“Sure,” he replied, his fingers nervously tapping on the laptop he was holding. He set it down on a nearby table, his mind wrestling with the language of revelation. How do you tell someone that their fairy tale might have a darker subplot?
Every second that passed was a drop in the ocean of eternity, and yet, those moments felt incredibly pressing, as if time itself was holding its breath, awaiting his words. He opened the laptop, but before he could turn it towards her, he looked into Anna’s eyes. She looked eager and maybe even a little worried, like she really wanted to understand what was going on.
Oliver’s hand wavered over the touchpad, the arrow on the screen hovering over the file that contained the damning—or exonerating—evidence. “What if I’m wrong?”, he thought, “What if my suspicions are just figments of an overactive imagination?”.
Just as he was about to click the file open, a booming voice filled the room: “Ladies and gentlemen, could we have your attention, please? Time for a toast to the newlyweds!”. The castle erupted in applause and the clinking of glasses, cutting through the thick tension between Oliver and Anna like a knife.
“Cheers,” Anna mouthed softly, raising her glass in his direction. Her hand was steady, but her eyes betrayed a glint of hesitance, as if questioning whether a toast could really wash away the weight of the unspoken.
“Cheers,” Oliver echoed, lifting his glass in a shaky hand. He took a sip, the bubbly liquid failing to wash away the lump in his throat. His gaze returned to the laptop, now dark as it had gone into sleep mode, its screen a black void that seemed to mirror his own internal conflict.
His hand still hovered over the touchpad, thoughts whirling. “Am I doing the right thing? Should I just let it go?”
As the applause and cheers continued to fill the castle, Oliver and Anna found themselves being swept up in the moment, walking towards the gathering of jubilant guests. Each step they took felt like a temporary escape from the gravity of their private conversation, yet the tension between them remained, hanging in the air like an invisible cloud.
“Cheers,” Anna said more audibly this time, lifting her glass high as they joined the crowd. Her smile was radiant but reserved, as if a part of her was still back in that dimly lit room, entangled in the mystery Oliver was about to unravel.
