~ Four ~-2

The cousins pulled away from each other and Zarkos noticed Evandros. "Oh, agapiméni, your former tutor's already back!" he said, turning to Phoebe. She became speechless as she tried to catch the eyes of the man in front of them. "Mr. Xenakis, welcome back to Athens," Zarkos said, offering a palm to Evandros. Both men shook each other's hands. "Thank you, Mr. Rozena," Evandros stated, managing himself to be calm. "He is my date tonight, Zarkos," Deianira boasted to her cousin. Zarkos gave in a laugh. "Hope you take it seriously this time, Deia." "If my méli takes me seriously, why not?" the woman commented, clinging much harder to Evandros' arm. Evandros saw Phoebe's facial reaction. Her expression became sour as she stared at him now. There was a hint of anger and blame in her stare. He almost couldn't bear it. "Uh, moró, let's go find Mamá and Ba-ba. I'm sure they're also looking for me now," Phoebe suggested. Her parents were also attending the party and both arrived earlier than her. Actually, it was her way of finding time to stay away from Evandros. His presence had been torturing her to death. Before the two pairs of couples separated, Phoebe caught one last gaze at Evandros. He gave her a gaze of the same intensity. ♢♢♢♢♢♢♢ It was a cocktail party so there was drinking and dancing. Phoebe wasn't with herself the whole night. Even in front of Zarkos' parents, she wasn't really herself and she had started to hate herself. She had been thinking about her Ros, which everybody loved to call Evan, and it pained her to realize that, as of the moment, their only means of communication was those stolen glances and stares all through out the evening. Once in the night, she went to her father and she learned he was talking to Ros, their eyes seemed to be their only way of talking to each other while her dad was around. It was definitely hard for her... until she decided to leave the two men and went back to Zarkos' company. Phoebe had been dancing with Zarkos and she felt she was about to faint from it. At last, she managed to excuse herself from the crowd and found herself walking towards one of the dimly lit balconies. She wanted to be alone for a while. Gasping air to breath and running for her life, she reached the deserted balcony only to bump herself to a man's chest. She looked up and perceived it was him. Why did she have to bump with him twice today? Were the fates playing with the two of them? Just like this morning, Ros caught her body by his arms and brought her to an embrace. However, unlike this morning, the embrace stayed longer this time. The man seemed to have no intention of breaking it off. Evandros had been staying in a balcony alone when he saw that she had been dancing with Zarkos. He couldn't just take it anymore. If not because of Deianira whom he needed to send home tonight, he must have gone ahead. Thus, he just went to some place where he could at least inhale some air. As he was about to go back to the ballroom, a soft and warm body brushed against him. Instantaneously, by her smell, he knew who she was. "Phoeb..." he whispered as he embraced her. She refrained herself from talking to him. She didn't answer. She wanted to push him but she was surprised that she just remained still. She wanted to hug him back. "Phoebe..." he called her again, wishing she would at least talk. A teardrop appeared in the corner of her eye as her face leaned on his chest. One minute, two minutes, they remained just like that. They didn't move, just feeling each other. "Ros..." At last, she found the courage to call him again by this name. When he heard this, Evandros embraced her even more. "H-How are you doing, Phoeb?" Realizing that she had let herself be carried away by her forbidden emotions, she spoke out, "P-Please, let me go." He didn't, however. "Release me now, please," she begged. "If you tell me you're okay, I'll release you," he said. I'm not okay. I'll never be okay. She wanted to tell him. "I'm getting married now," she said instead. She knew he had been informed of this already but she just needed to tell him this personally. "I know," he mumbled, placing his chin on her head. "You're okay with it, right?" She closed her eyes. How could she be okay with it? How could marrying someone you didn't love even be okay? However, as much as she wanted to tell him this, her mind brought her to the past. He left her. He just left... just like that. "Of course, I'm okay with it. Why shouldn't I be okay with it? Zarkos was my childhood crush, remember? And this is what everybody likes, right? Being Ba-ba's trustee, you know very well how important is this union, right?" Slowly, he let go of her body. "Yes, it's the best thing for you, for the family, and for the company." Feeling a lump in her throat and seeing pain in his eyes, Phoebe stepped back. "I n-need to go now..." and she turned around. She needed to go now. Evandros caught her arm. "Wish we could still be friends..." She closed her eyes. Wish... not hope... Because it was hopeless. Because they both knew the impossibility of the situation. Bringing themselves together would just even break them more. It would be better to stay this way and treat each other as strangers in front of the crowd. "You're right. It's impossible now, isn't it?" she stated, looking now at him, with tears in her eyes. How he wished he could brush those glistening liquid that roll down her cheeks! A lump was formed in his throat. He felt it was the biggest lump ever that he could choke. With pain and hatred in her heart, she walked out from him.