"Ellie! Stop... talking... like that!" he spluttered.
Francis might have been with a lot of women, but he took nobody seriously. Those women knew it and
they didn't mind.
But Ellie was different. He never thought of treating her badly.
He could not fathom why she had to hurt herself like that.
He was really upset. Not because of what she thought about him, but because of how she saw herself.
The worst part of it was that she called him "Mr. Francis." The fact that she called him "Mr. Francis"
hurt him the most.
Ellie closed her eyes and pursed her lips. She didn't say anything.
Francis grabbed both her shoulders and forced her to look at him. "Ellie, please tell me you're joking."
He looked at her, his eyes firm with pleading and frustration. "Please tell me you didn't mean any of
what you just said."
Francis' eyes spoke sincerely to Ellie.
She couldn't take another look at him. She needed strength to say what she was about to say, "No, I
meant everything I said."
Francis could see right through her lie. He shouted, "Look me in the eye and tell me again! You didn't
mean any of that, right?"
Ellie looked into his eyes, her visage as fierce as the crunching in her chest. "I meant it. I meant every
bit of it. You may leave Mr. Francis."
Ellie pointed to the door gesturing for Francis to leave.
"Fine!" Francis clenched his jaw and gnashed his teeth in anger.
He let go of her and turned around to leave.
The thud that came from the shutting door made Ellie flinch. As the door closed, the room fell into
silence.
Ellie could only look at the direction where he had gone.
She wrapped herself with her shaking arms to hold herself. Her tears started falling.
It felt as if all the tough facade she had shown him earlier had started crumbling.
She was all by herself now. Everyone had left for real. She was really all alone.
The reason why Ellie went to L City was to visit her grandparents.
She was going to spend some time and have a few nice meals with them. But none of that ever
happened. What was waiting for her was the news she never expected.
No one was home when she arrived. She assumed that they went out for some groceries. She wanted
to surprise them and didn't call. But when it was getting dark, and they were still not home, she figured
that something could be wrong.
She asked the neighbors but never really got an answer. All of them just looked at her with sad faces
and tried to avoid her.
At the beginning, she didn't care about the way they looked at her. However, she started to panic after
she didn't hear anything about her grandparents for the whole day. She went to the neighbors and
asked them about her grandparents.
They tried to avoid talking about them at first. She tried to ask again.
Finally, one of the neighbors told her that her grandparents had passed away and it had already been a
month.
Brown and Laura had hardly caught a cold in their lives, but this sickness caught on them all of a
sudden. With their age, it took their lives very quickly. No one had expected its coming.
However, they seemed to know how little time they had before they passed. They told the neighbors
not to tell Ellie. They said that they might fight it through and they didn't want to make her worry. They
also told them that if the sickness got worse, they would tell Ellie themselves.
Upon hearing the story, she didn't believe them.
Her grandparents were fine during their last visit to J City. She didn't believe that any sickness could
just take their lives.
If she had known, she would not agree to let them leave.
For days she mourned until she decided to return home.
Just then, Francis had returned to Ellie's house and saw her sitting on the bed, holding her knees, her
head buried between them and crying out loud.
He felt really bad. He wondered why it was so hard for her to accept that they had spent a night
together.
"Ellie, let's eat something first." He places a breakfast platter on the table in front of her.
Ellie looked up at him, surprised, "Why are you still here?"
Ellie looked miserable. Her eyes were red and swollen, but she couldn't keep her tears from falling
down.
Walking closer to her, Francis sighed, "Did you forget what I told you last night? No matter what
happens, I will be with you. You are not alone."
Ellie looked at him with a blank expression.
She didn't know if she should trust him.
But it sounded really tempting when he told her she would not be alone.
Confusion took over Ellie.
She didn't know what to do.
Her parents' failed marriage had left a huge traumatic mark on her. She had stayed away from men for
many years.
But Francis was different. She didn't hate the idea of getting close to him.
She just realized it, but she was happy when he was around.
When she couldn't see him, she felt lost. She wasn't sure about what she was feeling, but she knew
that she cared about him.
Ellie stared at her hands as she was deep in thought.
Seeing her in such a state, Francis slowly moved closer and held her hands. "Ellie, I knew I was not a
good man in the past. I was a scumbag. But I promise you I will change for you. Could you give me a
chance?"
His words were sincere and his eyes were serious.
Having no strength to look away from his beautiful eyes, Ellie nodded her head slowly.
She decided to take a chance on him.
She thought that
the worst consequence she would have to face was his betrayal. If that time would ever come, she
would just leave.
Ellie's acceptance really caught Francis in surprise. He couldn't believe his eyes. So he asked. "Ellie,
did you just... Did you just agree to be with me?"
There was an exciting expression on his face. His excitement made Ellie smile.
"I did," she replied.
"Oh my god! Ellie! You are my girlfriend now! Yeah!"
If he could, he would totally roll around on the floor. That was how happy he was.
He brought the breakfast over and tried to feed her. "Open your mouth. It's hot. Be careful."
"I will do it myself," Ellie told him shyly.
"No, let me do it for you," he replied.
Since he insisted, Ellie finally gave in.
It began with Francis feeding her breakfast. Then, it ended with Francis eating the food with the same
spoon.
Ellie remembered Ashley's story about how she felt really grossed out when it happened to her. Ellie
felt the same. Seeing Francis eating the food with the same spoon she used, her expression froze. She
wondered how he couldn't feel disgusted.
No wonder Ellie and Ashley were best friends. They were grossed out by the same things.
The good thing for Ellie was that Francis didn't know what was on her mind.
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