It's over

It was a cloudy evening. Vanessa was sitting in a café in Paris. She had visited the café alone. Her blue, little eyes were going through the menu card.

‘Waiter, I need a Chicken Sandwich and a latte.’, said Vanessa to the waiter.

‘Ok, mam. Your order has been noted down. Please wait for some time till we prepare your delicious food.’, said the waiter.

‘Sure and Thank you.’, said Vanessa.

As she was waiting for the food, she got a phone call. It was her colleague, Andrea’s Phone call.

‘Hey, Andrea. What’s up?’, asked Vanessa in the Polish language.

Even though Vanessa was from Paris, she spoke fluent Polish. As Andrea was from Poland, Vanessa speaks with her in the Polish language.

‘We are organizing a farewell party for Steffi. Will you join us tonight?', said Andrea.

‘I'll let you know. I have to complete my work too.', said Vanessa.

'It would be nice if you attend the party. By the way, where are you?', inquired Andrea.

'I’m in a café right now.’, said Vanessa.

‘With whom?’, asked Andrea.

‘No one. I came here by myself.’, said Vanessa.

‘Vani, will you please stop this? You could have called me before going out. Visiting places all alone is not at all cool. Stupid.’, said Andrea in a funny voice.

Vanessa was giggling and smiling.

Suddenly, she heard a voice calling out her name, ‘Vani’.

Vanessa was startled. She saw her cousin Louis sitting at the opposite table. He was the one who called her Vani. Her smile vanished as soon as she saw Louis. Louis was sitting with Sam, her other cousin, and the other two girls.

Vanessa stared at them for some time and then continued talking to Andrea.

In the meantime, her order was ready. Louis was looking at her but Vanessa didn’t bother to check upon him.

‘Ok, Andrea. My order has arrived. I’ll be leaving the café soon. Bye.’, said Vanessa.

'Think about attending the party, Vanessa.', said Andrea.

She saw someone approaching her. It was Louis.

‘Hey, Vani. What happened? Why are you ignoring me? ', enquired Louis.

‘No, I am not avoiding anybody.’, said Vanessa.

‘Then, what happened? Did I do anything wrong?’, asked Louis.

‘No. I want to spend my time peacefully. Will you please get back to your table? ’, said Vani.

‘Why are you treating me like a third person? I won’t leave till you speak normally with me. I’ll be sitting here with you. ’, said Louis.

‘What do you want? ‘, asked Vani as she was annoyed by Louis’s behavior.

‘A cup of coffee with me and Sam.’, said Louis.

Vanessa was hesitant at first then agreed to have a cup of coffee with them. Vani left the table and sat next to Sam hesitantly. She had her sandwich nervously as Sam and Louis were staring at her.

‘How are you, Vani?’, asked Sam.

‘I am fine', said Vani with a fake smile on her face.

‘By the way, this is Emma, Sam’s wife and this is Lucy, my would-be.’, said Louis.

Vani greeted them with a smile.

‘What’s wrong, Vani? You don’t visit us nowadays. You don’t call or message us. What happened?’, asked Sam.

‘Nothing much. I am just busy with my work.’, said Vani.

‘ No, Vani. You have changed a lot. You didn’t even attend my wedding ceremony.’, said Sam.

‘ She doesn’t even reply to my texts, Sam.’, said Louis.

Vanessa was sitting quietly. She had no words to say.

‘What did we do? Are you angry with us?’, asked Louis and Sm repeatedly.

‘Yes, I am angry with you both. What now ?’, said Vani in an angry tone.

‘But, Why?’, asked Sam.

Vanessa had her latte and started speaking.

‘Actually, it was all my fault to trust you both blindly. I thought you both would help me during my difficult times. But, you both ignored me when I was financially unstable.’, said Vani.

‘No, Vani. We never knew you were financially unstable.’, said Louis.

‘But, your parents knew what my family was going through. By the way, you both discuss everything with your parents, right? How come they didn’t inform you about my family’s condition?’, asked Vani.

‘We’re sorry for whatever happened. Let’s forget it. From today, we’ll be available for you 24/7. If you need any help, you can call us anytime. We both shall try our best to help you out.’, said Louis.

Sam looked confusingly towards Louis.

‘Excuse me, Lucy and I are sitting next to you both. What are you guys doing? We came here to spend a quality of time with each other. You both spoiled it.’, said Emma.

‘That’s ok, Emma. We’ll wait till they convince their so-called cousin sister.’, said Lucy.

Vani was annoyed. Louis could figure it out with her expressions.

‘Will you please stay quiet for some time, Lucy ?’, said Louis.

Lucy took out her ear pods and started listening to music.

Emma was annoyed by their behavior. She took out her phone and started scrolling through her Instagram.

‘We apologize for whatever happened before. Please forgive us, Vani.’, said Louis.

‘What? I am not guilty of whatever I have done. We purposely didn’t help her family, right? Then, why should we apologize to her?’, said Sam.

Vani frowned her face.

‘Will you please shut up, Sam? I am sorry, Vani. I wanted to help you but I was helpless at that time. Please, forgive me, Vani.’, said Louis in a sad voice.

Vani was sitting quietly.

She paid the bill for the sandwich and latte.

‘Why are you paying the bill, Vani? I’ll pay it.’, said Louis.

‘Don’t do me any favors, Louis.’, said Vani.

Louis was continuously apologizing to Vani. At last, Vanessa forgave him but didn't forget his betrayal. Louis thanked her and asked her to share her phone number and address with him so that he can be in touch with her.

‘ No, Thank you, Louis. I don’t share my number and address with everyone. If God wills, we both shall meet in the future as we met each other today. Thank you.’, said Vanessa.

‘And, Sorry for disturbing you both and wasting your time Mrs. EMMA and Ms. LUCY. Happy Married life, Louis. Good Bye.', said Vani looking at Emma and Lucy.

Louis looked at her with love and care while Sam didn’t even bother to look at her. Emma and Lucy frowned at her. Vanessa didn’t bother and left the café.

She dialed Andrea and informed her that she would be attending Steffi's farewell party. Andrea was happy to hear those words from Vanessa.

It was raining heavily. 

Vanessa was happy as she loved rain a lot. She decided to attend the party as she walked happily down the street getting drenched in rain.