After the birthday picnic dinner, I disposed of the rubbish into the general waste bin and stowed the dirty cutleries, containers into the picnic backpack while Nick finished his cigarette at the smoking area. I removed the scarf from my head and wrapped it around my neck.

I pulled out my phone from my pocket, scanning through the unread texts after its several notification pings annoyed me. Mostly came from an unknown number which my initial thought was one of Nick's counterparts trying to reach me.

'ZJ, u aight?' the text read.

'Sorry. Who is this, please?' I texted back.

'U dont remember me?'

'I don't save your number in my contacts,' I replied.

'Its fine. Ig you forgt me after Bijou.'

My jaw clenched, deciphering the texts in front of me. This wasn't one of Nick's counterparts, this text was from someone that dumped by the street to save his ass and went on a year hiatus after that.

'Abs?'

'U remember me. HB!' he replied my text.

'Thank you,' I forced a reply, aware of the fact that Facebook had prompted him for my birthday which he previously never bothered to take note of.

'ZJ can we talk?' he enquired.

'What's wrong? Your girlfriend dumped you?' I texted back.

'We split months ago. Shes not me type. Not like u' he replied.

'I moved on. You should do the same.'

'Wit Nick innit?'

I stared at the screen of my Samsung S10 for a long time, reread the text numerous times, bewildered by his ability to discover us.

'What's it to you?' I demanded.

'B careful of him ZJ' he corresponded. 'I still care 4 u'

'No, I should be more careful of YOU' I replied. 'You're an asshole who faked his mom's death to get what he wants.'

'Nick told u tht?' he asked.

Damn it! I just exposed Nick at my peril.

'He doesn't have to tell. I spoke to your Mom personally.'

"That's some intense texting you got there," Nick emerged from the smoking area, assessing the stress on my face. "What's up?"

"My professor was telling me that my findings weren't that strong enough to support my stand," a lie prompted in my head. "I'm justifying to him about the limited sources I had."

"I told you to opt for ShipGo as your case study. You could do better with it," he curled his lips to a snicker.

"That'll be too easy, wouldn't it?" I creased my eyebrows.

"No, it's more of leveraging the sources and contacts that you have," he hoisted the picnic backpack behind his back and looked at me with a frown on his face. "Did I give you the permission to remove that scarf from your head?"

                                   ☘️🌟🍀✨☘️🌟🍀

I woke up the next morning to Abs constant texts. Groggily, I held the phone above me with the lowest brightness setting to avoid it from stinging my half-awaken eyes. I turned to Nick, ensuring that he was still sleeping, and it was completely safe for me to tap the unread texts open.

'Abs, whatever it is, I can't provide it to you anymore,' I typed.

'No I want nothing frm u. I jst want 2 c u,' he responded.

'I can't. I don't want to.'

'Tell Nick u need 2 go out & gt sumtin' he suggested.

'Yeah, I did that and got harassed by Jason,' I said to myself.

I took a selfie of me covering half of my face with Nick's arm and the tattoo image of his mom was facing the camera. Then, I sent it to Abs with a caption, 'He won't leave me by my side.'

'Damn ur hot. U glowup. Nick do dis 2 u?'

Abs' jealous response had evoked triumph inside me. I just want to show him what he had missed, what he had overlooked in me.

'I did this to myself,' I told him.

'Did u do it? Wit him?' he asked about my sex life but I didn't reply. I just don't feel the need to reconnect and I don't want to remember him either.

'I miss u ZJ. I shouldnt hav left u if I knw tht I left 4 another grl whos not s gud s u' he went on. 'Plz let me c u 1 more time just 2 make sure u ok & c if Nick takes gud care of u.'

'Can't you see that I am doing a hell of a lot of fine here?' I typed in agitation.

'I need 2 c it more than just a selfie. Bet ur more beautiful thn tht.'

I paused myself from texting him but he persistently plead, 'ZJ I cant keep thinkin bout u.' 'Im crazy 4 u.' 'Dun do dis 2 me.' 'Plz Im sorry.'

'I'm not seeing you anymore, Abs. You are too painful to remember,' I responded.

'So u still have feelin 4 me?' he asked. 'So can we meet?'

'No, not now,' I replied.

'So it means yes?'

Feeling tired of his constant pleas, I decided to put an end to this conversation before blocking him for good, 'I know what exactly you want, you prick! You know I'm with Nick and he's more powerful than you. You're not going to get whatever you want from him through me. That shit ain't happen and I ain't falling for it. Let me make this clear to you. If you ever text me again, I'm going to make sure that you'll die.'