Tragically Yours

| 34 |

Right after work, I guided Gail back to my car and drove off to the theater. For the duration of the drive, Gail wouldn't stop asking questions about the theater. Questions like how many people usually watch a stage play in the theater? I answer her question truthfully, telling her that every weekend—specifically every Sunday—every seat in the theater gets filled. Her next question was about the number of stage plays we've acted out to people in the theater. Not going to lie, I've lost track of how many stage plays we've performed for the people. But I reassured Gail that if she asked that same question to Lisbeth, I think she would give her a more specific answer. That was Gail's curious thoughts throughout the drive to the theater.

Also it's worth noting that I wasn't surprised in the slightest that Ethan decided to tag along. I mean, he'll have another chance to see his beloved author, Declan, once again. So, there's that, but the thing that surprised me the most was... Favian and Stella are also tagging along. They're currently driving behind Ethan, who is driving behind me. When we reached the parking lot, we all saw Favian and Stella entering their car. I assumed they're about to drive home, but no, after the minute we hit the road, I see Favian tailing behind Ethan. During a stoplight, I quickly send a message to Favian to ask him if he's really following us. He immediately replied with a yes and a short explanation on why. Apparently, he found out about the stage play I was planning to create based on a novel. When that bit of information struck me, I immediately turned my head to Gail and asked if she had anything to do with Favian and Stella following us.

Her exact words were, "Well... When Stella pushed me into that elevator shaft earlier, she'd quickly asked questions about what we had done today. In a moment of panic, I accidentally blurted out your plan about recreating a novel into a stage play." It would have been nice if she had given me a heads-up, now I have to be careful not to provoke the protective parents side of both Favian and Stella. I also assume they will keep on tagging along until this project is done. Because, knowing Favian, he will make sure he made a great investment with the theater he'd helped to construct.

"I'm sorry, I should have kept my mouth shut to Stella..." Gail muttered under her breath and I quickly turned my head to face her. Her expression had awakened a machinery of spikes inside my chest. Her feeling down seems to affect me the same way as before.

"Woah, woah, hey..." I instinctively pulled one of my hands away from the steering and placed it down to cover her hand resting on her lap. "It's alright, I was just surprised that they have tagged along. Most of the time they're not interested in the happenings in the theater. It was just surprising that they're following us to the theater." A weird sense of déjà vu vibrates around my mind. It's like the time when Ethan created a surprise party for me in the theater. But this time, I have Gail sitting beside me in the car.

"Oh okay then," I couldn't see whether she's smiling or not since I had my eyes glued to the road. Although her voice sounds like she's smiling, I still feel like she's not entirely smiling. Like something else is holding back her smile. After a beat, she spoke up and that made me learn that something else was. "You know, I wanted to fly to the city not only to see you again. But to see if I can do stuff that won't ruin things." She stayed silent for a moment that made me turn my head to the side to look at her. Gail seems to be facing the window on her side, and I can faintly see a sad expression sitting on her delicate face. "Because back home all I did was ruin things. And it seems I also brought that part of me here to the city. Maybe I am worthless..."

I wasn't certain if I correctly heard her say that last part because she'd lowered her voice into a whisper that is barely audible to me. But for the sake of the anger bubbling inside of me, I will assume she'd actually said that last part. "First off, you didn't ruin things. It's perfectly fine that Favian and Stella are tagging, I was just caught off-guard." I tightly grip the steering wheel to ease off some anger boiling from my stomach. "And lastly, just because you think you're worthless doesn't make it true."