If I live forever, I can live now

23

David smiled sincerely at me.

"What are you doing here?" I snapped at him, relieved and heartbroken at the same time.

Beyond any doubt, my expression wasn't as approachable as his by far.

"My father said I should come. Indeed, he is the one who suggested I should look for you. He's waiting for us with Mister Abbey."

"Professor Abbey?" I said. My head was spinning. At least, I had gone back to breathing. "How do you know Professor Abbey? And how come he's with your father? I can't cope with more confusion. Tell me everything, please."

He looked flabbergasted. I was aware that I had just complaint about the disturbing disarray that clogged my head, while he stood there, astounded at my reaction. I felt selfish, but I didn't have the strength to explain it until I had filled all the gaps. Africa was conscious of my state, and took charge of the situation.

"She thought you were someone else." she told David, and then shrugged.

He seemed to understand what she meant perfectly.

"Oh, I see."

"My sister told you about Luke?" I barked, angrily.

He looked truly scared. That probably meant I looked more intimidating than I wished for. He had seen me cry, he had seen me yell at Lindsay, and fear had never shown like that on his face. I felt ashamed. Out of control. And I didn't want him to think I was crazy. I had just gotten weak to my limit over the last month. Or maybe, progressively, since Nora died. I prayed for him to understand that.

"She had to. That... individual is of great importance to our case."

He remarked the disdain as he pronounced individual. And I could tell that he had done it on purpose, and that he would have chosen another term if he hadn't found my psyque so fragile. Was he jealous of Luke? That thought surprised me by making me weirdly glad. Nevertheless, as my lawyer, he probably just wanted to protect me from my presumptive traitor. Yes, that definitely made sense. Anyhow, I couldn't snap at him anymore.

I stopped to look at him. He looked much older in his tuxedo than he did in his usual cashmere jumpers. He looked taller, too. And even hotter, I admitted to myself, if that was even possible. I had almost forgotten about Africa's presence when I said, trying to sound soft and sane:

"Okay. Let's go to meet our elderly. Just please don't come onto me like that again. I'd rather you snapped me hard than touch me softly like that."

"Oh, sorry, I didn't know you were into the sadomasochism vibe. I'll take it into account for future occasions." he said, and I couldn't help but blush.

I found it weird that he was joking, almost flirting with me. A hot, flashing spark lighted in my deepest, most meltable part, and it almost made me jump. I didn't know I could feel that anymore. Not with someone that was not Luke.

David led the way, and we crossed the room, dodging enthusiastic, annoyingly nice waiters that almost obliged us to take canapés and cocktails from their porcelain trays. Luke wouldn't have led the way. He would have walked after me, to admire the curve of my butt in the pencil skirt as I walked. And then, he would've confessed it to me in a sexy, irresistible voice. David would never confess something like that to me. He had to be the irresistible one.

Professor Abbey and David's father were chatting silently, whispering over whiskey glasses, close to the entrance at the ground floor, just like intruders, ready to escape if they got caught. As we got closer, they burst out laughing hard and loud, and I considered they might intentionally want to get caught. I shook my head to push creepy thoughts out of it before we reached them. I had already acted ridiculous enough for that night.