Shimmers & Shrouds (Abstruse) (15 page)

She was facing towards me, exhausted after making love, with her eyes closed
; while I was still busy kissing her wet body― not in an animal way, but in a subtle way. I needed her touch like the air; it felt like my heart would explode if I didn’t feel her.
"Your skin is just as I imagined." I grabbed her for a hug. "Soft and supple."
"I never thought I'd be taking shower with you. Not even in my wildest dreams."

We matched!
"Same here." I kissed her shoulder and released her. That was when I saw that her eyes were red. She was crying. "Hey. Don't cry"
She shook her head. "I am not."

There was no point of arguing when she lied this way; knowing that I was aware of the truth. This kind of game always ended in a bad way.

I didn’t want to ruin the best day of our lives by reasoning this out but I was terribly disturbed to see those red eyes. It drained away all the happiness between us.
I turned the shower off, wrapped her in the towel, got myself another one and headed out of the bathroom before she felt cold.

We didn’t speak for a long while. I dressed her up in a loose shirt and she reluctantly agreed to let me do her hair.

I wore the quarter pants and the T-shirt that she had bought for me.

Oceana was among those people who relinquished control and stopped people from being mad at her. This was what I liked about her the most. She completely ignored at my attempts to bring up the subject during the dinner. I don’t know w
hy but I was put off by her white lie. I couldn’t stand at the sight of her crying. It burned me to see her tears.

At night when she was rea
ding me the story of a lost dog finding his way back home, I shut the book and kept it aside.

“You think I am a toddler? Why do you keep reading stories to me?”

She shrugged apologetically. “Do I annoy you? I am sorry, I didn’t mean it.”

Since she was resting her body on mine, I couldn’t see her face expressions. I sighed and gave her that book.
"You're not strong enough to fight it off. Tell me what happened."

“Tell you what?”

“The reason why you cried.”

She wrapped my hands around her, as if reassuring herself of my presence.
"I am afraid. You said you moved on when you were through with the relationship stuff."

That’s it? She was worried about this?
"Did I forget to mention that you're an exception?" I scooped her tiny figure and cradled against her chest. Yes I did forget to mention that. "Oceana, I want you to get this straight. You were an exception to me since the moment our eyes met for the first time. I’ll be nothing more than a living dead body without you. This woman that I love from the core of my heart makes me go crazy. She is different, apart from being the only brunette that I know, She’s just nineteen but damn mature than the other girls I've met. It’s not just the maturity that attracts me though. She is stunning on many levels. I love her; I don't think I've said this to anyone else."

Silence invaded the bedroom again.
"This is crazy." She said.
"Let’s skip it then. Don’t think too much about it."
She turned to look at me. Her eyes were shining like little beads near the sea shore. Though she’d let the subject drop, the happiness on her face made it very obvious that she was happy about the confession.

"
Orpheus, you've got such a rare name."
"Oceana is also something I've heard for the first time." I rubbed my nose on hers.
"Guess that makes us unique."
"I don't know about us. But you are unique, and beautiful."
She flushed for the umpteenth time. "Thank you."
I’d been thinking about this all day long. It might be a little quick but― I didn’t know if I could wait any longer. ‘Let’s take the chances; she doesn’t have the knife to screw me right now.’ I encouraged myself. "But this surname doesn't go well with your name."
"Well... any possible suggestions?" she smiled and looked at me.

We were back to normal... Three cheers to us!!
'Shall I take my chances?' I tried to breathe evenly. She was still smiling at me; I gave her four- five pecks on the lips one after the other and then, gathering my strength, I barked the answer at her. "Try Orpheus Albert as the surname― it goes well with your name.”
She gasped, and stopped breathing. Shit...! I made a wrong move. I froze on my tracks, waiting for her to respond.

She broke free fr
om my hold and sat glaring right at me. I squirmed at her response, shrinking to a size of an amoeba. We were not touching each other now; I frowned about it too.

Even under the dim light of the bedside lamp, she shone lik
e a star; radiating her own version of light.
 "Are you kidding?"

“Wouldn’t it be gruesome if
I kid around in such a life threatening situation? My fucking life depends on that answer. I am not kidding.”

She l
ooked away and took deep breaths. All of this WAS sudden; would she deny marrying me?

Intimated by the consequences of the answer that she hadn’t even thought of yet, I held her hand in mine. Her hands were still soft and mine were shivering.
"I love you. I am sure you are going to be enough for my entire life."

She sighed out loudly.

"Is this your alter, Orpheus?"

Okay. She was not going to say a yes.
"No, Oceana, this is me, just for you."
Her expressions softened visibly. She shone even brighter now… or was I imagining things?

"
Orpheus b―"

I cut her. She had faith in me.
She was the one I’d been looking for. How could I think of stepping back now?
"Share each moment with me." I took a deep breath. "Marry me."
"Orpheus are you su―"

I lunged forward and she moved back
simultaneously― only this time, smile was playing across her lips. Gradually lying on top of her, I locked my eyes with the most beautiful eyes in the world and closed the distance.
"Say yes. You handle this proposal; I will handle the rest of the baggage that comes with it, all of it, Pearl."

A playful smirk resurfaced on her face.

“Are you going to manhandle me if I don’t?”

Bad for her―
I wasn’t into playing. This MATTER to ME was damn SERIOUS.

“No, I am good at destroying myself
if I get angry.”

Her eyes widened in alarm. A wry smile flashed across her face, too quick to get noticed. “We match.”

Okay, she is making you wait because she doesn’t want to marry. Why are you still hovering over her? I pouted at myself.

I was about to pull back when her voice stopped me.
"This is so quick. It’s just been a day we’re together and― I don’t know what to say."

How could she say a no? She loved me. She wouldn’t say no.
"I can't wait to make you mine."

She rose and stole a peck on the lips. "
You've already made me yours."
"I mean... traditionally... legally, in sickness in health, for richer for poorer. For better for worse."
"What if I say I need time?"

I rolled my eyes. TIME? For what?
"I would consider that rude." I admitted.
"And why is that?"
"Because you were sure of me. Now I am sure of you. It would be a plain waste of time to keep me hanging."
"It's a yes then."

I was still anticipating a long list of things to discuss, and her easy acceptance blew my shells out.
"Really?" I asked again― still not believing my ears. It was going to take me more than a minute to absorb the facts.

She blushed. "Looks like all your dreams have come true
. Am I that important to you, Orpheus?"

“You’re the most important thing in my life. Blame yourself for this. What did you do? Cast a spe
ll on me or something?” I mouthed, grinning.

“I didn’t― but if I did, don’t you think all of this is worth it?”

“It is.” I kissed on her forehead. “Just don’t fall in love with someone else now. Marry me and stay by my side for a long long time.”
She nodded and pulled me for a kiss. “I will.” She muttered in my mouth.
 

Denia
l

I was memorizing my speech, partly. In my mind, I was with Oceana, sleeping with her in the bed, feeling her skin under mine, her warm breath on my face. I missed the blanket that covered our stark naked bodies. We would have been tired after making sweet love over and over again.
Us being together… that, right there was my favorite thought in the world. It inspired me to do things, for her, for us. Things that dealt with the future with us in it. I would do whatever needed. She was the only reason my life depended on.
I picked my black diamond and sent her a text.
 

I waited for her message for five minutes, but then continued with the memorizing thing. I was sure she was mad at me.
I started delivering my speech loudly, like a third grader would. Soon Mr. Sunross entered with the formals I had to wear for the party. He stopped on his tracks, I wondered why.
"Mr. Albert, sir?" He called me, in his usual thundering voice.
"Yes?"
"Sir, It’s not a New Year's eve. It’s October nineteenth, your birthday." He tried very hard not to smile.
Oh freak! I was giving thanks for attending the New Year’s party? I sighed. This girl was making me crazy.
 "Can you ask Mrs. Norrington to write down something that's not going to embarrass me? Please?" I gave him my helpless look.
"Sure Mr. Albert. Anything else, sir?"
"Yes, Mr. Sunross, I think Oceana is mad at me. What should I do?"
He flushed. Oh no. Not him. What was happening with the people of London? Did they turn red all of a sudden? All of them?
"Mr. Albert-how could I…. Well, I―"
"Oh please Mr. Sunross. It’s the matter of life and death." I grinned.
"A sorry text or a phone call is definitely going to work. Or you, sir, should go and pay her a visit."
I smiled wistfully and agreed. Yes there were even better ideas.
"In fact Mr. Sunross, are you going to fill in the formalities needed for both of us to fly Spain?" I asked.
"I don't think that would be a problem sir." He announced.
"Excellent. How much time will it take?"
"Not more than two hours." He clarified.
"Then I think you've got to pack my stuffs."
I shrugged my shoulders, guilty for not doing it myself. Pearl had changed me to the extreme. "Actually I would have done it myself but I would be in and out all day. I've gotta buy some things." I explained.
"Don't worry sir. It’s my job." Saying that, he bowed and walked away. I stared after him, wondering how patient he was with me and how deeply I was connected to him in a way no one would understand. He turned and smiled. "And sir, forgive me if I am rude, but you really ARE mad in love with Miss Viera." And he vanished out of the door.
I chuckled at the sincerity of his words. This “LOVE” stuff was so obvious to the people around me. He sounded so true, and he called her MISS Viera. That meant― He was sure she would end up being with me, here, in this room. She was going to be a family, very soon.
I looked at my cell and found one message in the inbox. My heart leapt at the sight of her name flashing on the top.
 

Oh no. What was wrong with her? Why was she acting all w
eird?
 

Her next massage was
pretty fast.
 

I sighed. The brightest person that I knew intimately didn't know what ASAP meant. Wow!
 

I dropped my phone on the bed and took a look at
the gray napkin that adored my upper pocket. A rose was already pinned on the collar. The shirt was a regular white as always. Black and white was a most common combination. It was like a zebra colour mix, they weren't stripes, just the colour.
 I put them aside and jumped back on my bed. Mrs. Norrington wouldn't give me the speech before the breakfast; she had my grandmother to attend to, so I was very free at the present moment. Time for the push messages!
I unlocked my cell and went through the messages. All my friends, and Diane had wished me by now, and Oceana― well she was REALLY MAD AT ME.
I scrolled down the list and saw her message that read.