"Hey to you, too, Tim?"
Nova could not believe the person standing in front of her.
Him? Here?
It just did not make any sense.
"What are you doing here?" She asked him as he began to twirl her, following the song. Her right arm pressed on the small of her back, her fingers pressing against the cloth of her dress. The other was in Tim's hold, with which he was twirling her.
He didn't answer her and that made her temper rise slightly; her head swirling with questions, her heart beating rapidly. Because she knew him. She knew him all along and couldn't even recognise him. If she had, that would have saved her the embarrassment that she was now definitely going to face.
That thought alone was enough for her to ask him again. This time, in a pressing tone.
"I'm asking something." She said, her hands now resting on his shoulders after he pulled her against him, her hold beginning to tighten there.
She could feel her guard wavering but that was when she caught sight of Derek. He looked much more intimidating, she almost pitied the girl he was interrogating.
"Ask your father," he replied. His statement enough to make her pull her gaze towards him. Her eyebrows began to meet in confusion but she still managed to keep a neutral expression on her face.
She wanted to ask him to tell her everything without being vague but he was still doing the push and pull thing; quite rapidly, too. Had it been any other place or time, she would have given him a good piece of her mind but she couldn't, because it wasn't. But she still tried to get a little something just to have an idea of what was happening.
"What do you mean? Tell me."
Tim seemed to stiffen at her question and her tone. His eyes wavering through the crowd as if she made him nervous and he was looking for someone who could take him out of the situation. But when Nova's stare didn't waver and he gathered that the song wasn't ending soon and neither were the partners going back to the previous ones, he sighed.
"I can't." He said. Nova didn't pry him any longer. It was obvious he wasn't going to answer anything. That he couldn't. But she very well knew who could, and she was definitely going to ask him and get some much needed answers.
She decided to not be as intimidating as she was trying to be then. She decided to take a different route to the problem. She would ask her father later, but it couldn't hurt to get as much information as she could from him. Because when it came to matters like this one, her father wasn't to be trusted.
"Alright then," she said loosening her grip on him and softening her expressions. After looking around a bit she looked back up at him and asked, "at least tell me how you got here."
It wasn't much different from the original question but her tactic very much was. She was fluttering her eyelashes up at him, her brows furrowed in the kind of manner which showed that she was simply wondering.
It seemed to work on him because after a while of just staring at her in a way that made her think that he was trying to see through her, he sighed and then said, "Your father invited me."
"And the girl who was with you?" She didn't let her stance lose.
"She is my date." He said, his ears turning a light shade of pink just when he looked away from her and at the other people dancing.
"Oh, and who is sh â"
But she didn't get to finish her sentence because Tim had pushed her away from him and another hand had her hand in its grasp. And when that touch erupted a kind of tingle from where the hand held her, she had an idea as to whose hand that was even before she looked at him.
"Derek." She didn't know why she said his name but when he pressed her tight against himself she suddenly realised what she'd called him.
"Oh â I â "
"That girl wasn't much help," he beat her to it and that was enough to turn her in the strict work mode.
"Neither was he," she said, lifting her eyebrow as she side-glanced at where where Tim was now.
He remained silent at that, lifting her seconds later, twirling her in the air. When her feet touched the ground again he didn't waste any time, "You know him."
It wasn't a question, though she hoped it was. She remained silent, her lips pursed. Neither of them said anything after that. It wasn't quite clear to Nova if it was comfortable or not, it seemed as if it didn't matter. Because all they were doing was dance, and all they were at that time were just a couple soon to be married; a couple who were in love.
*
"Dad what is happening?" Nova asked as soon as they were away from the dancing floor. Tim was present there as well, right besides her father. She turned her gaze towards Tim who stood there as if in attention, narrowed her eyes at him and then looked again at her father who stood there calmly.
"Whatever do you mean, Nonnie?" Her father asked her instead of answering her question. The way he addressed with her nickname and how was now looking at her seemed as if he had been anticipating this talk. It confused Nova, her brows furrowed as she stared at her father when he took a sip of the wine from his glass.
He looked at Tim then, signalling something to him as he disappeared into the crowd.
She tried to stop him but Tim held her back. She stared at the retreating figure of her father, thinking what could have gone wrong with him.
"You need to tell me, Tim. What in the name of..." She trailed off, looking behind her to look if Derek was anywhere near her. She didn't spot him in the crowd, which meant he wasn't there.
Just as she looked back at Tim, she felt his hand clasp hers and lead her away from the hall. He pulled her along a corridor leading to a lift, got in it and got out on the fifth floor; where the rooms were. She asked him all along their little trip but he wouldn't say anything, let alone answer her.
When they entered a room she found her father sitting on the sofa set, waiting for her. The sight made her even more impatient and anxious to know what went around.
"What is happening, Dad," she asked in a firm tone. Leaving no space for leaving her without any answers this time.
"What's happening, Nova, is that you are not the same innocent little girl as you were before," he said. He wasn't making any sense to Nova. What was that supposed to mean? But before she could voice her thoughts her father cut her again.
"You agreed to such a big thing, without even telling us. You decided to let in your parents about your doings when you deemed it absolutely necessary for yourself," she tried to say that wasn't the case just as she heard it but her father didn't let her. "Even then you didn't care to tell us what exactly was going on. You didn't hear to a word we said about that guy. You must've known it was him, right? But you just up and disregard our warnings. Moreover, you went ahead without even letting us know who the person was. Our opinions suddenly don't matter to you, huh?"
She saw Tim, who stood behind her father, his face towards the door of the room, take a step ahead as if to say something but her father beat him to it.
"You weren't like this." He said, disappointment clear in his eyes.
She couldn't decide what to say to that, what to feel, but then, suddenly she didn't have to.
"Mr. Newton," came a voice from behind her, a voice she knew well. "I presume you have had a bit more than enough to drink. Let us keep the glass on the table and get going, don't you think?" And Derek was standing right besides her, ready to take the glass from her father's hold. She wasn't sure as to how he was even here, or how he got in in the first place but she didn't ask. Because she found his presence to be needed there at that moment. No matter the what, why and how.
Tim seemed to be on guard as soon as Derek came in, perhaps he had been trying to let us know about his presence earlier. Her father raised his right arm in the air, stopping Tim right where he was.
"Don't you dare," he hissed at Derek making him retreat to his previous position beside Nova, "I am not drunk."
None of them spoke anything for a while and then, after a pregnant pause the silence in the room was broken by the one who caused it in the first place. "Do you know who he is, Nova?" He asked looking at Derek, she did too before looking back at her father.
"I â "
"Have you told her? Who you are, what you've done?" He still seemed to talk to Derek. Nova now forgotten.
"Mr. Newton, this is neither the time, nor the place. You know it well." Derek finally replied, his voice seeming curt, his demeanor calm.
"But you have left me with no choice."
"What are you talking about?" Now exasperated, Nova just asked. She'd had enough.
"Ask him." He said, still looking at Derek, now with a disgusted expression. "Tell her, why don't you? Tell her what we all know, tell her that you are a murderer!"
âââââââ
A.N:
Long time no see? Oh i know, I've been gone longer than this lol. But i am sorry that I couldn't update, i had my exams going on and i just couldn't. You wouldn't believe me, i seriously had to hide my phone so that i don't end up writing instead of studying because been there done that and the result is def not pretty. Don't wanna go there again tbh.
Anyways, i hope you like this one, the plot seems to unfold a bit from here don't you think? I'll be honest, i actually thought id make this story shorter which is why things are happening this quickly but now i may be reconsidering it. Don't worry tho, I'll try my best to keep you guys entertained with this.
Enjoy nevertheless! Keep voting, comment your thoughts, show some love <3
Ttyl see ya next time
-Z.