Looking at Jake and Lu Lijun, Nicole understood these two didn't know where Noah was, and she said, "Is he not with you two?"
Jake stayed silent as he was still worried about Noah and Lu Lijun answered, "He is not with us."
"You two don't know where he is," she concluded.
"We thought he was with you for the past few days...I mean nights," Jake answered.
Nicole, the pretty and tall lady, wearing an elegant olive green dress and had captured the eyes of every passing man, looked silent all of sudden as if she was thinking about something.
"Is something wrong with him these days?" she asked.
"Did he say something," Lu Lijun asked her.
"I could feel something was bothering him, but he never talked about it," she answered.
The three turned silent, and Nicole spoke, "It's not like he and I are dating. It's just a casual relationship for...You know what I mean….," she stopped.
The other two understood what she meant.
"I have been with so many guys before, but Noah is different, and I can't help but feel worried about him. That night he came to me. Though he was with me and we were together….like that…. his mind was lost somewhere. I asked if he was fine, but he said it's nothing and he was just tired."
The two continued to hear her.
"It was the first time he drank a lot and even stayed in my home. He never stayed back after we finished our thing, but that day he just preferred to stay. I was sure my doubts were right."
"Where do you think he must have gone? Any other friends that you know he must have made?" Jake asked as he felt heavy in his chest. Only he knew how difficult it was for him to ask if Noah had gone to someone else.
"After I left for the other city, I saw an online post from one of the models from the team, and I saw him in that picture. It was not clear, but I could see it was him," Nicole answered and pulled out her cell phone from her branded sling bag to show them the picture.
Lu Lijun and Jake could recognize Noah though it was just a side view of his face, and he was away from the camera. In the pub, he was sitting with one pretty-looking girl who looked at him smiling brightly.
The two looked at her to see if it hurt her.
She looked back at the two, "Hey..don't give me that look. It's not like he and I love each other or plan to marry. As I said, it's just a friend with benefits thing, and I can't control or feel bad over with whom he goes." she said to clear their doubts.
"Hmm," the two responded, understanding what she meant.
She continued in her calm voice, "But one thing is sure if I had to choose any man to be with forever, I will choose Noah. Though he doesn't love me, he knows how to care for and respect the woman. That's how a true man should be. Now stop pitying me okay. The reason I told you about him is so you two can know and take care of him after that. You two are his best friends, right? And I know how much he values you two."
"As long as he is with someone and has not gone missing, it's fine. At least we know where he is," Jake replied as he emptied the entire glass of wine in one go.
Lu Lijun knew how much it must hurt Jake, and he stopped him, "Take it slow. Don't drink too much."
"I am fine," Jake countered.
Nicole observed him and said, "So you are the one Noah was cursing that night when he was drunk."
Jake looked at her, and she said, "Even in his deep sleep, he couldn't forget to curse someone calling him an ass hole." Nicole smiled.
"He is used to cursing me. It's common between friends," Jake countered.
"No friend misses his friend this much even in his drunk condition when one pretty girl is next to him in bed," Nicole countered.
"We three share a special friendship," Jake said again.
Nicole took a short pause as she preferred to finish her drink. After a while, she spoke while swirling and looking at the wine glass in her hand, "Now I think about it, he was never into what we did all the time." She then looked at Jake, "It was more like his attempt of forgetting what went in his mind and running away from it."
Jake averted his sight from her and asked the bartender to fill his glass again.
Lu Lijun understood what Nicole was trying to say and kept quiet.
Nicole finished her drink and stepped down from the tall chair in front of the bar counter. "I need to leave now. Thank you for keeping me company."
"You are welcome," the two said together.
Before going away, Nicole put her hand on Jake's shoulder and said, "You two should learn to be true to yourself. I am sure he feels the same as you feel." Giving him an assuring pat on the arm, she left.
Jake was silent while Lu Lijun spoke, "Don't drink too much."
Jake was still silent, so Lu Lijun spoke, "Nicole was right. You two should talk about it."
"I can't force him when he doesn't want to, and I doubt if he feels anything at all for me."
"To know it, you need to talk to him."
"I can't force him to listen to me. Every time he just finds his way out."
"You know how to make it happen. You know him better than me even," Lu Lijun gave him a meaningful look.
Jake nodded, "But it might end up in a worse way."
"But still better than things going nowhere," Lu Lijun said.
Jake agreed, "Once he is back home, I will try."
Lu Lijun patted his shoulder, "Good. Now let's go."
When the two left the pub in their cars, on the way, Jake spotted a familiar car, "Isn't It Noah's car?"
Lu Lijun stepped on and lowered the speed, and after he was sure it was Noah's car, he stepped on the car's brake. "Hmm, it's his car."
The car was parked on the ride in front of one cafe. "Cafe at this hour?" Lu Lijun mumbled.
Just then, they saw Noah coming out of the cafe with one woman. They were talking about something as the woman smiled at him widely while he too had his usual angelic smile on his lips. She was the same woman from the picture they had just seen on Nicole's cellphone.
"He can only smile at others like that," Jake mumbled.
"Because he doesn't like to show that fake smile to the one he cares for," Lu Lijun countered.
The next moment they saw the woman moving closer to Noah as she pecked on Noah's lips. Her intentions were clear that she wanted more from him. Noah smiled at her as he tucked her hair behind her ears.
"Ass hole," Jake cursed in his drunk voice and said, "Just leave from here."
Lu Lijun started the car as he knew it must hurt Jake to see all this.
Through the side view mirror, Jake saw that Noah opened his car's door for him. The woman sat in his car, and he sat in the driver seat as they left. Jake could only stare blankly at the side view mirror even though he could not see Noah at all.
He was hurt, too hurt that he felt his mind had turned blank and had nothing to say. He could just feel his chest had turned heavy, and his throat felt choked.. He didn't know how to express what he felt at that moment, he felt lost.