Come Closer

Chapter 29

Avelyn got out from the washroom and stepped into the brightly lit hallway. She was determined to talk with Lyena, and bring her back home. But when she saw a pink flowery dress around the corner, her steps abruptly halted in their way. It was Lyena, coming in Avelyn’s direction. All the courage she had mustard flew out of the window. She was contemplating vanishing into the thin air. ‘Am I doing this right? Does she even remember me? What if she doesn’t recognize me?’ These thoughts in her head made her hesitate before approaching Lyena, and she cursed in her head. ‘Get over yourself!’

On the other hand, Lyena frowned at the girl who was looking frozen on her spot. ‘Why is she staring at me?’ She thought immediately in her head. Nevertheless, it wasn’t her business, and she decided to ignore her. She saw the girl take a deep breath, in her peripheral vision, and come towards her. The slight hesitation which she showed before coming towards her made Lyena suspicious. And it led her to have her guard up, in case something happened.

“Ummgh” Avelyn cleared her throat, to get Lyena’s attention. She stopped in front of Lyena, who was giving a confused glance at her.

“Lyena?”

Lyena frowned as this unknown girl who came out of nowhere and blocked her path, knew her name.

“How do you know my name?”

Avelyn’s heart sank at that. Her shoulders slumped, and she whispered; “You don’t remember me?”

Lyena shook her head. She could sense a certain familiarity in the other girl, but she couldn’t quite place her finger on it. She smiled apologetically, trying to ease the situation. “I’m sorry, can I please know who you are?”

Avelyn blinked. Once. And twice. She couldn’t believe what she was hearing or seeing. Has she changed that much? To the point her own sister cannot recognize her?! Is this really happening? Wait, is this a nightmare? Thoughts were running and crashing and storming inside her head. Her mind was racing, and her pulse was increasing. Disbelief? Disappointment? Anger? Regret? What was she feeling? She couldn’t understand. Somehow she wasn’t surprised. It was like she knew something like this would happen- like a blurry dream. But she couldn’t comprehend the fact that it’s really happening.

“Are you alright?” Lyena’s voice brought her back from her mind. Avelyn looked down, with eyes that seemed lost, and saw that Lyena was holding her hand. Then she looked up, facing Lyena. She blinked to clear her thoughts. A moment passed in silence. “I’m sorry.” She pulled her hand from Lyena’s hold. “I must have mistaken you for someone else.” She smiled at Lyena. A forced smile that reached her saddened eyes. “Sorry for the inconvenience. Excuse me.” She stepped away, and let Lyena be on her way. “It’s alright.” Lyena gave her a reassuring smile.

Avelyn watched as Lyena hurriedly walked away. Her face had turned stiff from clenching her jaw. She wanted to cry so badly. But that can wait. She has one more thing to do at the party now.

James was sitting at a table, waiting for Lyena to come. He sipped the wine slowly, running his eyes through the people, observing them. He watched a group of men, laughing with each other, sitting comfortably at a side. He saw some individuals, sitting away from the crowd, being the silent spectators of the dramas unfolding in front of them. He looked at how some people fake their smiles at their rival businessmen, and how some others openly display their dislike for each other. He chuckled to himself- well, personally, he preferred the latter.

Among all these, he didn’t fail to notice the woman in the red dress walking directly towards him. ‘Not again,’ he internally rolled his eyes, and looked the other way, trying his best to ignore the nonsense that was about to accompany him. But he knew she wasn't someone to tell to piss off, because every person who attended Haden’s party was powerful in business or mafia.

“Hello handsome!” She greeted him with a voice laced with honey, and sat beside him. She crossed her legs slowly one over the other, successfully managing to showcase her luscious legs through the symmetrical slit of her long dress. The well matching colors of her skin and the wine red dress, and the jet black heels she was wearing, admittedly made her more alluring. Her long wavy hair was pushed to her back, making it look like a black waterfall. James swept his gaze over her and then settled his eyes on her face. He saw that the soft, slightly red, pink lipstick she was wearing gave her a more innocent look; a contradicting combination, he thought. ‘Dressed to kill’, he said in his mind.

“Are you alone tonight?” She asked, and smiled at him, leaning forward a bit. He could have been sure that this woman was trying to lure him towards her with her flirtatious manner, if hadn’t seen her eyes. Though her act was so good, her calculating sharp gaze betrayed her. James internally frowned. The thoughts of getting out of the grasp of this woman flew out of the window when he wondered what her motive was. So he decided to play along.

“Hmm. If I were?” He continued to slip the glass of wine. She smirked. “We can have some time alone then,” she said, tucking a strand of her hair behind her ear. James raised one of his eyebrows. “Really?” He internally laughed, knowing well that this woman will do anything but sleeping with him. He knew that she was going to give out the true purpose of this meeting when he saw the impatient annoyed look that appeared for a second in her eyes. Afterall, he was good at reading others.

“James, I’m much better than your Lyena. Get rid of her, and you’ll have me.” She came closer to his face, and traced her finger on his chest. “You KNOW I’m better than her”, her finger went further down on his torso. James’ hair stood on their ends when he finally got that she was after Lyena. He cursed himself taking this long to realize this. His heart started beating frantically when he registered that Lyena hadn’t come to him yet.

Avelyn’s mind was washed in relief when she saw how worried James looked. ‘At least the bastard isn’t a cheater’. She smirked when he grabbed her hand in a tight grip. But she wasn’t scared in the slightest when he glared at her, even after knowing he is powerful in the underworld. “Where is Lyena?” He growled. Avelyn shrugged indifferently. “Who knows?”

“I’ll hunt you down if something has happened to her.” Avelyn raised one of her eyebrows in amusement. “I’d like to see you try.” Then she yanked her hand away from James’ iron grip, and stood up straight. No traces of the flirtatious manner she had previously adopted were to be seen now. Before leaving, she looked down at James, who was still sitting in fury. “I won’t be seeing you again, James”, she spoke, her honey-like voice now replaced by an authoritative tone, with a finality in it.

James looked at her leaving, wondering what she meant. But that is not his priority now. He quickly got up; and took long strides towards where Lyena went. With each step he took, his pace became quicker, and soon he was half running.

No man who came to Hayden’s party carried weapons with them. It was forbidden. Hayden was a calm man and he was powerful both in the underworld and the business world. He ensured the safety of everyone who attended his annual party and no one was foolish enough to trigger such a sleeping dragon. But anything can happen anywhere, and James regretted not sending a guard with Lyena.

His thumping heart started to relax when he saw Lyena walking leisurely. Upon seeing a shadow on the polished floor, she looked up, and was surprised to see James. “James? What are you doing here? I thought you were at the party.” She came closer and saw the worried look his face held. “What happened?”

James grabbed Lyena’s hands. “We should leave, now.” And they started to go back to the hall that held the party. “What happened, James? Tell me!” Lyena asked, trying to keep her pace with him. “I don’t know. But we should go, immediately. I’ll explain later.” He spoke, and quickly exited the hotel with Lyena.