Chapter 17
1140 Words
You should actually eat now, the text read.
She groaned, irritation building, why was he commanding her like this? She didn't answer, and a second later another text came through: I said now, don't make me come over there.
She groaned again, grabbed the food, and walked to the break room so she wouldn't have to eat under the office's watching eyes. She opened the takeout, it was some kind of sauce with rice, before she took a bite, she snapped a photo and sent it to her sister.
You're eating breakfast now? Since when? Cecilia texted back, long story, talk later, Amelia replied, and finished her meal before heading back to her desk.
By lunchtime, she was still too full to eat, so she stayed at her desk. A few minutes later, Travis walked over and stopped beside her.
"Get up," he said. "It's time for lunch."
"I'm full," she replied, not looking up. "I don't want to go."
A faint smile tugged at his lips. "Don't worry. We'll just get ice cream. You look tired."
She was tired. The weekend had drained her more than she cared to admit, and she hadn't slept properly since. But there was no way she could explain that, and making a scene in the office wasn't worth it. With a quiet sigh, she pushed herself to her feet.
Travis held out his hand and after a brief hesitation, she slipped hers into his, and he led her out to the car.
They drove in comfortable silence to a small ice cream shop a few minutes away from the office. The afternoon sun poured through the windshield, warming the inside of the car, while the radio played softly in the background. Amelia rested her head against the window, watching the streets blur past.
It had been a long time since she'd had ice cream.
She couldn't even remember the last time she'd bought one for herself, she hated going out alone.
They got to the shop and they placed their order, she got the vanilla. Travis said he didn't take ice cream so he just sat there waiting for the order to be ready, it didn't take much because who else would come get ice cream on a Monday morning.
A few minutes later, the waiter handed her the cup.
"Thanks," she murmured, accepting it with both hands.
She took a cautious spoonful, the cold sweetness melting on her tongue. It was surprisingly comforting. For a brief moment, the tight knot that had been sitting in her chest all day loosened.
Neither of them spoke much while she ate. Travis seemed content to let the silence settle between them instead of forcing a conversation.
When she finished, she wiped her fingers with a napkin and looked over at him.
"Can we head back to the office?"
He glanced at her. "Why?"
Her lips parted, but no words came out, she didn't know if she had imagined it but he looked hurt, at this point she was sure she had begun to hallucinate, she looked away.
Travis studied her for another second before starting the car without asking again.
Back at the office, everyone else was still busy. Amelia returned to her desk, she wanted to finish answering her emails. Across the floor, Travis disappeared into a conference room for another meeting. Almost an hour later, her phone vibrated, it was Travis again, what did he want this time?
She picked up her phone, apparently he was downstairs waiting for her, it wasn't even time to clock out yet! She felt like screaming, why wouldn't he just leave her tf alone! She stared at the message for a moment, she knew he wouldn't take no for an answer
She locked her computer, grabbed her bag, rode the elevator down and walked outside, his car was parked by the entrance. She took the walk over to the car as slow as possible.
Amelia opened the passenger door and slid inside as soon as she fastened her seatbelt, Travis pulled away from the curb.
"What did you have for lunch?" he asked casually.
She kept her eyes on the road ahead.
"Nothing."
His head turned slightly toward her before returning to the road.
"Does eating hurt you?." He asked sarcasm dripping from every word
It took everything she had in her not to punch him in the face, she wanted to remove that smug look from his face so bad
"We're getting lunch."
She glanced at the dashboard clock.
"It's already six."
"Then we're getting dinner."
She let out a small, dramatic sigh and rolled her eyes, ready to refuse, the words sat on the tip of her tongue then she thought about standing over a hot stove after an exhausting day, she had no literarily no energy left.
Slowly, the argument lost its appeal, this actually solved one of her problems, she wouldn't have to think about dinner, she wouldn't have to cook.
Without another word, she folded her arms across her chest and settled deeper into her seat, pretending to look out the window even though she knew Travis had already taken her silence as agreement, the faint smile tugging at the corner of his mouth told her as much.
The silence between them stretched on, growing heavier with every passing second. It made even the sound of their breathing seem too loud.
Amelia stole a glance at Travis, his eyes remained fixed on the road, his expression unreadable. He looked perfectly content to let the silence continue forever if she didn't say something first.
She swallowed, cleared her throat, and forced herself to speak.
"So... how was work?"
For the first time since they'd gotten into the car, Travis's shoulders relaxed ever so slightly.
"Work was... work."
Amelia frowned, scrunching her eyebrows in confusion.
"What does that even mean?"
A corner of his mouth twitched. He rubbed the stubble along his jaw before letting out a slow sigh, narrowing his eyes as though searching for an answer he wasn't sure he wanted to give.
"It means..." He paused, then gave a small shrug. "It was one of those days."
Realizing she might have pushed too far, Amelia quickly looked away.
"You don't have to tell me if you don't want to."
A quiet smirk spread across Travis's face. Then, unexpectedly, a low chuckle escaped his lips, the sound was soft, almost effortless, but it made Amelia's insides tumble. The deep, husky sound wrapped around her thoughts and sent an unfamiliar warmth fluttering through her chest, heat crept up her neck before she could stop it.
Shifting in her seat, she adjusted herself, suddenly aware of how close they were in the confined space of the car. She silently prayed he hadn't noticed the effect something as simple as his laugh had on her.
- Writer
