Chapter 2: Comforting You

"I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel."

-Maya Angelou-

***

Elliot was about to grab her from behind when the older man grabbed his hand.

“I don’t think it’s respectful to touch a woman so aggressively like that, Elliot.” He told him. Elliot seemed taken aback by this, he didn’t think his uncle would stop him.

He withdrew his hand and the older man turned his attention back toward Eva.

“My name is Stefan, Stefan Romand. Here’s my number, if you ever need anything from me, you can just call that number.” He said as he handed her over a piece of paper with his number on it.

Eva looked up to him and hesitantly took it.

“Thank you.” Eva didn’t know why, but she was feeling a little happy inside. It was so weird because just a moment ago she was filled with so much rage and sadness.

“How are you going to get back home? Do you have a car?” He asked.

“Oh? No, I don’t have a car, I just graduated from university a few months ago and I’ve just recently moved to my own place so, still have other priorities. I will just take a bus or something.” She replied.

“I see, then, I will drive you back home.” He stated like it wasn’t a big deal. Hearing this, Eva shook her head.

“No, I can’t trouble you like that, sir.” She replied.

“Then, I will just go and get a taxi for you.” He called a taxi and they waited in the front yard. It was an awkward situation, yes. The entire time, Eva didn’t bother to look at Elliot and kept her back facing him.

She wasn’t sure what Stefan did, but Elliot had been remaining silent the entire time, as if he was following someone’s order to do that since normally he was quite a talkative man.

A few minutes later, the taxi arrived and Stefan opened the door for her.

“Don’t worry about the fare, it’s connected to my phone, so I’ll pay it later, just get home safely.” He reminded her. Eva got inside the taxi and smiled toward him.

“Thank you sir.” She thanked him.

“Don’t call me sir, call me Stefan. It’s a pleasure to meet you, Eva. I am sure we will meet again soon.” He said before closing the door.

Once the taxi departed, Stefan turned his attention back to Elliot and firmly spoke.

“Come on, let’s get inside, I have some business to do with my brother.” He stated. When the two of them was about to get inside the home, Stefan noticed the cake she left. It was on the ground, but he got curious and picked it up.

“That young lady earlier, who was she?” Stefan asked Elliot.

“Oh, her? She’s just a girl I knew from university. Nobody’s important.” Elliot replied casually, refusing to admit that at one point the two of them were dating.

Besides, it was more one sided. That relationship was never real to him in the beginning.

“Hm, I see.” Stefan responded briefly.

Meanwhile, as she was heading back home, Eva couldn’t stop thinking about what just happened earlier. Her boyfriend of two years was cheating on her with her close friend.

The pain of betrayal was eating up on her and she wasn’t sure exactly how she was going to continue her life without him.

Just like most girls, Eva dreamt of a happily ever after with her partner. She genuinely thought that he was the one for her.

For Eva, Elliot was a miracle in her life and she was ready to give up everything for that man. Only to face the harsh truth that sometimes, other people really don’t deserve our devotion.

Eva started to recall what her life was like before she met Elliot. She had never been the prettiest nor the most popular girl.

However, she was smart and she really liked learning.

She loved burying her heads in books and learn about various topics from psychology, history to politic, science and business or finance.

She was more of a nerd who was curious about the world around her.

And if there was one thing she was good at, it was writing.

She had a natural talent for it and that’s the reason why she chose journalism because it would enable her copywriting career on various topics and events.

However, ever since she started dating Elliot, Eva realized she had put him on a pedestal and made him the center of her world and attention.

She was a rational woman before, but she let her emotions and feelings got in the way when she was with him. She stopped reading as much books or went to art exhibitions and all these business and scientific events she loved attending so much before.

She wasn’t paying as much attention to her working life because she thought once she got married to him, her life would be whole and everything would be perfect.

Guess one could call it the naivety of a twenty-two year old brilliant young woman who had lost her way in life because of a man.

“My lord, I was so stupid!” She muttered to herself as tears started rolling from her eyes again. The driver was silently watching her in pity. He didn’t know what was going on with her but he sure knew she had had a rough time.

She finally arrived at her apartment. Eva entered the building and walked toward the elevator. She was so mentally drained, all she wanted to do was to bury herself in a deep slumber and forgot about everything else.

When she entered her neatly organized apartment, the first thing she did was to take shower.

She was so grateful that she was working remotely so as long as her work and project was finished, she didn’t have to answer to anyone because she wasn’t sure she wouldn’t show up bawling her eyes out at the slightest question of “what’s wrong?” which she didn’t want.

Eva cleansed her body and mind too. While she was still crying and grieving about what happened, she decided she couldn’t live like that anymore.

She didn’t want to remain as a doormat or a pushover who could easily be discarded by a man each time they were done with her. She realized Elliot never loved her, because if he did, he wouldn’t do what he did.

Eva turned off the shower and walked out feeling a bit more refreshed. While her heart was still hurting, she decided to order something for herself since she didn’t have the strength to make a meal for herself.

She was going to reach for her phone which was still in her bag when she saw the handkerchief from earlier.

Suddenly, she remember the older man who comforted her, Stefan Romand.

For some reason, her heart felt a bit warm when she remembered what he did to her.

Even though she knew he was Elliot’s uncle, they were vastly different from each other in terms of appearance and mannerism.

Unlike Elliot who was an asshole, the uncle seemed like a decent person. He acted like a gentleman and he was treating her really well. She wasn’t sure how those two people could be related at all, but she liked him. Not as a man, but as a person.

After she ordered food for herself, she took the handkerchief and washed it in the bathroom using a gentle soap and dried it in the drier along with a few clothes that needed to be dried.

While waiting for the clothes to be dried, she had her meal and thought about what she wanted to do next.

Before, while she was dating him, her life was fixated on him and what he wanted to do. This time, she was going to do what she wanted to do.

When the laundry was done, she took out the handkerchief and folded it neatly to return it to him. She got ready for bed and picked up her phone to enter Stefan’s number.

She wondered if she should text him or call him to let him know about her and thought it was more polite to text first.

So she texted him, telling him that it was her number and before she could tell him about the handkerchief, she got a call from him.

In that moment, her heart felt like it was going to stop. She nervously picked it up and heard his voice from the other side of the line.

“Nice to hear from you, lovely lady.” He told her.

“Yes, sir. No, I mean, Stefan. I want to let you know that I’ve washed and dried the handkerchief you gave me. I wonder if I should package it back to you or something.” She said, stuttering a bit in the beginning.

“Hm? I think you can return it to me in person later, I am free this Saturday, send me your address and I will come pick you up.”