You Loved Me Once

“So, what is it that we’re doing here, Eva?” Alba posed as she followed her friend through a small restaurant. It had been a few days, after taking a couple of days to adjust to being home, Alba had insisted that Eva allow her to help with wedding plans, and Eva had been more than happy to accept, wanting to get a second opinion. She trusted Oscar’s tastes, they were quite similar to her own, but she was itching for a second opinion, something she knew that Alba would give her, even if she didn’t agree, Eva knew that her friend would have no qualms about telling her.

“This is the place that we chose to do the catering” Eva mused “They’ve already compiled a menu based on mine and Oscar’s suggestions, but I wanted you to take a look over it and maybe taste a few things. We both know that you know your food” she mused.

Alba scoffed. “What do you think I do for a living?” she posed.

“You’re a food critic, Alba, as far as I can tell, that’s a job which consists of eating and then telling people how awful it was” Eva retorted with a smirk.

Alba rolled her eyes before she followed Eva into the kitchen, her blue eyes narrowing slightly at the sight of Oscar and Lionel who were talking with the chef. It still didn’t sit well with her, the notion of spending any period of time around the man who’d left her, but she knew it was merely something she needed to handle. She had been clear with him, as long as they stayed out of each other’s way, there would be no issue, but still she felt a little awkward. Seeing Lionel was one thing, being forced to interact with him was another. “You really don’t like telling me he’s going to be around, do you?” Alba mumbled, nudging Eva’s ribs.

Eva sighed and opened her mouth to retort, but was cut off as Oscar padded towards them, Lionel trailing behind him. “You two finally made it” Oscar noted.

“We did” Eva agreed “Are we ready to get this tasting started?” she posed.

Oscar nodded his head. “We are. The head chef wants a word with us, but Alba, you and Leo should start. We should only be gone a couple of minutes” he enthused.

Alba offered him a slightly dubious look before she nodded her head. She knew that Oscar was doing it on purpose, since she had arrived he had tried more than once to leave her and Lionel alone together, but she knew better than to fight him on it. She knew the more she protested, the more risk there was of someone accusing her of still having feelings for the man who stood ahead of her, something she didn’t want to have to refute. “What are tasting?” she posed.

“There are two starters and two mains. We’re just going to have the cake as dessert” Oscar noted “There’s also a selection of vol-au-vents” he added before he seized Eva’s hand, tugging her out of the kitchen.

“How do you want to start?” Lionel peeped, his expression nervous.

Alba merely offered him a little shrug, something which caused him to sigh.

“You can say words, you know” he noted.

“I know” Alba retorted simply as she moved to pull the cover off of one of the trays of food they’d been left with.

Lionel shook his head. He knew he shouldn’t have been surprised, if there was one thing that he knew about Alba it was that she was an expert when it came to the silent treatment, but still it played on his last nerve. He wanted to talk to her, to explain himself better than he had the night he’d departed, but just one look at Alba told him that she was going to afford him the chance. She had her mind made up and he wasn’t going to change it.

Resting back against the counter, he watched her for a moment, his eyes studying her interestedly.

“You should eat something” Alba mumbled after a second of quiet “They’re looking for your opinion too” she added.

“Are they?” Lionel posed “I thought that the opinion of one of Barcelona’s leading food writers would be enough” he added, a shy smile on his face.

Alba tilted her head. “You know about that?” she posed.

Lionel nodded. “I know that that was what you were trying to get into when we were…you know and so I kept up with it. A few months after…you know, my teammate bounded up to me with your first article and ever since, I’ve read every one” he enthused softly. It was one of the few things he knew about her, that she had made it not too long after they’d finished, but he had made a note to keep up with her work. Regardless of their messy relationship, Alba was still the little girl he’d grown up with and he was still proud to see her doing as well as she was.

Alba mulled his words over for a moment before she shook her head, turning her attention back to the food ahead of her.

“Alba” Lionel sighed.

“You should really just eat this stuff” Alba mumbled “They’re going to ask and if I were you, I’d have an answer” she added.

“Do you really not think that talking would do us some good?” Lionel complained softly.

Alba scoffed. “I have no interest in easing your conscience, Messi” she murmured “I have no desire to listen to you plead your innocence and tell me how you’d never meant to hurt me. You knew what you were doing, you knew that by leaving, you’d hurt me, and I am not going to let you just get away with it through some teary eyed heart to heart. You hurt me, Lionel, you told me everything you needed to say when you left. You didn’t love me, not like I loved you, you didn’t care for all the time we’d spent together, and I really don’t think that there is anything to add to that. You had your chance to speak and now I have no interest it. You’re the biggest mistake of my life and I don’t want to dwell on it” she spat.

Lionel blinked.

“I really don’t know how you could expect it to be different” Alba murmured.

“I thought you’d let me explain” Lionel noted.

“You didn’t love me enough” Alba shrugged, her voice calm and even.

“That’s not true” Lionel countered.

“So you just left for no reason?” Alba scoffed “Lionel, you made your choice and this is mine. I merely want to get through the next month relatively unscathed” she insisted softly.

Lionel shook his head. “I know you don’t believe me, Alba, but I am sorry” he insisted gently.

Alba scoffed. “Too little, too late, Lionel” she muttered before she stepped past him, mumbling an excuse about not feeling too well to Eva and Oscar as she past them in the doorway.

Lionel watched after her briefly before he peeked at Eva and Oscar, not missing the slightly sympathetic looks they wore.

“No luck?” Oscar posed.

Lionel shook his head. “She’s not going to talk to me” he noted.

“Do you not think you deserve it?” Eva posed, stepping away from her boyfriend’s side “Leo, for as long as I have known that woman, she’s adored you, and you tossed years of friendship and dating back in her face for what? A new relationship which lasted a few months?” she posed.

Lionel sighed.

“She cares, Leo” Eva murmured “If she didn’t, she wouldn’t still be as upset as she is” she noted as she patted his shoulder.

Lionel noted her words with a small nod, knowing that she had a point.