Safe. The word hit me like a stone in my chest. I wanted to believe it.
I wanted to let it sink in, but a part of me couldn’t. Not completely.
The memory of cold chains still clung to my skin, the echo of Josh’s voice still scratched inside my skull.
His obsessive look when he kept staring at me. When he hurt me if I defied his command. With his belt.
My whole body shivered as my mind recalled those dreadful memories. That’s when Edward appeared from the kitchen with a tray carrying three mugs of coffee.
He first forwarded he tray towards Sophie. She took the two mugs, passing one to me.
When she placed a mug of hot coffee in my shaking hands, the warmth seeped into my skin, giving me a sense of hope that maybe...everything will get alright.
I took a deep breath as the aroma of the coffee hit my olfactory senses. My whole body slumped against the couch as the exhaustion hit me. Hard.
I kept sipping on the coffee as Henry also settled beside Sophie.
Though I tried not to focus on Josh and all the other problems I had to face in the future, my mind kept returning to the same topic. My mind is doing an ultra pro max overthinking.
Sophie might have noticed the anxiety on my face as she suddenly spoke out, " The story of our first meeting was incredibly funny."
I blinked, not able to process this sudden change of topic, yet I looked at them with curiosity, waiting for her to continue.
Edward, on the other hand, who was busy on his phone when he heard Sophie’s words, raised his eyebrows as he gave a ’don’t-you-dare-look’ but Sophie ignored him as if he did not exist.
She continued, "You know, it was my first day at the same grocery store where we first met." She moved towards me, making big gestures, "I was scared as hell. Not wanting to mess up like every new employee, and guess who showed up as my first customer?"
Though we all knew the answer, seeing her expectant look, her big eyes staring into my soul, I waited for me to question. So, I did, "Who?" I put out the question, scratching the back of my neck.
Edward groaned as a grim expression was plastered on his face, but anyone could see how his ears turned redder with every second. He looked away, folding his hand on his chest just like a grumpy kid.
I could not help but smile at his cute reaction. Until now, Edward never once argued with Sophie. Instead of whatever she insisted, he agreed to her without making her feel obligated or stupid.
I looked back at my own hands. The mug was half empty, as the thought of Dave struck my mind. Dave was exactly like Edward in my imagination, or maybe more loving and caring than he was.
But did he actually behave like that in reality? I could not answer the question. In those years, he never even managed to stay civil, let alone be romantic and caring. For original chapters go to novᴇlfire.net
I internally shook my head, realizing how awful my love story and marriage had become. Adding more to this situation, an obsessive psycho was behind us with the mystery of Emma’s foster home and the blackmailer who was behind our lives.
So many problems were surrounding us, but here I was craving for a shoulder to cry on. A hug embracing my every fault. A hand to hold onto.
My lips trembled as I bit the inner side of my cheek, preventing myself from crying like an oversensitive idiot.
I shifted my attention to Sophie as she kept telling her first meeting, "Edward here came strutting into the store, all serious and moody. He carried this massive shopping list with him. And when I say massive, it looked like it could have been rolled out like a scroll from a castle."
Despite myself, I chuckled, the sound catching me off guard. It felt strange to laugh, almost foreign, but it warmed my chest in a way I had not expected.
"What was on it?" I asked, playing along, forgetting about all my worries.
Sophie leaned in as if she were revealing some secret. "Half the stuff was not even spelled right. I thought he was pranking me. Who even writes ’bananaz’ with a z at the end? And then there was ’milk, 2 liters, but not the smelly kind.’"
Edward groaned louder this time, covering his face with both hands. "I told you, it was not my list. It was my aunt’s. She still thinks text messages are the same as grocery lists. For how long are you gonna judge me?"
I burst out laughing this time, a real laugh that shook my shoulders. Even Emma stirred in her sleep at the sound, hugging her stuffed bunny tighter.
Sophie’s smile softened when she saw me laughing, as though that had been her goal all along. "See? That was the day we met. Edward was red as a tomato at the counter while I tried not to laugh in his face. And I thought, hmm, maybe he’s not so scary after all."
After that, we kept talking about different topics, my mind finally getting off all the stress and overthinking.
At last, I could not even remember when my eyes started to get half-shut when someone called my name, making me jerk as my eyes snapped open.
"What? What happened?" I frantically looked around, looking for any trouble, but it was just Sophie who was standing beside with her eyebrows shot up, maybe surprised by my sudden reaction.
Sophie gently patted my shoulder as she tried to comfort me, "Relax, Elena. It’s just me."
I relaxed the next moment as my mind turned off the alarm, realizing that we were not in Josh’s captivity.
"I think you should sleep. You and Emma can sleep with me while Edward can grab the couch." I shook my head in denial, wanting to say not to make him uncomfortable, but before I could utter the next words, Edward grumbled, "Don’t."