Chapter 6
“HI,” Ace greeted her when she entered the kitchen.
He immediately took the basket of chives that she had harvested from the backyard.
“Oh, thanks. Good morning, by the way.” She smiled at him.
“Where should I put this?”
“Oh. Just put it on the sink.”
Sybil sauntered to the fridge and took a bottle of iced coffee. But she couldn’t open the lid, so Ace came to her rescue.
“There you go,” he said as he handed her back the bottle.
“Thanks… again.” She couldn’t help but chuckle. “Would you like some? There’s one bottle left. You may drink it if you want.”
He just beamed and shook his head.
“No, thanks. I’m not into iced coffee.” He leaned against the sink. “I’ve been looking for you and Sonja around the house since I woke up. Where have you been?”
“Ah... Sonja and I are a bit fond of backyard farming. I came out early to harvest the chives.”
“I see…”
“Are you hungry? I’m just about to make breakfast—”
“I’ll do it instead,” he said and immediately got the knife and cutting board. “You’re making an omelet, right?”
Sybil couldn’t help but frown when she realized why he suddenly told her he was cooking breakfast. He had tasted her cooking once, and he said he got indigestion. Ace was quite honest, though.
“Let me cut the ingredients for you… at least,” she said, chuckling. “Give me that.”
She snatched the knife and cutting board from him and laid them on the kitchen counter to get the ingredients. Ace then proceeded to wash the freshly harvested chives.
“You have good knife skills despite not—oh, careful!”
“Shit!” Sybil muttered when she felt the knife’s sharp edge cut her finger.
She was busy staring at Ace’s face and became disoriented because of his voice. Now it resulted in a bleeding cut on her finger, and she didn’t know what to do. Sybil didn’t like seeing blood. She was afraid of it for some reason. Perhaps it had something to do with the incident that happened to her.
“Sybil…” He immediately dried his hand and cupped her face. “Are you okay? You look pale.”
“H-help…” she muttered with a trembling voice.
“Of course.”
Ace left her side for a while. He was carrying Sonja’s medicine kit when he returned to the kitchen.
“We should treat your wound,” he said as he ushered her to the chair.
He was quick to attend to her. And soon, her cut was finally covered with bondage.
“Thank you….”
“You’re welcome.” Ace heaved a sigh and sat on the chair beside her.
“Are you afraid of blood?”
“I think so… I-I couldn’t stand the sight of it.” Sybil rose from her seat and returned to the kitchen counter to resume cutting.
But Ace snatched away the knife even before she could get a hold of it.
“I don’t think you should continue cutting after what happened.” He gestured on the chair. “Just sit there and relax. I can manage here.”
“Are you sure—”
“I told you, didn’t I?” He raised his brows to emphasize what he had said.
“Alright.” Sybil retreated and sat on the chair.
Propping her uninjured hand on her chin, she heaved a sigh and watched Ace as he moved gracefully inside the kitchen. He had been with them for almost a week now. And she must admit that as the days passed like that, she was feeling something not that strange but something starting to bother her.
“Will Sonja join us afterward?” Ace asked after a few moments of silence.
“O-oh…” She straightened her back. “Y-yeah.”
“And why wouldn’t I join you, anyway?” Sonja entered from the backdoor, carrying a basket full of vegetables and a sack half-full of she didn’t know what. “Oh, Sybil… what happened to your hand?”
It wasn’t a surprise that she quickly noticed something like that.
“She cut her finger while preparing breakfast.” Her gaze reverted to Ace. “This girl shouldn’t be allowed in the kitchen.”
Sybil knew he was joking, and he sounded more concerned, anyway.
“I must agree with you, Ace.” Sonja turned to face her. “I’m sorry about that, Sybil.”
“Duh.” She rolled her eyes ceilingward.
It was as though Sonja found an ally with Ace in opposing her and teasing her for every terrible thing that she did. Sometimes, it made her feel like they were best friends, and she was the only one unaware of that.
SYBIL had been searching for Sonja around the house after breakfast and found her a few meters away from the cabin.
“Hey.”
She immediately threw her cigarette on the ground and stepped on it upon seeing her.
“What?” asked Sonja.
“Well…” Sybil pocketed her hands. “Didn’t you say you want to talk?”
Sonja whispered to her ear before leaving the table after breakfast.
“Oh. Yeah. I thought you might want to.”
Her forehead creased.
“Wait, what?”
“Sybil…” Sonja looked at her intently. “Do you think I’m not aware?”
“O-of what?” Her heartbeat suddenly went fast.
“I’m not blind and not a fool either. There’s something in the way you look at him. It’s like you’re—”
“I’m what?” she cut her off.
Sonja scoffed and shook her head.
“Why do I feel like you’re starting to act defensive?”
“What?” She shook her head. “What for?”
“I don’t know.” Sonja looked at her intently. And it made her feel a little conscious. “Listen—”
“You listen to me, Sybil. I’m telling you this because I’m concerned about you… Ace will leave once his family finds him. You mustn’t get yourself attach—”
“I know,” she said in a low tone. “I’m not forgetting that, Sonja.”
She knew Ace would leave one day, and she would be stuck in the same place. That was how their fate differed from one another.
Sybil was about to turn around when Sonja spoke again.
“You’re not mad, are you?”
“Why would I be mad?” she countered.
Sybil knew she didn’t have the right to feel that way when she was just telling the truth.
“Because it kinda feels like that.”
“No, I’m not.”
With fists clenched, she walked away.