End Point

Chapter 6

"You've been avoiding me." Adam observed mildly.

"Yes." Ellis answered briskly as she went on working on her computer. He had come over because he wanted to see her. She had made it clear that although she had allowed him in; she was working, and he was not welcome. At least she had not thrown him out, yet.

"Ell, please talk to me." Adam said quietly, taking a seat across from her.

She finally moved her eyes from the screen. He did not call her Ell often, so it always gave her pause.

"As much as I want to avoid you for reasons I do not feel like discussing, I do also have a deadline to meet. Unless I work without distractions, this code will not be done by tomorrow morning." Her eyes narrowed. "You are a distraction."

"Am I allowed to stay here if I do not bother you?" Adam asked politely. Ellis gazed at him in indecision for a moment before nodding. Without another word, he left the room.

Ellis turned her eyes back to her computer and within moments she was again engrossed in her work. She had trained herself to not think at all when writing code, and remembering about this deadline had been a godsend for her after everything Adam had reminded her of two nights ago.

She had needed something to numb her, to give herself time to cope, and her work was now doing that; the same way it had all these years.

She lost herself in it, and when she looked up again, it was dark outside the window. Ellis got up and stretched before silently padding out to the living room. Adam was sprawled on the couch, his bare feet propped up on the coffee table, and the television remote loosely grasped in his hand.

There was a hockey game playing on mute. He looked for the entire world like a regular guy enjoying his evening, except that he was no regular guy, andthis was not his house.

She stared at him for a long minute and then decided that he just was not worth the hassle tonight, and turned to head into the kitchen to get a snack. She had not eaten all day, but she was not overly hungry. A snack would be enough for her tonight.

"I made supper." Adam said from behind her.

Ellis paused, and then answered without turning. "I am not really hungry."

"You haven't eaten all day."

"I'm still not hungry enough for a full meal." She said, reluctantly turning to face him.

"Give me some incentive to cook for you again."

Ellis nodded and Adam raised his long frame off the couch. His movements were slow, relaxed, but Ellis could feel the tension in him. She wondered if he knew that she could see behind his casualness.

They ate dinner together. He had made simple pasta with a freshly tossed salad on the side, but considering she knew that he barely knew how to cook, this was an excellently put together meal. He had gone to a lot trouble to put her at ease, or to indirectly grovel. She was not sure what he was doing yet. But she also knew he was not here to apologize. Not really. He didn't think he had done anything wrong in confronting her, and the man would not bow if he thought he was right. Not to anybody.

In spite of her misgivings about his visit he had her calm by the end of dinner, which made it all the more jarring when he changed the topic of their conversation.