"Nic-Nicolas, w-what are you doing here?" Alejandra stuttered nervously.
"I'm on my way to work." Nicolas replied coolly, with his gaze on Benjamin.
"Nicolas, it's nice to see you." Benjamin said friendly.
"What are you doing here?" Nicolas asked Benjamin coldly.
"I came to see an old friend. Isn't that right, Ara?" Benjamin replied and looked at Alejandra.
Alejandra flashed a glance at Benjamin and nervously looked at Nicolas. She nodded.
"Benjamin and I are... friends." Alejandra said cowardly.
"Close friends even." Benjamin added and grinned.
"Uh! I see!" Nicolas said flatly,
"I would like to talk to my fiancée, in private."
Benjamin understood and moved away from the couple. He watched from the post box.
"I thought you said you were on your way to work." Alejandra asked, trying to change the subject.
"I am!" Nicolas replied firmly.
"But this isn't the route to your company." Alejandra pointed out.
"There is a hold-up on the main route, so I took another route. When I saw I was close to your building, I decided to stop by so that we could talk." Nicolas said flatly.
"Talk about what?" Alejandra asked feebly, anxious to know what he wanted to say.
"I'll tell you in the car. Let's go." Nicolas said flatly, glancing at Benjamin.
Nicolas led her to the car, pulling her gently by the wrist. Alejandra turned round and glanced at Benjamin, who remained where he was. She opened the door and got in. She fastened her seat belt and flashed a glance at Nicolas. He turned on the ignition and drove off. He had driven away from the building, in the direction Benjamin was standing.
There was the usual silence in the car. The two said nothing to each other.
"Benjamin and I are just friends. Nothing more." Alejandra said cowardly, breaking the silence. She focused on the windscreen while she talked.
"You've said that already. Why are you still repeating yourself?" Nicolas said flatly, caring less about her relationship with Benjamin.
Nicolas used one of his hands to drive and the other, to adjust the AC setting.
"You're not angry?" She asked curiously, looking at him.
"Why would I? What we have isn't real. I don't want to meddle in your personal life and you shouldn't in mine." He said without making eye contact.
"So...what was it that you wanted to talk about?" She asked.
"Actually, there isn't anything to talk about. I just said all that so that I wouldn't engage in a conversation with Benjamin." He revealed.
"Oh!" She muttered.
Alejandra heard her phone ring in her bag. It was the notification sound of her phone. She unzipped her handbag and brought out her phone. She had missed nine calls from Prudence and received two messages from Irene.
"Are you coming to work today?"
"Please call if you won't."
Alejandra replied to the first message,
"Yes. I'm on my way."
< >
"Prudence!" Irene called as she walked towards her.
Prudence was serving a customer his order when Irene approached her. The customers at the shop were small at that time.
"Did she reply?" Prudence asked her, walking away from the customer's table.
"Yes, she did." Irene said.
"What did she say? Is she coming or not?" Prudence asked as they walked to the counter.
"She is. She was caught up in a hold-up but she is on her way." Irene replied.
"Oh, thank God she is coming! Otherwise, I don't know what we would do. We need another pair of hands since Hugo and Rodrigo are absent." Prudence said and turned on the coffee maker.
"I've been meaning to ask, hasn't Hugo recovered? He has been absent for weeks now and hasn't come to the shop. Is his illness really that serious?" Irene asked.
"Illness? Hugo isn't sick." Prudence said,
"Hugo is in his home town, competing in a surfing tournament."
Prudence turned off the coffee maker.
"Are you the only one who knows about it?" Irene asked.
"No. Alejandra and Rodrigo know too." Prudence revealed.
"How come I'm the last person to learn about this?" Irene asked.
"I wanted to tell you but it slipped my mind. Sorry for keeping you in the dark." Prudence said and looked away from the coffee maker.
Prudence caught a glimpse of Alejandra coming out of Nicolas' car, through the window.
"Finally, she is here." Prudence said and Irene looked at the window.
"It looks like she spent the night at her fiancé's place." Irene blurted, still looking at the window.
"Hm!" Prudence shrugged.
"I wonder what could have happened between them while she was there." Irene said ridiculously.
"You seriously want me to answer that?" Prudence asked airily, looking at her blankly.
"Maybe." Irene said and saw the blank look on her face,
"What? I was just curious."
"I'm not in that position to answer that question." Prudence replied.
"You're such a wet blanket." Irene muttered.
"Yes, I know." Prudence said.
Alejandra opened the door and walked to the counter.
"Hey! Sorry that I'm late." Alejandra apologized,
"I was caught up in a hold-up."
"Hm! Hold-up you say?" Irene said jokingly.
"Yes?" Alejandra said, a little confused.
"Or maybe you overslept while being wrapped up in your fiancé's arms." Irene replied cheekily, pretending to stack a paper cup.
"Huh?" Alejandra chuckled, glanced at the window,
"You-."
"I mean who wouldn't be happy to have a handsome, rich man as a fiancé. You could use his broad chest as a pillow at night." Irene fantasized.
"You do remember that's my fiancé you're talking about, right?" Alejandra reminded her.
"That's what you said about your ex-husband, only that you excluded the part he would do anything for you." Prudence said.
"Hey! You don't have to use my past to insult me. I admit I said all that about him but he turned out to be the devil in disguise." Irene said.
"Hey, I haven't got my coffee yet. Is this how the service is round here?" A customer yelled at them and the ladies looked at him.
"Excuse ladies but..." Alejandra said while she walked to the kitchen,
"...I've to go and make some coffee."