Chapter Eighty-Seven: Blossoms of Friendship
1484 Words
“It is such a shame that the duke could not make it.”
“My sentiments exactly.”
I chirped a little too joyfully as the desserts were cleared from the table.
“But he is, more often than not, busy, so perhaps next time?”
I suggested as I placed my napkin on the plates being collected by the waiter.
“I agree. So does that mean we will do this more often?”
“Definitely.”
“Good. Help me stand? I feel like an elephant.”
She whispered the words to her husband.
He stood and helped her stand, then turned to me.
“I’ll just rush to the lady’s room for the nth time. Do not mind me.”
We were in a tropical-themed restaurant situated underwater.
Periodically, a large fish would swoop magnificently around the restaurant, attracting the ‘oohs’ and ‘aahs’ of those in attendance.
Those periods saved me from answering questions like ‘How long have you been with the prince’ or ‘When did you meet?’
‘Hafsa’ was supposed to be my identity. The part of me that retained its truth, its stories, its…. validity.
Yet so easily, my sanctuary grew corrupted by lies.
A truth that grew unbearable with each response.
“I will join you.”
I said quickly to Alivai.
After all, it is now or never.
*
I am still not sure if I could chalk the prince’s absence to luck, but I have no intention of getting him involved in this part of me. If he made anything clear, it is that he does not intend to respect any boundaries I set, so before the situation worsens…
I watched Alivai leave the bathroom stall and wash her hands in the sink that poured lavender-scented water.
“I- My name is Arusei. Not Hafsa.”
‘The lie was a stupid one, to begin with. There will never be a space where I can just be ‘Hafsa.’’
“I know. I can read.”
She responded calmly.
“You can…”
‘Oh…the magazine that plastered Leon and me in the headlines.’
“Oh right.”
I crossed my arms defensively over my chest.
“Is there a reason you did not bring it up sooner? Was it amusing to predict my lies, or were you testing me?”
The questions flowed more so from a place of embarrassment rather than concern.
‘How had I not considered the tabloids before?’
“I would not say my reasons are as bold as you make them sound. I simply do not care. I have already decided that we are friends, and that is that. A name is merely an assigned designation.”
“Your character…”
She said, then paused to dry her hands on the towels beside the sink.
“Is what most draws me to you.”
There was a bathroom attendant, so for the sake of the rest of the conversation, she gestured with her head that we should walk and talk.
“So, that is it? No speech on some grand betrayal, no insistence that we should never speak again?”
Alivai chuckled.
“None.”
“Okay, then what if I add that I am not yet married and that I am pregnant outside of wedlock?”
I added.
I might as well pour the rest of my truths while she is in a magnanimous mood.
“You know, I, myself, am not married yet.”
“I beg your pardon?”
“Is that surprising?”
“Only as surprising as my predicament is to you, I mean, we said so much with our words, yet it appears we have been talking nothing but…fantasies.”
“I suppose so, but is that wrong? The sound of our voices must be enchanting if we listened steadily to our falsehoods.”
A smile tugged at the corners of my lips at her words.
“My wedding was supposed to be last year, but….”
She rested her hand on her belly.
“I did not wish to be pregnant and hormonal when I marry my true love.”
“Oh. You were not expecting-”
“No. As it is, I have two monsters at home. Each time I plan our wedding, I find out a few weeks later that I am expecting. Gods, there was a time I considered abandoning s*x completely until our wedding night!”
“Are you serious?”
“Oh, I am; Nichols and I went months without touching each other after I gave birth to my son, but one night, we both had too much to drink and not enough...comfort so…ta-dah~.”
She gestured to her belly before continuing.
“Much more, I was not born into this high life. A fact that seems to follow my children and me to our graves. It is exhausting being around ‘pure-blooded nobles’; hence, I appreciate your company, regardless of what you wish me to address you. However, I must thank you for being truthful with me; not many are.”
“How certain are you I am not pure-blooded; I could simply be open-minded?”
She smiled.
“Because you too are pregnant out of wedlock. If you were both open-minded and pregnant, your parents would have hidden you away in fear that you would shame them.”
I chuckled at her words.
Just then, the shadow of a giant whale crossed over the tank that was the restaurant and on cue, all motion halted to give the magnificent creature attention; in that pause, my arms found Alivai’s shoulders in an embrace, one that, for some reason brought me to near tears, if only her tears did not beat mine in speed.
“Oh, and I thought I was the one to cry, having borne my soul to you.”
I said softly amid her soft sobs.
“No, no, I just- I have been on this ‘vacation’ for so long, I should not even call it a vacation but an escape, for over four weeks hopping from location to location, and I miss my children so much.”
“Then just go home?”
“I cannot.”
She wiped the still spilling tears from her eyes.
“The doctors keep finding something wrong at each check-up, whether it is my blood pressure, the baby’s heartbeat, or my body’s recovery after successive births. I am terrified of giving birth to this child without some sort of witch or expert that can….”
The rest of her sentence was drowned by sobs, so I did the only thing I could. Embrace her once again.
Even as the wetness leaking from her eyes seeped through my clothes to my skin, I did not let go of her frame.
*
The day ended with a shopping spree that felt useless to me for the most part.
Every toy was different from those in my world in that these toys quite literally came alive. Items like tentacles or plants that hold you down and run you rugged were on display, all with the disclaimer ‘not for use in pregnant or lactating women’.
‘Why are there no toys for us! We get horny too?’
Nonetheless, Alivai and I both picked slime balls, sting lubes and the most normal looking vibrating toys, all of which, like the rest, could not be used while pregnant, then went swimming.
It would be the last time we met for a while since she was eight months along and therefore needed to be at home, so I gave her husband the coordinates to Clay to find the crazy earth lady and the witch to decide a favourable way forward.
Giving the day a perfect end.
*
*
*
When Mitchelle Sinclair Lundossa walked into the reserved meeting room, the first word that formed in my mind was ‘regal’.
She was the definition of grace and perfection, if such a thing existed.
The chill that followed her was undoubtedly due to her power of frost.
Her hair was white and straight, her eyes a beautiful shade of grey that somewhat resembled frozen icicles that would line the gutters of houses during winter.
She neither began with greetings or acknowledgement but sat opposite me in a jacket whose bigness resembled the first prince’s frame.
As if on cue, he walked in with just a sweater and scarf a few seconds later that much resembled the coat she wore.
‘Ah…I see.’
‘Always a good sign when your business partners walk in bearing nothing but full proof of your presence as an outsider.’
“Let us begin the meeting.”
The prince said in a more sombre tone than I was accustomed to, then tossed me a draft of the contract agreement he had already prepared.
- Writer
