Chapter 22
Ihad followed her out.
At first, it was simply to check if she was alright since I had seen the way she had angrily left the bar thanks to Victoria. This was the second time this had happened and truly I didn”t blame her for being absolutely disgusted with her. I was curious, though, what Victoria had said this time that had made her so annoyed. I doubted I would ever know, but at the time, I was trying to avoid stale conversations with my own parents, so I had excused myself and just headed towards her direction.
The garden was gorgeous but given that only sections of it were fully lit, most people remained indoors and only a few littered around. Still, it wasn’t difficult to find her because only a few minutes later, I saw someone sitting alert in a corner and watching the entrance like a hawk. If I didn”t know she was there, I would have for sure been startled because her eyes looked crazy.
“What are you doing?” I asked; however, the shock still remained on her face. This time I supposed it was because she hadn’t quite been expecting to see me.
“Um… “ she tried to straighten, but it was as though her arms weakened and she instead almost fell off the bench.
I jumped forward to catch her, but just as my hand closed around her arm, she righted herself. Then she stared at me once again, wide-eyed.
“Sorry, uh,” she said as she moved away, and then she rose to her feet.
“Are you okay?” I asked, and she nodded. “
Just a bit lightheaded from the alcohol.”
I took a seat then because this was a good place to relax. It was away from people and the bustle but still airy and pleasant to look at. Plus, I had to admit to myself that she would take the initiative to join me so that we could have at least one conversation. As the wedding party grew, I was certain that it was going to get more and more difficult for us to be alone.
“I’ll head in,” she said, and I nodded. Disappointed, however, before she could go out of reach, my hand caught hers. I was just as startled as she was, and it took me a while to come up with what I wanted to say.
“Sit,” I told her. “Let”s talk.”
“I, uh, I have to work,” she said.
I stared into her eyes, wondering if this was true. And then I saw the danger because I wanted this so badly not to be true, and so I let her go. I couldn’t handle the complication anyway, especially since dark days were coming for the family. I”d already been preparing my mind and could only imagine going through it alone. Adding another person to the mix? Or maybe I was
thinking too far ahead? This was the problem because with her, I just couldn’t help but think far ahead.
“Enjoy your night,” she said, so awkwardly that I was almost amused. I watched her scurry away, and then took a deep breath.
It was a nice quiet space to be in, so I leaned my head back and stared up at the stars. It was as though the heavens knew it was a very special evening for my family because the sky was glittering. However, and despite how gorgeous they were, I felt so inexplicably sad that it was nearly overwhelming. I had truly driven myself into the ground the past few months with work so that I could get moments like this. Moments when I recalled, moments where I thought about anything but work.
So instantly, I got ready to leave, but then, to my surprise, someone came into the area, and I as well was startled.
“Evelyn?” I called when I saw who it was.
“Uh,” she said, staring at me, and I understood then. She wanted to return but didn’t know how not to be awkward around me.
“We fucked,” I told her. “Not a big deal. Just sit down and talk. Surely that can”t be more difficult or more intimate.”
I said it so nonchalantly that it amused me, and when I lifted my head to hers, I found that she as well was nearly doubling over.
We shared a smile, and then a small laugh, and then she came over and sat by my side. For the first few moments after, we were quiet, and I realized just how comfortable I felt. There was something about her that was so comfortable and reassuring. There was no pressure to speak, at least on my part, but soon enough she did and, to my delight, noted the sky the exact way I had.
“Striking,” she said. “The stars, I mean. I don’t know why, though, but it makes me feel a bit lonely?”
My gaze lowered to hers then, and she seemed to panic.
“I mean, I’m not saying I’m lonely, it”s just that it”s so vast and it just makes the world seem so impossibly big, though it”s beautiful. But not everything that”s beautiful is completely great, I guess.”
She kept rambling, and I kept listening, and it was highly entertaining, to say the least. Then she eventually noticed how nervous she sounded and just stopped. This amused me even more.
My gaze lowered to her lips then, and the biggest urge to kiss her hit. However, I restrained myself.
“Sorry,” she said. “I”m not nervous, but I tend to just talk when I feel awkward.”
“You feel awkward around me?” I asked, and she smiled.
“How could I not.”
“Yeah,” I replied and looked away, my attention lowering to my feet.
“Have you been enjoying the party so far?” she asked.
I nodded in response. “
Things are going smoothly, at least from my end. It must be chaos from Victoria’s.”
At this, she went silent, and I wondered why till I realized that I had just once again mentioned the person she was probably the least fond of. I turned to her then, and although she was looking away from me, I didn”t miss the disgusted look on her face. It was quite amusing, to say the least.
“She irks you that much?” I asked, and she sighed.
“She does, true. I don’t even think about her, but she keeps wanting me to think about her, and I cannot understand why. Or does it just give her joy to see me annoyed?”
“What did she come over to trouble you with this time around?” I asked. However, she went silent again. She looked at me, and then she smiled.
“Unimportant. Uh, Aurora seems happy.”
“She is whenever her fiancé is around. They”re really good together.”
“Yeah,” I replied. “The way he looks at her is magical. I managed to capture some of that. She’ll love it.”
“There’s a magical way to look at someone?” I asked, and she turned to me. She met my eyes then, and for the few seconds afterward, I, for some reason, found it extremely hard to breathe. And in that moment, I knew the answer to the question that I had just asked, and I looked away.
“Yes,” she said. “You might not even notice when you’re doing it, but other people might.”
“Okay,” I replied and wished to God that I had something to drink right then.
It was time to leave, I was sure, however, I didn”t want to just yet. I wanted to know a bit more
about her. But then, at the end of the day, I decided that there was no benefit to this. Only trouble. So, I asked something else instead.
“Are you still sticking by your resolution from earlier this evening?”
Just as I expected, she went silent. I was expecting her to say no. However, she let out a sigh.
“I want to,” she said and met my gaze. “I don’t even know why I”m being honest now, but…”
“It’s the alcohol,” I said, and she smiled.
”I want to, but there are a lot of risks.”
I listened.
“Aurora’s wedding, I don”t want anything to take away from that.”
“That’s easy to fix,” I replied. “We can have our fun and keep matters between us.”
“Yes,” she said. “That”s the next issue. I don’t know how much fun this can be. I mean, the first time was good, but… maybe we should leave it at that. I mean…”
I waited; however, she didn’t go any further.
“I don”t think we should delve any deeper,” she said.
I frowned, then, wondering what she was trying to say because so far, she seemed just too elusively to be talking around in circles.