[Purely Fiction - Romance/Drama]
[Just Two Chapters Short Story]
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Their first fight was not meant to be that impactful. They'd gone a whole year without being meaning anything less to each other.
And yet, here he was standing, in the midst of something important she's been doing, asking her some really ridiculous questions even she didn't know the exact answers to.
While she knew deep down in the hollow buried region of her heart that she shouldn't take his words too seriously. She knew he just wanted to provoke her when he himself knew that there was just no reasoning with his questions.
She did agree that they've been good friends to each other for more than a year now, and she, as faithful and giving as she has ever been, never asked more than that from him.
Or that's what she kept telling herself since she's no reason to. As he already had a girl he wanted to propose to for the marriage when they first met.
So sweet and enchanting their relationship sounded like, that indeed, she ended up becoming the close friend, and the only friend of his with whom he confided secret chit-bits of his relationship with.
But over a year, she couldn't deny that she had grown to desire more than that respectable space that he used to keep between them whenever they hanged out.
At times, she felt self-loathe and disgusted with herself for wanting a man who already had someone beloved and precious in his life.
She knew for the sake of being a well-bred daughter from an upper class family, she restrained a lot from spilling out her feelings to him under any moment of weakness which she might encounter while this much being with him.
And so, owing to her own benefit, for the past few months, she had tried to keep as much space from him as was possible, keeping all her natural urges in her unexpected limits of self-control.
She did agree she had helped him a lot in his relationship, unknowingly though, or maybe as a true friend that she has always been to him, but when it came to her, she hardly uttered a syllable on her own life, in the hidden fear that she might say more in the process than what she originally planned to tell him from the beginning.
But she needs to give it to him, that indeed, he had proved himself to be as true a friend to her as she was to him, for the fact that he never let her get away with any of her excuses for not opening up about her life.
Always he caught her in the middle of changing the topic, and more so, he even assisted her a lot in his own way in how to actually be more open and sharing about her troubles, problems and life.
At some point, her parents started liking seeing the two of them together, and from their pleased curly cheeks and those sweet tender smiles, she had guessed that they liked him more than she thought that they ever would.
After all, he hardly had anything that any parent would dislike. He came from an influential family itself and while he had so much he could inherit from his father, he still had much more impressive collections of his own degrees, achievements and positions that would make any girl drool for him.
But I knew that was not what I wanted from him, she thought to herself.
And no matter how many times she insisted in urgency about his being already in relationship with someone, her parent's efforts, or what they say, expectations never suffered a single scar as the next day, they still couldn't keep their words to themselves from pointing out in various ways of how actually good we both look together.
But that was something not fully under my control, mom and dad. It needs the consent, love and promises of certain someone else too.
Ellie's POV:
I sighed as I turned towards my laptop where I was writing research papers for my next presentation to be organized the very next morning.
If only this already tiring night could pass away peacefully. But that was only something which I could only wish for, since he decided to shut my laptop the exact moment I had decided to avoid his questions.
Which, to be honest, I had already planned to, if he ever mentioned them to me.
"What do you want, Ethan?" I asked, still seated on her study chair.
"Don't avoid my question, Ellie."
"I'm not avoiding anything. Just to be more clear, I don't want to talk about all this." I said, as I stood up, and walked towards my cupboard to pick up the files required for the presentation I needed to give tomorrow in any condition to get that promotion which I had been striving for so long.
"And you expect me to believe that?" He asked as I felt him standing behind me, his voice reverberating more louder than ever.
"If you don't want to, it's all your will." I said, pretending to be as nonchalant as ever. While inside, I had been dying to run away the moment I felt his presence in my room for the first time since everything started.
"I just don't understand what was so hard in informing me about that guy-"
"Hard is not the word you should be using when it's like the subject was not such a huge topic or a great deal to be discussed about-"
"Discussed? We don't discuss, Ellie. We share. No matter how trivial the topic is, we tell each other things, and we have always been doing that for as long as I remember."
"Because those things were worth talking about. Seriously..." I turned towards him, looking as frustrated as ever. "It's not something that we should be arguing about."
"It's not something? You went on a full date with him, you guys ate, talked, laughed and did whatsoever my mind can't imagine all that stuff by itself, so you shouldn've told me-"
"We just went on a date, Ethan. It was not something to brag about in my age where a grown twenty-six year old woman should've done more than that." I said, as I started pulling covers on my study table to put them all in place back again, dusting imaginary dirt in the process.
Trying to do as much work as I can to avoid him.
"And I'm being informed about all this from some burly looking college friend of yours who I think you don't even pay any enough attention to, no matter how many times he tried to pull his ropes of attraction on you."
"That's something for me to decide. For now, I need to sleep as I've an-"
"And you were planning to marry all by yourself without bringing anything to my consideration?"
Hearing his words, I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. "I think you're in no position to guide me here." I walked two steps, towards him, as I stopped in the middle of the room to stare at his full face now. "And you don't need to consider anything for me. I think I can decide who I want to marry. You already have a girlfriend whom you want to make your life partner. And I never asked you to consider my choices in your life."
"She came into my life before you did, Ellie." The un-welcomed moisture started to sting the corner of my eyes as he took three long steps to stand in front of me now. "But that doesn't mean you mean anything less to me." He said as he raised his hand to touch my face, perhaps.
But before he could do it, I turned away from him, his hand half raised in air. His eyes narrowed in confusion and he grabbed my wrist, his fingers digging slightly into my skin as I bit my lips to stop my tears.
If only he could go away now, I could hide all this in my heart as I've always done. But if he didn't, I was afraid today would be the day where everything would either end.
Or begin. Again.
Putting my fingers over his hand covering my wrist, I tried to pry his grip away but he was fast in that he caught my other hand in between and now I had nothing left to hide from him as I could feel his gaze on every moisture that dropped from my eyes.
His brows creased in worry as he wiped my tears with the back of his hand, his mind rummaging through the haze to find the right words to say at the moment.
"I'm sorry if I said..." And before he could complete his sentence, I wrapped my arms around him and hid my face on his chest as cozily as possible.
That was the first time I dared crossing any line that has always existed between us as respectfully as he had always wanted to. I could feel his heart pumping loudly under his ribcage, probably due to the first sensible skinship we ever had since we became friends a year ago.
I could feel his wet black shirt from my tears underneath my cheek as I kept my face buried there and refused to look into his eyes.
Hesitantly, he raised his arms to run soothing circles up and down my back as the skin underneath my clothes erupted goosebumps. In a minute, the blush was adorning my already flushed face and before I knew, his arms were fully engulfing me in his masculine features.
I took a deep breath, as his hold tightened on me, his hands now resting fully on my back. I could feel our chests pressing against each other, my breasts on his hard features, creating that delicious friction that was making me go insane for every passing minute he was not making any effort to let me go.
And though I should've been feeling more like a pious and innocent woman as I've always been expected to, I couldn't hold that feeling of craving that I had been avoiding to act on, for as long as I can remember.
"I'm sorry, Ellie. I shouldn't have asked you something which you didn't want to share." He said, as he nuzzled his face into the crook of my neck. My fingers gripped his shirt for support as my knees felt jelly under the gravity.
"Ethan?"
"Hmm."
"Can I ask you something?"
"Hmm." He said as he caressed my hairs, perhaps to calm me from my emotional turmoil but instead it was doing so much things to me than I'd ever let him know.
"The night when you had your first break-up with Nina."
He raised his head from my shoulder, his features hinting that he knew what I was implying to.
"Yes, what about it?"
"You know what I'm talking about."
"Ellie, we agreed we won't bring this up ever again. It was a mistake on my part-"
Immediately, I left his arms as she looked into his eyes. "Yeah, the mistake you did, or so you claim." I felt his gaze on me as I spoke. "Can I know if that claim of it being a mistake sums up everything you ever did that night..." My gaze falls on him. "to me, or..." I took a deep breath before continuing. "Was there anything more to that?"
I couldn't believe I was asking him that question when he very much made it clear to me the other day that he was too much in state of inebriation that time, to be in control of himself.
He stared at me, too surprised and shocked to give a proper answer. "I'm sorry, Ellie, I really didn't mean to-"
"Did you mean anything more than that or not?"
"It was just a kiss-"
"You kissed me three times, Ethan. I still remember how very easily we could've done more than that if not..." I said, my eyes meeting his in hidden pain. "if not...you took her name in the middle of everything."
He closed his eyes as he ran his fingers through his hairs. "I didn't mean to-"
"You said I reminded you of her." His eyes met mine in a sudden emotion. "And you just couldn't get enough of her."
He opened his mouth to say something but realised he has nothing to say in his defense.
He knew this was something he couldn't avoid answering her forever. Ellie meant much more to him than he ever expressed to her.
He sighed as he spoke, "I was at the edge of my emotions that night. I had lost Nina in a second and you were there to provide me that comfort and love that I was longing for after she left me."
"You didn't lose Nina, Ethan. She lost you the moment she decided stupid misunderstandings as excuses to break up with you. While in fact, she continued to cheat behind your back. But that still doesn't answer my question."
As if he needed a cue, he continued his explanation, but this time, his eyes immersed in something akin to perserverence. "I was too occupied by myself to actually understand my own actions, Ellie. But I do admit..." He glanced briefly at me. "That night, you looked so beautiful in the moonlight that I just couldn't resist myself from doing all those things to you. As our lips collided in a sudden bliss, with you moaning at my each ministration, I forgot what pain I actually went through the day."
I found myself growing warm with his bold words as I kept my palm on the table to keep my support.
"Fantasy overtook me for a second as I started to imagine how you'd feel like if you slip underneath my arms, how lovely you'd sound when I'd touch you in places where you've never let anyone touch before, how you'd look like when you cry out my name when I'd take you to your euphoria-"
"Stop." I raised my hand, my eyes on the floor in embarrassment.
"Why Ellie? You said you wanted to know-"
"I know, I heard more than enough to understand."
"But that's not even ten percent of what I felt that night."
Immediately, I looked at him to gauge the truth in his words. "And you still went back to her after what we did." I said, my voice croaking.
"I had to, Ellie. We've been together for three years and I realized I forgive her every sin because that's how much I want to be with her."
"No, you don't! You just don't want to accept the fact that she chose someone else over you. Over your dreams and wishes of ever marrying her."
"I do, Ellie. Trust me."
"You said I don't mean anything less to you!" I shouted as I felt my tears betraying me yet again as they now fell freely, drop by drop on the carpet.
He came forward to cup my face in his hands. Wiping my tears with his thumbpad, he tried to hug me. But I put a hand on his chest to push him away.
"Go away. I don't want to see you."
He didn't say anything, as I felt his face contour in some emotion I never got the chance to decipher.
"I'll go away. But as a friend, I came here to give you-"
"We're not friends. We never were."
To be continued...