Started with Goodbye

Chapter 9

The day that Asher and I would be going to the exhibit of the paintings of the pinter named Asher C.W. had finally arrived, and somehow, my crazy best frined had offered to choose a dress for me to wear, as well as my shoes, and she also did my make up, which I found so absurd because we would go on that exhibit to just see the paintings and nothing else. Why would she do something like that?

Either way, I could not say no to her, because she said that she would get hurt if I did so. So, I was here on the inside of the very same cafe where I invited Asher to come with me on that exhibit, because the both of us agreed that we should meet there, wearing the dress and the shoes that Aiden personally choose for me, and wearing a make up that she also did for me.

Well, I was starting to like the way she styled my outfit today because, really, nothing changed on me, except for the light make up that I did not usually wear, but I agreed with Aiden when she said that it would suit me, because it really did!

She also styled my hair into a knotted half up, that match my light pink above the knee dress and my color white flat shoes. It really suit my taste, and I could say that it really did suit on me. Maybe, I should praise Aiden some other time because this was the first time that she did something like this for me.

Above it all, she was busy this day but she had managed to squeeze this ‘styling me’ on her very tight schedule. Because right after she finished styling me, she only said ‘good luck’ and ‘fighting,’ before she left, almost hurriedly.

Right now, I was only waiting for Asher to arrive so that we would be able to catch the bus that would bring us on the art gallery where the exhibit would be held. It seems like I got here early, out of excitement, because there were a few people around and I could not see Asher anywhere.

Well, it was fine for me to wait for him. After all, it was me who dragged him on something like this even though I did not know if he would like it or not. Also, I bought a coffee as soon as I went here because I got a little hungry.

I was looking on the cars that was passing by from time to time, then I would look at the phone to check my time, because I really could not contain the excitement that I was feeling right now. I could not seem to imagine that I would finally do the thing that I really, really, wanted to do before.

After all, it has been a while ever since I got to go on an event like this, because I got really busy with my work and I got busy on writing some novels too. And this would also be the first time that I would have someone, other than Aiden, to accompany me on something like this.

I just really hope that he would be able to enjoy this day, because I was getting anxious on what he would react about this. Even though he already agreed with me, I could not seem to stop myself from overthinking things.

I shook off those thoughts as I started to tell to myself that I should just enjoy this day, without thinking of negative thoughts. Right. I should do that because I have been waiting for this day to come these past few days, and I should do my best so that the both of us could enjoy this day.

I just smiled to myself as I started humming a tune of the music that I could think of, until I saw Asher on the other side of the glass window. He stopped on his tracks when he saw me sitting on one of the chairs near the window, and waved his hands at me, and so I did it too.

He smiled at me before he finally went to go inside of the cafe, and he immediately walked towards my direction. I looked behind me, and immediately grinned at him when I saw that he was ready to go on the exhibit.

“You look so gorgeous today,” he told me that made me blush a little.

“Thanks,” I told him in a small voice because it felt like I would stutter if I would make it louder.

I looked at him and I saw that he still had that smile, that made me grin at him too. “So, are you ready to go?” he asked me that made me look at the time. “We might not be able to catch the bus that would take us there if we do not move now,” he added that made me nod my head, immediately.

“Then, we should go now so that we will not be late on the exhibit.” I stood up from my seat as I started to check if all the things that I needed were already inside of my hand bag.

I heard him chuckled that made me stop what I was doing and look at him with a frown on my face. I could see that he was trying as hard as he could to stop himself from laughing while he was looking at me, and that made me even more confused than I ever was.

“Is there something wrong?” I asked him, and I even checked my face on the mirror that was on my bag because I thought that there was something wrong on my face but there was none, so I looked at him, even more confused than I ever was just a minute ago.

He just slightly shook his head as he stifles his laughter, still looking at me. “It’s nothing,” he said that made me doubt him even more.

“I don’t believe that it was really nothing,” I told him, confusion was written all over my face.

He laughed out loud that made me stop on my tracks as I looked at him with a shock expression on my face. Even the other customers that were inside the cafe stopped talking too and looked at him for a brief second, before they started to talk with one another again.

He slightly patted the top of my head that made me even more shock, as he slightly shook his head again. “It was really nothing,” he told me that made me snap out of my thoughts. “It’s just that you really looks so cute whenever you were getting excited about something.”

I frowned even more when he said that and all I could react was a, “Huh?” but he just shook his head again and said that we should go now, or else, we might not be able to go on the exhibit on time, so I just let him go and the both of us finally went out of that cafe and we walked towards the bus station that was located on the other side of the street.

Though in my mind, I could not seem to process that laugh that Asher did earlier. I never thought that I would hear him laugh like that, so loud, that made the other customers of the cafe look at our direction.

I really thought that he was some kind of a serious guy, but it seems like he has some odd charms too, and that includes that laugh that I heard earlier. This guy never really failed to shock me, for real, but I never complain because it never lessen the fact that I was so comfortable around him to the point that I could be myself.

I might consider that I was starting to like him, even though we just met, but I was just shaking off that thought because I think that it might ruin what we have right now. It might be bad for the both of us, and I could not seem to take the thought of him taking a step away from me.

“Hey,” Asher called my attention, and that made me snap out of my thoughts and look at him as I blinked my eyes, rapidly. “Are you alright?” he asked me, worry was evident in my voice.

It seems like I was thinking too much that I did not notice that the expression on my face had changed, and it looks like Asher noticed that change because he was looking at me, right now, with that worried expression on my face.

I cleared my throat and smiled at him as I waved him off. “I am fine,” I told him as I gave him a huge grin. “I just thought of something, but it was alright now,” I even added so that he would not get worried for me anymore.

“Are you sure?” he asked me that made me nod my head at him and grinned at him to show him that I was really alright.

“Yeah,” I answered him as I looked at the bus that was approaching the bus station where we were. “Do not think too much because of it,” I told him as I wait for the bus to stop in front of us. “Let’s just enjoy this day.” I took a step inside the bus as soon as it stopped, and Asher did the same too, before I looked at him as I said, “Shall we?”

He looked at me for a minute, before he nodded his head as he let out a loud sigh. “Alright,” he agreed with what I said and started to sit beside me as the bus started to move and go on the location where the exhibit would be held. “Let’s enjoy this day just like what you just said.”

I smiled at him as I looked outside of the window of the bus. It was bright and sunny, a perfect day for a perfect event that would happen for at least an hour from now. It seems like I got really lucky because the fate was on my side, and the person that was beside me was really close to me now.

We talked on the way there, and just like what I just said earlier, we managed to enjoy the day and give our all for that. We also managed to talk about the things that was out for the exhibit, and I managed to find out that Asher was also interested on things like this.

“Do you also go on exhibit like this?” I asked him as soon as we stopped walking around and sat on the bench that was inside because I suddenly felt tired because of almost an hour of walking, non stop. “I mean, you really seems to enjoy yourself as we walked around here.”

“No,” he answered me, honestly, as he shook his head as he looked at the painting in front of us. “This is, honestly, the first time that I went on something like this, and it was all thanks to you that I managed to see these paintings.”

I looked at him, and I could see a hint of sadness on his eyes. “Really?” I asked him, doubt was evident on my voice, because I could not believe that it was his first time to go on something like this. I saw him nod his head at me. “It seems like it was not your first time though,” I told him as I looked at the painting in front of us again.

“It is just that...” I looked at him again as I wait for him to continue what he was about to say. He still had that sad look on his face and he also had a sad smile on his lips. “It felt so nostalgic as I was looking at these paintings.”

My curiosity was turned into a frown because of what he said. “What do you mean by that?” I asked him, confused.

Didn’t he told me that it was his first time on an exhibit like this? Or is it because he already saw a painting of this man under the name Asher C.W? Or maybe, it was something else that he did not want me to find out?

He just slowly looked at me before he shook his head, and started to pat my head for the second time that day. “It’s nothing,” he said to me.

But I doubt that it was really nothing because I could see that look on his face as if it was showing what he truly feels about this. Though I did not dare to dig deeper about that topic because just like what I said earlier, I wanted the both of us to enjoy this day without getting worried over something.

“Then, we should go now again,” I told him as I started to stand up from my seat. “After all, there was still too many paintings that we did not manage to see earlier. I wanted to check it out too.”

I know that it sounded like I was desperately trying to change our topic because I did not want him to get uncomfortable, and I think that I did a great job because he immediately agreed with me and started to walk beside me again.

Though it seems like he got silent, unlike before that he was talking to me, sharing his opinions about the things that we saw. I just stayed silent too because it seems like he wanted to think of something that he did not want to talk about with me.

We stopped on a painting with a silhouette of a man and a woman who turned their backs towards each other. Then, inside of that silhouette have man and a woman who was facing each other. The background of that painting was a galaxy, and when I looked at the description of that painting below, I did not know why, but my heart started to throbs because of the pain.

‘Started with Goodbye.’

That was the title of the painting that was in front of us right now, but what caught my attention the most, and the reason why I was feeling this kind of pain in my heart, was because of the description of that painting.

‘Even if two people were a universe apart, even if time is not on their ide, even if fate is not playing on their part, if they are really meant to be, they will be able to overcome all these problems, but eventually, as the time goes by that they are together, they will realize that sometimes, love was too strong for it to be able to last a lifetime.’

“It was saying that sometimes, even though you were a universe apart, even though fate was not on your side, and even though time was too short when the two of you are together, if the two of you were really for each other, you will feel it.” I looked at Asher as soon as I heard him say that.

He had that solemn look on his face as he was looking at the painting. It seems like even though I did not tell him that I was so confused about the description of that painting, he knew that I wanted to know the meaning behind those words. It seems like he knew that I wanted to know it because of the pain that I was feeling right now.

He noticed that I was looking at him, so he turned his attention at me as he said, “It means that even though it was only for a short of period of time, the man, the painter behind this artwork, had managed to know the meaning behind the words true love.”

I looked at the painting again as I asked him, “Do you believe it?” I looked at him and I could see that he was confused, so I continued what I was saying. “That there is another world, other than this, that was existing without anyone knowing.”

Sadly, he did not answer my question. He just kept on staring at the painting with a solemn look on his face, and I was wondering what was on his mind, and why does he had that kind of look on his face.