Chapter 7

Ronny was present with her when Marissa found out about Ben, and she was beyond shattered. After what his best friend had been through, finding out that Ben was happily married to Jaz had broken her completely, but somehow, she found all the pieces and pasted them back together.

Initially, yes, Marissa was heartbroken, but now she is in a good place. Ben has been a big part of her life and always will be. She was really happy that both of them had no other feelings except for friendship and respect towards each other.

Her life, which she has now, is something which she wouldn’t trade except for Alex. Unlike the other two times, she expected him here, knowing that Brook was his niece, making Jenny and Linda his sisters. Though she knows that Alex is part of her past, which is unknown to others present in this room, it doesn’t affect her much now. She is nothing to him, and he has no control over her life, so she doesn’t care about him being here with her.

Alex was mostly quiet when Marissa talked to others about Ben. It took him a flashback to when he threw spiteful words at her.

Flashback...

‘You know, Marissa, you wouldn’t understand me and my position. You have never been in love. If you knew about love, you would know that you did nothing but destroy my life by stepping into it. I really hope that one day when you fall in love, it will be snatched away from you to understand how I feel.’

Flashback end...

What Alex didn’t know was that she was already suffering from one.

“I should get going now. I will see you guys soon. Congrats again on your engagement, Ronny and Jenny.” Marissa brought Alex back from his flashback.

“I can drop you if you want,” Alex told her. He felt a sudden urge to be close to her.

“No, it’s okay.” Marissa declined.

“It’s really not a problem. We stay on the same premises.” He told her.

“You guys do?” John asked him with raised eyebrows.

“Yeah,” Marissa answered.

“That’s great. Now we have more reason to drop in your places.” Jenny told them excitedly.

“Really, Jenny?” Alex asked her sarcastically. “You know what, please don’t answer. I had enough of you for a day. Come on, Marissa, I will drop you off at home.”

“Alex, it’s not needed. I have a car. Anyway, thanks for the offer.” She greeted them goodbye and left.

“So, you wanted to drop her, huh?” Linda nudged her baby brother.

“It’s nothing like that. It would have been more convenient.”

No one said anything to him after that.

After a few minutes, even Alex left for his apartment. Marissa had consumed all his thoughts all the way home, which has been happening a lot lately.