"How's your girlfriend?" Kate purrs next to me, the nosy bitch peering her head over and checking my phone as I set it down on the table. I start to add some food onto my plate as I prepare an answer for her.
"She's good," I shrug as I take a sip of my whiskey. Why the fuck would I tell my ex, who is clearly still into me, that I'm now single? I'm not an idiot. I also just don't want it to be true. And I do know that Amelia is fine; thank fuck for Poppy giving me updates that she's actually alive and for the most part okay. She doesn't want to give me a lot of details out of respect for her friend, but I do know that she has somewhere to stay and that she's looking after herself. That's it, that's all I'm allowed to know apparently. And for now, at least, that's okay.
"Is she still in school?" Kate asks as she slowly swirls the red wine around in her glass before taking a small sip. Honestly, how did I ever find this woman attractive? She's so fucking obnoxious.
"Yes she is, surprised that you remember," I reply with a slight tone of snarkiness. Kate was never much of a listener; she's one of those people that loves nothing more than the sound of her own voice, the only thing she might like more than that is hearing you talk about her.
"Of course, I remember, a girl is always interested in knowing what her ex moved onto," she replies with a smirk. I turn my head to the side and look at her, almost dumbfounded by what she's just said.
"I'm sorry, what I moved onto? You're calling my girlfriend a 'what'?" I fume quietly at her. I'm probably overreacting, I'm definitely overreacting. But it feels good to be mad; mad at her while defending Amelia feels like a good position for me to be in. Kate rolls her eyes, and her tongue swipes across the front of her teeth.
"Look, Rhode; I just don't think she's right for you. You need a strong woman who's been successful on her own. Someone who doesn't depend on you for anything. Young girls like her; they're weaker, they need more attention and reassurance. You don't want someone needy, do you? Because you and I both know you aren't too in touch with your emotions," she explains matter-of-factly. Her answer kind of astounds me, until I realize that this woman has barely seen me since I met Amelia. I feel like a completely different person to who I used to be. Sure, I'm still quite rude and harsh with people and I don't enjoy talking about my emotions very much, but other than that, I'm pretty fucking different than the guy I used to be.
Amelia completely flipped my world upside down, and I fucking loved every second of it. And I think I would do pretty much anything to have it all back. But at the end of the day, maybe that's not what she wants. Maybe it's completely done, and there is no hope of getting her back. I'm sure I'll be able to look back later about how she's made me a better man, but right now I'm fucking mad. Mad that it's over, angry that she won't even pick up the fucking phone, and frustrated because what the fuck am I supposed to do now?