All her life, Calypso Nightingale has always lived in the shadows of her four older sisters. She stayed in the sidelines watching as they find their love matches, all of whom during their first seasons. With her sisters' perfect records, pressure ha...
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The conversation with Anthony lasted for a few more minutes, with him sharing some of his fears for her sister should she marry the wrong man. It was as if I was his confidante. He shared every bit of information in his mind without any hesitation.
"I know Daphne is grateful for what you are doing," I told him, gently caressing the back of his hands. "But I also know that Daphne's of age now and is capable of making her own decisions. Maybe you should tone yourself down."
He looked at me sincerly. He slowly nodded his head and said, "I'll try."
His response warmed my heart. For someone who may be stubborn, this decision he has made had let me feel like he considers my opinions. In that moment, I knew he not just considers me as an acquaintance, but a friend rather.
"I'm glad to hear that," I said quite cheerfully, but not much so he couldn't notice how elated I was with his decision.
He smiled at me. "Thanks for being kind."
I raised my eyebrow. "For listening?"
"And for not judging and intruding like it's your job to unearth the information needed to conjure rumors," he continued, still looking intently into my eyes.
"That's only the bare minimum," I replied. "If people had been that mean on you, I assure you I'm different."
"And you are," he softly added.
In my head, I wanted him to stop complimenting me. It's bad for my composure. My cheeks could turn red any moment now if Anthony keeps on being cute and expressive.
"Want to get some tea? I know a place." And he did it again. An invitation to talk more with him.
In that instant, I couldn't hold my reactions any longer. My lips formed into a smile as he noticed the reddening of my cheeks. "Hey, are you okay? Your cheeks are unusually pink."
"Oh, I'm fine." I lied. "It's probably the heat." Not from the sun, but from this tension in this moment. (Probably, a one-sided tension at that.)
"Sure?" He asked, slowly placing his hands on ny shoulder to calm me down, which was far from helping. If there's anything it did, that is to make me internally and silently scream, like I was just touched by some divine being.
"Yup," I nodded, before looking away for him to not notice how red I was in the face right now. "Anyway, I can't come. I'm with a friend."
