CHAPTER SEVEN

I got my eyes on you
You're everything that I see
I want your hot love and emotion endlessly
I can't get over you
You left your mark on me
I want your hot love and emotion endlessly

××××××

"You're getting all wet!" Evan shouted, glancing back at me as we practically ran in the pouring rain. It had started to rain lightly when we were out in the open. We had only two umbrellas so Emily was sharing one with Zachary and I was sharing with Evan. Unwillingly, of course.

"Don't be so dramatic. It's not even raining that heavily." I rolled my eyes.

I grabbed the umbrella handle from Evan and gave it to Alan. The poor photographer didn't seem happy about being the only one without an umbrella.

Evan gaped, using his hands to cover his head. "What the fuck are you doi-"

"Stop being such a baby." I couldn't help but laugh. "We're just five minutes away from the restaurant. Besides, Alan needs the umbrella way more than we do!" I motioned towards Alan who was frantically trying to get a bug off his shoulder, while also trying to balance the umbrella right above his head.

Evan looked at me and we both burst out laughing.

"This feels so pleasant." I smiled, looking up at the sky with my arms spread out. "How can you guys not love getting wet in the rain? That too in Paris!"

"Well, it only gave me trouble in my childhood." Evan said softly, looking up at the sky as well. "It used to be impossible to get transport and my mother absolutely hated it."

I looked at him sadly. He must miss his mother a lot. Just like me.

"My sister did too." I chuckled lightly. "I had to beg with all my life with her to come and play with me in the rain and my fath-" I stopped in the middle of the sentence, suddenly realising what I was doing. Even if it was nothing major, I rarely shared anything about my past with anyone. How did Evan bring it out of me so easily every time? Especially after everything, how did I almost trust him again?

I locked eyes with Evan and I knew he knew exactly what I was thinking. What were we even doing? How did we almost forget everything that happened between us? How could we allow ourselves to be comfortable in each other's company, knowing perfectly that it couldn't possibly end well.

Or could it?

My eyes fell to his lips.

"What are you guys doing just standing there like that?" Emily called, bringing us back to reality. I glanced at the side and noticed we had already reached the restaurant. "Come inside already!"

I glanced at Evan briefly, before making my way inside with him following me closely.

$~*~*~$

"I can't believe you made Evan get wet in the rain." Emily laughed, taking a bite of her pizza. "He doesn't usually do anything—well—fun."

I chuckled quietly, disagreeing in silence. Evan didn't show his fun side easily, but when he did, it was always just worth it.

"Shut up, Em." Evan muttered.

I smiled. It was kind of sweet seeing him have banters with his cousin.

"No, I just meant I rarely see you having this much fun, Ev." Emily grinned. "Paris kind of suits you."

"I'm just happy because you're finally getting married." Evan said, before turning to Zachary and stage whispering, "Good luck marrying this one, Zac. You seriously need it."

Emily playfully jabbed Evan on the shoulder and they were all soon laughing. I couldn't help but join.

"These cupcakes are delicious." Zac complimented.

"Yes!" Emily chimed, grabbing one from Zac's plate. "You guys know Evan makes amazing cupcakes too."

"Yeah, I know." As soon as my words registered, my smile disappeared. Shit. Shit shit shit.

Emily and Zac were staring at me in confusion and curiosity while I avoided looking at Evan at all. Emily narrowed her eyes at me. "How do you know?"

Because he used to make them for me in the morning.

"I-I read it somewhere. A magazine." I lied stupidly. I used to be a great liar. I used to be a very, very convincing liar. However, as I looked back at Emily and Zachary, it was quite clear to me that neither one of them were even one bit convinced.

"That's strange." Emily pointed out. "All of Evan's interviews are strictly restricted to business conversations only."

Fuck fuck fuck. I knew that. How did I not come up with a better lie?

"Why do I always get a feeling you both already know each other? Have you always lived in Italy, Flora? Gabrielle told me you joined this job about a year ago. Where did you work before that?"

I suddenly felt very uncomfortable. I could feel my palms growing sweaty and my mouth becoming dry. I could just utter another lie, but I just couldn't bring myself to even speak. I suddenly felt very hot.

"I..worked for.."

"Stop with all the questions already, Em." Evan interrupted. I whipped my head to meet his eyes. His expression was cold, but somehow...reassuring. As if he was telling me he got this. "We still have a lot of locations to cover. We can chat later."

Emily put her hands up in defense. "Alright. Don't get so worked up. I was just wondering."

Evan took a deep breath. "We should really hurry. Before it starts raining again."

$~*~*~$

After a long day of photoshoot in Paris, we were ending the night at the most beautiful place. Alan was setting up his photoshoot equipments along with a few other photographers that had joined.

My eyes twinkled in amazement as we stood in front of a lit up Eiffel Tower. It looked like it was made of stars. As if it held the key to all the dreams in the world. It was magic.

"Wow," I whispered under my breath as I saw floating lanterns go up in the sky. I had never seen the sky look so beautiful. The night was glowing.

"I know right." Evan whispered. I looked at my side to see him watching the lanterns too with a shine in his eyes. "I thought it would be a nice touch."

"Wait, you arranged this?"

He just smiled in response. "Look at them." he motioned towards Emily and Zachary. They were holding each other close, standing in front of the Eiffel tower with the lanterns floating in the sky behind them. One look and I could tell they weren't just posing anymore. The tenderness with which they held each other got my heart beating fast. The way they were looking at each other, it was as if they were falling in love all over again. They looked like a fairy tale coming true. A dream coming to life. A romance brimming under stars in the sky.

"Do you want to light one too?" Evan asked softly, showing me the floating lantern he was holding in his hand.

"That would be perfect." I whispered, observing him closely. His face had a glow to it in the dark.

Evan held the lantern as I tried to light it up with a candle. It wasn't as easy as it seemed. I felt his hand slowly brush against mine and hold it in his. I could feel my heart pounding inside my chest. Together, we lit up the lantern before letting go and watch it float up in the sky.

"We did it!" I giggled, smiling brightly at Evan. His eyes briefly wandered to my lips before meeting my eyes again.
My breath got caught up in my throat. We were slowly leaning towards each other when the light show in the Eiffel Tower started.

"Wow." I breathed, my eyes captivated by the scene. "It's so beautiful, isn't it?"

"It is."

$~*~*~$

We were walking back to our hotel rooms after the long day we had had. I was alone with Evan as Emily and Zachary had decided to take a little detour and go on a date after the photoshoot had ended.

"You helped me out there." I started quietly. "With Emily when she asked me about my past."

He just nodded.

"Why? I mean, you didn't have to do that." I knew I was going at a place that would just make things tense between us again. I didn't want to ruin whatever progress we had made during the day, but I just had to ask.

"It doesn't matter, Flora." he mumbled, avoiding my eye.

I grabbed his arm, determined. "No, it does."

"Just leave it."

"Evan, please—"

"What did you want me to do?" he raised his voice suddenly, taking me by surprise. "Tell her the truth? Tell her how you went and destroyed us?"

"I destroyed us?" I scoffed in disbelief. "Don't you try and blame this all on me, Evan."

"It was you, Flora. If you weren't a gold digging bitc-" the slap whipped his head to the side, shutting him up.

His eyes were stone cold as he recollected himself. Mine were blazing with fire. At that moment, I hated him so so much that I just couldn't take it. The tension between us had risen up to a level that we just couldn't bear anymore.

We didn't need another reason.

Without a warning, he grabbed me by my hip and I found my hands tangled in his hair. He pressed his body against mine, pushing me against the walls of the hotel corridor and our lips crashed against each other's. The kiss was hot, desperate, wild. We were like two hungry predators, fighting a ruthless battle with our mouths. We didn't fight to win, we fought to make the other one lose. The hate, the anger, the lust, we unleashed it all in that kiss, releasing the tension that had been building up between us since the moment we laid eyes on each other again.

That one sinful kiss that changed everything.

$~*~*~$

So I'm just going to end this right here :)

PS: have you followed me on Instagram yet? I post sneak peeks sometimes.

Q- What is your favorite Evora moment so far?

Faith