Since Alan had only informed Viola that we’d be going out for a bit, he contacted her and told her that we would be out all night so she wouldn’t worry. I knew that she was worried for me right about now. I wanted to see Viola but Alan entered a bar that his acquaintance managed, and so I followed him inside. The two of us sat down next to each other at the counter.
Not only was it a membership-based bar, but it was also quite early in the night. So we were the only customers in the establishment, which had a calm atmosphere.
“I know it’s a bit late now to ask you this, but are you able to drink alcohol?” Alan asked.
“I can’t hold my liquor so I can’t drink a lot of it.”
“All right. It’s not something you have to push yourself to drink.”
With that, Alan ordered wine for himself, along with iced tea for me. I stared at his face, which was so beautiful it was akin to a sculpture, and I once again found this whole situation to be very strange. I’d met Alan several times in my youth, but Viola was always there next to us. This was the first time we spoke to each other alone.
“Thank you for waiting. Oh, you’re not alone today, I see,” a man said as he carried two glasses to us.
“Yeah.”
“I’ve not seen a face as handsome as yours in a very long time, barring Lord Alan’s, of course. Please enjoy your stay.”
“Thank you very much.”
The man smiled, dipped his head, and then disappeared into the back. I picked up my iced tea and clinked the glass against Alan’s when he tilted his at me.
We spent about two hours chatting and drinking. Even so, silence reigned more often than not. From an outsider’s point of view, we must’ve looked like we were on terrible terms. However, it was not a painful way to spend the night at all, strangely enough.
On the other hand, Alan had been throwing back drinks at a very fast pace. It looked like he was trying to get drunk. The skin around his narrow eyes was red.
“Viola is the apple of my eye... I think of her as my adorable little sister,” he said after a long while, his wine glass in hand. “I still can’t forget the first time I saw her.”
After that, Alan started to tell me about his past with Viola. Apparently, when he was a child, his closest friend betrayed him in an extremely hurtful manner. On top of that, nothing in his life went well at all and he ended up closing himself off from the rest of the world. It was during that time of his life that he first met Viola, who was still a baby.
“I thought she was an angel,” Alan continued. “My brother said that she didn’t smile a lot but as soon as Viola saw me, she did. The moment I saw that, all of my troubles disappeared from my mind.” He narrowed his eyes as if remembering a treasured memory. His expression when he did so was unbearably gentle. “She was the sweetest thing. The moment I touched her little hand, I knew I would do everything in my power to protect her.”
I could tell from his tone just how important Viola was to him. And I knew that Viola greatly valued Alan’s presence as well. She’d told me about him many times in the past and she always looked so happy when she reminisced about him. It was to the point that I was deeply jealous of Alan.
“I still haven’t accepted you, nor have I forgiven you. No matter how things are now, the truth still remains that your words and actions hurt Viola in the past.”
“Yes...”
He was absolutely correct. Because of my personal failings, I ended up hurting Viola. Since he saw the damage I caused up close, it was understandable that he would find me unforgivable and hate me. Eventually, still with his glass in hand, Alan turned to look at me.
“Even so, it was clear from today that Viola likes you very much. It’s truly aggravating, but I want to respect Viola’s feelings. So I won’t say anything more on this matter. Besides, I lost our duel.” After that last sentence, Alan shrugged his shoulders lightly.
“Thank you...very much...”
“I’m not saying this for your sake. Also, Viola’s happy smile was just too cute.” After he said that, he drained the remaining wine from the glass. I picked up the wine bottle next to me and poured some more for him. For some reason, he said, “You’re even good at pouring wine. Pisses me off. Anyway, when did you start liking Viola?”
“Ever since I can remember.”
“And you’ve liked her since then?”
“Yes.”
I answered him honestly and Alan laughed as if I told him a joke. I’d seen him multiple times since I was a boy, but this was my first time seeing him smile like this.
“I’m impressed at your resilience! Viola hated you so much.”
I couldn’t say anything in response. Even now, after she reciprocated my feelings, it seriously hurt to hear someone say that Viola used to despise me. There were still many things in our past that pained me to remember. Upon seeing my expression, Alan smiled, his lips forming a beautiful crescent.
“Ever since Viola was a kid, she’d always tell me that she loves me. We went out together many times, and she used to beg me to give her hugs.”
I remained silent.
“There were a few times when I was heading out the door, only for her to latch onto my leg and beg me not to go.”
I still remained silent. Alan looked proud and victorious. To tell the truth, I felt like I was going to implode from sheer jealousy. I thought back on my past relationship with Viola and compared my memories to Alan’s, then my shoulder slumped. He slapped his hand against my back and laughed.
“Man, this feels great. Maybe, just maybe, I’ve grown to like you a little bit.”
“I’m glad to hear it...”
After that, he continued to brag about his memories with Viola. He poured some more tea in my empty glass and then sighed. “I wanna see Viola. She’s so cute.”
It felt like I was watching myself and how I usually acted, there was an odd sense of familiarity.
“List what you think is cute about Viola,” Alan demanded.
“That she gets embarrassed so easily, but she always bites her lip and pretends that she’s fine.”
“Oh, I agree.”
“The way she clenches her fists and her ears get all red when she’s genuinely happy.”
“I agree. The way she rubs her eyes with both hands when she’s sleepy like she’s a child is also very cute.”
“Oh, yeah.”
For the longest time, I worried that saying these things out loud would creep people out so I kept my feelings about Viola buried in my chest. But now, I was able to discuss them with someone who understood. It was more fun than I’d ever imagined and I was so happy to finally share these thoughts with someone. It seemed that the feeling was mutual for Alan, and I could feel a bond forming between us.
For the rest of the night, we continued to talk about just how cute and precious Viola was.