Aiden just ate the spaghetti in silence. It tasted the same as before, when he had eaten it a long time ago. Katie had always been a good cook from the start.
'I remember I used to joke about her opening up a restaurant if acting didn't work back then.'
He recalled a time from his memories when Aiden hadn't gotten the miraculous system and he was still just an ordinary aspiring actor.
It was a good time but thinking about it also reminded Aiden of the harsh reality in front of him. So much has changed and it is irreversible now.
Thinking of that, he stopped eating and looked at Katie.
"How is it?" She suddenly asked when she saw him looking at her.
"It's good like before." He muttered then, frowned. "Just you changed and I don't know why."
Hearing that, Katie seemed to be a bit taken back but she still replied.
"I didn't have a choice."
"Really?"
"Yes."
"No, people always have a choice. You just thought that it was the easier way to stardom. You always wanted that and you know it really suits you. After all, you need to be someone who doesn't mind backstabbing their friends to achieve it."
Aiden said in a loud voice, flashing a bit of the anger he felt towards Katie.
Hearing that, she went silent and just lowered her head. Her heart pained but there was no talking back to that. Aiden was right and she can't do anything about it.
She needed to accept what had happened and what she had done.
"I know I hurt you." She said, slowly. "There's no apologising for it. I know that well. There's no going back."
"Then, why did you call me here?"
Aiden asked, looking into her eyes and she struggled to match them. There was a desperation in her eyes that he could see.
He could say one thing and that was that she hadn't come here to take revenge on him. It wasn't some weird plan by Franco to get back at him.
"I... am giving up on acting. I think after the court trial, I would anyway be in jail. I won't have the money to compensate you if the court asks me to." She sighed. "Anyway, even without it, I'm going to be leaving Los Angeles, moving to my town. It's a small town in Texas."
It seemed like the court case that Aiden had filed against her was on her mind. Why won't it be? There were full chances that he was going to win it easily and that meant that she would be paying heavily for what she did.
The law was harsh on these types of things.
"I just wanted to tell you this in person. I wanted to meet you one last time. I'm not here to say sorry as I know you won't accept it. I just wanted to meet you in person one last time. Whatever I did was not... something excusable."
She muttered as a tear dropped from her eyes, remorse and regret all over her face.
Aiden didn't feel anything seeing her like this. He kept looking at her with a stone cold face, like what she was saying was not reaching his heart.
Maybe Katie had thought that Aiden would forgive her seeing her tears or maybe she just really wanted to see him in person one last time.
Aiden wasn't sure and he had lost the ability to trust when it came to her.
In the end, he just frowned.
"What are you going to do in Texas?"
"My parents have a convenience store they wanted me to take over."
"Then, it seems like you would be too busy to ever come back."
"I don't plan to."
A silence hung in the air after that.
Aiden just picked up the fork and finished up the Spaghetti. All the time, Katie kept looking at him but no one said anything. There wasn't anything to say.
Whatever they said would end up with Aiden screaming at her and maybe that's what she wanted. For him to lash out and let out all of his anger.
Sadly for her, he wanted to keep it in.
"I will go now."
He said after finishing up the food. Getting up, he looked at her one final time.
"I actually have a lot to say to you but I don't want to say them. I don't want to waste my feelings on you. We were friends and it didn't end well. What you did... I won't go there as it's already over. But I will never forget what you did. Still, I hope you have a good life ahead."
After saying that, he left through the door while Katie kept looking at his back. She just stood there, not able to say anything as tears fell from her eyes.
***
Never forget what happened but try to move on too — That was one thing that Aiden felt was true for humans. So many times, people were locked in the past and Aiden didn't want to be one of them.
A part of him wanted to forgive Katie but that part of him was a fool. Forgiveness wasn't something he wasn't going to give her. At the same time, he wasn't looking out for revenge.
That was over.
He felt like people like Katie and Franco were already below him and he needed to not worry about them.
Sitting in his car after coming back, he saw that Wade wasn't here. Tom told him that he had left to take care of Franco Li and started asking about what happened with Katie.
Aiden just shook his head and smiled.
"It was nothing. My past self would have lost control in front of her but it went better than expected."
"What did you tell her?" Tom raised an eyebrow.
"Actually nothing." Aiden smiled. "I have a lot to say but I rather she doesn't know. My friendship with her is over and I don't wish to end it with a fight, so I just listened to her and came back."
Actually, Aiden had been mostly silent to tell Katie that he wasn't even going to waste his anger on her as it was worthless in the end.
For him, betrayal was the end and no one could break that rule of his. Not even him himself.
"It looks like you got some closure though."
Tom said as he noticed that Aiden looked to be in a better mood.
"Yeah, I did. I saw what I wanted to see from her. If I had stayed there for a while longer, it wouldn't have gone the same way. I'm glad I came back fast."
Hearing that, Tom made a confused expression but he didn't seem to want to ask anything more from. him. Katie was the past and there's no reason to talk about her — He got that one thing from what Aiden had said.
"So, what's next?"
"Well, aren't the critics screening for [Hex - Part 1] today?"
He looked at Tom and he nodded.
"Yeah, I got a call for you to be there but it seems like they are giving you space as they think you have just gone through a lot, so it's fine if you don't attend it. Anyway, I doubt the movie will fail at this point."
"No, I will be there. I have made a list of people that I want to meet."
"List?"
Tom tilted his head. He had never heard that Aiden wanted to meet someone. He wasn't the type to have idols.
"Yeah, a list of people who said negative things about me when the controversy broke out. You do know that a lot of people, even celebrities, made me look like a villain. I want to see their faces now to know what they will say."
Aiden laughed hearing that.
The one man he wanted to see the most was Alberto Dundley, the producer of the movie who had called him everyday to curse at him.
Now, the tables have turned.
Alberto might be the producer but the movie is already over now. The common people have shown Aiden immense support and with that, he has gotten a new level of power.
He planned to use it against Alberto.
***
Later that night, several critics were there to see the screening for [Hex - Part 1]. It was a much talked about movie and something that all of them wanted to see, especially after the last week.
So, all of them were excited and when they saw the movie, they realised one thing.
Even with the controversy, the movie was so good that there was no way it wouldn't have worked. Olio Fermen had again proved that he was maybe the most underrated director in Hollywood.
As for Aiden, they all felt only one thing.
'It would be a shame if his career had been destroyed. He's just a very fascinating actor.'
