After my cart is half-filled, I walk to the cashier and Felix is standing there like he's been waiting for me. "Now, now, don't look that annoyed, I'm not waiting for you, this cashier happens to be my friend," he says.
Felix tosses another candy bar into my cart like it's a basketball hoop, laughing when it bounces off the edge and falls to the floor. I'm bending down to grab it when I hear a voice—sharp, too familiar, slicing right through the noise of the supermarket.
"I thought that was you."
I freeze, hand halfway to the candy bar. He's ... here? In this town?
Slowly, I straighten up. Standing a few feet away, casual like he owns the damn place, is him. My only ex. Elliot Hawke. The one I swore I'd never see again if the universe had any mercy left. He is the only one who knows about my past that I want to forget and bury.
He looks almost exactly the same as he did the last night we spoke—maybe a little rougher around the edges, maybe a little more bitter around the mouth. He probably still has his hatred towards me just like I still have my guilts and the same hatred.
His eyes rake over me, flicking briefly to Felix, then back to me, full of something smug and knowing. "You've been busy," he says, with a crooked half-smile that once fooled me into thinking he cared.
Felix gets beside me, sensing the sudden shift in the air. His body language changes subtly—less playful, more alert. "Friend of yours?" he asks me lightly while he continues putting my groceries to the cashier, but his eyes never leave my ex.
I swallow hard. "Not really." I'm not fully lying. My ex really isn't my friend anymore.
Elliot chuckles, and it's the kind of laugh that scrapes against my skin. It triggers me one—if not many—thing. "Come on, Babe. Don't be like that. You didn't even answer my text. Thought maybe you got a new phone—or a new ... something else."
His eyes flick again toward Felix, deliberately provoking. Felix doesn't rise to it, just raises an eyebrow and places a lazy arm over my shoulders—protective without being pushy. It's casual, but it speaks volumes. I don't know how to react so I just let him do it. It gives me the feeling of safety.
"I guess she upgraded," Felix says, his voice dangerously smooth.
I feel my heart hammering in my chest, but somehow, I manage to roll my eyes. "Elliot, I'm not interested in catching up," I say, the voice is surprisingly steady. "So if you're done here ...."
My ex's smile falters for a second. Just a second. But I see it—the frustration underneath. He shoves his hands in his pockets, muttering something under his breath, and strolls away like it doesn't bother him. Like he didn't lose. Like this isn't necessary important to him.
The tension lingers even after he's gone. Felix turns to me, studying my face carefully. "You good, Stray Cat?" he asks, softer now.
I nod, letting out a breath I didn't realize I was holding. I feel relieved, for now. But somewhere behind Felix, just past the glass doors of the supermarket, I catch another glimpse.
Theo. He's standing there, hands in his jacket pockets, watching everything from a solid distance. His face is unreadable, but somehow ... I know he saw it all.
And just like that, I feel the floor shift underneath me. Something has changed. This encounter will happen again anytime soon, I can feel it already.
***
The plastic grocery bags dig into my fingers as I walk, their weight swinging awkwardly at my sides. The sun dipping low, casting everything in long, heavy shadows. My apartment isn't that far, but long enough to make me overthink one or two things. Each step feels strangely slow, like I'm dragging the whole mess of today behind me.
I can't stop replaying the supermarket scene in my head.
First, Felix—the dangerous flirt who acts like the world owes him attention. Part of me wants to laugh at how easily he makes a joke out of anything, like it's all a game he's winning by just showing up. But today, standing there between me and Elliot like it was the most natural thing in the world ....
For a second, he wasn't joking.
For a second, it actually felt like he had my back.
For a second, I almost fell for him.
I tighten my grip on the plastic bags.
Then, there's Theo, the enigma himself. I didn't even speak to him. Didn't even come near him.
But somehow, his silent stare lingers heavier than Felix's constant chatter. There's something about him—the way he watched without intruding, the way he seemed to see everything and still didn't judge. It was unsettling. But not in a bad way.
In a way that made me wonder what it would feel like to be understood without having to explain myself for once. Ah, is it too much to ask?
And finally ... Elliot.
I grit my teeth, my steps quickening instinctively. Remembering his name alone already triggers me. Elliot, with that smirk—that once looked like a subtle smile—came back without a single sorry. Like everything he did—every sharp word, every broken promise—was just a forgotten story that I should laugh about now.
He hasn't changed. If anything, he's gotten worse. Or maybe this is just me and my heart that lost the trust in him completely.
The truth is, no matter how strong I pretend to be, seeing Elliot cracks something small and bitter inside me. It reminds me that no matter how far I think I've run, the past can still catch up with one stupid, careless glance.
I blow out a shaky breath and shift the bags into one hand, rubbing the stiffness out of my wrist. The spring breeze the comfortable wind to my face. What a nice weather to walk home alone.
Felix. Theo. Elliot. Three names I didn't even want tangled up in my life. Three names that, somehow, are already orbiting closer and closer to me.
I am continuing my walking, not knowing whether I should brace myself for the chaos ...
or admit that a part of me—deep down, in the parts I don't talk about—is kind of curious to see where it all goes.