Page 352 of Now and Forever

Chapter 127

Craig

“Reiss—” She looked gob smacked, seeming erratic as she wildly stared at me. “It’s you. It’s you, isn’t it?” The random woman persisted while I gave her a thorough perusal before I cleared my throat and shook my head, flirtingly smiling at the beautiful woman before me.

“Name’s Craig, but I could be Reiss if you like,” I smoothly provided, knowing well enough that women did this sort of trick to get my attention.

She adamantly shook her head, disbelieving. “No.No. Your face—” she stammered the words out, frantic. “And, and your eyes!” Her gorgeous eyes roved all over my face as they started to water. “How is this possible?” she hissed as her tears welled, brimming to spill over soon. “You’re supposed to be dead.”

All right, this had gone too far because she looked like she was about to have a breakdown. Right here. In the middle of a bar.

“Apologies, but you must’ve mistaken me for someone else. I would truly appreciate it if you’d stop and not cause a scene,” I cautiously warned her, not feeling so jovial any longer.

Tonight, of all nights, I decided to come out, even though everything in me protested that it was best to stay out of the social arena. My gut inkling had never steered me in the wrong direction, but tonight I made an exception because it was Brandon’s, one in my small circle of trusted friends, birthday night. I couldn’t very well say no when he suggested he wanted to go for drinks before adamantly suggesting he wanted to have dinner precisely at midnight and not a minute more. It was thirty past ten and we all had been feeling the pangs of hunger even though he had been severely providing us with inconceivable amounts of strong alcohol.

The beautiful, distraught woman shook her head before gently wiping the wetness on the sides of her eyes, trying to regain some clarity and composure. “What did you same your name was?”

Gritting my jaws, I gazed down onto her delicate face. “Craig Chambers, and if you have any more questions, you can easily Google me.

“Chambers …” she reiterated before looking pale.

“Will that be all, miss? We’d all gladly appreciate it if we could get back to our conversation.” My crude, dismissive approach caused hurt to appear in her eyes, as if I had just slapped her.

“Of course,” she apologetically whispered, still looking dazed. “Forgive me.” She stared into my eyes before apologizing towards my companions. “Have a lovely evening. Again, I’m sorry.” She made a tight smile before hastily wiping her face and rushing towards the exit, looking distraught and out of sorts.

Staring after her, I took a moment to clear my head before I heard Brandon’s voice break through my train of thought. “If you don’t plan on going after that poor, gorgeous woman, I will. She certainly looked beyond distraught to be out there on her own right now.” He didn’t need to warn me again before I found myself taking the same route as she had, following her out the door.

The second I stepped foot outside, I reprimanded myself for being so thoughtless. What this woman was going through was seriously none of my business, but all of my doubts vanished when I saw her aimlessly walking with her head bent low, arms wrapped around her as she tried to cross the busy street.

Rushing towards her, I yanked quite roughly as I held a tight grip on her elbow. She gave me a perplexed look just as I reprimanded her for not being watchful. “Didn’t your parents teach you to use pedestrians as a child?” Gritting out the words, I made sure we crossed the road safely before gazing at her forlorn face.

She made a melancholy sigh before gazing directly into my eyes. In the dimness of the night, her beauty was only heightened. “They didn’t,” she answered. “My parents were busy making sure I was going to be a polished and suitable wife when I grew up.” Something changed in her eyes before she gestured to cup my face again with her soft hand, gawking at me with fascination and wonder. “You look just like him. I mean, apart from the slashing scar on your brow …” she trailed off, eyes wandering across my facial features. “You could’ve been his twin.”

“You must be quite saddened to have such a strong reaction to a man who resembles someone who was close to you.”

She seemed teary before she made a cruel, dry laugh. “I was young … and I hadn’t known better then. I suppose you could say he is one of my biggest regrets in life. It’s difficult to live with such guilt and burden even after all these years.”

I made a curt nod, understanding where she was coming from. “We all have our fair share of guilt, any human being does.” Not wanting a full-on heart to heart discussion with her, I immediately changed the subject. “How about I hail you a cab so you can go home and rest? A good rest might do wonders, or so they say.”

“Home is New York. I’m just visiting the Motherland to be with friends and family.”

It might’ve been the light teasing that provoked her to smile, but fuck, what a blinding smile it was. I felt my breathing halt just a tad.

Clearing my throat, I made a courteous nod. “Right. Of course. Then we’d have the cab take you to your destination. Wherever that is.”

“That would be lovely … Craig.” She seemed reluctant to say my name, although a faint blush appeared after she did.

There was an air of mystery about her that triggered something within. It felt as if it was compelling me to do something spontaneous, something drastic, and I knew I simply couldn’t chance it. Never again.

Hailing a cab wasn’t a hardship; in no matter of time, a licensed, black cab parked about a foot away, waiting with his blinkers on.

“I suppose this is goodbye …”

“Ava,” she hastily said. “My name is Ava.”

A smirk crossed my lips before giving her a final look. “Have a restful night, Ava. And do try to stay out of trouble for the rest of your stay.”

“You, too …” She gazed up, breathless and seeming reluctant to leave. “Goodnight.”

I wasn’t sure if she was hoping to exchange numbers or if she needed me to give her a hug, but I wasn’t readily giving her either. There was no need to ignite the ghost she was chasing. Therefore, I pressed my lips together instead, hoping she’d get the cue that she was prolonging the inevitable. After a minute of silence, she finally did, much to my relief. She made a final wave of goodbye, opened the cab door, stepped into it, and gave me one last glance that could be interpreted in so many ways before the cab whisked her away.

I stayed awhile, rooted to the spot where she’d left me, still deep in thought. A twin she had said, I thought with derision before a dark, cruel laugh emerged from me.

My life definitely hadn’t started out easy. Now and again, it still drove a hard bargain. Such as when it attempted to force me into forgiving people who had wronged me …

The word forgiveness certainly wasn’t part of my dictionary.

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