The Wedding Plan

Chapter 49

'Of course not. I can't believe that my own sister just asked me that.'

Hearing that hurt Sebastian more than words can describe, he felt as if a sharp dagger had just been stabbed into his heart.

'I'm sorry, I just wanted to make sure.' Lina immediately regretted her words and her actions after seeing Sebastian's face. She should've never doubted his relationship with Eleanor.

'You know... It was never a lie,' Sebastian said as he looked straight into his sister's eyes.

'What?'

'Well, sort of. It was a lie, but I was interested in her from the beginning.'

'What?' Lina looked like she was about to hit her brother. 'Then, why the hell did you ask her to go to a wedding with you? Why not ask her out right there and then?'

'I don't know. It was the first thing that popped into my mind at the time. She left an impression on me when we bumped into each other at Montgomery. Oddly enough, she was the only good thing that happened that day. And then I let her get away.'

'And then you saw her at Crain.'

'I thought that I would never see her again. And then, there she was, right in front of me. She was working right outside my office for a month, and I hadn't even noticed it. When I finally realized that it was her, I could not waste more time. I just wanted to know more about her, so I blurted out the first thing that came to my mind. And there it was. The wedding invitation. I didn't plan anything after that, I just wanted to keep her close.'

'That was the most stupid idea you ever had. And I never thought that you were that impulsive. You have always been the opposite of that. So controlled and poised.'

'Don't I know that.' Sebastian sighed. 'Just forget it. I want to do this the right way and,' he stopped and looked at the window.

'And what?'

'And I don't like her, its more than that.'

'What do you mean?'

Lina knew what she was doing, she wanted to hear her a brother say it, most importantly, she wanted him to hear himself say it.

'I,' — he looked down at his feet — 'I'm in love with her. Probably since the first time I saw at Montgomery.'

Lina could not help but to laugh a little. 'I never thought you were the type that would fall in love at first sight.'

'Just stop it, Lina.'

'Fine, don't look so mad.'

'It's just that,' he sighed. 'I'm afraid that she still has some doubts, and I don't know what to do about it. What can I do to make her believe in me one hundred percent?'

'Just talk to her.'

'And say what?'

'What you just said to be me, dumbass. That you are in love with her. You haven't said that to her, have you?'

'No.'

'Then I think that it's time to say it,' she sighed. 'This is what happens when you put two idiots together. Neither one of them knows how to anything. You are both helpless.' Lina smiled.

Lina was right, he knew that. He loved Eleanor, he loved her so much that made him so confused and lost. Although, he did not understand how he could love someone so much and in such a short period of time.

Sebastian had been in denial during all that time, he was now aware of it. He had never been in love; he didn't know what to do, so he ignored it. He pushed it to the back of his mind and the bottom of his heart until he could not hold it any longer.

Lina walked up to him and placed a hand on his shoulder.

'Just talk to her. Just tell her.'

He sighed. 'Fine.'

Lina laughed hysterically.

'What are you laughing about?'

'I thought I would never see you like this. You seem like a schoolboy that is about to confess to his first crush. How sweet.'

'Stop making fun of me. I admit it. I'm afraid. For the first time in my life, I'm afraid. I'm afraid of messing this up.'

'Just go,' she said, smiling from ear to ear.

Sebastian took a deep breath and faced the stairs. Step by step he went up, as his heart was pounding harder and harder on his chest. Each step he took felt heavier than the previous one, and the stairs didn't seem to end.

What he saw as soon as he opened the bedroom door confused him. Eleanor was packing her bags.

'What happened?' he asked, unaware of her tears since he was facing her back.

'I'm going home,' she struggled to answer as she felt the tears chocking her.

He reached for a shoulder, and she pushed him away as she cleaned the tears with the sleeve of her cardigan.

'I want to go home. I'm sorry. I'll apologize to your family for leaving early and I'll come up with some excuse, but I can't stay any longer. I can't keep lying any longer to everyone, nor to myself.'

'What do you mean?'

'It doesn't matter, Sebastian.'

'Just tell me what's wrong,' he begged. Sebastian felt his heart being crushed and his stomach in knots as he saw her like that.

Eleanor, with her eyes red, looked at him, trying to maintain a straight face, when she felt like she was falling apart.

'One more day. That's it. The weeding is tomorrow. I'll take you home right after it. Just stay with me a little longer.' The desperation in Sebastian's words was clear, and yet Eleanor did not say a thing. She did not know what to think anymore.

If only he meant these last words. She wondered.

Sebastian had no idea about what was going through her head, but at least she agreed to stay until after the wedding. That meant that they would have one more day to work things out before going back home. We have to make this work. I won't lose you. I can't. He said to himself.