SEVENTY-EIGHT

Nina and Sam had left after dinner, they had all promised to meet again before leaving the island in a few days. But of course, Sasha had stayed back even after the table had been cleared. She had sat there talking to Alexander; bringing up long forgotten events from their year in college which Yalda knew nothing off.

Alexander probably hadn’t noticed that she had completely excluded Yalda was the conversation because he went along with her, he seemed at ease talking to her, and for a brief moment Yalda felt bad for begrudging him a simple conversation with a friend. But then, she reminded herself that he wasn’t the problem, she reminded herself that if Sasha wasn’t clearly into him, she would have even left to give them some privacy.

They weren’t really a couple, she knew that well enough, but Alexander had told Sasha she was his girlfriend, she owed it to her to be respectful and considerate of their relationship.

“How’s Jax anyway? I haven’t heard from him in a while.” Sasha was saying.

Jax…..

Of course, she knew Jaxon too, they all went to Cambridge together after all. She resisted the urge to roll her eyes. Alexander cleared his throat quietly before taking a sip from his glass of wine, he was well aware that Jaxon was a sensitive topic where she was involved.

She blew out a breath quietly as she forced out the memory of Jaxon’s lips forcefully moving against hers, of his hands pinning her to the wall. She shook her head to expel the thought from her mind.

“He’s good.” Alexander replied simply. “How’s Tristan anyway?”

Sasha scoffed; she waved her hand dismissively as she shook her head.

“We broke up.” She replied. “We don’t talk anymore.”

Yalda wasn’t a genius, but she could guess she had been the problem; she was clearly obsessed with another man.

“Oh. Sorry about that.” Alexander said. “He seemed like an okay guy.”

“Well, what can I say? He wasn’t the one for me.” She replied.

Having had enough, Yalda decided to speak up.

“Wow, it’s gotten so late.” She said as though she had only just realized that time had gone by so much.

Alexander glanced at his wristwatch before nodding agreeingly. He was about to say something but Sasha spoke first.

“Oh, it’s fine.” She told Yalda. “I’m at home here.”

Yalda felt bile rise to her throat. The fact that she had looked her straight in the eyes was what upset her even more.

“Is that so?” She asked her.

Sasha nodded.

“I had a lot of sleepovers here as a child.” She replied smugly. “Right Alex?”

Alexander nodded.

“Sure.” He replied.

Yalda shook her head; she could do this. She couldn’t win against her, not when Alexander was completely oblivious to what she was doing. She pushed her seat back and stood up almost abruptly.

“Well, I’ll go to bed now.” She told them. “Goodnight.”

“Already?” Alexander asked her. “You slept quite a lot earlier.”

She merely nodded before she attempted to leave. However, he held her wrist, prompting her to meet his gaze. He knew her well enough to now when she was upset; her eyes were dark and her brows were creased in a slight frown.

“Are you alright?”

She was foolishly going to say yes but reconsidered when Sasha spoke first.

“She must be so exhausted. It was nice of you to have us over, Yalda.”

Alexander’s gaze didn’t leave hers, and so, she shook her head to answer his question. She wasn’t alright.

“Excuse me.” She said before freeing her wrist from his hold and walking away knowing Alexander would be right behind her. The faintest of smirks curved her lips on hearing him say;

“Sasha, have Mathew drive you home. It’s getting quite late.”

….

She had kept up the act; she hadn’t even changed her clothes before climbing into bed and lying dejectedly. It didn’t matter that she was playing the pity card, all that mattered was that Alexander was going to leave Sasha come to her.

It wasn’t long before she heard the door open quietly, Alexander’s confident footsteps followed before she felt the bed dip as he joined her. A smug smile curved her lips as he draped his arm over her waist and gently pulled her closer so her back was pressed against his chest comfortingly.

“What’s wrong?” He asked her.

She shook her head.

“Are you upset she brought Jaxon up?” He asked her.

That….

She had gotten that out of her mind; Jaxon could go fuck himself for all she cared. But the fact that she had been so stupid about the whole thing was what continued to bother her.

She shook her head once more.

“Talk to me then.” He said. “Tell me what’s wrong.”

She wiped off the smile from her face before stirring to face him while being careful so his arm didn’t leave her.

“I don’t know.” She replied quietly. “I just felt a little silly; everyone had a few interests in common except me.”

In every honesty, she didn’t care about their interests, she didn’t care about chess, neither did she care about how many times they had all visited the island or other islands.

“So, that’s why you were so quiet during dinner.” He said.

He had noticed……

She nodded.

“There was quite no need to feel silly.” He told her. “In every honesty, I’d rather read a book than talk about chess.”

A smile curved her lips knowing he was telling her the truth, knowing she would also rather read a book than do most things. He rubbed her back soothingly as he stared down at her face as though he was only just noticing some features.

“Who knew you were so anti-social?” He asked rhetorically. “You always seemed to be doing so well with people.”

She didn’t respond; she didn’t know what to say to that.

“Do you still want to hang out with Sam and Nina?” He asked her.

She nodded immediately. She wanted to hang out with Sam and Nina, Sasha was the problem. But she couldn’t possibly point that out without seeming like a jealous girlfriend, and the fact that they weren’t even a couple would make it even worse.

“They’re nice people.” She told him. “Nina’s fun to talk to.”

“Alright then.” He said.

A moment of silence settled between them before she spoke again.

“How long have you known Sasha?”

She just had to bring her up, she couldn’t ignore the nagging thought of her.

“Twenty years maybe.” He replied. “Her dad used to work for my dad, they were good friends.”

She nodded, encouraging him to go on.

“We did most things together when I was on the island. She’s like a sister to me.” He told her.

A sister? If only Sasha considered him a brother too. Hell, she made it sound like they had fucked before.

“That’s nice.” She said though she didn’t think there was anything nice about it.

He merely nodded.

“Feel better?” He asked her.

She nodded. She did feel better, not in the way he thought though. His gaze flickered from her eyes to her lips, before returning to her eyes.

“Tired?”

She shook her head.

Saying nothing more, he leaned in and claimed her lip in a gentle kiss.