You and I

“Noah, are you okay? You look a bit shaken.” Eli’s voice came through, filled with worry as he reached for my hand across the table.

I swallowed, forcing a small smile. “Ye—yeah, I’m okay. Just zoned off a bit, that’s all.” Then I turned to Julian, brows furrowing. “Julian, what are you doing here?”

He didn’t flinch. If anything, he slowly pulled out the empty seat and lowered himself onto it. “Oh! I’m here with some colleagues. We’re celebrating after winning a very important case. So when I saw you, I decided to come say hi. But apparently it seems you’re on a date. I hope I’m not interrupting anything.” He concluded, grinning as he tilted his head to look at me.

I chuckled lightly while holding his gaze. “No. You’re not interrupting anything. On the contrary, I’m glad you’re here. Eli, meet Julian, my best friend. Julian, Eli. My date.”

Eli stretched out his hand to Julian carefully. “It’s nice to meet you, Julian. Actually, it’s great to meet a friend of Noah’s. I’m honored.”

Julian hesitated for a while, almost like he was contemplating if he should take his hand or not. Eventually he did. “It’s nice to meet you, Eli. Although I can’t say the same for you, because Noah hasn’t said anything about you yet.”

Eli chuckled before withdrawing his hand. “That’s fine. We’re still taking it one step at a time. Perhaps the next time we meet, it won’t be as strangers anymore. Hopefully then you’ll get to know a lot about me.” He concluded, then shot me a grin.

“Did you know that Noah can’t fall asleep without having a specific amount of pillows on his bed? Seven precisely.” Julian blurted as his eyes flickered to Eli.

It caught me off guard, making me choke while I started coughing. Immediately he reached for the glass of water, and Eli did at the same time. They stared at each other like they were competitors at war. I quickly collected the glass from Eli, taking a generous amount while I avoided Julian’s glaring eyes.

“Are you okay? What happened?” Eli asked, looking at me with worry filled eyes.

“I don’t know. I guess the food just went down the wrong hole,” I said slowly after dropping the glass.

“Is that true though?” Eli asked, chuckling after holding my gaze for a while. “Specifically seven pillows before you can fall asleep? May I ask why?”

I pressed my lips into a thin line as I scratched the back of my neck nervously. “It’s just an old habit. When I was younger, I got scared whenever it rained really hard, mostly because of the thunder and lightning. So I would build pillow forts to protect myself.” I chuckled as I added that part. “So it sort of just became a habit, I guess. Unfortunately one that I still do till this very day.”

Eli nodded slowly before he eventually smiled. “I think it’s cute though. Pillow forts. I wish I was creative enough to come up with that when I was younger.”

He added then his eyes flickered to Julian. “It seems Julian really knows a lot about you.”

I shrugged casually, leaning back now as I turned to face Julian. “Yeah. He sure does. Especially because we’ve been inseparable since high school.”

“Oh yeah? I think I might be jealous at how close you two are. I wish I had a best friend who knew me this well.”

He added, holding my gaze.

I laughed like he said something funny. “Well, you have me now. And I’m going to ensure I learn a lot about you, moving forward. That should be able to suffice, right?”

I watched as Julian’s face twisted into something unreadable, like I had said something unimaginable.

Eli nodded, then leaned forward, tucking a loose strand behind my hair. “That’s so sweet. Thank you.”

I giggled before eventually turning to Julian. “Shouldn’t you get going now? You already said hi like you wanted to.”

His face stiffened for half a second before he clicked his tongue and stood up. “Yeah, I should. My colleagues are probably looking for me already. I’ll see you at home.”

Then he turned to Eli. “It was nice meeting you again. See you around.”

When he was out of eye sight, I spoke again. “I’m sorry about that. I didn’t think he was actually going to grab a seat. I hope he didn’t make you uncomfortable?”

“No. Not at all. I mean, it’s not like you planned on bumping into him here, so it’s not your fault.” Then he paused, leaning in closer. “Although I’m curious about something. Are you sure he’s just a friend?”

I stared at him for a while, almost like I wanted to be sure I heard him. “Of course he is. We’ve been friends for years, and he even got engaged two days ago. Why do you ask?”

Eli shook his head. “It’s probably nothing, but I noticed the way he acted when he saw me. It was like I was trying to take away something that was his, and he didn’t like it. It almost felt possessive. I don’t know…it might not be true, but that’s just how it seemed to me.”

“Yeah, I get it. Julian can be a bit protective of me. He’s always been this way, especially when I’m around people he doesn’t know. It’s his own way of looking out for me. But I’ll talk to him about it. Especially since you brought it up.”

“Oh no, no. That’s not important.” He countered, waving his hand in front of me. “You’ve already explained why he acted that way, so it’s fine. Meanwhile, it’s just a speculation, and I could be wrong.”

“Are you sure?” I asked one more time.

“Yes, Noah, I’m sure. Don’t worry about it.”

He answered again, reassuringly this time, before taking a sip from the glass. We continued eating, and as soon as we were done, he paid and we headed out together. He insisted on dropping me home, and I didn’t object, mostly because I actually enjoyed his company, and I regretted putting this off all this while. Within the hour, the car came to a stop in front of my building.

“I had such a great time today. Thank you,” I mentioned as my hand unbuckled the seatbelt.

“No, thank you. For finally agreeing to do this with me. Hopefully we do this some more.”

Before I could respond, he leaned in and planted a gentle kiss on my cheeks. “Goodnight, love.”

Heat crept up my cheeks as I blushed hard. “Goodnight, Eli.” I quickly said, then stepped out.

I waited for his car to drive away before I made my way upstairs. I stepped into my apartment, feeling totally carefree and happy, like a huge weight has been lifted off my shoulders. I don’t know if it was from the fact that I was already moving on from Julian, or from the fact that I actually had a good time with Eli. I headed to my room, showered, then came back to the living room with my laptop to finish some pending work I had.

About an hour later, I heard a sound outside my door, like someone was trying to open it but couldn’t. Curiously I walked to the door, and when I opened it, it was Julian.

“Dude, it’s late already. Why ain’t you home?” I asked, then walked back in, leaving the door open.

“I needed to be sure you got home safe. I wasn’t about to put your safety in the hands of a total stranger.” He answered firmly, trailing behind me slowly.

“Uh huh.” I hummed as I picked up the laptop and went back to work.

“I don’t like him, Noah. He doesn’t seem genuine. I can feel it.”

“You don’t know him, Julian, and you can’t just decide what he is and what he’s not at first glance. It doesn’t work that way.” I shot back gently, keeping my eyes still fixed on the laptop.

“You know my intuitions are never wrong. And I don’t need to have an encounter with someone on multiple occasions before I truly know who they are.” He pushed further, now standing in front of me.

“I don’t really care what you think, Julian.” I countered, shooting up from the chair. “You have no right to interfere in my dating life, especially since you’re engaged.”

He scoffed, running his hand through his hair. “Noah, I have every right to interfere in your life because you mean a lot to me, and I care about you.”

I chuckled in disbelief, crossing my arms. “Oh, cut that crap, Julian. We both know that’s not the reason why you’re doing all these. So if you can’t tell me the truth, then I’m done with this conversation.”

His eyes narrowed, before his jaw tightened. He hesitated for a moment, before he eventually spoke.

“You wanna know the truth? Fine. The truth is… I think you deserve someone better. Someone who values you. Someone. Like. Me.”