Love, Simply - Chapter 14：How does it feel?

“When you matter to someone, that person will always make time for you. No excuses, no lies, and no broken promises.”

***

“Please, Kate,” Cyrus begged. He waited many days for her to come back, but Louise didn’t show up or look for him for several days.

He missed her.

“You are my cousin, but she’s my best friend. I can’t help you hurt her more than you already have. I am sorry.”

“Please, I am begging you.”

“Do you know how much she loves you? You should have rejected—why didn’t you? How am I going to face her now?”

“I know. It’s my fault that Louise misunderstood me. That’s why I want to explain myself. She could have any men she wants, why me? Isn’t it natural for me to be confused and feel insecure?”

“I love her. I love her. I am going mad here. I miss her like crazy,” Cyrus yelled, “I love her—I miss her,” he broke down, “Please, tell me where she is. I can’t take it anymore. I am begging you. It’s been days already, tell me. Please,” he said, pleading in desperation.

Kate stared at him. Though Cyrus was her cousin, it didn’t mean it was okay for him to hurt Louise.

“I kept denying it and tried to hide it even from myself. I know Cahir had me a long time, I didn’t want to open my heart to someone else again. What if she leaves too? What if she leaves just like Mina?”

“I kept thinking—” Cyrus continued. “But it’s unfair to her to be treated like this because someone else broke my heart. She’s not Mina. Cahir’s your best friend. The woman I want to be with right now. The woman I love.”

“Isn’t that enough?”

“You won’t hurt her?” Kate asked. “Give me your word. She’s like a sister to me. I don’t want to see her get hurt again.”

“I will give you my word that I won’t hurt her, but I don’t know what may—”

“Save the future for later,” she said. “France.”

“What?”

“She’s in France. “You can wait for her to co—” Cyrus immediately pulled out his phone and texted Peter. “What are you doing?”

“Booking a flight to France,” he grinned.

“Can’t you wait for her to come back?”

“Don’t you know, Cahir? She could be on her way to China right now.”

“Right! Come to think of it. She may not be in France at all. Uncle Claude told me that Louise finally wanted to take over the business in—”

“Wait—wait. What business? Doesn’t she run a small business with you?” Cyrus asked.

“Oh, you know her grandparents are rich. You’ve seen the mansion her grandfather gave her, right?” Kate said. “And her dad and uncle own that clothing line, BJD.”

“That’s one thing she forgot to mention,” he mumbled. “What kind of business exactly?”

“I don’t know—” Kate shrugged.

Cyrus raised his brows at her. “You’re her best friend.”

“She doesn’t like to talk about it. They remind her of her mother.”

“So, how wealthy are her grandparents?”

“Go to her garage. You’ll see. Oh, I know that she owns that hotel, what was the name again?”

“Yeah! It’s called SueLune.”

“Does it bother you that your woman has more money than you?” Kate teased.

“What money? I only want to see her. Money or not, it isn’t going to change the way I feel about her,” he smiled.

“Eh! That’s good. Some guys have an inferiority complex.”

“I don’t care about any of that.”

~~~

“When are you leaving for Canada?” Lyms asked. Louise’s older half-brother from her father.

“I don’t know yet. It depends on Cyrus’s answer, ” Louise answered.

“You won’t tell me who that brat is?”

“What? No. You’ll beat him.”

“He made you cry,” Lyms reasoned.

“Come on. Ly, he’s not obligated to love me.”

“I know. I hate seeing you cry.”

“I know my brother loves me the most. Where did Greg go?”

“Greg left; he went to see Aunt Diane before going back for his last shoot.”

“He’s coming back to school?” Louise smirked.

“Does he have a choice? You froze his cards. And dad isn’t paying him either,” Lyms said, “Kate is already married and about to have a kid. When do I get to be an uncle?”

“When do I get to be an aunt?” Louise retorted.

“Well—”

“Ly, be honest. Did you ever have a girlfriend?” Louise asked, keeping her eyes on him.

“Don’t stare at me like that. No, not really? He shook his head.

Louise chuckled. “Look at you!”

“Hey! We’re even,” he smirked.

“I had a boyfriend,” Louise stated.

“Oh?” Lyms laughed. “That jerk? He wasn’t. Did you even kiss that bastard? You were so scared to hold his hands?”

“Toi!” She raised her voice. (You)

“Quoi?” (What)? He smiled and messed her curly ponytail. “Were you happy?” He asked. His voice was serious.

“Mmh, he was—I don’t know. I fell in love with him. It felt great. You should try loving someone,” Louise smiled.

“Right! What did you get out of it? But it might be a good thing. You smile so often those days.”

“Stop being so unreasonable. Date somebody, love somebody. It’s great.”

Lyms rolled his eyes.

~~~

“James won’t let Peter come with me,” Cyrus said.

“I can come with you,” Diane offered.

“Aunt—I mean, Diane,” he quickly corrected himself. “Would that be okay?”

“You can call me, aunt. Louise and Kate call me that.”

“Really! Don’t you feel weird?” Cyrus laughed.

“Eh! No,” she shrugged, “It’s nice. I can use it against her sometimes.”

“So smart. You registered for my Stats class in fall,” he said, putting some clothes in his bag.

“I know,” Diane sighed, “It was my only option.”

“Ah! I won’t go easy on you. I give a lot of homework,” Cyrus glanced at her in amusement.

“I heard.”

“You’re not happy at all,” he chuckled.

“I hate math,” Diane whined, “I hate school, but my brothers and Louise would be on my tail if I don’t go.”

“Ah! It’s not that bad.”

“Not that bad?” She cried, “I barely survived College Algebra.”

“You’ll be fine,” Cyrus smiled.

“Forget it. I am going to France. I am going shopping,” Diane squealed.

“Is it okay to bring her?”

“Aunt Diane, what’s your GPA?” Kate asked.

“3.2,” she said proudly.

“You can do better.”

“Hey!” Diane yelled, “It isn’t 2.2.”

“So? I think you can do better,” Kate said, rubbing her stomach, “Are you going just for two days. Can’t you wait for her to come back?”

“When are you due?”

“Next month, I think,” she said, laying on her back. “I am so tired. Anyway, why don’t you wait for Louise to come back?”

‘What did she do?’

“If I don’t make it clear to her, she’s going to avoid me for the rest of her life. She might even move to India. Don’t you know how she is?”

“Serve you right,” Diane said, angered that Kate deteriorated her grade point.

“Kate! She was in such a good mood. 3.2 is good,” Cyrus sighed. “Aunt, I’ll buy you something. What do you want?”

~~~

“Do you love my niece?” She questioned in a severe tone. “If you do. Take care of Louise. Don’t make her sad.”

“I love your niece, and I promised to take care of her,” he said.

“Your words don’t mean nothing until you prove it to me,” she said, her eyes focus on him.

“I know.”

“Paris, here I come,” Diane said, “Shopping,” she screamed, her serious expression changed to an exciting and adventurous person. Cyrus blinked and wondered how her attitude could change so quickly.

“You and Louise are definitely niece and aunt. Your attitudes and expression can change so fast,” he mumbled.

“Wait—did you book a flight?”

“Ugh! Why would I offer to go with you? I booked a flight. My suitcase is ready.”

“I’ll call Uncle Claude to pick you from the airport.”

~~~

“I am going to France. I’ll be back later,” Cyrus signed to his siblings.

“You’re going for Cahir?” Tara smiled.

“Yeah!”

“Kate and Peter will be here with you.”

“Don’t worry. Tim and I will take care of Kate and Tara,” Tyler signed, assuring his brother that they could take care of themselves.

“I love you,” Cyrus said.

“We love you too. Be safe.”

~~~

“Why are you shaking so much?” Diane laughed. Cyrus was so nervous. After hearing about Louise’s brother, he didn’t know how he was going to face him. “My nephew won’t do anything to you. He’s way nicer than Louise.”

“Cahir’s gentle,” Cyrus said. “Maybe, I do deserve a punch or two.”

“Louise’s nice? “Sure,” Diane rolled her eyes, “Our ride is here. Let’s go.”

“Get in the car. I’ll deal with you later,” Claude warned. “Vous etes Cyrus?” He turned to Cyrus, giving him a warning smiled. (Are you, Cyrus)?

He nodded. “Salut,” he greeted. (Hi).

“Oh, il parle Francais,” Claude teased.

“No, sir. I only know a little enough to save myself,” Cyrus said.

He learned French on Duolingo for several months and was able to understand things when Louise and Kate spoke. Even so, he wasn’t confident at all. Cyrus hated French. Those silly syntaxes and all.

“Ah, you didn’t tell me he’s British.”

“I am not.”

“You’re not? Australian?”

Cyrus invisibly rolled his eyes. Where he was from didn’t matter to him. What accent he had didn’t matter to him.

“No, I am not Australian, and I am not from Switzerland either,” Cyrus said in annoyance.

“Then, where in the bloody hell are you from?”

“South Africa!”

“Mm,” Claude said, studying Cyrus’s face in the review mirror, “I don’t see it.”

“Mr. Claude, you don’t look Japanese. You don’t even speak it,” Diane commented.

“Non?” He raised his brows at her. “Well, correction. I am half Japanese.”

“He’s also half—which of your parents is African?” Diane asked, to be sure.

“No. We just lived there for ten years.”

“How come you still have an accent?” Cyrus pursed his lips—what kind of question was that? “Don’t answer that!”

~~~

“I can see why Loulou likes him,” Claude said, “He’s handsome.”

“Stop it. Do you think my niece is that kind of person?” Diane asked.

“There’s nothing wrong with that. Cyrus’s also polite,” he smiled.

Cyrus rolled his eyes.

A housekeeper came, taking Diane’s luggage away. Cyrus did not have much, except for a travel bag. He didn’t plan on staying for long.

One of the workers offered to take his back for him, “Monsieur.”

“C’est Bon, merci,” he said. (It’s great, thanks).

“Oh, I am impressed,” Claude clapped.

“Mister Claude. Louise won’t let you off if you keep on teasing him,” Diane advised.

“Stop calling me—”

“Don’t talk!”

“I like you. I’ll tell you something,” Claude approached Cyrus, “Loulou didn’t even cry when that Gabe left. She didn’t cry even when she was training. But you—”

He made her cry. It was not his intention, but he did. Cyrus frowned. “But, if I see her cry a second time. I won’t let you off.”

“That won’t happen—sir.”

“Call me, Claude.”

“Where’s Cahira?” Cyrus finally asked.

“Your mind is filled with that niece of my mine. I like that.”

“Well—that’s my reason for coming here. I am here to pick up my woman.”

“Oh! Your woman? Did I give my permission?” Lyms asked, a punch going to Cyrus’s face. “You made ‘your woman’ cry.”