𝗜𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗰𝗶𝘁 𝗔𝗳𝗳𝗮𝗶𝗿𝘀 | 𝐁𝗼𝐛𝐛𝐲 𝐊𝐞𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐝𝐲/𝗥𝗙𝗞

XIV: "Surrounded by Trojans"

"Well, I think I should head home," Ted said as he was looking at his Omega Seamaster: a well-known water-resistant watch, it reflected him as a person with great fascination for the ocean.

"Thanks for the breakfast, Mrs. Bellamy." Ted grinned at the lady of the house. "Anytime, garçon," Julia said as she nodded her head. "Mr. Bellamy." Ted turned towards the slightly sunburned man. "Send my regards to your mother." Maurice stood when the boy did.

"I will, sir. Evelyn?" Ted glanced at Evelyn, his eyes as bright as day. "I'll be there. Same time, same spot?" The girl patted her yellow sundress as she approached Ted. "Yeah, five o'clock, the hottest spot." The boy added, he walked away from the patio. The French couple sat back down and started having a conversation on their own — in their native language.

"I'll walk you home." Evelyn chased after the boy. "Oh, you don't have to. In case you haven't noticed, I only live a minute away." Ted rubbed his arm in an attempt to produce heat on his freezing skin. "Don't be silly, I just want to talk to you a bit more." Evelyn then wrapped her hand on Ted's arm, he looked closely at her grip. "Ahem," The boy nervously coughed, a shade of red visibly tinted on his pale cheeks.

"Well, what is it you wanted to talk about?" The boy might be younger than Evelyn, but he was certainly taller than the girl. "Bobby." A sole word broke out of Evelyn's shivering lips. They walked in an unhurried manner to buy some extra time. "Oh, is this about... the suitor thing?" Ted rested his warm hand on top of Evelyn's cold one. "What exactly did he say?" The girl was struggling to be inconspicuous, but the curiosity was killing her. "It wasn't important, Eve." Ted felt inconvenienced, the whole morning had been odd for him — his only task was to ask Evelyn to join them, but it turned into an endless labyrinth of Bobby.

"Well, I need to know, Ted. You can't just say that he said that and— I don't know? Leave me in suspense?" Evelyn had overlooked sugarcoating her words, she was furious at Bobby and his questionable action. "You know what," Ted froze in his tracks, he yanked his arm off the girl's grips. "Fine. This is what he said— word by word." With the breeze blowing in his hair, he felt unknown fury rising through his body from his beating heart.

"'I'm curious about Eve,'" The grim look and the toneless voice from Ted made it harder for Evelyn to breathe. "'I wonder if she has someone. If she doesn't, I'd like to try and get with her.' And then he pulled me by the arm, and ordered me to ask you. Satisfied?" The boy walked forward, inching closer to Evelyn's face. Before the girl could utter a word, Ted walked past — making his way home alone.

"Ted, wait up!" Worried, Evelyn pursued after the young boy. She had to bear with the pain after she sprinted on the grass with her high heels. Ted, on the other hand, was clenching his jaw hard. To an extreme degree, he was planning a clandestine coup against Bobby; he knew if the man wanted Evelyn, he could do it easily. Therefore, he could not hide his feelings for the girl any longer — he had to make it obvious to her.

As soon as they arrived at the house, Evelyn succeeded in chasing him, grabbing him by the arm harshly. "Leave me alone!" Ted aggressively ripped his arm off Evelyn's clutch.

The girl stood on the porch with dilated eyes; more black than green, she was shell-shocked. Not once has she ever been yelled at by the youthful boy. Evelyn could only watch as Ted shoved the door open, and had a brief chat with someone before slamming the door behind him.

A second later, Bobby was in her presence. Confusion seemed to be a mutual feeling between them. "Now, what exactly did you say to Teddy?" The man spontaneously said, calm as the bristling wing of butterflies. He found a seat on the railing surrounding the porch, seemed to be unbothered by it all. "No," Evelyn squinted. "What did you say to him?" She folded her arms on her chest.

Bobby scoffed, ridiculing Evelyn, "I don't know, you tell me." And curled his lips into a smirk to round off his strange answer. "You fucking hinted at him about us!" Half-whispered, half-screaming, veins were bulging on Evelyn's forehead. "Right— so that we can tell everyone." Bobby almost shrugged, but stopped himself from doing so — in fear of further provocation.

"Excuse me, tell— tell everyone?!" Evelyn's mouth was agape in surprise. "So, out of nowhere— absolutely no reason at all, you thought it'd be a great idea to tell everyone about us?" Eyes like those of a deer in the path of an oncoming train. "So, we're the next Kick and Billy?" Merde. Wrong choice of words, Evelyn. They both stared without saying anything, then the man exhaled while shaking his head — not breaking the eye contact.

"Was that necessary?" The man said with an expressionless voice accompanying him. "Oh God, I'm sorry." Evelyn pressed her palm against her forehead — wishing undone of her word. "Unbelievable," Bobby uttered loathsomely at the apologetic girl. He removed himself from the railing, landed on his feet, and heads toward the door.

"Bobby—" BAM! Evelyn flinched as the sound of the slammed door filled her ears, she whimpered softly under her breath. "Shit!" The girl hastily left the compound. "Son of a bitch." Biting her bottom lip and gasping for air, she didn't feel like herself.

The sun shone over her, composing a shadow beneath her feet, and her dress flowed magnificently as breeze crept into it. Evelyn thinks of everything she was going to do when she gets home: go to her room, lock the door, and cry as much as her heart desires until the clock strikes five o'clock — when the leisurely beach sport begins.

"Are we still playing later?" Ted asked, he leaned forward from his seat. Bobby stared at Ted for some time before shifting his eyes away. "Yeah. I don't see why not," He responded to the adolescent boy. "Well, maybe because... you and I argued with Evelyn." Ted crossed his leg over the other, he reclined back into the sofa. "What happened?" Bobby asked the boy, his eyes squinted with a pair of furrowed brows.

"Ask her, why don't you?" Ted continued watching the television. Bobby exhaled forcefully, "Christ, is it a lovers quarrel? You dating her now?" He raised his voice to his much younger brother, receiving a dirty look from him. "I know you want to." Ted nodded his head, provoking his older brother. "Yeah, maybe! But what's wrong with you? Evelyn is much older than you." Still hinting at the fact he desired Evelyn, Bobby didn't deny.

"Two years— for Christ's sake, you're five years older," Ted responded. The boy had thought he understood love as much as Bobby did. "Evelyn needs someone older, experienced— you know nothing. You never even had a gal." Bobby leaned forward, grabbing the homemade cookies on the coffee table.

"Shut up. Evelyn would never go for you— you're a philanderer," Ted spewed savagely. Bobby almost choked on the cookie crumbs on the back of his throat. "You're out of your mind. How am I a philanderer?" Though he was defensive, Bobby was partly inquisitive as to why Ted said what he said.

"You dated two girls, who are siblings— at the same time." The boy had his sight laid on the book he was reading. "I broke up with Patricia long before I asked Eth—" "Yeah, keep telling yourself that." Ted reached for the plate of cookies and took one before going back to reading. "You know what, Evelyn and I are dating!" Oh, wouldn't it be wonderful if I could just say that? Bobby sighed in defeat, the voice inside his head kept telling him to just utter the word already — but his heart was saying no.

Bobby stopped gritting his teeth and got on his feet to leave the living room. He felt like he had a finger hovering over the nuclear button, ready to push at any time — but by doing so, he would risk not only his life but the woman he truly loved. It was a simple conundrum that could be solved by speaking about it, but the Greeks never spoke a word to the Trojan army about their mighty horse, did they?

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