It Begins [BOOK 1] ✔️

Chapter Seven: Steve Curtis Says

Seven: "Vegetables are a must on a diet. I suggest carrot cake, zucchini bread and pumpkin pie"

Andy's POV

My fists felt like they were burning and it hurt like hell, but I didn't stop. I was gasping for breath, my heart was beating so loud I could practically hear it in my ears as well as the blood rushing in me. Ignoring my body's exhaustion after doing this for almost two hours, I continued punching the punching bag vigorously, gritting my teeth. The horror in Evelyn's face and glistening tears in her eyes after the kiss was the image I could never ever forget my whole life.

Evelyn. Evelyn. Evelyn.

This woman I fell in love with was making me crazy - both kind of crazy. The good and bad one. It had been a few days after the incident and I couldn't find it in me to eat or sleep or even work properly. Some of my students even voiced their concern whenever they see me in school.

A cold sensation on my cheek made me hiss and I swiveled with a glower only to see Steve holding a bottled water, an amused look on his face. Mumbling profanities under my breath, I snatched the bottle from his hand and took a large gulp of the coldness, leaving it half empty. "What are you doing here, Steve?"

Steve shrugged. "It's my older brother's gym. It's practically mine,"

"You're not my damn wife, Steve," I told him, unamused by his antics. "What's mine is not yours," Wiping my face and neck with a small towel, I sat on the sofa beside him and leaned my head on its back, letting my body rest. "But really though? What are you doing here? Aren't you supposed to be in the office?"

Steve ran his fingers through his brown hair (he had our mother's hair while I had our father's black one) and said, "Nina's celebrating our advanced anniversary tonight, so I'm leaving early. Seriously, I don't understand the need to celebrate it in an advance when the actual day is a week from now," He chuckled, the love for his wife evident for me to see. "Women are definitely something, aren't they?"

Letting out a sigh, I let my eyes closed and murmured, "Tell me about it,"

"Ah.... So the reason for your current crankiness is because of a woman. That's new. Want to tell me about it?" Steve chuckled in amusement. "Come on, big brother. I'm all ears,"

Well, there'll be no harm done, anyway. And so, I proceeded to tell Steve about Evelyn. Not in detail, of course. Just the basics like she was the woman I love who worked at a café who had an adorable son, whose husband wasn't in the picture I sighed as I reached the recent part of the story. "And then when I kissed her the other day, Evelyn suddenly got angry and told me to leave,"

With his arms crossed, Steve nodded his head as he tried to soak in the new information he was receiving. "Well, what the hell are you doing here then? Go and get your woman back. Beg if you have to,"

"Beg?" I frowned at him. "She was the one who rejected me and that's good enough reason to stay away, isn't it not? Why would she contribute to the kiss if she was going to reject me soon after?" Running my fingers through my hair in exasperation, I heaved out a sigh. "It's her fault for leading me on and now I'm a freaking mess. Oh fuck maybe it's also my fault for moving too fast with things,"

Steve shook his head. "No, she's definitely not leading you on, big brother. She's letting you lead her on. I'm not 100% sure, but she sounds like she's scared," He then shrugged. "I mean, just imagine your husband leaving you when you were pregnant. She harbors feeling for you, but she's afraid the same thing will happen again if she lets herself succumb to what she really wants,"

With widened eyes, I eyed my younger brother sitting there with his ankle on his thigh and a cigarette in his mouth both in awe and surprise. "You should be a therapist or something. How do you know that?"

"Again, I'm not entirely sure but that's a likely scenario. Nina's been forcing me to watch romantic movies these days and I kind of can relate," He moved his hand in a flippant wave, rolling his eyes. "Besides, when you have the woman you love as your girlfriend for seven years and wife for a year, you'll be experiencing a lot,"

"Well I have Nina to thank for that," I smacked Steve on his shoulder and stood up, determined to make things right. "I got to go. Thanks, Steve," I watched as my younger brother nodded his head, giving me a salute and wishing me luck.

***

"Evelyn isn't here,"

"What?" I furrowed my eyebrows. "Are you sure? Because the last time I checked, Evelyn Foxwell is a cashier in this café,"

"You don't have to be sarcastic, lover boy," Ruby rolled her eyes, blatantly ignoring me as she kept on flipping the magazine with a bored expression on her face. "But truly though, Evelyn isn't here. She took a day off. She told me she caught some kind of cold,"

Nodding my head, I gripped the single lily I was holding in my hand and heaved out a sigh. My mind was already moving and spinning energetically as I thought of my plan. I could ask Ruby for Evelyn's phone number or home address... but by the look of this waitress in front of me, there was no way that would happen. A worker's privacy was still private.

"Right," I heaved out a dejected sigh. "I guess I'll just be here tomorrow. Thank you," And then with that said, I then made my way out of the café, but the idea of giving up was never on my mind.

The same thing happened a few days later and the excuses were somewhat amusing to me. There was Evelyn was busy and unable to see me. And then Evelyn had a diarrhea and was stuck in the toilet for hours. (This made me wonder of its certainty.) And then once Ruby said Evelyn was in no mood to see me and was already married to some Italian guy she met during college. (This is a blatant lie, I am sure of it.)

After a few days, I then decided to stop visiting the café to look for Evelyn. It was clear to me that she needed space and time and I respected that. No matter how much it hurt me. But, of course, I never actually stopped coming to the café and looked at her from afar. Sometimes, I would find Evelyn sweeping the café's wooden floor. Or displaying some cupcakes and puddings on the rack for the people on the outside to see. Other times, Evelyn would sit on the table by the window all by herself, a plate of cake in front of her.

She looked distraught and I hated that. I noticed Evelyn would sit there all alone, staring out the window with a melancholic expression I had to fight the urge to just go there and pull her in my arms.

The few weeks passed by and the next thing I knew, it was already July.

It had been approximately a few days before a complete month since I've come to the café to see Evelyn and I found myself missing her and dreaming about her a lot - both the innocent ones and the non-innocent ones, of course. I missed the aura she brought every time we were in the same room, so innocent yet tantalizingly seductive at the same time. I missed her voice, smile and the way she tucked her hair to the back of her ear.

I have to apologize to Evelyn and ask her to choose, whether or not she wanted to be with me. Because, hell, the kiss alone showed perfectly how we felt for each other. And for me, the feeling was too strong it was almost painful to ignore.

Well, Evelyn, your need of space period is now expired. With a determined feeling inside me, I flung the sheets off of me and proceeded towards the bathroom to take a shower. And then after completing my morning routine, I was set to go.

| END OF CHAPTER SEVEN|

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Author's Note:
Do vote and comment what you think!

I love Steve :)❤️