A Tale Beyond Destiny

Chapter 30: Meeting Connor (Caliana)

After that traumatic incident between Caleb’s Uncle and us, everything went back to normal. Though I must say that something had changed because Caleb was always vigilant of our surroundings, as though he was afraid that something like that would happen again, even though there was not clearly a threat any longer, as Connor, his friend whom he introduced that very same day that they saved me, had already captured his Uncle and vowed to the two of us that he would never be able to do anything on us any longer.

Connor told us that he would make sure that he would never be able to go near us any longer. He even said that he would ask somebody to watch us from afar so that he would rest assured that nothing bad would happen to the two of us, which I have been skeptical, because I did not think that he had to go on his way and do something like that for us.

I mean, I knew that he would do anything for his friend, like what I had observed that day, but then again, I really think that it was too much for him to go out of his way just to make sure that Caleb and I would be safe and sound. I think that it was not that necessary, as Caleb told me, because the only threat that had been lurking around him was his Uncle, and I was sure that no one would go out of their way and abduct me again because no one knew who I was in this world.

He still insisted though. He even told the both of us that he would never take no for an answer, and we did not have any choice but to accept what he had said. We did not have any choice but to agree, though Caleb said that there had to be a condition: That the men who would watch us would never interfere with anything that we would do, and they would never do anything that would make us comfortable, and that they should really just watch us from afar, as it was never necessary to go that far as the threat was now solved.

He agreed, and oh, I am thankful that he agreed even though I could clearly see that he wanted to protest, as though he really thought that it was really necessary for both of us to have someone who would look after us. After some negotiation between the two of them, and after Connor stared at me for a longer time than necessary, he finally forced himself to agree, even though I clearly knew that he never really wanted to let us go.

I was thankful that it was as though no one was watching us, really. After all, I really had enough when I was still in the palace, as I knew that my Father always had an eye all around the place, as if he wanted to make sure that nothing could go wrong to me, or maybe should I say he wanted to make sure that I would never embarrass the royal family, because it was as though that was the only thing that he had in his mind after all this time.

Well, either way, I have been really thankful that everything had gone back to normal, though I must say that it felt like something was odd, though I could never point out what it was about. It was as though it had something to do with Caleb’s friend, Connor, but I could never really understand why I had this kind of feeling towards him.

It was as if he was hiding something from me, and from Caleb. It was as if I could feel that he was not like any other people that I have met in this world, though I tried my best not to get affected by that because I already knew that nothing good would happen if I ever let myself be bothered by his mysterious presence. I knew that I would just keep on suspecting him and I never wanted that to happen because he was the person who was the reason why I had been saved that day. He was the reason why I went back to Caleb’s home as though nothing wrong had happened days ago.

“Hey,” I heard a familiar voice greeting me that made me sit up straight on the couch where I had been sitting for almost an hour now. I looked behind me and that was when I saw Caleb, who was wearing his casual clothes as if he did not intend to go to the office today. “I figured that it was time for me to take a break from my work and spend some time with you.”

My smile widened because of what he said, before I invited him to join me on the couch and he did so with a huge grin on his face. “Really?” I asked him as I leaned onto him, which he gladly accepted by draping his arm on my shoulders. I felt him nod his head at me, and that made my heart flutter for a moment. “For how many days will you take a break?” I asked him as I put my hand on his chest.

He let out a thoughtful hum as if he wanted to remember what he had said to his secretary. Then, after a few moments, he answered me, “I said that I would take a break for three days, and Fabian had agreed with what I wanted to do because he said that there were too many things that had happened to me these past few weeks, and I deserved to have a moment to have a rest.”

I nodded my head, slowly, as I moved near to him once again, as though the closeness that we had earlier was never enough for me. “He is right though,” I said, as I felt his hands lower down on my waist as if he wanted to cuddle up with me. “You needed some rest first so that you can come back with a new enthusiasm.”

Caleb’s chest rumbled because of laughter as he played with my hair, before he kissed the top of my head as though he had found some reason for him to do that. Then, suddenly, he changed our subject to another one; maybe because he had figured out that that talk was already done, for the meantime.

“I actually wanted to invite Connor to have dinner with the two of us today,” he said, which made me look up at him with a questioning haze and he just smiled at me as he kept on playing with my hair. “I wanted to thank him for helping us that day, and I think that this would be the best time for the two of you to get to know one another.”

My eyes brightened because of the thought of thanking him, because now that I think of it, we never really had a chance to properly thank him before, because both of them had been so busy over something that I never really had an idea about what it was, though I never really asked him about it. We never had a chance to show him our gratitude for saving me that day.

“I like that idea,” I said to him as I sat beside him with a huge grin on my face. “Maybe you could also invite your secretary? I mean, I knew that he also did his best to keep your company at bay while you were dealing with your Uncle.”

I knew that Fabian had also helped the two of them that day, because he told me so and he did not bother to hide anything from me. Caleb and I had a talk about all the things about him that day, and I had a chance to get to know more about his friends, who stayed by his side even though he tried to push them away before.

I wanted to thank them for staying with him after all this time. I wanted to show them how grateful I was that Caleb had that kind of friend with him, and he had a chance to open up to them. I wanted to show them my gratitude that they stayed with him, after all this time.

Caleb immediately agreed with me as he nodded his head. “I will call the both of them to ask if they are free today, then we will prepare the food that we will cook, alright?” he said to me as he prepared to stand up from his seat again, and I just let him do it as I nodded my head as an answer.

I also decided that I should stand up too, because I thought of something that I could do while he was trying to reach out for his friends. “I will take a look at the food that we can cook later.” He looked at me and nodded his head, before he finally went out of the living room to call his closest friends.

I, on the other hand, really went to the kitchen as I let out a thoughtful hum as I thought of what we should cook. After all, this was the very first time that we ever had a visitor and I wanted them to feel that they were welcome here, even though I clearly did not know how many times they had been inside this house. But still, I wanted this to be perfect, as it should have, because they were his friends and the ones who helped us before.

It did not take long for me to decide that we should just cook some sea food for them, and it seemed like Caleb was alright with my decision, as I saw him lighten up when he walked inside of the kitchen and had seen me taking out the sea foods that he had bought just a day before. He also helped me with preparing the ingredients, though he never let me really cook the food because he said that he did not want me to get tired because of it.

I just gave him a playful glare before I rolled my eyes, though I never really questioned him. I just decided that I should just take a seat on one of the stools that was inside of his kitchen as I never intended to interfere with him with his cooking. After all, all the preparation for the food that we had decided to cook was done, and I did not have anything to do other than to sit on the stool in his kitchen while I watched his handsome features while cooking.

We were doing just that, until finally, we both heard the doorbell ringing, indicating that someone was already outside of our door. Both of us turned our heads towards the direction of the main door of his house, before he let out a sigh that made me look at him with a questioning gaze.

“Can you stir this soup until I get back?” he asked me while pointing at the soup that he decided to cook last. I immediately nodded my head, because I really wanted to help him even just for a moment, and it was finally time for me to really do just that. He smiled as he saw how eager I was, before he finally gave me the spoon that he had been using to stir the pot. “I will just see if they are the ones who rang the doorbell, alright?”

I looked at him with a smile as I nodded my head at him, before I turned all of my attention on the pot again. I even heard the familiar opening of the door, and my smile widened when I heard that Caleb was laughing as he was greeting the person, or maybe, the people who were ringing the doorbell earlier.

It was not until I saw the soup start to boil that I decided that it was already good to go, and I finally put it in a large bowl. I felt a large hand behind me and that was the moment that I saw that Caleb had returned to me.

“I should be the one doing that,” he said while he looked at me in the eye, though I shook my head at him as I returned my attention to the soup that I was carefully transferring to the large bowl that I found on one of the cabinets in the kitchen.

“I can do this.” I started to shoo him away from me as I said to him, “Go now and prepare the things that we need later for dinner.” I gave him a look, and he just raised both of his hands as though he had surrendered, before he finally followed what I just said.

After that, he finally called his friends to tell them that the dinner was ready, and they immediately went to the dining area to join us. Caleb decided that it was a perfect time for him to introduce me to his friends, and so he did that without hesitation.

Fabian, his secretary in his company, greeted me with an enthusiastic smile on his face and I was glad to see that he was just alright that I was with the three of them. Connor, on the other hand, though, had that not-so welcoming look on his face as he accepted my hand for a handshake.

I got a little awkward about the way he looked, though the atmosphere around us immediately lightened up when Fabian had joked that Connor was always like that and I should not take it seriously, though I could tell that something was really wrong, which was why he looked at me like I had done something wrong to him, or maybe, to anyone, though I never really have an idea on what it was.

“Let’s start to eat,” Caleb said when he saw that he needed to step up, and the three of us just agreed with him and started to dig in on our food.

The whole dinner was silent, though Fabian would make a comment from time to time, which the other two would always have a retort to him that made him have a long face and he even had looked at me as though he wanted to tell me that he had been bullied, but I just laughed at him as I shook my head, before I started to eat again.

It was not until Caleb asked Fabian to accompany him to the wine cellar, which he had been keeping to me all that time, which had made the whole atmosphere around the dining area awkward again. I almost wanted to ask Caleb if it was just alright for me to accompany him too, but I stopped myself from doing so because I knew that it would be too rude for Connor to be left behind, all alone.

That was why, even though I was really uncomfortable with how Connor looked at me, I still forced myself to sit still on my chair as I acted as though I was still not finished with the soup that Caleb had given to me earlier, even though the bowl clearly did not have any content any longer.

I could feel his gaze on me, and this was the first time ever since I had decided to run away from my home that I felt this kind of pressure. It was almost as if I was in front of my Father, though it might sound too ridiculous given that Connor’s attitude was clearly different from my ever controlling Father.

It was as if he was trying to figure something out for me, though I never really knew what he wanted to know about me. It was as if he knew something about me, and he was just trying to find the right time to confront me, and it seemed like he had decided that this was indeed the time he had been waiting for, given that the two of us were all alone in the dining area. I could also tell that whatever he was about to say to me would never be heard by Caleb or Fabian because they were too far from where we were sitting.

“It seems like you enjoyed living with him, Caliana,” he said, which made me stop acting as though the bowl had interests me as I finally looked up at him. “It is you, right?” he asked, which made my heart pound, though I tried to act as if I did not have any idea on what he was talking about.

He gave me a gentle smile that was enough to ease my worry, though I was still ready to do something if ever he had decided to make a move, which I think he would really do because of how he looked at me as of that moment.

“Don’t act like that, Milady.” My eyes widened in shock as that was the first time ever since I left the palace that I heard someone had called me that. He looked at me, though I could not figure out what expression he had on his face. He started to speak again and that made me worry about myself once again, because it was as though he knew too much about me.

“You are Caliana Sofia Briar, the Crown Princess of Asphodel.”