"C'mon man, calm down! What the fuck is the matter with you! You're scaring the poor girl, can't you see!?" His friend continues to placate him and as if a slate was magically wiped clean, I see his face transform from one of anger to being emotionless.
"Yeah, sure" He replies and smirks at me before walking toward the direction where their car is parked.
"Come, we'll drop you off wherever you're going." His friend says as we both watch him walk away
"Okay, thank you," I say and follow beside him
"Thank you for your intervention," I say to him again and he just smiles and nods back at me. Why would he still smile at me after the way I talked to him earlier? He couldn't have forgotten how I was rude to him so soon or could he? I wonder
I'm naturally not a rude and unkind person. Just that when I'm angry, I do and say things that when I later think back and remember what I did, I would seriously wonder and doubt if I was not possessed by some daredevil being. And that was exactly what happened with Mr. Macho Man's friend.
After I had a disagreement with his friend and left in anger. I was coming down the stairs when he saw me and stood up from where he was sitting nursing a cup of coffee.
"Hello..." He greeted, and smiled politely at me "Is he also on his way down?" He asked. I guessed he was trying to make a conversation since it would be rude if he just ignore me but instead of also replying politely, I took out my anger on the innocent man
''Does it look to you as if I give a shit about what your friend does or didn't do?'' I asked angrily
"'Oh, I'm sorry! I'll just go and see for myself then" he replied with a puzzled expression on his face
I realized immediately that what I said was wrong and uncalled for. I shouldn't have taken my frustration out on him. Even though I knew I was wrong, I still couldn't stop myself from slamming the door hard on my way out.
I was surprised when he intervened on my behalf and that made me realize he's a good man. He could have chosen to behave like those bastards in my pack who watched and did nothing while the Gamma chief kicked me to the extent of bruising my ribs, but he didn't.
Now seeing how he stood up for me by stopping Mr macho that would have probably brutalized me, I'm ashamed of myself and wish I can dig the ground and crawl into it. I know I owe him an apology. I wonder what will be going through his mind about me right now
"Uhmmm..." I say when we almost arrive at their car, not knowing where or how to start my apology to him
"Yes?..." He prompts me to continue talking, looking at me with a smile and making me wonder if he has ever said anything without a smiling face in his life. We arrive beside their car and we stop to talk
"I'm sorry... About the way, I spoke to you earlier. Just that I was angry and frustrated and..." I stopped and started again when I realized I was making an excuse instead of apologizing.
"No!... Nothing I say right now will be enough to justify my rudeness to you. I just want you to know that that wasn't the real me. I regretted my outburst immediately when the words came out and now that I have the opportunity to apologize, I want you to know that I'm truly, really sorry!"
"It's okay, I understand. I don't blame you for anything and I don't hold any grudge against you."
His words surprised me.
"You don't? How can you say you understand when you don't even know me? Or did you just say that to make me feel less guilty about myself?" I ask and narrow my eyes at him
He chuckles
"Even if I don't know you, I know how crazy the one that made you angry and frustrated can be sometimes. But regardless of whatever he might have done to you or whatever you will hear folks say about him, I'd like you to know that he's not a bad person. He might be grumpy or difficult to deal with sometimes but he's truly not a bad person."
"Really? Okay, if you say so. He might not be a bad person but I doubt if he's truly a good person... I mean the way he acted and flared up in anger towards me? I'm really finding it hard to believe he's not a bad person..."
He laughs
"Okay, I guess you'll find out about the kind of person he really is by yourself in the future."
"I'm going to find out who he really is in the future?" I ask with surprise since I don't know why he thinks I would be in his friend's life in the future when we had all just met today.
"The future sounded so far away. What makes you think we'll still be talking by then?" I ask. Before he can answer me, Mr macho Man winds down the car window and interrupts him.
"Oh, for fuck's sake Eric, can we go already, please!?" He snaps
"Yeah, yeah, hold your horses, we'll go in a bit," He replies to him before turning back and smiling apologetically at me
"We really have to go now, hopefully, we'll be able to talk more whenever we meet later."
"Yeah, hopefully... I'm Ash by the way. I heard you're Eric" I say as I open the back seat of the car"
"Ash?... Hmmm," he says, tilting his head to one side. "Ash as in Ashley or ash color?"
"Color I guess," I reply with a shrug. "My parents never say..."
He nods, opens the driver's side of the door, and sits down.
I also enter and sit at the back directly behind him. When I look up, I see Mr macho Man's eyes openly glaring at me through the rearview mirror.
"What!?..." I snap and scowl at him but he doesn't look away. He continues to glare while Eric just laughs at us.
I look at Eric through the rearview mirror
"What's biting your friend?" I ask, wondering what I did again to warrant the death glare he's giving me
"Nothing. He's just jealous" Eric replies while still laughing
"Jealous?... Jealous of what!?" I ask in surprise
"Yes, Eric, jealous of what exactly!? I've met and been with more beautiful women than her and was never jealous when they eventually decided to move on with their lives. She does not have what it takes to make me jealous so what the fuck are you talking about?" He asks.
His words hurt and fuel my anger. I don't know why the thought of him being with other women have to hurts so much. I want to hurt him back and don't care what the consequences will be