RAVENS #1: THE DARKNESS

Chapter 19 - Great

Liam Hastington

I've always hated attention, but tonight, I hate when people's attention is on my wife. I can't even count how many men checked her out. They didn't glance at her, but they looked at her from head to toe.

I can't even count anymore.

After we showed them our tickets, they led us to the balcony. We're on the highest floor and have the best view overlooking the stage. The balcony was super private and guarded by two men from the outside. Alyssa, who has always been fascinated by everything, gasped seeing the balcony and how many people showed up to see the musical theatre.

"This is so cool." She whispered.

We still have ten minutes to spare before the show starts.

"How were you able to get these seats?" She asked curiously as she tried to peak who was right beside us.

"I have my ways." I put my hands into my pocket, waiting for her to finish checking everything out. She walked to the seats, and I helped her to sit down slowly.

"Can we go on a date tomorrow?" She asked as if me taking her here was not a date.

"Okay." Her face lit up hearing my answer. I wanted to ask her why she didn't see this as a date. I never take anyone out, let alone try so hard to find tickets.

"I never thought you like watching musical theatre, Liam. I guess we do have something in common." I don't. I didn't like it, but I knew she loved it. She mentioned it before, I think when it was in high school.

"Oh, it's starting!" The show started, and I didn't even bother to watch it. I was busy watching and expressing so many reactions for three hours. She was crying, laughing, giggling, crying again, annoyed, cursing at the plot, and lastly, protesting how some of the characters ended up not getting their happy ending.

I was confused about how someone can have those emotions in one sitting. Only Alyssa Takada can do that.

"Thank you for taking me here." She gave me a peck on my lips and another on my cheek.

We left the balcony and had to queue on our way down. I put my arm around her waist, supporting her body so she won't fall off the stairs since she's fucking clumsy. Some men were staring at her even though their wives were right beside them. I wanted to poke their eyes for even checking Alyssa's out.

And, of course, the woman in my arms was oblivious because she kept blabbering how some of the characters annoyed her. She was busy telling me how she wished they had a different ending.

"Alyssa!" Someone called her name, and we saw two men approaching us. Alyssa slipped out and ran over to them. She gave the two men a big hug, and their hands were on her bare back. One of them even put their hand lower.

I walked over to them, and Alyssa turned to me.

"This is—" I cut her.

"Liam Hastington, Alyssa's hu—"

"High school friend." She cut me, and I raised my eyebrows, looking at her.

"Liam, this is Jimmy and John. They're one of my good friends, and our family was so close back when we lived in San Fransisco." Alyssa was smiling so widely.

"Nice to meet you." Jimmy put his hand out, and I shook it. John also did the same thing.

"You should have moved back to SF, Al. You both could've gotten married by now." John said, pointing to her and Jimmy. Alyssa chuckled, "Maybe next year, I'll visit you there. Let's see if your parents still want me to marry you."

"Of course, they want us to marry. They love you so much, and they were waiting for you to come back from Paris." Jimmy said, and he boldly checked her out. It was clear that this man was interested in her.

"Let's go." I wrapped my arm around her waist, and she turned to me.

"I'll see you boys around."

"Let's have lunch next week," John suggested.

"Sure thing. Text me, and we'll have lunch together before you two return to SF."

For the first time, I wished I had my knives with me. They both were bluntly checking her out, and Alyssa didn't seem to mind about it. Adding the fact they all talked about her marrying Jimmy.

"Liam, you're hurting me." Her voice popped into my bubble of thoughts. I was gripping at her waist too hard. "You're digging your nails into my skin." She pointed out, and I didn't even bother to say anything.

"Do you want to eat dinner?" She asked as we walked out of the theatre. I texted Rocky that we were outside. "We should eat pasta at The Four Seasons restaurant. Can we go there?" And again, I didn't say anything.

"Are you mad at me for being loud while watching the show?"

"No."

"You look scary right now."

"I know."

"Okay." She decided to shut up.

When Rocky came, I opened the door, and she got into the car. I walked to the other side and got in.

"Go to the four seasons, and we'll have dinner there. You can go home after you drop us, Rocky." I said, and Rocky nodded. I turned to Alyssa, and she was already looking out the window.

From the day we got married until this second, she never once falsely introduced me as her husband. She followed the rules that I gave her that she can't tell a soul about our relationship. She also never wore our wedding ring. The only thing she breached was how she always caused trouble and had me clean that trouble up. She also never asked for anything big other than wanting to own turtles.

She's doing everything by the book.

I should be happy that she did, even though she's such a pain in my ass for always hurting herself in one way or another. She needs more attention, and she always needs someone to assist her.

"Let's just go home, Rocky. I'm tired." She said in a sad tone to Rocky.

"You said you want to eat pasta."

"It's fine." Rocky made a U-turn and dropped us home. We went to our condo, and she walked straight to our room. I let out a long sigh and sat in the living room.

She walked out of our room with an oversized hoodie. She made her way to the kitchen and grabbed herself some instant noodles. I saw her silently cook for herself, and I was staring at her with many questions.

"Where do you want to go tomorrow?" I asked since she wanted to go on a date.

"I think I'm going to cancel it. I have lots of work waiting for me." She talked to me with her usual voice, but something about her sentence felt off. She put the noodles into two separate bowls, and gave one to me.

She ate her dinner on the dining table and didn't even bother to talk to me for the rest of the night.

Great.

Just fucking great.