"I'm not avoiding you," he murmured, his eyes darting away from her piercing gaze.
Her voice rose in frustration, "Then what are you doing? Why won't you look at me?"
"I apologize, but I have a pressing engagement to attend to. Please believe me when I say that I am not ignoring you," he replied, his tone gentle yet firm.
Her eyebrows shot up in disbelief, "You're not?"
He hesitated for a moment before answering, "I am simply preoccupied with other matters at the moment."
His eyes fell to the ground, his mind racing with thoughts of the meeting he was about to attend. He knew he had to leave, but the guilt of leaving her behind weighed heavily on his heart.
"Fine," she exhaled a deep breath, her eyes meeting his, "Fine, I'll accept your words as truth." A subtle nod followed, "But on
