Upon hearing his
request, Nalia’s mind went blank. Silence filled the air. Slowly, thoughts
began mulling around in her mind, swirling, spinning, round-and-round. Suddenly
aware of how close he was to her, she stood and put distance between them. A date?
With someone she barely knew? She
wouldn’t even go out of her way to visit her best friends.
“Nalia?” Castiel
asked softly.
Her heart and mind
simply wouldn’t connect. Part of her wanted to do it, to move on with life, but
another part wanted to protect her from any ill that may befall her.
Furthermore, after all he had done, she couldn’t bring herself to outright
reject him. It seemed that there was no way to win the losing battle.
“If you don’t want
to, that’s alright. I understand,” he said. His voice sounded somewhat
disappointed, but somehow, it seemed as though he had anticipated rejection.
Had he heard the rumors? Did he know that she had rarely showed her face to
outside world for the past ten years? A deep feeling of shame consumed her
heart.
Hesitantly, she
turned around to face him. He stood closely behind, his face void of emotion.
“No, it’s not that,” she began, “I just haven’t done anything like that in a
while . . . I-I need some time to think.” In her heart, she knew that if she
didn’t accept now, she never would. Perhaps that was the plan. Perhaps she
simply wanted to let him down easy. Her eyes gazed up to his. They seemed to
twinkle upon hearing her reply. Nalia’s heart ached. Would she really do that
to him? Take the cowardly way out? I
can’t do this. I can’t lie to him, she thought.
“I’ll try to get
back to you this evening,” Nalia said firmly. Whether she accepted or rejected
in the end, at least she told him the truth. In her mind, that was what
mattered most.
“Take as long as
you need,” he said as he returned to his desk. On a sticky note, he jotted
something down quickly and then returned to her. “This is my personal number.
Feel free to call at any time,” Castiel said innocently. After letting the words set in his mind, he
blushed slightly, but said nothing more.
Gently, Nalia took
the paper from him and glanced at it before folding it and putting it in her
pocket. “Thank you,” she murmured. For a moment, the two stood there in an
awkward silence. Neither knew what to say, nor what to do. Finally, Nalia
glanced at the clock, “I should probably get going.”
Castiel’s eyes
followed. It was only one, but he supposed she had things to do. “Alright.
Thanks for stopping by,” he said as he opened the door for her. The two said
their goodbyes and parted ways. When the door was firmly closed, he wandered
over to one of the arm chairs and collapsed onto it. “This is turning out to be
harder than I thought.”
Swiftly, Nalia
made her way home. Unlike before, she didn’t walk with nearly as much
confidence. Her mind began its worrisome cycle. What was that noise? Who is
that? What was that? She had allowed herself to momentarily forget about
Asriel, but now that her mind wasn’t filled with joyous feelings, he was able
to slither back into place he had haunted for years.
Upon entering her
home, she looked around. It was quiet, as always. Nothing ever changed in her
home. She didn't know what she was expecting to happen. It’s not like there was
anyone around to change things. “Just like your life,” she said as she sat down
on the floor in front of her couch. She ran her fingers across the carpet and
sighed. What was she going to do? She wanted to move on with her life, but she
also wanted to protect herself. Furthermore, what if Mistria failed? What if
Asriel succeeded? It pained her to think about leaving people who cared about
her behind. She would be gone without a trace, and they would be left with
nothing. Would they look for her? Cry for her? Nalia didn’t want to think about
that.
Still, another
thought loomed in her mind. If it was her last year living a somewhat normal
life, shouldn’t she make the most of it? What if Mistria succeeded? Nalia would
be back at square one. No friends, hardly any family, with no exciting life
events to speak of. She stood and gazed out the window. What could she do? Her
eyes fell on a house across the street. For a long moment, Nalia stared at it.
It’s okay to rely on other people, you know.
With
the encouragement of her little voice, Nalia put herself into motion. No matter
where she was in life, no matter what situation, there was always two people
who would help her regardless. Even if she hadn’t spoken to them in years.
It took her longer
than it should have to reach Rose and Violet’s home. She had hesitated many
times. What if they didn’t want to speak to her anymore? What if they didn’t
care? It had been so long . . .
Nalia lingered at
the door for several minutes before knocking softly. The worst they can do is turn you away, she told herself. She knew,
though, if they did that, it would break her heart. Everything seemed like a
risk that day. How many could she take before getting hurt?
“Coming!” said a
muffled voice from behind the door. Nalia’s heart began beating quickly. She
watched the door knob turn with wide eyes. When the door opened, she was met
with equally wide eyes. Before her stood one of her best friends—and cousins—Violet
Thorne.
For a long time, both stood in awe. Finally, Nalia
spoke. “Can I come in?” she inquired quietly. Violet nodded slowly and stepped
aside.
“Who is it, Vi?”
Rose, Violet’s sister, and called from another room. Upon receiving no reply,
she walked into the living area. When her eyes met Nalia’s, her jaw dropped.
She released the book in her hand and bounded to her, wasting no time in
pulling her into an almost overbearing hug. “Oh my God, Nalia! It’s you,” she
exclaimed as she squeezed.
“Yes, Rose, it’s
me,” Nalia said as Rose squeezed. The two hugged for a long time before
releasing each other. When Rose was finished, Violet took her turn. Luckily for
Nalia, she was much gentler than her sister.
“It’s been a
while,” Violet said as she released her, “We were starting to wonder if you had
forgotten about us.”
Nalia smiled
brightly through glassy eyes. She rubbed them and laughed. “It has, hasn’t it?”
she said as the three made their way over to the couch.
“So, what bring
you to our humble abode?” Rose said as she sat down beside her. Where could she
start? It seemed rude to jump right into the reason why she came, but she also
wanted to cut to the chase.
“I need some
advice. Well, more like I need help making a decision,” Nalia began. She hoped
the two wouldn’t mind her jumping right into her problems.
Rose smiled
brightly. “Well! You’ve come to the right place, I’d say,” she said as she
leaned in. “Alright, fill us in. We’re listening.”
It comforted her
to know that they didn’t mind. It seemed that simply having her near was
enough. She smiled, but then she began thinking. How could she start this? She
didn’t want to tell them everything,
that would take much too long, and that wasn’t something she even wanted to
think about, much less talk about. Nalia rubbed her chin and sighed. “I met
this guy.”
The two leaned in
and grinned. “Is that so? This should be interesting,” Rose said. Nalia lightly
punched her on the shoulder. “This is serious,” she frowned.
“Sorry, sorry,
I’ll behave,” Rose said as she leaned back.
Taking a moment to
recompose herself, Nalia breathed in and made herself comfortable. “He wants to
take me out to dinner. I have no reason to object really, but I just don’t know
if I want to get involved with anyone yet. It’s been so long, and I just . . .
I don’t know how well it would work out in the end,” she explained. Her eyes glanced between the two of them.
Violet leaned back
in her chair. She didn’t speak for a long time, but eventually began in a firm
tone. “You should do it. As much as I hate to point it out, life is passing you
by, Nalia. You’re twenty-eight with no real experiences to speak of. You’ve
barely left your house in ten years,” Violet said, her voice sounding angrier
with each word. Realizing her tone, she took a moment to breathe. “I don’t know
what happened to you all those years ago. I’m not going to ask. What I do know
is that time isn’t going to wait for you forever, Nalia. You’ve got to start
living again sooner or later. This is your chance to start,” Violet encouraged
as she took her hand. She smiled uneasily then leaned back in her chair.
It hurt to hear
her words. Nalia knew they were true, though, and she appreciated the honesty.
Violet had always been like that. Straight-forward and honest, never beating
around the bush. They were traits Nalia admired deeply. She nodded and then
turned to Rose.
She rubbed her
chin. “Well, what have you got to lose? No one said you had to turn this into
something serious. If I were you, I would just go have dinner with him and then
see where it goes from there. Worst comes to worst, at least you got a free
dinner,” she said with a shrug.
Rose was carefree
and humorous as always. No matter what the situation was, she always seemed to
be able to make a joke about it. She could light up a room with only a few
simple words. That was one of the reasons why Nalia always went to her. She
knew how to make someone feel better without even trying.
“Thanks you two. I
think I’ve come to a decision,” Nalia said as grinned. She looked down at her
hands. They were right. She didn’t have to commit to anything. Your life, for now, is in your own hands.
You’ll be okay, she thought as she looked at the two of them. “I think I’ll
do it.”
The twins looked
at each other and smiled. Something about the way they looked at each other
gave Nalia the impression that they thought they achieved something. Perhaps
they did. Rose turned back to her, “Well, if you’re going to do this, you
should probably tell me who it is. That way, if he hurts you, I’ll know who to
beat up without having to squeeze it out of you.”
“Well, if you
really must know . . . .”
