Lilac

Chapter 4

Skye felt utterly lost after his encounter with Aunt Mabel in the morning. She had said something that made his resolve tremble. He gritted his teeth at the thought he had reverted to his past self whose resolve could easily be influenced by another person. He had gone through this kind of encounter millions of times, and he was able to get back to his feet every time. However, this time was different. He ended up perplexed. He started contemplating going back home at that moment.

"Don't I deserve at least an apology?" Skye told Mabel when she argued Eliza was best left by herself. If there had been a man who could revolve around her, Skye was not the right guy, Mabel emphasized.

Mabel looked like she had expected her opponent to have been knocked out at the last blow, and now she was infuriated, seeing that was not the case.

The Aidan person had been following him everywhere that he couldn't even make out an expression to express his anger and frustration. It appeared Aunt Mabel didn't trust him after all.

Aidan seemed to be the mysterious cousin of Eliza. He had a large frame for a man born in this country. He also had a silkier skin texture. If he looked closely, Aidan looked more Spanish than Asian, but the way he carried himself was very much like any local. In that sense, he was similar to Eliza.

He walked to Eliza's café, and he found Allen already there drinking another cup of coffee. Allen, upon seeing him, looked surprised and rather flustered. When he got closer, Skye got a sense of why that would be the case.

There was a man who seemed to have taken Eliza's place as the server that morning, and he didn't look like Aunt Mabel, or Aidan or Eliza for that matter. He looked like someone from the outside. His very existence didn't sit well with Skye.

-----

Eliza had gone to Aunt Mabel's hut, hoping to be able to find Skye still there. It seemed they had missed each other on their way there. She was confused for a moment, with the understanding there was only one way in and out of that hut from the restaurant.

"You just missed him," Aunt Mabel said.

"I see that I did," Eliza said, sighing.

"What's your plan with him? I told you he would come back someday," the older woman asked.

Eliza just stared back at her aunt. She had not expected Skye to return to her life. He even seemed to be tired of searching for her. He looked angry that she left. Why would he look like that? When they were together, he looked tired every time she wanted to spend time with him. Every hour felt like years because he always looked blank, seeming to be somewhere else but at her side.

"Did he get married?"

"You know that that is not the look of a guy who married before!" Aunt Mabel said, almost sounding mocking.

"Where is he?"

"I think he was going to see you. He's probably in the café now," her aunt said, getting to her feet. She started walking back to her room.

Eliza got out of the hut and traced the steps Skye took, going back to her café. Her Aunt Mabel was right; he was there. She found him glaring at someone or something—Jason. She held her mouth, surprised to find Jason there, waiting tables. Of all the days he decided to bully her, it had to be this day!

"Jason!" Eliza called, hoping to be able to take Jason out of the scene. She didn't want to involve Jason. This was not something they would want him to be involved in.

"Hey Ellie," Jason said, kissing her cheek.

Flustered, she almost squealed at the feel of his lips on her cheek. "You stupid—"

"Stupid?"

The sound of the table thundering across the room as Skye got up made everyone in the café turn their heads in his direction, including Jason and Eliza.

Eliza gripped Jason's arm, begging him not to get involved.

"Who is he? You know him?"

Eliza could only shake her head, hoping he understood her message about begging him not to ask any further. "Let's talk later, okay? Go home for now, please?"

Jason looked at Aidan, who also seemed to be ready for any sort of commotion that might happen anytime soon.

"Who is this guy?" Jason asked again, pulling her to move behind him.

"Jason, please?" Eliza held both his arms, hoping her gentle but firm hold would be enough to send him a message.

People started murmuring, as it appeared another character had decided to join the scene—Aunt Mabel.

"Hello, everyone. Good day to you. As you see, there is a family drama brewing over here. I would have to request everyone to please leave this place for now. I would like to take this moment to apologize for the inconvenience. No one needs to pay for the foods they've consumed. Just please quietly leave this place for now. Thank you," she said calmly.

One by one, people in the café started leaving, glancing at each cast of the scene. Just one look and Eliza understood that Aunt Mabel had been telling her: I told you so. Her aunt had told her that morning that it may not be best to open the café that morning since Skye appeared to be unstable last night upon seeing her after a long time.

Eliza had not expected Jason to be there, too.

"Jason, come with me," Aunt Mabel called, and the young man instantly walked to her side despite his reluctance. The old woman started walking back in the direction of the kitchen. "Aidan and Jacqui, look after these kids."

Aidan nodded, and so did the woman standing by the kitchen door. Allen and Skye realized there was another person who seemed to also be part of the Sandoval family.

Eliza stared at Skye, and she tipped her head to a nearby table, suggesting to Skye that they sit at a table.

-----

Jacqueline, alongside Aidan, looked on as Skye spoke with Eliza. Allen decided to stand by a windowsill that overlooked the city. It was, ironically, a beautiful and bright background for a rather gloomy scene. Everyone knows, after all, how this would turn up being.

When Skye thought he would be crying, he ended up looking stern and aloof. He had not spoken a word since he and Eliza sat at a table. For someone having a lot of emotions in him, he was hushed. Everyone in the room had expected him to blow up, but he didn't. The silence was deafening.

"Why are you here, Skye?" Eliza finally asked. "What did you want from me?" Her voice broke as she uttered the second question, and she resented herself for having any feelings about this when she had rehearsed how she would converse with him a million times in the past.

"What are you saying? Am I the one who abandoned this relationship?"

"Are you putting this on me?" Eliza's tears began to well up in her eyes as she spoke. "You cheated on me."

"No, I didn't!"

"Don't you dare—" Eliza breathed in deeply to control the heavy feeling that formed in her chest. Don't you dare sounded like how dare you, and it didn't sit well with her. She didn't want to sound hateful. "I know...you used to be with June." Maybe saying it all in the first place was what she should have done, instead of treating him somewhere and subtly saying goodbye. It was a lot easier to understand for anyone. Maybe she was wrong to assume Skye would naturally understand.

Skye sighed. He didn't realize that what he shared with June back then would be a pain later on. "It's not what you think. We weren't together because we had romantic feelings. We weren't together at all!"

Eliza's tears poured after the first tear finally fell. She thought she was ready to hear the truth. She had played different sorts of possible scripts he would use to tell her what the truth was. To hear the truth from him was like lighting piercing through her heart, breaking it apart. While she hoped he had said it in other ways, she couldn't have it any other way. This was the real Skyler—straightforward and unfiltered. If he had said it in other ways, there was a 99% chance it was a lie.

"If you are asking for closure, I'll give it to you. Let's break up," Eliza said. "Let's not prolong this stupid, multi-player, pretend relationship. I don't want it. I want a genuine relationship with someone. Someone who will build a life with me and only me. Someone who will do that without me having to ask him to do it for me."

Skye chuckled in disbelief over what he was hearing. "Do you not understand? I just—"

"I don't care about what I don't understand about what you just said. I only understand that the man I loved was an imagination. He was not real. He was not you," Eliza said, cutting him off. "Let's not waste any more of our time trying to figure out one another. Ten years is too long for two people to figure out one another. It's f*****g too long. I'm not getting any younger. I also want to have children of my own. I want to build my own biological family. I don't believe this can happen with a man who doesn't see the wrong in sleeping with another woman when he's already in a 'serious' relationship with someone." She made air quotes as she stressed the word "serious."

Skye was silenced by what Eliza had just said, looking away from her. He then felt humiliated, and with that, he began to feel angry. He turned his eyes back to Eliza, and he was surprised to find her staring at him in disdain. It was the first he ever saw her look at him in that way.

He got up and walked out of the café. Allen followed Skye.

Eliza hid her face with her palms as she cried, sobbing. She had loved the man from when she was a girl, figuring herself out through adolescence. Even if other people called it puppy love, for her, she loved him with her whole being.

-----

Skye didn't think his plans would be torn into pieces just after day one. He had laid out a plan of courtship through engagement. He thought he would be able to have a cool demeanor, believing he would be the one having to hear an apology. Who the hell told Eliza about what happened between him and June, he thought. He and June had been discreet. They did become friends with benefits at one point in their lives, but it was brief and shallow. June easily transitioned to her boyfriend when she found one who would take her seriously, and he was best friends with the guy.

Did June betray him and tell Eliza about their summer fling?