~Please leave a review. enjoy!
-Ladystarlet09, P.S I don't own any of the LOTR characters, just Acadia.
(Chapter Forty-Seven)
The coming summer days seemed shorter and the coming nights were longer and more lonelier for me as the days following Haldir's departure from my home turned into weeks. One would think considering all that I had gone through up that that terrible night when he and I had fought I'd be much more happier and content that I had my own space and peace of mind back. But such wasn't the case once I came from a long day from working at the cafe. Papa had already left Canada two weeks ago, leaving me feeling utterly depresses as I tried my best to keep a cheerful expression on my face during day while I just crumbled within myself at night while crying amid my empty bed.
Liam hand't gotten mad at me after he came to see me. He just shrugged his shoulders and said "I told you so" before patting me on the hand and leaving me to go to his shop.
Never in my entire life had I felt more guilty towards myself afterwards. It was like my whole life had been revolving around just myself and what I wanted before I discovered a different part of a world with people and creatures that shouldn't be existing parallel to mine.
Riiing!
I jumped out of my inner thoughts at the sound of my cellphone going off in the living room. Cursing, I dumped my third cup of coffee down the kitchen sink. Who would call me on a Saturday? The phone rang several times before I managed to pick it up and answer it without glancing at the ID. My heart was pounding as I put it to my ear, secretly hoping that perhaps it would be the only voice I had been longing to hear for these last several weeks since that awful night.
"Hello?" I answered as much as normal voice I could muster without sounding like I was crying.
"Hey, Acadia!" Bianca's cheerful voice replied. "I was thinking about you today and was wondering if I could ask you something."
"Uh, sure." I said slowly while taking a seat on the couch. Glaceing over at the wall clock, it said it was close to five-thirty-six in the afternoon. "Aren't you still at work though?" I added as an afterthought.
"Yeah, yeah." She replied dismissively. "I'm on my fifteen minute lunch break so I thought I'd take the opportunity to ask you if you happen to be free this coming Saturday."
"For what?" I asked suspiciously. Biana and I were better friends and all after we had graduated but since that run-in incident with her mother four months ago with Haldir at my side and hearing all the horrible comments she had made about me being spoiled goods; I hadn't really been feeling like hanging out with Bianca in fear of perhaps running into her mother.
She made a merry laugh. "I'm having a masurade ball at my place for my twenty-seventh birthday, silly!"
"Oh! I totally forgot about that!" I smack my forehead with my free hand. "I'm not sure, but I can check to see if my boss doesn't need me that day."
"Awsome! Then if you can't just give me a call the day before, but other then that." She paused for a minute to talk to someone before getting back on the phone. "But other then that I can send someone to come pick you up and bring you to my place around eight O'clock in the evening."
"Just one other thing, Bi." I said quickly before she started to hang up.
"Yeah, whats wrong?"
"Will your mother keep her mouth shut this time if I show up?"
"Acadia," Bianca sighed deeply. "If its one thing I don't like, its my mother's gossipy mouth. And for heaven's sake, you will be wearing a mask so she won't know that I invited you."
"Until Midnight." I pointed out directly.
"Yeah, but what can she do? Kick me and curse just because I wanted to invite a good friend over for my own birthday? Hell, she can kiss the fattest part of my dairy ass if that's going to be the case."
I crossed my fingers and let out a small prayer that my friend was going to be correct on this particular part. "Fine, I'll accept your invite."
"OMG! You are going to have the blast of your life! I promise you!" She squealed. "Oh, I got to get back to work but I'll give you a call in the morning about dress shopping and stuff. You and I are going to have some serious girl fun, I just bet you."
"I'm sure we will." I said softly before bidding her goodbye. Snapping the phone shut, I wearily leaned back against the couch, staring up at the neat rows of angels that line my bookshelves and tables. I knew that I couldn't forever hold myself up in this small apartment and not live as best as I could a normal life with the knowledge that I wasn't alone in this world.
Ever since my rape by my own father, I had always felt alone and cold inside. The constant beating from fellow foster kids, moving around from place to place, never knowing what love or kindness was from anyone who came into contact with me until that fateful day of meeting Papa outside the same cafe that I was now working at. A few days after taking me in and showing me small bits of kindness through simple words, hugs and just sitting by me at night when I woke up screaming in terror from my lingering nightmares; he had gone out for a few hours and came back at night with a small child angel figurine that he had gotten at a local gift shop.
Papa placed it beside my nightstand one night when I had awoken up crying out for him and told me that as long as I believed within myself that I could overcome my inner fears, there was always going to be a guardian angel looking out for me, no matter where I went or who I came into contact. It was from then on out that every year for both my birthday and Christmas, papa always gave me a new guardian angel statue from his travels from all over the world until I had to start figuring out where to put them in my living room as more came. Every time I had a guest over, he or she would always comment on how beautiful my collection of angels were and told me to never stop because all of heaven was looking over me.
I remembered tearfully on how often I'd catch Haldir out of the corner of my eye staring intently at them all as if they all held a secret that I didn't' know about or touching each one with a very light finger as a small smile would light up the corners of his otherwise stern mouth. The biting sting of hot tears came full force once again. I curled myself into the fetal position on the couch while I let them freely flow.
Why couldn't I have remembered to shut my mouth before I allowed such hurtful words come out? It was now week three and half and already I still felt like utter shit for the bitter words I threw at Haldir. I'm sure he must be hating me right now and rightly so. I didn't deserve to have him come back into my life willingly even if I went down on all fours and begged him to.
A lump came up to my throat as I tightly held my pedant between my fingers until my knuckles turned white. Not once had I seen him around my neighborhood or around Liam's shop but I was sure he was staying with the older elf since he was the only one of his kind living in this godforsaken world. It was hard after papa left and I had to return to work or else I'd be seeing myself finding another place to stay if I didn't make the money to pay the bills and rent.
I sniffled, drying my tears with the back of my hand. So what? Said my inner mind. He wasn't good enough for you anyway if he tried to keep himself distant from you just out of his own fears. Just focus on your own shit and move on. What is one measly, pompous male elf to you? Besides, I bet you that hella girls have already found him super attractive and are practically flinging themselves at his feet everywhere he goes.
"Like that's easy to do in the first place." I argued with myself out loud. "He only has eyes for me."
Yeah and then what the hell do you call that stunt he tried to pull with you on the morning of your graduation day?
I bite my lip stubbornly while tossing my phone on the coffee table. "He didn't' know what he wanted at the time. He's still scared about himself and what he thinks will happen to either one of us if we choose to go down this path." To keep myself from hearing my own reprimanding conscious, I grabbed my Ipod and headphones on my way to the laundry room. There was still chores I needed to take care of before making myself dinner and heading to bed so I could wake up early for work in the morning. I set my music to punk rock and let the loud screaming and heavy metal drown out anything Haldir or Liam for the rest of the night as I went about taking care of my chores. They had each other to deal with and learn from, I just had myself to take care of and that was fine with me.
~Meanwhile~
"So, is she coming?" Liam quietly asked while casually glancing down at his appointment book while standing in line at a fast food place at the local mall that Bianca worked at.
Bi nodded her head as she waited for him to pay for her food that he had offered to get if only she did him this one favor. "Yeah, but she needs to check up at her workplace to see if her boss will let her have Saturday off."
"I guess we will just have to wait and see." Liam chuckled while withdrawing his wallet. Bianca didn't say anything until they were seated to speak up.
"If you don't mind me asking Liam, how did you know that I was hosting a masquerade ball for my birthday?"
Liam let out another chuckle. "You can thank your dear father for sending me an invite in the mail." He replied lightly. "Also, I had to ask for two more because Conner wants to come and my sister just happen to fly in not too long ago to see me."
"I didn't know that you had a sister." Bianca replied surprised by the news.
"As I've always like to keep it until now." He sighed with a slow shake of his head. "When you are famous for your products amide the rich, nothing seems to pass under their noses without the slightest detail getting out. I've often wondered why I never moved away when the gossip got bad about me when I first arrived."
Bianca took a bite of a broccoli. "Perhaps its because you have always been the one willing to go to great lengths to help those in need." She said after chewing thoroughly. "I know that its none of my business, but I heard that Conner isn't living anymore at her place because of a argument they had."
"And I wonder who spilled the beans." Liam said with heavy sarcasm coating his fair voice. "It just makes me sick to my stomach."
"I'm sorry." Bi quickly said with slight red cheeks. "I shouldn't' have said anything. Anyhow, she said she will come if she doesn't have work so perhaps whatever plan you are thinking that will get her and Conner back together will actually work."
"Lets hope so because I don't have anytime to fix other people's problems except mine own." Liam shrug a shoulder. He opened a can of fruit juice and took a long sip before putting it down with a satisfied sigh. "That was good. I was so thirsty."
"Well, there is going to be plenty of punch, wine, water and fruit juices of all kinds at the ball." She smiled widely. She took a stab at her plate while Liam chuckled at her.
"Always the positive one, aren't you?" He winked at the young woman who ended up blushing bright red.
"Someone has to with all this miserableness spreading like madness around here. If I don't at least keep a smile on my face, who is going to uplift me when I"m down?"
Liam nodded his head wisely. "Very well said." He replied softly. "I used to know a young woman who had the exact same philosophy, minus a few curse words, as you until just a few weeks ago when everything went to the seven winds." Glancing down at his watch, Liam stood up while pulling out his car keys. "I have to head back to work and then pick up my sister, Bianca" He told her. "But thank you for helping me out and I'll be sure to repay you for this."
"Don't worry about it, Liam." She waved him away. "Its nothing when it comes making sure that Acadia has plenty of TLC from the people who really care about her. Unlike someone else I know." She added under her breath. Liam gave her a curt node before heading out for the main entrance. Bianca watched him leave for a moment before checking her own watch and bawking at how much time had passed. "Oh shit! I gotta split!" She cried while jumping to her feet. Yes, she might have been able to help two friends, but that didn't mean she wasn't going to be excused for clocking back in five and half minutes late.
