NEVILLENot only the night is young, but I am also not even that sleepy. The people who came to this impromptu gathering have started thinning out. I didn't realise Jean could organise something like this so-called wake and turn it into a glamorous party that I'm sure will be whispered about in the days to come. I won't be surprised if a part of the night gets featured in the papers tomorrow. Nobody is more surprised at my ability to deal with so many people from such diverse backgrounds in life, successfully entertain them and send them home happily at the end of the evening.My eyes find that some people are saying their goodbyes in the front garden, so I gesture to Arnold to help them find their vehicles and lead them to their cars because two of the people in the group appear to be really drunk.Arnold moves to their aid, and I watch a woman get into a verbal fight with her husband or the man she came to attend the party along with earlier. I think he was her ex-fiance since Jean

NEVILLEThe man in front of me taps his pen on the table. I can't handle the noise it makes when it hits the edge of the hard surface. The shudder runs through the back of my skull, and I close my eyes. The man in front of me wants me to sign some papers that will help him pay for the funeral bills and apply for my father's death certificate.I didn't want to come to the funeral home, but I'm here against my will. The room is eerily silent, and pacing footsteps stepping against the hardwood floor is the only noise in the vicinity. It leaves me feeling anxious, and my stomach turns up into knots.The man in front of me speaks."Neville, first of all, I'm so sorry about your father." He offers me his hand, and I take it. "I'm so sorry about your loss. May he rest in peace."I nod."Thanks," I whisper under my breath. "My dad was a good man.""He sure was, young man." The man moves the papers towards me. "I want you to sign these papers, and this will officially release the body to the c

NEVILLEShe is standing in front of me, dressed in a pale and simple yellow sundress with tulips on the soft cotton fabric. She looks out of place in this room. Like she sticks out of the crowd because the men come dressed in a black-tie followed by a tux, and the women are in white. And the one person wearing any colour in the room is her. The way she grips the hem of her dress and twists it between her forefinger and her thumb makes my heart throb for her. How can I help her?She sucks on her lower lip staring intently at the long passage curving into another long corridor in front and the people surrounding her. I watch her spellbind by her beauty and the sweet way she bows her head down when someone walks by her. Something hints that she has some inkling of a doubt about how she fits in the room and the part where she cannot belong here with the rest of these people.What was her name again?I run through the names I have learned this past week in my head. When I run a hand throu

NEVILLEAmelia drives me crazy with those innocent eyes of hers. The big black doe eyes hold a particular bewitching mystery in themselves, but they also tell me things when I stare into them longer. She walks behind me as we move to the next room from where we were. I took her there on purpose, thinking nobody would bother us. I was hoping that they would leave us alone.Though the clerical staff here are persistent in their attention, following me around the church premises everywhere I go.What are they thinking would happen?Am I going to run away from my dad's funeral?Or are they genuinely concerned for me?That can't be, could it?Maybe Jean put them up to it. But why isn't he here when he should be?Amelia tugs on my shoulder again, making me pivot on my feet."Are you doing okay?"I lie with a small smile."Yeah, I am fine." I sigh. "I'm going to be okay."Who even says that?I lead the way and then stop right in front of the colossal corridor and the private room to enter a

AMELIAHe just got up and left the room.The room is blazing with voices since some people find it hard to keep it down even amid someone's life falling apart.I was scared about the ticking inside Neville at first, and now it’s all gone. The ticking is far-removed from what I can see. And the explosion that I know is coming. I’m silently waiting for it.I got up and walked in the direction I saw him leaving.Where did he go?This situation must be so hard on him.This day is such a shit-show.My legs run to the back of the unlit corridor, but I don’t encounter him there. He might have left for home. I should have followed him wherever he wanted to go when he mentioned it. But I also knew nothing regarding what was about to unravel. The piece of news he got in the chapel must be so hard to process for him. He seems like a person who would want to take his dad's business forward and raise it to new heights. Otherwise, if he didn’t want to work in the family business, it wouldn't have