CHAPTER 4 — Curiosity Isn’t Quiet
937 Words
Celeste didn’t plan to think about Elias the next morning. She really didn’t. She told herself she would focus on adjusting to the province, maybe help her mom clean, maybe even journal like those self‑care articles suggested.
But the moment she stepped outside, the wind carried the scent of grass and something else — something familiar now.
The fields.
And him.
She tried to ignore it. She really did. But curiosity had always been her weakness. It was the same curiosity that made her open work emails at midnight, the same curiosity that made her stalk her ex’s new girlfriend, the same curiosity that made her click “read more” on articles she didn’t need.
So of course she found herself walking toward the fields again.
Not because of him.
Just… because she wanted to see the place in daylight.
That’s what she told herself.
The sun was softer this morning, the sky a pale blue. Dew clung to the grass, sparkling like tiny crystals. The air was cool, fresh, and annoyingly calming.
She hated how calming it was.
Her life in Manila had been a constant sprint — alarms, deadlines, meetings, messages, noise. Here, everything moved slower. Too slow. Slow enough for her thoughts to catch up with her.
And she wasn’t sure she liked that.
As she walked, she noticed something she hadn’t seen before — a narrow path leading deeper into the fields. It looked like it had been used often, the grass pressed down by footsteps.
Her curiosity perked up.
“Where does this go?” she murmured.
“Nowhere you should be.”
Celeste jumped, spinning around.
Elias stood a few feet away, carrying a wooden crate. His shirt was damp with sweat, clinging to his back. His hair was slightly messy, like he’d been working for hours already.
He looked… human today. Less like a warning sign, more like a man who woke up early and didn’t care about appearances.
But his eyes — those dark, unreadable eyes — still held that quiet intensity.
Celeste placed a hand over her chest. “Do you always appear out of nowhere?”
He didn’t answer. He just looked at her, gaze steady, unreadable.
She cleared her throat. “I was just… walking.”
“You were going toward the river.”
She frowned. “How do you know that?”
He didn’t blink. “Because that path only leads there.”
Celeste crossed her arms. “You make it sound like the river is cursed.”
“It’s dangerous.”
“Everything is dangerous if you think about it too much.”
He didn’t smile, but something flickered in his eyes — amusement? Annoyance? She couldn’t tell.
“You shouldn’t be curious about things you don’t understand,” he said.
Celeste raised a brow. “You don’t know me.”
“I know enough.”
She stepped closer, just a little. “And what exactly do you think you know?”
He looked at her for a long moment. The wind rustled the grass around them, but he didn’t move.
“You’re restless,” he said quietly. “You don’t like silence. You don’t like being still. You’re looking for something to distract you.”
Celeste’s breath caught.
He wasn’t wrong.
He wasn’t even close to wrong.
But how could he see that?
How could a man who barely spoke read her so easily?
She forced a laugh. “Wow. Do you do fortune‑telling on the side?”
He didn’t react.
Of course he didn’t.
She sighed. “Fine. Maybe I am curious. Maybe I want to see the river. Maybe I want to understand why everyone acts like it’s some forbidden place.”
“It’s not forbidden,” he said. “It’s just not safe.”
“Why?”
He looked away, jaw tightening. “The ground is unstable. People have slipped before.”
Celeste studied him.
He wasn’t lying.
But he wasn’t telling the whole truth either.
And that made her even more curious.
“Okay,” she said softly. “Then show me.”
His head snapped toward her. “No.”
“Why not?”
“Because you don’t listen.”
She blinked. “I’m literally asking you to guide me. That’s listening.”
“You’re asking because you want answers, not because you want safety.”
She opened her mouth, then closed it.
He was right again.
Annoyingly right.
Elias shifted the crate in his arms. “Go home, Celeste.”
She hated how her name sounded in his voice — too steady, too grounded, too real.
“I’m not a child,” she muttered.
“No,” he said. “But you’re not careful either.”
He walked past her, heading toward the fields. She watched him go, frustration bubbling in her chest.
Who was he to tell her what to do?
Who was he to act like he knew her?
Who was he to make her feel… seen?
She turned back toward the path.
The river.
The place he didn’t want her to see.
The place everyone avoided talking about.
Her curiosity sparked again, stronger this time.
She wasn’t scared.
She wasn’t even nervous.
She was intrigued.
And Celeste Navarro had never been good at ignoring intrigue.
As she walked back home, she glanced over her shoulder.
Elias was watching her.
Not glaring.
Not warning.
Just watching.
And for the first time, she wondered if he was trying to protect her — or protect something from her.
Either way, her curiosity wasn’t going anywhere.
If anything, it was just getting started.
- Writer
