The cottage of West Wycombe

Chapitre 4

—4—

Thomas O'Neil. I haven't seen this face in over 4 years.
I see that he lost his teenage features. His soft thin skin is now lightly sunburned and wrinkles starts to appear in the crease of his eyes. His mesmerizing blue eyes are still intact. You know when people say, you eyes are the way you can express emotions and thoughts? Thomas's eyes are the perfect example. 
"Nice to see you Trix." he says with a soft smile.
"Tommy. What are you doing here?" I say not looking forward to have a small talk.
Slowly, I build my guard up. Locking myself away from him. Not allowing myself to fall through the cracks. Not this time. 
"We need you to come back... I need to come back. There's—"
"Stop. I've already told you, I am out of it." I cut him.
He sighs and rubs his temples. For a second we stand there, looking at each other. Eventually he takes out his phone and shows me a picture. My body stands completely still, staring at the phone screen.
"We need you." he insists.
"Is it this bad?" I ask.
"It's been like this for the last 2 years. I've tried everything but I can't find anything that makes the situation better. I just need you to be back. Just for a couple of days."
I take in a deep breath.
You know when you have to take a decision but you clearly see the negative and the positive? You can clearly see the line and yet you are tempted to cross it. Crossing it means being able to feel some emotions that you aren't able to feel in the daily routine. Being able to see and do certain things you couldn't do normally.
"Trix. I wouldn't bother to come all the way here if it wasn't important." he insists once more. 
"Fine. Only for a couple of days. I want a jet at 6PM. I'm spending the afternoon with Chris." I say trying to be emotionaless by his side. 
He nods a couple of times before grabbing my hand in his. 
We lock eyes, not saying anything for what seems like an eternity. I get lost in his deep ocean blue eyes remeniscing memories from another life. 
"Trix. Why did you leave?" he asks. 
I can tell that this has been a burning answer. He's got a look of desperation and all of his senses are alert. As if he's examinating me. 
"I had my reasons." I say. 
"Fuck off. Don't give me that crap. Not after all we've been through. Don't you think I deserve an explanation?" he snaps pushing my hand back as if he just got electrocuted. 
"Can we not talk about this now? Please Tommy, I need a little space." 
"Space? 4 years isn't enough?" he asks. 
"I will explain everything. Just not today, I have an important thing to do at the country club." I say. 
He takes a deep breath and looks out at the horizon. I can see his eyes get lost in the unfinishable green lawn that lays out in front of us. We can't even see the end of the lawn, just a little house in a distant. It is actually the country club that seems so small.
"Fine. Whatever, let me drive you there at least." he says. 
I nod and fallow him to the vehicule. 
"Rental. Not stolen." he informs me. 
I chuckle and get inside the car that smells of fresh flowers. 
"Hate the smell." I say. 
"Could be worst innit?" 
"I guess." 
Thomas starts the car.
"How's Noah?" I ask. 
He looks at me and nods.
"He's engaged." 
"What? To Teresa?" I say. 
"Yes, they're getting married tomorrow... We'll get there on time for the wedding." he smiles at me. 
"I can't actually be seen in public... With the press and all." I say. 
"Trix, it's Medellin. The press won't step a feet there. You've got nothing to worry about." he says. 

I enter the country club by the back door and sneak up to the front by the tennis court where I see Chris on his phone. He is sitting on a bench on the side of the empty tennis court. 
"Hey!" I call him out. 
"Oh hey. The moms are exhausting." he tells me. 
I laugh because wherever we go, moms are always trying to charm Christian. They would do everything in their power to try to make presentations with their daughters. 
"They're just looking out for their kids." I say. 
"You wouldn't say that if you dad tries to set you up." he riposts. 
"Well you're not wrong. What are you doing out here all by yourself?" I ask sitting next to him. 
"Waiting for you. There is no way that I will be going back there without you... Anyways, who's the guy in the park?" he asks. 
"An old friend, that I met in Paris. I actually need to leave this evening he has an emergency and needs me." I say, flat out lying to my best friend. 
He squint his eyes beacause of the sun that is hitting our faces. I feel bad for lying. For hiding the truth to him. For saying that I will be in Paris but in fact, I will be at the other side of the planet. After what seems to be an eternity, he looks at me. 
"Holy shit. It was Thomas wasn't it? Your first love?" 
My heart sinks a little as I contain my emotions. I see clearly that he is worried but a bit amused. 
"It is." I simply answer. 
"And he has an emergency, and you need to go. You never blow off our plans. Not even for your dad or for Mrs Hallow who is the Prime Minister of our nation." he says with much exageration like to prove that I still have some sort of feelings for Thomas t'ill this day. 
"It's an emergency, nothing else Chris. I will be back in a couple of days." I say as his eyes widen. 
His mouth drops open and a laugh comes out. A mockery laugh. 
"Who in the world will be in charge of you firm? Do I have to remind you that you don't have an assistant? In fact, there are only 10 people working for you international firm." he says. 
I sigh and roll my eyes. He is sometimes so pessemistic that it sickens me. 
"It will be fine. I can still attend to meetings in distance. You know, I have something called a laptop. And if there's a problem, you're the emergency contact."
"Shut up, nothing will happen to you." says Chris. 
He wraps his arms around me and we stay in each other's arm for a couple of minutes before heading out to the party.