It seemed like she'd always been a part of me, like she was half of my soul, like we were made of each other. Like her presence would never leave me even though we were going to part ways, like she was indeed the air that I needed to breathe.
If one thought that the words she'd uttered just now were crazy, what would they think of me thinking that I would die without her?
A lunatic?
Cassie shook her head in disbelief, a scoff leaving her mouth as she stared down at her feet—she probably had just realized how strange her words sounded.
"Ignore that. I'm crazy." Awkwardly, she turned to the souvenirs again.
Fuck with that. We're indeed crazy, Cassie. We're crazy about each other.
I hugged her from behind as she tried to shift her attention away from me, focusing on the accessories. I breathed against her throat before placing multiple soft kisses on her cheek and neck, ignoring other people who were staring at us dreamily.
Maybe some of them thought that we were a young newlywed couple who were visiting Hallstatt for our honeymoon.
But being together with Cassie behind my parents' backs would only repeat Victor's and Emily's tragedy. Cassie didn't deserve that.
I couldn't imagine what my parents would think and do if they found out that I was considering a girl in the midst of this chaos.
I should focus my mind on building our family's business back up from ruins. I couldn't do that if Cassie came into the picture now.
I needed to focus.Fuck.
And then there was Josephine and her family, who would only add fuel to the disaster.
But I knew that running away would only bring more pain to everybody. I would not run away from my family.
Neither would I run away from Cassie. Frommyself.
I wasn't ready to be with her now, but that didn't mean that I wouldn’t ever be ready for her.
As I placed my palm on her chest, I could feel Cassie’s heart thumping just as wildly as mine did against her back.
Something on the souvenir shop’s counter caught my attention.
"Can we have those two?" I asked the old man who owned the shop.
He took out a set of couple rings from the display and put them in front of us with a warm smile on his face.
Cassie glanced at me, frowning, wondering about what I was going to do.
There before our very eyes stood a set of couple rings. The one for the woman was significantly smaller and thinner than the other.
They were made of metal, with mini skyscrapers forming the band and a small blue stone in the middle of each of them.
Ironically, the skyscraper miniatures on both rings felt like two different cities and somehow gave the vibe of a long-distance relationship.
I should have doubted that the rings would even fit our fingers, but I had a strong gut feeling that they would. If they did, I would take back all of my harsh and sarcastic comments regarding those fucking terrible movies highlighting the existence of soulmates.
I took the smaller ring and slowly slid it around Cassie'sfinger—she froze on the spot. After placing the other ring on my finger, I silently cursed again.
Fuck. They fit.
I might have cursed too much for a person who should be grateful to God. Sincerely, I hoped that He would not change His mind about this fucking soulmate destiny, fate or whatever He preferred to call it for me and Cassie.
"I'll take these," I said to the shop owner.
After paying for our rings, I dragged Cassie out of the shop and toward a corner of the street where it was less crowded.
