Chapter 23

The Eye-opener

Arriving twenty minutes early, feeling nervous, Lena was waiting for her friends to arrive in the coffee shop. She ordered a hot latte and waited for her friends on the seats near the windows. She desperately needed an unbiased opinion of her situation with Kris. Lena knew it would be hard to explain her situation but she didn’t know what else to do, she was scared that she would make the wrong decision, too afraid that she would let Kris and his parents down.

“Lena!” Min called out as soon as the three walked in the door. Lena waved and told them to order their drinks and showed that she had already ordered hers. The three came over towards Lena after getting their drinks and greeted each other.

“I missed you!” Min immediately said as she hugged Lena and Lena could only nodded, agreeing that she misses them a lot too.

“How did work go yesterday?” Trish asks towards Lena, reminding that she had told them that her students were finally having their mid terms.

“I have to do several analysis but everything is going fine” Lena answers, “How did your meetings went?” She now asks her friends.

“Same old- same old, Meetings make me hate desk work” Tina now answers, the four laughed and Min agreed with an aggressive nod.

“I need a vacation! We need to have our vacation trip soon. I’m about to go crazy at work.” Min exclaimed and everyone nodded.

“We are all in need of a vacation, should we start planning them soon?” Tina asks, taking out her phone, clearly very excited to think about going on a vacation.

“Are you okay, Len?” Trish asks when she notices Lena being a different kind of quiet, she usually reacts whenever anyone mentions about vacation.

Lena looked up to everyone, not knowing what to say and how to start. She could only look towards three of her friends.

“Is there something on your mind?” Tina now asks. The three now focusing more on Lena, and she has now started to feel a lot of tension in her body.

“Did anything happen?” Min asks, “Hey, you know you can tell us anything, okay?” Lena nods towards that statement.

“I just don’t know where to start” Lena almost sighs as she lets out those words. Lena started to tap her fingers on the table, trying to find the right words to use, “I met Yi Fan’s parents yesterday.”

Tina, Trish and Min all stopped what they were doing and was stunned, “You’re seeing him?” Min asks towards Lena without thinking.

“Not exactly, please, it wasn’t my intention to hide all this from you,” Lena explains and took a deep breath, “I’ve been spending time with Yi Fan and there wasn’t anything serious going on”

“You could have at least told us you were hanging out with Kris a lot, Len!” Min exclaimed but was immediately shushed by Tina. “What? This is good news but Lena could have told us sooner!” Min continued and Tina almost felt the need to hit Min at the back of her head; face palming is almost the right thing to do at the moment.

 “Len, what’s bothering you?” Trish now asks, “What happened with his parents?” Trish realized that she was asking a lot of questions and stopped herself from asking another.

“I went dinner once with Yi Fan and we met his parents, a lot of misunderstanding happened and they thought I was his, um, his…” Lena couldn’t finish her sentence, now playing with her fingers.

“His girlfriend?” Tina continued for Lena and all she could do was nod her head. The three immediately felt the need to change their seating pose, trying to find a much more comfortable posture.

“How do you feel about that?” Trish asks Lena and Lena could feel the stares the three has given her. Lena could only shake her head, not really knowing what she felt about the misunderstanding.

“Well, you two could just tell his parents the truth.” Tina then tried to think of a solution, “Or did something else happen?”

Lena didn’t know what else to say, she decided that it would have been better if she just jumped and immediately dive in the question she’s been asking herself lately, “What do you think if I decided to marry Yi Fan?”

Min almost burst the drink she was sipping out, Trish stopped everything she was doing, and Tina could only blink her eyes as soon as she heard the words that came out of Lena’s mouth.

“Len, that’s a huge step, from just spending time to getting married. What’s with the sudden leap?” Tina asks trying to understand Lena’s question, “Did anyone push you to do this?” Tina asks again, feeling concerned.

“Len, what did he do? Did anything happen between you two? Did Kris do anything to you?” Min was almost raising her voice, obviously very worried about Lena.

“Girls, take it easy, let’s listen to Lena” Trish now tried to calm everyone.

“I’m really sorry. I’m sorry; I know I should have talked to everyone about it. I really wanted to but I was, I don’t know, I’m just really scared. I’ve been trying to avoid him but honestly, I can’t. I find myself thinking about him, I find myself accepting him, and I find myself listening to him. I find myself needing his attention; I’m scared, I really am, I don’t know how to explain everything that has been happening to us two. There’s too many thing happening at the same time, I feel like I can’t keep up but he’s always there whenever I feel like I can’t do anything” Lena’s eyes were getting teary, she wasn’t planning on telling how she’s been feeling but it has been hard for her.

“Hey, it’s okay, Len, take a deep breath” Trish calmly said, Min immediately sat next to Lena.

“Len, we’re not judging, you’re not doing anything wrong” Min tried to soothe Lena who was getting more tense.

“I just don’t understand what I’m feeling, I’m just really confuse” Lena said hesitantly, shifting herself in her seat.

“Len, it’s not wrong to feel something for Kris, you can like him, and you should never feel bad about it” Trish composedly tries to make Lena feel better.

“I don’t know if it’s the right thing to do, having feelings for Yi Fan” Lena continued, “I’m afraid that I’m making rash decisions, I’m afraid of being too selfish at this time”

“Len, it’s best if you follow your heart, your instincts. Don’t be afraid to be selfish if you’re sure that you are going to be happy with your decision. You know, whatever you decide, we’ll be here for you” Trish continued.

“Yes Len, we’ll be here, we’ll be behind your back” Tina agreed.

“Always” Min now said and the three immediately stood up to give Lena a warm hug. She needed that; she needed the assurance.