34. NOT JUST ANYBODY

ACT SIX SCENE TWO

NOT JUST ANYBODY

third person

perspective

ASHER GLANCES at Sahar who sat alone. His mind was filled with numerous thoughts. He didn't like her in that way, he liked her as a friend. How could Luca assume that? Asher was aware of Sahar and her feelings but he didn't want to damage their friendship at all.

"Sahar, If I ask you a question will you answer it truthfully?" Asher asks, his tone grew serious. Sahar nods her head, fidgeting with her cup of Luwak coffee. Asher felt his stomach twisting, he didn't want to do this but he had to.

"Do you like me?"

Sahar blinks a few times. Where did he get that idea from?

"I don't." she says, Asher studies her expression attempting to look for evidence that she's lying but he finds none. He lets out a relieved sigh, taking a seat in front of her. His actions cause Sahar to laugh, she wasn't sure if he liked him or she admired him as a friend.

"Where did you get that idea from?"

"You didn't pay much attention to Luca, he was on the table with us and you didn't look at him once." his words cause Sahar to widen her eyes, she felt guilt swarm almost instantaneously. She didn't mean to ignore him, she didn't look at him because she felt reminded of his mother each time she saw him.

"Now I feel bad." she whispers, pulling out her phone. She searches through her contacts to find Luca's number, before she could dial it Asher stops her.

"If you call him now he'll obviously realise I told you."

"Then what should I do?" she questions. She rests her head on her palm, she felt horrible.

"Spend the whole day with him tomorrow, I'm sure he'll appreciate it and forget what happened today." Asher says, taking a sip of his Luwak coffee.

"Right, that's better."

sahar glacé

PERSPECTIVE

MY GOAL was to make up for my mistake. I was a bad friend, Luca deserved much more than a cold shoulder. I glance at the list of things we could do after school, amusement park, movie or a picnic. I wonder which he would prefer.

I notice him walking alone. This was my chance.

I catch up to him, placing my hand on his shoulder. He freezes for a second but he relaxes at the sight of my face. "Do you have any plans today?" I ask knowingly, Asher told me that Luca has nothing to do today.

"I don't." he responds, he seemed to be carrying a permanent frown.

"Want to watch a movie with me?"

"Are you sure? What about Asher?" Luca questions. Why is he talking about Asher? Asher isn't my only friend.

"Just you and me." I say, pulling his arm. "Come on, I wanted to watch the latest horror movie."

"I don't know," Luca says, glancing at his phone. "Movies aren't my thing."

"Then what is your thing?"

"Now that I think of it, saying it out loud would sound a little stupid." he says, shoving his phone into his pockets. His gaze lingers on my arm before pulling it off.

His actions cause my smile to falter. "We're friends right, what's wrong with saying it out loud? There's nothing to be ashamed of."

"I've always wanted to," he pauses, glancing around the empty hallways. "To... talk to someone and eat nice food outside." his words cause my heart to warm. His concept of hanging out was sweet.

"I'll do it with you, do you have any places in mind?" His eyes grow wide as a small smile forms on his pretty face. I never noticed how sweet he looked when he smiled, it's heartwarming.

"There's a place, nobody really goes there. It has a large tree and small pond," he says brightly, pulling his phone out. "Look, it's located twenty minutes away from the café Asher goes to." he points at the place, he was happy and that's all that mattered.

"Let's go." I say, grabbing his hand. "You don't mind me holding your hand, right?"

"Wait." Luca says.

I watch as he pulls off his leather gloves, revealing his hands. I don't know if it's appropriate to say but he has really attractive hands. I gulp as he linked his hands with mine, he held my hand tight as if he didn't want to let go and I liked that.

"What's wrong? Your face is red, don't tell me you're sick." Luca unravels his hand from mine and places his palm on my forehead. "No fever, are you alright Sahar?"

There was something wrong with me.

I felt empty without his hand.

"Where's your car?" I ask, avoiding his question.

"It's only a fifteen minute walk." Luca says, walking beside me. "There's a convenience store five minutes away from the area, we can pick up some snacks from there."

"But it would be faster if we took your car."

"It feels nice to walk though."

"I guess."

"It's better for the environment," Luca says, glancing at the bright sun. "There's already so much pollution in the environment, using my car instead of walking for a couple of minutes is careless."

He was right, I never thought of it like that. "Who knew a billionaire would care about the environment?"

"You're right, it's a shame that there are others who don't care at all." he mutters, taking long strides. It was becoming difficult to walk alongside him because his legs were long.

"You walk way too fast."

Luca stops abruptly. He glances at me with wide eyes. "Sorry, I didn't realise." he apologises, loosening his grip on my hand. Suddenly I felt empty once again, his hand felt warm against mine.

"I have a question." I blurt out.

Luca chuckles. "What's your question?"

"Say if you didn't grow up with your wealth, do you think you'd be happy like now."

"I don't think so." he responds curtly.

"Why?"

"Because I never would've met you." he says.

I felt my heart rate quicken. What is this? His words just surprised me, it's nothing. I ignore his statement, walking ahead.

"How long will it take to get there?"

"Just a few minutes till we arrive at the convenience store." Luca responds.

After walking in silence we arrived to the convenience store. Luca places his gloves back on, opening the door for me. I walk in, glancing around the shop for snacks. It still baffled me how he wore his gloves constantly, he doesn't like physical contact either.

"Do you like chocolate?" Luca asks, holding up two bars of snickers.

"If I'm being honest I hate snickers."

"Oh." Luca places the snickers back.

"You should get it if you like it." I say, picking up two packs of Oreos.

"If you don't like it there's no point." he mumbles, adding four more packs of Oreos to the basket. I widen my eyes, he really must like Oreos.

"How about candy?" he questions.

"I like fizzy cola bottles."

Luca picks up several packets of fizzy cola bottles and tosses it into the basket.

"That's a lot."

Luca shrugs his shoulders. "But you like it."

His statement causes my cheeks to burn.

I grab a couple more snacks, walking over to the self checkout machine. As soon as I notice my appearance on the self checkout machine I grimace, my eyes fall on to Luca. He looked good even though the lighting was horrible.

I scan each item and pull out cash.

"I'll pay." Luca says, pulling out his phone to pay. Before I could protest he already pays and begins to pack the snacks into one single bag

"I hate that they have plastic bags." Luca mutters as he attempts to fit all the snacks into one bag. He seems to care a lot about the environment, it's something I never noticed about him.

We both step outside.

"Luca you could've used two bags."

He shakes his head. "I prefer it this way." he checks his watch for the time. "We're only five minutes away."

"I can hold it for you, it's the least I could do since you paid."

"It doesn't matter, money is money. I'm happy that you want to spend your time with me." his words cause my heart to numb. He seemed to appreciate my presence, he really does know how to make a girl feel happy.

After a few minutes we arrived to an empty place. It was just like Luca described, one large tree and a small pond. The whole area was filled with greenery and on the side there was a large swing that could fit more than one person.

Luca sits down under the large tree. I take a seat next to him, leaning on the tree for back support.

I pull out a water bottle and drink it immediately. All that walking made me feel tired, it's a sign that I'm not fit. Luca seemed fine, it was as if he was used to walking a lot. I'm not surprised, he looks like he exercises a lot.

He hands me a pack of Oreos.

As I begin to eat I notice him not touching a single item in the bag. All he does is lean against the tree with his eyes closed.

"Don't you want to eat?"

"I'm fine." he says.

When I think about it. All Luca did was buy snacks I enjoyed. Each snack I spoke about he would add triple the amount into the basket.

"I'm so stupid." I whisper, placing the pack of Oreos back in the bag. Luca opens his eyes immediately, adjusting his position. He glances at me with a frown.

"Why do you think that?" he questions, resting his head on his palm as he watched me.

"This was supposed to be my treat, you were supposed to eat all the snacks you enjoyed and I was supposed to pay but you paid instead."

"But I'm happy."

"There's nothing to be happy about, you look so bored." I exclaim.

Luca pulls me closer and rests his head on my shoulder. "You're here, that's all that matters." And that's when I realised, Luca isn't just anybody to me.

-

how do you all feel? do you have any ships? everything looks a little too sweet, there's drama to come :)

thank you all for 100k! i can't explain how much i appreciate all of you guys! this is such a huge achievement for this book. i'm glad you all enjoy it!