Chapter 206 - BestFriends

"Tiana, we've been waiting for you. Everyone, Tiana is here!" Claire exclaimed as she led her in to greet the rest of the crew.

Tiana forced a smile to her face as she greeted everyone. It was just Leo, Claire, Larissa, the director, and three staff members. After talking for a while, they all walked out to the jet.

She felt her heart fall into her stomach when she glanced at the spot Nicklaus was standing a few minutes ago and he was gone.

Tiana twirled the ring on her finger, her mind lost in thought. They just got up in the air but she already felt as though she had stayed a whole day away from him. Everything around her felt stuffy and Tiana wondered if she could even go the whole week without him.

Claire's laughter made her look up from her hand, she was talking to the director and they were both laughing; Tiana's brows creased when she turned to Leo and saw that he was sitting alone. She supported her head with her elbow as she watched him; once in a while, he would stare at Claire then after a moment, he would look away. Tiana's brows creased when she saw an emotion in his eyes, were they fighting? She wondered. After a moment, she stood up from her seat and walked to where Leo was sitting down beside him.

Leo turned to her with a smile; ''Tiana? Came to keep me company? '' Tiana laughed and nodded;

''Mm; feeling bored, since you were alone, thought maybe we should chat''

Leo chuckled as he watched her stretch her limbs before putting on her seatbelt.

They were quiet for a second before Tiana spoke; ''are the two of you fighting? ''

Leo turned to her with creased brows; ''why should we be fighting? ''

He asked, looking surprised that she had noticed; was it that obvious?

''Well, '' Tiana said, turning to look at Claire who was smiling now; ''the Claire I know would have been sitting here, and laughing with you and not the director. Since I arrived, she has barely spoken with you, so I noticed, but don't worry, it is okay if you don't want to talk about it. ''

Leo was quiet for a moment, ''we're not fighting; she's just, she's just avoiding me. ''

''why? '' Tiana asked, her eyes staring at him keenly.

Leo swallowed unable to think of a reply; ''because you like her? ''

Leo's eyes widened and he turned quickly to look at Tiana; with the question 'how did you know' inscribed on his face.

Tiana laughed; ''Ha-ha, it's obvious that you like her; I think everyone sees it, but since you guys are best friends, they don't see a need to talk about it. ''

Leo brushed his hand through his hair;

''Did you tell her? '' Tiana asked and he shook his head;

''No, not yet; I think she's avoiding me because I've been a little more caring recently and she's suspecting that I would tell her, she's avoiding me so she doesn't give me the chance to.''

His gaze darkened as he took a peek at Claire;

Tiana thought for a moment; ''if she's avoiding you, then she's afraid of what you would say. She doesn't want to be put to a corner, where she would be forced to choose. In other words, she doesn't want to destroy the friendship you both have if she doesn't give the reply you want to hear. ''

Leo felt a hitch in his throat and he looked out the window briefly;

''how long have you loved her? ''

Tiana asked and a light chuckle escaped his lips; ''from the first day I set my eyes on her, seven years ago.''

Tiana's eyes widened in shock and she turned to look at Claire;

How in the hell did he love her for so long and she couldn't see it?

''When we became close, I wanted to tell her on several occasions, but I couldn't bring myself to, and one day, she invited me over for dinner, and I planned I would tell her that day, but when I came to her home, she was with another man, and she introduced me to him as her best friend.'' He paused, chuckling lightly;

''From that day onwards, I bottled up my feelings for her and became the best friend she wanted. I thought after all these years, she would love me but it seems it was all in my head; after so long, she still doesn't feel the same way. ''

Leo laughed painfully.

''you can't conclude until she says so. Maybe she actually has feelings for you, but she doesn't know about it yet. You need to ask her, tell her how you feel about her. You can't continue like this forever. And you surely can't give up without a fight. Because if you don't tell her, in a few years, after you both have moved on, you'll always have that doubt in your heart that things might have gone differently.''

Leo nodded; ''and what if she doesn't want me? ''

Tiana paused for a moment; ''you're a full package Leo, any woman that doesn't want you is missing out on a lot. ''

Leo burst into laughter;

''if she doesn't want you, then it is fine. It's not your fault, and it's not her fault either. You'll have to accept the hard truth that you both are meant for someone else. And maybe you were truly made to be just friends. You work on moving on, and if she truly loves you as a friend, she would give you the space you need to heal. ''

''Tiana, didn't know you were a good therapist, wow! I feel good now I have heard this, thank you.''

Tiana laughed, ''you are welcome. ''

'' don't tell her about this, okay? '' Tiana nodded; '' don't worry, I've forgotten about it already. ''

She smiled at him and her eyes turned to look at Claire. Claire cannot be happier with any other person. She wished she would accept Leo. Their bonding, their connection was more than what friends would feel, he was someone who would have her back, any time and any day and she wished she would see that.

…

Diana's hands fondled with her hair as she sat in her parlor, eating cheesecake and staring at a book, pretending to be reading it. It was a Saturday morning, so she didn't have to go to work. She had finished her morning jog and taken a shower and there was nothing to do. As she sat in the parlor, her mind replayed last night's events over and over again.

After the party, Michael had taken her back home.

''Thank you for the night; I don't know what I would have done without you. '' she smiled thankfully;

Michael put his hands into his pocket and smiled; '' don't mention. ''

Diana looked down to her feet and then coughed lightly; her mind could not get over the kiss she had promised him, but she could not bring it up first.

''Okay, I'll be going in now, call me when you get home.'' She smiled and turned around to leave but she felt Michael hold her hand and pull her back to face him; her eyes widened with surprise;

''you are forgetting something… '' he whispered, his eyes staring burningly at her; Diana could not forget the wetness she felt in-between her legs as he stared at her; she quickly looked away,

She felt his hand bring her face to look at him, and his gaze trail down to her lips, she swallowed;

''you promised me a kiss, love, did you forget so soon?''

His fingers pushed some strands of her hair which had left the bunch to the back of her ear; Diana gulped;

''Oh… '' Her eyes fluttered, as her cheeks burned; ''can I do another favor? ''

She asked, her voice shaky, although she would love to kiss those beautiful lips of his, she didn't want to be too forward.

''No; '' Michael breathed, taking a step forward, closing the gap between them;

Her eyes lifted to his involuntarily and she drunk in his mesmerizing gaze; god, if he kept staring at her like that, she was really going to pull him in and devour those lips of his.

Her eyes widened when she felt him begin to lean closer to her, his eyes falling to her lips; she thinned her lips tightly as her eyes shut close. She could feel his breath fanning her face now and she knew she was finally going to get a real kiss for the first time in her life. Her heart slammed against her chest as she waited for his lips to meet hers.

His lips were just an inch away from hers when she suddenly felt him stop moving, and instead of kissing her, he leaned to her ear and whispered; ''goodnight. ''

A small pant left her lips as her eyes fluttered open, she raised her eyes to look at him but she could only catch a glimpse of his face because he turned around immediately and entered the car, zooming off immediately.

Diana shook her head, bringing herself back from her thoughts.

That moment, she couldn't even place if she was happy or sad for not getting kissed. She was happy that he didn't kiss her because if he had, their relationship would have become awkward, they weren't even that close yet, if he had kissed her, she might not be able to chat with him freely anymore. She was really thankful for that, and she was sad on the other hand because she really wanted to feel his lips against hers. To know what it felt like to be kissed, not from a movie script but for real, too bad she didn't get to experience it.