Till The Clock Strikes Gone

29 | faith

The streets were merry with the joys of Christmas. Everything and everyone was happy and ecstatic, even in the Scott household. Harvey Scott had forced Eliza to decorate the house with William who was already considering presenting the offer to the owner of his heart himself but was relieved when Harvey beat him to it. As much as William loved Eliza Scott, he also feared her personality when it came to matters regarding him.

"Why are you forcing me to stay with him?" Eliza argued.

"Just do it," Harvey ordered and then went to lock himself in his workshop.

Harvey had started to be 'really' good to William and he was confused by that. His once father-in-law had always been a man of cold nature but the sudden change in his persona was enough to make William wonder about the cause behind it.

They decorated the house and put on the Christmas tree. By evening, the house had a warm glow as Eliza had refused to turn on the lights and instead ignited the fireplace. True enough, the house looked prettier and cosier. On top of that,  William got to know that Eliza had broken up with James Dawson and that little information filled his heart with glee and made his Christmas merrier, even though it ached him that he wasn't spending it with his wife. He had started to wear his wedding ring again. Since Eliza knew, he didn't want to keep it hidden anymore. He wore it with pride and made sure that Eliza noticed it too.

A little later, Lorna came along with a woman. The lady was of a short physique with pale skin and pretty eyes. She used a cane to walk and William noticed that one of her legs was amputated. She looked around thirty or thirty-five and was smiling shyly when Lorna introduced her.

"Harvey, this is Julia. Julia, this is Harvey, my childhood friend."

Harvey extended his hand to Julia and she shook it shyly.

"Hello," she said in a very soft and fine voice.

"Harvey, Julia and I are getting married in June next year. Do come to the ceremony. I'll be glad to have you there," Lorna said.

Sweet Jesus!

"Oh no," William let out a soft exclamation as he and Eliza stood at a far corner of the room watching the elderly trio. Eliza turned to him.

"What happened?" she asked, puzzled by William's reaction and he gave her a sad look.

"Do you see the way I look at you?"

Eliza most probably felt awkward by his question. However, she didn't let it show.

"Huh...Yes?"

"Well, that's the way your father looks at Lorna."

Eliza blinked at him and then her countenance expressed realization.

"No!" she cried in a low tone.

"Yes," William affirmed. "And look now, Lorna is with someone Mr Scott can't even compete with."

Eliza turned her eyes back to her father and sure enough, his face was that of utter shock, pain, and confusion. William bent a little to speak into her ear.

"See? Now he will be a sore head for the rest of the night."

"Oh God!" she exclaimed and he gave her a sympathetic smile.

Just as William had predicted, Lorna left after the dinner was over and placed a kiss on Harvey's cheek before she took off with Julia's arm around hers and together they went, hand in hand, leaving Harvey behind distraught.

Harvey had instantly seated himself on one of the sofa chairs and went on gulping every bottle of beer that was placed on the table. William picked up one before Harvey could finish them all. He took a seat on the couch and put one leg behind Eliza while the other rested on the floor as he leaned on one of the arms of the couch and took a sip of his drink. It had been a long time since he had something for a drink but that day, he wanted to drink for Harvey and his loss.