Omera

"Phil and Tia? You know everyone from that boarding school has been more involved in my life than I thought," Dan says. I glance over at him and see he isn't smiling so he probably means it.

"Yeah, it was a weird place." I tell him, he's rolling paint onto the wall as I use a smaller paint brush to get the tops of the walls.

"But how did Tia and Phil get together?" Dan questions me, obviously not wanting to talk about Gwen Allen's right now.

"I don't know, I still feel like It's not real. They had no way of knowing each other." I feel defeated by their union, it's like Tia makes all the right moves and I just do nothing about it. I don't want to do anything about it I just wish she would leave me alone.

"Did you talk to that CEO of yours about it?" Dan asks me, I realize he tries not to call Ryan my fiancé which I think is odd.

"He doesn't know my history." I explain to him with a shrug.

"Well, you're about to spend the rest of your life with him and you don't feel like sharing your past?" He stops painting and stares at me, I avoid his gaze.

"Marriage isn't this huge deal for me where love is the root of my decision." I tell him with a roll of my eyes, I set down the paint brush and climb down my ladder.

"Then what is the root of it?"

"I don't know, stability. Someone who I can depend on to always make me happy, I don't want to talk about sad things or things that make me mad with him." I explain to him and he looks at me with a raised eyebrow.

"Why isn't there love?" He asks.

"Love isn't for me." I shrug as I look at his expression, he gives me a little half smile as he looks down.

"It isn't for me either." He agrees.

"Oh what about your son?" I counted, he smiles brightly at this.

"Kids are crazy, Omera, you swear you don't believe in love until you see them doing something stupid that makes you laugh." He explains to me, I grab ahold of his hand and give him a squeeze, I leave them there for a second and he grabs my other hand.

"Omera..." He says quietly, his soft voice makes me blush as I anticipate what he's about to say to me. "I think you'll regret this decision."

"Which decision?"

Is he talking about me getting married or perhaps he's about to do something that will make me do something I'll regret? I don't know why my mind goes in a million different directions.

Dan pauses. "You're here, our hands are intertwined, there is barely a gap between us." He points outs.

I notice how incredibly close we really are, I can see a small eyelash resting on his cheekbone. I feel my heartbeat quicken as I stare up at him.

"What are you thinking of?" He asks me after a moment of silence.

"How sunny it is outside." I tell him, he quickly turns his head to glance out the window and nods.

"It's really nice outside." He says quietly looking at me once again.

"What are you doing?" I ask him with a similar tone to his. He gives me a small smile before leaning his face in closer to mine. I furrow my eyebrows and try to quickly make a decision about what I'm going to do.

The sunlight feels warm on my skin and Dan feels slightly warmer making me want to follow his lead but suddenly the sun dims as a cloud rolls by. It's so cloudy maybe it'll rain.

I pull back from Dan, turning away and deciding to pretend that we were not inches away from locking lips.

I can't believe he would even try that with me but, for a moment there I felt at ease. That's what affection and love is though, you feel at ease for a minute but it's a trick. They'll always have a way to break your heart.

"We're not going to do that." I say bluntly as I grab my paint brush again.

"I'm sorry but sometimes it's not me, it just happens." He explains to me, the idea that we naturally gravitate towards each other makes it seems like risky.

A part of me wants to pursue something with Dan because I don't love Ryan, but I owe him loyalty. Dan couldn't have come at a worse time, part of me feels like he just came here to destroy everything for me.

"Yeah, but we're going to make it not happen. I'm engaged and I'm not going to cheat on my husband." I snap at him, throwing the paint brush on the floor.

"Okay Omera, then why are you here?" He asks motioning around him, he talks with a hint of anger.

He has a point, coming here all alone does make it seem like I wanted something. I'm quiet for a moment staring at him.

"You said you never wanted to see me again, then you come to my house, then you talk to me about how you don't love that CEO you're with-" he continues on but his assumption makes me angry.

"Oh shut up. You disappeared for years after breaking my heart and I confide in you for my problems, you take that as flirting?" I raise my voice slightly, he gets visibly angry as well.

"You're the one who grabbed my hand and leaned in," he argues and I immediately roll my eyes.

"I did not lean in."

"Oh you did, Omera. Even if you didn't notice it, you looked into my eyes and leaned in." He tells me, he looks down at me, deep into my eyes again. I catch myself as I begin leaning in again, but for some reason I lean back in. He notices it and his features soften a little, I bite my lip quickly.

"Oh, you'll hate me for that," he mentions quietly as he stares down at my lips, he seems to know what will happen.

"I will." I respond quietly, he seems to weigh his options for a second, he leans in a bit more but decides against it. He pulls away quickly and leaves the room, I didn't notice I was holding my breath and let myself breath for second.

My face heats up and I decide it's time for me to leave.

—

Small hiatus, my semester is over.