Chapter 199 - One Hundred And Ninety-nine.

Opening her eyes she gasped as she recognised the man in front of her. It was her cousin and best friend Elijah!

"Oh my.." she whispered looking at him. "Is it you.."

"Naah," he denied. "I'm just so pretty that you are dreaming of me even after five years since we last met." He replied sarcastically.

"Shut up!" She hit his shoulder. "come here." She raised her arms and hugged him close and he did, just as tightly.

"I missed you." He said slowly. "So much."

She smiled and replied. "I know, I did too." She tightened her hold on him.

Elijah had been her go-to a friend for everything. They were very close and he was in her maternal side but after the death of her aunt and his mother, his father had moved away for a better job opportunity and which would eventually provide him with a better educational opportunity.

After that, they had gradually fallen out of contact. The time difference and their individual lives had pulled them apart.

He pulled back and smiled. "I'm so happy to run into you."

She laughed delightfully and nodded. She was too. Her full toothy smile was a symbol of that. 

Pulling apart and shoving their hands down in their pockets, both of them looked ahead at the scenery in front of them. Alexis felt her spirits being lifted and the mood became delighted. She had never imagined running into her favourite family member when she was running from life itself.

"How have you been?" She asked in a soft voice still looking ahead.

"I..uh.." he sighed. "Dad died two years ago but I am coming through it and as for the rest, I mean career-wise, I am at a good place." He sighed. 

"Ah.." she nodded. "I didn't know about that."

He nodded. "Dad wanted it that way. He had brought us to Switzerland so that he could distance from the other family members as he did not feel the same after my mother died. So for the funeral ceremony we had a small gathering, it was according to his wishes. in his last moments he was with people that he could trust and the ones that were real."

She smiled a little at that. "I remember that. Uncle John was a person who I always loved listening to. I love it when he said that if you cannot trust people around you then it is better to live alone. I remember when he said, a lone wolf might not be as powerful as the one with a pack but he is a wolf nonetheless." She glanced at him with a smile. "That is the only lesson I have considered throughout my life."

"I'm glad." He muttered looking sullen and it depressed her a little.

Silence washed over them once again. But this time it felt uncomfortable for her. She glanced around the world laid bare of her but her mind was occupied but the fact that her cousins were sitting right next to her and-

"You got married." She turned around and saw him looking at her lap.

"Oh yes," she muttered picking up her hand and showing him the ring. "It's been ten months." She smiled a little.

"Ah," his hand left the ring and came to her face. Staring at her face he nodded as a finally understanding something. "Ten months of marriage and you still are not excited and giddy as a new bride?" He asked. "That is quite surprising."

"There is nothing to be surprised about in it. Sometimes you just get tired of seeing the face of one human over and over again." She muttered looking away. Or that person trying to assert his dominance and power in one way or the other.

"Yes, I am sure. That must be the reason that you got married right?" He Sarcastically said and called her out. "Is it not working?"

"It's fine working fine." She said stiffly and hurriedly. "Everything is fine." She repeated.

"Is it? Is there nothing interesting about your husband or four married life? We have been sitting here for almost 20 minutes and I noticed the ring on your finger instead of you telling me about your marriage." He pointed it out.

"Yes, so what?" She rebuked irritatedly as her eyebrows raised. "I am not a stupid person to go to everyone and tell them, hey I got married! Do you want to see the ring?" She said in a shrieking high pitched voice.

He made a horrified face at that. "No please do not, please not you in that, especially, in the god awful voice." He immediately shut her down. "Seriously why would you even talk like that?"

She huffed feeling tired already. "I do not usually talk like that or at all. I have been finding myself fighting people since the time I woke up."

He asked in a soft voice, "who'd you fight?" 

"A friend." Wincing, she corrected herself. "I mean a former friend. there is no way that she would still want to be my friend after the way I yelled at her."

He smiled and huffed, "If she could not stay around even know the reason for the fight then I believe she was not a true friend. A good friend would stick around no matter what and how many times he has pushed away."

"I yelled at her badly." She sniffed. "I have never yelled at someone like that with so much hatred that I did not even have for her." She could feel her tears coming.

"That is ok. Maybe it was your period responsible?" He raised his hands in surrender immediately after saying it. "Don't mind me, I was just saying."

"No, it's not that." She denied. "I believe, I need to make amends with her."

"You should. If you feel the need to, then you definitely should." He agreed. "And if you want, you can tell me about the marriage that has been eating you."

"Eating me?" She Laughed.

"Yes," he lightly punched her arm. "I can see it, whenever I'll talk about something else you get happy, there's a shine in your eyes but when I bring back the topic of marriage, you look like you are dead inside."

She smiled a little and looked down. Maybe a good talk was what she needed.

Looking up at him she smiled, "Here goes nothing."