."
She smiled. "That's what money can do."
She fluttered her eyelashes and moved her food slightly away then gave me a sneaky smile. To say the truth, I was confused at the sudden change in her position. Her movements didn't give me an idea of what she wanted to do until she talked.
"How are you and Elliot?" Wendy's smile grew wider and my smile grew lower. Even though she talked more now, she was still observant as she always had been. She noticed my dull face. "What's wrong? Did-did something happen?" It was hard to stop the tears from coming out so I used my cold palms to cover my hot teary eyes. I took a deep breath and cleared them. "You had a fight? Is everything okay?"
I wanted to go into another round of tear dropping but... "My mother... She-she died. Three days ago."
She froze on her seat, not knowing what to say for a couple of moments. Then she bowed her head and raised it back, repeating the gesture twice. "I'm so sorry, Lexa. I knew your mother was sick but I..."
I shook my head. "It's not your fault."
She paused before asking a further question. "H-have you buried her?" I nodded and put another fork of the salmon with my shaky hands into my trembling mouth. "I had no idea. You didn't say anything."
I scoffed. "It's hard to talk about it."
"Is that why you came to Paris? Elliot brought you here, right?"
A little cheerful smile grew on her face. "I did come but it was without his knowing."
Her eyes shone, slightly in surprise. "What happened? Is it a fight?"
"It's more than that." I made a short pause before going on. "It's over between us."
She froze again then blinked to restore herself to life. "What?" She wanted to scream but she controlled her volume. "Did he cheat on you? Are you not good together? Did he do something bad? Tell me."
"I can't tell you what he did." I gulped. "But I came here to get away from him."
She asked a reasonable question instead of jumping into conclusions. "Do you love him?"
I couldn't look her in the eye and say I didn't. I wasn't plan on lying either. "I love him to the deepest parts of my heart but I can never forgive him for what he did."
She lost her words for a while before she found what to say. "Anything he would have done is forgivable."
I wanted to laugh but I kept my maniac laughter to myself. "You would have done the same thing, Wendy."
She took her eyes from the traumatic setting we were in and looked around, like she was searching for someone.
"I don't know what he did so I can't judge." She moved a tray of fortune cookies to our front and picked one. She removed the slip of paper from it and read its contents. "You will see someone special today." She smiled. "I agree. Pick one, Lexa."
"You don't believe in this nonsense, do you?" I looked at the cookies with hate, like they were the ones that caused my misery.
"Just pick one."
To satisfy Wendy, I picked a random cookie and removed the slip out. Reading it to myself before reading it out. "The truth will be revealed soon."
I didn't know what to say about it or how it was connected to me at the time. So I took it as another stupid and typical fortune cookie.
Wendy was about to say something when we heard loud footsteps behind us. It sounded like high pin-pointed heels of a lady who had thin legs.
When I turned to look, I was hit with a beam of joy. We hugged each other with the greatest smiles on our face. I was glad to see Ana but I wondered why she here. I only expected Wendy.
I released myself from our hold and admired her. She looked... professional. You could tell she was a broadcaster from the clothes she wore and the executive way she looked.
She had dyed her hair light brown, it was centre parted and longer than usual. She wore simple make-up that made her face pop out. She wore a green women's designer suit and two beautiful matching earrings. I didn't forget tI notice the black heels that matched her handbag.
"Ana, what are you..."
She hugged me again, tighter, and I just had to free myself. She was still trying to absorb the excitement of seeing me. "You look so lovely, Lexa! Elliot has done a great job with you!"
She talked the same way but her voice was not as high pitched as it used to be, she spoke deeper and more maturely. And she always put in high spirit when she said something more than before.
Hearing Elliot's name again made me feel worse. I wished I could just erase him from their minds so my mood would never be spoilt because of his name.
Wendy stood up and they embraced as well. In the next seconds, we had seated and Ana had ordered her dish while Wendy ordered another drink for herself.
"How has everything been, Lexa? I'm sure it's been fine."
I ate the last spoon of my salmon and kept looking at the plate, I could see a reflection of Kimberly's face on it. "If it was, I wouldn't be here."
She squeezed her eyebrows and actually looked serious. I never thought it was possible for her to look so serious in her entire life. "What happened?"
Wendy wanted me to say it by myself and I could understand that. "My mother died some days ago. Elliot and I have broken up."
Her jaw literally dropped. "What?!" She screamed and everyone in the restaurant turned to us for a while before facing their own businesses. "How did it happen? Was it that sickness?"
I bit my lip. "Something like that."
"I'm extremely sorry, Lexa. She was such a very nice woman."
I breathed calmly for the first time. It felt so good to decrease the burden by sharing it with the best of friends.
"I know," I said in a whisper.
"What about Elliot? He's also a good guy. You were right, he obviously can't be the devil."
She was trying to make a small joke out of it, but for someone who knew who Elliot was, it was just a pure fact.
"We can't be together."
"Why?" Wendy held Ana back from asking more. Ana understood why and withdrew herself. There was an awkward silence for a few seconds before Ana said something else. "I know you've been through a lot and you've lost two great things in your life but you made a right decision by choosing Paris."
I looked up at her, waiting for her to wash all my sorties away.
"Yes, we should shift this behind and tour Paris."
I smiled, it would be nice to look around this beautiful city. There would surely be something in Paris that would lighten my mood.
"That'd be nice," I said softly.
"You three want to leave without me."
We shifted our attention to the unexpected voice. "You eventually came out, Miss Rica."
She smiled, like she always did. "We young women have to dress well, unlike you oldies."
She wore a designer pink dress and was lavishly dressed. Words couldn't describe what she wore.
I returned her smile and faced my friend. "Wendy, Ana, this is Miss Ricarda Esmeralda, my godmother. Miss Rica, this is Wendy and Ana, my friends," I introduced like a typical person.
Ana stood up to exchange pleasantries while Wendy did so hesitantly, staring at Rica like she was trying to recollect something. You could tell from the way she frowned her eyebrows and gazed continuously at her.
Rica knew who she was from the start so she decided to play along. "Hi Wendy, it's been a few years since we've met."
Wendy clicked her tongue when she finally remembered where she knew Miss Rica from. "You're the woman from the orphanage."
Like anybody, I was surprised that they knew each other but Rica didn't look as lifted as Wendy did when she saw her.
"Yes, I am. Nice to see you again."
"Likewise," she replied.
"May I ask how you two know each other?" I always wanted to know things, anyone would in this situation.
Rica prepared herself to narrate the story. "She was separated from her sister some years ago. Till one day she came to my orphanage and recognized her as Eliza... Am I right?"
Wendy nodded, looking a bit upset.
"You have a sister?! I completely had no idea!" Ana answered before I did.
"She died of a terminal disease a week after I found her in the orphanage."
Wendy's face looked gloomier than before. We didn't need more reminders of death in our lives. I just wanted to be happy.
"I know how you feel, Wendy." I stared into the walls and started to talk to myself more than her. "At least you were there when she left."
They looked confused but didn't ask any questions.
"But it's fine." Rica ordered a plate of chicken confit and didn't wait for anyone before she started digging in. "I know the perfect place to start with."
"What are waiting for then?"
We turned to Rica and watched her slowly take in the deliciousness of the chicken. She looked someone was just eating for the first time after many years.
We laughed and she later joined us in the laughter when she realized why we were laughing.
***
Paris was slightly less cooler in the evenings. The air that blew you when you drove in their cars was refreshing. Except, we were using Wendy's Lexus UX. She loved her car, I could tell from how well she maintained it. It looked brand new.
I thought she would drive us to the Eiffel tower or the Louvre museum, which were still on my list, but she had something else in mind. Something I should have guessed earlier.
We were at the Beaugrenelle mall. The shopping mall was well located in the Grenelle neighbourhood, and it was just a ten minute walk from the Eiffel Tower and Trocadéro museums as well.
The Beaugrenelle was one of the few huge shopping malls in Paris. It was more boutique with smaller selections.
I didn't want to be there. If I went inside, it'd only remind me of Elliot but I couldn't say no to Wendy.
"What do you think, Lexa?"
I sighed. "Sure," I managed to force my words out.
We went into the Beaugrenelle mall and it was nothing I expected. There were different sections where we could start from. There were also many other people around and that made me feel slightly more comfortable.
The mall wasn't straightforward like normal malls. The inside looked cylindrical and there different levels of the buildings you could climb to. It also had a beautiful choice of colours.
Ana brought out her phone and took pictures of the place. Rica had already gone to check out some sections of shoes and we could sight her from a distance.
Wendy was with me, as we thought of where to start off with. "Take the lead, Wendy."
"Let's check out jewelleries."
We went to the first section and walked around, looking for the jewellery section. It didn't take us long before we got there and started picking out what we wanted.
Ana joined us some minutes later and scolded us for leaving her alone while she took business pics. Rica was still nowhere to be seen but I was certain she'd be fine.
As we went round the mall and shopped to our heart's desires, I slowly forgot about my problems and little smiles were coming up on my face. I was getting slightly happier and every pain in me was smoothly soothed.
We found ourselves laughing like teenage girls who were on their daily routine of shopping after school.
But as we moved to our fourth section, I stopped. My nose was itching to smell. I scented a familiar scent of someone I knew well. I got the direction of the person and slowly moved my eyes to his.
My friends didn't quickly realize I was beside them anymore. There were busy chattering and laughing away.
My eyes shone when I saw him. I didn't know whether I was to be scared or feel safe. Those blue icy eyes were looking right at me, and no one else. Shivers.