"I saw the way you looked at her."

Rosa shot Amir a look from across the table. In the middle of sipping his drink, he immediately set the glass down in front of him, narrowing his eyebrows.

"What do you mean?"

"Don't play dumb, Amir. Please. Ever since you started working on this project you've been closer to Soraya." There was an accusatory tone to her voice. Jealousy. Amir gave a sigh of exasperation. It wasn't the first time his past relationship had drove a wedge between the two of them.

"She's the mother of my child, Rosa. We were together for so long. I can't just cut her out of my life. This is work, anyway." He answered, tired of what felt like Rosa's constant surveillance of the way he interacted with his ex. They'd both been working on a promotional photoshoot for Amir's upcoming album, with long hours on set and working with several photographers to ensure the concept of the album was captured perfectly in each shot. This meant spending more time with each other was inevitable, especially seeing as they were co-parenting in regards to their young daughter. Their lives were permanently intertwined.

Rosa rolled her eyes dismissively, unsatisfied with Amir's attempt at a justification. She wasn't convinced that his feelings for Soraya were entirely a thing of the past. A tense silence lingered between them for a moment, a stark contrast to the atmosphere of the bar they sat in, with people chatting cheerfully on each table around them. Yet Rosa wasn't finished with her questioning.

"Do you still have feelings for her?" She spoke lowly, not wanting anyone to eavesdrop on their brewing argument.

"I'm not having this conversation here. Let's just enjoy our night."

"You're not even fucking denying it." Rosa scoffed, shaking her head in disbelief at Amir's complete dismissal of the subject. The people on the table to their right were beginning to sneak curious glances. Without giving Amir a second to respond, she began to grab her jacket and bag.

"You know what, I'm done." Rosa stood up from her seat, now abandoning any attempt to lower her voice. She didn't care anymore.

"Rosa, sit down. Come on. She's my ex. It's been ages since we were together." His attempt to reason with her was falling on deaf ears.

"You're still in love with her. And I'm not playing second-best Amir. I'm not wasting my fucking time."

She stormed out of the bar, not wanting to spend another moment circling around their point of contention. Amir ran his palm across his cheek, firing a pissed off look in the direction of the gossiping whisperers. As hard as he'd tried to move on from the past, the feelings he held for Soraya lingered. Impossible to suppress.