Novel Square
Forgiveness
“Why did you sneak out? You should go back to the hospital. We can get one of the men to drive you back, right?” I suggested quickly.
“Calm down, Malissa. You’re giving me a headache worst than any injury that I have on my body,” Hayden said as he frowned disapprovingly at me.
“You should go back to the hospital,” I said firmly.
“I’m not going. I drove back here myself, I’m fine…” Hayden said stubbornly.
He drove here? After a car accident, he drove back here himself? I didn’t know what else to say. I rest my case here.
Now that we’re talking, I might as well ask him about the situation outside. Luka mentioned that peace is being disturbed and I wondered if that was true. I wanted to know if that was why Hayden is keeping me locked up in here like this.
“Hayden. Luka told me that it’s not safe for me to go outside. He said that the gangs are fighting. Is that true?” I asked while trying my best to pick my words carefully.
It took a lot of effort to get those words out; however, when I looked at Hayden for an answer, he was staring back at me with blank eyes.
“You told me that you painted something today. Show me, I really want to see it,” Hayden said with a bright smile.
“Umm…sure…” I replied hesitantly.
Hayden completely ignored my question just now. Why?
It was so late at night now that perhaps it was more accurate to say that it was closer to dawn but if he wanted to see the painting now then who was I to stop him? I watched as Hayden got off the bed and headed for the door. He could walk and move around so I guess he must be fine to a certain extent. With a sigh, I slipped out of bed and followed him out of my bedroom.
The art studio looks mysteriously beautiful with the moonlight shining in; however, I could tell that the sun would soon replace the moon. Hayden stood in front of the painting where I had covered it with a large black cloth. I switched on the light so that Hayden could see the painting clearly.
“Just a moment…” I said as I quickly started removing the black cloth.
I honestly didn’t think that I would be showing the painting to Hayden in this situation, but it was good enough that he was interested. After removing the cover, I turned to gauge Hayden’ reaction to the painting. They say the audience’s most honest reaction to a piece of art was when they first laid eyes on it.
It was unfair to compare the two but compared to Ethan, Hayden did not really have a trained eye for art. However, that also meant that his reactions were always genuine and uninterrupted by professional experience or interpretation. The look on Hayden’s face when I first revealed the painting to him wasn’t one that I expected. Hayden looked a little confused when he saw my painting of the white tulips. After his initial wave of confusion, his expression softened, and he seemed to appreciate the beauty of the flower.
“What do you think?” I asked.
“It’s pretty. The flower looks white and pure,” Hayden commented.
“I got Auntie to buy me some white tulips so that I could paint from the real thing,” I explained.
I headed over to the table and lifted up the vase of white tulips to show him. Hayden nodded in understanding, but his initial confused reaction told me that he didn’t know the meaning behind white tulips at all. That was fine. I didn’t expect him to be well versed in floriography, the languages of flowers, because even I’m not an expert at it or anything like that.
“Do you know what white tulips symbolize?” I asked as I stared up at his face.Upstodatee from Novel(D)ra/m/a.O(r)g
“No…” Hayden replied honestly as he gazed down into my eyes.
His eyes were the color of a cloudless blue sky on a sunny day…
“It symbolizes forgiveness,” I said before smiling a little at him.
“Have you decided to forgive me? Why all of a sudden?” Hayden said ash is eyes lit up with hope.
Maybe he’s been feeling guilty for keeping me locked up in here all this time.
“No, I want you to forgive me,” I replied honestly.
Hayden looked at me with widened eyes. It seemed like my words had stunned him into silence. I laughed a little at his stunned expression. I predicted that he would be quite shocked but not quite this shocked at my words.
“Forgive you?” Hayden managed to question after a pause of silence.
I nodded.
“That’s right. I’m sorry for not trying to understand you at all. Even when you tried your best to keep me company and talk to me every day. I knew you were trying but I just ignored all your efforts. I still don’t think that you should lock me up without telling me why but what I did was also wrong. I’m sorry…” I said sadly.
“Don’t blame yourself. You had the right to be mad. I decided not to tell you anything at the cost of you getting angry at me. That was just that,” Hayden stated matter-of-factly.
“But still…” I began protesting weakly.
“In the future, there will be times when I cannot tell you everything or anything. You will be left in the dark and you will feel helpless. You won’t know who to trust or what to believe. Just like now…” he said as he looked deeply into my eyes.
“I see…” I replied softly.
“Just like now and when times like these come along in the future, can you please choose to trust me?” he asked but there was a slight plead in his voice.
If I chose to trust Hayden, then I probably wouldn’t feel the way I did since I entered this suite. If I can trust Hayden, then will my heart and mind rest at ease?
–To be continued…