RAVENS #1: THE DARKNESS

Chapter 35 - Alone

Liam Hastington

We've been queueing for an hour, and we still have three couples in front of us. It's almost seven-thirty, and I bet Alyssa is already hungry. She's been talking to Sally and Tony nonstop, trying to get me involved in the conversation when I have zero interest. We're supposed to have dinner together, not joining the nosy couple.

Fucking great.

"Let's grab some mini waffles together so our wives can snack on them while we wait for our turn," Tony said to me and put his arm around my shoulder, leading me out of the queue.

We walked side by side to the street corner, where there was a mini waffle stand. He ordered two and paid for it.

"You're too uptight, Liam," Tony said.

"I don't need your fucking advice."

"It's the little things that matter. You don't see your wife enjoying the fun of queueing for good food. She's also very bubbly and nice." I ignored him and put all of my attention to the waffles.

"You reminded me of my younger self, and it's fucking scary." He let out a chuckle, and I turned to him. "What's your job, Liam?"

"Surgeon and business." He looked at me in horror and shook his head.

"Neurosurgeon, and what a small world." He chuckled before patting my shoulder. We both turned our attention to the waffles again, and Tony turned to me.

"Are you agreeing to the divorce?" He asked, but his tone was full of concern.

"Yeah." I let out a sigh. "She..." I ran my hand through my hair.

"I was the one who wanted it, and we have two weeks left before we officially divorce." I don't know why I'm telling Tony this, but it's been a headache for the past few days. I can't talk about my personal love life to my friends. "Since we didn't have a prenup, I told her what I wanted, and she's willing to give it to me without a fight."

"But you said you can't love her the way she loves you."

"Yeah."

"Then why do you want her to stay with you? You won't be able to give the only thing she wants."

"Something happened to her in the past, and she went through a lot." I closed my eyes for a second before turning to Tony.

"I bet so many people love her, judging by her personality. I don't think you should be worried about her standing on her own feet." He's right. He's fucking right, but I don't trust other people.

"You don't trust other people, huh? You think no one can protect her like you do, even though you don't love her?" He hit the right fucking spot. "Don't you think that's a little selfish, Liam?"

"She told me that I will never be the first person that she calls when she's in distress. She would rather be in pain than have to call me for help, but I will always be the person who saves her first, even though she called for someone else." Fuck. Fucking fuck for telling a stranger this.

"Why? Why don't you let others help her?"

"She never wanted me to see her weakest point."

"That's not the point, Liam. She's not the problem here. If she never wanted you to see it, why don't you let the people she called help her?" This old man doesn't understand, huh? "Do you even hear yourself?"

He grabbed two bags of waffles and gave one to me.

"You said you don't love her, but it looks like you already went into the hell hole." He chuckled before leading me back. Alyssa's eyes widened when I gave her the waffles.

"Thank you." She smiled widely, and I stood beside her.

"Liam, Sally told me we should have a bigger aquarium for our turtle. She had turtles when she was a little kid, and she gave me some tips! We should buy Riri and Lili a bigger aquarium when we get home!" She was so excited for a damn aquarium.

"You have turtles?" Tony asked.

"Yes. I forced Liam to buy it for me." Alyssa gave me the waffle bag, and she showed Tony photos of Riri and Lili.

"I told Alyssa that they need a bigger aquarium to swim more freely," Sally said, and Tony nodded. Alyssa kept showing the couples all the photos and videos about our turtles.

"There's a pet expo in a month; you both should go there and find cool things for the turtles!" Sally squealed as she remembered about it.

"Really?"

"It'll be in Orlando."

"I need to put in my calendar."

"We can go there together. We want to adopt a dog since our Lacy passed away past year." Sally said, and Alyssa pouted sadly.

"Liam will be busy by then, but I can go with you both." Sally and Tony looked at me, knowing damn well that we were going to be divorced by then. Alyssa doesn't know that the couple knows about it.

"I can go with you," I said, and Alyssa turned to me, chuckling. Before she could answer me, the waiter told us it was time to get into the restaurant. I grabbed her hand, and the waiter led us in.

"Can you please recommend the menu for us? I want to try your favorites." Alyssa said to the couple as she sat down.

"Very well," Tony said, and Alyssa squealed.

"I can't wait to try. People were talking about how good the food is."

"I don't think it'll be worth the wait. We're waiting almost two hours." I said, and Alyssa glared at me. The couple also glared at me, but Alyssa was clueless about it.

"After this, I'm going to a bar with Sally. You can go back to the villa if you want to. Tony can join us since he's nice."

"No. I'm taking you somewhere." I said, and Tony kicked my shin. Sally laughed awkwardly and changed the topic quickly. Tony shook his head while looking at me. I checked the time, and we only had an hour of the event that I prepared for Alyssa.

"It's going to be a long night," I mumbled.