He sat hunched over with his back to me.
Something about him was just so familiar.
He looked tall and sort of lanky, his red-brown hair sticking out in every direction.
I knew that if he was facing me right now, his eyes would be a chartreuse green.
I knew that when he was happy his eyes turned a celadon green or when he was angry, they turned dark green or black.
I knew that his lips were always turned up slightly on one side, a natural smirk permanently gracing his masculine face.
And I knew that if he saw me right this instant, he would smile fondly at me, take my hand in his and plant a soft kiss against my palm.
But he wouldn't see me. He had no idea of my existence, but something about him...
Something about him just reminded me of the way my life used to be.
The way everything was before it was annihilated.
"You can't sit here all night moping." A small woman with raven coloured cropped hair chastised the stranger when she sat down at his table.
Her body was half facing me so I was able to read her lips incase I couldn't catch all of their coversation.
"I can and I will, Al." He mumbled stubbornly.
"Please come home. You're sopping wet, it's pouring outside and if my hair get's wet, so help me..."
"Have you seen your hair getting wet?" He asked.
The petite woman sat still for moment, her eyes staring ahead of her as she pondered his question. She almost looked like she was trying to figure out how many points the country's stock market had fallen by last week.
"No, but - nevermind." She said and they fell into a comfortable silence.
"Alice, why are you humming that Child Youtube Star's songs in your head? What are you hiding?" He asked after a few minutes.
"His name's Justin Beiber. And I'm not hiding anything. There's just something I saw that doesn't concern your nosey mind." She said and I saw her eyes flash my way.
"I don't care about the boy's name. He's just another no-talent..."
I lost track of their conversation from there on.
My mind was too busy wondering why she had looked at me after saying she saw something, whatever that meant.
What had she seen that made her look over at me?
How did she know exactly where I was sitting, when I was hiding in the shadows of the poorly lit restaurent?
Had she known I was here all along?
What was she thinking when she looked over at me?
A waiter approached my table and asked me if I would like wine with the meal I had ordered.
"Yes. Shiraz, please." I smiled politely at the man.
His smile grew, thinking that perhaps I had noticed how attractive he was. "Wonderful choice, Miss." He commented before walking away.
Out of the corner of my eye I saw the girl who I had come to know as Alice's ears perk up.
Huh?
"I think Carlisle and Esme will be joining us shortly." I heard her tell My Stranger, as I focussed on them again.
"Will they?" He asked with polite disinterest.
"Yes. We're all worried about you. You've been so distant recently and Carlisle's getting worried."
Carlisle. Carlisle? Such an old fashioned name. I hadn't heard it since nineteen-eighteen.
It was my uncle's name. He was a doctor. He'd worked during the great pandemic and had died because he was aslways exposed to disease.
Or at least he should have died. That's what I'd been told before I -
"There you two are." My head shot up at the sound of a new voice joining their table.
"Esme," Alice smiled at the caramel-brunette, "Thank you for coming."
Esme frowned at My Stranger, who still had his head ducked, his back muscles tightening under his dress shirt as he traced delicate patterns into the table cloth.
His hands! My mind sighed pathetically. Lustfully.
Silly, insufferable eternal teenage hormones, I thought. I was over one hundred years old for crying outloud.
"How long have you been here?" The older woman asked.
"E - uh, how long have you been here?" Alice turned to the young man.
He shot a confused glance toward Alice before turning to Esme, "Not too long." He answered cryptically.
There was another disturbance when the waiter came came back to my table with my food, bottle of wine and paused to ask if there was anything else he could get me.
I thought I saw some movement at My Stranger's table but wasn't entirely sure because of the waiter blocking my view.
"No. This is good." I thanked him, trying to keep up my polite demeanor.
"Alright, well, if there's anything I can assist you with during your stay at the Marseille, please let me know." He purred.
My stay? This wasn't a hotel.
"Thank you." I turned to take a bite of my meal.
And immediatley wished I could run to the washroom.
"Wonderful." I lifted my fork and ducked my head, trying not to grimace.
He trotted away happily for the first time this evening, probably happy that yet another beautiful woman had 'noticed' him.
"... and you don't seem to grasp, Carlisle, that I'm not sure why I'm here." My Stranger's head dipped a little more toward the table.
My wine glass froze halfway to my mouth.
My eyes zoned in on their table and stared at the blonde haired man taking a seat with the rest of his family.
Blonde hair with a very small, almost unnoticeable poof to his bangs.
I could just picture the ready stance he took with his arms open by his sides, the happy smile on his face and the creases on his forehead as he laughed when I accidentally threw the baseball we'd been tossing around through the parlour window.
The sad look in his eyes when he came home with the number of today's deaths at the hospital a few weeks later.
I silently let the name slip off my tongue, worried that someone around me would think I was mumbling to myself.
I remembered the adoration in Carlisle's eyes when Edward and I told him we were to be married.
I also remembered the nervous glances Edward had been giving me before he proposed. How sweaty his hand was when he took mine in his and kissed my palm.
How he finally relaxed when my fingers pulled lightly at his bronze hair.
That was when I realized why Alice had looked at me.
That was when I further realized that Alice had never said My Stranger's name.
She had a talent and had used it to out me.
"Edward." I whispered with recognition as it slipped off my tongue, my eyes wide as I stared at My Stranger.
I didn't notice three out of the four heads whip in my direction.
No, I was paralyzed with fear when My Stranger froze before he turned to look at me, his amber eyes staring into mine with such grief and sorrow.
This Edward had been beaten down by something so horrible, it chilled me to the bone.
"Y-your eyes, they're... not g-green." I mumbled before he was out of his seat.
My mind didn't even have time to register him darting out of the restaurant before I was quickly being hauled out of my seat by the other three persons with him.
Thanks for reading :)
I'll probably update my other big story in a little while so check it out. This one just came to me so I wanted to pursue it before I forgot it.
Update will be along shortly!