ETHAN CARTER
Did I feel an empty void in my heart? Yes, yes I did.
Mila was certainly mad at me and Aliya had left even though she was going to come back a few days later, I still felt the emptiness in the whole house.
I checked through my emails and that ended up making me feeling bored and frustrated. I video called Crystal trying to lighten up my mood.
'I was just about to call you",she beamed as I watched her face bare of make up.
From the black pastels on the wall I could tell she was back to her apartment.
'It's a good thing I called first", I said.
I saw her furrow her brows,
'What's wrong? You look haggard"
'I'm just tired from work. I wanted to see how you are doing", I smiled.
'I'm fine. After a long exhausting day of comforting a heart broken Shreya"
'What happened to Shreya this time?" I asked.
There was always something dramatic happening around Shreya. Even as I thought about it, Shreya had to be the most dramatic woman to ever come across.
'Ooh Ethan, it was just terrible. She found out Frank was cheating on her",Crystal bellowed.
'Shreya had a boyfriend?" I joked. It was weird to even think that Shreya Khan had a boyfriend.
I don't think there was a man for her in this world. She was just too much to handle.
'It's not funny, Ethan", Crystal warned.
'Hey- I didn't know she was in a relationship"
'She was. I told you about him months ago, did you forget?"
Ooh.
'Ofcourse not"
I totally forgot about it. Either that or I wasn't paying attention when she told me me about it.
'Yeah so Shreya has been in inconsolable all day. Can you imagine that? Finding the man you love with all your heart in bed with someone else?"she asked and I felt a large lump of saliva clog my throat.
Well in this case, it was guilt making me shift uncomfortably in my seat. Making me sweat even though the air conditioner was on. The worst part was Crystal saying it in that way as if I was not a part of those men she was talking about.
'I can't imagine that", I said.
'Ofcourse you couldn't because you, my dashing boyfriend are loyal. I'm a lucky woman you know. And now that I think about it I should apologize for not trusting you before because you are not like Shreya's boyfriend. You are mine and mine alone", she gushed.
I exhaled a forced smile feeling so shitty sitting there and pretending as if I hadn't cheated. The worst part out of all this was that if I was locked in a room with Aliya again I would definitely want to peg her on my bed then and there.
'Yeah", I said scratching the back of my hand.
'I love you",she said, the expression on her face telling me she was waiting to hear me respond.
'I love you too", I blurted. I did love her anyways.
I loved her like a sister or like a friend but she wouldn't know that, would she?
Her eyes lit up as she pursed her lips blowing me a kiss.
'I really have to go. An dead beat but I can visit tomorrow if you'd like?"
'Tomorrow uh- isn't great for me. I still have that fundraising thing, remember?" I reminded her watching as her lips turned fk an ‘ooh'.
'Goodnight, Ethan"
'Goodnight, Crystal"I said closing the laptop before I retired to bed.
As usual the first thing I saw in my dreams the instant I slept was Aliya. Only difference was that this time, she was dressed in satin running towards another man. I followed her through the fields of corn, calling her name as if I was hurt seeing her run off.
The man, Aliya was running to had his back faced to us so much that I could see his face but only the back of his head.
I finally caught up to Aliya, yanking her by the wrist to my chest.
'Aliya…am your man not him", I reasoned searching for her eyes but they were not the same warm loving eyes. Instead they were filled with rage, sadness and anger.
'I'm not yours. I'll never be yours",she exclaimed wrestling from my grip but I held onto her not willing to let go.
'What are you saying, Aliya? I love you, you love me. We are meant to be together", I said astonished to hear myself say that.
Those words didn't seem to matter to her because instead she kept turning around watching if the man she had been running to was still standing there.
'I don't love you, Ethan. I have never lived you. I could never love you", she said strongly and with all her might, she managed to be free of my grip. I watched as she collected the edges of her clothes running against the wind to be with the other man whose face I couldn't see.
Her words echoed.
I don't love you.
I have never loved you.
I could never love you.
And like a sharp thorn prickling my skin, I felt my heart smash against the ground like brittle glass into a million pieces.
I had lost her. I had lost her long before I had her. I called her name but she had already eloped with the man. Like a madman, I grabbed the grass in my tight knotted fists feeling as if I would murder anything that came my way.
'Aliya!" I shouted waking up suddenly.
The morning light hit my sleepy surprised face and I groaned in annoyance. My chest was had myriads of sweat and my pillow was drenched.
I was dreaming and yet it felt so real that I could feel my heart beat against my chest and my pulse in my mouth. I turned to the side seeing the clock reading seven am.
After I was done with the morning pleasantries, I descended down the stairs, breakfast was already prepared and ready.
Sad thing about it was that even as I gobbled it in the kitchen, Mila never said a word to me and I wasn't sure I was ready to talk to her too, lest she gave me another earful.
'Did Mila seem okay to you?" I asked Jai once I was in the car.
'If you count her babbling about the importance of waking up early to me as okay then yes she seemed okay. Why?" Jai asked and I scoffed.
'Nothing. Forget about it"
It seems I was being given the silent treatment and I had a feeling once Aliya was back, both women wouldn't talk to me.
'Where to?"
'Saint Albans orphanage", I said reading the address on my phone.
Wasn't the orphanage in the same neighborhood as Aliya's? The thought of passing by and seeing how she was doing crossed my mind but I shoved it to the back of my head ruling it as a bad idea.
