“Elaine,” Arkie called out to Elaine as she was collecting her materials. The class had just ended and she was preparing to go home. Hearing her anime being called, she was startled a bit.
“Y-yes,” she said after turning around to face Arkie. “Is there anything?” she asked. Her hands subconsciously took hold of her water bottle. It was the response her body had created after what happened to her before. She was always on guard even with her friends.
Arkie too noticed this strange change in her and was a bit worried. He wanted to talk about it but decided it was rude to try to be a busy body. Poking his nose into her business did not seem like the right choice.
“I…” he paused a bit before deciding to change his question. “Are you okay?” he asked after thinking for a while.
Elaine forced a smile upon hearing his question.
Not good, I am acting too suspicious right now. Elaine reprimanded herself for acting like this. Even though she had alreadyElaine remained silent as she tried to process what she just heard.“S-sir, you mean that I am not allowed to research on this?” she asked, feeling a bit skeptical about this.“Yes, it is a confidential and closed file,” Professor smith started to explain. “ And you know the rule under the provision of criminology… one is not allowed to tamper with a case that has been sealed by the minority itself.” He raised his eyebrows as he stared at Elaine. He was waiting for her response. “Sir, but this is only a small accident, isn't it?” She looked at him after gathering all the courage she could find within her. She was not going to back down. The main reason she had joined this university and left the village was to become a criminal investigator to find out the real truth behind her parent's death. After the accident 2 yeast ago, she had thought about the accident a lot. After all that thinking she came to a conclusion. Her parents were not simple pe
“Boss, we have arrived,” Kim said as he stepped on the break. The car stopped just a few meters away from the main gate of the university. Michael, who was going through important stuff on his tablet, turned off the device when he heard Kim's voice. Keeping aside the tablet, Michael sighed. Although he decided to visit Elaine after running away from her without giving any information, he was nowhere. He had made up his mind but now that 5hee time had come, he had no idea what he should do. What if Elaine did not want to meet him? What if she was still angry at him? What is she did not talk to him? Many questions of what-ifs ran inside his mind in that short period. He had always been a decisive man, but now he was faltering in his convictions. He looked at the files and documents he had brought with him to, meet Elaine. He was okay being hated by her…or so he had thought. But now, he was not sure if he was going to be able to accept the hate from the wo
Elaine looked at Michale with a bit of doubt on her face. Nevertheless, she took the file and held on to it. However, her eyes never left his face. She wanted to know what was going on in his mind at this very moment.After not appearing before her for weeks, after ghosting her and ignoring her calls, he had the balls to come and meet her…and it was even without a piece of prior information. Was he finally trying to apologize to it? Was he trying to compensate her or take some action for it? Was he feeling guilty? All sorts of questions emerged in her head. The more she thought about it, the more she felt her thoughts running wilder than ever. “Michael, if it is about the last time then…” She could not even finish her sentence. Before she could say one more word, Michael cut her off. “It is not about that,” Michale spoke, his voice heavy, soft, and low as a mid-summer breeze. “I will never apologize about that.” Michael lifted his hand. Elaine watc
No matter how much impressed Elaine was by the decoration of the place, she held her excitement back. There were other important things to be said. “Why are we here?” She asked. “This is the place where everything started and everything connected,” Michael said seriously. “Everything fell into their palace here.” “What do you mean by that?” Elaine asked. “What do you mean by everything started here?” Elaine’s eyelids twitched as she tried to make sense of what was being said to her. Michael placed his hand on her shoulder.“Elaine, we are very near to your village,” He said. “Your village Elaine,” he repeated as he emphasized on his words. He did not want to say more, after all, he wanted her to understand everything by herself. “SInce it was dark outside, I am sure you did not notice the route you have taken,” Michale said for the obvious reason. “But that's not the main point,” he sighed. “We are in your v
“Yes, you are correct,” Michael said. He had been waiting all this time to tell this to her. After thorough and painful procedures to find the whereabouts of the girl that he had saved two years ago, he found that Elaine was indeed that girl. Hearing the confirmation from her own mouth strengthed his doubt and now it turned into reality. Elaine was speechless as she stared at Michael. She had not thought that Michael would be the one who had saved her from the grasp of death. “The girl I helped back then, that was you,” Michael spoke once more as he clasped his hand around her tiny shaking hands. Elaine felt the warmth of the bog palm on the back of her hand. When she was vulnerable, it was Michael who had helped her. She had owed him a debt…unknowingly. However, when she saved him back then, her debt had been repaid…that too unknowingly. It was as if karma really went round and round. A smile of relief appeared on her lips. “Tha
That whole day, Elaine and Michale spent it visiting the accident site, the grandparents, and also her high school. Since she had finally returned here after so long, she wanted to go and see everything before returning back. After normal breakfast and some warm tea, she and Michael took the car to drive to the house of her grandparents first. It was going to be a surprise visit, hence she was more than excited about this. “Well, are they the ones who came to visit you when you were hospitalized?” Michale asked as they drove on the silent road. As it was a village road, there was less traffic and fewer people on the road. However, once in a while, animals like goats and cows managed to cross their path. “Yes,” Elaine nodded in confirmation. She brightened up at the mention of the two elderly people and could not help but smile. She missed them a lot. “After my parents died, I went into depression,” Elaine said as she looked outside the window. She was a kid back
It was the day after they had gone drinking in the bar. Michael rubbed his eyes as he got up on yhr bed.He stiffened when he realized something was wrong. “Elaine!” Michael called out her name when he found out that she was not beside him anymore.The space beside him on the bed was as empty and as cold as ice. The warmth that he had experienced the night before was nowhere to be found.He was half asleep and started to touch around the bed sheet to see if she had gone a little further but no matter how much he rummaged through the place there was not a sign of the girl that he was looking for.His heart collapsed all of a sudden when he realized that Elaine was indeed not beside him anymore.The bed was indeed empty and cold, but his heartfelt much colder as if he was struck by a sharp icicle from Antarctica.Without wasting a moment, he jumped right out of the bed without even caring about the fact that it was mid-winter and the temperature was f
“Are you done yet?” Michael asked as he looked at his watch. After breakfast, he and Elaine had planned to go on a date. Technically, it was going to be their first date outside of the work they did together. ‘Can it be considered a date?’ Michael was not so sure. After the little intimate interaction they had on his villa, both of them had been silent about it. He knew Elaine had a bit positive feelings about him, which to his pleasure was a surprise. However, with the matter of her parents in their hands, he did not want to press her about it. But, now that they had confessed and even k-kissed, he decided it was the right time for the date he had always wanted to take her to. That was the reason why he was impatient as he waited for Elaine to dress up. Right at the moment, he heard the door open. “Talk of the devil,” a smile spread on his lips. He turned to look at the door. Elaine emerged from the main door, a bit breathless. “I am