That laugh – it was still fresh in my head from when I first heard it about an hour ago. And now, here it was again.
I traced its source to my side. And sure enough, I found myself staring at an older woman sporting a face-splitting grin, her arms outstretched, with Kara and Emma beside her – Aunt Tilly.
A second later, and I was being pulled into those outstretched arms, her voice chirpy as she said, “we finally meet!”
Given her raging enthusiasm, anyone who saw us would probably assume we were longtime online best friends, who were now seeing each other for the first time.
Hence, I found myself trying to match at least some of her enthusiasm, with my lips moving in a smile as I said, “hi. You must be Aunt Tilly.”
“Yes,” she cried, looking quite thrilled at my knowledge of her. “Oh, you’re really as sweet as Kara said. You’ve been asking about me?”
Well, look at that little dose of enthusiasm I mustered coming back to bite me in the ass. But it was too late for ‘I should have known.’
And now, I could only nod.
Hey, silent lying was at least better than an audible one.
Aunt Tilly though, was now beaming brighter than before – if that was even possible. “I love you already. Don’t worry, I promise that before I leave, we’ll spend a lot of time together.” She finished with her signature laugh.
Ok, I think I’ll just go back to hoping for that hurricane storm to come sweep me away. Because let’s face it – that’s the only hope of escape I had from this.
To Aunt Tilly however, I offered a smile which I was certain was a little teary-eyed.
Thankfully, her attention was soon turned towards someone else. “Aiden.”
“Aunt Tilly.”
She eyed him for a second or two before reaching for him between a cheerful exclamation of: “oh get in here!”
Although I don’t think he had much of a choice in the matter given as she was already squishing him in her arms.
“I’ve missed you so much,” she mused between laughs – or at least that’s what they were supposed to be. But the reality wasn’t quite the same, as was clear from Aiden’s traumatized face.
But the words that left his lips were: “me too.”
Of course, that earned another of those sounds from her. “But you apparently didn’t miss me enough to tell me about your relationship with Aria. You’ve been hiding her from us using the whole ‘friends’ story.”
But it was another voice that piped up with: “oh it’s like a friends to lovers kind of story. How exciting! You have to tell us about it. When did you realize you were in love? What did you do then?” Yeah, that was Anika the interrogator.
Her eyes were practically shining, expressing her eagerness to get the scoop. Well, I knew what I was eager to do – throw her off a cliff.
Thanks to her, Kara was now letting out a pleased gasp. “That’s true. You two haven’t told us the story of how you started dating.”
“There really isn’t much to tell,” Aiden was now saying, tittering slightly – with me echoing the sound as I added, “yeah, it’s really nothing exciting.”
If you removed the last part, that was pretty much the truth – it was really nothing. There was no friends to lovers story, because there were no lovers here, just two lying friends!
But as much as I wanted to get that out, I couldn’t. And now, I was faced with Aunt Tilly giving a dismissive wave of her hand. “That can’t be right. There’s more than a lot to tell. So, start spilling.”
My eyes found Aiden’s, and it was clear that the same thought was running through our minds – ‘why didn’t we think of this?’
Earlier today, we had decided on the pretty basic things about our ‘relationship’ like how long we’d been dating. How we moved from friends to couple was definitely not a topic of discussion. Hence, our current predicament – which for the record, just grew worse.
Yeah, Aiden’s grandma had now joined us. “What’s going on here?” She was in hostess mode, hence, the question lacked her usual authoritative tone.
“I’m sure you’ll be interested in this, Leah,” Yeah, that was Samara a.k.a. the Finch family information expert. “Aiden and Aria are about to tell us about how they started dating.”
Her response came as a small “oh.” But even with her seeming coolness, her face betrayed a spark of interest as she nestled herself between Aunt Tilly and Kara – all of whom were now staring expectantly at us.
“You two, start talking already, we’re dying to know,” Aunt Tilly prompted, face beaming.
I was also dying – dying to get out of here that is. What could I possibly say to get myself out of this situation? Hence, I found myself breathing an inner sigh of relief when Aiden’s voice broke through.
“Right,” he started. “How we started dating. It's actually a really crazy story.” Well, so far so good. I was in the middle of nodding in agreement when I heard him add, “in fact, I think Aria would like to tell this story.”
Say what now?
I turned sharply to him at that, eyes piercing but voice sweeter than honey when I said, “no, babe. I think you should.”
His lips moved in a perfectly smooth smile now, the mischief in his voice clear when he said, “no, I think it’ll be more fun if you do.”
“Really? I doubt that.” I forced a smile of my own, with my words almost coming out through gritted teeth now.
The words which I didn’t voice, but which my pointed glare at him expressed, was: ‘I will destroy you.’
Now, though, Kara was saying, “come on, Aria, tell us.”
Fuck my life.
I was completely cornered. And now, all I could do was titter awkwardly.
“Ok then. I guess I’ll just tell this story.” What followed was another titter. But if any of them noticed that I was acting like a complete weirdo, their expectant faces didn’t show it.
“Um…uh…”
Oh gods of lies, please show favor to me.
“Aiden and I…were friends.” At least I still had knowledge of sentences. My audience however, nodded enthusiastically, prompting me to go on.
“But a few months back, things began to change.” I literally had no idea where I was going with this. “Actually, it was all quite strange to me at first.”
“Because you both were friends and you didn’t expect you’d develop feelings?”
Well, thank you, Cathy.
“Yes,” I mused in agreement. “At a point, it started becoming clear that we might both like each other, and not in a friendly way.”
“Because you’d always feel the need to be around each other, and you’d get jealous when you see each other with someone else? David and I were like that too.”
Oh Cathy, what would I do without you and your obsession with relating everything to your husband?
So, again, I voiced my agreement. “Yes. But it was particularly worse for Aiden. There was this guy, a course mate of mine who I worked with on a team project. Aiden just couldn’t stand him. I mean, he would get all grumpy whenever I mentioned him, and one time, I said I thought he had pretty eyes, and Aiden wouldn’t see the end of it.” By now, I was having quite a bit of fun with this.
“How could I say he had pretty eyes? What was so special about his eyes? How long was I staring into his eyes for me to be able to know that? He just kept whining about it,” I finished with a chuckle, but the others were already way ahead of me.
They’d started laughing halfway through my story, with Aunt Tilly being the loudest of the lot – obviously.
“Oh sweetie, you were jealous over such a small thing?” Kara was now asking between laughs.
“Apparently, I was,” Aiden answered, facing me with a look that seemed to say: ‘oh no, you didn’t.’
Oh yes, I did. And I was only getting started. Revenge sure was sweet. So, throwing him a sly smirk, I went on.
“Still, despite all the obvious signs, I knew Aiden wouldn’t have the courage to confess his feelings.”
“I wouldn’t?” He echoed, cocking an amused brow.
But my reply was: “Well, I know he might seem cool, smooth and all, but trust me, when it gets down to it, he gets so adorably shy about making the first move.”
Of course, that earned a string of ‘awww’s’ from my audience, with Aiden looking like he wanted nothing more than to disappear. god, I was really loving this.
“Aiden, that’s so cute. David was a bit of a shy one too. It took him forever to gather the courage to ask me out,” Cathy mused empathetically.
“Well, I wouldn’t say it was lack of courage that made me hesitate,” he answered. “As you all already know, Aria and I were friends before anything else. To me, she’s always been someone who I can rely on; she’s always there – even though it’s to whack me in the head when she needs to.” The last part came out as more of a chuckle, with the others echoing the sound. And despite myself, I found a small smile ease its way to my lips as well.
“She’s someone I can feel comfortable with, without having to worry about making a total fool of myself. She’s someone I can always count on to brighten even the shittiest of days.” Weirdly enough, his words seemed to come out with such earnesty. And now, I’d found myself immersed alongside the others, in everything he was saying.
“Now, imagine my surprise when one day, I looked at this best friend of mine, and realized I’d completely fallen in love with her.”
Yeah, another round of ‘awww’s’ was what followed.
I, however, although reminding myself that he was just making this up, couldn’t quite help the strange rush of emotions that his remark set off. And all I could do was stare speechless, as he turned to fix me an enthralling smile before going on.
“What to do? I mean, I could go my usual route with other girls – just straight up go for it without a second thought. But this wasn’t other girls, this was Aria; one of the most important people in my life.”
At this point, I couldn’t remind myself of why he was saying all this even if I tried. Regardless of the reason, the way the words slid smoothly off his lips, and the manner in which his eyes lingered on mine a little longer than usual before moving to stare at the others, left me strangely enamored.
“What if I were to tell her how I felt and she didn’t feel the same? What if things turned awkward between us? What if it became so awkward, that it’d become hard to remain friends?
I kept thinking over such questions, and the more I did, the more hesitant I became about doing anything that could disrupt what we had. No matter how difficult it was, I could stand not being with her the way I wanted, but what I couldn’t stand was the idea of not being around her at all.”
Need I say that earned another round of ‘awww?’ Even Aiden’s grandma betrayed a flicker of emotion before returning to her usual poker face.
“So you decided to never tell her?” Surprisingly, that was Emma. And even more surprising, was my eagerness at hearing his answer.
“Well,” he started with a low laugh. “If only it were that easy. As Aria said, at some point, it started seeming as though the feelings were mutual. But what would I know? I mean, you all know me and my lifestyle when it comes to relationships.” The displeasure on his grandma’s face at the reminder, was answer enough.
“I didn’t really understand this love thing and how it worked, so I wasn’t sure whether the feeling was really mutual, or whether it was all just me making things up in my head. And the thought of trying to find out, and then learning I was all wrong, seemed too much of a risk. So, I told myself I’d just keep things the way they were. Or so I thought…”
Gosh, I had to give it to him; he sure knew how to tell a story. He had all of us hooked in anticipation of his next words.
“Until one evening, we were sitting in her apartment watching her favorite rom com – The Wedding Ghost.” A round of chuckles followed that, with me echoing the sound.
“She was munching away at her third pack of gummy bears, wearing her blue ‘chic science geek’ t-shirt, with her hair tied up in this cute messy bun.” His description was accompanied by something of a fond smile playing on his lips at the memory.
I, on my part, felt something in my chest seem to pick up pace as I listened to him. ‘The Wedding Ghost’ really was my favorite romcom. And my blue ‘chic science geek’ t-shirt and messy bun were one of my favorite combos for when I was chilling at home. Hence, it wasn’t his knowledge of all this that got to me, rather, it was the manner in which he avidly described it, that left me staring at him in silent awe.
“And as I watched her, laughing at a scene which she’d watched a thousand times before, I knew that my feelings for her weren't something I could repress.” He turned to me now, his voice dropping to almost a whisper as she added, “and that if I didn’t tell her how I felt, I’d regret it forever.”
Ok, Aria, look away now. Stop staring at him like that, you weirdo!
In the end, my mental chiding wasn’t of any help, and Aiden looked away first, his expression turning boisterous.
“And well, lucky for me, she felt the same. And the rest is as they say, history,” he finished lightly – not like the others heard him though. They were busy swooning over themselves.
But Kara was the one to voice: “Aiden, that’s so sweet! I never knew you had such a romantic side.”
“You’re right, Kara,” Aunt Tilly was now saying. “I’m so proud of you. The two of you are such a sweet couple, I might cry,” she gushed.
Well, if her crying was anything like her laugh, then: ‘god please, no.’
Thankfully, she didn’t go through with that. However, I wasn’t quite sure I preferred what she opted for either, given how she’d now squished Aiden and I into a hug, leaving him to awkwardly chuckle, and me to pat her back even more awkwardly, internally wishing: ‘please let this end soon.’
It finally did end after a few long seconds. And now, she was beaming at us.
However, it was another voice that spoke. “Well, it’s clear I made the right decision about you two. I’m relieved.” That was Aiden’s grandma, her lips stretched in a tight line that was supposed to be a smile.
Aiden cast her a glance, before looking away, completely ignoring her remark. I, however, managed a small smile in reply. Although inside, I was quite puzzled.
What did she mean by that?
It took a while for me to realize that she must have been referring to not going ahead with her plans to get Aiden married to that Olivia girl.
Oh well, at least she finally realized that wasn’t the smartest decision – good for her.
But things weren’t looking quite as good for me, given how in between all the gushing about our ‘sweet’ relationship, I heard Jenny say, “how about a kiss from the happy couple?”
I honestly liked her better when she was quietly downing glasses of champagne. And for the record, this was definitely not the kind of one-liner she gave then.
Now though, panic nibbled at my insides as the others had started to echo their support, with Aunt Tilly and Kara being the ringleaders. Aiden’s grandma didn’t join them though, but she didn’t voice any protest to the idea either.
They had now begun a small chant of ‘kiss.’ Oh god, how could they even come up with such an idea? Kiss? As in kiss Aiden? That was so absurd! I know they thought we were a couple and all, but still, it was Aiden we were talking about here! Kissing him would be like…so weird. I mean, it’s not like I was even contemplating doing it because I wasn’t. I really wasn’t – not even a bit.
Well, while I was busy convincing myself of that, Aiden was now breaking into a chuckle. “I get that you’re all excited, but please don’t make us start something we won’t be able to finish.” He finished with a small wink, causing the others to give knowing laughs, and me, to heat up like cold soup in a microwave.
A moment later though, he was taking my hand and excusing us from their company, with their gushing remarks trailing after us as we left.
However, my mind was much too occupied to even pay attention to what they were saying. As soon as we made it a good distance away, he was turning to me, face apologetic. “I’m sorry about all of that.”
I gave a dismissive wave of hand in reply. “It’s fine. At least I got to see what overly enthused rich women look like,” I remarked, leaving us chuckling.
“So,” I started, hoping the lightness in my voice was enough to mask the range of emotions inside me. “I see you suddenly turned into Mr. Romantic back there?”
His features lit up in a sly grin at that. “What can I say? I guess watching all those cheesy rom coms with you finally paid off,” he mused.
“Right,” I answered quickly – too quickly. “But you really sold it. For a second there, I almost even believed you were telling the truth.” In a desperate attempt to play it cool, I added: “which is funny because you were obviously not. I mean, neither of us were.”
“Well, I wouldn’t have been able to do any of that without the inspiration I got from your story. You know, if you think about it, we do make a pretty good couple – we come up with the best lies.” He finished with a chortle, with me echoing the sound – albeit quite weakly.
Of course I knew everything he said back there had been nothing but lies. Love? Relationships? Those were things he could care less about as was evident in how he had a new ‘relationship’ almost every day of the week. And more than anyone else, I was aware of that.
How could I not? It’d been engraved in my head since that night. And just like that, I found myself drifting back in time.