Chapter Thirty-two

Chapter Thirty-two

“I’m glad you are well aware of who you are.” I said coldly with an expressionless face and he smiled smugly at me, like a cute schoolboy of seventeen. His grey eyes looked more relaxed, not like the mist and fire I saw back there in that restroom. He seemed like an exploding nuclear weapon, a sexy danger… I don’t know. I’m just thinking crazy things.

I tried to sit upright but my head seemed to hurt with every movement, so I laid down back, sighing and staring at the ceiling. I must have developed a tension headache due to the mental stress I went through.

“Gin…” I sighed again as my heart drifted slowly to him. The dream replayed in my mind like a movie on rewind. It felt so real, I almost thought he was really there.

Was everything I saw just a fragment of an imagination in my mind? What I actually wanted to be my reality? Him standing right there and telling me that it had never been me?

“Here.” I heard Brandon say in a cool voice and I turned gently to face him. He was handing me a glass of wine in one of those beautiful, costly champagne glasses.

“What?” I asked, feeling stupefied.

“You asked for it.” He said simply and stretched out his other hand to support me into a sitting position. I seriously did not remember asking him for any drink, but my subconscious kinda cooed in my ear that I really needed it.

I took the wine from him without looking at him. The wine looked clear, sparkling, almost like purified water. I held it hesitantly before swallowing it in one gulp. When the wine got to the back of my throat, I shuddered at its coldness. I could say that was what I actually needed at that point in my life - wine. How come I never thought of that?

I studied the emptied glass with a suspicious look. I could swear I had never tasted this wine before, and though I wasn’t sure if it was costly, I was pretty sure it was worth every sip, or gulp rather. For short, I would say, it was crisply delicious, but to explain further, I’d say, it was zesty and complex, with a subtle sweetness that lingered on my palate, annoyingly reminding me of him when he had his tongue at the back of my throat this morning.

Sheesh, Galena!

But thinking this over, the taste of this gin actually tells so much about Brandon’s personality; he is indeed zesty and complex, with a subtle sweetness that lingers in my mind, that chooses not to be forgotten or erased anytime soon, making the rest of his complexity seem less burdensome. Somehow, I wanted to believe that this gin shared the same name with him. How wonderful that would be! It would just be perfect!

“What’s the name of this gin?” I asked, still staring at the glass.

“Sarti dry gin.” He said, disappointing my expectations completely. I could feel his weight beside me on the bed as he sat on it.

“Why do you ask?” He asked with a bit of concern in his voice.

“It’s nice.” I said simply, finally looking at him. He had a small cut on his lower lip, and strangely, I wanted to touch it. What was even wrong with me!?

His eyes had a strange fleet of emotions, pooling from worry to something close to pain. That was the complex Brandon for you. You would never really understand what he is feeling or thinking. He is too closed up, mysterious.

I do like the idea of being mysterious, but Brandon’s “mysterious” was just too mysterious. Brandon was more like an arrogant introvert, or maybe ambivert sometimes. He might be a caring Brandon at one point, and before you can appreciate it, he is somewhat a brute monster whose path you don’t wanna cross. Brandon should literally be used as a noun to explain or describe someone or something that is both complex and open, sweet and bitter, godlike and monstrous, hateful and desirable, tempting like the serpent’s apple.

Something suddenly crossed my mind in between the silence we were engulfed in.

“Wait,” I asked feeling bolder with the wine I had just gulped down, “why did you say it wasn’t me but it was because of me?”

He smiled and looked away, as if thinking of a way to bring it gently to my notice, his reasons for saying those words to me earlier.

“What are you thinking?” I asked almost irritably as he didn’t seem to be giving me an answer.

“It’s really surprising how you forget things easily, Miss Galena.” His voice was raspy, stringent, and almost dejected. I gulped down the anxiety that was building in my throat fearfully. How did he know about Gin?

“What do you mean?” I asked nervously.

He raised his right hand to my face, showing me the bandage on his palm that I hadn’t noticed earlier.

“I believe there was only one person that bled this morning, and it was from her asshole, which is obviously normal,” I cringed at his words, looking away from him in embarrassment, “but a monstrous knight bled from his hand later on by trying to save the stubborn ass of that certain damsel.” He said with a hint of mockery in his voice.

“You idiot!” I said hitting him with my fist on his chest, and he cringed backwards, holding his chest tightly. He seemed to be in a lot of pain, rousing worry and concern in me.

“What’s wrong?” My brows furrowed in worry at him, but he suddenly clenched his teeth and got up like nothing had happened at all. He shot one glance at me and said; “don’t worry about me, worry about that juice you squirted on my bed.” before turning to leave.

“You!” I screamed, pointing an accusing finger at him, but the rest of the words got hooked in my throat.

I watched his retreating figure disappear behind the door and I sighed, leaning back on the bed. I felt a bit of relief that he was talking about Brandon and not Gin. Finally, there was one thing he didn’t know about me.

But, what more did he know?