Only You

Adira could see how reluctant her brother was to leave. But he tried his best to mask his emotions. Not feeling satisfied about it, she approached Levi who was packing his belongings.

“Hey.” She greeted.

“Hey” he replied, rather gloomily, not even looking up at her.

“What is bothering you Levi?” she went straight to the point, not wanting to beat around the bush.

“Nothing.” He mumbled, clearly irritated by Adira’s question.

“No. It is not nothing.” She stated making him sigh and look up at her.

“What do you want?” he grumbled.

“I want my brother to be happy.” Adira shrugged.

Levi smiled at Adira’s statement.

“I am happy. I honestly am happy that you found your prince charming. I really am happy for you. You deserve it actually. You have gone through so much. And to tell the truth, I am damn proud of you.” He commented.

But Adira just shook her head.

“No. I mean. I want YOU to be happy. I want YOU to find the one for you. Now don’t lie and say that you are fine, because I know for a fact that you are not.” She paused her lips in a thin line, contemplating on whether she should be frank or not. But it was clear Levi was not going to tell her on his own. Perhaps she should go straight to the point.

Sighing she sat down on the bed and looked straight in to Levi’s face. He stared back at her, his face now solemn.

“Can I guess? If I am correct, promise me that you will tell me the truth.” She demanded.

“Do I have a choice?” he shrugged as he slumped on the mattress right beside her.

“Is it about Clair?” she asked as carefully as she could, making him snap his head towards her.

“Huh?” he gasped and Adira giggled. “How did you......” the colour from his face drained completely. “Did she tell? Is she going around telling everyone?” he gasped.

Adira frowned as she shook her head, placing a hand on his.

“What? No. She didn’t say anything. It is just that....I saw how you looked at her and talked to her. It was clear you liked her. I was hoping that something might happen between both of you.” Adira paused.

“Can you tell me what happened?” she asked once again.

Levi let out a humourless laugh.

“You know me too well. Too damn well. I cannot hide anything from you.” Muttering in slow voice, he looked at his sister who was waiting for him to tell what was bothering him.

“You are right. I like her. I even tried to ask her to go on a date with me. I thought she also liked me. But she kind of said no.” He paused for sometime and looked at his sister who was listening to him.

“Actually, that day. We danced together and I loved holding her. She was so......perfect.....” he added smiling dreamily. “I took her to the balcony of this place where we could have a bit of privacy so that we could talk. I loved every minute of it.” He then sighed and looked away, a hint of sadness invaded his face.

“But when I tried to ask her on a date she got worried and started to show excuses. She said that she was a single mother. Something about being damaged goods.” Making a face, he shook his head.

“So she has a kid. So what? I don’t mind.” He complained. “I thought she would say yes.... because of the way she kissed me......” He trailed off, sensing that he had said too much.

Adira was left speechless. This whole Clair and Levi situation was a huge mess. It was far from being a happy story.

“And are you going to just let her go?” she pushed.

Levi shrugged.

“I’ve tried so hard this week. But she just ignores me. I even tried to corner her when I found her alone. But...... I don’t know Adira. Maybe because I am not rich.” He added, in a low voice as he fiddled with his fingers.

Adira shook her head. Clair was not a girl like that. She most probably was traumatized after being with Mr. Stone for such a long time. Perhaps she was doubting herself of worthy of being loved.

“But....” Adira wanted to push her brother towards Clair. Both of them deserved a chance to be together. But Levi sighed.

“I think I should go back to my village and focus on building my career first. Then, perhaps I can think of girls.” He smiled at Adira, who was definitely not satisfied with the situation.

She walked out of the room with Levi and bid her family goodbye. They were all prepared to go to the train station so that they could catch the train home. They left, promising to call and visit often.

Sighing to herself she turned around to go to the kitchen. Just as she was about to enter she heard someone sobbing in the shadows of the huge pillar. Furrowing her eyebrows she peeked from behind to see who it was. To her surprise Clair was trying to control her sobs and cries as she kept wiping her tears away.

“I am so sorry Levi.” She whispered, thinking that no one was in ear shot. “You deserve someone better than me. I hope you find the worthy one. Because you are the sweetest guy I have ever met.” Her hushed whispers made Adira freeze on her spot.

What in the world......