Somewhere in the city, two people were sitting at a table in a restaurant over a couple of drinks, a male and a female. Across them was a lady singly sitting at another table with a pair of dark sunshades on and a not too large piece of caftan wrapped around her neck. Her back was visible to the sitting pair, but her face wasn't.
"What would you like to eat?. Should I order macaroons or anything?" one of the sitting pair spoke up.
"Jasper, you don't need to. This orange juice is enough for me but if you want some food, I'm not stopping you from ordering." the other replied taking a sip of her juice.
"Still the same," he mumbled.
"I heard what you said, I'll take it as a compliment." Caitlyn rolled her eyes crossing her legs on each other.
"Why did you have to drop Jasmine at the company?. You should have let her come here with us. She's adorable you know," Caitlyn said trying to light up the mood between them.
"I can't. I don't want to expose her to places like this at such young age. Moreover, it's a better way of protecting her from the evil clutches of the business world. You never can tell what will happen the next minute." he took another sip of his drink.
"Ah!, you're right. I'm sorry for speaking so thoughtlessly." Caitlyn looked down feeling a little bit embarrassed. Since she's yet to have her own child, she didn't give it that much thought before speaking.
"It's nothing, you just expressed your thought. No harm is done."
"How have you been?" asked Jasper.
"I've been doing well. You asked me previously today."
"Did I?. I guess I forgot."
"Actually.....," he trailed off staring into her eyes before saying what he wanted to say. "Actually... I meant to ask how you.... how you were able to get over the situation. And how did you become a teacher?" total guilt showed in his voice as he couldn't look her straight in the eye anymore.
Caitlyn smiled and rested her arms on the table. She clasped her palms together and rubbed the skin with her thumb continuously then sighed.
"It's a long story Jasper, I don't......."
"Don't worry, go ahead. I'm all ears." he interrupted, pressing her to speak up with his words.
"I don't know where to start..."
"Start from when we parted." he urged.
"When you left, I was down for a while, then traveled back to my grandma's place. I fell sick after my father died and it took my grandma a lot to nurse me back to health. I was lucky to have won a scholarship in college which gave me the chance to get my first degree. You know, in this part of the world, it's really difficult to get a job. I have no connections, and neither do I have more than a first degree. I needed something to assist granny so I took up a teaching job. Better than nothing." Caitlyn summarized articulately.
"I'm sorry about that." Jasper quickly cleaned the lone tear that dropped from his eyes. What she experienced was not what he planned for her. It was not something they planned together for their future. But what can he do when things turned out to be the way they are?.
"You don't have to be sorry. We can't change fate. It's all in the past."
"Yeah, the past"
"So, what are your plans now?" Jasper asked.
"For now, I don't have any. As long as I get to eat something good and clothe well, I'm all good," she answered with all honesty.
If she was asked that question when she was in college, she would have said more than that. She also had ambitions. However, with the turn of things in her life, getting to see another day is like giving her the most precious item in one's possession.
"How could you say that?" Jasper wanted to ask. On a second thought, he decided against it. He didn't want to make her feel terrible or on edge.
Then, silence ensued between them. Each drowned in his thoughts and stole glances at each other.
"I'm sorry, what about your boyfriend or fiancee? Jasper stuttered holding tight to his glass of juice.
"I have none!" Caitlyn replied airily.
"Are you for real?. Why?"
"Are you in a position to ask me such a question?" she glared at him, though not angrily.
"I'm sorry" he felt remorseful.
"I couldn't get to go out with anyone," she answered his previous question. Jasper loosened his tie a bit and cleared his throat taking another sip of his juice.
"Caitlyn, you should try to get a man in your life. It's high time you forgot about me and move on with your life. I'm sorry for leaving that way back then. I had no choice but to leave."
"Get over you?!!, Oh my, you shouldn't be full of yourself. Who told you I haven't gotten over you?. I just don't have the time to go out with anyone." she lied about her feelings to save herself some face but Jasper could see through her. She's not someone he got to know for a few days or weeks. They had spent most of their teenage years together.
Every spare time she has, she thinks of the memorable things they did together. Places they went, things they ate, just everything, which was why she mostly find something to do so she won't be able to think of him.
"Fine, if you say so. And I want to tell you I'm really sorry for whatever you went through because of me. I'm very sorry." He placed his hand on hers soothingly.
"Ahhhhhh, guy, you think highly of yourself. But your apology is accepted anyway. It's already obvious I'm no longer important to you since you couldn't even tell me about your marriage. I only got to see it on TV."
"That's why I'm apologizing. No explanation right now can make up for that."
"It's okay," she managed to say despite being hurt.
"Thank you, Caitlyn. You won't know how much I feel relieved hearing you say that. I'm grateful."
Was she really okay with it?.
"That aside. What about you?. How's your wife?. I mean, Jasmine's mother."
There goes the click. The big-time question.
"Lynn, can we talk about this later?"
"Why?" she asked with a raised eyebrow.
Before Jasper could answer, his ears caught on a voice.
"I wired you the money already. Have you seen it?. Ok, you can now take up the responsibility." It was from the woman wearing a dark shade earlier.
"That voice is that not?......" he wanted to stand up to check who it was, forgetting that someone is in front of him.
"Is there a problem?" Caitlyn was confused about his action.
"Oh..., nothing. I'm good."
"So, back to my question. How about your wife?. At least it won't be too asking of me to describe her right?"
"No, it......."
Just then, he received an incoming call. Jasper took an excuse and received the call.
"Hello" he spoke first.
"Sir, we've gotten the culprit."
"Who is it?" Jasper's heartbeat raced incessantly like someone who just got kissed by their long-time crush. Somehow, he had a bad feeling about the news.
"Errrr...mmm. Mr. Carl...." then the call got disconnected.
"Never!, It can't be. Carl?" Jasper was thrown into confusion.