Colors of Rain

Chapter 6: Lover's carnival

Months had gone by since the convention, and Eliza and Greg had been spending a lot of time together since. They eventually became close as Greg would tell Eliza about the first and second volumes of the book. He would share a lot of things that were of interest to Eliza and the constant talking made it harder for her to space out. CC is proud of her friend's newfound friendship.

"Well, it looks like our little duckling has found her savior." CC turned her head to see Dr. Lane standing beside her holding a mug of coffee.

"Let's just hope he's the one," CC replied looking at the pair standing by the lake. A month after the convention, the group had decided to take a vacation in the summer. And now they are at CC's lake house in Los Angeles, California. Though slightly against the idea, CC invited Evelyn to come as Dr. Simpson kept on nudging her to do so. It was odd of her to make such a request but CC knew better than to question and argue the great Dr. Simpson.

While talking by the lake, Eliza caught a glimpse of Evelyn sitting under a tree reading a book. She was instantly reminded of the scene at the park. Such a serene view.

"Perfect isn't it?"

"What?"

"The way she holds the book, the way she sits, and the way she just fits in place. It's perfect."

Having a mental conversation with herself, Eliza looked at the woman once more and subconsciously breathed out, "She is perfect."

"What?" Greg asked.

"Oh uh nothing." she stuttered.

"Thought you said something. So anyways-" Greg continued to talk but Eliza could no longer focus as her eyes were fixated on the woman under the tree. Then again she was taken out of trance when CC came and said, "Hello there, my little love birds!" causing both to blush.

"There's going to be carnival tonight. We should go and check it out."

"A carnival! That sounds nice, C," Greg exclaimed trying to shake away the redness of his cheeks.

"Alright. We leave at 5:30 later."

"But what about Dr. Craige?" Eliza asked.

"Oh, she doesn't like them." CC simply replied, making an "Oh" escape from Eliza's mouth.

Later on in the day, they all went inside CC's summer house which was a lovely cabin. Some of them took a nap, others went around town, while Eliza stayed in the living room, standing next to a window that captured the beauty of the lake.

Looking out she noticed that Evelyn was still under the tree reading her book. She then felt a certain urge to go down and talk to her and before she could even ask why she was already walking towards the woman. A few meters away, she stopped herself and thought, "What are you doing? We shouldn't disturb her, you fool!" She then, ever so slowly, walked backward whilst silently praying that Evelyn will not notice her but she did.

"May I help you?" Evelyn asked not taking her eyes off the book.

"You seemed lonely and I wanted to see if you needed company." Just as she let go of the last word she slapped her hand on her forehead realizing that she said her thoughts out loud.

"Oh, and what makes you think I'm lonely? I do have a book, you know." Evelyn replied with eyes still glued to the page.

"Right. I'm sorry. That was wrong of me to assume-"

"But I don't mind sharing the tree."

Without even thinking Eliza made her way to sit beside the woman with a good one and a half feet distance. She grew a little bit uncomfortable as she realized it was Evelyn Craige she was with. The Evelyn Craige never really liked sharing space with people. "Why does my stomach feel so weird?"