Lost In-between

CHAPTER2

After recollecting, she glanced at the clock on the wall, seeing it was past six in the evening, Emilia picked up the telephone and dialed his residence number.

A number she still has at heart, one that reminds her of the months she spent with Divine as his wife. She tends to answer almost all the calls that come in, a habit that excites her back in the year, but right at that moment, she happened to be the one calling.

Holding her breath, she waited for a reply from the other end. A few seconds later, she heard a deep voice saying “Speaking with Divine Waterland, who are you?”. Emilia’s heart thumped so loudly that she could hear it through her clothing. She said, “It’s Emilia, Divine”.”Oh!” she heard him exclaim. It seemed that was all he could mutter, as Divine went ahead to ask her why she was calling, since she knew quite well how busy he was.

Emilia felt anger creeping in on her, because of his indifferent attitude towards her. It was true, and she understood that they were now divorced, but his indifferent attitude towards her shouldn’t have been so nonchalant and obvious, as his reply showed. Emilia then decided to go straight to the reason she had called, as she told him what was happening between Helen, her sister and Henry, his married brother.

Divine exclaimed a suppressed gasp, telling her to meet him tomorrow at Smarty Restaurant, a restaurant they both frequented back in the years. He asked her to meet him there so they could talk a little more about the matter at hand, and possibly find a solution to it.

Having agreed to the arrangement, she hung up. Emilia found herself trembling, as she soliloquized “this will not do, lady”. She hated herself for this awakening emotion that she had long buried, or so she thought. Emilia reminded herself that it was just a lunch appointment as regards the state of their respective siblings, and nothing more.

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She spent quite a long time deciding on what to wear. Emilia wanted something smart and causal, so as not to send any green light, or give the impression that this was more than just a meeting. She thought of a color to pick, and then came to the conclusion that blue was the best idea. More so, it complements her eyes, and Divine has always adored her eyes, she remembers.

At Smarty restaurant, Emilia was already seated, and quite busy on her phone with a cocktail on her table when the door opened and Divine Waterland walked into the room.

His presence somewhat lightened up the room, as Divine walked towards her in a flawless blue suit, complemented by a blue shoe, heads turned as he made his way closer to her, and her heart missed a beat also. It was as though they both planned to wear a matching outfit, because she was also dressed in a blue floral gown with a slit from knee-length downwards.

Moving straight to where Emilia was seated, he gave her a slight nod and sat down beside her. Taking some time to look at Emilia, Divine noticed that she hadn’t changed a bit, still the beautiful lady he fell in love with at first sight, he thought. Divine took the order for their meals, before turning towards Emilia, and with a scornful tone, asked her, “How have you been?”.

Yet, with a spiteful look and a calm tone, Emilia replied to him, "I am fine, thank you". This time, Divine smiled and told her genuinely about how she hadn’t changed, the same length of hair, calm disposition and beautiful Emilia he once knew.

Well, aside from her wicked heart, she hadn’t changed a bit, he thought to himself.

The waitress came right on time to interrupt Divine’s thoughts, as she placed their order on the table, "Enjoy your meal" she said before giving a slight bow of departure, elegantly walking towards another table to take their order, obviously.

With their meal in-between, Emilia was confused about how to start this conversation about Helen. She thought about eating her meal first before settling in for the talk of the day. Looking at the grilled chicken and omelet, she smiled. He always seemed to know what she wanted, and always at the right time. “Such a dashing perfectionist!” she whispered to herself.

Divine, on the other hand, hadn’t moved his eyes from Emilia, as he kept on looking at her with expressionless eyes, looking so deep into her soul as though searching for answers to some questions of his.

At this point it was obvious that Emilia wasn’t comfortable anymore. Neither had she touched her meal nor started the conversation that brought her there, all thanks to Divine and his deep stare.

“Can you just let me be, please?” she spoke out with a tired sigh. She had had enough of his stare and just wanted a break from it.

Divine, knowing fully well what she was talking about, decided to use the opportunity for communication and asked her about Andrew, “How is Andrew, Emilia?” he asked.

Andrew was the man who stole Emilia away from him, or so he thought.

“He is fine”. Emilia looked him straight in the eyes and replied, after which she focused on her meal and, this time, ate in silence. She wasn’t interested in the awkwardness anymore, for all she wanted to do was eat, discuss why she came and then leave.

Once they were done with the meal and the elegant waitress had come back to clear the table, Divine asked Emilia to repeat all she told him about their siblings.

"I don’t know much, but mother simply told me about the affair between Henry and Helen when I visited her yesterday. According to her, she said she had long been noticing some changes in Helen, and when she later did ask, Helen boldly told her that she was now in love".

“At first, it was quite a splendid confession to my mother. Helen had just turned eighteen, and she was an adult who could make such emotional decisions for herself. Mother was pleased, but her joy was short-lived the moment Helen told her that she was in love with none other than Henry, her married brother”. “Mother said Helen told her that Henry had promised to marry her immediately he divorces his wife Loveth, unfailingly next month”.

“Divine, you know your brother well enough to know that he is a married man, and this issue will complicate things for my sister. She is still a young lady who has just turned eighteen and hasn’t fully had her footing, she is just new to adult life”, Emilia said. “That is why I was sent by mother to talk to you and also find a way around this dilemma. You also know how stubborn Helen can be at times. Please help me out, Divine.”

Emilia found herself begging in a sincere and yet sad tone. Looking at her face, Divine knew that she was already getting tired of this whole romantic imbalance.

If he remembered her quite enough, he knew how she dislikes pocking her nose into other people’s businesses or being called upon to help settle issues. She has always been one who loves peace and minds her business. Now, with this issue at hand as regards her sister and his brother, Divine knew that it was already eating her up, and as much as he would like to see her sad, for all the hurt she had caused him, still, he cannot bring himself to hurt her. He still loves her! And the realization of that made him scared all over again, just as he was a year ago.

Divine gave an angry smile and told her not to worry, that he would fix things, as he also told her to extend that information to her mother.

“Thank you, Divine, thank you so much for coming along” Emilia found herself exclaiming in excitement. She felt a sense of relief just from hearing him speak. Knowing fully well who Divine is, she knows he is a man of his word, one who always tries to meet up with every promise he makes.

While her thoughts were still flying around, Divine reached for her left hand, placed it on his and asked her to sincerely tell him about Andrew, “The man who took away his wife from him”. ‘Emilia, how is Andrew, are you happy with him?” he asked. “Well, he never took your wife, remember? You divorced me” was all Emilia could answer him.

Divine drew back, looked at her squarely and then told her spitefully that he thought Andrew would have married her almost immediately, this he said in a scornful tone as he gave her an half smile to complement his statement.

In response, she congratulated him on his engagement, and wished his new lady would give him the “happiness” she never gave him, this she replied him in a mocking tone, to which Divine replied “I wish so, too”.

Emilia looked at her wristwatch and told Divine that it is about time she takes her leave, adding an excuse that her mother would be home waiting for her, in expectant of a good news as regards the situation at hand. Divine nodded to that and paid the bill before standing up, to which Emilia followed suit. They both walked to the door and he asked Emilia if he could drop her at home. At first, she was reluctant but later obliged him after some persuasion from his end.