“I gave you so many signs”

"Mama."

Leisl's timid voice slits through the chilly night air and freezes Merette in her spot, feet hovering some inches off the floor. She sucks in a long breath before twirling to see her little body bundled up in a pink furry jacket in her uncle Rye's chest. The golden glow of street lamps flits down on them as they stand on the sandy ground by the entrance as a customer opens up the door to slip himself inside, giving a chance for Leisl to call out to her mother.

Instinctively, her eyes cut to the man still standing a few feet from the counter. Kaiser's eyes are sharp as a knife when they meet Merette's. And there's something about the way he glares into her that sends shivers down her spine, making her heart ache inside her chest.

Leisl's timid voice calling out for her echoes in her head, making her break out of Kaiser's gaze. Merette sprints to the door as if scared someone— or a certain someone —might get her before she could. It's all the fear creeping up from the pit of her stomach talking, she knows, still, she can't help the jitteriness in her movements.

Her daughter's tiny hands are stretched out for her, lips wobbling, scarlet cheeks wet with tears when she yanks the door open. And they are at the tavern steps.

Merette's legs eat the space between her daughter and her in a quick few long strides, scooping Leisl out of Rye's hold and embracing her little body to her chest. "Mama is here, love." She whispers into Leisl's silky raven hair.

The child nuzzles her mother's neck, her hands fisting around the shirt over Merette's chest, soft whimpers leaving her thin, pink lips.

Merette's head jerks up, eyes landing on Rye who has a scowl etched on his face, dark eyebrows shadowing his equally dark eyes as they furrow deeply at someone behind Merette. And Merette doesn't have to turn around and trail his gaze to find out its Kaiser at the receiving end of the wrath in Rye's gaze.

"Rye, I wanna go home." Merette breathes, emotions prickling in the corners of her eyes. God, she doesn't want to cry now.

Rye's gaze softens when they flick to Merette. He reaches up a hand to take her shoulder in his palm, giving it a gentle assuring squeeze. "Let me go tell Brett."

Merette jerks her head in what could be dubbed a nod, a shuddering breath slithering through the crack of her lips. Her gaze follows Rye's retrieving form blurring inside the wooden door to the tavern, the bell chimes after him.

Merette steps out in the night, nostrils flaring as she takes in a long breath. Her lungs burn. The bell chids again, it might be someone getting in or out and Merette dreads the latter. It could be Kaiser.

She swirls around before any thought can form inside her brain. Her eyes latch on to Kaiser, they stay like that for a beat, looking into each other's eyes, relishing in the sentiments that Merette can't seem to take a hold on. Kaiser is the one to decide to break the contact, walking toward his car parked before the tavern.

Kaiser's hand clings on the knob of his car door for a moment before yanking it open. And for a moment, Merette thinks that he's going to go, and leaves the unspoken between them. Even though, she's just making a fool out of herself to water the thought that the almighty Kaiser would go without getting what he wanted.

She shouldn't be surprised as she watches the same dark form being lightened up by the lamppost, a yellow glow bleeding into his body, sharpening the edges of his well-sculpted face.

"Is this why you ran away from me? Find someone better by going behind my back, huh? Didn't take you as the one to do that, Merette." His dark brown eyes glisten in the dark, voice flat even though his words drip remorse.

Merette's stomach hurls, hands tightening around her child when she lets out another whimper, rubbing her tiny face on her mother's shoulder before settling down in a better position.

"Do you really think I could do that?" Merette breaths. Despite how she loathes to admit it, she still senses the uncovered hurt underlying her query, throat clogging up with all the sentiments she tried hard to bury deep inside within her.

"What do you want me to think then, May?" For the first time this evening, Kaiser's demeanor falls, or he lets it slip, his eyes are clear of the veil now, and Merette can clearly see the hurt swirling in those dark, glistening orbs.

"You shouldn't doubt me, Kaiser…" Merette let the rest of the sentence pending up inside her chest dangle in the air between them. I only ever loved you.

He croaks out a laugh, it booms in the barely lit pathway before the tavern. "Then what? Is she mine?" The words are spoken so freely as if Kaiser doesn't even ponder on the chances that she could actually be his. The question comes out more as challenging, daring her to lie.

Merette bit down on her tongue before a yes could slip out of her mouth and write their fate in the darkness of this Friday night. She stays voiceless, eyes never leaving Kaiser.

"I've loved you, Merette. Deeply. Was it all a joke to you?"

There is so much she wants to scream at his face, but now, at this moment all she can do is to stand rooted in the sand underneath her, tongue laying stiff inside her mouth as if it never knew how to form words.

"Should have given me some warning signs before you decided to go and flee away from Loch Fog and leave me behind to rot in there all alone."

"I gave you so many signs." It's more breath than words out in the open air.

Kaiser jerks his head, taking a step back.

"I won't believe you if you say you didn't get it, Kaiser, I know you did. I can still see the fear in your eyes I saw back at Loch Fog when I told you for the first time." It pains her to look at the betrayal swimming in his eyes.

"You made me do this…" Merette whispers.