AllFreeNovel
Share Us
It doesn’t taste so bad. Philip actually knows his way around the kitchen.
“So, is this your apartment?” I ask. He is pouring a cup of that black tea that he was always obsessed with, and he grins.
“Yeah. It’s closer to my office. I’ve got the whole top floor.” My eyes widen.
“Oh.”
“I can give you a tour,” he offers, making me wonder how big the place has to be. I shake my head.
“Maybe later.”
The silence between us is a little awkward, until Philip says, “I’m serious about wanting to get to know you, Charlotte. I want to fix us.”
I chew my eggs and swallow.
“There is no ‘us’ to fix, Philip. It was one kiss, ten years ago. You’re blowing this whole thing out of proportion.”
He narrows his eyes at me and sets down his mug.
“Then why’d you disappear? Even Agatha didn’t hear from you for an entire year, except that one message you sent her.”
Suddenly, the eggs taste like rubber. How could he possibly understand?
“Things happened. I had to leave.” My tone is terse.
“Leave to go where?” he persists, his expression telling me he doesn’t quite believe me.
“Does it really matter, Philip?” I sigh, looking at him. “This happened way back.”
“It’s important because you’re telling me that you leaving me weren’t because of what I did,” he growls. “I’ve spent years feeling guilty over this.”
All he did was teach me not to trust anybody.
“Where did you go, Charlotte?” He asks me again.
I don’t answer for a few moments.
How can I tell him that I lived on the streets, hiding out at the homeless shelters for half a year, too scared to drag Agatha or her family into my situation?
“To a friend’s place.” My words are vague, and he can tell.
“So, you’re going to lie to me now?” His voice is cold, and I try not to let it bother me. It doesn’t matter what he thinks of me. I can’t afford to let it matter to me.
“You don’t have to believe me. Your sister wasn’t the only friend I had.”
“So, you let me and Agatha worry about you for an entire year, until you decided to let her come back into your life?”
I want to cry at those words, and laugh at the absurdity of them. But I can’t shed more suspicion on myself, because Philip has the means to get me investigated, and if he ever finds out what I did, Agatha might turn away from me as well, and his sister is a lifeline to me.
“It was family stuff, Philip. Let it go.”
The sound of a buzzer cuts him off and Philip glowers at me before going to let in who I assume is the police.
I hear the murmur of conversation before the footsteps towards the kitchen.
Philip enters, followed by two men, one of whom I recognize.
He recognizes me too, I can tell from the look in his eyes, and the blood drains from my face when he sneers at me.
