in which past meets future in an alternate reality; how they existed not as immortal beings but as mere mortals with an all-seeing eye, and where they meet to create everlasting time
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ACT I, SCENE VII
There are moments in the world when the world stops and there are moments that you wished the world would stop. Those moments are the ones you want to replay, to repeat, so that you can live in that moment forever. This might have been a strange moment for someone to want to repeat but it was a moment she wanted to live on forever. She wanted to take a snapshot of this very moment, so everyone's expressions would be forever set in stone. She wanted to remember Carlyle behind the wheel, getting increasingly infuriated with Gideon with every passing moment; his hands gripping the wheel so hard his knuckles turned white, his jaw clenched so tight the vein along his neck looked like it was about to burst. She wanted to remember the way Gideon leaned against the seat, arms crossed, looking so relaxed and satisfied with the way he riled Carlyle up. She wanted to capture her heart's feelings in this moment. The way her heart felt full. The way she laughed so light-heartedly when Gideon joked with her, the way her cheeks flamed when she and Carlyle made eye contact and the way she felt at peace with the way everything fell together so perfectly. She knew she could trust her gut feeling. She knew tonight would end well.
"How did you know I didn't drink, Delphia?" Carlyle asked, looking at her reflection in the mirror. "Yeah, how did you know that? You weren't even with him." Gideon questioned, turning around in his seat to face her. Her heart started to pound, and blood rushed to her face. She brought a hand to her flaming face, hoping that the darkness masked her rose-tinted cheeks. She looked back at Carlyle, and seeing those eyes, the way his eyes seemed to pierce through her, seeing through her, she felt that he already knew the answer without her reply. It unnerved her. True, she had been observing him during the whole length of the party, but she had also looked into the future, to this moment where he would ask her this question, to her reply and his. It unnerved her, the way he looked at her as if he could see everything in her head. Her head was somewhere he would not want to be. She decided to push away the negativity. There was no way he could see through her, see through her ruse and see that she could see the future. It was impossible. But again, who is she to say what was impossible. It was impossible to see the future as well, but she was able to. "I was observing you during the party. You held the drink but never drank it," she told him, looking at him straight in the eye. He seemed pleased with the answer, nodding his head, deciding to look back at the road. "You need to have better taste then, Delphia. Carlyle is no fine man. Don't think that his silent, mysterious façade is alluring. Beneath all that, is a conflicted man with one too many issues."
"What issue do you have with me, huh? Why do you keep picking at me?" This could not be happening. Delphia sat a little straighter. Gideon swirled his head away from Carlyle, opting to look out the window rather than replying Carlyle. "Guys..." she tried. "Tell me. What do you not like about me? You don't even know me. What did I do to you that made you hate me so much?" Carlyle demanded, sounding harsher than Delphia felt was necessary. She should have looked further into the future then. If she knew that such a fight would be brewing, she would have chosen another course of action, an alternate future. "Everything." Gideon spat out, still not turning to face Carlyle.
Trepidation started to settle in the car. Delphia looked out of the car, at the night sky. She admired the twinkling stars in the midnight blue sky. When she focused, she could see the future in the sky. She could see the fight, the resolution, the possible courses of actions. Although being able to peer into the future was a gift, it was a gift Delphia tend not to use too often. She would rather experience the true happenings, the ugly fights and beautiful moments when it came. What good is there knowing the future if it diminishes the true beauty of the moment itself? So what if being able to look into future guaranteed a good ending? Life was not only about those good moments, the moments that the world would stop for, it was also about the dark moments, the moments that seemed to drag out forever. She was all for the true experience. However, that did not mean she did not sought advice in the future. Once in a while, she would peer into the future, but more often than not, she looked for the best course of action that would lead to the best possible outcome for others. It was rare that she would look into the future for personal gain.
"That's specific." Carlyle drew out, sharply rounding a bend. "Yeah, it is. You have an issue with that?" Carlyle let out a bitter laugh. "Gideon Hallmark, son of the owner of Hallmark Enterprise. Does daddy know you hooked up with a man last summer? Does he know that you two didn't go unseen?" Delphia tried to force some shock onto her face. She also tried pulling unconscious Rosine into a safer position. "Pull over. I said pull over, jackass! You think you can threaten me with that? Do you think you can make use of me just because you saw me hooking up with a guy once? Pull over! I said pull over! If you don't pull over now, I will sock you in the face right now! Do you understand me, Carlyle?" The car pulled to a stop by the side of the road. Carlyle turned his body towards Gideon. "So what if I saw you with a man? What makes you think I will tell anyone? What makes you think I lack the emotional quotient to judge for myself whether it was something suitable to tell? It's your sexuality. I don't care. If it is something that you have already come in terms to already, it would be something you would have already said. If you haven't come in terms with your sexuality, who am I to confront you about it? Get it into your head, Gideon Hallmark. I don't care about your sexuality. I won't tell. I may be old fashioned, but I can differentiate between what can be said and what can't be said. So what if you are gay or bisexual? It's the twenty-first century, same-sex marriage is legalised in USA already."
Gideon sits still in his seat, unmoving and wordless. He wore the same expression Delphia saw him wear that day in the stairwell. The same knotted eyebrows and deep-set frown. The same crinkled forehead and same cheeks lined with the same frown lines. This is must be what he was deliberating over that day. Gideon does not reply, choosing to remain silent. Carlyle lets out a sigh and starts the car again. That was how the rest of the journey went; silent except for occasional sighs.
Gideon left right after he helped her carry Rosine back to the dormitory. After Delphia carefully tucked Rosine into bed, she beckoned Carlyle to go outside with her.
Delphia looked at him through thickly veiled eyelashes. His blue eyes shine in the dark, making him look like a cat in the night. "You said all that to spite Gideon, didn't you?" She asked, rocking back and forth on the ball of her foot. His lips pulled into a small smile. She let out a laugh. "You did, didn't you? How did you know that was bothering him?" He shrugged. "I just had a feeling. Just like how I have a feeling you didn't ask me to come out just to ask this." Thinking of her heartsick roommate, Delphia mustered up the courage. "Well... uhm... I know I am in no place to say this but I feel that you and Rosine should talk. I don't mean you must talk now but when it all blows over or something... you know, talk to her?" Carlyle looked at her and the look he gave her, gave her shivers. He looked at her with a small smile that looked innocent yet suggestive, with raised eyebrows that seemed to mock her yet praise her. She did not know what to think when it came to him. He took a step towards her and her breath hitched. In that split second, all her senses heightened, and she became hyper aware of everything, her surroundings and him.
He leaned in, the same way Gideon did earlier that day. She felt a faint tickle by her ear and the gentlest breath against her cheek. Her heart raced, and a faint blush dusted her cheeks.
