Wooing The Ex-Wife
Chapter 19: Alex and Alice?

Liza was once again sitting beside Jonathan, she could see that Alex was talking up a storm while Alice was just nodding at whatever he was saying. Liza's eyebrows furrowed with concern. Was something wrong with Alice? She was not her usual self. The Alice she knew was chatty and had an opinion about everything but seeing from afar it looked like Alice was holding herself back. Liza turned to Jonathan who was busy with his phone. After Steve had left, things had been awkward between them, not that they had been friendly before but at least they had sat in comfortable silence but now the silence had become painfully suffocating. Liza had half expected Jonathan to at least rave about how she couldn't go on the date with Steve but instead, he had kept his mouth shut and had altogether ignored her. Frustrated by his ignorance, Liza punched Jonathan on his arm "Ow!! What was that for?" Jonathan shrieked, rubbing the now sore spot on his arm. "What do you think is going on between Alex and Alice?" she asked ignoring indignant look he gave her.

Jonathan followed Liza's line of sight only to replace Alex and Alice talking. "Why? are you worried that Alice will steal your date?" he said with a smirk. Soon the smirk was wiped off his face as Liza punched him again on the arm. "Shut up Jonathan!! I am being serious here. I can see Alex's charm mode turned up to the maximum level and yet Alice is not showing any interest in him" Liza said. "Why should my sister be interested in him?" Jonathan asked with an annoyed look, his inner protective brother emerging out of his shell. "Because Alex likes her a lot and from what I have seen Alice likes him too. But why is she holding back?" Liza said puzzled by Alice's behavior. "Are you sure that Alex likes her? Because the last time I saw him he was pretty smitten by you" Jonathan replied, his voice holding a tinge of bitterness as he recalled the first time he had seen Alex with Liza. "Can you not stop with your nonsense Jonathan? There is nothing between me and Alex. He is my best friend and that's it, its your choice whether you want to help me in bringing those two closer or not, If you don't want to help me then it's alright just stop irritating me." Liza spoke with annoyance coating her each word. "Aren't you too old to play cupid? This stuff is for high schoolers not for grownups Liza" Jonathan scoffed. Which earned him a kick in the leg. "Ow! Jeez, you have become so violent. Fine, I will help you but we are not doing anything stupid "Jonathan said. "Don't worry we will be handling it as adults should."

Alice was watching Alex talk animatedly about a book he had read. Alice realized that behind his bad-boy looks Alex was a total nerd. She nodded at appropriate moments and smiled when he looked at her. With every passing second it as getting more and more difficult for Alice to remember that Alex belonged to Liza. She was ensnared by everything that made up Alex, his smile, his way of talking, and his excessive articulate movements, even the way he stood with his hands in his pockets and it was driving her crazy. How could she resist him after dreaming so many times about meeting him again? Alice was positive that She was behaving like a naïve girl in love, having mocked the concept of love at first sight so many times, she was painfully aware of how she was becoming the type of person she once used to scoff at.

Alice jerked back as she saw Alex waving his hand in front of her eyes and in jerking back she lost her balance and fell backwards. Alice closed her eyes waiting for the harsh contact with the polished floor and the inflaming sensation which would spread across her back due to contact, but it never came. Instead, she felt a hand holding her waist and a warm hand splayed on her back. Her hands were clutching the soft material of Alex's shirt tightly. Alex chuckled at the terrified expression on Alice's face. He pulled her up but did not remove his hands from her. "You can open your eyes now Alice," he said softly, removing his arm from her waist to push back the hair which had fallen on her face. Alice opened her eyes and for a moment was startled at their proximity. His palm was pressed against her back and was shooting tingles up her spine.

Alice realized how inappropriate their position was attempted to untangle herself from him but Alex held her to him like a vice, refusing to let go. "Do you really not remember me?" Alex asked softly. Alice was stunned at his tenderness. Her heart was beating wildly in her chest and her face was getting hotter by second. It was getting difficult breath and even though they were surrounded by people, Alice felt as if it was just the two of them. Alice wanted to say that 'yes she remembered him, that there was not a moment when she had forgotten about him but her heart held her back. Admitting that would be like admitting that she had fallen for the man that Liza probably loved and Alice knew that nothing would be worth losing her best friend not even Alex. So she pushed herself away from him firmly and walked away. Alex stood there, watching as Alice walked away. He knew the answer now and he would make Alice admit it out loud.☐☐☐☐☐☐