It was interesting how he knowingly smirked. “I know, I’m Ocean.”
“Ocean? Like the?—”
“Water?” He shifted his weight from one foot to the other, all while keeping his eyes on me.
“Your parents must have loved the ocean.”
“Technically my Korean name is O-Shin,” he pursed his lips. “My parents didn’t want to name me John.”
“Yeah,” I smiled. “You definitely don’t look like a John.”
“I’m glad.” His eyes squinted when he smiled, hiding behind his skin. Two dimples appeared below them. That’s the first time I'd seen dimples like that.
“Ladies and gentlemen, may I have your attention please?” An older woman who looked to be in her late fifties stood on the stage, her voice echoed through the speaker.
People were here for two reasons. One, they actually cared about today's event or two, they were here to party and gossip.
“In honour of today’s fundraiser, Moonshines CEO Christian Hayes—SVS’s highest donator, will share a couple of words with us today.”
My eyes widened, pinching the edges of my sockets. Since when was he a guest speaker?
That’s what you get for ignoring him.
Ocean leaned down to whisper, “I’m not into men, but if I was, I’d smash your husband.”
Husband.
Mine.
Christian walked across the stage with natural confidence. His black suit hugged his body in all the right places, and he stood tall and dominant—commandingthe room’s attention.
It was hard being mad at him and it was harder ignoring the irritating digging in my chest.
Umaima and Hasan told me the version I was growing into was a version they liked and admired to be. The encouragement, the emotional change flourishing through me felt amazing.
In some ways, I felt like a teenager again, sitting on that rooftop with Christian, making bold moves like kissing him, and crying my heart out even when people were watching.
It was in that moment, with Christian’s eyes pausing on mine, that I realised the voices in my head reappeared whenever Christian wasn’t around.
From the days in school to the years after we broke up.
Maybe anxiety tried to fill up the void he left me with and disappeared in the moments he returned because it realised, I’d no longer be lonely.
There were people in your life that made those voices disappear, even if momentarily. But when they were around, your body relaxed into the silence and relied on their energy to keep you upright.
Christian was my wall and no matter what, no matterwhen, no matterhow, he never refused the weight of my body against him.
“I know you’re gawking at your man right now,” Ocean teased his way into my daze. “But I have to say he picked a beautiful woman as his wife.”
With a questioning tilt to my head, I asked. “Are you flirting with me right after saying you’d smash my husband?”
He laughed. “Is it so wrong to admire a beautiful man and woman?”
“Maybe not,” I responded with a giggle of my own. “But you have to agree it’s kind of funny.”
“Excuse me,” the same older lady from the stage walked up to us. “Could you please tone it down?”
The people around us were glaring and unabashedly judging our ill-mannered-ness.
