Tethered Souls | Books 1, 2, and 3

19 | Blindsided

━━━─── • ───━━━

• Luna •

"So what do you think about this dress?" Liberty asked Luna as they sat on the studio's rooftop while gazing through a wedding magazine. "They would all look pretty on me."

Luna smiled and nodded, agreeing with her sister to wear a vintage-style wedding dress whenever she gets married to Vikram.

She noticed Chase had been walking up and down the back alley like something was bothering him. Luna knew something was off, but she couldn't figure it out. He'd only glanced their way once since they went to the studio to organize it for the summer. She figured maybe he was worried about work and his clients, but that couldn't be it. There was something more to his demeanor that had her question why he was distant.

"I really like this one, sis." Liberty elbowed Luna as she pointed down to a v-neck dress with a pretty lace design across the front.

"Have you thought about the wedding venue, Lib?"

Luna wanted to say something—anything—to stop her from thinking about what was bothering Chase. She would ask him, but she didn't want to stir up any internal emotions he may have and knew he'd become testy. He was always like that, and he'd never been comfortable with confrontations.

Liberty shrugged and gazed down below at Vikram, who was bringing in red, white, and blue decorations to hang in the studio's front window.

"I think Vikram would like to travel to Delhi and have the wedding ceremony there. I know you wouldn't approve of your only sister being married to an Indian prince—"

"Indian prince? Is that how you think of him?"

She smiled happily and gazed at her engagement ring. "I sure do. He's all mine."

"I'm excited for you, Lib. Why would you think I wouldn't approve of you two?"

"Because some people don't look at someone with his skin tone as a person and will immediately judge him. You did before."

"I only advised you to be careful because he dated Lynette before you. He wanted her to change her party lifestyle, among other things. It had nothing to do with his ethnicity. The way I see it, ethnicity is not as important as one's character."

"Wow. That's deep. You should write a book."

Luna smiled. "I have a plot in mind and will begin writing my book later this week."

"I can't wait to read it. But don't you dare think about writing me as a heroine. I want to be a villain, who has a dark side," Liberty said, giggling.

As Luna wiggled a little in her seat, the sun hit her skin. She couldn't help but ponder over her wedding and the venue she and Chase had picked out. While giving Liberty a tour earlier, she'd also given Amir one since he didn't get to see the entire building.

It was late in the afternoon and Chase leaned against the wall, hunched over. She wondered if it was something she'd done, but she couldn't have. They haven't fought since before their engagement for him being out of town a lot for business trips. They'd stopped arguing over petty things in the past. But lately, he'd been distant. He barely made eye contact with anyone, even the passers-by who walked passed him on the street.

"Muah!" Liberty gushed as Vikram smiled up at her while holding Sarah in his arms.

"Hi, Mommy."

"Hey, baby girl," Luna yelled. "Do you want to get the chalk and we can draw on the sidewalk back here?"