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.

shaking arms to hold

she had shown him earlier had started crumbling.

herself now. Everyone had left

Ellie went to L City was to

meals with them. But none of that ever happened. What

to surprise them and didn't call. But when

but never really got an answer. All of them just

didn't care about the way they looked at her. However, she started to panic after she didn't hear anything about her

tried to avoid talking about them at first. She

grandparents had passed

caught on them all of a sudden. With their age, it

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

story, she

City. She

she would not agree to let them leave.

mourned until she decided to return home.

and saw her sitting on the bed, holding her knees, her head buried

so hard for her to accept that they had spent

places a breakfast platter on the

him, surprised, "Why are

miserable. Her eyes were red and swollen, but

"Did you forget what I told you last night? No matter what happens, I will be

with

didn't know if she should trust him.

tempting when he told

over Ellie.

know what to do.

huge traumatic mark on her. She had stayed away from men for many years.

the idea of getting close to him.

it, but she was happy when he was

felt lost. She wasn't sure about what she was feeling, but