LOVE BUG

CHAPTER 14: SECRET PLACE

What is she doing? Why has she decided to come? She has left her future husband and his family, has lied to them all, and for what? To join the one with whom she has broken the law.

It may not be a wise idea to meet a man she barely knows. Anastasia has questioned her decision all the way, and when she gets out of her car, the deserted surroundings make her doubt even more.

She has stared enough times at the text to be sure it is the right address, yet she still checks it one more time, maybe to not look too long at the scenery. 

6 Uphill Road, it is here, by the side of an empty road, with the edge of a wood showing up at the beginning of a narrow pathway. It is the right address, and apparently, the right place for being alone, or for murder? 

She shivers, the cold coming from the trees cooling down her burning turmoil inside. The sun is playing hide and seek behind grey clouds, accentuating the creepy atmosphere of the area. 

Yet, despite the uncertainty and the doubtful place, she can't walk away; something inside, almost like a belief, makes her want to stay.

"Hi."

When she turns around and meets Nathaniel's warm chocolate eyes, she knows there is no way she can turn back. 

He is standing there, a few feet away, as handsome as always in a simple white tee-shirt and dark jeans, and the hint of a smile he offers her is enough to justify against all the questions and doubts that have crossed her mind on her way here.

"Hi," she replies in the same awkward tone,  the words not flowing as easily as through the texts she has sent him, but something still passes through the eerie silence of the nature around and their rapid stares.

"Um... follow me." He points to the pathway, while his other hand is rubbing the back of his neck.

There is no 'how are you?' or exchange of civilities, and she is thankful for that. She has enough questions she has no answer to, and it is clear since their first encounter that they don't need lots of words to share intimacy.

He is already heading towards the path, though before, she still notices his gaze lingering down her body for a brief second, sending another trail of shivers along her skin, not from coldness this time. 

She instinctively throws a glance around from where he is walking to her car parked in the shade, maybe in a last hesitation, and when she meets his gaze over his shoulder inviting her to come, there is no need for another word. Just like that, she follows him.

All of this looks so wrong, Nate reflects with each step he takes. He is leading a woman – who is not his wife – through a narrow pathway in the woods. 

They are walking a narrow pathway in so many ways, and all of this is so wrong. He's left his home the second his phone screen has lighted up with her reply – luckily Pamela hasn't been there – and he's driven a long way to meet up with the woman with whom he's cheated on his wife.

He shouldn't have invited her here first; he shouldn't have replied. He should regret it, yet the second he's seen her eyes and the distress flooding their hazel, an instinctive rush to soothe her has annihilated his reason, and it's something that can't be called heroism. He's known he's been right, despite all the wrongs.

He doesn't know what to say in this weird situation; he doesn't even dare to look behind for all the reasons that it could feel wrong. But he senses her presence close behind, her quiet steps and her soft breathing, and it feels so right.

Her surprised gasp pulls him out of the sinuous trail of his thoughts, and he realizes they are already at the end of the track in the woods, the sight of an abrupt uphill slope meeting them between sharp rocks.