Hespero

Special Project

The next day, Leonora was wandering through town with Isabela. A stark contrast to the usual dusky evenings Leonora and Callisto shared under the watchful eye of Hespero. Leonora, however, felt anything but bright. She then again remembered what had happened yesterday—it all swirled in her mind, a confusing, delicious mess. She’d spent the morning avoiding Callisto's teasing, a task made harder by Isabela’s incessant giggling and knowing glances.

“He’s smitten, Leo,” Isabela chirped, twirling a strand of her own dark hair. “You know, like a lovesick puppy chasing its tail. I mean—just look at it!”

Leonora scoffed, but a blush crept onto her cheeks. “He’s just… annoying,” she mumbled, trying to sound unconvinced. Even to herself, the words lacked conviction.

Suddenly, a familiar figure emerged from a nearby bookstore, a stack of books precariously balanced in his arms. Felip. He looked even more handsome than usual, his usual serious expression softened by a slight smile. He caught sight of Leonora and Isabela and approached, his eyes lingering on Leonora for a fraction of a second longer than politeness dictated.

“Leonora, Isabela,” he greeted, his voice a low rumble that sent a familiar flutter through Leonora’s chest. The feeling, however, felt… muted, less vibrant than usual.

Isabela, being observant, noticed the shift in Leonora’s behavior. She’s so unusual and strange, what’s happening to this woman? She subtly nudged Leonora with her elbow, a silent question hanging in the air.

Isabela turned to his brother, making the atmosphere a bit light. “What are you doing here, my bookworm brother?” she said, teasing him. However, Leonora’s silence wasn’t anything new. Yet, the demeanor she’s showing? What’s going on with her?

Felip, feeling awkward with the silent communication between the two girls, continued, “I was just browsing for some new medical journals. Busy week ahead.” He paused, his gaze drifting to Leonora again. “How are you, Leonora?”

Leonora, usually quick with a witty reply, found herself tongue-tied. The words she wanted to say, the confession she’d been rehearsing last night, felt suddenly inadequate, clumsy. Callisto’s face flashed before her eyes – his teasing grin, his intense gaze, the way his hand had brushed against hers during their clumsy dance.

What is he doing here?— why does it have to be like this? Why did I agree to be in this situation?!

She stammered, “I… I’m fine, thank you.” The words felt hollow, even to her own ears.

Isabela, sensing the tension, stepped in. “Leonora’s been… busy lately,” she said, her voice laced with a playful ambiguity. “Working on a… very special project.” She winked at Leonora, a silent message of support and encouragement.

Leonora thought to herself. Well yeah, a special project to confess my infatuation…

Felip smiled politely, but Leonora saw a flicker of something else in his eyes – a hint of uncertainty, perhaps even… concern? The usual spark that ignited between them felt dimmed, replaced by a strange hollowness.

As Felip turned to leave, suddenly, a familiar voice had startled them both “Hey.” as they turned around, they saw Callisto grinning. Leonora looked at him like she was ready to throw punches at him.

Leonora gave him a withering look, “Nothing for you to be concerned about.” She grabbed Isabela’s hand and dragged her out of the bookstore, leaving the young man flustered. What’s going on with her?

That evening, Leonora found herself back at her usual stargazing spot, a familiar restlessness churning within her. She hadn't seen Callisto all day, an unusual absence that left a surprising void. The encounter with Felip had left her with a strange sense of unease; the comfortable familiarity she’d always felt with him now felt… distant, like a faded photograph.

“Are you ignoring me, Leonora?”

She was a bit startled with that familiar voice but remembered that this isn’t a place for her to be alone anymore, she long ago decided to share her stars and there’s no way he would give it back to her. Callisto, still puzzled with her demeanor, sat down and stargazed without uttering a word.

Then finally, he heard the lady sigh, “Confessing is really hard. It's like trying to catch a firefly in a hurricane – you know it's there, you can almost feel it, but it keeps slipping away."

Callisto nodded slowly, his gaze fixed on the distant stars. "Yeah," he agreed, his voice laced with a surprising vulnerability. "I guess I get that." He paused, then added, almost hesitantly, "I… I think I understand why you haven't told Felip yet."

Leonora looked at him, surprised. "You do?"

"It's not just the fear of rejection," Callisto said, his eyes meeting hers for a brief moment before drifting back to the stars. "It's the fear of… changing things. Of disrupting something that feels safe, even if it's not quite… right."

A wave of understanding washed over Leonora. He understood. He truly understood. The weight on her chest eased slightly.

She took a deep breath. "And… it’s not just the fear of rejection," she confessed, her voice gaining strength. "It's also… something else. Something I haven't been able to figure out."

Callisto leaned closer, his attention fully on her now. "What is it?"

Leonora hesitated, then blurted out, "My feelings for Felip… they feel… off. Different. Like something's missing. Like a melody that's lost its rhythm." She looked away, ashamed of her own uncertainty. "Maybe it's just me overthinking things, but… it's like the spark isn't there anymore. Or maybe it was never really there to begin with. Maybe it’s all in my head. I don’t know, maybe I’m going crazy." She trailed off, her voice barely audible.

Callisto remained silent for a long moment, absorbing her words. Then, he spoke, his voice soft but firm. "Maybe it's not about finding the missing rhythm, Leonora. Maybe it's about finding a new melody altogether."

His words hung in the air, a gentle challenge, a subtle suggestion, a promise of a different tune, a different song, a different path. The stars above them seemed to twinkle a little brighter, reflecting the unspoken possibilities that danced between them in the night. The awkwardness hadn't completely vanished, but it had been replaced by something else – a shared vulnerability, a silent understanding, and the thrilling anticipation of the unknown.

“You’re really good at words you know,” Leonora uttered, actually astonished by his intelligence.

Callisto smiled. No one has ever said something like that to him, especially from a person whom he just met not a long ago. “Do you wanna know a secret?”

Leonora, who’s all ears, chuckled, “Why do you have so many secrets?” She then took a quick glance at him before saying, “Go on.”

“I love poetry,” he muttered.

She was taken by surprise. “I like poetry as well!”

Callisto’s eyes suddenly shimmered, like he found another start that completes his constellation. “Really?”

“Yeah, you know the feeling wherein you feel lost and don’t have anyone to talk to you with your problems? Reading poems makes me feel like someone hears me, despite the thought that the words all came from a piece of paper. Some poems are like the missing voices of people.” Leonora stated. Callisto, feeling delighted, was glad to tell his secret to the right person. He only predicted that she would understand, but not the thought of having similarities with her.

“I agree with you,” Callisto replied. “I really love the art of writing. It makes me express my unsaid feelings.”

The confession hung in the air, unexpected, intimate. Leonora stared at him, even more surprised than ever. Callisto, the teasing, annoying Callisto, wrote poetry? The image seemed both incongruous and strangely fitting.

“You write poems?!” she asked, a genuine curiosity lacing her voice.

He nodded, a faint blush creeping onto his cheeks. "Yeah. It's… it's something I've always done. A way to… process things, I guess." He looked away, fiddling with a blade of grass. "I never showed anyone, though. Not even Felip."

Leonora's surprise slowly morphed into something else – a quiet understanding. "I get it," she said softly. "Keeping your passions hidden… it's like holding a precious stone in your hand, afraid to let it shine for fear of it being broken."

Callisto looked up, a flicker of gratitude in his eyes. "You… you understand?"

"Of course, I do," she replied. "I told you.. I like poetry. Or, well… I love reading poetry. But I don't… I don't do poetry. It's too… vulnerable, I guess. Too exposed. I prefer to be the observer, the reader, the silent appreciator. The words on the page are safe, contained. The emotions they evoke are powerful, but they're not mine."

Callisto smiled, a genuine smile that reached his eyes. "That's… actually kind of beautiful," he said, his voice filled with a warmth that melted away the lingering awkwardness. "The safe space of the observer. The power of silent appreciation. I never thought of it that way."

He paused, then added, "Maybe that's why we get along so well. We both have our hidden worlds, our secret passions. We just express them in different ways."

Leonora smiled back, a genuine smile that mirrored his own. The shared understanding, the unspoken connection, felt stronger than ever before. The awkwardness was gone, replaced by a comfortable intimacy, a shared space where vulnerability wasn't weakness, but a bridge to a deeper connection. The night, once filled with unspoken tension, now shimmered with the unspoken promise of a new shared secret, a new shared space, a new shared understanding. The stars above them seemed to witness their unspoken bond, their silent pact of understanding, their shared journey of self-discovery.