Seeing me, he grinned and teased, “Looks like someone’s back to being Graciela, the shopaholic.”
“Of course,” I shot back, smirking. “I got my AmEx back.”
Tobias lightly hit me on the head.
I turned to my mom, feigning indignation. “Mom, did you see what he just did?”
She just shook her head with a small smile. She was used to the bickering between Tobias and me, our playful rivalry as constant as ever.
After finishing getting ready, I decided I should say something to Lewis.
Since this banquet would mark the final night I considered him my boyfriend. After that night, we would be strangers.
I called him, but every time I dialed, he rejected the call.
After a while, a message appeared on my screen.
[Lewis: If you haven’t realized your mistake and aren’t genuinely ready to apologize to Katrina, then I don’t think there’s any reason for us to speak.]
I smiled bitterly. If that was how he saw me, I did not care anymore.
For a moment, I considered blocking his number, but I decided it was not worth the effort. Instead, I slipped my phone into my purse and left for the banquet.
The room buzzed with laughter, chatter, and clinking glasses.
Familiar faces filled the space, family friends, business associates, and their children.
Some of the younger guests were strangers to me, clearly there to be paraded as potential matches.
It was not just a banquet. It was a matchmaking spectacle.
Bored and suffocated, I stepped out onto the balcony, seeking refuge in the cool night air.
To distract myself, I opened my phone and scrolled through Instagram. But Lewis’s friend’s story caught my attention.
Against my better judgment, I watched it.
There they were, Lewis and Katrina. Still together.
Curiosity gnawed at me until I opened Katrina’s profile. My stomach churned as I saw her stories. It was all Lewis.
From the Lewis who was picking her up at the airport, then to Lewis who was at the welcoming party with her.
There was also Lewis who was accompanying her in the hospital. Then, the Lewis who was helping her after her supposed fall.
The final blow was a photo of them doing a love shot, followed by another of them kissing passionately.
I slammed my phone shut, my blood boiling.
At that moment, a waiter passed by with a tray of wine. Without thinking, I grabbed a glass and downed it in one go.