CHAPTER 4
1585 Words
Charissa was convinced Burgundy had been born with a fully charged battery.
There was simply no other explanation.
At breakfast, the twelve-year-old menace was halfway through an extremely passionate argument about why schools should allow students to bring pet goats to class.
like goats...not even dogs or cats or bunnies.
"Goats are emotionally supportive," Burgundy insisted.
"They eat paper," Aunt Leah replied calmly.
"They're misunderstood."
"They literally eat paper."
Charissa sipped her coffee.
Slowly.
Carefully.
The way one might drink something while watching a natural disaster unfold.
"Where do you get this energy from?" she asked eventually.
Burgundy grinned.
"I'm gifted."
"You're concerning."
The girl accepted that as a compliment.
Charissa shook her head.
"You definitely didn't get it from your mother."
"Thanks?" Aunt Leah said lifting an uncertain brow.
"Seriously. You're calm. Burgundy is..." She gestured vaguely. "Whatever this is."
"Extraordinary," Burgundy supplied.
"Terrifying."
The girl beamed.
Charissa laughed before another thought crossed her mind.
"Actually, where is your dad?"
The question slipped out naturally.
She'd been in Bellmere for almost three days now and realized she hadn't seen him once.
Not even in passing.
Burgundy immediately shoved another forkful of pancakes into her mouth.
Aunt Leah smiled.
"Business trip."
"Oh."
"He left a few days before you arrived."
"When's he coming back?"
"In about a month I think."
Charissa nodded.
That explained it.
At least partially.
Still, it felt strange.
The man seemed to exist only through stories.
Every other conversation somehow included him.
Yet she'd never actually met him, other than their wedding.
"He's bringing me presents," Burgundy announced.
"Of course he is."
"Three presents."
"Specific."
"I negotiated."
Aunt Leah laughed.
Charissa stared at her cousin.
"You're twelve."
"And winning."
The weather changed sometime after lunch. One minute Bellmere was bright and sunny. The next, dark clouds rolled across the sky like they'd been waiting for permission.
By the time Charissa reached town, rain was already falling.
Not heavily.
Just enough to force people indoors for a little while.
She groaned and jogged toward the nearest building.
The Bellmere Bookroom.
Again.
At this point she should've just rented a shelf and had a personal sitting area. Maybe.
The familiar bell chimed overhead as she stepped inside.
Warmth greeted her instantly.
Along with the scent of old paper and coffee.
Perfect.
The bookstore was quieter than usual.
Only a handful of customers wandered between shelves.
Charissa brushed rainwater from her sleeves and headed deeper inside.
Then she heard voices.
Not loud but just low enough to carry.
She wasn't trying to listen.
She simply recognized one of them.
Eli.
She paused instinctively.
The second voice belonged to an older man she vaguely recognized from behind the bookstore counter.
The owner, maybe.
The conversation sounded serious.
"You should let them help."
A pause.
Then Eli's voice.
"They've done enough."
"You know they'd never say that."
"That's exactly why I won't ask."
The older man sighed heavily.
A chair scraped against the floor.
"Eli..."
Silence.
Then:
"Your father would be furious if he knew you were carrying all this alone."
Another pause.
Longer this time.
When Eli finally spoke, his voice sounded different somehow.
Quieter.
"My father isn't here."
The words weren't angry.
They weren't emotional either.
Just factual.
The kind of statement that had been repeated too many times to hurt out loud anymore.
The older man immediately looked regretful.
"I'm sorry."
"It's fine."
Neither of them sounded like they believed that.
Charissa shifted awkwardly.
Now she definitely felt like she was listening to something she shouldn't be.
She took a step backward and accidentally bumped into a shelf.
The sound echoed.
Wonderful.
Absolutely wonderful.
Both heads turned immediately.
Eli spotted her first.
His expression changed so quickly she almost missed it.
One second serious.
The next completely normal.
"You're stalking me."
Charissa stared.
"Excuse me?"
The older man laughed softly, already stepping away from the conversation.
Eli closed the book in front of him.
"This is the third time."
"Bellmere has approximately four buildings."
"Still suspicious."
"I literally came here because of the rain."
"The rain works for you now?"
She rolled her eyes.
The older man quietly excused himself, leaving them alone.
For a second neither spoke.
Then Eli gestured toward a nearby chair.
"You can sit if you're planning to keep following me."
"I'm not following you."
"You keep saying that."
She scoffed and dropped into the chair anyway.
“Sure.”
“That sounded very fake.”
“That’s because it was.”
“You’re annoying when you’re confident.”
“I’m not confident.”
“Then what are you?”
A pause.
Eli glanced down at the book in his hands, turning a page slowly like the answer was somewhere between the lines.
“I don’t know,” he said simply.
That made her stop for half a second.
Not because it was deep.
But because it was honest in a way people usually avoided.
Charissa leaned back in her chair slightly.
“That’s a boring answer.”
“It’s a boring question.”
She gasped.
“Excuse me?”
“You asked me what I want to do after graduation,” he said, finally looking at her again. “That question is basically a trap.”
“A trap?”
“Yeah.”
“For what?”
“For lying.”
That shut her up for a beat.
Not in a bad way.
Just unexpected.
“So what, you think everyone who answers that question is lying?”
“I think most people are guessing.”
Charissa studied him for a moment.
“You always talk like you’ve already given up on things.”
That landed differently.
Eli didn’t respond immediately.
His fingers tightened slightly around the book.
Just for a second.
Then relaxed again.
“I didn’t say that.”
“You didn’t deny it either.”
Silence stretched.
Not uncomfortable.
Just heavier than before.
Outside, rain tapped softly against the glass.
Eli finally spoke again.
“People like that question because it makes everything sound planned.”
“Isn’t that the point?”
“Maybe.”
He shrugged.
“But most people don’t get the life they plan anyway.”
That line stayed in the air a little longer than it should have.
Charissa watched him more carefully now.
Not staring.
Observing.
“Do you always talk like a philosopher or is today special?” she asked.
A faint smirk appeared on his face.
“Only when I’m trying not to be boring.”
“You’re not boring.”
The words came out too quickly.
She noticed immediately.
So did he.
His eyes flicked to her briefly.
Long enough for something unspoken to pass between them.
Then he looked away again.
“…Debatable,” he said.
Charissa leaned forward slightly.
“Okay, mystery boy, let’s try something easier.”
“I don’t like that nickname.”
“I didn’t ask.”
“Of course you didn’t.”
“Favorite color?”
He blinked.
“That’s your easier question?”
“Yes.”
“That’s not personality-based at all.”
“It’s a warm-up question.”
Eli sighed.
“Blue.”
She nodded.
“Boring.”
“It’s not supposed to be interesting.”
“Everything should be interesting.”
“That sounds exhausting.”
“It is.”
For the first time, Eli looked like he was trying not to smile back.
And failing slightly.
Charissa tilted her head again.
“Okay, your turn.”
“My turn for what?”
“Ask me something.”
That caught him off guard just slightly.
His eyes narrowed like he was thinking too carefully.
Then:
“Why are you here?”
Charissa blinked.
“…In the bookstore?”
“In Bellmere.”
She leaned back.
“I’m on forced vacation.”
“That sounds illegal.”
“It feels illegal.”
That earned a quiet laugh from him.
After a moment, she asked:
“Why are you here?”
“I live here.”
“That’s not what I meant.”
A pause.
Then—
“Habit,” he said.
Which wasn’t really an answer.
But she didn’t push it.
Not yet.
By the time she left the bookstore, the rain had softened into a light drizzle.
Eli stayed behind.
Still reading.
Still quiet.
Still impossible to understand.
That evening, Charissa sat on the kitchen counter while Aunt Leah prepared dinner.
Burgundy was nearby attempting to teach the family dog how to dance.
The dog looked exhausted. I would too if I were him.
"How long have you known Eli?" Charissa asked casually.
Aunt Leah didn't even look up from what she was chopping.
"Years."
"Really?"
"Mhm."
Burgundy nodded.
"Dad knows him too."
That caught Charissa's attention.
"Your dad?"
"Yep."
Aunt Leah smiled faintly.
"Their families were close."
"Friends?"
Aunt Leah considered that.
Then shook her head.
"More like brothers."
Charissa frowned slightly.
Brothers?
Before she could ask anything else, Burgundy suddenly shouted because the dog had escaped.
Chaos immediately followed.
The conversation ended there.
But later that night, lying awake in bed while rain tapped softly against her window, Charissa found herself thinking about Eli.
About the bookstore.
About the older man.
About the way everyone seemed to know him.
And most of all—
About how every answer she got somehow created three new questions.
For the first time since arriving in Bellmere, curiosity kept her awake long after midnight.
And she had a feeling it wasn't going away anytime soon.
Might just indulge the curiosity.
- Writer
