Chapter 57

I'v been lost for the last few days. I didn't feel like doing anything.

After my little...incident with Shawn, i haven't been myself. I'm not proud to say that I've been calling in sick and i have been ignoring Shawn's phone calls. But he's not the only one I've been ignoring.

Iven has been calling and texting me the whole time, and all i could remember was Shawn's lips on mine. And so, Shame didn't allow me to answer any of Iven's calls or texts. I waned to, but i didn't know what i would say to him.

I sighed again as i moved food around my plate.

"Is everything okay, Child?" My grandpa asked and i looked away from my plate to see that he was staring at me with concern.

I nodded my head and gave him a brief smile before i looked back to my plate. 

"Are you sure?" He asked and... I burts into tears. Oh, how embarrassing.

My grandpa dropped his fork and quickly reach my side. He placed hand on top of my head as i hide my face in my hands and sobbed away. In between embarrassing hiccups and snots, i ended up telling grandpa all thay has been bothering without leaving any details out.

I told him about Shawn and our work place romance, about my coworkers and Lucy Chaw, about Iven and my confusion and finally, i told him about the business proposal we worked hard on and that Shawn hide it so o wouldn't get the promotion.

My grandfather listened to me without stoping me even once. We had to move from the dining to the living room as i told him my life story. 

By the time i finished blabbing away, i was a crying mess and i realized that it was all bottled up for too long and it was driving me crazy.

Grandpa pulled me in to a fatherly hug and comforted me. When i was calm enough, he started laughing.

"Kids this days, all he small things stress you." He commented as he laughed more.

"Listen here, kid. From what i hear, you already have answers to your questions and solutions to your problems. This Shawn guy messed up. But from what I'm hearing, he is also a good guy who has your heart. And as for you confusion, it is proof that you are still in love with him. If you weren't, then you wouldn't hesitate to commit to the other guy...Iven.

Love cones in all sort of ways from all directions. But the one that hits you when you least expect it is the special one. Kid, if you really want something and you're really after it, then there should be nothing to stop you..."

Grandpa went on and on about how I'm making the small maters big and that I should take one step at a time.

As i was telling grandpa about everything, i realized that i spoke of Shawn with a tone filled with love and grandpa even commented that my eyes would light up whenever i spoke of him. I also realized that i like Iven. But not in the same way i love Shawn. And that devastated me.

The conversation somehow changed into grandpa's time as a bachelor and even if it was for a few hours, i was able to forget all the troubles.

***

I looked down at my watch and waited for Oliver to tell us to hide.

He and I have managed to make a little surprise party for MC at our apartment. He made sure the house was decorated while i told MC that ice cream night wasn't happening this month because most of the ladies were really busy.

So, instead of coming home early to get ready for ice cream night, she stayed at work longer and came home late.

At first, i was worrier that MC would spend the night with Chris but by the time it was eight thirty, Iven yelled that he saw MC walking up to the building from the window and Oliver turned the lights off so we can all hide at our place.

We waited for a few minutes and when we heard the front door close and the light turned on, everybody collectively screamed out SURPRISE.

MC gasped as she looked around the room filled with her friends and family.

Pretty much every one was present. Hers and my parents as a given. My aunt, grandpa and Dr. Goodman were here as well. And we got Noah on Skype too.

MCs'face light up as she walked around the house, hugging and thanking people for coming over. She gave me a really tight hug and thanked me for organizing this but i told her it was all Oliver's idea.

She looked over at him and smiled softly before walking up to him and pulled him in to a hug. Oliver looked stunned and stood still for a few seconds before he wrapped his arms around her.

The night was a bliss, until it wasn't.

I spotted Iven pouring himself a drink and finally decided that it was time for us to talk.

Things since that coffee house had been really awkward and i hated it.  I feel like it is time that i fix it.

So, with heavy heart, i slowly walked over to him. When Iven saw that i was headed hos direction, he picked up another cup and poured some OJ for me.

I smiled and accepted the drink before finishing it with in seconds. My throat felt dry all of a sudden and i reached over to get myself more OJ. 

Iven waited for me until i was done drinking while studying me very carefully.

As i finally made my dry throat comfortable enough to speak, i cleared my throat and looked over to the balcony.

"Do you think we can talk?" I asked him and Iven looked at me as if he already knew what this was about. After sighing he nodded his head, put his cup down and walked out to the balcony.

O followed behind him and made sure to close the slide door of the balcony to give us a little bit of privacy. We stood there, just looking at the beautiful night view for a few minutes in total silence.

"So..." Iven started "what did you want to talk about?"

I took a deep breath and sighed before turning to face him.

"I... I don't think you and I... Should continue any path that might lead us into having a romantic relationship." I said hesitantly and waited for him to speak. But instead, he sighed and turned back to the view.

"Iven..." I continued "i know this sounds wack but, it's not you. It's me. I'v been dealing with a lot lately and with mt confused feelings... I don't want to lie to you or hurt you in the process."

"Is this about your boss?" He asked and i could help but be surprised.

"What?"

"Your boss. Your ex." Iven commented ashe fully turned at face me.

"I'v kind of known that my time with you would be up very soon. I just didn't guess it would be this soon..." Iven ran his fingers through his hair as he continued. 

"I thought i saw something at that retirement party between you and your boss. But i ruled it out because i figured you'd tell me if you were working for your ex. But then...the night of the coffee house..."

Oven stopped talking and just stared at me with a sad smile that made my eyes water a bit.

"I'm sorry." I whispered and Iven chuckled.

"Why are you apologizing to me, dummy? It's not your fault that you couldn't love me. The heart wants what ot wants."

Iven then pulled me into a tight hug before whispering his next words into my ear.

"Even though my heart wants you, it also wants you to be happy in your choices." 

He then pulled away a little to stare down at my face. "And don't think you can get rid of me that easily. I will always be there for you when ever you need it."

I nodded my head as he reached up to wipe the tears off the corner of my eyes. He then leaned in to softly kiss me on my cheeks and walked away. 

Iven said his good nights to my roomies and walked out the front door.

***

The night went on and the guest slowly left the apartment until it was just us friends.

MC was so happy thay she kept thinking us and since the party was on short notice, Oliver was exhausted from the preparations that he immediately passed out on the couch while MC and i cleaned up the house.

"Tonight was really great." MC commented as we cleaned the kitchen. I nodded my head at her.

"Yeah. It was full of surprises..." I glanced at her over my shoulder "To be honest, i though you'd spend your birthday with Chris."

Mc sighed before walking up to my side and glancing over to a sleeping Oliver.

"I actually broke up with Chris the day after he came here unannounced."

My head snapped towards her direction with the surprise of her confession.

"Seriously?" I asked and she nodded her head. "And does Oliver know about this? I asked her and this time, she shook her head.

"No. Not yet. I'm thinking of telling him on new years though. I want a fresh start for us and i want to get to know him better before i tell him how i feel...how i felt all this time. And, if dating Chris had taught me anything, is that i really like Oliver and i constantly seem to compare every single act Chris does with Oliver's. I know it's wrong to do that, but I can't help it. It's like, he's everywhere."

Her answer made me smile as she walked back to the counter to do the dishes. 

I turned around to see that Oliver had a smile on his face and i already know, that little Wiesel heard everything MC just said. 

I wanted to out him but i decided against it.

"Speaking of breakups..." I said "Iven and i decided to call it quits."

"Really?"

"Yeah. I think it's better his way. And, i'v also decided that I'm going to quit my job at DC." 

Mc looked over to me in shock. "Why would you do that? You've worked there for like a year. Do you really think that quiting is the right way to deal with moving on from Shawn?" She asked but i only shrugged my shoulders.

Because, this has nothing to do with moving on from Shawn.