A Love Trap

"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.

with her shaking arms to hold herself. Her tears

tough facade she had shown him earlier had started crumbling.

now. Everyone had left for real. She was really all alone.

L City was to

them. But none of that

and didn't call. But when it was getting dark, and they

All of them just looked at her with sad faces and tried to avoid her.

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

talking about them at first. She tried to ask again.

told her that her grandparents had passed away and

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.

the neighbors not to tell Ellie. They said that they might fight it through and they didn't want to make her

story, she

fine during their last visit to J City. She didn't believe that any sickness could just take their lives.

known, she would not agree to let

days she mourned until she

to Ellie's house and saw her sitting on the bed, holding her knees, her head buried between them

bad. He wondered why it was so hard for her to accept that they had

a breakfast platter on the table in front

him, surprised, "Why are you still

Her eyes were red and swollen, but she couldn't

forget what I told you last night? No matter what happens,

at him with a blank

if she should trust

sounded really tempting when he told her she would not be alone.

took over Ellie.

what to do.

left a huge traumatic mark on her. She had stayed away from men for

was different. She didn't hate the idea of getting

but she was happy when he was around.

him, she felt lost. She wasn't sure about what she was feeling, but she knew that she cared