Reyna Feldman, a twenty year old Jewish girl from the tiniest of villages in France, is on the run. Captured by German soldiers while trying to escape over the border, she's taken to an internment camp in Freiburg, Germany, where she meets SS Philli...
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Happy Wednesday!! I finally had some time to finish the last 1/4 of this chapter (over half of it has been sitting in my drafts unfinished for over a month!) I hope you guys enjoy! Let me know what you think!!
"How is he?"
"Eh," Luca shrugged. "He's been out most of the day. I don't think he wanted to spend much time in the house."
"Do you think he's still upset?" She asked, the question that had been plaguing her mind since the pervious night finally escaping her lips. "Do you think he even wants to see me?"
"The pining school girl doesn't suit you," He said, cocking an eyebrow at her.
"I'm not pining," She shot back, crossing her arms over her chest. "I just... I just don't want to do anything to upset him."
"Relax," He smirked, giving her a sideways glance. "It was a joke ... You might learn to take one," He added, his smirk widening. She didn't reply, focusing her attention to the cuticle she'd been picking at since he'd arrived to get her. "Look..." He began with a sigh, his tone more serious now. "I'm sure he'd welcome a distraction right now."
"A distraction?"
"I don't pretend to know how the two of you spend every second of your time together," He began. She stiffened, waiting for him to make some suggestive comment about what they did behind closed doors. "But whatever it is, do that."
She looked up at him. His expression was serious, thoughtful even. She nodded, shifting her gaze forward. They walked in silence again, the snow that had turned to slush during the day now crunching underneath their feet in the absence of the sun's warmth. Luca escorted her through the front door of the house and up the stairs as he did every night, knocking against the door once they'd reaching Phillip's study.
"Come in," Phillip called from the other side.
"Good luck," Luca whispered as he turned the knob, the playful smirk he'd worn before, having returned.
She gave him a sarcastic look that said, "thanks," just as the door swung open, revealing Phillip seated in his usual spot at his desk. His eyes met hers before she managed to avert her gaze.
"Reyna," He greeted her, his voice level and unwavering.
"Hello," She replied, giving him a sheepish smile as she sat down across from him.
"Reyna I..." Phillip trailed off.
"I'm sorry," They said nearly in unison.
"I had no idea," She pressed on.
"How could you've?" He cut her off, with a shake of the head. "I shouldn't have reacted the way I did." Standing to his feet, he rounded the desk and sat down in the armchair beside her's. "I'm truly sorry," He said earnestly.
"You don't have to apologize," She gave him a small, reassuring smile.
"I assume Luca's the one who told you?" He asked, his tone lightening at her smile, one threatening his own lips in return.
She nodded.
He chuckled. "He seems to know everything about everyone, doesn't he?"
"It seems that way," She laughed. She looked at him. He still wore a smile, but it didn't quite reach his eyes, the wrinkles that formed around their corners when he usually smiled, absent.
"If you wanted to talk about her..." She paused, watching him carefully. "I'm here to listen."
"I find it quite difficult to do that..." He shook his head, the slightest hint of sadness tugging at the corners of his mouth.
"I had a brother," She began after they'd sat in silence for a moment. "His name was Benjamin." She locked eyes with Phillip briefly, looking away seconds after their eyes met. It felt like an eternity since she'd uttered his name. The time that had elapsed only slightly dulling the pang in her chest at the mention of him. "He was seven when my parents had me, so he was a good bit older, but that didn't stop me from following him around everywhere he went..." She laughed softly. "I don't remember much about him ... I was ten when he died ... But I know he loved to fish. And anything Ben did, I had to do too," She smiled as the memory came back to her. "There was this lake near our house across a stretch of pasture," She continued on, the words flowing freely now as she recalled everything she could about that place. "We would meet there nearly every afternoon... It was our spot," She stole a glance at Phillip. He was looking at her, listening intently. "He'd gotten a job as a delivery boy for a shop downtown, so I always got home in the afternoons before him. I remember always rushing to finish my homework so I could head down to the water to wait for him. He'd arrive later some days than others, but he aways showed up, fishing poles in hand. Every day until the day he didn't ... I remember it so vividly," She frowned at the memory. She'd been sitting on the dock, her feet swung over the edge. The sun had began to set so the bugs had come out, sending ripples across the still water wherever they landed. It had never crossed her mind to be worried over his absence, not even when her father had appeared at the edge of the water, a solemn look on his face. "I'll never forget the look on my father's face," She commented out loud.
"What happened?" Phillip asked, and she realized she'd been so lost in the memory of that day that she'd stopped talking.
"He was out making deliveries in the store's truck," She drew in a deep breath. "Another car ran through a stop light and hit him." She blinked back the tears that stung her eyes, and swallowed them back down. "For the longest time, I refused to talk about him... refused to even mention his name," Leaving the memory behind, she pressed on. "But he deserves to be remembered." She drew her eyes up to look at Phillip. "Remembering doesn't bring back what's been lost, but it does ease the pain that's left behind." She smiled softly, and he smiled back at her.
"Thank you."
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