Chapter Thirty

Victoria's POV

I stretched the paper forward and the pastor took it from my hands, unfolding it and scanning through it.

He nodded and tucked it into a file on his desk. "Okay, you two are on your merry way to marriage." He clapped his hands cheerfully with a smile on his face.

I forced on a smile and glanced at Miles, he was forcing a smile too.

The pastor's smile dropped, "is everything okay?"

I nodded, "yes of course."

While having to go to the church regularly for meetings and all that, they had also requested a few tests here and there and I had forgotten about the Pregnancy test back then so I just recently got one done and thankfully I wasn't pregnant. The morning after pill worked but if not for this test, I'm very sure that I would be getting paranoid now because my period is late.

It's been almost a month since Andrew left and everything was going as planned.

"Are you sure, you two don't look like everything is fine. You haven't in a while," he sat back in his chair and studied both Miles and I.

"Pastor everything's fine, just wedding nerves and all that." Miles said this time and I nodded in agreement.

He looked at both of us a moment longer before he nodded, "besides that." He leaned forward, "is there anything that you guys may want to talk about? I've sensed it all this while, I just didn't want to talk about it but of recent there has been this nagging in my spirit to ask, so I'm asking now, is there anything at all?"

I looked at Miles and he looked at me. I didn't know if it was okay to tell him and even if I did, there's really nothing he can do.

"It's nothing that you can really help us with," Miles said in he most polite way.

"So there is something," the pastor nodded. "If you can't talk to me at least pray about it."

I nodded.

"Okay, you two are free to go, and remember, pray about it or talk to someone about it." He sat back in his chair once again and Miles and I took that as our cue to leave. "And after the Christmas and New Years break, remember to still come back. Complements of the season," he added.

"Complements of the season sir," Miles and I said at the same time before we walked out of the office and the building.

As we both sat in Miles' car, the silence between us couldn't be missed. Surely our friendship didn't return to the way it was, no matter how hard we tried. It always ended up in some kind of sexual tension so we just stopped trying, maybe one day things might return to normal.

Christmas is in two days and on Christmas night, both our families are going to have dinner together, Ana excluded, since the wedding has been shifted then there was no need for her to come already.

The dinner is going to be in replacement of the Introduction/Traditional Marriage, since I don't want to go through all the cultural rights. Though the wedding isn't until a month but like I said, a replacement.

Both our mothers found a way to force us to have to wear matching outfits. Ana didn't do the cultural engagement and me not doing it too, I'm sure it's a way for her to have that little experience.

I still don't know how Miles and I are going to act like there isn't an obvious gap between us because everyone still thinks that nothing is wrong meanwhile something is.

"See you tommorow?" Miles asked as he parked the car.

We're to go pick our clothes from the tailor tommorow. "Yeah, goodnight Miles," I said before stepping down from the car but before I could close the door, Miles called my name and I turned to look at him.

He opened his mouth to speak but closed it again. "I... "

He trailed off and I got back into the car, ready to hear what he wanted to say. "You what Miles?" I pushed.

He closed his eyes for a second, "you know what, never mind, sorry for bothering you."

I wanted to push for answers but I decided against it and got down from the car, "goodnight."

"Goodnight," he called before I closed the door.

***

I sat in my living room, already getting impatient. Miles was supposed to pick me up ten minutes ago but he hasn't showed up already. We're already late and I just hate being late.

With a huff I stood up and took my car keys, ready to drive there myself but my phone rang just on time, Miles was calling.

I dropped the key back and walked out of the house, making sure I locked the door behind me.

"What took you so long?" I asked as I climbed inside the car.

"Sorry, I lost track of time," he dropped his phone in the coffee holder.

I looked at him and I noticed he had bags under his eyes. "You haven't been sleeping?" I noted.

"No," he answered.

I was expecting him to lie but he didn't, his honesty throwing me back for a second.

"I'm fine Victoria, don't bother." He stopped me from asking the obvious question of why.

I didn't take my eyes off him, trying to figure out what exactly was wrong with the man. Apart from the obvious stress of the wedding, what exactly could be the problem. I was still worried about him even though we weren't as close as before.

"Can you stop looking at me?" He snapped, slamming his hand on the steering wheel.

I flinched and eyef him before taking me eyes off him and to the road, not saying anything as I sat back.

After a moment of silence, he sighed heavily, running his hand through his hair and messing it up a bit. "I'm sorry, I've just been having a bad day."

I shook my head, I wasn't exactly angry but he said I shouldn't meddle, and I won't. "It's fine, I understand."

The rest of the car ride was silent and when he finally pulled up at my parents house, he got down from the car and quickly came to my side, opening the door for me.

At least that's one thing he didn't stop doing and my stupid heart can't stop skipping a beat at that. "Thank you," I said as I got down from the car.

His hair was still in a slight mess from ruffling it so I held his arm and stopped him from walking, reaching to touch his hair.

"Can I?" I paused to look at him.

We were awfully close and my second hand was still holding his arm so I released my grip on him and helped him to arrange his hair.

I could feel his intense gaze on my face as I helped him. I refused to look anywhere but his hair because I didn't want anything to mistakenly happen.

"There," I tucked the last lock into place and dropped my hand, making the mistake of looking at his face.

Since I was wearing heels, probably six inches, my forehead was directly in front of his lips. His gaze flickered to my lips before they slowly travelled to my nose and then to my eyes, locking with mine.

My heart was beating rapidly in my chest and I dared not look away from his eyes, scared that I would look at his lips. I couldn't move, his gaze pinning me in place.

No words were spoken between us, just eye contact. He started leaning in and that did it,I took a step backwards and in the process lost my footing, I knew I was going to hit the ground but his strong arms wrapped around my waist, keeping me from disgracing myself.

He helped me stand straight but his hand still remained on my waist and my hands that had gripped him for support was still holding unto him.

This way I could feel his body heat more, his chest almost pressed against mine. I felt him leaning in again and this time it was like I couldn't move but before he could get close enough, I heard my name causing both of us to look behind.

"Aren't you coming inside!" Mum yelled since the car was parked a little far from the house.

"Yeah!" I called back and waited for her to go inside before I looked at Miles. This time there was some distance between us. "We should probably head inside," I said to him before walking away from him, seconds after, I heard his footsteps behind me.

***

Miles!!

I think I have a thing for updating at odd hours of the night. It's currently past 11 p.m.

Q: Are you a night owl or a morning person?

Me, definitely night owl. Comment your answer.

Hit that star down there to vote and make me a really happy girl. Comment your thoughts and share!

Lots of love to every single one of you ♥️