A Few Years? Feels Like Forever

Violet 

I'm just standing there, in the middle of the chaos. It's like all of this is happening to someone else and I'm just an onlooker. 

“Dominic!” 

Someone says and rushes towards him to greet him. Dominic is surrounded by family, friends, and all those people he used to know. 

He has always been the most enigmatic man in the room. The one you can’t help but notice. 

Tall with broad shoulders and a confident look on his face. His black hair is slightly longer than it used to be. Deep, back eyes you can't NOT notice.

 This hasn’t changed. 

What’s changed is he seems to be smiling more. 

“How have you been,  “ someone says and he smiles at them, replying politely. 

Dominic is dressed in a perfectly tailored suit. He used to hate suits and always said he can't breathe in them. 

Suddenly all the memories from before are flooding my mind and I am taking deep breaths to calm myself down. 

I can’t just run away, pretend I didn’t see him and this never happened, can I?

He is only a few feet away from me, but he doesn’t see me. There are too many people around him. 

Evie has disappeared somewhere and it’s just me. 

But as Dominic is accepting greetings, and talking to his father, a tall, slim woman emerges from behind him. She is wearing a dark- blue fitted dress, making her perfect shapes stand out even more.

As if it’s not obvious from the first look at her that she's perfect, she has to make it impossible for everyone around not to notice her. 

Just like everyone is looking at Dominic. 

Then I remember. I know her. 

She’s a model. 

A very popular one at that, especially recently. 

What is she doing here?

And while I am considering the options- she is probably accompanying someone, she comes to stand right next to Dominic and he glances at her. 

He smiles at her and she wraps her hand around his forearm. 

What…

He is with her? 

That’s when I feel like all the people around the couple pull back, there’s no longer anything standing between them and me. Dominic is right opposite me, his model girlfriend glued to him. 

It feels like I am in a dream. 

Or as if I'm underwater. the “underwater” feeling explains why I can’t breathe right now. 

“Dominic!” 

Conor exclaims and goes to greet his brother, embracing him. Then my husband turns to me. 

“Violet, please come greet my brother. “

I am moving slowly, this dream-like feeling remaining. 

“Hello, “

I hear myself say and Dominic smiles. 

He doesn’t remember me, I can tell by the brief glance he casts at me before he looks away again. 

“This is my wife, “

Conor wraps a hand around my waist. 

I want to crawl out of my skin. He’s never done this before, what is this display of affection he is showing right now…

The model flashes a pretty smile, which reveals a set of perfect white teeth. 

“How nice to meet you, “ she outstretches her hand in my direction. Perfect nails. “I am Anastasia. “

I accept her hand and return the smile. 

“Violet, very nice to meet you. “ 

“A wife?”

Dominic asks and Conor’s hand closes around me, pulling me a bit too tightly. 

“Yes, Dominic, “ he says, “my wife. “

Then Connor tells him, “I don’t know if you remember her. “

I shift nervously and steal a glance in Domnic’s direction. 

He shakes his head. 

“I… I can’t say I do. I’m sorry. “

Suddenly I am enraged. 

Dominic doesn’t even remember me… But then again- it wasn’t like we were really close to each other.

He was the love of my life, but we were just kids. Right? 

Besides, nothing really happened back then- it was just the classic case of the stupid poor girl that happens to be studying in the same school as the hot, rich guys. 

I got into that school thanks to a scholarship. 

My best friend was a close friend of Dominic’s and Conor’s.   She introduced us. I fell in love with Dominic the moment I saw him. 

“Just like all the other twenty girls who were head over heels for him, “ I remind myself, “It’s not like I was the only one. “

Dominic and I went out just once, and then- well, I never saw him again. Later they told me he left for the US and that was it. After that, Conor asked me out and my father got sick. The rest is history.

When Dominic left out of the blue,  I decided it had all been in my head and he never really liked me, no matter how much I had thought it was real. 

Seeing him here, not even remembering me, proves I must have been right. 

“It’s okay, “

I smile at him, “We weren’t close anyway, it’s expected you wouldn't remember me. “ 

I look away from him, my heart beating funnily. I take a long sip from my glass and Anastasia turns to me. 

“So, what do you do? “

She asks. 

“Business. “ I smile over the rim of my glass. ‘I am taking care of my father’s business after…”

I fumble with my glass and Dominic surprises me when he asks. 

“What happened to your father?”

“He passed away. “ 

“Oh, I’m so sorry,” 

Ansatasia says and I glance at Dominic who looks concerned. 

“Thank you, “ 

I look away from him and smile at Anastasia. 

“Anyway, it was a few years ago. Let’s speak of something more cheerful. What do you do?”

“Oh, I am a model. “

She says, proudly. 

“Of course you are., “  I think. I mean, I knew what she did, but I didn’t want to show her that she was That famous. Perhaps she knows how famous she is, though. 

“How long have you two been together?”

Conor asks and I am washed over by the same desire to leave this place and never, EVER come back. 

“Just a …”

Dominic begins saying and Anastasia interrupts. 

“I feel like it’s been so much longer than it is, in fact. “ 

She says, wrapping both her arms around him. 

Does she ever let go of him?

“A few weeks, “

Dominic says, voice grave. 

“But I feel like he knows me so perfectly, “

Anastasia looks up at him beaming. 

“Yeah, “ he clears his throat. A servant passes by and I pick up another glass from the tray and give him my now-empty one. 

And here I was telling Evie she shouldn’t be drinking so much…

I resist the urge to finish everything in one gulp when Anastasia asks. 

“What about you? How long have you two been together? “

“A few years. “ 

Connor says. 

“But it feels like ages, “ 

I fake a smile and only Conor gets the remark. His hand closes so hard on me that it hurts. 

“Years!” 

Anastasia exclaims, “That’s… that’s great.  “

“It is. “ 

I mutter. They don’t know our marriage is a fake one, but I also can’t just say it. 

“Do you have children?”

 She asks, still excited and for some reason, her bubbly personality begins to irritate me. 

“No, “ 

I say shortly and take a step away from them, pushing Conor’s hand away from me.  

“I need to see something, “ I excuse myself,  “It was nice meeting you Anastasia. “ 

Then I smile at Dominic. 

“Enjoy your evening. “

“It was great meeting you too, “

I hear Anastasia saying but I am already walking out of the hall to the garden downstairs. I quickly get outside to a deserted corner in the small garden when I hear footsteps behind me.