Little Bit of Truth

A house in the midst of planning a wedding is often a house in the midst of chaos. Florists running past the guests, carrying various floral arrangements that would never suit the bride-to-be’s fancy and bakers blowing flour away as they worked hard on bringing a cake that the couple would remember forever would be found running in and out of the house. However, this was not the case for this wedding, Noah noticed.

Stephen and Amber’s wedding was perhaps the most organized event Noah had ever encountered. Everything was already decided and not a single detail was overlooked. Following the previous morning’s conversation at breakfast, Noah attributed this organization to Lillian Barnes. She seemed to be the type of woman who would wish to have everything in order and be in control.

While musing over the eerie stillness of the lighthouse, Noah came across Eliza dressed in a Mickey Mouse t-shirt. A small smile formed on his lips as he walked towards her.

“I like your shirt.” Noah said.

“Everyone likes Mickey.” Eliza answered with a smile.

“I dunno, Luke isn’t much of a Disney fan.” He said with serious tone.

“Luke?” Eliza asked in exasperation. “Why is he such a priss?”

Noah laughed at the small girl’s blunt words. “I dunno, ask him the next time you see him.”

“I plan on it. No one can not like Mickey, he’s too cute for that.” She said with a serious voice. The seriousness soon melted from Eliza’s features as a smile spread across her lips. “Come on, I want to show you something.” She said. Noah followed without question and soon they were climbing a series of staircases before they finally reached the top of the lighthouse and stood at the balcony.

The view from such a height was breathtaking. From one side, Noah saw the forest that stretched out into the state of Maine. In front of him, was the Atlantic Ocean and below him, he saw the water hitting the rocks. Noah turned to see Eliza with a look of content on her face and a genuine smile across her lips.

“I used to come here whenever my parents came to Maine. We never really came because of my father’s job and our constant moving around. However, there would always be a summer every few years that we would come here for a few weeks. I would run up here with Louis and Stephen and we’d pretend we were sailors and this was our….” Eliza suddenly stopped herself.

“Louis? Who’s Louis?” Noah asked.

“No one.” Eliza said even though he was someone, someone quite important.

“Alright.” Noah said knowing there was no chance that Eliza would tell him something unless she was good and ready to do so. “So, a sailor? You’ve certainly got the mouth for one.”

Eliza scowled and Noah laughed. “Now now, Lie, I don’t like the look on your face. You look so much better when there’s a smile on your face.”

Eliza shook her head and started to head towards the exit when Noah caught her hand. “Stay with me Lie. It’s nice up here.”

Eliza looked at Noah and saw his face void of humor. She turned back around and the two of them sat on the wooden floor, their legs hanging over the ledge as the two of them talked of anything and everything. After a while, Lillian crept into their conversation.

“How’s my mother?” Eliza asked.

“She is a lovely woman and now I know where you get your way with people from. She’s almost as friendly as you.” Noah said teasingly.

“She is not lovely and she and I are nothing alike.” Eliza said bitterly.

“Lie, can I ask you something?”

“You just did, Noah.”

“Why did you bring me here?” He asked ignoring her statement.

“I liked it and I thought you would too.” Eliza said frankly.

“No, I mean here, to Maine.”

“Oh. Well, why’d you ask me to be your girlfriend that night at dinner?” She tossed back at Noah.

“Eliza, don’t turn this back to me. You already know why I asked you. I wanted to get Helen to lay off and you seemed like the type of girl who would get Helen away from me.”

“I brought you here because my mother said I needed to bring a date.”

“Why me though?”

“You needed me and I needed you.” Eliza said.

“Is that the only reason?”

“Well, perhaps you seemed like the type who would drive my mother up the wall with just your appearance.” Eliza said.

“So, you brought me here to piss of your mum?” Noah asked.

“You asked me to come with you to piss off Helen, didn’t you?”

“Touché, love.”

“We’re quite the pair, aren’t we?” Eliza asked Noah.

“Between the psycho ex-girlfriend, spiteful mother, constant moving and constant touring we are probably the oddest couple in the world.”

“Fake couple.” Eliza corrected him.

“How could I forget, so in the midst of all that, we are also only pretending to be together.” Eliza and Noah began to laugh and once the first giggle escaped Eliza’s lips, the two of them could not stop themselves.

Eliza and Noah stayed on the balcony until the evening. They watched the sunset and Eliza leaned against Noah and he wrapped his arm around Eliza’s waist.

“Noah, I want you to know, I hate sunsets.”

Noah looked down at the girl curled into his side, her face illuminated by the sun’s glow.

“Why, love? Are they too cliché for you?”

“It’s not that they’re cliché. Each sunset represents an end. The end of a day, the end of a life. I don’t like endings Noah. They scare me. So whenever the sun sets, I look the other way.”

“But Lie, each sunset brings the promise of a new day though. Every time the sun sets, it’s going to rise in a few hours. It’s a perpetual cycle that’s never broken and each sunset promises a sunrise.”

“Sometimes there are sunsets that have no sunrises.” Eliza said bitterly.

Noah looked at the girl and knew she was talking about death. Who could have died that made her so bitter?

“Every sunset has a sunrise, Lie. Sometimes, they’re metaphorical sometimes literal. But even with a death, there is a sunrise. Those that leave us in body live on in soul. They may be physically gone, but in our mind’s they live on. Hope isn’t always lost, Lie.” He said giving Eliza a kiss on the top of her head before looking out to the sunset. No, hope was always there. Hope was what helped people carry on.