Dalila Rose Bennett

“I didn’t know how to be a good boyfriend, I didn’t know how to manage it all at once, and I guess I lost the most important thing to me in the end,” Cole replied. “I tried getting to that reading, just know I did.” Cole took a drink of his champagne. “Uh, the dragons are fine, one is sick though, we’re trying to figure out from what.”

There was a lump in her throat that she swallowed down with the last of her wine. She closed her eyes as he took the change of topic she had offered. There was a tone to his voice that still, despite her wishes, calmed her nerves. “That’s not good. Something you can fix I’m sure?”

“You were always on my radar, everything I did was for you, even though I didn’t show it. You were always on my mind though,” Cole replied. “But I was so scared of destroying everything that I worked for, that maybe I destroyed possibly one of the only good things I had in my life anyway.”

Dalila fell quiet as he spoke, she needed more wine for this. She could feel tears and emotions she didn’t want to deal with. But for once since the break up there wasn’t any anger building up. “It never felt like it. Not once we were out of school, we moved out together and I rarely seen you. I could barely get you to come home for dinner let alone make it to the one thing you promised to be at.” She sighed, shaking her head. “It was always about you, I got lost in the shuffle. I let myself get lost in the shuffle.” She shook her head one more time. “How um, how are your dragons? Still enjoying the sanctuary?” She wanted to change the topic, anything to keep from crying in public.

Cole let out a laugh, it was airy ad sad, but it was there. “I didn’t let things hold me back because I nearly died,” he said. “I was scared, I am scared.” His voice got quiet. “I’ve always been scared. Of doing everything. But I do them because I didn’t want to die without doing them. Coming from a guy who could die pretty easily, I figured I take those chances. But doing things, like what I do, well that’s me, and I’m not me if I don’t do them. I guess maybe that’s the real reason I told you I couldn’t take off from my job, because without it, I wouldn’t be me, and you didn’t deserve that. It would be like if you took away the books from you, that’s just, well, not you.”

“But you were me...you were everything to me and had you asked me, no when you asked me to be there, where ever it was for you I was there. That’s....that’s all I wanted.” Dalila replied, her words paused and rushed all at once. She sighed, brushing a loose strand of hair from her face. “I never asked you not to be you...All I wanted was to at least be apart of you. To be on your radar.” 

“And you always look nice in a ball gown, well you look nice in everything,” He replied. “I think she just wants us to be happy, or she does it without meaning to. Though this whole crowd situation is a mess for my anxiety.” He leaned against the wall. “You always made me feel like I could conquer anything with you.” He sighed. “I guess I didn’t realize how much I needed that till you were gone.”

Dalila went quiet for a moment at his words, leaning next to him on the wall after a moment. “You’re kidding me right? Me? Who would rather be reading a book than living the story?” She shook her head. “No, no you are the adventurous one. Never letting things hold you back.” 

Cole let out a small laugh, most of it into his glass. “I’m not drunk enough to deal with everything right now,” he replied. “Ember was the one who told me this would be fun.”

“I swear she just likes to torture us.” Dalila joked with a shake of her head as she grabbed another glass from a passing waiter. “You look good, all cleaned up like that. I always did like how you looked in a suite.” She complemented, a little more tipsy than she had originally thought.

“God, it’s like you’re everywhere now,” Cole said knocking into Dalila, slightly thankful he didn’t spill his drink on her. He was tipsy, so it was no surprise that he was speaking to Dalila with no sign of anxiety. If he wasn’t drinking, he’d be a huge ball of anxiety just being in the room with this many people. Cole looked her up and down, and he was absolutely speechless, he thought she was gorgeous, and he didn’t know what to say.

@dalilarosebennett

Dalila nearly spit her own drink out at the sight of him. “Cole? What...what are you doing here?” She asked, before looking at her glass and finishing it off. She was going to need a better buzz than she had going. “I’m going to kill your sister for not tell me you were coming.”