Chapter VII: " There's only me, there's only you. "

I wore a black short a-line dress with a yellow floral pattern with black pumps while waiting for Athier.

Finally, I opened the door after hearing a knock. Athier stood there, he was silent as he looked at me.

He was in a black jacket with a grey t-shirt underneath and black pants. His hair was not as sleeked back, it was pushed to the front to form bangs.

"If you keep look at me like some meal you won't have much appetite for our dinner." I sent my words his way. They didn't sway him in the least.

"You look nice," he admitted. No retort? 

Hmm? I wondered, gazing up at him. His exhausted mood from earlier had subsided, he looked much better now. Only, his eyes looked like ice, reflective but dry.

"Is there a problem?" Athier inquired at me.

"Nothing. Let's go." I said stepping out and locking the door behind me.

Mom was out on a business trip for three days. With the exception of the househelp who was around earlier in the evening,  I'm all alone.

"Where do you want to go?. "He blurted after sliding into his car and starting it.

"Since it's only 9 pm, I think we should go to pierce restaurant. " I answered already in the car.

"Think? you asked me out with no idea of where you wanted us to go. " He rose his eyebrows as he stared at the road in front of him.

I shrugged, "The Pierce Restaurant, the one that is close to the park is nice," I lay out the sentence in a statement rather than a suggestion this time. 

The ride was devoid of conversation, ballads blasted through the radio filled the air in the car, allowing anxiety to creep up to me.

I played with my fingers intertwining them. I noticed Athier took glances at me here and there when he thought I wasn't looking. 

Once we arrived, he parked in the parking lot, got out of the car, and began strolling towards the restaurant. I stayed in the car.

When he noticed I wasn't behind him he turned back. "Why haven't you gotten out?", he asked.

"You're supposed to open my door." I said innocently, trying to be extra annoying. He eyed me for a bit then to the passenger side and opened the door.

"After you, your majesty." he mocked bitterly. I rolled my eyes and strolled with him behind me to the building with the large Pierce restaurant sign.

When we got to the table, we sat there with nothing to say to each other.

It was quiet. The waitress greeted us and took our order. She was nice, nice enough to tell Athier how lucky he was to have and I quote 'such a beautiful girlfriend'.

We were quick to clear that up. She smiled sweetly at us and walked away with our written order.

"So, how's college?" I asked starting a conversation, tired of the deafening silence. "Exactly how college would be." He shrugged probably not wanting to go into it. Ever since Athier left two years ago, he hasn't come back until now, so his past two years in college were a mystery to me.

The little things I noticed about him were quite different since his return. They all lead to me seeing him as more serene, calm and observing.

Was there some epiphany he had come across while he was away?

“Where did you really go when you left our engagement?” Athier questioned breaking the silence?

“Nowhere, I just wanted to be dramatic. I’ve always admired runaway brides.” I replied with a fake smile on my lips. I grabbed the water in a wine glass on our table and took a sip.

“Do you use theatrics to run away from your deeply rooted problems instead of staying grounded and facing them?” He asked

“What are you, my therapist.” I spat out, hostile at his question. Who was he to pry?

“Maybe I do. Maybe I’m the result of  past trauma.” I replied, casually taking another sip of water.

“Some people would call your actions cowardly or irrational.” He shrugged. I dropped the glass back on the table forcefully. A few drops of water splash on the table.

Cowardly?

“Some people pride themselves in rationality completely disregarding that not everyone can be a stoic robot with no regret. Humans are characterized by emotions… forgive me for having some!” I reacted to his words while wiping the water that had spilled forcefully with a napkin.

I looked out the window steadying my mind. Presently, I was thankful that we got a window seat.

Who was he to call me a coward?

Of course someone like him would.

He didn't understand what it was like to be plagued constantly by nightmares that were your past.

He didn't know how suffocating it was to have to watch everyone be fine.

I've also pondered. I've wondered what it would be like to stay grounded, not feeling like you are floating in space and time.

"Here's what you ordered, " said the nice young waitress that took our orders, dropping our meals on the table.

I dug into my steak, not wanting to continue the conversation with Athier.

By the time we finished, it was about 10:30.

We walked out of the restaurant after settling the bill no longer bothering with chit-chat.

I refused to go back to tha car, claiming the night was still young and we should take a walk around the park close by.

"It's past park hours. "Athier pointed out. I didn't care.

I tried to go in but Athier grabbed my wrist preventing me.

"I'm not getting into trouble because of you again. " He said, his resolve fixed, but, so was mine. I went into the park slipping out of Athier's grip. He followed me swiftly.

It wasn't long before we heard police sirens and saw the lights drive towards us.

Athier finally caught up to me and he was unruffled. He grabbed my hand and led me out of the park with clear vibrant frustration on his face.

Athier held my hand tightly as we moved closer to his car, "Don't even think about running again. " He said and I rose my hands up, I was done running.

He, on the other hand, would do well consider it.

I began deeply faining struggling to get away from his grip even thought it was a strong grip. He didn't let go mostly out of confusion. I smiled to myself.

"Let go of me! "I yelled.

"Why are you suddenly yelling. Please don’t make a scene." He said holding on to me.

"I said let go of me!" I shouted even louder, then he got even more perplexed.

My yelling grabbed the attention of a policeman.

"Is there a problem." the policeman asked, rolling up to us in his car. I faked a distressed demeanor.

"Officer, this man won't let me go. " I cried. "He's hurting me." I looked at Athier with and icy glare.

"I'm not," Athier said letting go of me abruptly and sternly looking at me. I looked away dramatically.

"Excuse me, ma'am, is this man harassing you? " The African American cop asked me almost too sincerely. My lips dared to betray me but I put them under the control.

"Yes." I nodded feebly. "He doesn't just get the hint officer."

"That's not true officer, tell him it's not true. "Athier glared at me.

"Sir, I'm going to need you to calm down. "The ‘officer’ said walking up to us. He held his hand out cautiously as he approached as if encountering a stray dog.

"This is just a misunderstanding; She is my fiancé. Unfortunately, she has a history of mental illness." He defended, straining his face when he uttered fiancé.

The officer turned to me for confirmation. I shook my head, denying the allegations of being engaged to Athier. Athier moved towards me and grabbed my shoulders. I faked a wince.

The officer pulled Athier away from me and handcuffed him. I rolled my hands; He handcuffed him with plastic handcuffs, Athier was too busy glaring at me to notice.

"What are you doing?" Athier asked the officer. “I’ve nothing wrong.”

"Apologize to the young lady right now. Or I’m going to have to detain you. " The officer claimed.

Athier said nothing.

Author's Note:

Honest conversations and less fun interactions... what to do, I like the carefree fun Malia and the aloof Athier. *sad face emoji*