Chapter 5: Engagement Entanglement
2032 Words
Autumn’s P.O.V.
A waiter passed by us and offered some champagne.
I grabbed one and took a sip of the sparkling beverage.
Freya was standing close beside me while she and my brother were talking about something.
After a couple of minutes, a beautiful woman was walking towards us. My brother excused himself from Freya and met with the woman.
They had a brief conversation while placing an arm around her curvy waist then my brother brought the woman in his arms to us.
“My love, meet my sister Autumn and this is Freya, one of my closest friends. This is my lovely fiancé, Eris Ward. She’s a brilliant obstetrician, we met at the hospital.”
We briefly shook hands with her and I gave her a smile.
“It's nice to finally meet the woman responsible for tying down my i***t brother. You look like an intelligent woman, what are you doing with him?” I said with a questioning look.
I could see my brother glaring at me behind her while still being annoyingly clingy to his fiancé.
The woman was undoubtedly beautiful, she was tall and had dazzling ebony complexion covering her curvaceous body. Even without knowing that she was a doctor, you could already see from how she handles herself that she was a confident and smart woman. My brother really hit the jackpot with this one.
Eris chuckled, “Well your brother was really persistent. Even after rejecting him a couple of times, he wouldn’t leave me alone until I got tired and finally gave him a chance. After that, I figured he wasn’t that bad so here we are.”
Hunter pouted like a child, “Why are the two of you so mean to me? I’m a wonderful catch. Anyone would be lucky to have me as their husband. I’m smart, handsome and not to mention, great in bed.” He said while looking at Eris and gave her a wink. The woman just rolled her eyes at my brother.
“Okay. First of all, ew. And Secondly, yuck.”
They all laughed so I joined in. The four of us spent a couple of minutes talking about random stuff and we got to know more about Eris. She was a delightful woman, she is kind of serious but she does know how to joke around occasionally. Especially when she supports me at bullying my brother.
I can already tell that we’ll get along great.
***
Freya and Hunter went somewhere else to look for their other friends while I was left with Eris. We were still standing at the deck enjoying the ocean breeze. It was a windy night but the cold air was quite soothing.
We were both silent for a couple of minutes. She was a quiet person and I was a little bit of an introvert so neither of us was talking for a while. I was fine talking to her earlier because my brother and Freya were there but now that they are not, I was hesitant to talk.
I just decided to look around the party and my eyes immediately found Freya laughing hysterically with their group of friends.
Goodness! That woman could light up the whole world with her mesmerizing smile. I didn’t notice that I was staring at her for a long time until I was disturbed.
“Do you like her?” Eris asked, then took a sip of her drink.
“Huh? Who?” I asked in confusion.
“Freya, your brother’s friend.”
“Why do you think so? Did my brother say something to you.” I said while squinting at her.
She gave out a chuckle and gave me a knowing smirk. “You’ve been staring at her like a lovesick puppy..”
“I do like her but I’ve already been rejected a long time ago.” I said while laughing bitterly.
There was no point hiding it. I really need to control my emotions when it comes to Freya. She can’t find out that I still have feelings for her. I’m pretty sure that she’ll think that I was pathetic.
“Sorry bout’ that but you still like her, huh? Understandable, considering that she is hot. If I wasn’t with you brother, I might have hit on her.” She said with a teasing smile.
I stared at her in bewilderment.
“I’m bisexual, by the way.”
“Oh, that’s cool.” I said while nodding my head.
“Don’t worry, I was just messing with you. I won’t steal her away from you. But what are your plans? Do you plan to harbor feelings for her forever or something?”
“I really don’t know. I’ve been avoiding her for years and all of a sudden we unexpectedly met again. I don’t know what I should do. I’m still thinking about it.”
“Well, if you need any advice, you can come talk to me.” She said while giving me a kind smile.
I know that the two of us just met and I’m already trusting this woman with my secrets but I felt that I could trust her. And I’m happy to have her as a sister-in-law.
I smiled back and had another glass of champagne.
***
After a couple of hours, everyone was asked to gather at the deck. According to my brother, only a few of us were aware that this was an engagement party, most of the guests only thought that this was a normal party hosted by our parents.
It was time for the couple to finally announce their engagement to everyone. We all gave them applause and raised our glasses during the toast. The guests approached them in succession to congratulate them.
While my family was busy with entertaining the guests, I walked towards the least populated area of the yacht. I leaned my forearms to the side railing of the yacht, just enjoying the cold air and the view of the mesmerizing full moon.
“Penny for your thoughts? You look like you’re thinking over something deeply.” I startled a little but I knew who it was by their wonderful scent and sensual voice.
I gave her a small smile, “It’s nothing, just random stuff.” I shrugged.
We bathe in a moment of silence. I was turning to face her when the boat suddenly swayed. I lost my balance and fell forwards. Thankfully, I didn’t fall out of the boat.
Arms were on my waist catching me from my fall.
“You’ve got to work on your balance, you're always falling. It’s a good thing that I’m always there to catch you.”
Oh, the irony! I don’t think she knows the weight of those words to me.
When I finally had the mind to stand straight, our eyes locked on each other.
“I don’t think I’ve told you how beautiful you are tonight, Kitten. You’ve matured into a fine lady.“ She whispered while we were facing each other closely.
What the hell is this woman’s deal? Why does she have to say things like that to me? How in the world will I ever get over her if she always says those kinds of words to me? It probably means nothing to her but her words affect me greatly, making me fall for her over and over again.
For a second time in my life, I decided to be rash and went with my impulse.
“Freya, I’m not really the type of person to beat around the bush so I’m just going to say it to finally get this out of my chest… I still like you, even after eight years. I still can’t stop thinking about you.” I bit my lower lip in anticipation and looked down to the floor like it was the most interesting thing in the world.
Holy Sheep!
As soon as those words came out of my mouth, I wanted to take it back. What the hell are you doing Autumn? Are you freaking insane? Are you seriously ready to hurt yourself like this again? Am I a masochist?
Ugh! Too many questions, I feel like my head is about to explode.
My mental turmoil was cut off by a sigh.
“Oh, Kitten. I don’t want to hurt you again. Don’t get me wrong, anyone would be lucky to have you. I just-...”
I cut her off, “It’s fine! I don’t mind being hurt. We can take it slow. Just give me a chance to show you how much I can give to you. And if it doesn’t work out between us, fine by me. We’ll just keep the relationship that we have.”
“You said something similar eight years ago, the first time around we did this. Then, after what happened, you avoided me and never spoke to me again.” She said with apprehension.
“I was young, you know how irrational teenagers are. We’re both mature adults now. Trust me, I can handle it.”
Did I sound too desperate?
Oh well, who cares? I just want to fight for my love.
Freya stared at me like she was reading my face. Searching for any signs of uncertainty.
All she’ll see from me, was my unceasing love for her and iron clad determination.
I have a passive personality, I don’t usually care about anything and just go with the flow, especially when it comes to people because I usually can’t handle confrontations well.
But I’m in no way a pushover, occasionally, when I know that I want something, you can bet that I will try my damndest to have my way.
Freya was one of the things in my life that I was willing to fight for.
I’m usually indifferent towards other people, some of the people I’ve dated often called me cold and that’s why I knew that Freya was special to me.
She was the only one that could make me feel something. When I’m around her, I can’t help myself from being absolutely and irrevocably in love with her.
Once again, she sighed.
She used her thumb and forefinger to lift my chin up, to look at her beautiful eyes once again.
“Are you absolutely sure about this?” She questioned with a stern tone.
I gulped, feeling flustered with our close proximity.
“Yes.” I said in a soft whisper, I wasn’t even sure if she heard me.
She got a hold of both of my hands and gave them a squeeze. “Fine. I don’t think anything bad will happen if we gave it a try. We’ll take it slow and we’ll see it from there.” Then she gave me a smile.
I was undeniably ecstatic but this didn’t guarantee anything. I could still be hurt later on and maybe I’m just prolonging her inevitable rejection but one could only hope for the best. I’ll just try to promise myself not to get too worked up about this.
I finally got my chance with her, I should try my best not to screw this opportunity up.
“Well, shall we go back and join the party?” She said while holding out her hand to me.
I gladly took it and savored the tingles that I was feeling from touching her.
| Jan.20.21 |
- Writer
