A Tale Beyond Destiny

Chapter 15: His Trust (Caliana)

The moment that Caleb called me and asked me if I wanted to have dinner with him outside, I thought that he would take a long time before he would be able to reach this house. After all, he said that he still needed to pick up that dress that he wanted me to wear later, and so I thought that I would have a long time to take a bath and prepare myself so that I would be presentable enough in front of him.

I did not know why, but I had this urge inside of me that I wanted to impress him, by looking so presentable, and I did not like the idea of embarrassing him just because I did not prepare enough for this day, even though it was clear that he just asked me almost an hour ago, but nonetheless, I still wanted to look good in front of him. I did not know why, but I wanted him to look at me as if he was proud that I was the person he had dinner with.

And so, even though Caleb had clearly said to me that I should wait for him before I prepared myself for dinner because he had the dress that I would wear, and even though I said that I would really wait for him, I had decided that I should just take a bath first and just wait for him right after. I also thought that I should wear some simple shirts after that, and would just wait for the dress that he was talking about.

I have plenty of time, after all. Or so I thought, because the moment that I was soaking myself in the bath, I heard the front door of his house open, even though the location of my room was too far from it, but I heard it nonetheless. It almost made me want to panic, but I took a deep breath and told myself that it was just Caleb, so nothing could go wrong, right?

But then again, just like I always have been, I was wrong again because I heard him shouting my name as if I had done something wrong, though I guess that I just heard it wrong because that was also the tone he had when I messed up in his kitchen, so I guess that it was a shout of worry. Maybe because he did not see me in the living, just like I always did whenever I told him that i would wait, patiently, for him.

I did not know what to do, or what to say, and so I decided that I should just shout his name so that he would be able to find him, but then again, that action was wrong too. After all, I had forgotten to lock the door of my comfort room and he was in a panic state that he did not even think twice about opening it as soon as he reached my room.

I did not know what happened next. I think that both of us shouted, with me horrified at what happened, and him. I could not really understand that kind of look he had on his face as of that moment, but I guess that he was looking at me in shock and was trying to figure out what just happened between the two of us.

I did not have time to tell him to go out and close the door, because he had already done that without saying a word, and I did not even hear him saying his apology, though I never complained because I personally think that he was too shocked to do anything. I, on the other hand, just let out a relieved sign because the bathtub was full of bubbles that helped to block the view of my body.

I could not stop myself from slapping my forehead because of how embarrassing it was, and I never even thought of that earlier. I almost wish that the floor would swallow me up because I did not know what to do any longer, but then again, I knew how absurd it was. After all, I really think that this issue, or whatever had happened and whatever anyone wanted to call it, needed to be talked about, sincerely, because it was just a mere accident because of my own id*ocy.

I thought that Caleb had already gone out of my room right after he closed the door and did not say a word, but I heard the rustling on the other side of the door and it was followed by a soft, but unsure knock, on the door of my bathroom.

“Caliana?” he said, and I did not miss the way his voice hesitated, as if he was still unsure if it was just alright for me to talk to him as of that moment.

“Yes?” I asked him in a loud voice so that he would be able to hear what I was saying, clearly.

“If you still wanted to continue the dinner later...” I could hear that he was contemplating on what he was about to say, and that made me smile as I shook my head, slightly. “I mean, I understand if you changed your mind because you know...”

That was the moment that I could not contain my giggles anymore and I laughed so loud that I knew that he heard that from the other side of the door. I could also imagine the way his brows would furrow, as if he could not figure out why I suddenly laughed like that.

“Of course, I still wanted to have dinner with you,” I said to him the moment that I recovered from my laughs as my voice became so soft. “S*lly,” I whispered, softly, and I did not know if he heard that or not, but maybe he did because I heard him let out a relieved sigh as he still did not move from wherever he was.

“Then, I will just leave the dress on the bed, alright?” I just answered him with a hum as I continued to soak in the bath. The other side had became so quiet that it almost made me frown, but then I heard him let out a loud sigh once again as he said, “About what happened...” and I instantly knew that he wanted to talk about it and clear things out.

“I think that we should just talk about it some other time, alright?” I told him with a small smile on my face. “Let us just enjoy the rest of the day, so do not overthink things, okay?” I tried to reassure him a little, and I guess that I did a great job because I heard him let out a loud sigh all over again.

“Alright,” he agreed, though I could still tell that he was somehow hesitating about it, and that made me smile again. “Then, I will just wait for you in the living room,” he even said, and I just hummed again to answer him as I continued to soak in the bath.

After that, the time passed by in a blur, and I just found myself staring at the mirror in my room while checking out the dress that Caleb got for me. I smiled because, just like what he had said to me on the phone, I really did like it and I think that this would not be the last time that I will wear this, because I really liked the way it was designed.

I broke out into a smile once again, before I did put the finishing touches on my face, before I was finally good to go and meet Caleb in the living room; the ‘incident’ that had happened earlier was long forgotten and I never intended to open up that topic at our dinner later. After all, I wanted this to be as good as we could, because I still wanted to know more about him, and I guess that this dinner would be the way for me to know more about Caleb.

I descended on the stairs to his house, and I could not contain the smile that I had on my face when I saw that Caleb had stopped moving and he was just looking at me in awe; the memory of what had happened earlier was long forgotten. He was staring at me as if he could not believe that I was real, and I thought that I really liked that idea.

The idea that someone was looking at me as if I was too precious. The idea that someone was in awe, not because he knew that I was a crown princess, but because he saw the real me, the real Caliana. I liked the idea that it was just him, and only him, who was able to see me as myself, and not someone that the palace and my parents had set up for them to see. I liked the idea that it was him who saw the real me, and I would be forever thankful that it was him who saw me that day in that park.

“You looked so beautiful,” he said to me as soon as I reached the bottom of the stairs, and he was already there, waiting for me to go as he held his hands as if he was telling me that he wanted to help me as I walked, and so I accepted his hand and held it so tight.

I laughed a little because of what he said as I rolled my eyes and said, “Flatterer.” It was a lame attempt of mine to make a joke, though I guess that he had appreciated that because of how he had broken into a grin too.

“Then I guess that we should go now so that we will not be trapped in the traffic?” he said to me, after a few minutes of just staring at me as if he could not get enough, and I just let him, really. After all, I also liked the way he was looking at me as if he was staring at someone he really wanted to be with.

I agreed with him, and he immediately led me out of his house and into his car so that we would reach the restaurant as early as we could. We did not travel that long though, maybe because that ‘traffic’ he was talking about did not come, and I was sure that he was really thankful that it did not happen while we were on the road.

In no time at all, we found ourselves being ushered to the top spot, as the waiter had explained to us earlier, of their restaurant. The man, I think he was in his 40s, had led us to a table for two that was near a floor to ceiling window that was overlooking the city, and I was left in awe because of how beautiful the scenery was. It was even a plus that it was night time, and so the houses, buildings, and other establishments that were seen in that part of the restaurant were flickering because of its lights.

“This is so beautiful,” I said, almost dreamily, as I continued to stare at the scene that was in front of us.

“Indeed it is,” I heard Caleb say, which made me focus my attention on him, but I looked away as I felt that my cheeks had blushed when I saw that he was not staring at the scenery in front of us, but he was staring right at me.

I heard him laugh a little, before he said that we should order some food now, though I replied that he should be the one who would choose our dinner because I really did not have any idea on what the menus were. He just happily obliged as he talked to the waiter that was standing beside him as he ordered the food that he chose.

The waiter then bowed to him, before he said that we would not wait that long before the foods would be served, and both of us just nodded our heads as we gave him our thanks, before we finally fell into our own conversation again.

“I really liked it here,” I said as I looked around the place, and sighed again because of how peaceful and calm the whole restaurant was. I was even thankful that the customers were minding their own businesses and did not give any single care about their surroundings. They were just engrossed with their own conversations, and I guess that was the best part of this place.

“I am really glad that you really liked it,” Caleb said, which made me look at him once again, and gave him a huge grin.

After that, we fell into a conversation that did not have any particular topic. We were just talking with one another as we jumped from one topic to another. Though most of it was about what we did for the whole day, even though it was not really that interesting because we had been talking about this for almost every day, but then again, for us, it was a topic that we could not just let go of.

I did not know how long we had been talking to each other, but the moment that the food that he ordered had arrived, we were still engrossed in our own conversation as we were trying out every single food that we had on our table.

The waiter left us on our own accord when he saw that everything was fine, though he was coming back from time to time to check if we needed something or not, but then again, most of the time, it was just the two of us while we were talking with one another.

It was not until we were halfway done with our food when Caleb finally decided to open up a topic; a topic that I never thought that he would talk about, but I guess that he got the courage to do so while he was looking at me with that soft gaze of his.

“This is the first time,” he said, which made me look up at him as I stopped cutting the steak in front of me. He gave me a small smile as he continued what he was saying, “This is the first time that I ever trusted someone, fully.”

I stopped and looked at him as if I was trying to figure out what he was saying, because, for me, it really sounded so absurd. After all, it was as if Caleb was a type of person who did not have any problem, but then I guess that I was wrong.

He smiled at me when he saw that I was too confused about what he was trying to say, before he looked away as he focused his attention on the window of the restaurant. My heart almost sunk when I saw the look he had on his face.

I know that. I was very familiar with that expression, because that was the look that I always had whenever my Father would say that I was a failure, that I should have known better than doing anything. That kind of look. That sorrowful one, as if it was enough to know that this person in front of me had gone through some pain that I did not have any idea what it was.

“After that incident in the past, when someone had betrayed me for power, when that someone did not even care about the lives of the people in front of him, and he just killed them because he thought that it was the best thing to do...” He drew out a loud breath and I did not know what to do any longer. I just sat there while I was still staring at him as I refused to look away. “I vowed to myself that I would never trust anyone that easily because I knew that might happen if I was not careful enough.”

He looked at me once again, and gave me the softest smile that I had ever seen on his face, and somehow, somehow, I could tell and see the pain that he had in his eyes. I could see that it was as if he had been keeping this, all by himself, for such a long time, and it was just that moment that he had courage to tell me the fears that he always had in his heart.

“But then you came, Caliana,” he said in the softest voice that he ever had as he looked at me with so much fondness in his eyes. “You came and made me believe that it was just alright for me to open up, to trust someone, to have someone I can talk to, without any fear of betrayal.”

He looked down and took my hands as he squeezed them tight, before he looked up at me once again. “It was all thanks to you, Caliana.” He smiled as the tears threatened to fall into his eyes. “I was thankful because you are the only person that I can trust fully, with all my heart.”

I did not know what happened, but suddenly, tears started to stream down my face. It was as if I did not expect that Caleb would tell me something like that. Or maybe I cried because, for the first time, someone had believed in me with all his heart. I cried because he was the very first person who told me those things without even a second thought.

For the first time in years, I was able to have someone’s trust, not because I was entitled to have it, but because they chose me to be one.