Obsession

11

It's been 14 days since the last update, so a recap is in order, I think. Rhian has been set up on a date with Taylor, and he's about to tell her how he feels. I hope this goes well for him. Fingers crossed.

"Shoot."

This was not the first time I had heard that word, nor would it be the last, but this was definitely the scariest time. I had never been anywhere so dangerous in my entire life, and my hands were shaking. There was a decision to be made, and if I hesitated for a moment, just one second, it could be fatal.

The battleground was calm, but every onlooker knew something titanic was about to happen. It was just a matter of time, and the waiter who had been lingering around our table ever since he heard I had something to tell Taylor, evidently had a lot of spare time.

Call me dramatic, but the events that would unfold over the next few hours were going to change my life forever. Those events were so important, I would later reflect on them by writing an entire book. Yes, that's how important they were, and the waiter, Fiifi was his name according to the tag on his chest, had the nerve to listen in rather inconspicuously.

"Rhian?"

"Yeah?"

"You wanted to tell me something?"

"Yes?"

"I said shoot."

"Right."

This was the moment I had been setting myself up for the whole day.

"Well?"

"I really like -" Fiifi, the waiter was leaning towards our table even more closely now, "I really like your taste in food places! Yeah, that's what I was going to tell you. The desserts here are dope. Also Fiifi, if you're going to eavesdrop, at least try to be discreet about it."

Fiifi opened his mouth to say something, then he paused, closed his mouth and walked away, only to come back a minute later with a crooked smile on his dark face. This time he came straight up to me, leaned so close to my ear I could feel his beard on the side of my face, and said, "At least I'm not a coward. Can't say the same thing about you, though."

Now, I was at a loss for words. Normally, I would have something to say, but this time, there was nothing to be said. I was a coward. It was simple as that, but could you really blame me? I didn't want to lose Taylor, and if that meant suffering in silence, I would deal with it. That's all I had been doing my entire life, anyway. If keeping one of the few people who meant anything at all to me in this life also meant emotional torture, then so be it. For now though, we had bigger problems.

"Aren't you guys supposed to be getting married? Where's he engagement ring?" Fiifi questioned, already knowing the answers, but trying to get us in trouble with his boss, and it was working. The old lady's attention had been drawn to us.

"It's this huge diamond ring, and I don't like to brag, so I didn't wear it, " I responded, "And yes, she proposed. What can I say? She liked it, so she put a ring on it!"

"Okay, but why are you guys so awkward? I haven't seen kiss or even hug since you walked in here."

Fiifi, you bastard.

"It's an arranged marriage, so yes, we're still kinda strangers." The old lady had stood up from her armchair in the corner of the shop by now, and she did not looked as pleasant as she did when we had first met her. Her wrinkled face looked even more wrinkled now, with a scowl forming on it. For the first time ever, my sneaky little lies had failed me.

"Taylor, we need to get out of here."

"I'm way ahead of you buddy," and she was. She was already on her feet, ready to leave.