LOGINAnother bright day to be in office and complete my tasks as soon as I can and then I will return to my basic life task—solving critical issues and addressing the danger that was now coming after me. No, I can't name the danger. But my mind will recognize it as soon as it appears and stands some meters away from me. And then I will figure out how to run away from it, lest it consumes me. At this stage of my life, several emotional masters were knocking on the door to my heart. Was it extreme heartbreak with its assistant, depression, or was it loneliness, now that Adrian must have told Elena to not open the door to her living room when I knock on it. I read that through the expression on his face when he indirectly warned me to stay away from Elena because I didn't get permission from him to visit her. How strange that sounded. Why did he request information about my past from someone who was close to me? Why did he do that too?“Who's that?” I asked as soon as a knock came on my d
The more I processed the information Adrian gave me, the more my hands trembled. I heaved a deep breath as I gently rose to my feet again. This time around, I was going to walk away from here. I would not take a second look at him. At this moment, he looked like a nightmarish person. Of course he had good intentions, but how could I run away from the strange feeling burning in my chest? How could I erase the thoughts of dangerous Dominic from my mind? As I walked away from Adrian, his words continued to replay in my head. The way his expression shifted when he was about to mention Dominic's name, appeared again in my mind, threatening to take over my emotions. He didn't call my name. He didn't whisper words that would make me turn back and sit down with him once again. He knew how dangerous the revelation was, and he played along with the strange atmosphere. Typical of mature Adrian. I couldn't fathom where exactly I was heading to. All my mind and soul wanted at this moment was t
Sitting next to him, I could feel the weight of the silence reigning. How could he mention that? How did he find that out? How was he able to arrive at that conclusion? Letting out a deep breath, I cracked my knuckles gently as I glanced at his face. Judging by the expression on his face, I could tell that we were sharing the same thoughts. No wonder he hesitated so damn well before he voiced out. No wonder he didn't want me to learn about this so I wouldn't have to see Dominic from a new lens. Gently slapping my forehead, I got up from the settee, like though I was going to walk down the street. I could feel tiredness in my bones, but I definitely knew that came from mental exhaustion. I'd guessed a lot of options for what he had in mind, and to be honest, I was deeply shocked when he mentioned Dominic's name. How could he be connected to such a scenario? “Are you sure you know what you're talking about?” I asked him. I had to ask. Maybe he was pushing a particular narrative, or
I didn't expect silence to reign for such a long period of time. Suddenly, it seemed like we both didn't have any strength left in us to speak, but on the other way round, we were both too shocked to say a word. Taking another look at Elena's face, I saw the confusion and the curiosity to know more about this situation. It seemed like she was trying to analyze the situation on her own, but it was giving her a hard time, and she wanted to do that before asking me, so she would be able to compare both analysis. I could read her thoughts through the expression on her face. After a short while, she raised her head, like though she knew I'd been staring at her for a while now. Our eyes met, and she forced a grin to her chin to ease the tension in the air, and then she managed to give a response. “Can you clarify please?” She asked. “What exactly are you trying to tell me?” Her face descended into a mix of calmness and trust. Her belief in getting the right information from me must have
Walking towards the exact spot I'd informed Elena to stay in, I cracked my knuckles as I heaved a deep breath. I had prepared for whatever reaction she would exhibit as soon as she heard from me. But it wasn't as easy as my mind believed it was. Wouldn't she begin to doubt my motive to expose this secret to her? How could she really trust that I cared about her and I didn't have any selfish intentions of revealing it?Would she believe I'd hidden this secret for a long time and was only exposing it because it no longer paid off? As soon as I arrived at the spot, I glanced around to confirm if Elena was already on her way, but she was not in my line of sight yet. She must have been held up in traffic. “Goodness gracious.” I murmured to myself as I kept my head slightly lowered before sitting down on the settee. That was exactly the plan on my mind. Sit on a settee together with Elena and expose this secret to her. The heaviness of the compilation of the evidence that backed up thes
I was already packing my stuff, ready to drive home to my apartment to see Maya again after a long day at work when I heard the door to my office open. Gently turning towards the direction of the sound, I saw someone stepping inside. I paused everything I was doing to make sure the person coming in didn't have an harmful intention. And then I saw Adrian's face. A mix of happiness and worry filled my mind, and I didn't truly which one I could best cling to. I heaved a deep breath, dropped the stuff in my hand as I walked up to him. The fact he came to say a word to me, all by himself, showed he was reddy to open up and I wasn't going to jeopardize this chance. His mood looked even more serious than earlier. He seemed to have gotten into a big trouble. The expression on his face showed how much he wanted to speak but he was reluctant to. I let out a deep breath as I gently took his palm in mine, giving him the opportunity to say his mind, even if he had been hesitating to say a word
The dinner was at the Meridian, which meant the usual crowd.Old money and new money in the same room, pretending they had always been comfortable with each other. Hospital directors and research heads sitting alongside the kind of businessmen who wrote cheques large enough to put their names on b
The drive back was quiet.Not the comfortable kind of quiet that sometimes settled between Elena and me after a long evening. This was the kind that had weight to it. She was sitting in the passenger seat with her face turned toward the window and her bag in her lap and her hands folded over it,
I was at the hospital by seven thirty.Not because my shift started that early. It started at nine. But the apartment had felt too small that morning and Maya had still been asleep and I had not wanted to sit at the kitchen table with my thoughts for another hour and a half, so I had dressed quiet
The three of us were standing in a triangle and the space between us felt very small.The sponsor had already quietly removed himself, which I was grateful for, because the tension coming off both Adrian and Dominic was enough to manage without adding a third person to it. Around us the party cont







