Bittersweet
Eight
Our kiss hadn’t lasted more than a few seconds when we were interrupted.
“Catherine!”
Jerking out of Charles’ grip, I whirled around, eyes widening, to see William, standing accusingly a few feet away.
“Catherine, what are you doing?” he asked, as if it wasn’t painfully obvious. He sounded like he was chastising a little kid.
“Will-William?” I managed. My whole face was burning and I felt as if I looked like a tomato. It seemed that I couldn’t have a moment where my face wasn’t covered in a bright red blush.
What was William doing here? “What are you doing out here? Why aren’t you inside, enjoying the party?” My voice came out pitifully small and weak sounding, making me blush even more, and the fact that Charles’ arm was wrapped tightly around my waist didn’t help to conceal my embarrassment.
“I came out here to see how you were feeling,” he said. “But, it seems, that Charles beat me to the job.” This last part was said with a very un-William-like sneer.
“Catherine was upset, and I was comforting her like any good host would,” Charles said, growing defensive. I was glad that he was there next to me, helping me face William.
“I cannot think of any ‘good host’ who would kiss a girl who is already engaged,” William reminded Charles with a venomous edge to his voice that I’d never heard from him before.
“How do you know that I kissed her?” Charles asked.
“If what you say is true, than she is a filthy, cheating whore, and no one will marry her when word gets out, and I can assure you, word will get out.” William seemed to have misheard or misunderstood Charles' words.
“William, if you don’t want to marry me, you can just say so; you won’t hurt my feelings,” I promised, hoping that was what he was trying to get at, hoping that if William didn’t want me anymore, I could be with Charles.
“Oh, but I do want to marry you, Catherine,” he said, throwing my hopes into the wind.
“Then, why are you threatening me?” I asked, confused.
“I am blackmailing you. If I ever find out that you and Charles have met after tonight, in public or secretly, I’ll tell the whole world what I saw tonight, and both of your reputations will be ruined.” William sounded smug. I wanted to hit him, or spit on him. Anything that would humiliate him like he was humiliating me.
“You saw nothing! It’s dark,” Charles argued angrily, obviously unhappy about William’s threat. “You could have easily seen me giving her a friendly hug.” Charles’ arm around my waist tightened slightly as his stance became more aggressive.
“A friendly hug, Mr. Worthington, does not involve sticking your tongue down her throat! Besides, no one will believe you,” William replied. “People have seen how close you two are; they’ll have no trouble believing their suspicions proven.”
I glanced up at Charles; he looked like he was about to attack William. I was surprised, however, when Charles actually did attack him.
“Catherine!”
Jerking out of Charles’ grip, I whirled around, eyes widening, to see William, standing accusingly a few feet away.
“Catherine, what are you doing?” he asked, as if it wasn’t painfully obvious. He sounded like he was chastising a little kid.
“Will-William?” I managed. My whole face was burning and I felt as if I looked like a tomato. It seemed that I couldn’t have a moment where my face wasn’t covered in a bright red blush.
What was William doing here? “What are you doing out here? Why aren’t you inside, enjoying the party?” My voice came out pitifully small and weak sounding, making me blush even more, and the fact that Charles’ arm was wrapped tightly around my waist didn’t help to conceal my embarrassment.
“I came out here to see how you were feeling,” he said. “But, it seems, that Charles beat me to the job.” This last part was said with a very un-William-like sneer.
“Catherine was upset, and I was comforting her like any good host would,” Charles said, growing defensive. I was glad that he was there next to me, helping me face William.
“I cannot think of any ‘good host’ who would kiss a girl who is already engaged,” William reminded Charles with a venomous edge to his voice that I’d never heard from him before.
“How do you know that I kissed her?” Charles asked.
“If what you say is true, than she is a filthy, cheating whore, and no one will marry her when word gets out, and I can assure you, word will get out.” William seemed to have misheard or misunderstood Charles' words.
“William, if you don’t want to marry me, you can just say so; you won’t hurt my feelings,” I promised, hoping that was what he was trying to get at, hoping that if William didn’t want me anymore, I could be with Charles.
“Oh, but I do want to marry you, Catherine,” he said, throwing my hopes into the wind.
“Then, why are you threatening me?” I asked, confused.
“I am blackmailing you. If I ever find out that you and Charles have met after tonight, in public or secretly, I’ll tell the whole world what I saw tonight, and both of your reputations will be ruined.” William sounded smug. I wanted to hit him, or spit on him. Anything that would humiliate him like he was humiliating me.
“You saw nothing! It’s dark,” Charles argued angrily, obviously unhappy about William’s threat. “You could have easily seen me giving her a friendly hug.” Charles’ arm around my waist tightened slightly as his stance became more aggressive.
“A friendly hug, Mr. Worthington, does not involve sticking your tongue down her throat! Besides, no one will believe you,” William replied. “People have seen how close you two are; they’ll have no trouble believing their suspicions proven.”
I glanced up at Charles; he looked like he was about to attack William. I was surprised, however, when Charles actually did attack him.
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Alright, I know I've been gone FOREVER, but I have a good excuse. Tuesday, I have to get brain surgery. I have a lesion in my brain that has been bleeding, so the doctors want to remove it before it bleeds again. I'll try to update soon, but I don't know when I'll be able to again. Thanks to those of you who are still here, and welcome to any new readers :)