7.0 The Reason

At the bus stop, Eloise was just sitting there although the bus she was supposed to ride had already arrived. Even after the bus left, she was still seated, frozen. She recalled the peck on her neck and she freaked out. She started screaming and pulling on her hair like a mad woman. "Nikolai, you pervert!" she shouted so as to vent her frustration.

"It was just a joke. Yes, that's it. A joke. He is just playing with me. Yeah, that must be it…" mumbled Eloise as if she was brainwashing herself. Again, she recalled the image of the peck and immediately lost her cool. It will take more than just self-hypnosis to handle this situation. "I need to walk it off," she said as she started to speed walk. Then, she was suddenly honked at so she turned around and saw a car stop beside her. The window wound down, showing Brandon, the model she met back at Katherine's faculty. "Do you want a ride?" he asked, offering to give Eloise a lift home. She accepted his offer and found herself in his car. "You seem irritated. Is everything alright?" asked Brandon who tried to break the silence. "I'm fine. Just a little concern of mine," she replied as she looked out the window. "Do you…want to talk about it?" he asked. After thinking about it, Eloise asked "Is it normal for men to be mean to the girls they like?" Her question baffled Brandon but he laughed before replying "I don't know about other men but I won't do that." Eloise then said "Right? There is no way you will be mean to the person you like… I must be wrong…" Brandon then asked "Is someone being mean to you?" She replied "I don't know…" with a tone that was rather depressed so Brandon decided not to ask any further.

For the following week, Eloise never went to visit Nikolai anymore. From time to time, Nikolai would look at his hand which reminded him of the time Eloise held onto him tightly. He would smile without realizing. Casey, his good friend noticed so he asked "Do you miss her?" Nikolai replied "Do I?" Casey let out a sigh and said "Dude, you need to be honest with yourself. No point acting all tough." Nikolai looked at Casey and said "You are not getting to the point." Casey walked over to shelf and looked out the window before saying "Tell her the truth if you like her…" After hearing the advise from his friend, Nikolai just smirked as he looked at his hand. Then, his reply was "If only if it was that easy…"

It was a Saturday so Eloise was working at the café. There were not many customers after dinner, so she could finally take a breather after a long day. "Have some churros," said Hank. "Did I tell you that you are the best boss?" asked Eloise, complimenting Hank for his kindness. "A million times already," he replied before he sat opposite her. "You seem to have a lot on your mind. Do you need my advise on anything?" said Hank as he ate the churros. "Is it okay to discuss personal matters during work?" she asked cheekily. "Don't be smart with me. Just spill it already," he answered. "I don't know if I fell in love or was just tempted by the excitement. Part of me wants to find out but I also know that I already made a promise to myself," she started to tell her concerns. "You mean the vow to never fall in love? Come on. You are still holding onto that?" questioned Hank. "It is a promise I made to myself after seeing what love did to my mum," replied Eloise who was still playing with the churro stick instead of eating it. "That was years ago, Eloise. What matters is what your heart wants," said Hank who stuffed the churro stick into her mouth. "I treat you like family so let me give you a little advise. Live your life without regrets. I am sure that is what your mum wants. She probably lived her life with no regrets too," he added. His words were able to knock some senses into Eloise and helped her face her concern.

Back at home, Eloise was looking at the photo frame as she sat on the floor against her bed. Memories of the past came gushing back - It was when she was just 10 years old when her parents were experiencing a rough patch in their marriage. Her father lost all their savings after becoming a habitual gambler. He also assaulted her mother whenever he didn't get the money he wanted. Having to have seen all these, Eloise was traumatized of men. She also questioned why her mother did not just divorce her father. Her mother responded "I love him and I will protect this family…" Not knowing that would be the trigger to all chaos. Her family held on for another three years before all hell broke lose. Eloise who was returning home from school found her apartment surrounded by a crowd, police cars and even an ambulance. She rushed over not knowing her life was about to change forever. The person on the stretcher was her mother. The person in handcuffs was her father. Her whole world just flipped over and the noisy crowd just turned silent as she saw her mother being covered by the shroud.

With her mother dead and her father a murderer, she was a kid that had nobody to care for her. That was when her neighbor, Hank swooped in and took custody of her. As he was already a working adult, he was able to care and provide for her. Despite having no blood relation, the court ruled it possible for him to be her guardian as no relatives were willing to take her in since she was the daughter of a murderer. Eloise visited her father once in the prison and asked for an explanation to his actions. His response was "I loved her so I killed her." Those words triggered Eloise and made her lose her cool. She started to frantically hit the glass divider and swore that she will take revenge and make his life miserable. Before she could do anything, her father was reported to have committed suicide inside his prison cell. This news was not what she had wanted but there was nothing she could do. She cremated his body. Her last words were "I will never love and hurt others like what you did to mum. The love you claim is fake…"