Estella woke up the next day in an unfamiliar room. Panicked, she threw the blanket away and rolled out of the bed.

The dresser in front of her had a big mirror and she saw herself, dressed in a night robe that wasn't hers.

Horrified, she tried to recollect any remnants of memory she remembered-coming to Montclair, meeting with Lopez, stuck in rain, the argument between her and Edward, and losing herself in the weather.

The sudden rush of memory, and waking up in a bedroom she had never seen caused a somersault in her stomach. Her anxiety-filled eyes made an acute scan of her whitewash surrounding.

From the look of it, Estella guessed it had to be a guest room. There were no pictures with bedside tables empty which somewhat told her she didn't need to check the closet. She knew it would be empty.

Her legs carried her to the window, and she pulled the curtain. The sunlight overhead told her it was noon. She squinted her eyes, adjusting them to the light and inspected the unfamiliar green and neatly clipped yard. Across it, was a bustling road.

She grabbed a vase to use it as a weapon if she was abducted.

Curious where she was, where he was, and where her dress was, she rushed toward the door and opened it. Estella jumped back on her feet, holding her heart as someone appeared the doorway.

"Sorry, Ma'am." A short brunette girl in an apron bowed her head down. "Didn't mean to scare you."

"Who are you?" She asked, her voice sounding hoarse, hiding the vase behind her back as she rubbed her throat with the other hand. "And where am I?"

"It's our master's house." She said in a soft voice. "Our guest Mr. Churchill sent me to check up on you."

Hearing his name, she felt relieved. Things seemed normal, for now. "Edward? Where is he? And how-"

"You can leave us alone, Rosa!"

The girl, Rosa nodded and disappeared into the hallway. Edward came in front of her and put her hands on her forehead.

"You seem a little better."

Confused, she asked. "Wasn't I?"

He withdrew his hand and slipped into the pocket of his loose pants. He was wearing the same chocolate shirt and black pants. It was dry at least. "Also, you had a fever of 104 degrees."

She arched her brows high, expression gaped. "Seriously?"

He nodded, then taking her inside the room she woke up.

"Is this your house?" She asked, "I wasn't expecting the weather to take a nice turn."

"Neither did I," he shrugged. "But we are still in Montclair. It's Lopez's mansion actually. After you passed out, I brought you here."

Estella wanted to ask him if he knew Lopez personally but didn't press the matter and saved the topic for later to enquire. By then, Edward shifted the blanket to the headboard and grabbed something in his hand. She had to walk over to get a look.

"Why don't you change into something else?" He said, holding medicine tablets.

"But my clothes-"

"It's in the bathroom. Rosa had it cleaned and dried right after she changed them."

The relief was on her face as the idea of him doing that seemed too intimate.

When she didn't respond, Edward continued. "I'll have your breakfast ready. You have to take medicines then."

She shook her head in agreement and went to the bathroom when Edward yelled to take a hot shower. It was an obvious thing and it reminded her how Tessa used to take care of her every tiny thing as well.

After she enjoyed long hot water running over her body, she noticed hers was not only the dress hanging on the hook, and recognized Edward's coat next to it.

She slipped into her satin dress while making a mental note to avoid dresses like these for any upcoming trips.

Hanging the coat around the arm, she scanned the whole mansion. It was enormous that at least three families could fit in. The structure was archaic with modern finishing. The white plastered walls, ceramic floor, and plain but catchy vases designed the interiors.

She stepped downstairs feeling a lot better than she had last night. There was no clock in the room upstairs so her eyes twitched when she saw it was a past afternoon. 

"Oh no!" She grit on the dining table, Edward already sitting across it. "This is bad, so bad."

Edward stopped eating his pie and looked up. "What's the matter?"

"Mom!" She answered, her fingers already working on the screen to dial the number. "I told her I'd be back before the day ends—" the line clicked—"Hey, mom. I know I was suppose....Oh I called you last night."

"You don't remember last night?"

"Some of it," she bit her teeth.

"Let's eat first," He said. "Your doctor is waiting for you."

"Huh?"

She was informed about the last night visit and feeling grateful, she thanked him for taking care of him.

She finished her breakfast, meanwhile observing that Lopez was nowhere around them and when she inquired about his presence, he simply stated he was gone to work.
After they were done, she visited the doctor as told by Edward.

Her trip to Montclair came to an end and they were back on the road, trees, buildings, parks, and people ran past them while Edward drove, awfully quiet. Frequently, he'd check his iPhone, type a message and slip it inside his pocket without a word, his airpods back in his ears.

She was desperate, desperate to talk about what had happened last night and she still had to thank him properly.

From the time when she first saw him to this moment was almost three months. In that span of time, they had grown close even if it were for work.

Secretly, she stole a glance of his stoic face-he was tense, not when he left Lopez's house but whenever messages started to chime in his phone.

Bored, she clicked on the radio to kill time when Edward's finger linger around the button. He had almost pushed off the button but he abruptly drew away and let her have her distraction.

She listened to whatever song blared from the radio and also kept a scrutinizing gaze at him. In the last thirty minutes, he had texted someone at least twelve times, and by the end of each one, his fingers would tighten the steering wheel as if it was a living breathing neck and he was trying to choke the life out of it.

He was pissed, at something or rather someone.

The car stopped with a screech at the front yard of her house. The soil of her garden was wet and the roadside was waterlogged. She guessed that the rain had caused havoc here as well.

She detached the seatbelt. "I'll see you tomorrow then." Collecting her things, she unlocked the door when Edward put a hand on her shoulder to stop her.

"You're okay?" He asked.

"Yes," she told him. "Thank you for last night. I'm really grateful for all the things you did for me."

"You can do one thing for me if you're that grateful." He said. His fingers lingereda round the steering, thinking something.

"Yeah, sure."

"Don't date anyone." He said, staring at her eyes, not in any mood for jokes.

"What?" She couldn't have heard it wrong?

"Yeah. Could you not date anyone for a year let's say?"

She still was waiting him to crack into a laugh, telling her he wasn't serious about it. "Why?" She asked when he kept his gaze fixed.

"I don't want you distracted." He stated, like matter of factly.

"That would be my personal life." She said. "And I don't bring my personal life into work. You don't have to worry about it if that's your concern."

"I was just making a request, don't worry." He sighed, accepting defeat. "Anyway, I've gathered our team. Be prepared to meet them soon."

She remember him telling about them a few days ago. "How soon? And stop with you calling me randomly. Let's get a proper schedule."

"Sure." He smiled.  "We will talk about it. But after three days. I'll be out of town."

"Three days?" She glanced in confusion.

"Yeah, " he confirmed, "it could take even more but I have to accompany my dad for some work."

"What work?"

"As I told you. My father's work. Here and there and helping him out at the time of difficulty is my job. If I'm not able to contact you, don't bother. I get easily lost in my work."

"I can see that."

"I'll come up with a proper schedule this time." He tucked the collar button and ran his fingers into his hair, combing them back. "This is the last of vacation you're getting cause after that it'll be hard to catch a breath."

Before Estella could ask furthermore, Edward dug his hand into his pocket and drew out a key. "I made extra for my partners to get easy access."

He placed it on her palm and she picked up her things to leave when Edward caught her wrist, making her jump inside and tingles spread across her body.

"My coat," he whispered, almost playful if Estella was right. She glanced down seeing his coat she subconsciously picked up.

"Oh sorry." He left her hand and she slipped the coat down on the seat and giving him a final apologetic look, she stepped out of the car. Edward smiled once more, his smile bright with something she could decipher. Feeling the impression of his touch he left on her, she shrugged her shoulders. "Snap out of it, Estella."

"I'll see you after three days."

-------

Thank you for showing love & support.

Please drop your vote and comment.