Marliza Soulmate AU

Chapter 4

     Lights flashed every color of the rainbow and music blared through the speakers. Ususally this  would have bothered Eliza, but she really didn't care anymore. All she was going to do was going to do was dance a little and maybe get a drink. Just the bare minimum Peggy required. Then she could finally sleep.

     She should also probably take care of her younger sister. Peggy was having the time of her life, dancing and singing along to Whitney Houston songs at the top of her lungs. Why were they even playing Whitney Houston in the first place? The world may never know.

     Eliza sighed. She walked over to the bar, and ordered a water with lime. She had never been one to enjoy alcohol. Her drink was quickly prepared, and Eliza gave her little sister a glance across the room. She kind of wished she hadn't. Peggy was flirting with a clearly disinterested young man, a glass of something blue and bubbly in her hand. As she so often pointed out, she was aro but certainly not ace.

     Which had led into the question, why do you have a platonic soulmate instead of a sexual soulmate? But this question was abandoned once everyone realized that they were way too deep into the mysterious ways of the universe.

      Eliza turned away from her sister's ridiculous attempts to flirt, and instead closed her and her sister's tabs. Slowly she sipped the drink, making sure her sister was still alive this whole time. Despite what Peggy would have you believe, it was not a very exciting night. 

     "I'll have a water with lime, please." Suddenly the night had gotten much better. A young woman with deep brown skin and a short bob sat down next to Eliza, a blue dress swishing against her ankles. She graciously accepted her drink and turned to look at Eliza.

     "Well, red really is your color." Her voice was melodic, and instantly encapsulated Eliza. 

      "And blue is yours," Eliza said, giggling. She other woman blushed, just the tiniest bit. An awkward silence built up between the pair though, as ten long seconds wore on. Finally Eliza broke the tension. "I really don't think that red is a good color for me."

     "Blue doesn't look good on me. But the things you say to start a conversation," the mystery woman said. A warm smile lit up her face, and Eliza was spellbound.

     "So, what's your name?" She asked, gazing deep into the mysetery woman's eyes.

     "Do names even matter in the grand scheme of things? They're just combinations of sounds we use to address one another. Pick any name you want for me, they're all the same." 

    "Well, you sure do like to act poetic. And tragic. I'll call you, um, Ophelia. Like the Hamlet character."

    "Huh. Well, hopefully my boyfriend doesn't send me to a nunnery and murder my father." She smiled. "If you're going to give me a ridiculous name, I guess I'll have to call you something. Jane sounds good."

     "That's such a common name."

     "Well, I don't know much about you."

     "You could ask me what my name is," Eliza said.

     "But wouldn't that just get rid of the mystery?"

     "Sometimes mystery isn't as wonderful as you might think." Eliza took the last sip of her water and dropped the glass onto the counter. 'Ophelia' eyed it with interest.

     "I like you, you keep up a very witty conversation. Most people I talk to just spit out nonsense without any thought to their words."

     "I try."

     "So why are you here?"

      "Huh," Eliza said, confused. She'd been expecting something witty and undeniably smart. Though, as she thought about it, she was sure Ophelia had something she was going to add. "My sister dragged me here."

      "Who's your sister?" Eliza turned around to point out Peggy. To her horror she discovered that both her sister and the man she'd been trying to flirt with had vanished. She was sure her sister had scared away the man. 

     "Crap."

     "What?" Ophelia asked.

      "My sister. She's vanished again."

     "Do you want me to help you find her?" Eliza bit her lip as she thought for a second. She already knew what she was going to say, but she still wanted to keep the fanstasy of the mystery woman for a few more seconds. 

     "No, Ophelia, I think I'll be fine."

     "I know I said that names don't matter, but it's weird when you call me Ophelia. Normally I wouldn't say this, but you seem nice. My name is M-" The woman suddenly stopped talking, and turned to Eliza. "You should go find your sister."

     "Goodbye!" Eliza called behind her shoulder, already racing away after her sister.

     "Wait!" The woman called, "you never mentioned soulmates. That's always the first thing people mention."

     "Well, soulmates don't matter, do they. It's just Who makes you happy." But as Eliza left, she knew she wouldn't ever be able to truly believe those words. Because soulmates were everything  right?