She had been in a hurry when she headed out in the morning.
Without paying much attention to the weather, she grabbed a jacket and left her house; apart from that,
she had not intended on staying outside for long.
"Let’s grab a cup of coffee!"
He suggested, "I don’t want to."
She had too much to eat at lunch.
"Let’s just walk!"
"Sure."
With his jacket on her shoulders, she could sense his scent penetrating into her as he occupied her
thoughts. If the man next to her wasn’t Elliot, she would definitely not remain out in the cold wind.
"You have misunderstood me the last time we spoke on the phone," he said, breaking the silence.
"I didn’t mention Shea to evade the topic.I was sad that you said that."
Avery’s heart settled down at his low, husky voice, though she might have argued with him had he
mentioned this on the phone.
"Why did you mention Shea then? Elliot, we aren’t kids anymore and I don’t enjoy guessing around."
She raised her leg and kicked at a small rock on the roadside.
She had forgotten that she was wearing heels and stumbled, so she frantically grabbed onto his arm to
steady herself and he immediately wrapped his arm around her.
Their faces were inches away from one another, close enough to easily read the emotions in each
other’s eyes.
"Are your feet okay?"
He swallowed hard and asked in a hoarse voice.
She immediately shoved his arm away and shook her head after regaining her balance.
"Should be."
"Let’s go get coffee."
After a moment of hesitation, he started looking around for a cafe.
"I don’t want coffee, Elliot."
She stood still and stared at his back.
"If this was the past and you wanted coffee when I didn’t, I might have compromised, thinking that I can
make you happy by obeying you on small things like that; but now, I don’t want to obey you against my
will any longer."
He was stunned by her words.
The reason he insisted on getting coffee was not because he actually wanted coffee, but because he
didn’t want her to be exposed in the cold or stumble on her feet again.
There was merely a meter between the two, which felt neither distant nor close.She did not walk
towards him, and neither did he approach her.
The wind was howling as though it was mocking the dilemma they were in.
"Many years ago, I killed my father and my mother took me to a psychiatrist.That psychiatrist wrote me
a proof of mental illness," he said emotionlessly, "I’m not sure if I really am sick in the head or whether
it was my mother who told the psychiatrist to do it so that I can escape from the consequences."
Avery felt her blood freezing at his explanation as the nightmare she had a few nights ago came to
mind.
Charlie mentioned that Elliot was a murderer, but she had never believed that it was true.
On top of that, it wasn’t a stranger that he killed, but his own father.
Avery couldn’t help but clench her fists.Her mind ran wild and she didn’t know what to say in response
or what to do next.
How could Elliot be someone like that? He noticed the struggle and suffering on her face and strode up
to her.
"It’s too cold out here.Let’s go get coffee!"
She allowed him to drag her into a cafe like a puppet and once they were inside, he helped remove his
jacket from her shoulders.The two sat down by the window; he ordered a black coffee for himself and a
latte for her.
"Do you think I’m scary?"He reached out and held her hand.
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