The clock on the wall told me it was already near to midnight. Searching through the refrigerator and the kitchen cupboards, I found a bottle of wine and a dusty wineglass, and I took them over to the table with me. I wiped the dust from the glass and opened the red alcoholic drink to pour myself a sizeable amount. I was vaguely aware of Finn saying my name but I was barely paying attention anymore, more focused on making myself forget everything, even if it was only for a little while.
"Akari, please," he whined at me. I exhaled sharply and lowered the glass, shooting an annoyed glare at the fairy, though I was soon distracted by something behind him. I walked over to the bookshelf and pulled out the photo album from the top shelf. I carried it back to the table reverently, as though it was more important than the book of the King and opened it to the first page. Finn took a seat on the table top next to the album and looked up at me questioningly. I wrapped my hand around the glass of wine again and brought the rim to my lips downing at least half of the purple-red liquid. I stared at the first picture in the book – a photo of me when I first arrived on the island, kindly taken by Cain, who had then also brought me to my farm. We spent a while looking through the many photos in the album – photos of the scenery around the land, Finn and the animals, myself with my closest friends, Alan and the other Harvest Sprites, the Harvest Goddess and Finn together…
Together, Finn and I poured over these memories, reminiscing about the earlier years on Castanet. Then I turned the page and froze. Finn studied the expression on my face and then looked at the photo displayed on the open page. It was a photograph of me and Chase on our wedding day; the happiest day of my life. I poured myself another glass of wine from the now almost empty bottle and sipped again. I watched as Finn used his magic to make a pea-sized mug appear out of thin air. He then proceeded to fill it with the beverage from my glass.
"He does love you, Akari," Finn said, taking a sip from the mug before sputtering and screwing his face up in disgust. "He might just be confused."
"So?" I watched as the sprite wiped the pink dribble from his chin. "That's no excuse to cheat on your wife!"
Finn sighed in defeat, understanding finally that there was nothing he could say to convince me otherwise. My eyes travelled to the clock again – 02:27am.
"Where is he? He should have been back almost an hour ago!" I hissed fiercely. I knew exactly where he was. I held my face in my hands and released an angry sob into the silence. Did he do this every night after work? I mean, I wouldn't know if he did because I usually go to sleep before midnight so I can get up early. His shift finished at 1am, it takes twenty minutes to get back here from town, so there was really no reason why he should be back so late. I felt Finn rest his hand comfortingly on my arm, and I stared down at him.
"How could he stand in that Church and promise that he would love me and only me till death do us part, and then go and do this?" I asked him, hardly any louder than a whisper. He shook his head sadly.
"I don't know, Akari," he patted my arm again. We sat in the silence until a small tinkling sound made me jerk my head up in time to see Chase opening the front door. I scowled at him as he locked the door behind him and hung up his coat. He obviously wasn't expecting me to be awake because when he turned and saw me sitting at the table with a photo album and an empty wine bottle, he couldn't keep the surprise and guilt out of his voice.
"W-why are you still up, Akari?"
A/N: Wow. Two chapters uploaded on the same day? It's a miracle.
It's really starting to get intense, huh? ;) Don't worry, there's more angst to come, I promise.