The Best Friend's Contract novel Chapter 25

Kenna

''I have a question,'' Aidan says, causing me to turn and look at him as we sit on opposite sides from one another on the ferris wheel; watching the crowd below, seeing how humans are rather tiny but we have big dreams while some might even have a big ass sass. ''Why did you break up with Noah?'' He asks.

''You're direct,'' I chuckle as he joins me.

''I mean . . . I know that you broke up with him but you never told me why, I want to know. I'm only seeing this as how I see him; in my own point of view but he seems like a really nice guy, Kenna. He was in love with you. So, why?'' His question seems more off than I expected, not that I didn't expect him to never ask questions like this but the reason why I broke up with Noah was never discussed.

Aidan's right, Noah was or still is a nice guy. He has always been there for me, no matter what or when. He understood me most and he took care of me when I needed him. There was no such thing as giving space when it comes to Noah because when we fight, it'll only last for a few minutes . . . he'd come straight to apologise, even though, sometimes . . . I was the cause of our fights and arguments.

''I'm like the bad guy here, aren't I?'' I smile, playing with my fingers as he continues to look at me; only waiting for my answer.

''I didn't mean it like that,'' He replies. ''I just want to know why,''

''Okay . . . let me just tell you the whole story, then. You know how we met, right? We clicked right away and things just went with the flow; he couldn't keep himself away from me and I had fallen for his charms. He was like no other regular guy because he understood me like no one does, no offence . . . all I'm trying to say is that, he was a great boyfriend.'' I say, earning myself a smile from Aidan. ''I was the cause of our breakup. I didn't want to hurt him,''

He furrow his brows, ''What do you mean?''

I hesitate for a moment before continuing, ''I was always busy. Wait, no . . . I am always busy. Things were going on fine for the first few months but as soon as I got myself occupied with work, I started to spend less time with him. I'd even forget about our dates . . . every time he planned them,'' I reply.

Truth be told, I hate it when I'm being reminded of what happened to my past relationship. People would say that we were perfect and that we'd get married one day, have beautiful children but things didn't work out as they said. There was nothing wrong with Noah; he was too perfect. There was just everything wrong with me.

''I even forgot about our first anniversary. So, when I got home . . . he was sitting at the dining table, all by himself; the candle had gone off and he was just staring at the empty plates, the empty spot in front of him where I would've been sitting. We didn't talk for days, he shut me out for constantly being busy but it didn't bother me much,'' I frown. ''Is it bad to say that I feel sorry for making him wait but as soon as I got to work, everything slipped off my mind?'' I add.

''Then, when he came to apologise . . . '' I look up at Aidan's face, seeing him surprised at my story. Just like that, ''Why? Why do you look surprised?'' I ask.

''It's just that, you forgot about your first anniversary with him but he came to you to apologise? You even busied yourself with work in order for you to forget about the whole thing instead of solving things out,'' He continues to speak.

''What was I supposed to do? I forgot that it was even our anniversary; I don't have time to remember a lot of things at once. You know how busy I am, Aidan . . . I can't simply push my work away to just pay attention to my own relationship.'' My voice raising with every word I speak, not realising how hard I'm trying to defend myself; even though, deep down, I know it all began with me.

I should've apologised and I should've fixed things between us but I didn't. He fixed things between us because he didn't want to lose me; his effort was worth more than mine. Noah was everything a woman could ask for, he was patient. More importantly, he was in love.

''Well . . . it was your fault,'' He mutters but loud enough for me to hear. ''You should've put more effort to fix things than letting him give in just because he loves you. You were taking advantage,'' The words he said sting but there's no doubt that it's the truth. It was my fault and I shouldn't have felt nothing when I was going through my days but I felt fine.

''I know,'' I breathe out; laway.

We keep quiet for a couple of minutes before he starts to speak again, ''What if you were given another chance? Not a chance with Noah but a chance with someone new . . . would you try everything to make sure that you won't repeat the same mistakes?'' He asks, leaving me to think of something uncertain.

''I can try.'' I reply, seeing him nod his head with a small smile plastered on his face as he turns to look away, letting the wind blow onto his hair; carelessly. There are two kinds of situations that I find him being undeniably handsome . . . when the wind blows, when the sunlight hits his skin and I can't stop myself.

We step down from the ferris wheel as soon as our ride is over, walking side to side towards the crowd. Couples are walking hand in hand as they smile, enjoying themselves; showing how they're somewhat happy to be here.

Just as Aidan is about to say something, my phone starts to ring which causes me to look down; seeing that it's a call from the hospital. My body tenses immediately, knowing that this might be an important call and there's nothing I can do.

''It's a call from work,'' I say, frowning down at my phone.

''I'll be here,'' He replies as I quickly make my way through the crowd, finding somewhere more quiet to pick the call.

I immediately answer the call to hear an anxious Marley, one of the male intern nurses. ''Hello . . . Dr. Anne?'' He greets; the staffs would sometimes call me by my middle name instead of my surname. ''I'm sorry for calling you on your week off but it's about Albert,'' He adds, which worries me.

''What's wrong with Albert? Is he okay?'' I ask, running my fingers through my hair.

''He's doing fine but his tantrums are getting worse. I'm worried about his health,'' He continues to speak. ''He wants to see you even though I've told him that you won't be here until next week; he won't bother listening to me. The other doctors have tried to calm him down but he said that they don't understand him like you do. He also resisted on eating anything so they had to give him drugs,''

''Marley, I told you. He's an old man, he can't have too many drugs in his system. It's going to give his kidney a long-term side effect,'' I reply, thinking about Albert and how his tantrums are always the worse; except when he's with me. He would be making sassy jokes but what's most . . . he would always tell me stories about his late wife.

''I know, Dr. Anne. I know that you would be upset about this, too but we didn't have a choice. Dr. Vince told me not to tell you but I can't simply lie because Albert is your patient,'' He mutters.

''Thank you for telling me, Marley.'' I reply after a few seconds of silence before letting out a deep sigh, not really knowing what to say or how to respond. It's hard when the other doctors have tried to make sure that he'd be comfortable with someone else than just me but he would always resist.

I try to calm myself down as I inhale and exhale before making my way back towards Aidan, my head is fully occupied with work; something I've forgotten for the past days I've been here but now, has made me worried again.

I look up to find Aidan but instead of finding him standing in the middle of the crowd with his phone in his hand, I find him near the 'shooting games' as he smiles, receiving a big teddy bear as a prize for winning.

As soon as he turns, he starts to make his way towards me before using the teddy bear's hand to wave at me, ''Hi . . . I'm Mr. Bear. Would you like to cuddle?'' He says, giving Mr. Bear a voice of his own while I stand with a smile slowly creeping up on my face; eyeing the big teddy bear which is almost as tall as me.

''Do you just go around and ask strangers to cuddle?'' I ask, crossing my arms; pretending to be having a conversation with the bear.

''No, ma'am. Only you because I've never seen anyone as beautiful as you,'' Mr. Bear or more precisely, Aidan; replies as he hides his face with the teddy bear, not letting me see but as he peeks to the side, my eyes catch the grin on his face.

''Are you flirting with me, Mr. Bear?'' I take a few steps closer towards him.

''Is it working?'' Mr. Bear replies, lifting both of his hands up to snuggle as I laugh, catching him in my arms; feeling the softness of its fur against my skin as I look up at Aidan, seeing him staring back at me.

''Looks like Mr. Bear has an irresistible charm that he managed to steal my wife,'' Aidan laughs, ''Do you like it, Kenna?'' He asks, tilting his head to the side as he crosses his arms; his smile never fading away from his face.

I nod my head multiple times, ''I love it. Thank you, Aidan; you're the bomb dot com.'' I say before winking at him, causing him to chuckle. My smile widens at the sound of his attractive laugh, not denying how they seem to make me smile, too.

--

''Damn you, Aidan!'' I scream as the roller coaster goes down, making me grip harder onto his hand, not denying that his hand will be pale due to not having blood properly flowing. ''This is all your fault. You forced me into this!'' I add.

He, on the other hand, continues to laugh beside me without having fear of heights or scary rides. His hand keeps on gripping onto mine; without showing any signs of letting go or discomfort. It eases me, just knowing that he's here, by my side, incase anything happens . . . we'll still be here together.

I close my eyes as the ride goes down in a very fast pace, knowing that my fear of heights won't simply disappear even if I try to overcome it. There are a lot of things that I tend to get freaked out by, spiders or more precisely, bugs, clowns and even being in small spaces.

Claustrophobic? No, I wouldn't really call myself that but being in a small or confined space gives me anxiety and even discomfort. My heart would be uncontrollably fast and my body would start to shake, probably because of how bad I want to be in a more larger space; not that it has bother me much, I can be in an elevator or in the fitting room but I can't for long.

Fifteen minutes, tops. If I stay for longer than that, I'd end up fainting.

As for clowns, I'm sure eight out of ten people has this fear. Clowns are easily known as creepy, weird and even scary. They appear at birthday parties, trying to bring that happy and cheerful vibe but whenever I see one, I end up wanting to just bang my own head against the wall; hating the fact that I'm in the same room as a clown.

''Kenna . . . we're here,'' I hear a familiar voice say beside me which causes me to open my eyes, blinking a few times before looking around; seeing that people are still queuing to get on this ride.