Sparring Her Heart ⚔️🥀 | Clorivia

09 | Her Smile

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"Ma'am you've been here for an hour, are you sure you don't want me to sit you down at a table?" The hostess asked me for the fourth time.

With a sigh, I reluctantly agreed and followed him to a table with two chairs. I sat down and stared at the empty chair infront of me. Surely she was running late, right? I doubt Navia would be the type to not show up. Maybe she got caught up at work... Yea that seemed like a reasonable explanation.
It was Sunday.

"Could I get you started with a drink?" The waiter asked. She held her little notepad close to her chest and wore a smile on her face.

"No, thank you. I'm still waiting on someone." I returned the smile.

She nodded and said she'd be back with some water anyway. She turned around to walk away, but the sound of my voice stopped her.

"Actually..." The waiter turned around and held her notepad ready to write something down. "Could you get me some wine?" (pretend it's a specific brand)
She wasn't coming. Might aswell drink while i'm here.

The waiter nodded as she wrote down what I assumed to be 'wine' in her notepad. She gave me another warm smile before walking away to attend to other customers.

I couldn't help but be reminded of Navia. She gave me that same smile all the time. I haven't seen it in a while.
This wasn't like Navia at all. I miss the old Navia, even though i'm part of the reason she's like this now. Will she ever forgive me? We don't have to be friends or even acquainted, I just want to stop feeling this guilt. I don't wanna be responsible for her downfall. Callas, how am I supposed to protect her if i'm the one she should be protected from? But running away won't do any good, so what am I supposed to do? It's only been a month, but I don't think I can endure this any longer. It pains me seeing Navia look so sad when she was always smiling before. I only hope i'll be the reason she smiles again, not the reason she won't smile again.

"Here's your wine, ma'am." The waiter gently placed the glass, filled only a quarter of the way with wine, on the table, giving me the same warm smile.

Her words brought me back to reality from my never ending thoughts about Navia. I smiled back and quickly thanked her.

Each sip of wine tasted more bitter than the last, each cup. Cup after cup, I began filling tipsy and finally went up to pay. I left whatever coins I had on the counter, hoping it was enough for however many cups of wine I had. I went home that night wondering why Navia hadn't shown up. I considered going to her house, but that would make me seem too pushy; and she needed space.

I gave her the space she needed, and waited at the same restaurant the following week. I was stood up once again, and I ended up drinking wine by myself. The same waiter served me. I could see the pity in her eyes, and she no longer wore a smile on her face. Navia are you too not smiling?

A/N: Why did no one tell me hs was this nerve wracking... Anyway! I'm definitely not gonna update too often and the chapters will probably be around this length 😓😓