Evangiline

Chapter Twentytwo- 365 Is The Number Of Centuries I want to be Away From You

"Charles? Charles, is that you?" I was breathless. And angry

My now heavy as lead cane feel to the floor. His voice was deep, but something was different. I knew that it was him. The smell. His voice. The grilled cheese. It said it all.

"Yes... you..." He mumbled.

"How? Why?" I was baffled as I spoke.

After one year he was back. I had eaten at Café Dumont for twelve months and never believed that I would see him again, but I had hoped.

He said that he was leaving. He left. Now, after a year of my manic depression, he came back? The anger built up inside me and over took the nostalgia.

I turned around to leave before he left me again. That way he could see how it felt to have your heart broken. But then I guessed that he felt that when I said "no" almost 365 days ago.

Charles swiftly grabbed my arm and held me to him. His grip was too familiar and firm on my arm and only made me more upset. Then as fast and swift as the Mississippi river, the hot tears shot out. They came so fast and strong that I hadn't time to wipe them away before he noticed.

"Are you crying?" He pulled me around to him.

As I stood there paralyzed I wondered how many people were watching us.

I jerked my arm back, my last and most powerful attempt to escape , but his thick hands held me tight.

I harshly whispered. "I know"

  He gasped loudly. "She told you?"

I nodded. "Yeah. Yea I know. You lied to me. You wasted my time that I should have spent with her. I will always hate you for that. Always."

Of course I didn't mean it, and probably shouldn't have said that, but I was pissed. All the anger for him had built up over the past year and now it was being let out.

I was conflicted once again, I once liked him but now... now I can't stand to think of him.

"You don't mean that."

"I do. I mean it. She is all I have left and you hid the fact that she is dying right in front of me. How could you?" I whispered, completely aware of the people sneaking glances.

  "I couldn't. I promised-"
 
  "Fuck you. Your promise to MY mother was more important than us?" I said.

"We...there was no 'us', Evangiline. It was all pretend remember?  So that you could find out on your own."

  "I could have found out if you didn't leave."

"I came back for you." The sincerity in his voice made me want to cry. It made my soul ache.

The anger inside me sat aside and let my feelings for him take over. I reached out for an empty chair at his table and then sat down. I crossed my arms over my chest add I waited for him to speak, not that it would change anything.

"You were crying." he said it low in almost a whisper.

"So?" I pretended not to care as I wiped my eyes.

Why was I listening to this?

"Before... you said that you can't cry, right?"

"Yeah, so?" I attempted yo cross my arms, but he still held onto me.

"Well don't be mad but I looked into your problem and-"

"My problem?" I almost leaped at him and clawed his eyes out. If only he weren't so strong.

"Just listen. After... After I left, I could not stop thinking about you-"

I sighed "Oooh here we go again."

"And I talked to Doctor Barney Crane, your optician. He told me that you could not see because of a problem with you tear ducts."

I gasped. How had he found out? It was all supposed to be private. I hated him for snooping. I hated him again for reminding me that he had left and what he left me with.

"And he told me that-"

"How did you find this out? There's a little thing called doctor-patient confidentiality." I was fuming on the inside. None of out was his business.

"He was a good friend of my dad's back in college and owed me a favor. Anyways, he says that there is-was-some kind of permanent film over your eyes that made you go blind. Now that you can... cry, maybe you'll-"

"Be able to see again? Nope. It's been a year and nothing has happened. Nada. Zip. Zilch. I'm still the sad little blind girl."

He sighed. I felt my mood drop along with his. No one spoke for a while.

"So... I'm leaving." I said as I gripped my cane and turned away.

"Wait! Please let's just talk." Charles begged. One thing you must learn in life is to never beg for anything. "It would make your mom happier if she saw you with me. That way she would be at peace with you having someone to help you."

"No."I said as I started walking away.

"Damn it, Evangiline! You never listen to me!" he yelled.

His tone stopped me cold. It was not as if he was mad or anything, it sounded like he was asking.

Then as I turned back for him to stare into my pale, angry eyes, he kissed me.

I pulled back. "So you think that a stupid kiss is going to fix everything? Go away. Go to wherever you went to a year ago."

Before he could answer he pulled me in against his chest. This time he wrapped his arms around me, his hands on the small of my back. His lips trapped mine in an endless cycle of tugging. The kiss melted away the pain and anger, but not for long.

  My body took over my mind and my arms hooked around his neck. My fingers ran through his soft hair. His body was too familiar to walk away from. 

"Get a room!" Someone yelled from across the patio of Cafe Dumont. Great. Now everyone was watching us.

The hardest thing that I had to do was to forgive him, or at least pretend to. I had to for my mom, and possibly for my own sanity.

"I won't forget this, Charles." I said with most of my anger suppressed.  "I won't forget how you lied to me and left."

  He pulled me into a hug again and spoke in my ear. "I know. I'll find a way to make it up to you."