Chapter-17🌜 We can be friends
Zane's POV
I look at the skyline of Manhattan visible from here. The grass around my car reflects the light.
It looks so peaceful from here. And then there's the Hudson river beneath.
Just so serene.
The view from the bonnet of my car is just melancholic. Almost like a painting. There is total stillness and no sound on the clifftop.
The whole surrounding is covered in a soft but heavy blanket of quiet sorrow.
Even at this time of night, it's still this bright on that side. There are so many radiant buildings which look so small from here. There's a siren sound coming from afar.
I pull the bottle of whiskey in my hand towards my mouth and gulp some of it down.
William would have loved it.
Just two hours ago I was with him...
I wipe my face while staring back at the city view as my mind goes back to the events of tonight-I wanted him to open it there. Like it's not much, but at least it would have given me an idea what his preferences are for future references-
Fuck...
What future references? Is there even a future?
I can't understand him.
Tonight he was different than he was at our first meeting and even at the phone call.
Like he was kind of closed off and unapproachable in the beginning of the evening too.
But then things changed. I felt them changing.
We were literally teasing each other. Joking around, he asked me stuff and I answered, I asked-
Wait... I didn't ask him much.
Apart from him and Vance being in the same college and how he was an insane bully to him.
We didn't talk about him.
Maybe next time...
I sigh, and bring the bottle back up to drink some of it.
I actually want to know a lot of stuff about him...
I just have to make sure he's comfortable, maybe he will tell me this himself.
In my dreams...
Although, for now I will take this too.
Tonight was good, almost like a date...
Okay I am not getting my hopes too high.
But if it wasn't a date in his eyes, it is one in mine.
I never was given the freedom to just go out with a man before this. All of the dates were with women-some of them were nice, some of them were not.
Some wanted an instant hook up, some were smart enough to tell there's no hope.
And from my side, there was no attraction. I mean I could tell they were beautiful, but just not feel anything...
But tonight...
From my perspective at least, there was attraction, there was spark and there was mutual teasing. All three things which can at least tell you that "hey, this one was something..."
I am sure, William didn't feel that way, you know seeing the whole hatred for me or 'I'm straight' obstacles in the way.
But at least it tells me, things won't be that hard in the future. If not lovers, we can at least be friends...
I know I am thinking too far. But what can I say? I am baffled with the idea of marrying a straight man.
Like earlier I couldn't be myself and get with a man, because I couldn't let the world see me for who I am. Couldn't expose my sexuality.
So all of my 'meetings' were done in private. Discretion is the mode of survival when your secret is not safe in reality.
Even those meetings were nothing but no-strings attached hookups.
Did I like them? Nope.
But that was the closest I could be myself.
And now when I am finally getting with a man... he's straight.
Wow. Just wow.
And not just a normal man-a man I am definitely attracted to. A man who doesn't like me.
And just tomorrow I will be married to him. I have just tonight for myself and then god knows what will happen.
Or should I say...
William knows what will happen.
Will he soften up after tonight?
Or will he go back to where he was?
Was the improvement just an illusion?
I lean back on my car's windshield.
I can tell why it's called a deadend now...
Because everything just feels so dead here.
Of course there's life on that side.
But from where I am looking at things...
It's just moribund.
I don't even realise when my eyes close and when my sorrow lulls me to sleep.
????
William's POV
I wake up the next morning. I don't get up from it but just lay on the bed-not asleep, just hazy.
Last night was something unexpected...
I didn't expect it to go this way.
I mean, I knew Zane was clever, he definitely is the mastermind who has all his cards ready.
But I definitely wasn't envisioning for him to knit such a web-that I would fall this deep-and almost start seeing him in a different way.
Almost. But now as I know, it's just tomorrow morning and I will be married.
All of my hatred is doubling up.
He is the one to be blamed.
The one to be hated.
His ideas, his sweet little talks, his little "My mom says..." are fake.
They have to be.
I stare at the ceiling above me as if it would give me my answers. When it doesn't, I finally turn to my right side and look at the digital clock on the bedside table.
The numbers are big enough for me to read without my glasses on.
The clock says it's 8:00 A.M.
At least, I got a much needed 8 hours of sleep. Because today would be hectic.
The wedding's venue is ready. The tuxedo is ready, the invitation cards are sent to every influential person around the globe from underworld to politicians...everyone is invited.
And I am still in denial...
I still haven't done my packing for ten days.
I mean let's be real, I have enough clothes that I can pack for a year or two. But packing...
I still haven't done it.
Like there's two prominent reasons for it. First, I hate packing. It's just such a boring work to go pull out your clothes, to plan them, then order them, then fold them. And it gets more complicated with formal suits...ugh!
And then you add your necessities in it, your shoe wears.
To my misery, I don't even like when someone else packs for me. So I would have to do it myself.
Second reason is in my mind I am still trying to delay it.
And I need to leave for Sicily today.
To say the vows tomorrow morning that my dad has specifically made a writer to write for me.
"Not a word apart from this.", he had said.
I don't even know how I am even gonna go there. Has dad booked flight tickets for us?
Oh God-will I have to share a flight with him? Fuck.
Okay, we'll see for that, maybe he has booked our seats far away from each other.
One could only hope...
I don't have time for this, I need to pack. Hmm, should I pack summer clothing or winter clothing? Or both?
One thing I am sure about is, it will be warmer than NYC in Sicily.
So I need to pack clothing that would work for mild weather. From formal suits to casual wear.
In ten days, god knows what I will need, and if there's anything else required-we can always buy from there.
??
With that thought, I started packing. Now I am done with it in 3 hours and 15 minutes. And damn...working without breakfast was hell.
But at least now the hard task is done. Well that's a lie-a soothing lie for sure-but still a lie.
Because the hardest task is still waiting-the wedding.
Gosh, I need breakfast for this.
I come out of my room to go downstairs. And I make my way towards the dining table where our caretaker-whose name I still remember-greets me.
"Good morning, sir. The breakfast is ready and it will be served in a moment." She says.
And I nod at her, then put my hand over my mouth to yawn. Three something hours after waking up and I'm still groggy, damn.
Well this is what happens when I haven't eaten breakfast just after waking up.
She serves me some avocado toast with bacon and fresh cut fruits. Delicious. I just need some chai and I will be perfect.
"Also sir, Mr. Maxwell asked you to be ready by 12:30. Mr. Belladonna is going to pick you up for your flight."
And I choke. Wait-what? Did she say Mr. Belladonna is gonna pick you up?
I don't think any chai can fix this.
A/N??
Oopsie...well that was damn....
Am I cruel, if I added we can't be friends to the chapter which is literally called we can be friends?
Is this the answer to Zane's question?
Also, Mr. Belladonna? Who's that?????
Thoughts on the chapter? ??
Comments? ??
Votes? ??