Scarlet Rose

Chapter 29

Terry's laughter froze mid air. He knew who the woman with his jacket was. It was enough for his stomach to free fall to his feet. The heart hammered against his chest. This would look pretty bad, he could bet his life on it. He did want to make Candy jealous but finding Marion in the dressing room, wasn't what he had in mind.

Between the concierge's knock on the door and Terry's reply from the other side, an unexpected shyness flourished on her face when she heard his voice, although it had to be said curiosity battled against it. Of course, it wasn't her business but she did wonder who had made Terry to laugh as hearty as he did. Anticipation brightened her eyes as Mr. Norman let her come in.

"Hi Terry." Her greeting as well as her body came to a halt and she stopped on her tracks as if she had run into a wall. Her stare met halfway with Marion's, who in turn looked as taken aback as Candy's face must had looked like with her raised brows, the wide eyes and a wide smile, lips apart with no breath coming out.

"Gosh, Rose!" Marion rushed to the door to greet her. They air kissed while Candy tried to bring herself back to earth because it sure felt like an out of body experience, the whole situation. A rush of blood flushed through her face. She sweated to the roots of her hair. In an instance, the decision had been made. Back to the days when she was a child, she had stepped many a-times on no-good tree branches mistakenly thinking they would support her weight. Instead they broke beneath her feet, leaving her in mid air. Surprise and fear pumped in her veins and her stomach would jump on her throat. She was falling. She still was learning. She should have learned by now.

She shouldn't have come to the theatre. Visions of a previous life took shape like in a silent film. When once again another woman would claim him. There was no time to ponder much. She needed to make excuses. "Marion!" She exclaimed, her voice going up one notch higher than she had wished.

"Didn't expect to see you here, Rose"

"Oh...It's nothing really..."

Terry had kept silent. Was there anything to say? His timing with Candy was never going to be good. A sense of dread washed over him. Already he knew Marion being there was going to give all the wrong signals to Candy. Was it the same fateful circle all over again? Coming close to the woman he had loved, and then being denied of a future with her. Because certainly, it had looked that way. She was already in a relationship. A sea of years between them. Lost time. His stare followed the movement of his head as it turned towards the floor, almost like being pulled by gravity. He hadn't realised he was staring abstractly at the carpet, when he heard his name on her lips.

"Terrence escorted me home last night..." She said. Turned to see him. Met his intense stare halfway. Did it seem apologetic?

"Wasn't feeling very well..." She continued saying while their eyes were locked on each other, "And I didn't want to ruin it for Christian." She finished her excuse while turning back to her friend. Candy felt Marion's examining stare on her flustered face.

"Ah! That's explaining your sudden departure, Terry..." She said, finally realising the reason of his mysterious disappearance from the party.

The sound of Marion's voice, calling him with the name only the people who were more intimate to him, used, grated Candy the wrong way. Annoyance also flashed through his eyes. A wave of anger started welling up inside her. Perhaps she was intruding already. Terry looked annoyed.

"Anyways...you forgot your jacket." She said without much emotion in her voice and stretched the hand which held his jacket towards him. Just enough to show, it was just another chore she had to do during her day. He took it from her, fully acknowledging her anger. However, it seemed a little over the top to be honest. Yes, it wasn't the best of situations, he knew it. But it wasn't that there were doing anything that excused the anger he was seeing lighting her green eyes. Nevertheless, he thanked her with an equally measured tone in his voice. If she wanted to show him, this was just a routine transaction between them, so be it.