07-24-2014, 04:49 AM
It wasn’t hard to guess Eltiask’s thoughts. As carefully as he hid himself, Melanie was irrevocably connected to him now—she could feel how uncomfortable he was, and appreciated his attempt to spare her feelings. She sent him a reassuring smile. “It’s alright,” she said. “I understand.” While she was still unused to his suddenly courteous behavior, she gladly accepted his help off the boat as her own body has yet to regain all its strength back yet.
“I’ll circle around and see if there’s any breakfast places open to get some food from,” she said softly, as if raising her voice even a little bit might draw the attention of the world to them. She flashed him a wry grin, trying to diffuse their still tense relationship with humor. “You better not run away. It’s quite rude to ditch a woman.” With that, Melanie turned to walk along the streets she had become so familiar with.
When Melanie had chosen to move here from California after the death of her parents, she had already done extensive research on the area. The town had a culture of privacy. Sure, the people were quite friendly, but in the end they all respected each other’s needs to be alone. That alone made it obvious that this town was perfect for her. Aside from her own home being so close to the woods and the coast, she could come and go as she pleased, and no one would speculate on it. Melanie found her car easily, glad that her keys still worked. She drove to a diner, ordering sandwiches for both her and Eltiask. The woman who owned the diner gave Melanie a half-knowing smile as she handed her the food. Melanie chose to ignore it, paying for the food and leaving the diner.
Melanie drove back to the docks, resting her head against the window as she gingerly sipped her coffee and took delicate bites of her food. The rest of the town seemed to be asleep. If there weren’t such chaos in her mind, she would have shut her eyes and shut the world out. But that wasn’t the case. Instead, Melanie simply watched the docks through the cracks of her eyes.
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