Love And Betrayal | ✔️

7. Blind As a bat

A heap of tissues and a bucket of tears later, I finally get a grip on myself. I wipe the last traces of the waterworks, stand up and turn towards Bella again. She eyes me warily, undoubtedly expecting me to start bawling again.

But I'm not planning to do that anytime soon.

Attempting a feeble grin on my face, I take her hand and pull her her along. She raises her brows quizzically, "Where are you taking me now?"

"The kitchen."

"But I'm not hungry."

"Neither am I, but there's someone I want you to meet."

"Who?" Bella inquires, following me down the spiralling stairs again. It takes her a bit of effort to match my pace, and I slow down so that she can catch up. "You never mentioned about your friends before. I didn't even know you had any."

"Well, I was not as friendless as you think." I grumble, slightly peeved at the fact that she thinks I was a loner. It was partly true, but it's not something I want to be known. "Nellie was a good friend of mine. Is." I correct myself at the end.

To be honest, I'm just trying to distract my thoughts from wandering back to Mom and my moments to her. Its only a matter of time before I succumb to tears again. It's happened once, and I don't want it to happen again. Ever.

"Mhmm." Bella hums in agreement as we approach the door.

I push it open and enter, with Bella tagging along not far behind. The strong aroma of freshly baked cake and pudding invades my nostrils and I pause for a moment to inhale the goodness.

Boy, I had forgotten Nellie's cooking skills.

My thoughts are interrupted when a familiar voice speaks up. "I thought you'd come back here. Missed me?"

A grin climbs up my face when I find her standing before me, hands on her hips. A small smile tugs at the corners of her lips. In spite of the slight awkwardness, her posture is warm and welcoming. The awkwardness has obviously everything to do with the disappearing act I pulled two years ago.

"Of course I did!" In three strides, I envelop her in a warm embrace. "I thought about you a lot while I was away."

She hugs me back with equal enthusiasm. "That's good. I had the guillotine ready in case you had forgotten me."

I chuckle softly. "I missed your sarcasm."

"And I missed you." She mumbles, refusing to let go. "You look quite pretty now."

Pulling away, my grin morphs into a mischievous one."Are you telling me I didn't look pretty two years ago?"

"Well...." She pretends to ponder over, earning a shove from me.

"Don't you dare finish that line!"

"All right," she surrenders, "But you know, a little warning would have been nice."

She's referring to my sudden disappearance again, and the smile slides off my face. "I'm sorry Nellie, but his rejection was to painful to handle. I had to get away from him. Focus on myself."

"I get it." Nellie sympathizes, stroking my shoulder comfortingly. "No one is blaming you. At least not me." She adds after a thought.

I frown at the underlying meaning behind her words. "Who blamed me then?"

Nellie squirms uncomfortably. "Er.. no one. No one at all."

My suspicions change into certainty. "Who, Nellie?"