Read His Absolute Betrayal - Elise's Love Story: The Billionaire's Continuum (#2) (A Contemporary Romance Novel) for Free Online
Authors: Cerys du Lys
talked like she always did. It did comfort me, but I didn't know how to show it or how to thank her for it. I felt tight and tense and overdrawn, like I was ready and willing to break at any moment, even if I didn't actually want to.
Sometimes things just happened, you know? Sometimes people just snapped. I wondered if this was what that was like. Did the people who were just about to go over the edge into temporary insanity know it beforehand? Could they feel it, maybe a buzzing in their heads, a tense, unknown urge building within their bodies, ready to let go at any moment?
I didn't know. I'd never done anything like that before. I'd never been like that. The closest I'd ever come—at least that I could remember—was when I acted out of sorts and sought a way to reunite with Lucent. That was months ago, though. It seemed like that had happened forever ago, but it was less than a year. It seemed like a lot of things had happened forever ago. A lot of things had changed, too.
This was one of them, but I didn't know if it was a good or a bad change. Maybe no one could classify life that way, either. Maybe we only ever understood good and bad by looking at the outcome far after the fact, and deciding it based on consequences, benefits, and reactions.
I felt oddly detached and philosophical at the moment, but not for any intelligent reason. It was easier to break away from the situation and forget about it if I just threw myself into something else entirely. If "throwing myself" involved ignoring the fact that Lucent was apparently a criminal and currently we were running away from the police, well... so be it.
We went out the back door of the library, the same way we came in. Before we left, I grabbed the small black box of a hard drive. I'd left it there, just sitting right there on the floor. I briefly wondered what it'd be like if we left it there forever. What happened if anyone left anything somewhere forever? Would someone find it some day, discover its meaning amidst the futuristic rubble left behind from the library, and seek out its meaning? Like an archaeologist discovering ancient clay pots, I wondered if they'd try to find context in this.
A hard drive was slightly different than a clay pot, though. Also, I doubted it'd be lost in time for centuries, either. More than likely, if we didn't take it with us when we left, Rob or Margaret or one of the other librarians would pick it up and search through its contents instead. Not a great situation, especially considering what sort of data it held.
So, I took it with us. Lucent and I stepped into the back parking lot. I blinked against the brightness of the early morning sun. The cool summer air chilled my skin. It would warm up soon, though. I didn't know a lot of things right now, but at least I knew that one thing.
We walked alongside the library. Lucent strode ahead, taking long, purposeful steps. I felt alone next to him, trying to walk faster to keep up. We weren't equal right now, we were separate, even if we were together. I didn't like that.
I rushed forward and took his free hand in mine, joining us together again. He stopped for a second and turned to look at me, his expression one of confused, indifferent concern. Lucent had this way of looking at things, appearing almost intrigued, and yet... maybe not? That was how he looked at me now. I didn't like that, either.
I smiled at him and squeezed his hand. "Good morning, Lucent."
It took him a second, but he smiled back and squeezed my hand, too. "Good morning, Miss Tanner."
"How are you?" I asked.
We stood there, no longer moving, just loitering right in the middle of the library parking lot. Not the greatest place to have an early morning conversation, especially considering our circumstances, but I didn't care.
"I must admit I'm slightly stressed at the moment," he said.
"Slightly?" I asked. "That's it? I'm
Sometimes things just happened, you know? Sometimes people just snapped. I wondered if this was what that was like. Did the people who were just about to go over the edge into temporary insanity know it beforehand? Could they feel it, maybe a buzzing in their heads, a tense, unknown urge building within their bodies, ready to let go at any moment?
I didn't know. I'd never done anything like that before. I'd never been like that. The closest I'd ever come—at least that I could remember—was when I acted out of sorts and sought a way to reunite with Lucent. That was months ago, though. It seemed like that had happened forever ago, but it was less than a year. It seemed like a lot of things had happened forever ago. A lot of things had changed, too.
This was one of them, but I didn't know if it was a good or a bad change. Maybe no one could classify life that way, either. Maybe we only ever understood good and bad by looking at the outcome far after the fact, and deciding it based on consequences, benefits, and reactions.
I felt oddly detached and philosophical at the moment, but not for any intelligent reason. It was easier to break away from the situation and forget about it if I just threw myself into something else entirely. If "throwing myself" involved ignoring the fact that Lucent was apparently a criminal and currently we were running away from the police, well... so be it.
We went out the back door of the library, the same way we came in. Before we left, I grabbed the small black box of a hard drive. I'd left it there, just sitting right there on the floor. I briefly wondered what it'd be like if we left it there forever. What happened if anyone left anything somewhere forever? Would someone find it some day, discover its meaning amidst the futuristic rubble left behind from the library, and seek out its meaning? Like an archaeologist discovering ancient clay pots, I wondered if they'd try to find context in this.
A hard drive was slightly different than a clay pot, though. Also, I doubted it'd be lost in time for centuries, either. More than likely, if we didn't take it with us when we left, Rob or Margaret or one of the other librarians would pick it up and search through its contents instead. Not a great situation, especially considering what sort of data it held.
So, I took it with us. Lucent and I stepped into the back parking lot. I blinked against the brightness of the early morning sun. The cool summer air chilled my skin. It would warm up soon, though. I didn't know a lot of things right now, but at least I knew that one thing.
We walked alongside the library. Lucent strode ahead, taking long, purposeful steps. I felt alone next to him, trying to walk faster to keep up. We weren't equal right now, we were separate, even if we were together. I didn't like that.
I rushed forward and took his free hand in mine, joining us together again. He stopped for a second and turned to look at me, his expression one of confused, indifferent concern. Lucent had this way of looking at things, appearing almost intrigued, and yet... maybe not? That was how he looked at me now. I didn't like that, either.
I smiled at him and squeezed his hand. "Good morning, Lucent."
It took him a second, but he smiled back and squeezed my hand, too. "Good morning, Miss Tanner."
"How are you?" I asked.
We stood there, no longer moving, just loitering right in the middle of the library parking lot. Not the greatest place to have an early morning conversation, especially considering our circumstances, but I didn't care.
"I must admit I'm slightly stressed at the moment," he said.
"Slightly?" I asked. "That's it? I'm
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