Vance keeps his hand there, waiting for Nas to take it and I swear the sound in the building is put on mute. Everything stops, and all of us wait to see what’s about to happen. We all know Nas put Vance in his place just yesterday. The only one who doesn't know is Vance, and the tension hovering over our table is so thick we’re all about to choke on it.

Nas finally takes Vance’s hand and gives it a brief but firm shake. “Nice to meet you in person. I’m Nas. I believe we spoke on the phone recently.”

All of the blood drains out of Vance’s face, making him as white as a ghost. The two test to see who will blink first as the rest of us watch, the tension in the room rising like the global temperature. It gets so uncomfortable that I almost chime in just to break the silence, but Vance speaks up before I can.

“I see,” he says, his body teeming with anger as he looks at me like he can’t believe I’ve invited Nas to happy hour so soon after our breakup. I know Vance, and if there’s one thing he can’t stand, it’s the idea that he is easily replaced.

“Vance, maybe you should go,” I tell him, because I can see the pain on his face and I almost feel bad for him. Almost.

“Why?” Vance asks, his eyes snapping over to me. “I used to come to happy hour with you guys all the time. It was me sitting next to you just a couple of weeks ago, and I didn’t know that just because our relationship ended, Alina, that I was no longer invited to happy hour. I didn’t know breaking up with you would mean losing all of my friends.”

“Are you serious right now?” Juliana barges in with a deep furrow in her brow. “We were friends with Alina way before she started dating you.”

“Oh, so you weren't really my friends then?” Vance inquires, glaring at Juliana with wide eyes.

“We were cool with you because you were Alina’s boyfriend,” Juliana continues, speaking for the entire group who watches like they’re witnessing a head on collision. “Now that you’ve made the biggest mistake of your life and ended it with her, you're on your own. We’re no longer obligated to be friends with you. We befriended you because we love Alina, not because we liked you.”

Vance nods his head and I can see the hurt in his face. “Wow,” is all he says.