Intense
By Seniya
People are nuisances. Or maybe it was just the people that she knew. Although she really didn't deem it fair to conclude that the entire population consisted of prats just because she had, had the unfortunate experience of meeting a good few thousand of those who were.
But the public didn't seem to be doing a very ample job of trying to convince her that she resided in a prat-free world.
No, in fact as Annie stared at her maliciously over her cup of hot peppermint tea, with an expression that made her look as though God himself had blessed her and only her, with all the answers to the universe's questions, Katie felt quite certain that the lot of them wanted her to know that they were incredibly proud of their idiocy.
Annie walked over, slowly and ominously, something that Katie saw quite clearly for the first time in days as she had finally gone to the optician this morning and gotten herself a new pair of glasses, this time with red frames.
"Hello" the raven hair woman cooed.
Katie returned the greeting without looking at her. She felt at least she should be polite.
"Tea?"
"I hate tea"
"Of course"
Annie took the forever vacant seat that faced Katie's desk and began to toy with the cup in her hand. It was a particularly maddening ploy that she had when she required someone to ask her a question.
"What's wrong?"
"You're going to love me," she blurted out at once.
I doubt that.
"Why?"
"Imagine what I found out about your boyfriend"
"What boyfriend?"
"Maurice…"
"He's not my boyfriend"
"Whatever, well I found out where I had heard his name from"
She paused and took a prolonged sip of tea, an act that Katie recognized as an attempt to add suspense to her story.
"Where?"
"Well, turns out that last year before Rose Ramsey and Oliver Wood got engaged the two of them used to date"
"Really?"
"Yes, it was before the whole disaster when her company went broke"
"Her company went broke?"
"Oh for God's sake Katie where do you live?"
"Well, I'm sorry that investigating her life isn't a favorite past time of mine"
"You know what this means don't you?"
Annie seemed undeterred by Katie's last comment.
"No, what?"
"Well, now I hate to gossip, but when the news of the engagement came out a lot of my sources were a bit…puzzled by the whole thing I mean it was so…sudden after all, and well now her former lover develops an interest in you, I mean come on Katie it's not like you are a regular on the social scene"
"Thank you for putting it so nicely"
"Sorry, you're very pretty, better now?"
"Not really"
"But honestly, you don't find it suspicious?"
"No, I don't" she lied, she had passed it off as low self esteem before, but she had always wondered what such an obviously handsome man like Maurice would see in her, a tool tall, too thin blonde girl who spent most of her days brooding and falling down.
"Oliver and Rose love each other" she continued "That's why they're getting married"
Annie's response came in taking another protracted sip of the steaming beverage she held in her hand.
Katie, for her part couldn't believe that she was defending the demon woman herself.
"And I'm sure that whatever it is that you have convinced yourself to be suspicious is just the end result of reading too many of your own stories…and I thought you loved Rose why the change of heart?"
"Love, no dear I don't do love, she's famous and what can I say, I'm a bit of a addict"
She left, her heels sounding against the floor all the way. As much as Katie hated to declare it, the events of the past few days had been a bit out of the ordinary. She needed some clarification, she needed to go to the source, yes she would go see Oliver tonight, before his bachelor party, she was certain at least, that whatever had possessed him into saying that he didn't want to see until tomorrow night had long passed.
Brushing a few stray curls from her forehead, Katie resumed writing, she had been doing this article about sea monsters for days now.
The reflection of the sun danced upon the surface of the lake, taunting all those who chose to watch it. It was alone. The sun never shared its skies. But it, unlike the pitiful creatures that it casts its flawless beams upon was proud of its solitude. The sun craved no companionship, the sun, was everything that man wished he could be. Even if man refused to share these thoughts with anyone. The sun didn't crave hugs and kisses, waste endless hours on hellos and goodbyes. No, the sun was strong. It erased the need for affection with its potency and vanity. Yes, the sun was a constant reminder of what man could never be.
The park was teeming with children. They darted about, filling the air with their jovial screams as they played, enjoying the short moments when they were allowed such freedom. Behind them, from their inconspicuous posts on benches and behind trees, stood their mothers, who, every few minutes would tear their gazes from the pages of a romance novel long enough to make sure that their most prized possession remained unharmed.
In the mist of this fuss stood Oliver. His hair was tangled after having run his fingers through the strands in frustration so many times and he had crammed his hands in the pockets of his jeans, a nervous habit of his. He stood there, inactive, shifting his weight from one foot to the other and then back again, not noticing the children or their mothers or the sun that shone above them all.
He was trapped in his own mind, a mind that was heavy with his thoughts. To say that he was confused would be inaccurate.
When one was confused that usually meant that one knew what the basis of their uncertainty was.
And Oliver didn't.
He knew, somewhere in the back of his psyche that he should be happy. He was to be married tomorrow. To a woman that was beautiful, smart and funny, every man's dream. But though his brain recognized what he was supposed to be feeling his heart refused to comply.
Perhaps he was scared. Perhaps. Perhaps fear was the explanation on why he had spent the entire day yesterday, and most of this morning wandering around town, searching for nothing, but unwilling to go back home. Perhaps.
He couldn't explain his behavior to anyone. He didn't understand it himself. What he felt and what he wanted to feel were two different things. And he hated himself for what he felt.
Yes, Oliver decided, he was afraid, he was afraid of facing those thoughts in his head. He was afraid of facing those feelings that lay hidden in his heart. And he was afraid of being in contact with anyone who would remind him of these fears. That was why he hadn't gone home.
What was wrong with him?
Though he wasn't an expert in the area of marriage, he knew that one shouldn't be having so many doubts beforehand. He was getting married to the woman he loved. There was no reason for him to be anxious.
He did love her. Didn't he?
What was love?
Was it the feeling of indescribable relief that rushed through your body after you found that your father had returned home from work safely? Or could it be defined as the excitement of having the person you secretly fancied smile at you from across a crowded room. Or maybe it was the feeling of safety you acquired knowing that no matter what, there would always be someone who cherished you.
He had thought that he loved Rose.
That was why he had asked for her hand in marriage, because he had never felt that strongly about anyone before. But now, just hours before their ceremony was to begin he found himself questioning his judgment. And he refused to believe why.
Her.
Katie.
If someone had approached him a month ago and told him that he would be entertaining such thoughts about her he would have laughed. He would have explained to them how obtuse such an idea was. And then he would have walked away.
But right now, when he tried to laugh, when he tried to explain, when he tried to walk away, he found to his great dismay that he couldn't.
And that distressed him even further.
This was incredulous.
He wasn't meant to feel this way. Not about her. She was his friend. That was all. She was the girl who had followed him halfway around Greenock when he had decided that it would be a good idea to run away. She was the girl that had spent countless Friday nights tucked away next to him in his bed until she was twelve and decided that the entire concept was disgusting.
And she was Katie. That was it.
And the entire notion hat he felt something more for her than what one would feel for a sister was impious.
He couldn't, he shouldn't and he didn't.
Though Rose thought he did. And now a part of him thought that way as well. And as much as it pained him to say it that part of him had been growing larger daily.
An overpowering feeling of guilt washed over him.
He suspected that he had known the truth long before he had decided to have this little chat with himself.
He knew that he couldn't marry Rose. Not like this. Not when his head was overflowing with the possibility of being with another woman.
The rush of emotions that he had felt for Rose in the beginning, were gone now. It was no use pretending anymore. The feeling of warmth that had once surrounded them had disappeared, and it had been replaced by an empty space, filled only, occasionally by awkwardness.
He couldn't marry her. It wasn't fair.
Sighing, he decided he should leave, go home and face the fears that he had been trying to get away from. He should have known better than to try, someone had once said to him, in a drunken whisper that you could never run from yourself.
What he needed now, was to take a shower, go to sleep and continue to reflect on the possibility that maybe, in some uncanny twist of fate that he was doing just as he dreaded, and was falling for his best friend.
School starts on Thursday and hopefully I can write the last chapter, the next chapter by then, so expect it by weekend. Thank you again for all the nice comments, more are always appreciated.
I do not own Harry Potter or any of the characters.