"He's trash. You can't just-"
Selene huffed and folded her arms. "You shouldn't call my boyfriend names you know."
Adam sighed. "You shouldn't date your ex-best friend's boyfriend, you know." Their eyes bore holes into each other, each person was waiting for the other to back down.
Adam shook his head and looked away. Selene was as stubborn as he was and because of that, he knew she wasn't going to back down.
Well lucky for her, neither was he.
"I don't understand why you don't like him, Adam." She sighed and dropped her shoulders.
He rolled his eyes. "I love you, Selene but you're the most clueless person I've ever met in my entire life. And trust me, I have met people." He stressed the last word and shuddered as traces of his last job as an entertainer flashed in his mind.
"He's everything I want in a guy. He's nice and handsome. He has curly hair and pretty eyes. He promised to make all my dreams come true and…" Adam stopped listening as her eyes glazed over.
He glanced at her. Selene was everything a man would want in a woman. She was smart, a great cook and could turn anything she laid her hands on into money.
She was that good.
She was also clueless and like he recently discovered, a magnet for toxic people.
"He's also toxic." He deadpanned. The force of his words collapsed the castles she was building in the air. She frowned at him.
Adam ran his hands through his hair. "You need to open your eyes." His voice rose, and he banged the table, causing everyone to stare at him.
She glared at him and he took a breath. He tugged at his tie and muttered under his breath, "Your relationship issues are making me dislike love. I'm glad I'm going to the seminary soon."
A smile tugged at her lips. Tension left her shoulder and soon they were beaming at each other.
This is us.
Now, it's time to shake her out of her delusion.
"Selene, let's look at the facts." He brought out a jotter and wrote on it with his pen.
"You love Alex."
"Yes. I do. I adore him." He rolled his eyes.
"Your ex-best friend, Nina, dated Alex." Her lips thinned out, and she nodded. He glanced at her and saw how anger burned in her eyes, he opened his mouth to say something then shut it.
They swore never to speak of it. And he never will.
He stretched his hands towards hers and rubbed it. She sighed and relaxed. "Thank you."
He smiled. "Let's get back to the facts."
"She said Alex was terrible to her and FOR her." He stressed and glanced at Selene. He saw she was listening. He nodded.
"And now you have Alex." She beamed.
"And-" She raised an arm, cutting off his words. "And…" She shot him a coy smile and showed him her hand.
"...we're getting married."
His eyes bulged out of his head. He took a deep breath and stood up.
"Adam? Where are you going?"
He walked to her side of the table, stopped there and grabbed her shoulders. He pulled her up and shook her body.
"Adam? What are you doing?"
"Shaking sense into you." He replied and shook her again. She glanced at his face and burst into laughter. He smiled and then went back to sit.
"You cannot marry him. You're only giving him sympathy love. You're only with him because he hates Nina and maybe, also because he's handsome," He shrugged.
"But you cannot be with him. You and him are not suitable. He's so unhealthy for you."
Selene smiled as he spoke. When he was done she shook her head and said, "You're so dramatic, Adam. Yes, we got close because of our dislike for Nina but what we have is real and we want to make it last forever."
He sighed. Irritation sprang within him as she smiled at the ring.
She had it bad for him. He had to use his last option.
"Pros and cons of marrying him." She glanced sharply at him. "We haven't done that in years but okay."
"Pro?" He stared at her, waiting for an answer.
"He's handsome." She flashed him a smile. "Con?" She threw the ball back to his court.
"He has a daughter with Nina. They're co-parenting. You'll have to see her at least once a week and you know she'll make sure to see you more than once." He stared at her.
She shrugged but he could see the look in her eyes as she thought about it.
"I don't want to have anything to do with Nina." She said at last.
"But if you marry him you will. Can you handle it?"
"Con." She said in a weak voice. Pity struck his heart as he was about to speak. He pushed it out of his mind and pressed on.
"He's a manipulative cheat who doesn't want to change." Her head shot up. A strange look crossed her face. She clenched her fist and relaxed.
"He…" She struggled to defend him but couldn't find the words. She watched as she worked up the courage to speak about what they swore they wouldn't talk about. She tried to but gave up.
"Con." She said in a small voice.
"I don't trust him."
"What?" Fire sparked in her eyes. He swallowed and kept a straight face, ready to defend himself.
"I treasure you, Selene. A lot. You're one of my closest childhood friends and I won't let you go into something that I have a bad feeling about."
She nodded.
Great.
"Promise me you'll return the ring and block him everywhere." He urged her with his eyes. She studied his eyes, searching for something. He pushed his jotter to her and said, "Look at this. The cons are a lot." She glanced at the jotter and nodded.
"Okay." She got to her feet and left the shop. He watched her leave. A mix of pain and regret swirled within him. He let it dance and fill the vacuum in his heart.
He picked up his phone and called a number.
"Nina? Yes. She promised not to marry him. We have no deal now. You can leave us alone." He paused as she cackled and agreed.
She ended the call. He reached for the jotter and read the words he'd written: Remember I said you should never make a promise to me?
Thanks for Reading.
Here's my entry to the inkwell Fiction prompt week #132