Contractually Yours

18• Down the Memory lane

🔹️🔹️ Crystal Russell 🔹️🔹️

"Lily told me that Sophie had paid a visit." Adrien said and I remembered about it. 

"Oh, Yes. I forgot to tell you." He nodded then said again, "What had she come for?" He looked skeptical as he asked. 

"She apologized for being arrogant towards me at our wedding. And as we talked a little, we became pretty fond of each other. I like her." I smiled widely. 

"That's... good?" He turned to look in the front as he said. It was more like a question as he had doubts if was really good. 

"You both must have been really close friends. She knew a lot about you." I told him. I hoped my envy wasn't evident in my voice. 

"Yes. Our mothers were good friends and we grew up with each other's company." He told me and I nodded. 

"All these years, you never noticed her growing feelings for you?" I asked out of curiosity. I knew Sophie had loved him and I wanted to know about his feelings too. 

"I never saw Sophie as anything but a friend. When she came out clear to me about her feelings, I felt stupid for being so clueless." He answered while thinking deeply about something. 

"If.. I hadn't been in the picture, would you have married her instead?" I hesitantly asked. For some reason, I was nervous about his answer. 

He looked at me and my heart beat sped up a few beats. We stared into each other's eyes for a few seconds before he sighed. 

"Maybe." His eyes darted downwards and I couldn't help the disappointment at his answer. 

"I love Sophie." He said. 

Stop. 

"But I could never fall in love with her. If I knew that she loved me earlier, I would have married her only for her happiness." 

I didn't know if I was supposed to feel good or bad about his answer. 

"Sophie had always been a little 'love-deprived'. If not for Dad's pressure and the media's lash out, I wouldn't break her heart." 

In simpler terms, you would choose Sophie over me, anytime. 

I expected this answer, but I couldn't stop the slight pain in my chest. 

We stayed quiet for a few minutes but again, I decided to break it with another question.

"Have you ever been in love, Adrien?" 

He froze at my question and his expression turned cold. Looks like I had pressed a nerve. 

Bad move, Crystal. 

"Yes." The frequency of his voice changed. I took a glimpse of his eyes that were now darker. 

Anger. Hurt. 

I didn't say anything. I understood if he didn't want to talk about it. Anyway, I'm probably not the person who he would like to share such deep things with. 

"Once. It's been almost three years though." He relaxed a bit, as if he didn't want it to affect him. 

"I..." He trailed off, contemplating whether he should continue or not. 

"It's okay. If you don't want to talk about it, I understand." I told him and he looked at me with a small smile. 

"I've got over it. It does not matter to me anymore but as I think about it, it's probably normal to feel a bit... bad?" He asked himself with a frown and I smiled at his cute expression.