There had been times in her life when she had wished everything to be a dream and not the reality that
she needed to face. Like when she had seen Eric flirting with a girl for the first time, or when she had
seen him bring a girl home and have sex in the very next room to their bedroom, when she had seen
the death of Hector and his parents, and when her parents had died.
But right then, at that moment, she was desperately wishing for everything to be a truth. She did not
want this to be a dream because she was so desperate to see Varys in front of her eyes again. He had
disappeared after that day, she did not know where, as there was not even a trace of his body left in his
home.
The police had found his blood there, lots of blood, but there was no sight of Varys. There had been an
investigation, a search party, everything the police do when something like this happens, but there was
never a result to be found. Eventually, everything had gone back to normal around the neighborhood,
everyone forgot the family that lived there, but Stella and she had been the ones most affected. Later
on Stella had confessed that she liked Hector and wanted to date him but he never asked and she was
too proud to ask a guy out.
On the other hand, Hope had been in a daze for months because the reality was literally too harsh to
face. Varys had been the man that she had found her first crush, first kiss, first love in. She was
devasted, but everything was buried deep inside her.
She had so many questions to ask Varys, so many years of anger to unleash on him. And then there
was a tiny part of hidden love that never melted away with time, even after Eric's arrival in her life.
She climbed down the stairs holding the golden railing that led the path down. The whole place was
white and posh. The interior black, and the floor made of hardwood. Everything screamed money.
Her eyes searched for Varys in the grand hall. He was nowhere in her sight but then as she crossed
the last stair, she found him sitting at the dining table hidden by the half wall that separated the hall
from a different, smaller sitting area beside the stairs.
He stood by the dining table that had all kinds of food there, his hand clutching the edge of the table
from behind as he stared down at his shoes.
He was muscular than before, more refined, his skin a shade darker. As she looked at him, a blush
covered her cheek. She might look just as different to him now perhaps, ugly? Heavier than she was
back in her teenage days, and mature? Aged?
The blush turned to shame. She was not ready to face him yet. Her heartbeat raced as she neared
him.
He lifted up his head then, his eyes meeting hers in an instant.
"How are you feeling?" he asked gently, his hands pulling the chair right next to the head chair for her
to sit, "Are you feeling well now?"
"I'm... alright." she smiled awkwardly. They had been so close back in the day, so full of life and without
any worry. But now she found it odd to even look him in the eyes.
"Are you okay?" she asked.
"Yeah." he replied and started filling her plate with food.
Now that is when the calmness and awkwardness started to fade. 'Yeah', a curt fucking 'yeah' was the
only thing he said instead of explaining his actions. What the hell was going on and why was she here?
Where had he been all these years?
All these questions could only be answered by him but he, calm as a duck was sitting in front of her
with a fork and spoon in his hand, glaring at her.
"Eat." he ordered, sliding the plate full of whatever big buffet breakfast it is that he had made or had
someone make.
She picked up the fork awkwardly while staring down.
"Why aren't you eating?" he snapped.
She almost jumped at his voice. He was angry for some reason?
"I..." she gulped, unable to form a word for a few seconds because she suddenly found herself in front
of a stranger instead of a friend that she knew long ago, "I can't eat breakfast."
"What? What is wrong with breakfast? You want to eat something else?"
She nearly dropped her head on the table. The whole table was filled with all kinds of breakfast food
that probably did not even exist in the city, and here he was asking if she wanted something else. What
was he planning to bring now? A donut made of gold from Dubai?
She cleared her throat awkwardly before saying, "I don't eat breakfast."
His gaze was of someone who had seen a person speaking ancient mandarine. He put down the fork
and spoon, and sighed aloud. Frustration was clear as day on his face.
She looked at him guiltily then looked away.
"Why am I here?" she asked gently. Her eyes looking away from him and staring intently at the table
like it was the most interesting item made in the whole century, "I was blindfolded when people brought
me here. What is happening?"
He did not answer. She did not have the courage to lift up her head and look at his face. She did not
want to.
"Am I free to get out of here? Or is there something I have to do?" she murmured. Silence once again
followed her words.
"Do I have to do... something... to get out of here? I mean is there any debt I have to pay off for Ethan?
I don't want to get killed for his actions, so I just want to make sure what kind of situation I am in."
Once again there was nothing but silence for her. The hall seemed deathly quiet. When he did not
answer her questions, she stood up from her seat and started striding away from there,"I will take that
as your answer that I am free to get out of here."
Hope was walking away blindly in a fit of rage. He did not want to talk, he did not want to even say a
word to her, then why the heck was she even here? She felt like she was just insulting herself by trying
to talk in front of him.
And then as she was striding away, a pair of heavy arms engulfed her body from behind stopping her
entirely in her tracks as she felt his face fall in the crook of her neck, "You don't even ask a word about
me," he whispered gently, "don't you care at all that I am in front of you right now?"
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