Flash Fiction #8

"I told you he was no good from the very beginning."

I picked up a well-folded letter from the table and read it again. I asked after I peeked from the letter to look at my friend Jessica, "It may not be what we think it is. He's a good guy."

"Are you still defending him after reading that?" She argued, "I know that you have feelings for him, and it seemed that he felt the same way towards you. But I think your emotions are blinding you from seeing the truth in this matter. He was only playing around."

I pleaded, "But you've already seen what he was like. He's not that type of person because he's a nice guy. I really think there is some sort of plausible explanation for this."

She shrugged her shoulders, "If you want to get hurt in the end, then you can continue with this. I'm only saying this because you're my friend, and I don't want you to get hurt and disappointed."

I could tell that there was no way to convince my friend of my opinion and sighed in defeat. "Then what should I do? Break up and cut off all ties? Isn't that cold?"

"You gotta do what you gotta do. He was being unfaithful and there's a chance he may do it again." Jessica replied, and then noticed James walked into the restaurant looking for me. She stood up and whispered, "Just be quick and direct. I'll be waiting outside. Good luck, Mia."

Then Jessica turned to see James walking by her with a wave, but she completely ignored him. James watched Jessica leave the restaurant uncertain of what happened and went to take the seat opposite of me. He asked, "Mia, what is it you wanted to tell me in person?"

I gulped as I gripped the letter tightly underneath the table. When I looked at him, I couldn't see him as a cheater but there was physical evidence of his feelings for some girl. When I kept quiet trying to gather the confidence to say it, James asked with a confused look at the silence, "Mia, is something wrong? You can tell me."

I lifted the letter from underneath the table and showed it to him. As soon as he saw it, he instantly recognized that it was one of his possessions. I asked sternly, "What is this about?"

I noticed that he started to wipe some sweat from his forehead with his sleeve. He replied, "I can explain. It's not what it seems."

"What is there to explain?" I had slid the letter across the table to him. "I trusted you and after finding out about this, I don't even know what to believe anymore."

He had reached over to hold my hand looking for forgiveness with tears in his eyes. "Mia, you know that I love you and it was a mistake to acknowledge my feelings for her in a letter. I thought that if I wrote it out then I would stop thinking about her. I didn't realize that someone would find it."

When he was pleading, I felt that I wanted to give James a second chance after showing his sincerity. However I glanced to see Jessica in the parking lot telling me to go through with the plan. I withdrew my hand away from James and shook my head. "James, I'm sorry. It's not going to work out. We should stop seeing each other."

He looked at me desperate, "Please I'll do anything. We can't break up."

"I'm sorry. Jessica's waiting so I have to go." I grabbed my purse and stood up. "I wish you well. I hope you don't repeat the same mistake again."

Then I quickly left the restaurant as I wiped a couple of tears surfacing on my eyes. Even though Jessica was pleased that the plan went out well, I didn't particularly feel like I had vindicated against James.