Chapter 84: Someone From the Past
Moana
That night, after Ella calmed down enough and agreed to clean up her room with our help, I laid in bed and found myself unable to sleep following the events of the day. Every time I closed my eyes, I pictured the creepy man from the mall; even more than that, however, I pictured Edrick’s soft eyes staring up at me as he held Ella on the floor and I felt his protective arm around my shoulders.
I decided eventually that I couldn’t sleep for a while, so I decided to get my sketchbook out and draw. Although I had been working on another sketch for the past couple of days, I decided to turn to a fresh page that night and draw a scene that I couldn’t get out of my head: the image of Edrick holding Ella in her princess costume.
As I drew, starting with the rough forms of Edrick and Ella, a soft smile inadvertently began to spread across my lips. That smile spread as I began to feel Mina’s presence. It had been a few days since I really felt her presence, but I could tell that the events of the day made her come out more. I was grateful; Mina had become a friend to me, in a strange way.
“I have a confession,” she said finally after hanging around in my mind in silence for several minutes.
“Hm?” I said out loud. I still wasn’t entirely used to the whole concept of conversing with her in my head, and as I was distracted from my drawing, I didn’t think much of it now.
“Last night… I released a little more of my scent when he hugged you.”
I looked up from my sketchbook and frowned, setting my pencil down. “I thought we agreed on you not doing that without my permission,” I said quietly.
Mina was quiet for a few moments before answering. When she did finally answer, she sounded a little embarrassed. “I really didn’t mean to. It was an accident.”
“Well, what happened then?” I asked.
“When he hugged you… I just couldn’t control myself. It’s getting harder to control it.”
I furrowed my brow. Could that mean… No. Edrick wasn’t my mate. If he was, we would have noticed a lot sooner. Right? I went to search for Mina’s presence again to ask her, but when I did, she was gone again. Sighing, I knew I especially wouldn’t be able to sleep now, so I decided to get up and head to the kitchen to make myself some tea. It was hot, so I stayed only in my nightgown.
The apartment was quiet when I slipped out of my room. As I made my way over to the kitchen, I figured that everyone else was already fast asleep — but I realized that I was wrong when I suddenly heard the sound of Edrick’s aggravated voice coming from his office. Unable to contain my curiosity, I meandered a little closer to the closed door and listened.
“What makes you think you have the right to care about my personal affairs?” he said, his voice muffled through the door. “You threw away that right when you decided to screw me over all those years ago.”
He paused, listening to whoever was on the other end of the phone. I furrowed my brow, but kept listening.
“No— Olivia—”
The name Olivia sounded familiar. I blinked as I tried to recall where I had heard that name before, but it finally hit me; I had heard him use that name once before in a situation very similar to this. I had overheard him talking about money and using that name very late one night. Who was this ‘Olivia’ person? Was she a friend? A family member? Edrick certainly didn’t sound terribly fond of her, though, and it almost seemed as though they had some sort of disdain for each other, although the reason behind that was a mystery to me.
Unfortunately, as I continued to stand there and puzzle over whoever this ‘Olivia’ woman was, I was too deeply lost in thought to notice that Edrick hung up the phone and walked over to the door. In fact, I was completely taken by surprise when he suddenly flung the door open. I jumped back in surprise, my eyes wide, while Edrick just stood in the doorway and stared at me.
“What are you doing up?” he asked.
“I… Um… I couldn’t sleep,” I said, my heart racing. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to intrude.”
Edrick stared at me for several more long, silent moments. The air in the room was thick and hot, and I half expected him to snap at me for eavesdropping… But he didn’t. Instead, he merely shrugged and shuffled over to the bar in the living room and muttered something incoherent to himself as he rummaged around in the dim light for a drink. I watched him for a moment, taking in his slightly haggard appearance, but felt the overwhelming urge to stop him as he pulled out a whiskey bottle and unscrewed the cap.
“I was just about to make tea,” I interrupted, causing him to pause just before he began to pour the whiskey into a glass. “Let me make you a cup instead of alcohol.”
Edrick paused, his hand still poised with the bottle to pour. But, after a few moments of somber contemplation, he surprisingly lowered the bottle and nodded as he screwed the cap back on. “Alright,” he said. “I’ll take some tea.”
I couldn’t help but smile. I’d noticed that Edrick seemed to be drinking a little less recently, or at the very least, he seemed more receptive to other options. If I hadn’t stopped him tonight, I wondered to myself if he would have gotten too drunk; his argument with this mysterious ‘Olivia’ seemed to have taken a lot out of him.
“Come on,” I said, gesturing to the kitchen. Edrick silently followed me to the kitchen, then sat on a stool at the kitchen island while I filled up the kettle with water and put it on the stove. It was dark, and neither of us bothered to turn the overhead lights on, but I had become so used to the layout of the kitchen already that I knew where everything was. The city lights illuminated the room just enough through the window for me to be able to make out Edrick’s somber, brooding expression as he stared down at his hands on the counter.
“I know you heard me,” he finally said after some time. “Just like before.”
I cleared my throat as I looked at him, still unable to hide my curiosity. “If you don’t mind me asking… Was it the same person as before, too?” After I spoke, I felt a knot form in my throat, and I hoped that I didn’t agitate Edrick any further.
Much to my surprise, he nodded. “Yes,” he admitted. “Someone from my past. They’ve been bothering me; they usually start up again around this time every year, because…”
He stopped then, seemingly not wanting to say anymore. As I looked at him, I could tell just from the look in his eyes that he already felt as though he said too much.
