"Aria, are you sure yoa want to do this?" Ezra gave Aria a skeptical look. He didn't like this, any of it. He wasn't the type of guy to cause drama but he knew something had to be done.
Both Aria and Ezra sat on the leather couch in Aria's apartment, waiting for the arrival of Ray. Ezra was clearly nervous. He couldn't stop fidgeting or glancing back and forth at the clock which hung above the fireplace.
His eyes glanced at the rustic bookshelf which held most of Aria's books. Most, because Aria kept her favouritos on her bedside table. Next to the shelf stood a wilting plant, it was going brown due to the lack of attention it had of the leaves had turned from a healthy green to a burying brown. He hated that plant. It reminded him of Ray.
Ezra could not get this morning out of his head. Ezra went to get coffee for both him and Aria as it was a Monday, the morning which both Aria and him had off so they spent the time together catching up or doing something as the two of them. In his normal routine Ezra stood in the queue waiting for his two lattes until they finally were served to him. Grabbing his two caffe lattes and heading out of Benny's Coffee House, he noticed a familiar looking face. As Ezra carried on walking he could see it was Ray. But he wasn't alone. Perched in Ray's lap was a blonde girl - clearly not Aria. Ezra walked out discreetly and peered from the window glass.
Wishing he hadn't come for a coffee as he now had a free fidelity as well as coffee for Aria. Ezra was in shock. He hadn't expected any of this. He knew Ray wasn't the best of men but really? Cheating. What made it worse was it was Aria he was cheating on.
Ezra closed his eyes and frowned. What should he do?Was it best to go back to the coffee house and punch the living daylights out of Ray. Something Ezra had been waiting to do for a long time? Or should he tell Aria and then see what she wanted to do. It was her relationship after all. But then again he was Aria's best friend and that gave him some right to punch her cheating boyfriend. No. He should tell the truth, something that Ray, obviously could not do.
As he walked backed to Aria's that morning he was in two minds to tell her. But of course, he had to. Not only did Ezra love Aria and want to protect her and he never liked Ray. He never was right for Aria. Telling Aria took guts. He knew he would be the bearer of bad news. He didn't know how to approach the situation. Should he go back guns blazing and just put it all out there.
Little did Ezra realise that he had arrived back at Arias apartment building. His long monologue from Benny's had got him subconsiously back at was now or never.
Ezra slowly knocked on the door, nervously he was tapping on his thing. "There you are! I was wondering what took you so long!" Aria ushered Ezra into the apartment.
"Hi." Ezra replied taking off his coat and putting it on the coat hanger. Ezra handed Aria her coffee and took a gulp of his.
"Hey your quiet today what's up, did they get our order wrong?" Aria was staring at Ezra. Something just seemed wrong. Ezra was never usually this quiet. She gave Ezra a skeptical look, nudging him to speak.
"Yeah, I was in a really long queue but I saw something else too and I think you need to know." Ezra looked at Aria and walked his way over to the couch. He sat beside Aria and then turned ninth degrees to face her directly into the eyes. Her face look quizzical. She really did not know what was coming.
"Ezra? Hello? You still there? What did you see? What happened? Are you okay?" Aria was startled normally Ezra was the cool calm one in their friendship. What had happened at the coffee shop?
Aria looked at Ezra. There was no clour in his cheeks. His eyes weren't the electric blue they usually were. His hands were clasped together and his fingers looked as if they wanted to escape from his lap. Aria looked back up into Ezras face. She sighed.
"Ezra, this is getting boring. Please just tell me what's got your tongue." Aria asked. She pushed her hair into a ponytail, securing it with a spare hair band she kept on her wrist.
Looking into her swirling hazel eyes, Ezra retold the morning's events. There was no denying his feelings for Aria, those had started as soon as he laid eyes on her back when he was her teacher. But Ezra was surprise by how well Aria dealt with the news.
"Ezra, calm down. You need to stop shaking, Ray is going to back soon." Aria's voice was soothing. She was calm. Why would she show easy emotion to Ray, he least of all deserved it. Aria placed her hand on Ezra's and sighed. If only things could be so simple. She wished things could be like how they were with Ezra, so calm, so relaxed.
No. Ezra was her best friend. She couldn't think anything more. How would Ezra react with that. Surely, he wouldn't want to be more than friends. Aria was just his book buddy, his coffee partner and his best friend. That's it. Aria shook the thought away from her head.
"I'm so sory for all of this! It's my fault. If I wasn't at the coffee shop, I wouldn't have..."Ezra's voice trailed off as he heard footsteps approaching.
"Shh, you big softie it wasn't your fault now let's get this over with." Aria stood up and smoothed over her clothes. She took a depth breath and focused on the door.
Slowly the brass doorknob twisted and there appeared Ray.