I loved Christian, and it was only a matter of time before everyone, including him, knew. What would happen then, I had never dared to imagine.

But now, pictures began to emerge in the most obscure corner of my heart.

I saw Allison.

How would she react when she discovered that I had long since been in love with her brother? I didn’t think it was proper to tell her, and I kept it to myself for so long.

But I wasn’t totally to blame.

I didn’t know my crush on him would graduate to overwhelming feelings such as these. About ten years back, it had been unimaginable.

Christian was going to be out of town for three days.

I knew I would definitely feel his absence, but I wanted to use the opportunity to reflect on what to do.

I felt this palpable ugly feeling that consistently spoke ill to my mind; that I was breaching some kind of law on relationships and I wasn’t truthful to my friends.

Perhaps, if I took time to think about it, I would find peace in my resolution.

*****

The following morning would have broken out fresh and clear, but my sound sleep was disturbed by the continuous revving of someone’s bike.

I was forced to open my window in order to find out who the offender was.

In the sunlight outside, I could see a teen on his bike in front of another duplex that shared her fence with me.

An older man with a bushy mustache was carrying boxes inside from a truck, and it looked like they were just moving in.

The mother, a petite blonde in a flowy dress, appeared at the entrance, yelling at the boy to go inside.

At last, he dashed inside, sparing me an earache.

Glancing at the alarm clock on my bedside table, I realized I might just have woken up in time to prepare for Christian’s departure.

I slipped down the bed, and I got myself cleaned up. I ran the entire way to Christian’s house, hovering outside to calm my breath. I called Liam and asked how close he was to the house.

Christian was already up and ready to go when I stepped in. He was reading the papers and didn’t look up when I came in.

“Liam said he would be here in five minutes,” I said by way of hello.

“Good.”

If I could read people, I could swear he was anxious, at the very least.

“Is there anything else you’d like for me to arrange?” I asked.

“No,” he curtly replied, and the entire house slipped into silence.

When Liam arrived, and had put his suitcase in the trunk of the car, we drove out onto the road and headed to the airport.

And as much as I tried to refrain from looking at him, I stole forbidden glances at him, though I might not have successfully been covert with them.

It worried me that his beautiful eyes were as cold as ice and as distant as the sky from the earth. But I couldn’t bring myself to ask him what was wrong.

I swallowed up my plethora of questions as I watched him move farther and farther away from me. It was as though we were being separated again.

“Shall we leave?” Liam’s impatient voice jolted me out of my thoughts.

Without looking back, I entered the car, and he drove away.

*****

There wasn’t a lot of communication between us the entire day. I had no idea how much it affected my mood until my mother called late in the afternoon while I was having my lunch break, and asked why I sounded so low.

“Is this about Christian?” She ultimately asked.

“No,” I lied.

“What is it then?” She persisted.

My mind was so blank that I couldn’t conjure up a lie that Christian would not appear in, so I chose to keep quiet.

“Is this about your father?” She solemnly queried. I felt a pang of fresh sorrow hit through my body. I recalled the depth of pain I had felt upon the news of his death, and I thought I was going to relive it.

“I know you miss him, and living in Laketown must be hard on you,” she said, and I could hear the concern in her voice.

I have been trying to not think about it. In my head, my father was dead, and there was nothing I could do but accept it. The emotion started a thought in my mind. My father was buried here, in Laketown, so I could definitely visit his grave.

“I’m fine,” I replied. “Work was just stressful today.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes. Tell me how the bakery is fairing these days that your favorite attraction isn’t there to help you bring in customers.”

My mother laughed, loud and happy. And launched into tales about her customers. It made me smile, and I considered it a perfect way to spend my lunch break.

When I was about to leave work late in the afternoon, I saw a woman lashing out at Mason in front of the building.

She looked furious, and in the car behind them, a young girl of about eight was peering innocently out of the window.

Apparently, he had felt eyes were on him, and as soon our eyes locked, I fled from the scene.

Throughout my ride home, I kept thinking about him and the woman who looked like she could raise hell from the slightest provocation.

As I joined the pieces together, I recalled I might have seen the woman before.

Yes! She was the next-door neighbor who had just moved in the previous day.