FALLEN (NOW PUBLISHED ON AMAZON)

22.

"Yes. It appears you had an affair with her, but you didn't treat her right so you fired her or she left her job or something and went away." I say calmly, wanting to get this out of the way quickly.

He looks at me with his usual cold face, but somehow, I know he isn't pleased with this conversation. I don't want to make him angry. I just want to prove to Sophie that Marcel isn't as bad as she thinks. If I would have been sober, things would have went in a totally different way and I wouldn't have approached him the way I did.

He sighs deeply, looking down for a moment, before setting his eyes back up into mine.

"I feel like I always have to tell you that I am not a jerk, Grace. What happened with her was the same thing with Ronnie. It was casual."

"She clearly seemed in love with you." Sophie tells him, she is being shy but arrogant, it's her unpredictable boss after all.

"I knew that. So I wanted to stop." He turns and looks at her, being really tamed and respectful, but he struggles to keep calm as I see the depth of his breaths and how recurrent they are. "She pretended not to be and I believed her, but she became clingy and obsessed. There is a lot in that story you don't know. I didn't want for the situation to turn out this way. I am sorry she left."  His apology is very respectful, it charms me that he would even apologise at all.

"Why am I not believing you?" She is being very careful, but shows a soft frown.  I frown as well being disappointed she doesn't believe him.  It seemed truthful.

"I don't expect you to believe me that easily. She was your friend and it's completely normal to trust her words more than mine. You believed her, because you didn't know what was going on. I would hate knowing Grace is friends with somebody that doesn't care about her well-being like you currently do. Now, you think that you know me, but you don't. Very little people do, because I am a very private person. Grace is the fourth and last person that I have trusted to let into my life. I am sorry to say that I don't care what anyone else than those four people think about me. It's just the way I am." Marcel says very coldly, which contrast the sweet and wonderful things he had just said about me.

It makes my heart race instantly. I feel lucky that he feels and expresses that out loud. I get giddy and I can feel my cheeks getting warmer than the alcohol had gotten them. He makes me feel so special.

At the same time, it makes me wonder what the other three persons are. His Mum, his Dad and Eddy maybe? But his Dad is dead, shouldn't he be taken out of the equation? I don't know... And I don't really feel in the mood to bother tonight anyway. He has been so good to me tonight.

"You are right, I have been judgmental. I'll let you the chance to prove yourself to me. Maybe a dinner sometime could be nice to get to know you outside of the office." Sophie suggests after a deep sigh. She is trying to be open minded, but I see how bothered and annoyed she is.

"Pick the time and place. We'll be there." Marcel says very formally.

She finishes up her glass of water and gets up in a hurry to put it in the kitchen. When she comes back, she nods slightly to me as Marcel gives all his attention on his cup of tea.

"I will wish you both a good night. Grace, don't forget to lock the door before you go to bed." She looks at me and I'm trying to make sense of what she is saying to know if he can stay or not.

I don't know why I feel like I owe something to her. I am paying her rent, but it might be because she saw me be with her cousin and her best friend... I feel so bad. This dinner will be not only Marcel's chance, but mine as well, to prove how true and genuine we are, whatever we might be.