Accept the things to which fate binds you, and love the people with whom fate brings you together, but do so with all your heart. ~Marcus Aurelius
The classical music filled the hall with soft tunes. I took a glass of champagne from a nearby waitress and made my way towards the table in the corner. Mom was sitting there with her hands together, staring at everyone as they passed by, emotionlessly. Was she bored? Hungry? Tired? These days, she never told me what she was feeling.
“Mom, I’m so glad you could make it today.” I took a seat next to her.
“Don’t be silly,” she said without meeting my eyes. “It’s your engagement party after all. I wouldn’t miss it for the world.” She finally looked at me with a hint of a warm smile.
“Would you like something to eat? The cake is delicious.” I grinned.
“Oh no, that’s fine,” she replied. “Where is Jesse?”
“He’s talking to a friend. He’ll be here in minute.”
Mom looked back at the sea of guests and then her eyebrows scrunched.
“What is it?” I asked, following her gaze.
Her lips parted slightly and she rose off her seat. “Doesn’t…doesn’t that person look like someone we know?” She lifted a finger to a man near the gift table whose back was facing us.
“Mom, we know everyone here,” I answered, lifting a brow.
“No…” She began walking towards him. “Isn’t he…Lucas?”
Hearing that name was like having a blade of ice cut me though the chest. My eyes darkened as I stood up. “Mom, quit it. It’s been six years already. He’s gone,” I hissed.
“Lucas,” she called, ignoring me completely. I flicked my eyes to the tall dark haired man. He stood still for a second but then began walking away. “Luke.” Mom was frantic now and her eyes widened like a mad woman.
“Jesus,” I hissed under my breath. Ever since I told her about getting married, she’s been hallucinating, thinking every tall dark haired man might be Lucas. She was just fooling herself. He wouldn’t come back and there was no way in hell he knew I was getting engaged.
I quickly stood up and caught her by the arm. “Mom, please. It’s not him, he’s not turning around,” I whispered soothingly. There were droplets of tears in her eyes. Turning back, the man had disappeared behind the crowds.
“I was so sure, I saw his face…he looks like him, Liliah.”
“Yes, Mom, I know.” I guided her back to the table and sat her down.
“I’m sorry.” She grimaced. “I keep troubling you like this.”
“It’s alright. I know you…miss him still.” I looked over the crowd and spotted Jesse. He was still talking to his friend but noticed my quick glance.
Mom folded her hands on the table and looked at her golden rings. We were quiet then, at least until Jesse came by and took a seat next to me. I inhaled his sweet cologne and gave him a peck on the cheek.
“Hi, Mom.” He smiled at my Mother. “How are you feeling?”
I knew her mind was still on him but she showed a lavish smile anyway. “Jesse dear, I’m fine. How are you?”
He frowned. “I’ve been better.”
I elbowed his side.
He flashed a row of white teeth. “Kidding! Today is definitely going in my diary, that’s for sure,” he replied with a wink.
The comment made Mom chuckle and released a breath from me. Jesse’s eyes flashed to my neck and then he lifted his fingers and pulled up a strand of hair. He tossed it to the floor with a crinkled nose.
“Hair,” he muttered.
I laughed. “Thank you.” Jesse had a pretty decent case of OCD. Firstly, he hated hairs. Period. This wasn’t a bad thing; I mean, at least he cleaned up after himself. Second, he was super organized and once, we had this huge argument when I tried cleaning his apartment. I misplaced a binder of files and he freaked out, like I had turned his living room upside down.
Of course that was two years ago, when we first started dating. Since then, we’ve made adjustments and have gotten used to each other.
My phone rang. I searched for it inside my petite purse and pulled it up to my ear. “Hello?”
“Ah…Liliah, it’s me, Chase.”
“Oh, hey! Where are you? I thought you and Olivia were coming to my engagement party,” I said.
“I’m sorry, but I don’t think we’ll make it. We have some complications at the moment. I’m really sorry, Liliah.” I could hear his sincerity over the line.
I smiled. “That’s okay, I’ll let you guys slide this time but you’d better be there for the wedding.”
“Of course.” He paused. “I’ll call you later then; enjoy the evening and congratulations on your engagement.”
“Thank you and be sure to call me soon.” We said our goodbyes and I hung up the phone.
“Chase?” Jesse asked.
“Yup. He can’t make it today.”
“Did he say why?”
“Um…no, not really. It’s alright. Olivia’s pregnant so something must’ve come up.” I shrugged as I stared at the black screen.
The rest of the evening was spent clicking glasses and forcing exuberant smiles. By the end of the day, my cheeks felt numb and I swore one more smile and my mouth would fall off my face.
Jesse and I were at home. I cleaned up my make-up, took a shower and then went out to the living room. We had moved in together only a few months ago and things seemed to be going quite smoothly for us.
“Sweetheart.” He raised his arm and pulled me next to him on the couch. I gathered myself into his side and rested my head on his chest. “Tired?”
“If I wasn’t, I’d be Wonderwoman.”
He tucked a strand of hair behind my ear. “You already are.”
A corner of my lips lifted. Jesse picked up a few bags and peeked inside. “We got a lot of gifts. Most of them are home appliances and such, though.”
I grabbed a blue bag and pulled out a large white box. It had a red bow with imprinted dove designs. Opening the box, a pair of red boots sat inside. “Not this one,” I said, pulling them out of the case.
“Boots?” he asked, eyeing them. “Who gave you this?” Jesse picked up the tag and read, “DLP. No name, just initials.”
“DLP? Hm, that’s weird.” I pulled the red boots over my feet and leaned back, examining them. “That’s strange…they look familiar.”
“Did you see them in store somewhere?”
“That must be it,” I said. “They look very nice, don’t they?”
“Well excuse me, darling, but I think I mentioned that everything looks nice on you,” Jesse answered. His hands wrapped around my waist he enclosed the space between us with a kiss.
~~~
“Alright guys, your paper is due in a week. We’ll be going to the computer lab on Thursday and Friday for research.” I stared at my room full of twenty-four English students. Middle schoolers. “Does anyone have any questions?” From the back, Matt raised his arm.
“Miss. Everstone, when are you getting married?”
I rolled my eyes. “Preferably a question that doesn’t pertain to my personal life?”
“Can I come to the wedding?” he asked with a grin. Matt was the class clown, him and another six others for each of my periods.
“If you ace your paper then I might give you an invitation.” I smirked.
“Damn.” He frowned. There was a ripple of giggles around him. “Will you show us pictures?”
I knew what he was doing. He thought showing my wedding pictures would kill some class time. Boy was he wrong. “My wedding has nothing to do with English so no, I will not be sharing my wedding pictures. Now, does anyone have any real questions?”
There was silence. “Alright then.” I walked away from the podium and sat in my chair. Picking up a red pen, I began writing comments on each one of their daily journals. In the next few minutes, the bell rang. The students slammed their books and the chairs scratched against the tiles as the students squeezed themselves out of the door like a heard of gazelle.
By the end of the day – which was another three periods - I almost bolted down the hall. I was so tired from yesterday’s party that I almost fell asleep in the car. On my way to the grocery store, I got a call from Chase again…this time with some surprising news.
“The baby’s gone?!”
I U-turned and headed straight for the University of Chicago Medical Center. I parked the car and shoved some quarters into the parking pay station.
Within seconds, I headed into the building and climbed up to the fourth floor. My hands pushed open door number 489 and I entered the silent hospital room with a thudding heartbeat. Chase stared at me with owl eyes but I didn’t look at him, instead my gaze went straight to my dearest friend…Olivia.
She was wearing a frown. Her hands were on her lap and her wild blonde hair danced around her scalp in tangles.
“Liliah,” she choked. Her lips twisted and I knew she was lost for words. My feet pulled forward and I sat on the side of her bed. My fingers brushed back her thick hair. “He’s gone,” she said with trembling lips. “They…they killed him.” Her eyes suddenly darkened. “How could they not save him?”
“Olivia,” Chase whispered. He was the same as ever, minus the cocky, sluggish attitude. “You know that’s not true, they did their best. You can’t blame the doctors.”
“Then who am I supposed to blame?” she snarled. “This was our child, Chase! Our child!”
“I know that,” he said.
She turned away from him, her eyes holding back the tears. Olivia’s teeth tugged at her bottom lip and she looked up at me. I tucked my arms under hers and pushed her back into me in an embrace. Like a child, I patted her backside and soothed her hair.
“It’s going to be alright, Olivia. I’m sorry, so sorry.”
After a while, she nodded and pulled away from me. She locked her eyes on Chase. “When do I get to see Dr. Price? Where has he been? I’ve been asking for him since yesterday and they keep telling me he’s busy. I want to speak to him, I won’t do anything stupid, I promise, Chase. Just let me meet him.”
He let out a deep breath. “He…he’s busy. When I get the chance, I’ll talk to the nurse and tell her to send him over.”
A knock on the door pulled all our eyes towards the person who stood at the entrance with a clipboard and a strict expression.
“I believe you asked for Dr. Price,” the woman said. She had small hour glass figure with red hair. The mole on her face caught my attention before anything else.
She looked at me and smiled. “Hello, nice to meet you. I’m Doctor Blair Gray.” She extended her hand and I shook it. “A friend?”
“Yes,” I replied.
She faced Olivia. “I’m sorry but Dr. Price has gone out of town this morning, he’ll be returning this afternoon and I’ll be sure that your meeting with him will be the first thing he does when he gets back.”
Olivia mumbled something and pulled out her hand. Blair stuck it with a needle. I flinched as I watched the sharp needle pinch her skin. Olivia must’ve been used to this by now, all the pain killers and blood samples. Hospitals gave me the creeps…
___________________________________________
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I was full of questions in the last chapter, and I know you told me to cool it a little... Don't worry, I'll try not to go too over the top on the questions! I just like asking things... I'm hoping you've answered some of those questions in this chapter. I'm going to be overly nit-picky in this chapter, I think... I have that feeling... Don't ask. I'm weird.
Sorry... I don't know what's up with me. This is probably just me and my simpleness, by I had to read over this to realise that you'd skipped to later on. In between these two paragraphs, I'd suggest putting some... asterix? Is that what they're called? (*) <--- That's what they look like anyway. I think I'm being overly picky on this one though... I have been for the past two quotations... 
You're not making her life revolve around her heartbreak for Luke, blah, blah, blah. Seriously well done for that, Punk. I was worried that you'd do that. I want you to be a little careful though. In the end, it's up to you how you want Liliah to feel and react about the whole situation, but I wouldn't be too keen on you giving her complete hatred over Luke. Fair enough, I want her to be pissed off with him, but I'm hoping you won't go a bit over the top with it.
