Chapter 11:

Walk Me to the End of Love

The Great Investment


The thing with bad moods is that they’re contagious, spreading easily from one person to another. Taisa was very aware of how susceptible people were to ‘catching’ her ill dispositions, so she preferred to self-isolate to mitigate any further damage. As such, she had been more standoffish with Xander for a few days, citing extra sewing courses and overworking as why she could not partake in their usual activities.

Her silent treatment was starting to unnerve him; it was one thing when she worked quietly in his office but when she was purposely denying him their typical repartee…it was a cause for distress.

That is why at 9:30 PM, as she was locking up and trying to find another flimsy excuse to blow him off, he came to the resolution of ending that distress.

“Any reason why you’re avoiding me?”

Taken aback by his blunt approach, Taisa just eyed him uncertainly. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. I told you my schedule got busier with my projects and such.”

“Will you cut the crap and tell me already?”

“I told you-“

“How’s Victor?” It hadn’t escaped him that her evasive tactics began after their run-in with Victor. And remembering his reaction at seeing them together, the aftermath was probably even less positive.

Caught like a deer in the headlights, she knew she couldn’t avoid that subject.

“I wouldn’t know.” A long pause filled with heaviness and indecisiveness followed. “We’re not on speaking terms for the time being.”

“So he did tell you not to see me…that prick.”

He caught on too quickly for her liking, but she thought he came to such a conclusion due to also knowing Victor and how he generally reacted.

“Look, it doesn’t matter. Let’s just go already before I lose my bus.” She was sometimes as bad as him when it came to making invitations.

“You mean to tell me that you don’t have any lame excuses today?”

“Start walking or keep the pavement cozy. Your choice.”

Today was definitely not a day for banter. So, he followed her wordlessly.

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As he stole glances from her every few minutes, he could sense more troubling thoughts brewing.

“Out of all the people Victor had to dislike, it had to be you. Why’d you have to come into my life and ruin stuff?!” She came barreling out of her self-imposed quarantine.

“Excuse me?”

You just had to come into my café, you just had to bump into me everywhere, you just had to walk with me after work, and you just had to be the one that Victor hates the most.”

“And you are upset because?”

“Because I’m losing my best friend over…I honestly don’t know what!”

“Please, with such friends, you’d be -.”

“How dare you-“

“I don’t know much about how your friendship works, but I do know that belittlement is not a feature in good relationships. So don’t pin the blame on me for something that was faulty to begin with.”

He was so spot on that he might’ve thrown a dart right in between her eyes.

Taisa thought that for once, Mother Nature was on her side, as it started raining abundantly. She ran to seek refuge under the bus stop shelter. With his larger strides, he caught up to her quickly without having to run.

Arms crossed and gaze downcast, she looked even more miserable than before; and that was all partly due to him sucking at consoling. He had honestly wanted to make her feel better about this whole predicament, feeling somewhat responsible for it.

“Don’t fret too much over it. Either he’ll get over it or he won’t.” A second try couldn’t hurt.

“….what if he won’t?” her dejected tone weakened his resolve to push through the matter.

“Then you’ll make another friend. ”

“So your solution is to just substitute him with another instead of solving the problem? That’s not how it works in life.”

“Everyone is replaceable.”

Over their conversations, she had learned that he had a very narrow outlook on life and sometimes some very trenchant philosophies. But this had to be the worst she heard so far. She furrowed her eyebrows and raised her glare to meet his impassive countenance.

“And you have the nerve to call Victor a prick? At least to him, people are still people, not things that can be swapped whenever they become inconvenient.”

“If people would be honest with themselves they would find out that the reason they keep friends, lovers, family in their lives is because they have something to offer. And when their offering fails to outweigh the effort of putting up with them, they look for it somewhere else.” So far, his second attempt at easing her spirits was going disastrously wrong.

“You must be such a social butterfly with that mentality. Tell me, does your family still speak to you?”

“Everyone wants something from everyone else.”

“I don’t!”

“Please, you’re not above the rest. Aren’t you using me to keep yourself busy when your friends are gone?”

She hadn’t given much thought to why she readily accepted his intrusion in her life up until now. Initially, she let him around her due to his awkwardness, relating on some level to the difficulties of interacting with others. Maybe she was unconsciously using him for his company; to fill the void of loneliness, to keep at bay the deafening quietness where her dark thoughts could echo maddeningly.

She turned to look at the still pouring rain.

“…then what do you want from me?”

Truthfully, it was very hard for him to discern what he wanted from her. He could go on about his obsessive habits and patterns, but that would sound too troubling to anyone outside his head. How could he explain in a non-disturbing way that he just liked being in her presence and didn’t want anything else from her?

“Your… company is… pleasant.”

Her response was a laugh. Not a mocking laugh, not a sarcastic laugh nor a pitying one. A genuine laugh, though he failed to see what was so humorous in his answer.

“You act so stuck up most of the time, but you’re actually such a dork.” His incredulous look made the situation even funnier to her.

Taisa looked up at him, eyes glinting and expression soft, “I like hanging around you too, I guess.”

At her lifted mood, he was rewarded with a warm feeling that delightfully tingled his neck. Still, like with every new sensation, it took a while for him to get comfortable with it.

“I think your bus is either very late or cancelled.”

“Eh, at least the rain stopped. I can walk home.”

“Wasn’t it like 40 minutes away by bus?”

“In peak traffic, yes. At this hour, around 15; it’ll probably take around 40 by foot. I’ll just imagine it’s rush hour and feel like I broke even with time and all.”

“At this hour?”

“Not that late. Plus, it rained. Rapists and muggers don’t come out after rain; they’re like the opposite of snails.”

He was prepared to call a taxi for her and deal with her protests, but his plans were suddenly derailed.

“Walk with me.” The same warm feeling crept up his neck again.

He looked up and then back at her again. “Fine. But if it starts raining again we’re hailing the first taxi in sight.”

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