Saying no more, I went into the washroom to wash my face. She was already gone when I came out.
Stepping onto the soft carpeted floor in the corridor made me have a newfound appreciation for all the familiar things in my life.
“Ah!” a voice rang from a few yards away. It was Tessa.
I took a few steps forward and saw Tessa leaning against a black-suited man. She appeared to have sprained her ankle.
The man was someone all too familiar, someone I had been missing for such a long time. Bumping into him under such circumstances rendered me a little speechless as my steps hesitated.
“Sir, can you hold me, please? I think I have sprained my ankle,” Tessa said while wrapping her arms around Ashton’s.
The man raised his eyebrow and there was a perceptible distaste in his eyes. But the bearing of a gentleman in him would not allow him to push away a damsel in distress, hence he shot a side glance at Joseph, indicating him to take over.
Ashton then distanced himself from Tessa and was about to leave when his eyes met with mine. Not knowing what to say to him, I subconsciously wanted to avoid a direct encounter with him.
I turned around and started running away from his direction.
His steps, however, caught up with mine in no time and before I knew it, his familiar scent filled my nostrils as he held onto me from behind.
Before I had any time to respond, Ashton pulled me into an empty private room.
Inside the dark room, the man’s lips landed on mine in a desperate and domineering kiss.
Our pounding heartbeats were audible in the still air inside the room.
My back was pressed against the wall by him and I was out of breath as his passionate and fervent kiss had almost sucked out all the oxygen from my lungs.
After a while, he finally moved his lips away from mine.
His strong arms had stopped my attempt to break away from his embrace as he spoke in his low and coarse voice, “How much further do you plan to push me away?”
My heart ached immensely upon hearing that, but instead of replying to his rhetorical question, I didn’t stop him from planting more punishing kisses on my body.
“People used to tell me that poppies are very beautiful flowers. But I’ve never seen it in my life until I came across a field of fully bloomed poppies in Venria. I still remember vividly what they smelled like. It’s true when people say that once you are addicted to it, you are addicted for life. Ashton, you’re like my poppy,” I uttered in the dark, feeling a little self-conflicted.
Ashton’s breaths were heavy. I couldn’t make out his features clearly in the dark, but I could almost imagine his expression.
“What were you doing in Venria?” His hands were still holding tight onto my back as he asked, as though the moment he let go, I’ll make a dash for the door.
After failing to come to a reasonable response to the question, I opted for an ambiguous one. “I just did.”
He might have frowned and asked tentatively, “To get away from me?”
I pursed my lips and offered no explanation. It’s not the worst idea for him to misunderstand. Haven’t I already vowed to stay away from him since I won’t be able to promise him a future? It’s better to suffer now than to live a long life of regrets.
The hand holding onto my back loosened a little as he asked, “Who did you go with?”
I couldn’t think of a better way to reply to him than to turn his question around, “The question you should be asking is, who did I came back with?”
The air became frosty in the room as he now seemed to be a little stirred up.
“Scarlett, this is not how things should be between us. You know in your heart that we belong together. There’s nothing that can separate us.”
Pursing my lips, I pried open his hand on my back and said coldly, “Ashton, I don’t love you anymore. I cannot imagine spending the rest of my life with you because every time I look at you, I’ll be reminded of my baby who had died horribly. There’s no way I can forgive you for taking away my only chance to be a mother. You’re a constant living reminder of a past that’s like a dagger in my heart. So, I beg of you, Ashton, please let me go.”
His lanky figure staggered in the dark. I couldn’t see his expression clearly, but his choked-up voice was enough to indicate his despair and sorrow.
Maybe that will finally make him let go.
“Is there really no other way?” his voice catching in his throat.
I sniffled, trying to hold back the tear that’s welling up in my eyes. “No. There isn’t. Ashton, let this go. Let us both search for where we really belong and find peace for our minds.”
For the first time, my body literally hurt with each breath I took. It was as though all the nerves in my body were pinched at the same time.
Ashton smiled wistfully as he spoke, “Scarlett, what do you mean we both search for where we really belong? You think just because you can walk away like that, so can everyone else?”
Biting my lips, I refused to let him talk me out of it. I was fighting a strong urge to leap into his arms and tell him that I didn’t want to leave him, not even one bit.
I finally left the private room and met with Nora and the gang.
