Page 150 of A Lie in Church

I took a glance at Tristan. He had his head in his palms. I stood up from my seat and walked to where he was. I placed my hands on his shoulders. He flinched and turned to look at me. His eyes looked haunted and tired.

“It’s me,” I said with a soft smile.

He’d been jumpy since this morning.

He pulled me to his lap and wrapped his arms around me. He was quiet and squeezed me into his arms.

“I promise to explain everything to you soon,” he whispered.

I nodded and hugged him back, stroking his hair.

Later in the evening,we lay in silence on the bed. Tristan was fast asleep, his head resting on my chest and one arm draped over me. I continuously brushed my fingers through his hair as I stared at the wall like it had every answer to the questions in my head.

My eyes trailed over Tristan’s face, and my fingertips traced his eyebrows and every feature of his face, like a paintbrush caressing a canvas. This man in my arms, who I’d grown so attached to, had unlocked a part of me I hadn’t discovered. I felt myself smiling at how peaceful he looked in his sleep. It was nice to see him relax after watching him panic the whole day since he had seen those paintings.

What was it about the paintings that had terrified him? Was it Nadia?

I sighed and closed my eyes.

It was Saturday,and I was home alone. I dropped my phone on the counter and searched for a snack in the kitchen cabinet. My hand fiddled for the bag of Cheetos as my short legs pushed up to increase my height.

My ringtone stopped me from grabbing the bag of Cheetos. I groaned and picked up the phone. It was Adrian. Tristan was too busy to call anyway. He’d told me he had a board meeting today with important people.

“Hey, Adrian.”

“Are you busy?”

“No,” I replied and jumped, grabbing the bag of Cheetos.

“Meet me outside the Chinese restaurant; it’s just a few minutes’ drive from where you are.”

“Everything okay?”

“Yeah.”

“Okay, I will be there.”

I ate the Cheetos as I drove to the restaurant.I wiped my mouth and combed my hair with my fingers.

Adrian waved at me when I entered the restaurant, decorated with red Chinese lanterns. The interior had bright shades of red, and the place looked very inviting. I took the seat in front of him with a smile.

“Did something happen?” I asked, a bit worried. It had been a long time since we’d hung out.

“No,” he said and laughed. “Just wanted to hang out like old times. I hate how things are between us,” he said.

A waiter arrived to take our order. Since the incident with Karen, the hollowness in our friendship was still there.

“So, how has it been going with Tristan?” he asked after the waiter left with our order.

“Good. He finally told me about Nadia,” I lied, hoping to get something out of him.

“Really? It’s not something he likes talking about,” he said, looking too surprised.

“It’s nothing big anyway.” I scoffed.

“He would have been a good father.”

“Good father?” I lost my character for a moment at his words.