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 herself.

the tough facade she had shown him

was all by herself now. Everyone had left for real.

Ellie went to L City was to visit her

But none of that ever happened. What was waiting for her was the news she

for some groceries. She wanted to surprise them and didn't call. But when it was getting dark,

the neighbors but never really got an answer. All of them just looked at her

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

talking about them at

her that her grandparents had passed away and

Laura had hardly caught a cold in their lives, but this sickness caught on them all of a sudden. With their age,

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 the sickness got worse, they would tell Ellie

hearing the story, she didn't

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

she had known, she would not agree

days she mourned until she decided

her sitting on the bed, holding her knees,

was so hard for her to accept

breakfast platter on

looked up at him, surprised, "Why

and swollen, but she couldn't keep her tears from falling

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

with a

if she should

really tempting when he told her she would not be

took over Ellie.

didn't know what

traumatic mark on her. She had stayed away

Francis was different. She didn't hate the idea

just realized it, but she was happy when

she couldn't see him, she felt lost. She wasn't sure about what she was