Til I Found You

Chapter 9

Chapter 9

Vince:

The feeling of her being so far away when in fact she’s just sitting right next to me is what makes this long trip much longer. She never said a word after what happened earlier, and it seems that she’s having a deep thought in her mind.

Trying to break the silence, I began to talk. “Uhm, Liz?”

No response. “Liz?” I repeated, but this time I added a little volume in my voice.

Still, no response. I stopped the car and for the third time I call her, I shouted. “ELIZABETH VAN HOSSEN!”

“What is your problem?!” she shouted back.

Oh no, she’s mad. I tried to answer but the look in her eyes stopped me.

“I am talking to you Vincent Coax. What is your problem? And why did you stop the car?”

“I uh-“My voice came out weakly and I sounded like a little boy being scolded by his mother. Clearing my throat I continued, “I just thought maybe we could have some lunch first.” I looked away and continued, “Besides, we were supposed to---“

“Fine.”

Wait, did she just said…yes? I was so shocked at how fast she said yes that I didn’t noticed I’m staring at her too long.

“What are you waiting for? Christmas? Start the engine now!”

After hearing those, my senses came back.

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We went to the nearest restaurant and immediately ordered. As soon as the waiter came and served our meal, Liz began eating. She was eating as if she was with nobody, as if I were not there.

"Hey Liz." I started. "What do you call a beautiful woman eating like a pig and acting as if no one's around her?"

She shot me that look again. That shut-your-mouth-up-or-else-I'll-kill-you look.

"It's not a very hard question Liz. Give it a try." I forced a smile.

"I don't know." She continued eating again.

"HAHA! The answer is Liz." I laughed so hard with my joke when a big chunk of steak choked me. I immediately grabbed some water to save my life. "Hey!" I said shouting at her. "Are you trying to kill me? I almost die!"

She continued eating as if she didn't heard me. Why is she so good in ignoring me? 

When I can't take it any longer, I pulled her arm down when she was about to take another spoonful of food. "Hey, you're really trying to kill me, aren't you?"

"You started it." She pulled her hand away, the one I was holding tightly. "And don't touch me."

"I was just trying to make you laugh you know."

"Well, I'm sorry. But you are NOT funny."

She was about to eat again when I held her face with both of my hands. I very well know that she'll back away so I added more force to still her. I was right, she was trying to remove my hands from her face but she wasn't strong enough to do that.

"Take your hands off my face you jerk!"

I am very well aware of the noise we're making that it doesn't surprise me to see the people around us staring. Some are laughing, some are confused but the others are obviously irritated. Seeing Liz like this makes me not to care about the people around. I mean, she looks like a helpless child being bullied by her playmate. And I have to admit, she looks adorable.

"Let me go!" While she was repeatedly exclaiming those words, I can't help but laugh on how she looks.

At a moment she calmed down and the tone in her voice changed from being harsh to gentle. "Vince, Let me go. I mean it."

"Not unless you smile."

We were staring at each other for a minute. My eyes unintentionally went over every features of her face -- from her eyes, to her nose, to her cheeks and down to her lips. My breathing stopped as I examine her lips. I shook my head as to wake myself up.

"This is how you smile, you idiot." I forced a smile and she began laughing.

My hands, that are holding her face for quite long dropped. "What's funny?"

She was trying to catch her breath and said, "There's..hahahaha...there's something in your teeth."

"What?" I immediately ran my tongue through the front of my teeth. "Is it gone?"

Liz, still trying to stop herself from laughing, simply nodded.

A smirk landed on my face as I watch her smile. "You look more beautiful when you smile." 

There is something in the tone of my voice that made her stop and stare at me. My heart thumped loudly when I saw her smile at me.

She removed the strands of hair from her face and said, "I haven't laughed this hard for a while. Thanks Vince."

Wait, did I hear her say 'thanks'?

"I didn't know you could be that nice." I said, looking closely into her eyes. "I hope I could see you smile more often."

"Yeah.I hope so too."

After saying those words, her smile was gone. The sadness and pain again filled her eyes. What is it that makes her that way? Is it something about her past? Or maybe about our engagement?

"Uhm, Liz…About the engagement..." I sighed."You don't have to do it if you don't want to. You don't have to force yourself to do something against your will just for me. You can---"

"I'm not doing this for you."  She let out a deep breath. "It's for mom and dad."

"Your parents? What about them? Does it have something to do with business?"

"Long story. Why would I even say it to you in the first place?"

"Because we're getting engaged soon. Trust me, I'm willing to listen."

Just as she was about to speak up, my phone rang. It's a call from Elaine. I looked at Liz as if asking for permission to answer the phone.

"Pick it up." she said.

"I'm sorry, excuse me."

(Outside)

"Hello? Elaine, what's wrong?"

I heard a loud noise at the other end of the line and a scream from Elaine. "Please! Leave me alone!"

"Elaine? Elaine!" 

Call ended.

Oh no, she must be in trouble.

Liz:

It was almost an hour since Vince left me to answer his phone. And since then, he hadn't come back.

Few minutes later, the waiter approached me. "Excuse me ma'am, is there anything else you want?"

"No, thank you."

The waiter was about to leave when I stopped him, "Uhm, have you noticed the guy with me? Do you know where he is? Or at least where he went?"

After seconds of thinking, he spoke, "Oh right! Mr. Coax! I saw him leave with his car about 30 minutes ago ma'am."

"What?!"

"Is there anything wrong ma'am?"

"Nothing." I pulled out money from my purse "Here's my payment."

After giving him the money, I walked straight outside. He was telling the truth, Vince's car was gone. He really left. 

Willing to listen huh?