“I would be a cheat then.” She flashed her eyes open.
“I don’t think that makes you one though.” I switched off the TV.
She was momentarily quiet.
“For how many days will you be away in Japan?” She asked, somewhat out of the box.
“Three days, at most,” I responded.
Then she fell quiet again, her eyes closed in a half-lidded gaze, and her lips slightly parted.
“I need to leave now.” She rose to her feet, collecting her things from the sofa.
Her mood had suddenly changed, and I wondered what the cause was.
“I’ll see you off.” I got up in a suit.
“No, never mind. We are neighbors, remember?”
“Yes,” I didn’t think it wise to press it further.
“I had a good time here. Thank you, boss.” She comically saluted.
“You’re welcome.”
“Ah, lest I forget. You’ve not had dinner yet.” She mentioned.
“It’s late already,” I concluded, though my stomach terribly grumbled.
Chapter Seven
Fiona
My mind had traveled so far that I was more or less detached from my actual environment. I felt it was rather impossible to hold back my feelings for him any longer.
I knew I had almost betrayed myself tonight. I doubted if he didn’t notice how my eyes conspicuously displayed how I felt for him.
Perhaps I hadn’t thought it through when I accepted the job offer. Maybe I had underestimated my feelings and the spontaneity associated with love.
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.
