She hugged me tightly bursting out in tears, wailing loudly.
And even though she spoke nothing, I could tell that she conveyed so much through her muffled cries.
She must’ve been holding that all in for a long time. It’s hard to pretend to be a tough girl in front of your loved ones cause they can’t bear to see you suffer.
I know how that feels better than anyone.
I left her room after calming her down. And when I went out, I saw Marshall standing right outside the door, leaning against the wall with his hands in his pockets.
“Have you been eavesdropping on us?” I asked, standing in front of him.
He smiled, “Kind of. You succeeded at last, huh? I never heard her crying that loudly even to me. You managed to earn her trust in such a short time. It’s great.”
“It takes only a few seconds to form bonds with another person. And sometimes, it takes days, months, and even years to form such a strong bond. It depends on what type of person they are and how much they are willing to trust. Trust is more important than anything.”
“Trust…” He stepped forward and stood right in front of me. Then looked me deep in the eyes, “Do you trust me?”
I couldn’t interpret what he was trying to say. But I replied anyway, “Yeah, what kind of a ques”
“As a man do you trust me?”
I was dumbfounded by his question. He was clearly acting weird this time. I never heard him asking questions like this.
“W-what do you mean by that? As a man? Does that make any difference?”
“It does, ’cause you never see me as a man, do you?”
“As a man….” What is he trying to say?
“I didn’t want to bring this up at this time, but, after seeing how much you managed to help her out in such a short time. My view on you has changed a lot.” He admitted, taking me by the hand. “You are really an amazing woman Aileen. And I believe you were the person I was searching for all along, the one who can cure my loneliness, my sadness, and fill the empty space in my heart.”
W-what is he saying? I can’t follow through. This isn’t how it’s supposed to be. This is wrong!
“Aileen, I love you. I seem to have fallen for you much harder than I’m supposed to. And I just can’t seem to get you out of my mind. I know this proposal may seem haste and I didn’t bring any flowers, coming unprepared, but trust me. My genuine love and feelings for you are real. There’s nothing false about it.”
“I know, this was unexpected coming from me. But, I’ve been harboring my feelings for you, for a long time. And, couldn’t bring myself to say it. Even now, I can’t believe how I managed to utter all these. Maybe, I’m just too confident in myself. Or I’m too high. But, I’m glad to get my feelings across.”
My head went blank the very second. I couldn’t comprehend what was going on around me. Does Marshall love me? But how? I never tried to show any affection or any feelings towards him.
Then, where did he take the hint that I like him or something? Or is he thinking just because I didn’t mention I had a boyfriend he could take his shot?
Or did I create this safe space for him, that he managed to develop his feelings towards me?
What have I done?
“I understand you must be shocked and this confession must be hard for you to accept. But, I don’t want any answer from you right away. You can think this through and give me an answer someday soon. And just because I love you, I don’t demand you to love me back in return. You are free to reject me. I’m open to that as well,” he joked.
But, it wasn’t funny at all.
Suddenly, the sound of the door opening drew our attention.
Becky peeked her head out and looked at our faces. She scratched at her cheeks, “Am I interrupting something?”
“Nah, don’t worry,” he replied, “We are done talking anyway. Say bye to Aileen, I’ll go and drop her off at her house right now. Did you have dinner?
“Uh, yeah. We…ate together.”
“Oh, I see. You are looking very pretty though. Go to bed now. I’ll see you later.”
“Wait, let me go get her back,” Becky said before going back inside.
“I’ll get the car ready. You come later,” Marshall said before walking away from my side.
She came back with the bag and handed it over to me.
I took it and she waved at me. “Uh…bye Aileen. See you soon. And thank you.”
I waved back and tried to respond normally, “You are welcome. Bye.”
I made my way towards the stairs and as I was leaving I could feel my heart becoming heavy with each step I took.
Why do I have this guilty feeling? I feel so shallow.