“Go say hi!” Helen urged Venusa and she shook her head. Atlas’s friend is with him. Venusa knows better than anyone how well she can make a fool of herself in front of people. She’d dip herself in a pool of hot soup if she ever embarrasses herself in front of Atlas.
“Six cups of beer, my good man!” Atlas friend yelled to the bartender.
“Six cups? Are they going to finish it?” Helen gasped but Venusa was long gone. She was busy admiring the side view of her ‘soulmate’. She wishes he would just turn to her direction and make eye contact with her.
“Do you think he likes me too?” Venusa asked Helen, while she kept her eyes on Atlas.
“Who wouldn’t like you? You’re the chief’s daughter! The next great mother of our clan. The descendant of the most powerful priestess. The…”
“Don’t flatter me.” Venusa said bashfully. “Realistically speaking. Do you think he likes me? Or he can like me?”
Helen hummed. “To be honest, you’re beautiful. The most beautiful maiden in Yok. Any man would fall for you.”
Venusa grinned smugly.
“But-” her smile faded. “Um… how do I put this? For the past eighteen years, all the guys you’ve liked, they um…” Helen felt hesitant but Venusa urged her to continue.
“It’s fine. Say what you wanna say.”
“They get weirded out by you.”
Venusa’s eyes widened. “What?” She exclaimed.
“Remember Kento? The guy you liked three years ago.”
Venusa nodded.
“He told me he found you creepy. You followed him wherever he went to the extent that he thought you wanted to harm him. You’d sneak out of the house to go to his and you’d watch him like a psychotic predator.”
“Because I like him.” Venusa argued.
“Venusa, you go invisible to watch Kento all day. He might not have been able to see you but he could feel your presence. Think about a guy doing the same things as you did. He’d be call a psychotic stalker.”
Venusa pursed her lips. “Well…”
“You shouldn’t go into people’s homes unannounced because you like them. It’s creepy.”
“Okay.”
“Anyway, without your stalking and unbearable obsession, you’re a hundred percent likable.”
Venusa sighed and gulped down her beer. Unknowing to the two girls, Atlas and his friend, Roma, had been watching them.
“You’ve been glancing at her since we got here.” Roma said and Atlas shrugged.
“Don’t tell me you fancy the princess.” Roma said in disbelief.
Atlas raised his brow and asked, “Fancy?” He smirked.
Roma shook his head. “That smirk. I know that smirk. Don’t even think about it. The princess is a no go area. I heard that she is to marry a man chosen by the moon goddess.”
Atlas chuckled. “Which could be me.”
Roma cackled. He looked at his friend like he had two heads. Is he out of his mind? He wondered.
“Take a look at yourself, boy. You make textiles for a living and live in a small hut. She is the golden princess. The next great priestess of our land. Why would the moon goddess look such a gem and choose you as her husband.”
Atlas felt offended by his friend’s statement. He glanced at Venusa who had a wide smile as she conversed with Helen.
“Venusa.” he mumbled. Like Venusa could here him, she turned and their eyes met. Atlas smiled and Venusa’s heart skipped a thousand beats. Her cheek turned rosy as Atlas mouthed ‘hi’. She turned away from him and hid her face on the table.
Atlas laughed lightly. “She’s cute.” He said and Roma shook his head.
“Just don’t let people hear that you fancy the princess.” Roma said. “You might be prosecuted.” He whispered but Atlas wasn’t listening to him. He was lost staring at Venusa.
***
Night came and as usual, Venusa went on top of the oak tree. She and her best friend had about round of drink in the evening and she is still drunk from them. She’s feeling sleepy but she wouldn’t go back in without seeing Atlas.
To her disappointment, she couldn’t find Atlas where he usually is at night.
“Did he go out? Is he sleeping?” She wondered. She waited on the oak tree for about ten minutes, thinking he would show up.
“Or should I go to his place?” She pondered.
“You shouldn’t go into people’s homes unannounced because you like them. It’s creepy.” Helen’s words recounted in her head as she climbed down the tree.
I’m just going to check if he’s okay. There’s nothing creepy about that. She tried to convince herself. She took quick steps to Atlas’s house, careful enough to not alert the maids and workers of her household. When she got to Atlas’s house, she knocked on his door. She got no reply.
“Maybe he’s out?”
She left his doorpost and went to the back of the house. There, she found wools to he woven in several baskets and a weaving machine next to them. This is where he stays every night to work.
She bent and picked up a handful of wool from a basket and played with it. “it’s so fluffy.”
“Touching other people’s property without asking is punishable, princess.”
Hearing that voice all of a sudden, startled Venusa. She yelped and tripped. She fell into a basket of wool and Atlas could only laugh.
She ended up embarrassing herself in front of him. Something she promised herself not to do.
“Are you okay?” Atlas asked. Venusa was too embarrassed to talk or to even stand. Atlas went to her and offered her his hand.
“Come on.”
Slowly, Venusa reached out of his hand and Atlas took her hand. He pulled her up and their chests met.
“Hi.” Atlas said smilingly and Venusa’s heart fluttered like a thousand butterflies lived in there. Atlas was captivated as Venusa’s blue eyes searched his. She looked even more beautiful under the blue moon.
“H.. hi…” Venusa managed to speak. Venusa looked down and realized that Atlas’s right hand was on her waist. Atlas saw this too and quickly let her go.
“S… sorry. I’m… I’m gonna go now.”
“No, wait!” Atlas yelled as he held her hand. “I um… I have a question to ask.”
“What is it?” Venusa asked as her heart hammered against her chest.
“It’s you, right? The one who stays on top of that oak tree every night.” He said and Venusa’s heart almost stopped. He recognizes me?
“Um… no.”
Atlas chuckled. “Even if I couldn’t see your face clearly, your white is did not go unnoticed. You’re the only girl in the village with long white hair, princess.”
Venusa bit her lower lip. She was caught.
“Don’t get the wrong idea. I… I wasn’t staring at you. I was just gazing at the stars.”
“I never said you were staring at me.” Atlas said as he closed the gap between them. He clasped his hands behind his back as he towered over her. “Is that your guilty conscience talking?”
Atlas saw how slowly she blinked. Her eyes were half open. “Are you drunk?” Atlas asked and Venusa laughed.
“Me? Drunk? Pfft! Of course not.”
Atlas smirked and leaned closer, such that their noses were few inches apart. Venusa stopped breathing.
“I can smell beer from your breath.” He said in a low voice and Venusa hiccuped. Atlas’s gaze left her eyes to her lips, then back to her eyes.
“Let me take you home.”
Venusa moved closer and said, “I don’t want to.”
“What do you…”
Before Atlas could complete his statement, Venusa stood on her toes and placed her lips on his.
Like a stone, Atlas stood still, utterly dumbstruck.