In Charlotte's Eyes

ONE: [P] Pining For a Piece of Bread

Another day of activities went by. The day was now old. Parker was having fun, sure, but this unforgiving weight in his heart kept following him—even more so today than it had yesterday. Charlotte kept coming to his mind. All these small things like: Charlotte would've loved that, this is what Charlotte would've said, this reminds him of Charlotte. It all got to his mental and made it so he couldn't truly enjoy the experience.

Parker and Peni strolled the perimeter of the ship together, the glass wall revealing the sea to their right. The evening sky was close to being fully dark. The two were walking back to their cabin. Parker looked down, discreetly studying Peni’s slightly angled face; since she was gazing out the windows. She seemed to have a content smile on her face. He looked away.

At least she was having pure, unbothered fun.

Suddenly, an announcement came in overhead. “Good evening, everybody! I hope you're all having an amazing experience on TheCruise. There is a fireworks show happening on a distant shore. If you'd like to watch it, report to the front deck.”

The pair stopped in their tracks, wide eyed with curiosity. They turned and looked at each other.

“We have got to see it.” Peni excitedly grinned.

He nodded. “Yeah. That sounds really cool.”

She was quick to pivot in the opposite direction. “Come on, let's go!” She walked fast down the hall.

Parker chuckled, speeding up to follow her. “Hold on—do you even know where you're going?”

…

By the time the two got to the front deck, it was dark out. Peni had gone ahead of Parker in a hurry, as they had gotten a little lost on the way. Parker lightly panted for breath, looking up at the moonlit sky. Various tables were placed on the deck for families to sit at. There were people scattered around everywhere, though not in an overcrowded sense. He scanned the crowd for his sister, unable to locate her. Even so, he wasn't too concerned. They'd meet up again eventually.

A loud pop in the sky caught his attention. A small chorus of “ooo”s drifted in the air, and Parker turned himself towards the loud pop. In the sky, he saw the fading fizzles of a red firework. Another firework shot up and exploded in the air. This one was an orange-yellow.

In awe—mouth ajar—he took a few tiny steps towards the side of the deck that faced the show. As he got closer to the fencing, he could see the beach in the distance where the fireworks were being lit. He stopped about a dozen feet away from the fencing.

Another flew up into the sky. Radiant blue. More. Purple, red, green. More. Pink, orange, red.

Parker stilled in place, watching alone. It was so beautiful. This wasn't his first fireworks show, but it certainly felt like it.

Yellow, blue, green, white. A painting of colors he couldn't keep up with.

As mesmerizing as the show was, Parker couldn't help but mutter, “Charlotte..” He wondered what she’d think.

As if fate was toying with him, his body and eyes snapped to the side, directly onto a familiar figure: the cruise neighbor.

He got sudden goosebumps. It wasn't her. He knew it wasn't her. But he kept his eyes locked on her. Slightly shorter. Slightly wider. Slightly darker. It was only now Parker realized what type of bread the neighbor was: brioche. The woman had a bracelet Charlotte never had. Sunglasses shadowed her eyes. It wasn't Charlotte.

She was staring out at the fireworks, engulfed in the experience herself. He kept gazing. He didn't know what he felt, but his eyes brimmed with tears all of the sudden. He stared and stared. Fireworks went off over her head, in the background of his focus.

If only it was.

“Oh, finally..!” Peni’s voice faded in. A hand was put onto his shoulder, and he turned partially to his sister. She seemed out of breath when she looked up at him. “What are you looking at?” She looked without waiting for an answer.

A small gasp escaped her lips. “Uh,” He chuckled apprehensively. “Looking at the fireworks, of course; it's what we came here for.”

She hummed deeply, glancing from him to the fireworks. “Hey, our neighbor’s here.” She commented.

Oh, so naively, Parker smiled with a nod. “Yeah, I know. I was, uh.. actually thinking about going and greeting her.” He actually hadn't, but now that Peni acknowledged their neighbor, it seemed like the respectful thing to do.

Penj laughed, although it sounded forced; probably more forced than she had intended. “Uhh, no, no. Let's go sit down.” She grabbed his wrist. “I am exhausted from all that running.”

“Oh. Alright.”

It was a miracle that they were even able to find two available seats from the few tables that were on the deck. Not only that, it had a great viewing point for the fireworks show. The pair sat back—eyes in the sky—as dozens of the explosives burned brilliantly among the stars. The show had picked up in pace, and it kept all eyes drawn on it.

All eyes except for Parker’s.

For some reason, his mind kept spacing out, his focus away from the fireworks. His eyes would wander back to the slice of brioche. He sat and stared at her.

Not lovingly.

Not longingly.

Not expectant.

Just stare. Any time his eyes would tune in to the fireworks, it'd quickly whip around and go back to her. His brows remained furrowed, and he couldn't draw himself away.

“...”

“...”

“..Parker..?”

“...”

“...”

“...”

“...”

Peni’s hand grabbed his forearm, finally snapping himself away from his intense gaze. “Parker.” Her face was expressing extreme amounts of concern. It wasn't confused concern, though. Her face told a story about knowing and understanding. “Are you thinking about her again..?” She whispered loudly enough for him to hear.

His lips hardened and slimmed. Brows furrowing—almost frustrated—he gazed down at the table in front of him. “..When am I not?” He muttered bitterly.

A defeated breath escaped her, and her shoulders deflated. The fireworks fizzled out now, and a chorus of clapping and applause echoed into the evening air. Parker kept looking down dejectedly until he could see Peni look away from the corner of his eye. He turned his attention back to the brioche slice.

The woman turned and suddenly they were making eye contact. His face softened, as he didn't want to be rude, but his hand refused to lift up to wave and make things less awkward. He grimaced slightly, not sure what to do. The lady didn't wave, either, but kept her eyes on him as she turned and walked away.

Only once she was out of sight did Parker turn away.