Come Closer

Chapter 19

In the coming days, Adrian could notice James and Lyena behaving strangely with each other. They wouldn’t talk much. They would avoid eye contact. He could see both of them were not comfortable with each other. At first, he thought that they had had a fight as usual, but later, he realized that there could be another reason. Lyena didn’t like to talk about James with Adrian. He noticed that there was sadness and longing in Lyena’s eyes. He saw the same in James. ‘In some ways, Lyena and James are so alike’ he thought.

He could see that they were distancing themselves from each other. He could see that they were slowly going apart. Both of them were close to him. He didn’t want them to repent on an unfinished matter between them. He wanted them to solve this matter before it was too late. But, he couldn’t see either Lyena or James taking the first step to make things right. So he decided to give a little push on their backs.

James looked up from his work to see a fuming Adrian. “What happened between you and Lyena?” Adrian asked, barging into James’s room.

“I have already told you, nothing happened” James said.

Adrian banged his hands on the table. “Stop lying! I know there is something. If you are not telling me, I’m asking Lyena” He said.

“There’s nothing, THAT’S ALL!” James raised his voice as he was getting irritated by Adrian. Adrian took a deep breath as he calmed himself down. He came closer to James’s face. “I am asking this for the last time. Did or did not something happen between you two?” He asked in a low tone, staring at James’s eyes. James stayed silent. He didn’t utter a word.

Adrian sighed and straightened himself. “Then I’m going to ask Lyena” he said and turned around to walk away. He stopped, as he heard James. “Wait, I’ll tell you” he said.

“Why don’t you tell her about your feelings, James?” Adrian asked after listening to James.

James hung his head low and said “I can’t. I just can’t Adrian.” He sighed. “I’m afraid that I would end up hurting her somehow. I don’t want to see her hurt.”

Adrian patted James’s back. “How can you say that you will hurt her, huh? You can’t predict the future James. So try to make up your mind and face the present. Look around. We are all here, with you. What can go wrong? And, you know what? You are already hurting Lyena by hiding your feelings. So step forward like a man! Do what you have to do before it’s too late, OK?” Adrian said in a soothing voice.

“But, Adrian, what if she doesn’t like me?” James asked, looking at Adrian.

Adrian smiled. “Then move on. There’d be nothing you could do about that. But, as far as I know, she likes you too.”

A huge smile spread across James’s face. “Really? How can you say that?”

Adrian shrugged. “I just feel it. But I’m not certain. After all, girls are hard to read right?”