Perfect Imperfections

Chapter 9 - No fairytale

CHAPTER NINE

I still want you to stay

××××××

I woke up to strong, cosy arms wrapped around my waist. I melted into the embrace, a delightful smile spreading on my face. It had been a long time since I woke up to something other than a cold, empty bed and a tired, broken heart, all wrapped in an everlasting loneliness. But that morning, I felt warm. The kind I never thought I would be able to feel again.

My eyes shifted to Evan and my stomach dropped. His long eyelashes dipped in the sunlight coming from the windows, his toned chest partly visible from underneath the sheets, his full swollen lips slightly parted and his large biceps around my body had me thinking that if angels existed, this is what they would look like.

A part of me wanted to wake him up with a kiss and another one wanted to slap him.

I slowly freed myself from him and picked up my clothes. Was it wrong to forget your past for one night to make yourself feel something in the present? Nothing had changed between me and Evan, if anything, things were bound to be worse now that we slept together, but I didn't completely regret it. Some things are so wrong, but feel so right, you can't help but let them happen even if your brain is screaming at you to stop.

Maybe this could be your final goodbye.

A pang of hurt hit me on the thought. Last night we tasted like hatred and love, two emotions we felt deeply for each other. Last night, we threw rationality out of the window, but now it was back. And along with it, it brought back all the questions that had been haunting me for a year, questions about why things happened the way they did. And that brought the realization that it was best to leave because we couldn't last for more than a night, not after everything.

I glanced back once, bit my lip, then forced myself to turn back around and leave.

$~*~*~$

Evan woke up to an empty bed. There was no sign of Flora, she was gone. If it wasn't for her lingering scent and the vivid memories of her touch that Evan could still feel on his body, he would've doubted if last night even happened.

He ran his hands through his messy, morning hair in distress, biting his lip when an image of Flora from last night flashed in his mind. He sighed and rubbed his eyes.

He was so angry with her last night. In fact he had been so angry with her since a really long time. But what pissed him off the most was that despite all of it, he couldn't help but feel something towards her. The frustration of wanting each other while wanting to do nothing with each other made them both reckless and impulsive and they did the one thing that was bound to complicate things further.

Evan didn't know what he was expecting out of Flora staying, but he was still pissed at her for running away in the morning. He wondered if she regretted last night. He knew he didn't. There was no reason, no explanation for their actions, but then again, there never is when it comes to them.

But he was determined to get some answers this time. She could leave  before he woke up and she could pretend like nothing happened, but she couldn't escape Evan forever. Because he had no intentions of letting her, not this time.

$~*~*~$

Flora spent the entire morning drowning herself in work, which was only partly an excuse to avoid the consequences of the previous night since the guests were supposed to be arriving that day. She had to arrange taxis to pick them up from the airport, allocate rooms and make sure everyone was settled and comfortable. Throw in an overexcited uncle determined to get drunk the moment he is off the plane and bridesmaid more focused on shopping in the city rather than spending time with the bride herself, Flora pretty much had her plate full. They were kicking off the wedding week with a welcome cocktail party in the evening so preparations for that were going full fledged as well.