Within The Bonds

41: Closure

My mind goes blank and my mouth goes dry. The man I was avoiding for two whole days is now standing in my bedroom and asking me to have a conversation with him?

'What does he want to talk about?'

He stands in his place unmoved waiting on the response I'm yet to give him. My mind puts this as an opportunity for me to seek the answer to my numerous unanswered questions and so, I nod ambivalently.

He motions for me to follow him, dragging myself out of bed in the most gracious manner I can muster, I make my way out the door behind him. He leads me to the garden that stretches across the back of the mansion, where I spot a table placed at the far end of the area close to the pond—which also happens to be my favorite spot.

We walk side-by-side in mutual silence, my eyes busy examining the blossoming flowers surrounding me. Once we near the table he pulls out a chair for me, mumbling a soft "thank you," I sit down.

He takes the seat opposite me, while I shift my attention to the quacking ducks in the pond. Their white feather coat standing out amongst the kaleidoscope of green-colored bushes in the background.

I watch keenly as the two small ducklings slowly lower themselves into the water. An amused smile stretches across my face as I observe them, my eyes following their every move.

"You seem very fond of them," a powerful voice points out demanding my attention. Averting my eyes to the owner of the voice, I nod timidly in affirmation.

"I've been told that this is your favorite spot," he looks at me for confirmation and I once again nod muttering a soft "yes," under my breath. "Um...what was is it that Noah called it..." He mumbles to himself, his forehead creasing in deep thought.

"My happy place," I offer my tone softer than I intended it to be. He nods with a small smile curving his lips and a light voice in my mind tells me that 'smiling' isn't something he did often.

Our leisurely progressing conversation comes to an abrupt halt when Miss. Jonas approaches the table while pushing a trolley spotting two plates of what looks to be blueberry cheesecake on it. Placing the plates in front of us along with a cup of tea wordlessly, she scurries away momentarily.

"Hope cheesecake is fine." I nod affirmatively as both of us dig into the delightful treat.

Exchanging monosyllables as we eat, we establish a comfortable atmosphere between us and eliminating the awkwardness from before. Taking small bites of my cheesecake, I avoid my cup of tea with pure passion.

"Not a big fan of tea?" He voices his observation his Brazilian accent thickly lacing his words.

"Nope," I mumble my gazed stuck on my food, pushing around the small bits of cake left on my plate.

"Look up when you're talking to someone." My head shoots up in attention at the tone of his voice. Meeting his eyes, I notice the chastising look on his face.

"Sorry," I yet again mumble looking at him but avoiding his eyes.

He sighs and I look at him in confusion, "if you want people to take you seriously when you speak to them, you need to look them in the eye and talk," he explains with a serious look on his face and a stern look in his eyes.

I nod wordlessly, not knowing what would be the right response to his words. Without another word, he gets back to his food and I do the same, finishing mine in two bites.

"Let's talk, shall we?" He asks putting down his silverware and dabbing his mouth with a napkin.

"Wha-what do you want to talk a-about?" I don't know if it's the nervousness or the unknown feeling I have in the pit of my stomach that made me stutter, but I try to remain as composed as I physically can.