the invisible villain

Inevitable

It was afternoon. They should be in class. But here they were. Miserable. Staring at their coffee as if watching the heat escape as long threads weaving and dancing in the absent breeze. Turning their corner into a black hole that threatened to suck out all joy and cheer.

After leaving them alone all morning, April finally walked over. Sat in the free third chair. And spoke to them, with a bright and joyful smile.

“After staring at you two all morning, I realised this is actually good. This whole routine. It’s a good way to make cold coffee, a great ad, and the perfect explanation for an extremely pricey luxurious coffee. Louie is handsome enough to pull it off. And our darling Abe has an inexplicable charm of his own. So, here’s what we do. We have customers, the paying ones of course, sit with you in the corner. Watch you cool coffee with your misery while looking like eye candy behind the steam. And then, when it’s cold enough, they can take their coffee and leave. The extra price is for the show, for you. What do you think?”

Louie stared at her, looking like he wanted to cry even as he tried putting on a smile. And Abe was unresponsive, like a statue. And Alex had to come over.

“Stop teasing them April,” Alex said.

And April sighed, as she pushed away from the table to make space for Alex. But she stayed near, well wishing earshot. And all her attention was on the table she just pushed away from.

“Now, boys, open up. What’s going on?” Alex asked.

And the two boys looked at her. Louie went first.

*

When they first met, they were competitors.

Lydia couldn’t come up with a name for the team, a requirement in the competition especially in the finals when the teams would be invited to the stage with the host calling them by their team name. She confessed she was never very good with names. And so, she decided they should just go with the title of their project as the team name. Bubble. And none of the other three could argue with Lydia. So, Bubble they were.

Astra was their competition. And from what they gathered from the whispers, Astra was the favourite. Not only was their project idea so good, and their work so impressive, the team was headed by the Greeve brothers - Isaac and Isiah. The heirs of the Greeve family and the Goira corporation. And who here hadn’t heard of the Goira corporation.

The knowledge only pushed Lydia to desire victory even more.

The teams congratulated each other warmly when the results were announced. Bubble won the first place. Astra was second.

Next they met, was in college. Isaac and Isiah hadn’t only come to Avery university to congratulate the members of team Bubble once again in person, they were also transferring to Avery university, to the finance department. The reason they gave was that the Bubble project was so impressive, they wanted to study with the brains behind the project. They also thought it wise to build a relationship with people they were certain would be shining in the future. Wasn’t that what college was all about really? Building relationships for the future.

The four of them believed the brothers. Even welcomed them. Didn’t take long to realise there was more to it. Both the brothers seemed enamoured with Welma. They stuck closer to her than the rest. They wanted to learn everything about her. And they wanted to learn it all from her mouth. Except for Welma, who was inexplicably dense, it was clear to everyone else that they were crushing on her. It was just as clear that the brothers and Louie were competing for Welma’s affection. And the brothers seemed to be at advantage.

*

“Each of them is as good as me,” Louie lamented, “if not better. And the two of them are working together. It’s as if they’ve decided to destroy outside competition before fighting it out between themselves. How am to win over them?”

Alex felt sympathy for the poor boy. Welma was the first girl he said he liked so bad. And she knew Louie didn’t lie. Unfortunately, she didn’t have anything for him. Not because she couldn’t come up with advice, but because she was consumed with her worry for Abe.

“Just stay strong,” she told Louie. “You’ve got to believe in yourself. You’ve been friends with Welma longer. She knows you better. And your bond is deeper. Don’t lose hope. It’s over until the very end.”

“Yes,” Louie said, finding some strength from her words. “I can’t give up, can I?”

“No, you can’t,” Alex said. “And now, go back home. Take a shower. Get some sleep. You look terrible. And then, get back to college tomorrow. Do you think you sitting here, absent from college, helps you in any way? Those two are with Welma right now.”

“They’re in the same class,” Louie said.

“Exactly. They are in the same class. You’re already at a disadvantage. And you want to further their advantage?”

Louie understood what she meant. He got up. Thanked her. Said goodbye to Abe. And rushed home.

After Louie left, April moved back to the table. And the three faces were all serious. The very air seemed to have turned heavy from the mood.

“So,” April said. “I’ve got to ask. Those two brothers. There’s something going on isn’t there? I mean, I’ve seen them. Here. They were only looking at Welma, of course. But I saw them. And the resemblance is discomfiting. Tell me I’m wrong.”

*

Abe’s absence at Cafe wasn’t exactly rare. The first few years, he was studying. He was never without books at Cafe. And when one of his teachers prepared a test for him, he had to stay home. The teachers insisted he couldn’t be disturbed while taking the tests. Akira even insisted he couldn’t accept help, which was her biggest reason to have stay home. No one could protest, because everyone knew that all Abe had to do was look at them pitifully, and they would offer help. Whether Abe would ask, didn’t matter. Akira didn’t want him to find himself in such a situation.

And then, he had projects and assignments for college, and tests. There were many times he had to stay home.

And then, there was Akira herself. When she was teaching him to drive. When she took him to the old racetrack, to race. They would disappear for days. Road-trips, they called them.

He was absent three days in a row. Alex didn’t explain. April and the others were familiar enough to see the seriousness under the smile, and so they didn’t ask Alex. He showed up on the fourth day, with Welma and Louie. And the brothers. April recognised them, they had been coming everyday the last three days. April also recognised that something was wrong, because Alex never went near them. She smiled in greeting, but that was it. And today, Alex was even more distant. And she had Abe by her side all evening.

*

“You’re not wrong,” Alex said, smiling at April, and looking apologetic. “There’s something we haven’t told you.”

We?” April said, looking at the two of them.

“Abe isn’t exactly my son,” Alex said.

“I know,” April said.

“There’s more there,” Alex said. “To the story. Abe was August Greeve.”

“Greeve?” April said, stunned. “You mean, like, Isaac and Isiah Greeve?”

“Yes. August Greeve was their brother. Same father. Different mother. August was the illegitimate son. And so, no one wanted him. So, you can understand. We’re not exactly very fond of the brothers.”

“That’s nice and all,” April said indignantly. “But we shouldn’t even be welcoming. I can read between the lines, can’t I? Something happened?”

Alex nodded.

“Bad?” April asked.

“Very,” Alex said. “The worst kind.”

April gasped. Others might mistake those words to mean any number of things, but not her. She knew exactly what the worst kind of bad was.

“You saved him?” April asked.

“More like he saved himself,” Alex said.

“She saved me,” Abe cut in.

“I just gave the help he asked for,” Alex said.

April took Abe’s hands. Held his eyes. And leaned in, pulling him into a hug.

“I’m glad you’re good now,” she said. “I’m glad you’re with us.”

“So,” Abe said after a couple of minutes, after they were all seated comfortably. “I thought about it. Alex, you only wanted me to graduate college. You didn’t exactly specify a time frame.”

“Yes,” Alex said.

“I want to take some time off,” Abe said. “A year. Maybe two.”

“You want them to go further ahead of you,” Alex said. “Put distance between you and them.”

Everything was exactly as it was in the novel. The brothers, the protagonists, were bedazzled by Welma. They couldn’t look away. And every second spent looking at her, had them falling deeper in love with her. The more they learned of her difficult, almost tragic, circumstances, the more they felt for her, the more they wanted to do for her. They saw that there were others in love with her. Louie, specifically. And they liked her all the more for it. Because she was just so charismatic. And they saw that she felt for Abe differently that she did for everyone else. And so, they wanted to be with her, in Abe’s presence. It was as if their world was centred around her.

Little did the brothers notice the effect of their actions of Abe and Alex. The brothers couldn’t even be bothered to pay attention. And this didn’t escape the eyes of Alex and April.

“What do you want to do?” Alex asked. “It’s not as if staying home and at Cafe will keep them away. Even if they don’t care, Welma will come looking for you. And Louie. And Lydia and Baron. You’ll have to answer them all. Are you ready for that?”

“No,” Abe said. “That won’t work. And it’s not like the university will just let me sit at home and miss class. I was thinking, I’ll give the excuse that I’ve gotten a job. Drop out of college. Because I don’t think the university does sabbaticals. At least not in the case of students. But I promise, I will earn a college degree. I will keep my word.”

“Alright,” Alex said, hugging him. “I believe you. I know you’ll keep your word. Forget about that. I think we should just drop out. Asking for a long leave is much too complicated. I’m sure it’ll be quite the pain. Dropping out won’t be much easier. But it’ll at least be done in one go. One day’s pain. And all will be fine after.”

“Yeah,” Abe said. “Thanks. And then, I was thinking I’d go on that tour with Ludwig. The thing he’s been putting off for a while now.”

“The tour of the palaces?” April asked.

“The palatial tour,” Alex corrected.

“Yeah,” Abe said. “That. The palatial tour. I think that’ll be quite nice. It’ll be a couple of months at least. We can extend it more. Ludwig wouldn’t mind, I’m sure. And then, I can find something else.”

“I’m sure you will,” Alex said.

“You can always go to Akira,” April said. “She’d love to have you over. Actually, you can go to her directly, after the palatial tour. Get your college degree there. And come back three, four years later. This will all be over by then, wouldn’t it?”

“Yeah,” Alex and Abe said together.

Five days later, everything was ready. Abe had dropped out of college. Said his goodbyes. Explained how good an opportunity this was. Even threw up Akira’s name as an excuse. Packed. With Alex’s help.

“I won’t be with you on the palatial trip,” Alex said. “Enjoy the three months with Ludwig. I’ll see you at the end of the trip. And we’ll fly to Akira’s. We’ll have everything ready. So say your goodbye to Cafe too. You won’t be seeing it for a few years.”

Those final days, he opened Cafe at 6 am. Closed it at 11 pm. And was at Cafe every minute in between.

The day before he was set to leave, he saw Welma standing outside Cafe when he arrived in the morning to open.

“I want to be here today,” she said. “The whole day. Who knows when we’ll be seeing each other again. That’s okay, isn’t it?”

He had to agree. She helped through the day. She stayed until 9 pm, when Louie and the brothers offered to drive her home. She hugged Abe before leaving.

“I wish you the best of luck,” she said. “Have a great time. Be safe. And happy. And don’t forget me.”

The last words, she whispered, so only he heard her.

He nodded in reply. Smiled, as he put his hand on her cheek. And without anyone noticing, brushed away the tears from the edge of her eye.

“You too,” he said.

She nodded. Smiled. And left, without looking back again.

Abe said goodbye to Louie too, as Louie followed after Welma.

When the sun rose next morning, Abe and Ludwig were on the train to the western front, where their journey was to begin. Over the next three months, they would go all the way to the eastern front, stopping at the major palaces along the way.

“It’ll be the most amazing three months,” Ludwig said.

“I don’t doubt it,” Abe said.

And the two smiled, as they relaxed in the cabin they had reserved entirely, looking out at the rapidly changing scenery.