Chapter 221 Chapter 221

Chapter 221 Chapter 221
Violet
No visions of castles and knives and Elijah's black eyes hounded me. Just empty, dreamless darkness that let me rest. That emboldened my assumption that it had all just been a trick of my tired mind.
When I woke the next morning, sunlight was streaming through my windows at a normal hour. I felt more rested than I had in days, clearer-headed, almost normal.
Maybe Mom was right. Maybe I'd just needed some time off, some proper rest, and everything would make sense again.
I got ready for work a bit more optimistically, dressing carefully and taking time with my hair and makeup. Today would be better and normal.
The office building looked the same as always when I pulled into the parking garage. I rode the elevator up to my floor, exchanged pleasant greetings with colleagues I passed in the hallway.
Everything was fine. Everything was normal.
I reached my office door and was about to open it when I noticed movement inside through the glass walls.
Someone was in my office. At first, I wanted to just rush inside and scream at the thief but then I froze upon seeing a familiar outline.
Elijah stood by the window, his back to me, looking at the wall.
Was he okay?
His hands were moving and at first I didn’t understand what he was doing until he lifted something and placed it on the table behind him.
It was a wilted flower.
I watched in a daze as he started carefully removing wilted flowers from the vase behind my desk and then took the vase to the side.
I craned my neck to see him return with what I assumed was freshly filled water in the vase. He then proceeded to reach for something in his pockets, which happened to be his napkin.
And then he wiped off the outside of the vase, turned it left and then slightly right until it was at the correct angle. And then he slowly began adding fresh flowers to the vase. 
I watched him for a moment, transfixed by the sight of him doing something so domestic, so thoughtful. His movements were gentle as he adjusted the stems, making sure each flower was positioned perfectly.
White roses and small purple blooms looked beautiful together, adding a pop of color to the dull space. 
He then took a step back to assess his work, then pulled something again from his coat pocket, and sprayed it around the room.
Was he…decorating my cabin?
Then he turned and saw me standing in the doorway.
We stared at each other for a long moment, the air between us suddenly charged with tension and unspoken words.
"G…good morning," he said finally, straightening up and quickly putting the perfume bottle away. 
"I…I hope you don't mind. The flowers from your welcome…they were starting to wilt."
I couldn’t remember if I had heard him stutter before. Was he nervous?
I stepped fully into the office, my eyes drawn to the arrangement he'd created. 
The purple blooms were the same ones that had been woven into my hair for Nicole's wedding. The same flowers that had been crushed between us when he'd pulled me aside and kissed me breathless in that corridor, when he had promised me a happily ever after right before everything went crashing down.
The memory hit me like a punch in the gut as I stood a few feet away from him recalling how it had felt to have his hands in my hair, his mouth claiming mine with desperate intensity. How he had utterly destroyed my makeup and hairstyle.
That Violet didn’t exist anymore.
I blinked rapidly, forcing the memory away.
"You didn’t have to," I managed to say and saw his face crumple like I’d slapped him with mere words.
“Oh, I’ll just toss them away” He reached for the flowers but I hastily added,  "Don’t."
He looked from me to the flowers once as I added again. “Let them be”
Elijah then stepped back and saw his napkin lying on the table that he quickly pocketed.
"How are you feeling?" Elijah asked, his voice carefully neutral even as his eyes searched my face. "Did you rest well yesterday?"
I nodded. "Much better. I think I just needed some sleep."
"Good." He hesitated, his hand coming up like he wanted to reach for me before dropping back to his side. 
"Cassie was out till late last night. I tried to pick her up myself, but she wouldn’t let me. She was still sleeping when I had to leave for work this morning."
I blinked, processing his words. He thought I'd spent yesterday with Cassie and caught up like he'd suggested.
I could have corrected him and mentioned that I'd actually had dinner with Dane. But something made me hold back, made me let him continue believing the fiction.
"She's a good friend," I said instead, which wasn't exactly a lie.
"She is." Elijah's expression softened slightly. "I'm glad you have people you can talk to. People who care about you."
An awkward silence stretched as both of us stood in my office, my gaze roaming over the rest of the cabin and noticing small details I had missed out on earlier.
There were small random showpieces, figurines and cute little items I had never put on the shelves behind me or on my desk.
One in particular caught my attention. It was a girl dressed in a violet dress, holding violet orchids as she looked up at the sky and laughed heartily.
"Gorgeous, isn't she?" Elijah asked and I tore my gaze away from her to see that he was not even looking at that figurine but at me.
I looked away from him as well.
When I didn't reply, he cleared his throat.
"I should let you get to work," Elijah said finally, moving toward the door. "I just wanted to make sure you were settling in okay and that you have everything you need."
He walked past me, close enough that I could smell his cologne, could feel the warmth radiating from his body, close enough to touch if I reached out.
I didn't reach out.
He paused at the door, his hand on the doorknob, and for a moment I thought he might say something.
But he just gave me a small smile once and left, closing the door softly behind him.
I stood there for several minutes after he'd gone, staring at the flowers he'd arranged with such care, trying to understand why such a small gesture affected me so deeply.
I placed that vase far away from me and sat down at my desk, opened my laptop, pulled up my design software and cracked my knuckles to start working.
Author's note: Anybody feeling bad for Elijah yet?