Chapter 5 No.5

Heather's POV:

Everything suddenly seemed to be happening in a muted, slo-mo scene: the hearty hug, the exchanged warm smiles, the forehead kiss. I tried not to blink for fear of missing out on any second of the horror unfolding before my eyes while my brain worked tirelessly to process what on earth was going on.

My eyes must be playing tricks on me! This could not be happening!

The man, who was the reason behind my pain, the reason why I'd been bawling my eyes out for almost a week, was now in front of me, pressing his lips to my sister's flawless forehead and asking her how her trip was in a very endearing manner.

What the actual fuck?

Was this the reason why he'd terminated the contract? Was my sister the 'love of his life' he'd been waiting for for almost nine years?

It couldn't be–

"Sis, meet my friend, the one I told you about, Asher. Ashy, this is my cousin. Her name is Heather." Eudora was all smiles as she did the introductions, and Asher readily stretched his hands before even bothering to look away from Eudora.

He was so mesmerized by her beauty, so wrapped up in his affection for her, that he didn't even notice that I, his used tissue, was who he was being introduced to.

When his striking eyes darkened, and he visibly stiffened, I confirmed the answers to all of the questions that ravaged my mind.

The answers were devastating, leaving my heart and innards in turmoil.

I imagined whoever controlled my fate laughing at the sick joke they'd just turned my life into.

What were the fucking odds that the very man that'd skewered my heart for fun and casually told me to steer clear of him would pick Eudora, of all people, as the love of his life?

My fucking sister, of all people!

I would have laughed if I wasn't on the verge of freaking out.

"Heather..." I suddenly felt like I was walking through a dark tunnel, and someone at the far end of it was calling my name.

"Heather..." the darkness wasn't just visual; I could feel the darkness beginning to consume me, and it was spreading through me with the speed of light, ironically.

"Heather!"

I snapped out of it, and suddenly, I was in a restaurant, seated opposite Eudora. She had a bright smile, but it was marred by an emotion I couldn't quite make out.

"Are you okay, Heather?" she asked quietly as she placed her palm above mine on the table between us. Genuine concern laced her tone.

Still standing impossibly close to her chair was Asher. It wasn't a nightmare after all. This was as real as the glare he was stoning my way.

"Okay, I'm getting a weird vibe from the both of you. Is someone going to tell me what is going on? Do you guys know each other or–"

"No!"

It wasn't just me that cut Eudora short with an answer. Asher spat his response at the same time as me. His deathly glare still trained on me.

I tore my eyes away from him to look at my sister. She didn't seem convinced by the chorused reply. If anything, her suspicion had probably skyrocketed by how we answered her question too quickly. I had to come up with something fast to alleviate her suspicion.

"I'm just..." I started before thinking of what to say, "Starstruck. Yes, that's the word. I mean, I've seen this man's picture on the front page of several business magazines. Meeting Asher Welty in person surely feels like meeting a celebrity."

Eudora chuckled lightly in response. All her initial uneasiness seemed to have cleared. "You didn't feel this way when you picked me up earlier," she said with a cute pout, "but I forgive you. Ashy does have that effect on women."

Ashy? She even had a nickname for him?

"Have your seat here, babe." Eudora beckoned to the empty seat beside her, directly opposite me. "I know you feel like an intruder being amongst sisters. I tried to remedy that with a double date. Due to the last-minute arrangements, however, my sister's boyfriend cannot make it, so you're stuck with us..."

I almost winced at the deliberate emphasis on the word 'boyfriend.' It was as though Eudora was trying to warn Asher off of me and, simultaneously, reminding me that her man was off limits because I had a man of my own, too.

Clever but unnecessary. The last place I wanted to be was anywhere near this man.

"Let's eat. I'm totally famished from the entire flight over..."

Eudora was extra chirpy as she waved a waiter over and made the orders. Even as we waited, she graciously punctuated the silence with frivolous girl talk, and the man seated beside her was all smiles as he ummed and ahhed in the appropriate places. He was probably so bedazzled by how eloquent and refined she was.

I felt myself sink deeper and deeper into my seat. The palpable tension almost suffocated me.

It got worse when the food arrived. Asher and Eudora conversed effortlessly like a couple on a date. I felt jealous because I'd barely ever experienced Asher being so easygoing with me.

I also felt like a third wheel because what was I doing at a table where two people were behaving like long-lost lovers, with Eudora dropping tidbits about her life abroad and Asher lapping it all up with the hunger of a child?

I felt lost, I felt pained, I felt heavy, I felt stupid, I felt sick, I felt–

"I'm going to the powder room, Heather. You wanna come with me?" Eudora's sing-song voice chimed up. I almost flinched at how loud it was.

I shook my head apologetically and watched her blinding smile crack before she reluctantly stood up and sashayed toward the bathroom.

The tension, which my sister's brightness had disguised, was on full display now, and it was choking, to say the least.