Chapter 5

Lucian's POV

When my gaze met Vanessa's, I didn't know what to make of the anger and jealousy that I saw in her eyes.

For a moment, I wondered when Vanessa started getting jealous, seeing me with other women.

I would have sworn that she was just up to her usual shenanigans, but I was flabbergasted at how that anger and jealousy in her eyes looked so real.

After embracing the hell out of me earlier, she had left me briefly to say hello to another man who she must have known from somewhere else.

Vanessa and I were just friends, so I didn't see anything wrong with that. I didn't even feel a pang of jealousy as she smiled before the man, who was also wearing a small mask.

My parents had not only been pressuring me to get married soon. Like I was a fool who couldn't make decisions for himself, they had decided that I'd get married to Vanessa.

I had always considered their resolve and determination a silly joke that was worth laughing over.

First, I wasn't ready to get married. Second, I had never imagined Vanessa being more than a friend to me. And third, I would never allow them to choose for me. I get to decide who I want to settle down with.

But then, my eyes didn't dwell too long on Vanessa. My gaze flicked back to the same person who had riveted my attention from the moment she stepped inside the ballroom.

When I asked for a dance in Vanessa's absence, I was glad she didn't turn me down.

I was so lost in the dance with the strange woman and the way she carried herself with grace that I didn't notice Vanessa had returned but kept her distance, watching us angrily as we danced.

Before I could say a word, the masked woman excused herself, leaving Vanessa and me gazing at each other.

“Vanessa!” I only said as I watched her stride towards me to close the distance between us.

Even as she strode past the masked woman who just left my presence, she didn't spare the fully masked woman a glance. Her eyes were fixated on me as her brows furrowed in a frown.

“You!” she said, pointing at me the moment she halted before me.

Confusion skated my expression at what she could be hinting at. But I wanted to be sure it was the same thing I was thinking—that I danced with someone else.

Before I could open my mouth to ask her what the matter was, she confirmed my speculation. “You couldn't wait for me to return, and you went ahead to dance with some stranger.”

For a minute, I didn't even know how to react to what she just said because I was thrown to see her make such a big deal out of the simple dance I had with someone else when she had also left me earlier to greet some other guy.

I didn't even take that to heart at all.

Even when I secretly found out about her promiscuousness, I didn't judge her, nor did I say a word about it to her because I believed that even as friends, we should respect each other's lifestyle and relationships.

Just when I was resisting the urge to spell it out to Vanessa that we were just friends—not lovers—so she should not get ahead of herself, Vanessa spoke up again.

“What are we, Lucian?” She dared to ask what I tried not to accentuate as I didn't want to hurt her.

Even though the question caught me by surprise, I still found myself chuckling.

“C'mon, what kind of question is that?” I replied, still laughing. But the moment I saw how serious her expression was, my laughter died on my lips as if by magic.

I tried to be serious too, even when I had a feeling that this could still end up as a gag where Vanessa would end up laughing at me, saying ‘You need to see your face right now,’ and I'll join in laughing too.

“We're still friends, or aren't we anymore? I replied with a question.

“Just friends?” I saw her eyes dilate and hurt flashed across her face.

Before I could open my mouth to say something, she beat me to it.

“Lucian,” she called softly and I only looked at her to show that I was all ears.

“When you were away,” she began, “do you have the slightest idea how much I missed you? How much I longed to see you again?”

For a moment, I froze at her words as I found myself pondering over them.

It's normal for her to miss me, I thought, because I wouldn't deny that I also missed her lively spirit. Still, I saw no reason why she made it sound as though everything was deeper than it seemed.

“You wouldn't know!” Her voice cut through my line of thought again, and I was taken aback when I saw her eyes brimming with unshed tears

The next thing I knew, a tear trickled down her face, accompanied by another. Before I knew it, it became incessant, as though she was intent on crying me a river.

For a moment, I forgot Vanessa was human—a woman especially. I forgot she could cry too.

I couldn't believe my eyes. Was this the same Vanessa I knew or she had been cloned? I asked myself inwardly.

The same Vanessa that used to match up my style of not giving a damn about almost everything? She had always been a jovial friend who had never shown me a vulnerable side of her until now.

Is this some prank or what? I turned around to see if there were some videographers shooting videos of us, but there weren't any around us.

At first, I thought It was the quantity of liquor that she had taken that was at work, making her spill words that she would never say to me normally. But when I saw those tears on her face, I realized it was deeper than what I had conjured.

She wasn't just literally pouring her heart tonight into every spoken word from her mouth alone. Her tears conveyed deeper emotions than her mouth could.

Then I felt a pang of guilt for my cavalier attitude towards her emotions.

One part of me reminded me that I hadn't wronged her in any way—she was the one who started catching feelings all of a sudden. That part of me kicked against the sudden impulse I had to apologize to her.

But I decided to listen to the other part of me which maintained that so long as she felt hurt by my indifference, I should still apologize to her and try to placate her.

As I tried to place a comforting hand on her shoulder, she yanked her hand away so forcefully that, coupled with her intoxication, she lost her footing which sent her falling to the ground.

But I was quick to grab her before she could fall completely.

Just then, I heard the brief screech of a chair against the floor and I looked to see that it was the masked woman that enchanted me earlier that was leaving the ballroom now.

Shit! She must have been watching me all along.

I watched her back as she strode to the exit, and I was still contemplating whether or not she left because she was angry when I saw another person staring at me with a smile that had me mystified.

I looked from one face to another and I saw that Vanessa and I were in the spotlight.

Even her father who was with the microphone hadn't begun his speech. His gaze was fixated on us. And he was also smiling sheepishly.

Now it was clear to me that even the same ones are nuts

I had been so lost in my conversation with Vanessa to notice all of these.

For a moment, I wondered why everyone was fussing so much as though they hadn't seen two people having a heartfelt conversation before.

Suddenly I felt a light air fan across my face and when I looked down, I realized that I was still holding Vanessa so firm by the waist and it would have been okay if it was just that.

Another light air fanned across my face and my eyes grew bigger when I saw that the soft air was from Vanessa's nostrils. And then I realized how close our lips were to each other.

One more inch closer, we would be kissing.