The Not So Perfect Love Story

28|| The event

The shattering of a heart when being broken is the loudest quiet ever.

- Carroll Bryant

28|| The event

It was the day of the charity and I was getting ready for it, donning on an expensive gown and jewellery, to make a statement of the riches I possess. These wealthy people things get tiring and boring after a while and now that we were the adults, it was exhausting.

Bash cam to pick me up at 7 sharp.

His chaffer drove us to the venue right on time and we joined the long line of cars that were inching to the entrance to pose for the red carpet. Right after Bash had left after asking me to be his date, I got the invite myself. It was being organized by one of the Gray's sister companies, which means as extended host Bash should be taking part in the auction. But I didn't question it.

The paparazzi did though. They questioned my being his date, his not selling his time, the rumours of a new product as a joined project of our companies. Everything. We answered as many things we could and then rushed in to meet the other pretentious people.

It felt like it was going to be a very long night.

Surprisingly, the hosts were not sad about Bash not being available. In fact they had been very happy that I was his date for the night and had welcomed me into the 'family'.

The rest of the night progressed really well. Both Bash and I made our donations and took part in other kinds of auctions. We also danced a bit and chatted, made new friends and laughed a lot. Then it was time for dinner and we all sat down in our designated tables. The food was absolutely delicious and I'm pretty sure I moaned with almost every bite.

Once dinner was over, I decided to take a breather and walk through the gardens to the fountain I saw earlier. Bash decided to join me and I couldn't refuse with everyone cooing at how cute we were being. It just made me feel bad for myself because just like these people I was hoping for something that isn't there, probably could never be.

I had avoided Bash as much as I could after he asked me to be his date. It was way too embarrassing and painful for me to be around him and not feel it again. So, I decided avoiding him was for the best. Although, he noticed and tried to talk about it I didn't let him, going around the topic again and again.

"Now that we have some alone time and nothing can bother us here, why don't you tell me why you've been avoiding me?" Bash asked sounding serious.

"Avoiding? Who me? You must be mistaken." I say trying to play it off.

"Ari..." Bash called as he held my arm and pulled me closer. "I'd like to know what I did wrong to make you feel like this. I'd like to make it right, sweetheart."

I shivered as his voice wrapped itself around me in a comforting blanket. I tell myself I could pretend, just this once, that he wanted to make things right because I was too precious for him to lose me. That it wasn't because we were friends, but because we share something more.

But the truth is I can't. I can't let myself live these false things because they will only hurt more when he finds his person and I'm forced to move on. So I tried hard and slipped my arm out of his grasp and took a few steps back.

"There's nothing to be fixed because you haven't done anything. I just have a few things that are eating away at me." I answer, it's the truth just not the whole truth.

"Then, I suppose you don't wanna talk about them?" He asked and I nodded. "Then let me take your mind off of it for a while." He took me to the fountain where there was a stone bench to sit. We both took a seat there and he began talking.

"So, there's this person that I really like and would love to go out with. But I don't know what she thinks of me and it's hard to figure out. Some of the things she does around me, they almost feel like she's dropping hints but I'm not sure if she's aware and doing this or just being her friendly self and I'm reading far too much."

"Why don't you just talk to her about it directly?" I asked in a small voice, my heart breaking all over again.

"I tried to, but I'm scared of speaking to her about this. She makes me nervous, Ari. So freaking nervous. I don't want to lose her but with each day that goes on, each moment, it feels like she's going farther and farther away. Even if she's right there with me, I'm looking for excuses to spend more time with her."

"Then do this. You interact with her everyday anyway, so ask her to talk to you alone, then get close to her as if you're going to kiss her, but don't. If she pushes you away she isn't interested, apologize and tell her your feelings and leave. If she kisses you, she is at least physically attracted, so tell her how you feel."

"But this still has me getting rejected." He almost whined.

 "Yes Bash it does, because you can't force someone to love you."