My Words Are Law

Not for my own interest (3)

"What a pleasant surprise... I didn't expect to see you here," He drawled the last sentence with a sickeningly sweet smile, further provoking her, who looked like she was in a fight or flight situation. 

She lowered her eyes and rubbed her arms with an awkward expression. "Yes... It's really surprising..." What is Chryses doing here? 

"You don't look happy to see me." He spoke, leaning down a bit to peer at her face. 

The corners of her mouth twitched as she thought of a way to respond. "Ha-ha-ha... It's just your imagination." 

"I see. I'm glad." His smile widened, and sparkles started popping up around him. 

Amaryllis bit the inside of her cheeks at his cluelessness. She intended it to sound sarcastic, but it backfired. "Anyway... I'm sorry, but I need to see someone." She decided it was best to end the conversation here and turned around after speaking to grab the paper bag on the table. She was already holding it and was preparing to leave when he spoke, sounding amused. 

"My grandmother already left." 

Her movements faltered. Grandmother..? 

She let out a long breath. Did he really say Grandmother..?? Then who's Bastien? What happened to Bastien? 

"She forgot to come back as she was rushing to a meeting..." He added when she didn't speak. The petite woman's posture was as stiff as a rock, and she was stubbornly looking away from him. He looked outside for a moment before speaking again. "...I'm sorry, Amaryllis... I should not have treated you that way. I don't have any excuse, however-" 

She chose to face him at that moment. "Like I said, you don't have to apologize if-" 

"I should." Chryses insisted. "I'm being sincere, Amaryllis. I'm sorry." 

She didn't believe him, but strangely... this time, he really did seem to mean it. She looked down at the paper bag and shook his strange expression off her mind. It's best to leave it at that. 

She shoved him the bag as she replied, "͎I͎͎t͎ ͎d͎͎o͎͎e͎͎s͎͎n͎'͎t͎ ͎m͎a͎͎t͎͎t͎͎e͎͎r͎ a͎͎n͎͎y͎͎m͎͎o͎͎r͎͎e͎... ͎H͎͎e͎͎r͎͎e͎. ͎T͎a͎͎k͎͎e͎ ͎t͎͎h͎-"

"Let me drive you back to your house, Amaryllis." He didn't let her finish the sentence.

"͎T͎͎h͎͎e͎͎r͎͎e͎'͎s͎ ͎n͎͎o͎ ͎n͎͎e͎͎e͎-"

"I don't have ulterior motives if that's what you're worried about."

She pursed her lips and looked him in the eye with undisguised distrust. "Besides, your phone got smashed because of me..." When he added those words, his eyes glanced down at her phone.

Damaged? She followed his gaze and confirmed it when she saw large cracks running across the screen. She immediately panicked, gasping as she tried to turn it on, but it only sputtered briefly before completely shutting off in her face. 

"Oh no..." She shook it and tried turning it on a second time, however, her ministrations failed to work as the screen remained dark and empty. The only thing she could see was the pathetic expression on her face reflected by the screen. She felt so helpless she wanted to sit down and sigh, but she controlled the urge and contented herself with staring at it in utter frustration.

The almost antique phone was suddenly snatched from her hands. "Ah-"

"This model is already phased out. It would be better to buy a new one," Chryses narrated after inspecting it.

Amaryllis bit her lips, reining her helplessness with a puff of her cheeks. She could already imagine the struggle of communicating with her groupmates in one of the courses. She was already having a hard time, to begin with. Now that her phone's dead, it seems her fate is sealed.