To Be A Bougainvillea

Chapter 2

Aurelia's eyes rolled back as she let out another moan. 

"This reminds me of my childhood." She said, licking the chocolate off the plastic spoon. "Haven't had chocolate pudding in years."

Her companion grumbled something under his breath. He was sat next to her on the brick gate, his hands in his pockets and his long legs crossed casually at at the ankles. The contours of his face was overshadowed as the only light they had in the dark night was the bright reflection from the convenience store behind them. 

"So, let me get this straight," Her companion spoke up, his voice vehemently quiet, "you simply ran off from the party because you feared your grandmother?"

"Um," Aurelia glanced down at her chocolate pudding, "yes and no."

The gentleman blinked. "What's the supposed to mean?" 

"Well, as you may have noticed," Aurelia stalled by swallowing another spoonful, "I'm unmarried, which in the eyes of my grandmother, is the worst damnation for a woman of my age and lineage. And as my father has no son, she reckons it's my duty to marry someone vilely aristocratic. But I have no intention of doing that so I guess you could say that I am trying to flee from her." There was a little humour tinged in her words. 

The gentleman was silent for a while before standing up, his hands still in his pockets. "We should get back to the party then." 

Aurelia's face shot up as her companion's eyes narrowed, "I thought you were running away from a pedophile, not running away from your grandmother like a child. Otherwise, I wouldn't have followed you all the way here." 

"Child?" Aurelia puffed up her chest at that word. "I'm not a child!" 

Her companion's eyes once again slid to her locket. "Say, does that belong to you?" He said, slowly, his eyes hooked onto it.  

Aurelia was thrown off guard  by his question. "Uh, yes, it does." She blinked. 

His face didn't reveal anything. "I see." He gave her a curt nod before looking away at the distance. "Well, lets get going. You might make it in time to find yourself a suitor to your liking."

"I doubt that. All the titled men are unappealing to me." Aurelia grumbled. "They lack personality, morality and from all that I've heard, they'll definitely end up committing infidelity."  

"Then don't marry at all." He responded, briskly. 

She let out a mirthless laugh. "It's practically a sin for women like me to stay unmarried." 

He glanced at her, "Women like you?" 

Her face darkened. "Heiresses have a duty to wed. Otherwise, it brings great shame to the family name. Not that I haven't already bought shame to my family," She muttered to herself before glancing up at the stranger, "You see, I'm the Princeton family's only heir so it's a much bigger burden on me. By the way, what's your family name again?" 

Perhaps it was Aurelia's imagination but he seemed rather hesitant to answer. 

"Bougainvillea." He replied, quietly. 

"Bougainvillea, huh?" She tapped the spoon on the edge of her pudding cup, thoughtfully, "Isn't that the family known as national heroes?" 

"Is that what they say?" He murmured, flatly. 

Aurelia crossed her legs as she peered at him through thick lashes. "You're the kind of man my grandmother would want me to marry." She mused. 

"I'm not marrying you." He deadpanned.

"Aw, you've broken my heart and it's not even midnight yet." She uncrossed her legs, a smile appearing on her face. "But why is that, though? Do you have a girlfriend?" 

"No. I don't." He retorted, curtly. 

"A lover? Mistress? Fuc-" 

"I'm not that kind of a man." He cut her off, scowling. "Get up. We're leaving." 

"I don't think so." She placed the now empty pudding cup beside her on the gate. "I'm not going back. Well, not until all the guests leave, which will probably be at midnight. But feel free to go. I don't mind."

"I can't just leave you here in the dark with creeps lurking around." He argued, his brows knotting up. 

"There's no creeps and I've done this multiple times, trust me." She reassured. "Seriously, go. I mean it. I'll be fine." 

He seemed unconvinced at first but then soon relented. She watched his tall stature walk away from her and when he was finally out of sight, she got up and bought three cans of beer from the convenience store with the money she hid in her bra. 

Silently sipping at her beers, she continued to gaze at the starless Leidenschaft sky for what seemed like hours. Crickets croaked in the background and the smell of rubbed tire hang in the air. 

And just when the clock ticked twelve, a lean black car pulled up in front of her. 

"It's midnight. You ready to go, now?" The Bougainvillea man appeared in front of her, his face briskly masculine and chiseled in the tipsy eyes of Aurelia. 

"You're not drunk, are you?" His eyes fell on the empty beer cans next to her. When she continued to silently gaze at him, his fingers wrapped around her wrist as he pulled her towards him and led her to his car. 

"Goddamn you." He muttered, as he leaned over and buckled her seat belt for her. His collar brushed her cheek and colour rushed to her face when she caught a large whiff of his cologne.

And the reason why she came home completely hammered was because that single whiff of cologne was a hundred times more intoxicating than the cans of beer she had drunk that night.