That’s what you get when you let your heart win…wooooh…

“Hey.”

I heard his voice over the loud music of my earphones, but I didn’t remove them until the song finished. I pretended not to hear him and continued typing. When it was done, I pulled them off and looked up at my best friend who stood patiently beside my desk.

“Hi Mark,” I said, smiling. I had to smile because he was my best friend, but truly, the mere sight of him and this smile makes me feel a tad uncomfortable, given the situation. “What brings you here?”

I immediately regretted my words the moment I said them. Mark’s smile brightened as he answered, “Just visiting Cams. And you, of course.”

My stomach jumped when I heard his last words. I couldn’t help but smile back at him, but then I remembered his first statement, the one that kind of really mattered. Then my stomach fell.

“Well good thing Kim let you in,” I said, looking back at my computer.

“Cams fetched me earlier,” Mark explained. “Then she had to take a phone call so I decided to drop by your station. And do you know how far hard it is to find your station?” He grumbled. I just laughed.

“It keeps disturbances away,” I said. “Like pesky visitors.” I grinned at him again.

He laughed, and I felt myself something warm spreading inside me, the warm “fuzzies” as we liked to call it. I was suddenly reminded of my college days, back when Mark and I were inseparable.

Those were the days.

“Anyway, so are you busy? Do you want to go to lunch?” he asked, leaning on the wall of my cubicle. He looked at me expectantly.

There was this nagging feeling inside me that made me want to say no, but then I haven’t had lunch with him for a while. I nodded excitedly. “Sure.”

Then my phone rang. Caller ID told me it was Camilla, Mark’s girlfriend and my officemate. I looked back at him and saw that he also saw the call, so I motioned for him to answer the phone. He picked it up immediately.

“Hi Cams. Yeah, we’re almost ready. Rain’s coming with us, okay? All right, see you at the lobby.” He put the phone down, and then looked back at me. “Come on?”

The smile on my face froze, and I suddenly realized what I got myself into. Lunch with my best friend and his girlfriend. A guy I really liked, and the girl I hardly like. Did I just really say yes?

Argh. Paramore’s song suddenly played in my head again:

That’s what you get when you let your heart win.

That’s what I got, all right.

[458 words]

Tags: 54, fall like rain, fiction, first person, paramore