Candy looked at Neil's instantly grey face and felt ashamed. They had decided not to stir up the past! Why did she have to say this?
"Neil, I…" she said, but he interrupted her.
"Candy, if you leave me, I don't know what I'm gonna do!"
The girl blinked in surprise, but somehow felt he was serious. His eyes, usually so scornful, were filled with fear. Fear to lose her.
Candy quickly stood up, came up to Neil's sofa, sat down beside him and hugged him.
"Look at you, silly boy!"
They were sitting together, hugging each other, for quite a long time, and the waiters delicately passed by. Sometimes either Candy or Neil would tighten their embrace and silently laugh.
"Silly boy, you," the girl repeated.
"I wrote to Albert. I guess he will come," Daniel said quietly. He didn't know why he was saying this, but he wanted to tell her about William.
"Oh, really? Good," the girl answered in a calm and almost indifferent tone.
Neil straightened his back a little to look into her eyes.
"You say it as if you don't care. You were so worried about him! He's like an elder brother to you…"
She sighed.
"Maybe it is bad, but I really don't care. My thoughts are too busy thinking about other things. My head is full. I'm so anxious! And I'm so looking forward to it… And Annie… I'm thinking about her. And I still haven't answered his letter yet. That's bad, isn't it?"
The man kept silent.
"He will understand you," Neil finally replied. He hugged his girlfriend even closer, feeling the warmth of her body, smelling her fragrance and hearing her heart beating. Only today, realizing all the depth of his happiness, he was afraid to lose her.
"And what if… he comes?" Legan said so quietly, that Candy asked to repeat.
"Who – he?"
"Well… he."
"Mister Albert?"
"God, no!" Neil backed away, irritated by her slowness. He just couldn't say his name aloud, but for some reason he couldn't help asking.
"I don't understand you at all," Candy had a serious and surprised look.
"Well… if… I mean, what if this man… what if he comes? The actor."
"What actor?" Miss White was still not following. "What's the matter with you?"
"What if Terence Granchester comes to you?" Neil was finally able to utter these horrible words and froze in an agonizing suspense.
"Why would he come? Where?"
"Dammit! To you! What if he just comes to you?"
"But why?"
"How do I know? If he just gets a wild hair up his butt reading about our engagement in the newspaper and comes to you?"
Candy finally realized what he was driving at and couldn't restrain a laugh.
"What are you, jealous?"
"I don't see anything funny about it."
The girl hugged her boyfriend and tousled his hair, as if he were a child.
"You're being so silly today. I'll tell you, but don't make up such nonsense anymore…" Then she spoke pensively, as though to herself. "I loved Antony and Terry. They gave me love and tenderness. And they will always have a special place in my heart. I don't want to neither give up these cherished memories, nor deny and diminish their importance to me. I loved them with all my heart, but we had to break up… I mean, death is also just a breakup, isn't it? Maybe, someday, we will all meet in a better world, where all the earthly sorrows and pleasures don't mean anything anymore… But now… Now we are alive, we are together, we love each other! When you take my hand, my heart trembles. I want to live and love, I want to go with you… I feel your warmth, I see your smile… We have so many things ahead! So many things that we can do together. So, whoever comes to me, I'll tell him I want to be with you."
And then they kissed.