Secrets of the Night

Chapter 19

Willow had spent her morning reading. Because that was the only thing that could keep her mind occupied enough to not be thinking about tonight 24/7. But every now and then it still happened that her thoughts escaped the small island that the story took place on and slipped back to the somewhat near future.

When lunch time came around, Willow was told that her brother was out and probably wouldn't return till the late afternoon. She didn't mind having lunch by herself. If she were honest she even preferred it. Oh how she had come to hate that bone-crushing silence between her and Philip at meals. But there was really no way to avoid it. He wouldn't let her have her meals in her room by herself and he also wasn't keen on having a conversation with her.

But today she had the whole dining room to herself, the whole house even. In an instant a whole lot of crazy ideas about what she could be doing came to her head. She could run around the hallways like a mad woman. Break into her brother's room on the hunt for some hidden away treasure.

Willow couldn't help but wonder if he had anything like that at all. Maybe some cheesy love letter to a girl? As far as she knew her brother was not romantically involved with any girl, but who knows, he could be meeting up with someone right now. They might have a lovely little picnic in a park and then go for an afternoon stroll.

But Philip was way too caught up in his business affairs to bother with something like love. On the other hand, maybe he hadn't planned for it but it just happened. Like with Willow and Marcus.

As soon as Willow noticed what she had actually just thought, she stopped dead in her tracks. Could that really be considered love? They barely knew each other. They had only met three times and two of those times Marcus hadn't even known she was a girl. He still didn't know who she really was. How could she be thinking that this was love?

Maybe because she was constantly thinking about him? Because no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't keep Marcus from her mind for all too long. Thinking about what he was doing, when he wasn't meeting up with her. Wondering if he had enjoyed his hunting trip with his friends yesterday. Could he have passed that very spot where they met for the first time on his trip yesterday? And if he did, had it reminded him of her?

Shaking her head to get those thoughts out of her mind again, Willow tried to focus back on what she had originally been thinking about. What had that been again? Oh yes, right, all the things she could be doing while her brother was gone. She could sneak into the study to get some new books, as she was nearly finished with the one she was currently reading.

There were still some unread books left in the attic, but their number was getting smaller and smaller and it surely wouldn't hurt to get a few books from the study to read next. Not so many that he would notice of course, just, maybe two of three.

Willow would for once have the chance to take her time with choosing a book. Philip had stuck to the rule of not allowing her into the study ever since she barged into his conversation with Charles nearly three years ago. And so Willow had stuck to getting books from the attic instead.

But today she would have the chance to get some newer books from the study without having to worry about her brother.

Right after she had finished her lunch, she made her way up the stairs and towards the study. She would rather get the books right now because she didn't know when exactly her brother would be back and the last thing she wanted was to get caught. God, he'd freak out again on her. And for what? Nothing, absolutely nothing. He was such a stuck-up idiot. It wasn't fair that he had the study all to himself. But there was really nothing Willow could do about it, other than taking chances like this on the very rare occasions that they did happen.