FATHER ALWAYS SMILING

Chapter 18 ~~~~~~~

Elain could feel the flush of her cheeks before asking. "How are you able to know what I'm thinking? Or am I... just that easy to read?"

To her surprise, Alastor laughed. "Oh, no don't take it the wrong way, I'm not laughing at you. It's just that Amalie has said something similar once before. I suppose I've always just been good at knowing what's on people's minds."

"Was that where you were training to become a doctor or when you were an actor?"

"No, just years of watching other people. Seeing how they'd react to certain things, that's all. Nothing more."

Elain wondered what he meant by it, but given that he had been to several countries, and seen way more than her, it would make sense that he was more aware of people and what showed on their faces and what was hidden underneath. She wished time and time again about being able to know what people really thought of her.

"How far is this trail you mentioned?"

"It's by the park that we were at before. It's merely a short walk."

Elain thought about it, maybe the fresh air could do her some good?

"Sure, I could go for it, I think."

* * *

The mid-afternoon breeze made the late summer heat far more tolerable. Her mismatched eyes watched as Alastor walked ahead of her, not even bothered by the heat. Her gaze went skyward, watching the wind push against the trees, making the branches move and leaves rustle as the clouds moved even higher above them in the sky.

It was mostly silent, besides the crunch of gravel underneath their feet as they walked, and besides the occasional runner, dogwalker or elderly couple watching the birds there weren't many others around them. It felt like they were talking in a deep forest than just in a section of a park that had a lot of trees and a gravel trail with a tiny stream.

Alastor would talk about the area and would point out some of the small animals or birds, imitating their songs and would get a response like a Disney Princess and even had knowledge about the plants that were native to the area.

Yet as they walked, a thought continued to press until Elain was unable to hold back any longer and just say what she thought aloud.

"Do you think any less of me?" she asked, bringing Alastor to stop and look back at her, hands in pockets, a faint smile on his face. "About what I said? About... what I wished would happen to them for what they did to me?"

"No," he didn't even hesitate in his answer. "In fact, Miss Ortiz, my perception of you has grown, it's only natural to want to get back at those who've hurt you in such a way. I understand what that's like."

Elian gave him a questioning stare; he's said something like that before when she thought her graph had torn. "You mentioned before that you were harmed by someone, may I ask... who that was?" Elain then felt a shift, subtle but still noticeable in Alastor's stance, how his gaze became a bit darker, as though he were recalling it while his smile grew faint.

"My wife," he said as the wind picked up every so slightly. "It was my wife, that harmed me so irreparably."

Elain frowned. "Is that why she's not around anymore?" she never asked what happened to his wife when they first met because, well one, they didn't know each other well, and two, it didn't seem all that important to know unless it was brought up like it was now.

Alastor motioned for them to take a seat on a nearby bench, he sat with his legs crossed, hands resting atop his knees as he looked up to the sky. "Partly, though why she left us was something else altogether. Her reputation had all but vanished when I told the police that she tried to kill my daughter, I caught my wife in the act trying to strangle Amalie."