WATCHING HER

THEODORE

He’d been watching her since she stepped into Rutherford. Her little son hopped behind her in happy strides.

He was just about to leave when she came in through the doors, radiating confidence and beauty as she always did.

She was so different from the last time he’d seen her, almost seven years ago, yet in some ways, she was the same.

Her royal stride, her shining hazel eyes, her silky brunette strands that flowed down to her waist - he wondered if she still brushed them 50 times a day like he knew she used to do.

The most striking difference was her kind smile. She was ever so gentle and kind to everyone despite her status. She had a feather touch and a soothing laugh that wasn’t withheld from the world around her.

Somehow, even from three seats away, he could tell her smile was gone. And it bothered him.

Alicia Rutherford was his first love. In fact, she was the one who taught his heart to love and healed him from the brokenness that had plagued him before he met her.

He never understood how she could be so happy all the time, but with time - even though he swore it wouldn’t - her joy became infectious.

She single-handedly saved him from himself. He didn’t know why she took an interest in him, but he would forever be grateful, even though fate was too cruel to let them have each other.

(flashback)

“How am I faster than you?” Her melodious giggles rang in his ears.

He smiled, watching her as she ran ahead of him. Of course, he could overtake her whenever he pleased, but the view was what he wanted.

“You run like a princess,” he said, catching up to her.

“I guess that’s because I am one,” she said in a sultry voice, shifting closer to him.

She leaned, falling herself, and he caught her in both arms, laughing at her silliness. Among a thousand other reasons, this carefree spirit was what he loved most about her.

In such high spirits, they almost forgot where they were headed. It wasn’t until the Rutherford mansion came into view that he remembered he was walking her home.

Being here always made him so nervous, but that was the least of it. To pass through the gates of the mansion alone, one had to be of a particular status, and it suffices to say he was at the depths of it all.

Even she sobered as they approached the gates, clearing her throat as if preparing to deliver a speech. And it looked like she would need to have one ready, because things were even worse than they thought.

As they got closer, they could see her father’s black Porsche parked just outside the gates. It was obvious he had only arrived recently, as the engine was still running. He must have seen them and waited for them to get close.

The tinted window slid down, and her father let out a sigh before turning to her. His expression shifted in mild disgust.

“What are you wearing, Alicia?”

“It’s a satin floral gown. I got it from a local market in town.” She explained humbly, but her voice still carried a little too much hope.

“You what?” her father lashed, but immediately regained composure. Then he turned to him. “I’ve tolerated your appearance around these gates for too long. You brainwash and drag my daughter into a pauper’s village. You dress her in rags and then bring her back to me. I’ve endured this, thinking she would snap out of it, but clearly I have to intervene. You are a worthless waste of space, defiling my property, and if I ever see you within ten miles of Alicia, you will beg for death. Have I made myself clear?”

“Daddy, stop. Don’t talk to him like that.” Alicia begged.

“Alicia, get into this car right now!”

“I won’t!” she defied, her voice breaking.

His heart cracked more and more with every word her father said. Because even though she had repeatedly told him otherwise, a part of him still believed those words were right. He was worthless. There was nothing he could give her. Nothing at all.

She moved closer to him and held his arm, but he took her hands in his, turning towards her.

“Alicia, please..” he pleaded softly, “..get into your dad’s car.”

He watched the tears gather in her eyes. He desperately wanted to wipe them, hold her, comfort her, but he knew he couldn’t.

She took a step back before turning and walking towards the gate instead. The guards let her through, and he watched her go, half-hoping she would turn back, half-hoping she wouldn’t, because then he wouldn’t know what to do.

“You.” Her father addressed him again. “What’s your name?”

She’d told her father so many times, but he wasn’t surprised her father never cared.

“Theodore, sir.”

“I’ll give you a hundred thousand pounds. Don’t come close to her, don’t look at her, don’t even think about her ever again.”

He looked at her father, a sad smile donning his face. Then he just shook his head and turned away.

He hadn’t gotten too far to hear her father give orders to the guards to arrest him should he ever get this close to the gates again.

(flashback ends)

Dr. Rutherford’s threat echoed in his head at that moment the way it did all those years ago. Yet here he was, well within ten miles of Alicia - to say the least, unable to take his eyes off her, and as for the last command, he flouted that one long ago, every single day since.

But this was not the Alicia he thought about every day. This was someone else, a shadow of herself.

Just when he was about to lose the fight to go over to her table, he saw someone walk in, and the way her son jumped on him.

“Mr Elias!” the boy’s voice rang.

He already knew it wasn’t the boy’s father, because he knew who the father was. He knew she was married, and he knew he shouldn’t be looking at her the way he was - longing for her the way he was.

He watched her pack and concluded that she was leaving. So he went over to his private room in the restaurant and ordered a bottle of wine.

But there was nothing strong enough to prepare him for what happened next.