Unintentionally Falling

chapter fifty part-one

Aaron

It's been twelve minutes and thirty-one seconds since I've last seen Iris Blanchette.

And do not ask me why I'm even counting, either.

The last moment she was in my sightline was when she needed to use the washroom at one of the most unfortunate of times. She missed me getting called onto the stage to stand with my parents in front of everyone attending. My father gave a speech on gratitude and cherishing the things you have.

It might've been more profound if my parents lived by their own advice, instead of prodding others to take it. When I stood beside them in front of hundreds of eyes, it was eerily similar to a dollhouse.

No matter the situation my mom was trained to wear this calm collected smile and nod at the appropriate times. I despised it. Any sense of genuine emotion was even ruled out.

Everyone had their duties to do, and every smile, joke and laugh was micromanaged by our family's PR team to make sure we stayed in good graces.

After the speech, I made my way to Jadon, who's got a girl hanging on his arm. She's holding him own so tight like he might disappear if she loosens her grip. I tap Jadon on his shoulder, "Have you seen, Iris?"

An uneasiness creeps in when I see surprise bloom onto his face. "No, I thought she was with you." He answers.

I turn to the girl clutching Jadon's arm. She may not know who Iris is but she could have seen her, "Have you seen a pretty brunette girl? She's wearing a black dress, and she's this tall," I give an estimated height with my hands, "She's sort of unforgettable, the kind of person you see once and don't stop thinking about for the next fifty years." I ramble on.

The girl gives me a small shake of the head, confirming that she hasn't seen her at all.

"I brought drinks," A voice chimes in, "Well I didn't but I made the waiter bring drinks! They seemed to be slacking off all night." Carrie saunters toward us.

Lagging behind Carrie is a waiter balancing four drinks, and they're walking over as slowly as possible. "Hurry up, will you?" Carrie gives the waitress a little push almost causing the waiter to tumble over but luckily they catch themselves last minute.

I walk towards the waiter and grab two drinks off of their tray to make it easier for them. I hand one of the drinks to Jadon who happily takes a sip. If I was in their situation, I'm sure I would've shattered at least five glasses by now.

"Thanks," The waiter nods.

"No problem."

"Aaron, how 's your night so far?" Carrie takes two steps closer to my vicinity. Our height difference is large yet I can still smell the strong perfume coming off of her. She takes the drink out of my hand and takes a sip of it, "Mhmm," She throws her head back, "This drink tastes better from your cup."

Okay, then.

I never even took a sip of the drink, she can keep it if she likes it so much. She tries to hand me back the cup, but I shake my head in refusal.

"It's been fine." I would feel a little more at ease if I could locate a certain brunette.

She sways slightly to the soft jazz music, "It's been such a long time since we've truly been together. Reminds me of when our families used to have dinner together."

The Morrisons and Hendrix's had dinner regularly when my parents showed up. We'd always go to the Morrison's house. The dinner was long, so I never enjoyed them except for the food, and right when we finished my parents would head off to the airport. And I went home alone.