Chapter 63 A Comforter
I frowned at her response, not buying it at all. She didn't seem like she was crying over something not relevant, but I didn't pursue the matter. She would have told me about it if she wanted me to know. We weren't friends after all. I couldn't force her to do that. She owed me no explanation.
"It's okay." I patted her on the back. "Just let it out. Whatever's eating within you. Trust me, you will feel great when you do."
She looked up at my remarks, her eyes widening as she stared at me, stunned. She wasn't the only one, though. I had never been a good comforter. Lilith always made fun of me because of that. But at the moment, I felt like an enlightened monk. Seeing her look so sad made me want to comfort her.
"Come on. You can weep how much you want. I won't judge."
And she did, bawling out her eyes until a few of the pedestrians walking down the overpass cast glances at us, thinking I caused her problem. We were lucky none of them stopped to ask why, or even called the cops on me for making a woman cry. We were just lucky.
I sat on the ground, looking up at the sky as my mind drifted, once more towards Nova. This time, I imagined how much life would be with her and the kids. A small smile tugged at my lips at the Vivid imagination. It felt real, almond as if I could taste it with my lips. But the image shattered when Benita sneezed.
"Bless you," I said instinctively.
"Thank you," she whispered, wiping the tears off her face. "I'm sorry for being such a baby over something so trivial."
"It's okay." Grinning, I got up, helping her to do so. "You don't have to feel embarrassed for crying. We all do that. Trust me."
She smiled at me. "Thank you so much, Me, Dashiell. This helps a damned lot. I just needed to get it off my shoulders." She looked as if she had removed a massive chip off her shoulder.
"I know." Nodding, I looked up, hoping to see a star, even though I knew it wasn't possible. The sky was cloudy, enough to tell it would rain tonight. The stars won't appear.
"You are different."
I frowned at her muttered words. "How?" I peered down at her, wondering what she was trying to say.
"You are kind." She gaped at me, almost as if she were seeing me for the first time. "You have always been this kind of closed-off person, a man who hardly smiled, and I..." She covered her face with her palms. "I was once scared of you," she confided.
"Oh." Nodding, I relaxed on the rail. This wasn't the first time I heard someone tell them they feared me. Hell, I have overheard that countless times. Though it was the first time someone said it to my face, I wasn't stunned. "I know."
"You do?" She removed her hands from her face, squinting. "You knew that I was afraid of you?"
"All my employees."
Nova was the only one who didn't fear me, the only one who had ever challenged me. No one else has ever done that. To them, I was like a dragon, breathing fire on any who dared to oppose me. I didn't blame them at all. I would have done the same if I were in their shoes.
"And it never bothered you?" Folding her arms, she leaned on the rail. "Aren't you disturbed by that?"
"Why should I?" Being feared was better. It would make them work productively. My father always told me it wasn't good for an employer to be friendly with his employees. It would only bring
problems to the company.
A comforter
"Don't you feel lonely?"
"Not at all. I have gotten accustomed to it. I don't mind not having friends as long as I have my loved ones with me."
She remained silent after that, and I figured she wouldn't talk. Silently, we watched the skies together. Only a few people walked on the bridge. Though none of them stopped to converse with us, each of them threw glances our way as they hurried towards their destination.
"I don't even know why I cried when I was the one at fault. I was too emotional and... Well, and that happened." She chuckled, shyly wiping her eyes once more.
I didn't utter a word as I watched her. She didn't sound like she wanted me to contribute to the conversation. Giving a listening ear to her seemed like the best thing to do, and that was what I did.
"I'm such an awful friend. I should have kept my mouth shut," she continued, sighing out loud. "I don't even know if she will speak to me after this. I wouldn't even talk to myself if I was the one in her shoes." She turned and leaned on the rail. "I feel so bad."
"She won't blame you." I stared down at her. "I don't know what went on between you and your friend, but I don't think she will blame you. She will understand."
"I doubt." She pinched the bridge of her nose.
"Come on. You don't have to worry about it. She will come around."
I couldn't tell who I was talking to. It seemed as if I was speaking to myself.
"I hope so." She drew away from the rail, grinning. Gone was the sad expression she gave when I first walked up to her. "Thank you very much, Mr Dashiell. I appreciate it."
"You don't have to thank me. I'm only helping as much as I can." I pushed away from the rail, and fished my phone to check the time. The lights on the overpass were dim, so I couldn't tell the time by
checking my wristwatch. "It's getting late. Do you want me to drop you?"
Her jaw almost dropped to the floor as she watched me, blinking. She rubbed her fingers in her eyes. "You will do that?"
"Why do you sound so shocked? Come on, I will drop you off."
"Thanks, Mr Dashiell!"
Chuckling, I turned and walked down the stairs, with Benita close on my heels.