Her eyes settled on the black gown hanging loosely on her slender frame, her hair styled and curled in a loose bun at the top of her head with some strands framing the side of her face.
It was her first time attending a burial in years, something she never looked forward to, and the reason was obvious.
"So..." Her voice broke out softly as she took her eyes off the mirror and directed it at the lady seated on the bed. "What do you think?"
Dawn raised her head to look at the other lady, squeezing her brows slightly. "About you staring at yourself for a while now? Well, I think you will be getting us late." She answered with her usual teasing humor before rising to her feet.
"C'mon..." Maria groaned slightly with a chuckle, stepping closer to her friend to pick up her handbag. "My whole vibe. I am going there to encourage Ted and his family. I should look cheerful myself, right?"
"Well..." Her voice faded to release the softest scoff that made her friend wonder about the need for that. "To be honest with you, I don't think the word 'cheerful' associates well with of late."
Maria's brows were quick to rise at those words, but instead of responding to her silent question, the other woman simply walked passed her to get the car keys.
"Let's get going?" Dawn said as she glanced up at Maria who could only nod her head in a dry response before following her out of the door.
They both climbed into the car parked outside, and once they were sitting comfortably in the driver's seat, Maria decided to tackle the topic they were discussing some minutes before.
"What did you mean by that?" She questioned, without taking her blue eyes off the road ahead of them.
A groan sounded from Dawn before responding with a strained voice, "What now?"
"You know..." the other lady shrugged. "I hope you didn't think I will pretend not to care about someone saying 'cheerfulness' does not apply to me," she added and couldn't resist shooting a pointed glance at Dawn.
"That's not what I said. I said the word 'cheerful'--"
"Doesn't matter, Dawn. You should understand me." Maria interjected in defense before her voice softened. "What did you mean by that?"
"I meant it as I said it, girl. Straight forward and plain." Dawn responded after glancing sideways in a flash, giving her the chance to see just how serious she was being. "You don't look that happy lately and you know it. I don't know if it's all because of what happened to Ted or if there are more things bothering you." She concluded with a shrug, letting her black eyes settle back on the road ahead of them.
At these words, the smallest beam left Maria's eyes as it faded away slowly, knowing how true they were.
It was only a week ago things between her and Jayden started to turn more intimate, following how she got the shock of her life when he suggested they should date, to which he told her to think it.
Ever since then, it was right to say her brain had been in total conflict with her heart.
It sometimes made her feel guilty for her best friend because instead of giving her whole attention to him during this hard time, a second was all she needed for her mind to race back to Jayden.
With a heavy breath, her blue eyes danced to the lady close to her, and she felt it was high time she shared her problem with someone.
Even if she wanted to, Maria was not sure how to begin. Her situation didn't make much sense. She walked into a mess of falling for someone who was way out of her grade, someone who was publicly known to be engaged to someone else, and most importantly, someone who she felt she had a forgotten history with his father; one that must be bad enough to make her faint at a mere sight of his image.
Her face turned as she released another sigh, this time a bit heavier than the last one that escaped her lips, indicating she had something to say.
Well, if she wanted to tackle her problem, she was going to start with the area that confused her the most. "Dawn." the word broke out of her mouth softly, and she watched as the other lady turned her gaze back to her. "What do you think about a guy asking a girl out without saying anything about how he feels for her?"
A second of silence came from Dawn's part as her eyelids stretched with the most unexpecting laugh. "Seriously? That's why you have been so moody? Boy problems?" She exclaimed, and her tone sounded more teasing than accusing.
"Are you going to answer that or not?" Maria grumbled, crossing her arms as she fought back an eye roll.
Dawn gave another playful smirk as her expression morphed into naughtiness. "Is this about Ted? Have you two finally decided to stop pretending to be just friends?" Her eyebrows wiggled with the last part, and Maria immediately snapped her head towards her in disbelief.
"What??" Her cerulean-colored eyes were almost bulging out of their sockets
in sheer incredulity at those words. Maria was used to getting teased by Dawn but she might have gone over the top with this one.
A moment passed between the two friends as they both studied their expressions, each wondering if the other was joking or not.
"It's not him?" Dawn's voice softened in surprise as she shook her head slightly.
"Of course not." Her voice cracked at her lost word in a struggle to keep herself from screaming it out for better understanding. "Why would you even think that way?" She asked after composing her nerves and was still utterly taken aback at the other woman's words.
Dawn shrugged, her black eyes flickering up to meet Maria's briefly before turning back to focus on the steering wheel. "Well, I'm sure I am not the only one who thinks like that. I mean, you two haven't dated anyone in years, act like best friends, and yet do things that couples do." She explained, avoiding eye contact.
This time, Maria couldn't stop her lashes from fluttering furiously as she stared in a complete daze at her friend. Did she hear that correctly? They were supposed to be talking about her complicated attractions to her patient and not an absurd topic about having a thing with her best friend.
"Act like couples?" She echoed faintly after a while, staring at Dawn as though there was a hole in her forehead.
"Well, everything except sleeping with each other, and even that, I am not so sure..." The other woman muttered, finally tearing her gaze away from the road to look back at the speechless blonde.
Maria settled her gaze on the other woman for so long that in the end, her nonplussed emotions slowly melted into amusement, causing her to release a laugh that sounded more genuine than intended.
Dawn seemed caught off guard by this reaction, watching the ripples of laughter coming from the lady's pink lips. "Oh, now, a joke about you having sex with your best friend is all I need when next I need a smile on your face?" She joked in return and couldn't fight back a chuckle herself.
"Be my guest." Was all Maria could respond with after calming down, her expression returning to normal, though still smiling. "But c'mon, we don't date because the right one has obviously not shown up yet." She said with emphasis.
The dark-haired beauty frowned slightly at her statement, raising one of her brows. "So, this guy you are talking about, is he the right one?"
At this question, Maria chewed her lower lip tightly without having an answer to that. "I don't know...?" she murmured.
"Okay, for starters, who is this guy we are talking about? 'Cause I have not seen you hang around with any other guy but Ted." Dawn demanded, finding herself really curious about the mystery man.
Maria took a moment to find the right words. It was quite impossible to mention the name 'Stanley' without getting a stunned reaction from her friend. "Patient. My patient." So she settled for that, deciding to go anonymous for the time being.
"Are you serious?" A smile spread across Dawn's features, a very annoying one. "Well, what happened to your 'I don't bring in personal life into work' motto?" she then added with a stiffened grin, raising her hand toward the other lady to give a thumbs up. "So tell me... who is this charming man that finally stole your heart? I need to thank him because I have had enough of your boring life. You are my closest female friend and I can't remember the last time we exchanged boyfriend's problems." She exclaimed enthusiastically and the other lady could only wonder why she was so happy.
"Save the questions for later and tell me why a guy will ask you out without talking about feelings. Wha-what if he is not genuine?" Maria questioned with a hint of worry in her voice. "Especially when he is someone who is so good at hiding his real emotions?"
A short pause followed as Dawn looked at her for a few seconds before responding, showing as much sincerity as she could offer in her usual playful demeanor. "Well, according to experience, he probably thinks it's already obvious that he likes you and there is no need for further explanation." She then paused as if thinking deeply. "If not that, he is an asshole, run away from him. He is playing with you."
Maria widened her eyes at the last set of sentences her friend uttered, "And how do I know he is not an asshole?"
"Listen to his silent confession, simple." Dawn shrugged.
"I just told you he is good at hiding feelings."
"That's where you are getting it all wrong, Maria." Dawn countered gently, like the professional love coach she was. "Someone who genuinely likes you can't help showing it. It's just something you can't hide." She then added as an afterthought before glancing at her friend again. "Trust me, my charm has given me so many experiences." She concluded with a wink, smirking at her own humor.
Maria chuckled with a slight shake of her head. It always amused her how her friend could easily make a serious situation lighten up with just a single word or phrase.
"So, you are saying I should just...observe him?" she asked once she was done laughing.
"Yup." Dawn simply replied, keeping her attention fixed on the road. "His name? More details about him? Is he handsome?" She then added, raising one of her eyebrows expectantly as her questions poured out from her mouth.
Maria took a moment to chuckle at the last question. She didn't even want to get started on that topic, knowing herself that his good looks was surely one of the reasons why she felt this drawn to him, and two words would be the most appropriate in this case: his hotness.
She only needed to spell out his name, and a scream was the predicted response Dawn would surely give.
Yes, he was that popular.
"I will really tell you everything when I fix this...relationship issue," Maria replied, giving a small apologetic smile to try and ease her friend's suspicion.
"Alright, Maria, it's cool. Just observe him and find out for yourself if you think you can be in a relationship with him." Dawn offered with another smile and turned to drive down the narrow road.
"Yes, thank you. I couldn't ask for much better advice." She smiled softly, letting herself fall back in the seat with contentment.
If nothing else, her conversation with Dawn seemed to clear some of the confusion swirling within her head. Although there was still a lot troubling her concerning the topic, she knew she had taken the first step in making the right decision.
"By the way, what about your grandmother? I haven't seen her around." Dawn's question broke through her reverie, bringing her back to reality.
"Oh, Nana." Maria stretched her limbs as she yawned. "I guess Nana is having so much fun hanging with her friends at the elderly's. She basically lives there now and comes to visit me when she misses me or has money problems."
Dawn chuckled lightly at that reply. "Guess even your grandmother has a better social life than us." she teased, and Maria nodded in agreement.
"Tell me about it." She grinned back, shaking her head fondly. "But you will see her at the funeral. She is bringing some of her friends over."
"Alright, that's great." Her friend hummed happily.
The rest of the drive was filled with shared conversations, mostly banter and random topics until they finally reached their destination, where the smiles on their faces subsided, replaced by an intense silence.
***
Sorry for the late update, guys! My days have been busier than I expected. However, my situation has gotten a lot better and I am back. Stick with me, we are finishing this book together. The next update will be really quick. I haven't posted doesn't mean I haven't been writing ;)