~Tahlia.

Everybody at the table seemed to have noticed my presence all at once, and at the worst time, too. I surely looked more stunned than a criminal caught in the act, astonished as I was that my mother would have the nerve and lack of sensitivity to invite Keene to a dinner when I hadn't yet resolved my issues with him.

Yet for appearance's sake, I recovered my composure and swept what I hoped was a convincing smile over all present. Mustering words wouldn't quite be in me yet, but I graciously took the one seat remaining, sandwiched between Delilah and Keene.

"Good evening, dearie!" Miss Brook sang, her hazel eyes positively sparkling with joy, "It's been such a long while since I've seen you. You're all grown up!"

I gave her a false grin once more as I situated my utensils in their proper spots and spread out a napkin in my lap. "I am. You look no different from how I remember you."

In large part, this was true. Miss Brook's key feature had always been her big, expressive eyes, which paired well with her charming face. Her complexion was a few shades darker than anyone else at the table, given her being from Lymaria's southern half where the sun seemed to shine all year, and the beaches never grew cold enough to turn away swimmers. However, one aspect of her appearance had changed, and that was that her ebony hair had gone completely gray.

"You flatter me." Miss Brook chimed.

Mother cleared her throat. "Well, now that we are all here, I say it is time to begin!"

So the servers converged on our table, and after Mother said grace, they loaded up our plates with whatever we requested and backed off a respectful distance afterward. I settled on smaller portions of pasta, spicy cuts of duck meat, and a loaded salad. My plate ended out looking somewhat anorexic compared to everyone around me.

At first, we dined in silence, but then one of Mother's friends whose blonde hair was obviously a wig, spoke. "Well, my son is off on his romantic honeymoon. So glad he married a lady from his university rather than one of those empty-headed women on the streets."

"That's wonderful!" Mother said, "Where did they decide to go?"

"Candor, actually. I know, their choice surprised me too, but they said it's lovely there."

"Candor." Miss Brook scoffed. "A young couple should be bathing in sunlight and enjoying an ocean breeze, not shivering in the mountains."

"I would tend to agree, but it is their honeymoon. My son always did love traveling the world."

"Fine and dandy, but this is hardly a time to be in Candor. Surely you've heard..."

Miss Brook trailed off with a sideways glance at my mother. Mother didn't show any reaction to her words other than the same pasted-on smile she'd had the whole time. The fakery of it all bothered me, but I could ignore it somewhat by focusing my attention on my food for the most part.

But of course, that wouldn't last long. Miss Brook called my name, so I reluctantly glanced up.

"What have you been up to these days?" she asked, "When I last saw you, all you wanted to talk about was the art museum you wanted to create."

"Ah, yes, that was my dream as a child." I said with a pretend laugh, "Well, now, I create my own art."

"Her landscape paintings are marvelous." Keene interjected, earning a sideways glance from me I could only hope didn't look too malicious. "Even if she doesn't think so."

"I see! And what about you, Keene? You must be up to great things."

It took much effort for me not to snort at Miss Brook's remark. Keene was never up to anything. He existed simply to enjoy the wealth his family had already amassed and do nothing more with it. Well, and he also apparently strove to entangle me in a web of deception, but that was another matter.

"I'm applying to universities myself right now, actually." Keene replied proudly, "I've recently taken an interest in ship design. I definitely have the funds to put a few prototypes on the water, just need the education."

"Good for you!" Miss Brook exclaimed, "You'll do well; I can just see it."

"What kind of boats, Keene?" Delilah asked, craning her neck around me to peer at Keene. I more than happily sat back in my seat so they could talk around me. If Mother thought bringing Keene here would force me to talk to him, she would find herself sorely mistaken.

"Fishing vessels, at the moment. Go figure." he said with a laugh, "But with a little knowledge under my belt, I could easily expand to other types."

"Neat. That sort of thing would be right up your alley."

"I think so! I know ambition hasn't always been one of my strong suits, but better late than never, I guess."

Delilah laughed. "You've been wandering a long time, but I'm glad you're finding your place."

The dinner proceeded in like manner, with Mother's friends catching up with the current goings-on in the lives of us younger people present and commenting on how our experiences compared with those of their children. I participated very little and mostly soaked in the conversations everybody else was having. And then dinner came to an end, leading us down to the auditorium to listen to a concert.

As before, I found myself placed between Delilah and Keene, even though more and more, I wished they would sit together and bond fully. They had a good rapport and constantly ended out talking around me, so that would have made more sense. I suppose it was my choice not to speak very much, but still.

When the band began filing on stage, I first noticed that the pianist setting his music on a stand wasn't the same one I was accustomed to seeing. Where the previous pianist had been a short Candorian with dark hair, pale skin, and handsome features, this man's stature and skin tone both were exactly opposite of his predecessor. Then when the saxophone section took their seats, I immediately realized someone was missing.

Declan.

Throughout the first half of the concert, he never showed up, either. The music itself struck a chord in my heart, full of melodic and soothing pieces elevated by lush orchestration, but Declan's absence still stuck in my mind. Had he fallen ill?

When intermission came, Keene leaned over to my ear and asked if I'd mind taking a breath of fresh air with him. Of course, I hardly felt a "yes" bubble up in my heart, but I still assented and followed him out to the garden.

"Hey," Keene began, stuffing his hands into his pockets once we found ourselves outdoors, "are you mad at me? You've been unusually quiet all night."

"What would you like me to say?"

"Nothing specific ... just it'd be nice if you said anything."

I'd been facing Keene previously, but now I whirled about with frustration in my eyes, turning my back to him. "I have too much on my plate right now, Keene! My father just got shipped off for war again, so I'm dealing with that, and then also, you!"

"Me?"

"You."

"I ... I'm really sorry, Tahlia. The other night ... I had no idea it was gonna be like that. Listen, if you want, we can pretend that never happened. It's just ... you're the most perfect woman I know. You never fail to make me smile, you're smart and creative, and ... you're really pretty, too."

"But I just don't get it!" I exclaimed, "When did you come to this conclusion? Surely you didn't just now realize this; you've known me too long for that. So how long have you been hiding this from me?"

"I wasn't hiding, I was..." Keene sighed. "I was nervous."

"Nervous?"

"Yeah, nervous. We were damn near kids when we met, Tahlia! I was a little boy who wouldn't have known how to ask even if he wanted to! And then as we got older, I was afraid you would react .... well, a lot like you are right now."

"You say that as if I'm being unreasonable!"

Keene walked a few paces around me so we were facing each other again. "Not at all. I understand where you're coming from; it's just—You said you'd be thinking on this, but to me, it feels just like when I first told you."

"I told you, I have a lot on my plate right now. Normally, I'd ask my father to help me through something like this, but guess what? He's going to war right now!"

"I know, that must be tough. But what about your mom?"

"She's not Dad."

"She's still your parent, though."

"You're not listening to me!"

"Okay, what am I not getting?"

I huffed. "There's too much going on in my life, for me to bother with this at the same time. I have a lot to process right now."

"Okay. Just let me know when you've been able to sort things out more. Tahlia, I wanna be here for you. Even as just a friend if that's what you want. But just ... yeah, hope things go alright for you."

"Thanks." I muttered.

He went back inside at that, thankfully. I stayed outside, mind swirling with all the stressful situations I had boiling in my mind. Father gone, Keene a constant predicament Mother had gone out of her way to shove in my face, and Declan absent from the band's personnel. Good thing I had eaten lightly at dinner, because figuratively speaking, my plate had been overfilled to an overwhelming degree.

* * * * * 

A/N: Dang, poor Tahlia, am I right? I swear, it be like that sometimes, all the bad things hitting you at once. I'm sure we've all been there. 😂

I probably forgot to do this last chapter, probably forgot an author's note altogether, but what can I say? I'm a busy working adult now. Anyways, random question, what's one physical feature you're proud of in yourself, and one you'd trade in for somebody else's? 

(For me, I'm pretty happy with my face, and really anything north of the belly button, but I'd be lying if I said being a 5' 6" guy is the funnest thing in the world. To always be considered "short" despite being on the lower end of average kinda sucks. A short girl is still considered cute, but a short guy loses several points right off the bat, just because of genetics. 😂) 

Anyways, hope you have a great week, and I hope to see you again in the next update!