ZORAS POVI looked down at the twins who had identical sunny grins and ice cream smeared all over their faces. "Hello, you two," I said, forcing myself to smile at them. "How are you doing this afternoon?"Still holding on to my legs, they pulled back a bit. "We are having a lot of fun with Elliot, mum," Finn said excitedly. I stared at him in surprise. All traces of the reserve he had been treating Elliot with was gone. I wondered what Elliot had done to make Finn thaw towards him. I shot Elliot a glare. "Yes, mum," added Freya. "We came here from school. It was Elliot's idea. Finn and rode the carousel until we were almost dizzy and then-"Finn interrupted. "-and then Elliot finished telling us the story he didn't get to finish the other day.""Sounds nice," I said. I straightened a bit and glanced over at Elliot, half an ear on what the kids were saying. Elliot didn't even have the good grace to look away, or look sorry at least. By my expression, it was clear that I did not a
ZORA'S POV"We are home," Katherine cried. I came out of my reverie. "Yaay!" they chorused in unison. "Now we can eat what Elliot got us," said Freya. At Katherine's stern look, she pouted. "But you said we could when we got home.""Well, you are still in the car. Hold your horses a bit. Okay?""Roger that, Kathy," Finn replied as he and his sister grabbed in the things Elliot had gotten for them. There was a scuffle in the car as they struggled for possession of the plastic bags. Then they opened the door and ran inside. I followed them into the house, walking slowly. Katherine lingered by the car, making a show of bringing in the kid's school bags and lunch boxes. I sank onto the sofa and watched Finn and Freya arguing over who was to get what. Thankfully, they were so engrossed in what they were doing that they didn't notice me. I was finding it increasingly difficult to keep the worry off my face. "Finn, Freya," Katherine called out as she came into the living room. She handed
ZORA'S POV I uncovered the pan and peered in. I grimaced. Considering what I saw simmering in the pan, it looked like this was one of those times where Katherine would be proven right. "What's the matter, Zora?" said Katherine from her place on the kitchen stool. "Don't like what you see?" Freya sniggered and Katherine put a finger on her lips. I turned and flashed them a smile. "I do actually," I said with confidence I did not feel. "What I made looks really good." "Okay, if you say so." I turned back to the pan and racked my brains for how I could salvage what was left of the meal. While Katherine and Freya were talking, I furtively googled the cooking instructions once again and followed them as closely as I could. "Go to the dining room, all of you," I called out. "Food will be served in a couple of minutes." Katherine and Freya left. Finn was the last to leave after packing up all his stuff. I hoped the food would look better when dished into plates. When I dished it u
ZORA'S POV I lay in bed, thinking over the events of the day. My thoughts drifted to the viral pictures of Elliot and I. Automatically, that led to thoughts of Elliot. I shut my eyes, willing the memories to go away. It had been a long, tough day and I had no desire to relive it. My phone pinged. I rolled over to look at it. "Speak of the devil," I muttered under my breath. I had a message from Elliot. I came to your office today. But I wasn't allowed in. Why? I left the message on read and lay back down. My phone pinged twice. It was another message from Elliot- two actually. I groaned and put my pillow over my face. I decided to ignore the message. I soon got restless as I wondered what else he had sent. With a sigh, I opened the new messages. Since you are ignoring my message, I'm coming over to your house. Now. My eyes widened in alarm. I briefly considered not acknowledging his message and calling his bluff, but I quickly decided against it. He just might do what he
ZORA'S POV The streets were totally deserted as I walked home. The houses I passed were mostly dark and silent. I really had no idea of how much time I had spent with Elliot, but it seemed like it had been a while. All I wanted was to go to bed and hopefully have some rest. With a sigh, I pushed open my gate. The first thing I noticed was that all the lights in the house were on. I paused for a second, clearly recalling that they were turned off when I set out for the park. It was very odd that someone, mostly likely Katherine, had turned the lights back on. This evening, Katherine had complained of having a severe headache. Because of that, she had gone to bed early. The guards would also have retired for the day. I just hoped Katherine's headache had not gotten worse. Perhaps she found that she couldn't sleep anymore and was sitting up, doing something to pass the time. Or maybe she had gotten hungry and decided to get a midnight snack since she gone to bed early and hadn't eaten
ZORA'S POVThe next morning, I felt as though I had been fed through a mangler and kicked by a horse. My body ached. The worst ache was the one in my heart as I watched my little girl go through what no five year old should experience. I had sat by Freya's bedside all night. I had barely slept. I had only dozed fitfully. The whole night had been spent watching Freya, even though the nurse on duty who had regularly come to check in on us, had encouraged me rest. I would not have minded all the inconveniences one bit if Freya had regained consciousness. But she had remained the same through out the night and on to the morning. Work was the farthest thing from my mind. All I thought of was her. At 7a.m that morning, Katherine came in, carrying bags that looked heavy. I dragged my eyes from Freya to her. "Kathy," I said. "You came.""I did. I brought someone along." She glanced at the door which was half open. Finn walked in slowly. He came in and stood close to the door, looking arou
ZORA'S POV"Alright," Elliot said as soon as I unlocked the door. "Show me your kitchen."Without saying anything, I led and he followed. I opened the cupboards as I walked into the kitchen, showing him their contents. He nodded in satisfaction. "You seem to have everything I need," he said, when he had peered into the fridge to see what we had there. "By the way, what did you plan on cooking for her?"I thought for a moment. "I am not really sure but... macaroni and cheese, maybe," I said listlessly."Okay then. Macaroni and cheese it is."Elliot grabbed an apron, put it on, rolled up the cuffs of his shirt and set to work. I leaned against the counter a little away distance from him and watched him cook. As usual, he was very efficient in the kitchen. He chopped up the ingredients faster than w even Katherine. He didn't made a mess and cleaned up as he went. I felt a pang of sadness as I recalled all of the times he used to cook for me, all the times he used to watch me cook- or
ZORA'S POVFrom my place on the chair beside Katherine, I watched Elliot as he adjusted the covers around Freya, as the day had grown a little more chilly. Freya smiled her thanks. Elliot had been here with us ever since. He had watched Freya eat and coaxed her to eat more. I had to admit that he was good with the kids. They seemed to have almost forgotten that they were in a hospital. Elliot had kept them constantly engaged and he showed no signs of tiring. The only time Elliot had left the hospital was after Drew had called him. I had watched him at the other end of the room while he made the call. All the while, he had kept an eye on the twins, Freya especially. Finally, after an intense, hushed phone conversation, Elliot had regretfully taken his leave, saying he had something really important to attend to at work. Finn's face had fallen a bit at the news. Even Freya had not looked too happy about him leaving. He had promised them that he would be back as soon as he attended to h