Elena's POV:
The moment Adrian disappears up the stairs, the silence in the house settles around me like a heavy blanket. My fingers are still curled faintly at my side.
I stand there...just breathing.
Slow, shaky breaths.
His words keep replaying in my head.
"I didn't doubt you."
"I know my wife."
"You're stubborn, but you're not a thief."
It hits harder now that he's not here. He didn't doubt me, not even a little.
Something flutters in my chest. He meant what he said. He defended me. Even though he said otherwise, I know he's lying. If not, he wouldn't put Tessa there in the first place.
A wave of relief and gratitude washes over me. And I wouldn't say he trusts me, but he respects me enough not to think of me in that light.
Maybe he really doesn't hate me as much as he acts like he does. Or as much as I think he does.
I sigh, and slump my shoulders. God! Today drained me. I finally find my feet and force myself up the stairs to shower and sleep.
But as I climb into bed, sleep doesn't come easily. The whole events keep rushing in and out of my head and no matter how many times I turn, twist, it doesn't block them out.
A certain thought comes to mind.
What if Adrian doesn't let me go to work tomorrow because of what happened?
I mean, he seemed very upset about the whole thing. I wouldn't be surprised.
And I really won't blame him. Not that I'd be happy about it, but I'd understand why he did it.
At this point, I don't even know how I feel about showing up at work tomorrow.
They all looked at me strangely. They said weird, hurtful things. None of them even wanted to believe me, and now I'm supposed to go there and act like it all didn't happen.
I turn and face the ceiling.
I just want tomorrow to come, hopefully, I can put all of this behind me. It won't do me any good holding onto it.
I close my eyes tighter, and force out every thought.
Tomorrow will come.
And everything will continue.
Eventually, after what feels like hours, exhaustion pulls me under.
****
Morning comes quickly.
I'm woken by the faint sound of movement in the hallway, heavy footsteps, calm, and unhurried.
I jolt upright.
He's leaving.
I scramble out of bed, my heart racing fast. I don't even bother checking my hair or anything. I just shove my feet into my slippers and hurry out of the room.
I sight him at the end of the stairs.
"Adrian!" I rush out, breathless.
He pauses, then slowly turns.
He's freshly dressed, with a well-ironed suit and pants, hair pushed back, and an unreadable expression on his face.
I swallow hard, trying to catch my breath, then I walk down the stairs till I'm directly in front of him.
His eyes run down my body, from my head, to my toes, slowly, deliberately.
My hands itch to touch my hair, just in case there are strands poking out or something.
Then something flashes in his eyes, a dazed look, but it's gone quickly, as he swallows, his throat bobbing up and down.
I watch the movement, and instinctively, I bite my lower lip.
"What do you want?" He finally asks, and his voice comes out a bit throaty.
"Uhh.. I wanted to ask you something."
His gaze flicks low again. And he intakes a sharp breath. I look down to see what he's looking at, and notice that my nipples are poking through the fabric of my nightie.
Heat shoots to my core. He was looking at my breasts. The thought of it alone makes me all warm inside.
Get it together, Elena!
"And what is that?" He runs a hand on his jaw. An action I've noticed he tends to do quite a lot.
"It's about work." My voice is shaky.
His brows crease instantly.
I grip my nightie tightly on both sides. "Am I still allowed to go? Or do you… want me to stop going?"
His jaw tenses slightly. "If I say I don't want you to go, would you listen?"
I shake my head slowly, hesitantly. "No?" It comes out more like a question.
"There's your answer." He exhales through his nose.
"What happened yesterday," he says slowly, "wasn't a means for you to quit working. It was merely an eye opener. A lesson, if you will."
I blink, looking up at him.
He continues, his voice steady, "You're still going to work. I'm not stopping you."
Relief floods me so fast I almost sag my shoulders.
"Oh… okay." I clear my throat, feigning indifference.
"So… you're not upset about me continuing?" I ask, softer.
"I'm not thrilled," he admits bluntly, "but I'm not going to cage you either."
"It didn't seem to work the last time after all," he mutters softly. If I didn't pay attention, I'd have missed it.
I nod slowly. Then—"Thank you."
One of his brows shoots up in slight amusement.
"You've said thank you more times than I can count, from yesterday to today. You need to stop."
"I mean it, though," I say softly.
The corner of his eyes softens lightly, and he swallows.
He stares at me for a moment longer. "You're welcome," he finally says, shifting his gaze away.
"I'll see you later," he turns quickly, heading for the door.
"Have a good day." I call from behind him.
He doesn't answer, nor stop, but the way his steps falter for half a second makes me know that he heard.
The door closes behind him.
A deep sigh leaves my lips. Anytime this man is around, I can't always seem to breathe properly.
He just has that effect on me.
****
Work is quieter today.
People avoid looking at me for the first few hours. Not out of malice, but guilt. Discomfort.
Some even came to apologize. The manager, too. I didn't want to hold anything against anyone, as it wouldn't do me good, so I just forgave them.
You know what they say…. forgive but don't forget.
My focus stays on the counter, on cleaning, on serving customers, and pretending that my chest isn't heavy with thoughts.
It's past noon when I feel someone hovering near the back doorway.
I turn.
Tessa stands there.
Her hands are clasped in front of her, shoulders tense, eyes uncertain.
"Can we talk?" she asks quietly, biting on her bottom lip.
I nod my head slightly. Hesitantly, she walks over to me, and starts helping me arrange a few things.
She blows out a shaky breath. "I… wanted to apologize."
I blink at her. "For what?"
"For everything?" she says, uncertain.
"I figured you'd be upset with me, because of, well, yesterday. And other days that I've been giving you weird looks, too."
"I really don't mean any harm. I was just trying to do my job, and I felt like if I got too close, I'd probably expose myself. I'm quite a yapper, so I didn't trust myself to stay quiet around you and..."
"It's fine, Tessa," I cut her off, laughing softly.
"It's not fine," she drops her gaze slightly.
"I feel bad for lying. And also, I should have shown the video evidence earlier before Adrian even came, but I was a bit scared and I don't even know why."
"I'm sorry, Elena, truly."
"It's fine, really," I assure her with a small smile.
"You don't need to apologize for something that Adrian put you up to. You had no choice. And if anything, you helped me. If you hadn't taken that video of Camilla," my heart aches at the mention of her name, "who knows what would have happened?"
"You were able to prove my innocence." I place a comforting hand on her shoulder. "And for that, I'm more grateful." I smile.
"Really?" She looks up at me fully now.
"Really," I assure her.
"Thank you, Elena," she sighs, with a small smile on her face.
"It's fine." I rub slightly on her shoulder.
"You're a nice person, Elena," she says sincerely. "You didn't deserve what happened."
"Thank you," I murmur.
"Camilla was always jealous of you. I saw how she looked at you. She wanted what you have. You know, the riches, Adrian, all of it. I just didn't think she'd do something like that. I wanted to stop her, but then I knew she'd just deny it, or try something worse later, so instead, I recorded."
"You did good." I force a smile. The betrayal still hits hard even though I try to downplay it.
It's all over now. There's no need to dwell on it anymore.
We talk a little more—about work, about ourselves. She's actually really funny, and a really nice person. You'd forget your problems around her. But I still keep Adrian's words at the back of my head. Nice or not, I can't trust anyone so much again. I've learnt my lesson.
By closing time, I'm tired but lighter and more relieved. And as I head home, my mind wanders to Adrian. Everything about him. The good, the bad.
He's just someone that is hard to understand. You're always trying to solve a puzzle around him.
But slowly, I'm realizing that I don't hate his kind of puzzle.