7 Days Makes All The Difference

the annual company function. colin always liked attending fucntions, especially those that glorified his name and he would be the VIP there. Since the day he joined his father's company, colin would always take different women to them, every year was like this until the staff of the whole company wouldn't expect him to see the same girl in consecutive years.

"so, who are you bringing to the function?" tyler asked, downing a shot of tequila at lunchtime. he knew alyssa would defintely murder him if she saw it but who would say anything?
"lila," colin said, without much enthusiasm.
"so you and her are an item now huh?" tyler said, sounding casual and as though nothing was wrong. colin nodded. he wasn't proud of it either. somehow lila overpowered him and made him question decisions he made all the time. he had seven days of hell already and he didn't know why he was hanging on. maybe it was because lila kept tugging at his heartstrings so much that he was too tired to get away.

"i thought you always liked your comapny's functions. i've known you for so long and this is the first time i see you so bummed out about a function," tyler commented.
"i don't know... i just feel so whacked and not in the mood for parties, especially one in which is a day before my 28th birthday."
"bummer. you're getting older," teased tyler.
"fuck yeah. you're not too far away either. a month after mine would be your turn to feel the pain of turning another year older."
"and i thought only women were bummed by growing old," tyler chuckled to himself.
"at least you're gonna spend your birthday with your girlfriend of nearly three months. now you're gonna break my all-time relationship records," colin joked, trying to see if laughter could heal his moodiness.

"i think i really found 'the one' that we used to talk about in college... you know.. someone that i can never be bored of," tyler said, his smile suddenly got so bright when alyssa was mentioned.
"i wish i was that lucky," colin replied, "so.. are you gonna.. you know..."
"i know what?"
"marry her?"
"gosh.. i don't know colin. i really haven't through about it so much yet. i love her... i really do but marriage... wow. that's major shit," tyler said, sounding a little taken aback.
"i've thought about it," colin commented, making tyler look more shocked and stunned.
"excuse me? you thought about marriage? with who?"
"shayna."
"and you never told her?"
"no."
"shit."
"let's stop it with the one word thing. it's making me confused," colin said, downing his tequila.

"sorry. but i think you should have told her. that might have changed her midn about going to london."
"i didn't have the courage to, ty. as you said, marriage is some major shit and i didn't think she would be gone so soon from my life," colin explained.
"well, shayna called lyss a few days back and she has a new number over in london. you want it?"
"fuck yeah," colin said, passing tyler his handphone to key the number in.
"don't tell anyone i gave it to you," tyler said, "i don't want my girlfriend to turn from quiet little darling to horrible beast."
"relax. i won't tell anyone," colin said as he looked at the number... he was finally back in connection with shayna after seven days... and this sure makes all the difference.

"right... we better get back to the office now. my boss starts to keep tabs on me cos i always return back from lunch hour late," tyler complained.
"maybe you should start working for me... i wouldn't harp on your late lunch hours... maybe cos i would be with you," colin laughed.
"right.... my best friend as my boss... nah, i'd think i'd pass on that. besides, i like the thrill of running back to my office and kill those calories we took in for lunch."

the two friends bid each other goodbye before colin walked back to his reality. he was going to a stupid function with a stupid new girlfriend of his. he didn't like reality very much nowadays. he wanted to go back into the restaurant and rant with his best buddy and live in that as long as he could.

***

meanwhile shayna was having lunch with her new friends in campus. they were all introduced to her by Kya. timothy felt comfortable since the group consisted of only girls and he always liked the fact that shayna wasn't swayed by all the cute young london lads in her classes.

"you all know about the scholars party tonight ya?" Keili said. She wanted to be known as Kelly since not many people knew how to pronounce her real name. Kelly was chinese scholar who looked as though she came out of a doll set. she had a cute fringe that ran across her forehead and her big eyes just enhanced her dolly look.

everyone nodded except Shayna.
"what party? how come i don't know about it?" Shayna asked as Kelly scanned through her list. she was one of the organisers and she was in charge of guest listings.
"your name is not on the list, Shay. maybe the computer screwed up again. you know how it is with machines," Kelly said, "i'll just add you and your boyfriend to my list. it's alright."
shayna was beginning to wonder why she was always left out of scholars' stuff like this all the time and her friends had to get her in but as Kelly said, it might be a computer screw up.

"your boyfriend's totally cute and not to mention smart too," Lynnie commented. She was a Canadian girl who was a genius when it came to studying and of course, she knew how to analyse boys. shayna just forced a smile at her before returning to her food. she didn't like talking about timothy, she just felt uncomfortable.

Kya agreed, "yea Shay. he's adorable and he has those darling baby eyes..." everyone on the table started to giggle.
"yea yea! and those dimples when he smiles..." Kelly said, placing both her index fingers on either side of her cheek.
Lynnie looked up and saw timothy approaching. "speaking of the devil..." she giggled.

"what's up this time," timothy said, always knowing when he was being talked about.
"we're just saying how gorgeous you are," Lynnie said, making the whole table laugh and shayna flushing.
"stop it girls. you're making his ego bigger," shayna finally said, trying her best to keep a straight face.
"it's alright dear. i like your friends," timothy laughed.
"let's go timmy. i need to buy something for class later," shayna said, "i'll see you girls later at the party."

as they walked away from the giggly group, shayna lay her head on timothy's shoulder. she always felt safe there.
"you friends are very unique," timothy laughed.
"oh stop it. i told them your ego would be inflated," shayna said, rolling her eyes.
"but i don't care what others think. i just want to know what you think about me. only that matters."
"you're great, timmy. you know that," shayna smiled. though shayna was still far away from making timothy's mother like her, everything else was perfect for her... she hadn't been thinking about colin as much as she used to. maybe someday soon she could tell timothy that she indeed loved him.

and not colin.