The Touch

ABBY

Dad settled for only two days' funeral.  I'm wearing white instead of black, showing that I'm not here to mourn. I'm here to celebrate her life, her legacy, and she may be gone, but she will always remain in my heart. I don't recognize most of the people who pay her respect. I hate every word they said.

Wreaths are everywhere in different colors, designs, and sizes. From politicians, movie industries, charity organizations, businessmen, and powerful people have arrived. Some stayed long and some leave immediately.

I kept my head down. Dad wants me to keep it that way, and he wants me to have a normal life away from the scrutiny of public eyes. I know one day I can't stay in my loophole forever. One day the world will know me.

I want to go home, and I feel sick in here. I don't like attention, and this is the reason why I am who I am today. It changed my whole life forever. I spotted Dad talking to one of his friends.

"Dad, I can have a moment with you, please?" The couples look at me with sadness in their eyes. My eyes widen when I look at them. They must be Seb's parents--he resemblance. Seb's got his hair and eyes from his father, and his nose and lips are from his mom. They're both tall and fit, and his mom has dimples too.

"You must be Abby?" before I can answer, Mrs. Hughes tackles me to a hug, and she starts to sniff.

"The last time I saw you, you were still so young, and now look at you now. You grow up to be a beautiful young woman. Catie must be so proud of you." I give her a tight smile but I can't remember I met her before.

"Thank you for coming here today," I say politely.

The next thing I know Mr. Hughes is next giving me a bear hug, then Dad excuses us both.

"What is it, pumpkin?" Dad gloomy eyes bear into me, and he holds my arms.

"Dad, first, I'm not a kid anymore, and stop calling me pumpkin in front of people. You can start calling me by my name, please?"

"Sweetheart, you will always be my baby girl. Old or not, you'll always be my pumpkin."

"Dad, it's annoying, you know." I look down at my shoes.

"You don't want me to call you in front of Seb and his parents or you don't want me to call you pumpkin at all. It seems that my daughter has grown up."

I roll my eyes. "Dad, we're at mom's funeral. What is it with Seb and his family? I did mention people, Dad."

"I love you, pumpkin."

I wrinkle my nose. Before I forget what I'm going to tell him, I hold his hands.

"Sweetheart, if this is about the eulogy, you don't have to. I will never force you when you're not ready for something like this. I understand that you don't know most of these people. The truth is, you never met 90% of them before. I've been keeping you safe for a long time, and I'm a little bit paranoid when it comes to your safety, and I can't jeopardize it for just a few minutes. For all I know, they might be somewhere near us. Don't trust anyone here. I lost your mom already, and I don't wanna lose you too."

"You'll never lose me again, I promise. You're the only family I have left. I can't afford to lose another one, too. I love you, Dad."

I get back to my seat. I smell the familiar scent from yesterday, and the tingling sensation spread throughout my body faster than I can hold my breath, and now it's spreading between my thighs. I know he's closer to me. I kept reminding myself that I'm at my mother's funeral, and I feel like an empathetic bitch for having this feeling.

I have a lot of issues to handle than to give attention to this tension between me and him.

I don't socialize with people, but when he is near me, it feels like there's a promise that everything will be okay. I know this is crazy, and I don't know anything about him. And the million-dollar question is, does he feel the same towards me? Definitely not. Absolutely not.

Get a grip, Abby. For God's sake.

My palms start to sweat. Drew is glaring at me, but I cut him with I-am-okay-look. I move closer to Drew just to lean my head on his shoulder, but before it happens, someone sits beside me--the same person I'm trying to avoid--the same person that sends a shiver down my spine, takes my breath away, makes my lips dry, and gives me a fluttering feeling in my stomach.

"You okay, Abby?" He must have noticed my discomfort. He looks at me and searches for something on my face, "You look so pale. You need to rest. Did you even sleep or eat before coming over here?"

I can't help but look at him, and I have swallow hard. "Y-yeah. I'm...um. I'm fine." Way to go, Abby.

He touches my forehead, but I'm still looking at him in the eye. Holy hell, it feels so good to feel his hand on me, and I feel suddenly cold before I can enjoy the feeling.

"You don't have a fever." He scans my face.

"Do you happen to be a physician as well?" I regret it as soon as I blurt it out, and I know my best friend is listening.

"I don't need to be a doctor to figure out if you have a fever."

"Whatever, smartass."

He just chuckles. "Seriously, Abby. You need to get home and rest. You still have tomorrow to pay respect to your mom. I'm sure she wouldn't be happy to see you like this."

"See me like what?" I raise my eyebrow. "What does suppose to mean? That I look like shit? Well, thank you for your honesty, Mr. Honorable". Now I can see the hint of a smile on his lips.

Way to shoo the devil away.

He doesn't have an idea what his presence does to me, or he's just used to women batting their lashes at him. He has no clue that he is the reason why I feel like crap.

"Hush. Show some respect. Keep your voice low. What I mean is you need to rest. You've been in hell these two days. You don't have to stay here all the time. You need your strength." He pauses then looks me in the eye. Then he drops his gaze to my lips and lifts back to my eyes.

"You're far from looking like shit. If you look like shit right now, then I don't know how everyone looks like."

Don't believe him, Abby. He probably said that to all the women when he wanted to get into their panties.

"Let me talk to your dad so that you can go home. Did you come here together with Drew?" he asks.

"You don't have to do this. Why are you even doing this anyway?"

"Doing this? This is the right thing to do. I guess. Be a gentleman." He shrugs.

" Gentleman? Hah!"

"I know I'm an ass sometimes. Okay, scratch that. I'm an ass most of the time, but I'm just trying to help you, and your dad will worry more when you're sick. He has a lot on his plate right now, Abby."

I guess he's just trying to help. 

Seb asks my best friend, "Drew, I'm sending Abby home. Are you planning to stay longer, or are you coming with us?"

"Wait. You said you'll send me home, and why are you coming with me?"

"Yeah. I will send you home myself and go home after that."

"You don't have to bother yourself. I'm sure you have a lot of things to do. I will call my driver."

"Stop it, Abby. You can't push me away all the time. We're going together, and that's final. I promise I don't bite unless you want."

I glare.

"Jeez, Abby. I'm just kidding."

"You can go with him, Abby. I'll stay here for a while with your dad."

Wow! My BFF is now betraying me. I throw him a what-is-going-on-with-you look, but he just smiles at me. Traitor!

After bidding goodbye to Dad, I follow Seb to the parking lot and head home.