Chapter 50 #2
“And what would that be?” He raised an eyebrow.
“Being kind. I think you’re the prodigy of being too kind for your own good.
Besides, they say Rome wasn’t built in a day.
Something great is waiting for you—maybe not now, maybe not even in five years.
But you don’t have to be brilliant when you’re young.
Meeting some of the world’s best dancers has taught me that.
So give yourself a chance, Romeo. Promise me you will? ”
“I’ll try,” he said.
“Good,” she replied.
The pair walked along the large pond in the center of the park, Romeo throwing seeds all around the outskirts for the ducks and birds to nibble at.
“I’m also sorry to hear about Henry.” Evie’s voice broke through the haze.
“What?” Romeo said, momentarily confused.
Evie’s expression mirrored his own. “I heard he passed away … earlier this year.”
“Oh, right! Yes,” Romeo said, nodding, scrunching up his nose from the itching inside. “It was a real tragedy.”
“It was more than a tragedy. I honestly felt so awful reading the news especially because … Never mind,” she said, shaking her head.
“What is it?” he asked her.
“No … It’s insensitive of me, I shouldn’t.”
“Don’t worry, I’m not all that sensitive, despite appearances,” he replied.
She stopped walking suddenly, giving him a sideways glance.
“I don’t think Henry did it,” she said.
Romeo felt dread building as he replied. “Did what?”
“I still don’t think he killed your father.
Actually, I know he didn’t. I was talking to him at the time and …
I even told the police this, but they did not want to hear it.
It was like it was being decided by some higher power that Henry had to take the fall for this.
I know Henry confessed, but people confess to things they didn’t do all the time.
It just makes me sad, that’s all. I really, really liked Henry. ”
Romeo swallowed, nodding quietly and facing the ducks instead of her suspecting face.
“I’m sorry. You deserve to grieve without me bringing it all up again. But I just can’t help but think that the world can be such an unfair place sometimes.”
“I agree, it really is,” Romeo replied, tightening his scarf around his neck.
They fell into a comfortable quiet as Romeo tossed more seeds onto the path for the ducks to eat.
“It’s so chilly out here. I thought as we were nearing springtime it was meant to get warmer,” Evie suddenly said.
“That’s climate change for you,” Romeo replied.
“I bet the ducks are so cold out here all the time. Do you think you could make them little duck jackets? Seeing as you’re clearly a genius knitter,” she said teasingly, nudging him a little.
Romeo smiled. “I bet I could,” he said, and then wriggled his nose.
Evie returned his smile. “You do that a lot,” she said.
He raised a confused eyebrow at her. “I do what?”
“Crinkle your nose when you’re lying,” she replied.
“Fola said the same thing to me once …”
“Well, your sister is a keen observer … It’s what I admire most about her.”
He turned once again to one of the ducks standing by his feet. The duck he happened to make eye contact with gave him a Stop being pathetic and ask her out already look, and so he decided to take its advice.
He turned back to Evie. “Evie,” he said.
“Romeo,” she replied, blinking up at him with her warm brown eyes.
“I don’t suppose … you’d be—free to have coffee or tea with me sometime?”
“Romeo Button … are you trying to ask me out on a date?” Evie asked with an arched brow.
“No …,” he said, his nose itching. “Yes,” he corrected.
There was a brief silence. “This is very awkward,” Evie said.
Oh no.
“I think you’re really sweet, it’s just …”
Oh God. He was being rejected. He glared furiously down at the duck that had encouraged him.
“It’s because I’m above five nine, isn’t it?” Romeo asked.
Evie laughed. “No, it’s not that.”
“You don’t … We don’t have to ever speak of this again. I’m sorry for bringing it up in the first place. How about I get you an apology coffee?”
Evie laughed. “You really don’t have to, I just thought you should know that I kind of already have a date … with your sister.”
Oh.
Romeo tried not to let his complete shock show on his face, but he had a feeling he was failing miserably. This was somehow worse than the initial rejection.
“Fola?” he guessed. Perdita was in a pretty committed relationship with Thorin, so it had to be his other sister.
Evie nodded. “I’ve actually really liked her since we were kids—she just always seemed like she didn’t have time for me.
Then one day, a few years ago, we shared a moment.
And I thought about that moment from time to time, but I didn’t think it meant much to her.
Plus, after everything that happened with your father …
well, I assumed she’d hate me now. But then we bumped into each other a few weeks ago at the Barnes she was probably warmer than him, but he still felt bad for having her exposed to the extremes of the New York winter.
“I’m not sure …,” Evie said, “I’ll think about it on my train ride home.” She smiled. “It was really nice seeing you again, Rome.”
“You too, Evie,” he said, returning her smile. “Say hi to your parents for me.” He hadn’t seen Mr. and Mrs. Gray in months. Fola said they’d settled down somewhere in New Jersey.
“Will do,” Evie said, and then with a small wave, she began walking away. Romeo also started off.
“Romeo,” he heard suddenly, and turned back. It was Evie calling out to him as she walked backward.
“Yeah?” he said.
“I think I’ve decided which Sherlock episode I’ll start with.”
Romeo thought this was a very random thing for her to be telling him, but he replied anyway. “Which one?”
“Season two, episode three: The Reichenbach Fall. I remember really loving the ending of that one,” she said, looking at him with a strange smile. “Goodbye, Rome. See you in a few weeks, hopefully.”
And then she was gone, leaving Romeo with the puzzling feeling he used to get whenever his father would make them verse him in a game of chess. The feeling that he’d lost a game he did not know how to play.
Right then it felt like Evie had just played her winning move.