Aveline had taken just a step, when a thought crossed her mind. She quickly opened the door, and walked right back into the room.
"Hey, nurse Tessa? I'm sorry I even have to ask this. But could you please show me the route to my room?" Her fingers twisted nervously, as she asked.
Nurse Tessa smiled. "I'll take you there!" She volunteered instead.
Aveline's eyes went to the old man. "Thank you," she said, before turning around again.
Nurse Tessa wasn't sure who she was thanking. All she knew was that she was glad that for once, it seemed like there was a sane person in a house filled with insanity.
Minutes later, she stopped in front of a door. "And here it is. This should be the room. Last door down the left wing hallway," she explained.
Aveline quickly memorized it, just in case she loses her way another time. "I recognise the door. It's definitely the room. Thank you so much, nurse Tessa."
"No, thank you." The nurse gave her a genuine smile, before hurrying away.
Taking a deep breath, Aveline looked at her phone to see the time. "Midday soon," she thought, as she pushed the door open, and stepped into the room.
She stopped right at the door, when she saw Atlas straightening up.
He turned around, and saw her staring at him. "You're back," he casually said.
"I—I am," she swallowed hard.
It was back. The thought of her breaking a rule already. So much so, she completely felt unnerved.
"Where did you run off to?" He asked, walking to the closet to grab a jacket.
"I'm sorry!" She blurted, unable to hold it in anymore.
Atlas paused, and slowly turned around. His eyes gave her a once-over. "For?" He lifted a quizzical brow.
"I remember last night. The kiss. I broke a rule. Please don't punish me." Her lips quivered.
Relief suddenly washed through Atlas. Here he had been, beating himself up for breaking the rule first. Meanwhile, she thought she broke the rule.
He could allow her to take the fall for it. Everything would be fine, and he would come out on top.
Fortunately for her, honour was second nature to him. And just because he had bought her, didn't mean he had to let her take the fall for his own mistakes.
"I'm really sorry. I promise it'll never—"
"But I kissed you, so what exactly are you sorry for?" He cut her off right away.
"Uhmm—" her eyes squinted as she gathered her thoughts. "I put you in the position to do it. If I wasn't so—"
"Scared of lightning and thunderstorms? Why were you so scared? Bad memory? You kept on mumbling incoherent babbles. What was that about?"
"He's not interested," she thought. "No one interested will frame his questions that way. He just wants to know me on a deeper level, so he can manipulate things more for his benefit."
A bitter aftertaste stayed in her tongue, even as that thought fizzled away.
"They're just frightening," she said.
Atlas ran a hand through his hair, as he fought some of his frustrations off. "And the Arabic thing you did today? Let me guess? You just know Arabic," he mimicked her with a shrug of his shoulders.
Aveline looked up, and the expression she saw in his face frightened her.
He genuinely looked disgusted by her. She didn't think she had done anything wrong, save for the kiss.
Why are you so upset?
Her mind rioted, as thoughts after thoughts went through it.
"Do you know what I hate more than anything, Aveline?"
She shook her head negatively, eyes unblinking as she stared at him.
"Lies, Aveline. I hate lies. I detest them! They make my skin crawl. Whatever it is you think you're hiding about yourself, trust I have experts to find out about them. The only reason why I haven't dug fully into your past, is because I thought things would be simple with you. I didn't expect all of these complications. So will you tell me the truth, or should I find out my way?"
Aveline continued to stare blankly at him. She wasn't sure which answer to give. Probably because she was mostly confused about who she was.
There were so many versions. So many lifetimes in her twenty-four years of living. The answers weren't one, similar, or even linear. They were multiple, some even buried, and forgotten.
"Fine, I'll do things my way," Atlas said, when she didn't respond to him, but just kept on looking as if she was looking through him.
"I'm not some mystery," she said as he moved to turn around.
He stopped. "Go on." He encouraged with a nudge of his head.
"If you look into me, you're not going to find anything I haven't told you already. I'm an orphan who inherited a whole lot of debts. I know languages because pineapple street has people from different ethnicities around the world. My brain assimilates languages easily, so it was easy for me to learn as much as I could. That's all." She fixed her gaze back on him.
Atlas sighed. "You should have told me about the language thing from the beginning. At least I won't be caught off guard going forward."
"I'm sorry. I'm also sorry about the kiss. I won't ever put you in a position where you have to comfort me anymore. At least not in privacy," she said, a hint of sadness floating through her words.
Atlas began to feel that rush again. That one that made him want to be protective of her.
"Damn it!" He cursed in his mind, as he fought the rush off.
"The kiss was on me. And you don't have to worry about it. We're not married yet. The rules don't fully kick in until then." He turned his back on her, and grabbed his jacket.
Just then, a heavy knock sounded on the door. "It's Freya! Riles is here too. We're looking for Ave. Is she in there, Atlas?!"
Aveline, who was just by the door, sought Atlas' face for some kind of permission to open the door.
He shrugged nonchalantly, and it was all the answer she needed. Stepping aside, she opened the door.
"Aveline!" Freya clapped. "Just who I wanted to see." She walked in, and paused.
"We're not interrupting anything, are we?" Riley beat her to the question that had just infiltrated her mind.
"Nope, you're not. I'm stepping out," Atlas replied.
"Good, we don't need you anyway," Freya turned to Aveline. "Ave darling, I'm truly sorry about breakfast. Forget it happened, because it won't happen again. For now, let's focus on the plans for today. You won't believe who is in the big room, waiting for us already." Her fingers tingled, as her cheeks spread into a big smile.
"What's waiting?" Aveline caught Freya's smile bug, and smiled right back.
"Come with us, and you'll see. You stepping out now Atlas?" Riley called behind her shoulders, as she grabbed Aveline's hand like before.
"Let's go," he said.
They all walked out of the room, Atlas texting on his phone, whilst the girls whispered amongst themselves.
Just as they took a turn, they stumbled on Nadia Sinclair who had just ended a call.
Aveline's heart skipped a beat, as they slowed down to acknowledge Nadia's presence.
"Good day, Aunty Na—"
She walked past the girls, and went straight to Atlas.
"How are you son? Why do you look tired?" She asked, placing a hand on his forehead.
Riley rolled her eyes. Freya stifled a laugh. Aveline was just happy she wasn't the center of attention.
"Mum, I'm fine. I'm about to step out for some work. Can you please act normal?" He lowered his voice.
"Well don't blame me for being concerned. A man that is about to get married should have a certain glow about him. But it feels to me like you're being drained. Are you sure—"
"Leave the boy alone, Nadia."
They all lifted their heads to see Sidney Sinclair approaching them with hips fitted to perfection in her riding pants, swaying from side to side, and a sinister smile on her face.