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.

herself with her shaking arms to hold herself. Her tears started falling.

facade she had shown him earlier

had left for real. She was really all

L City was to visit

have a few nice meals with them. But none of that ever happened. What was waiting

that they went out for some groceries. She wanted to surprise them and didn't call. But when it was getting dark, and they were still not home, she figured that something

of them just looked at her with sad faces and

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

at first. She tried to ask again.

the neighbors told her that her grandparents had passed away

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

said that they might fight it through and they didn't want to make her worry. They also told them that if the sickness got worse, they would tell

the story, she

She didn't believe that any sickness could just take their

would not agree

she mourned until she decided

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

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

let's eat something first." He places a breakfast platter on the table in front of

at him, surprised,

but she couldn't keep her tears from

sighed, "Did you forget what I told you last

looked at him with a

know if she

sounded really tempting when he told her she would not be

over

didn't know what to do.

parents' failed marriage had left a huge traumatic mark on her. She had stayed

was different. She didn't hate the idea of

it, but she was happy when he

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